Bonnie Sveen Fan: Me too. I like being able to write her with her own, little personality.
ETWentHome: Yes and you'll soon see what Lily's answer is.
sweeet-as-honey: Matilda and Ava are going to have a lovely friendship. That is very true and you'll see what happens further on in the story. It isn't bad at all, haha because I am as well :-)
CBloom2: Thank you. There will be a lot of drama for the little family unfortunately and that is true, haha. I don't think we've seen the last of him :-)
Chapter Nine
Honestly, Lily sometimes thought that Ava did belong to Cal. She couldn't admit it to him though, he would have never left her alone. The thing was that Ava mainly looked like Lily but she had some of Ethan's personality and Lily had slept with the two brothers around the same time so unless she took a test, there was no way of knowing who Ava belonged to. She just told Cal what she wanted to believe, that Ava was Ethan's daughter.
Cal was desperate to spend time with Ava. Even if she wasn't his daughter, she was his niece and he wanted to be the fantastic, fun uncle that Ethan and Lily both wanted him to be. He soon found his chance when Tuesday came round and Ethan needed him to fetch Ava from school.
"Why can't you or Lily do it?" Cal asked him, as he stood with his brother in the kitchen that morning.
"I'm working late and Lily isn't feeling well," Ethan said. "She's staying home today and I don't really want her going anywhere."
"What's wrong with her?" Cal questioned.
"She's been throwing up so she's just spending the day in bed," Ethan said. "I told her to see how she goes, if she feels any worst then she might have to go to the doctor. Could you just fetch Ava on the way back from fetching Matilda? I'll let her teacher know that you'll be collecting her and that you might be a bit late."
"Well, Matilda has dance club so she'll be staying late after school," Cal told him. "But I'll still pick up Ava. That's no problem."
"Thanks Cal, you're the best," Ethan said. "Lily was worrying so I'll just go and let her know that it is all sorted."
Cal nodded and Ethan hurried upstairs to their bedroom. Lily was lying in bed in her pyjamas with a book, a glass of water and a sick bowl. She smiled when she saw Ethan walk in and he leaned in to hug her.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, placing a hand on her forehead. "You don't feel warm."
"Hmm, I just feel sick," Lily groaned. "Have you sorted Ava out?"
"Yes." Ethan nodded and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Cal is going to pick her up from school."
"What?" Lily squealed. "Ethan, no! Why couldn't Connie do it?"
"Because Connie is working and Cal finishes earlier than any of us today," Ethan said. "Lily, don't do this again. Please, Cal is her uncle." Lily took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Look, Ava needs to go to school and I need to work so you just concentrate on getting better and Cal will take good care of Ava. Don't worry."
"Fine," she whispered.
"That's my girl," Ethan said and leaned in and kissed her on the lips. "Gross. You stink of vomit."
"Thanks," Lily scoffed and pulled the covers over her. "Girls love to hear that."
"I'll text you on my break," Ethan chuckled. "Get some sleep."
"Doctor Hardy, I need you in resus today," Connie said, as she walked up to Ethan in reception. "We're rather busy unfortunately, thanks for staying late. How's Lily doing?"
"Yeah, she's okay," Ethan answered. "We're not really sure what's wrong but she's currently lying in bed with a sick bowl. Hopefully she'll be back to her old self soon. Cal's fetching Ava from school so that's been covered at least."
"Good." Connie smiled at him. "Well, send her my love yeah?"
Ethan nodded and promised that he would.
Meanwhile, Cal had gone to Ava's school to pick her up. The teacher was standing outside with Ava at her side, waving all of the other kids off as they left with their parents. Cal smiled and walked over to Ava, giving the teacher the password that Ethan had told him so she knew he was really there for Ava.
"How are you doing, princess?" He asked, crouching down and hugging the small girl. "Did you have fun at school?"
"Uncle Cal!" Ava squealed and flung her arms around his neck. "Where's Matilda?"
"She's at her dance class," Cal said. "So it's just me and you before I have to go and fetch her. Shall we go to the park?" Ava nodded. "How was she today then?"
"She was an angel," Miss Bailey said. "It's a joy to teach her. Just let Lily know that she's still struggling a little bit with her reading." Cal nodded. "Nothing we can't fix though," Miss Bailey said. "Have a good evening with your uncle, Ava. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye!" Ava yelled, as she dragged Cal across the playground. "I like Miss Bailey, she's really nice."
"She seems it," Cal said, holding onto Ava's hand. "So park and ice-cream then, huh?"
"Yes, how is mummy?" Ava asked, as they made their way to the park. "Daddy said she was sick."
