"Ava," the brunette woman sighed, "I need you to come over and eat some dinner."
The green eyed girl shook her head, focusing on the novel she held in her lap.
Clenching her jaw, Emily set the salad down on the dining room table before making her way back to the living room. Taking the book from her daughter's hands, she prepared for an onslaught. "Get your butt off the couch and into the dining room," she demanded. "Now."
Ava's jaw dropped. "Give me my book back."
"You get your book back once I get my daughter back." Pushing lightly on her daughter's shoulder, Emily watched her finally stand from the couch. "I know you're upset about moving but I don't know how many times I can tell you it was what was best for us."
Ava almost threw herself down in the chair.
The ambassador's daughter sat across from the only child, watching carefully as she took the salad bowl and put some on her plate. "Do you want any dressing?"
Taking the fork from her napkin, Emily's daughter stabbed a piece of lettuce and took it into her mouth without any dressing. Her dark eyes stared down her mother as she let her teeth cut the leaf.
"Look," the FBI agent sighed, "we don't fight. I don't want to start anything with you."
Ava ignored the older woman, stabbing another piece of lettuce with her fork.
"I know you're upset about the move, baby. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't move any higher in the department back in Chicago and I didn't just have one offer here in D.C but two. Either way my interview went at the Bureau, I would have gotten a better job with a higher salary."
The green eyed girl kept her head bowed, staring intently at the salad on her plate as she contemplated her words. "You could have found something there," she whispered.
Emily looked to her daughter with sad eyes. "Don't you think I tried? Honey, if I could have kept us in Chicago I would have. I didn't purposely take you from your friends." Setting her chin in her hand, she waited for Ava's eyes to look up from her plate. "You don't think I lost any friends in this? Our neighbors on the block?"
Ava chewed on her lip much like her mother did when she was nervous.
"You're not the only one who's upset here," the agent reminded her. "If I didn't have to move us all the way to D.C, you know I wouldn't have."
The brunette girl licked her lips. "I know."
Emily smiled smally at her daughter's acknowledgement. "I promise that I'm just as upset as you are, but I think we can make a good life here. You can still talk to your friends on the phone or video chat them."
Slowly, Ava looked up to her mother and locked eyes with her.
"You're going to make new friends at school," Emily supplied. "I've met a few people I'll be working with and they seem nice. Don't you think the same thing will happen with you and your new schoolmates?"
"I guess so."
The ambassador's daughter sat straighter in her chair. "What can I do to make it easier for you, Ava?"
The brunette finally set her fork down, putting her curls behind her ears. "I want to talk to dad," she whispered, knowing the look her mother must have been giving her. "I know I can't and that sounds stupid, but I want to talk to him. I think if I do then I can have an easier time adjusting."
Emily nervously licked her lips. "Well honey, I can help you talk to him. It's not impossible."
"Do you think it's stupid?"
"Ava," the older woman breathed, "it's not stupid. I promise."
Ava's head shook. "I don't want to talk about it," she huffed, taking the lasagna from the middle of the table and taking some for herself.
Emily watched as her daughter started to eat, noticing Ava's fingers tapping against the tablecloth. It wouldn't be difficult for Emily to help her daughter talk to her father but she knew it would be trying on the young girl.
"Who else did you meet at work?"
The abrupt change of topic had Emily's eyes grow wide. "A few people. I didn't get to talk to a lot of them just yet," she shrugged, "but I got to see an old friend."
Ava met her mother's eyes. "Who?"
"Someone who worked for grandma a few years back," Emily supplied. Reaching for the salad bowl, the new agent shook her head. "He has a son, actually. How would you feel about getting together with them? Get to know a few people around town?"
"Do I have to?"
Emily chuckled. "Yes," she nodded, taking her first bite of the dinner. "But you'll like them."
Ava sighed into her lasagna. "After dinner, can we just watch a movie?" They were going to start getting her ready to go to school the next week and were going to go and pick up her uniform and books. "I don't want to think about all of this anymore tonight."
The brown eyed woman watched as her daughter slowly played with the cheese on her plate. "Of course we can, sweetheart." Anything to make it easier for her daughter, she would do it.