"Yes, I think she's feeling a bit better now," Cal said. "But she's resting in bed so I came to pick you up. That was a fun surprise, huh?"
"Not a surprise, silly," Ava laughed. "Daddy said that you were picking me up from school."
"Of course," Cal chuckled, as they reached the park. "So what will it be first? How about the swings, eh?" Ava nodded and hurried over to the swings. "Do you want me to push you?" Cal asked and Ava nodded. Cal smiled and lifted her into the swing before standing behind to push her. "Is that okay?"
"Higher Uncle Cal!" Ava squealed. "Go higher!"
"Not too high, okay?" Cal laughed but started to push her a little bit higher. "This is fun, isn't it?" Ava nodded, her hair bouncing up and down on her head. "We can go and grab some bread from the shop in a minute if you want, so we can feed the ducks."
Cal wasn't sure who was having more fun, him or Ava. He sometimes took Matilda to the park but it wasn't the same, Taylor had always told Matilda how dirty parks were so it had kind of put the poor girl off the idea. Cal was teaching her though, trying to get her to ignore everything that her mum had told her. Also, Ava was still at the childhood age and Matilda was slowly growing up. In six years she'd be a teenager and Cal didn't really want to think of that.
When they had finished at the park and had their ice-cream, Cal took Ava home before he had to go and collect Matilda. Lily and Ethan lived in such an awkward area, deep in the countryside and in the middle of no where and it got quite annoying travelling between the two places. It had always been Lily's dream though, to live in the countryside.
"Where the hell have you been?" Lily shouted at Cal as soon as he walked through the doorway. "I have been worried sick."
"It's okay," Cal told her. "I just...I took Ava to the park."
"Ava, go and change out of your uniform," Lily said and Ava immediately ran upstairs to her bedroom. "You didn't tell me."
"I thought you'd appreciate the peace and quiet," Cal said. "You weren't feeling well, Ethan was at work so I thought I was doing the right thing and helping you out."
"I had no idea where she was," Lily said.
"But you knew that I was collecting her from school," Cal defended. "I should be allowed to take her out somewhere. She had fun, okay?"
"Yeah well she's not your daughter, Cal," Lily snapped. "Yours is at an after school club so you thought you'd steal mine, yeah?"
"It wasn't like that at all," Cal complained and did a subtle eye roll. "How are you feeling anyway?"
"Fine," Lily sighed. "I mean, I've been sick a few times but I'm okay now. I should be back at work tomorrow."
"Don't rush back to work, Lily," Cal said. "If you're not well, you're not well. Take some time out for a bit, yeah? Just make sure you're one hundred per cent better before you go back."
"I know whether I feel ready for work or not, okay?" Lily said. "It isn't your say. How was Ava anyway?"
"Fine and she had a good day at school," Cal said. "Her teacher said that she's still struggling with her reading though."
"Yeah," Lily sighed and grabbed herself a glass of water. "Ethan and I need to work on that. It's just something she finds it hard."
"I found it difficult when I was a kid," Cal said.
"Well, don't think that it means anything," Lily mumbled and had a small sip of her water.
"Right," Cal whispered and hung his head. "I need to go and pick up Matilda anyway. Get well soon."
When Cal had left, Lily placed her empty glass in the sink and made her way upstairs to Ava's bedroom. The five year old was sat cross legged on the floor in just her underwear, playing with her dolls.
"Are you not dressed?" Lily laughed, standing in the doorway.
"Mummy," Ava giggled. "You're still in your jammas!"
"I am, aren't I?" Lily said. "Tell you what, how about you change into your pyjamas as well and we can have an evening in mummy and daddy's bed, does that sound good?"
"Yes!" Ava squealed and ran to find her pink, Minnie Mouse pyjamas. "Mummy, I want to be a dancer!"
"What?" Lily frowned at her. "Where has all this come from, baby girl?"
"Matilda does dancing," Ava said. "I want to dance too, just like her."
"You really like Matilda, huh?" Lily said, taking the Minnie Mouse t-shirt from her and slipping it over Ava's head.
"She's my best friend," Ava said with a smile. "I want to be like her."
"Sweetheart, you are your own person," Lily said. "And if you really want to be a dancer then I will help you with that but don't do it just because Matilda does it, okay? You'll regret it in the future."
"What does regret mean?" Ava asked.
"Um..." Lily tried to think about how to explain the word to her daughter, as she stood holding Ava's pyjama bottoms. "It means feeling sad over something that you did once."
"Oh," Ava said. "Do you regret things, mummy?"
"Yes sweetie," Lily sighed. "I do."
Sorry I haven't updated in ages but I hope the chapter makes up for it :-)
