AN: It's Laurels first Easter! Avalance and the legends go all out for the baby canary!
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It's the night before Easter and Ava is playing with Laurel, who is almost a year old, her birthday is in a few weeks, while Sara hides eggs in the backyard for the baby to find in the morning.
"Are you excited for the Easter bunny baby?" Ava says in her baby voice with a big smile on her face.
"Bunnnnnnnn!" Laurel gurgles out and bounces up and down while Ava holds her up.
Ava laughs, "yeah baby, bunny. Can you say mommy? Huh? Can you say mommy?" Ava and Sara have been trying to get Laurel to say her first word, but all she's been doing really is babbling.
"Mmmmmmm maaa!" Laurel giggles. "No baby Mommy, mooommmmyyy." Ava says smiling at her baby girl.
Her and Sara are also in a competition to see whether she'll say mommy or mama first, and it looks like Sara is close to winning.
"Maa!" Laurel squeals and Ava huffs. "Come on baby, help mommy out pumpkin."
Laurel leans forward and then falls on her butt and let's out a big belly laugh. Ava can't help but let out one of her own and she picks Laurel up and holds her up in the air.
"You're so silly! Yes you are!" She brings her down and kisses her nose then puts her back up, Laurel letting out another squeal in the process.
Neither girls heard the back door open and close, or the sound of footsteps getting closer.
Sara smiles, watching her wife and baby play, listening to the sweet sound of their laughs. Laurel happens to look up and sees Sara.
"Mamaaaa!" She squeals and reaches out for Sara.
Sara smiles big and swoops in to grab her baby, "yesss that's right baby! Mama mama mama!" Sara laughs and smiles triumphantly and looks down at Ava who has a little pout on her face.
"Awe babe," Sara says teasingly and sits on the floor next to her, "don't worry, she'll be saying mommy in no time. It's just easier for babies to say mama."
As if to prove her point, and maybe run it in, who knew, she is Sara's child after all, Laurel speaks up, "mama!"
Ava cracks a smile and tickles her belly, "Alright trouble no need to mock me."
Laurel laughs the loudest and happiest laugh you've ever heard. She tries to squirm away but Sara holds her in place with a laugh of her own leaving her lips.
Ava stops when she sees her baby had laughed so hard she started crying. "Aww baby," she chuckles and plucks her from Sara's arms and holds her, small giggles still leaving the babies lips, "mommy's done, you can relax."
Sara smiles big when she sees how Laurel immediately snuggles into Ava once she calmed down.
Laurel closes her eyes, "mmmmoom," she sighs into Ava's neck.
Ava gasps softly and holds Laurel just a little bit tighter. She looks to Sara and smiles a watery smile at her, "see, she said mom and mama in the same day, our baby is a genius."
Laurel starts to get fussy and rubs her belly, telling her mommies that she's hungry.
"Looks like someone is ready for dinner, you get her bottle ready please, I'm gonna see if she'll eat any of the spaghetti squash Z made yesterday." Sara nods to the first part but scrunches her face up at the second, "good luck baby, it's gross."
Ava smacks Sara's ass and laughs "it is not, ignore your mama, she thinks all healthy food is gross." Ava stands up with Laurel in her arms and walks into the kitchen.
"Hey that's not true! I like strawberries! Strawberries are healthy!" She calls back as she makes Laurels bottle.
"Babe, You drench them in sugar, therefore, they aren't healthy anymore!" She laughs and puts Laurel in her high hair.
"Whatever," Sara laughs playfully and shakes the bottle and hands Ava the spaghetti squash. "She's not gonna like it babe, watch."
Ava just shakes her head and puts some on the spoon and puts it in Laurels mouth. When Laurel does nothing but taste the food, Ava turns to Sara and smiles, "see she likes it."
Sara tries to hold in her laugh and just points at Laurel. Ava turns her head only to see Laurel with the worst gagging face ever, spit out the food, and started crying.
"Oh Laur," Sara says with hints of laughter in her voice and picks her up from the high chair and wipes her mouth. "Your mean mommy fed you yucky squash huh? I know, it's gross baby. Here, drink your baba."
She shifts Laurel so she's laying in her arms and gives her the bottle and Laurel holds onto it.
She looks up at Ava and sees her crestfallen face. She puts Laurel down in the play pen while she eats and walks over to Ava.
She kneels in front of her and takes her hands in her own. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asks softly.
Ava looks up at her with sad eyes, "I'm a bad mom," she whispers.
Sara's eyes go wide, "woah woah woah, where's that coming from?" She pulls a chair up so she's now sitting in front of her wife.
"I make her eat food she doesn't like, when she wakes up crying in the middle of the night she only calms down for you, whenever we're playing and she sees you she immediately reaches for you, I know you're her mom too and I absolutely love that you have such an amazing bond with our daughter, but sometimes...," she shakes her head and wipes her tears that have now fallen, "sometimes it hurts. Sometimes I feel like I'm such a mean and bad mom. Even you said so."
Sara sat there, stunned. She hasn't seen Ava this lost, broken, and vulnerable in a long time. Not since they found out about 2213.
"Oh baby." She breathes out and cups Ava's face in her hands. "You. Are. Great." She says so softly yet so assuringly strong.
"You are, an amazing mom. Yes me and Laurel have a strong bond, but so do you. Whenever she's sick, tired, or not feeling well, she seeks out her mommy for cuddles. Whenever Gary freaks her out she always runs to her mommy because she knows her mommy will save her from Gary's weirdness. And yes you may feed her food she doesn't like, but babe, if it was just me and her she'd be living off take out, and that's no way for a grown adult to live let alone a baby. And you have to know I was just teasing babe. You aren't a mean mommy, you are the furthest thing from it." Sara says and rests her forehead against Ava's.
"You are the greatest mommy in the entire world, and our baby, and all our future babies yet to come, are so so lucky to have you as their mommy. And I am so so lucky to have you as my wife and the mother of my children."
Ava let's out a small sob and Sara pulls her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get upset, I know you were just teasing, I just, I don't know. My mind has just been all over the place lately."
Sara rubs her back and kisses the side of her head. "Don't be sorry, it's okay to have doubts, but it's not okay to keep them all to yourself. I know I struggle with that too. So we both need to remember that we have each other, and that no matter what, our little family isn't going anywhere."
"I love you Peter Pan," Ava whispers and nuzzles Sara's neck.
Sara cracks a smile and rests her head atop Ava's, "I love you too human shield." Ava let's out a little chuckle and they two just stay there, wrapped in each other's arms.
Laurel finished her bottle and stood up in her crib, "mmmom, momm, mom!" She whimpers out to Ava and raises her arms with grabby hands.
Ava smiles softly and stands up and goes over and picks up her baby girl. "Hi my beautiful baby," she whispers and holds Laurel tight, her nose in her hair, getting lost in her sweet baby smell.
As if Laurel could sense that her mommy was sad, she turns her head and takes her face in her tiny chubby hands, and plants a big wet kiss on Ava's check. "Mom!" She squeals and then hugs Ava tightly, as tight as an 11 month old can.
"Awe thank you baby, mommy needed that." Ava whispers and kisses the top of laurels head.
Sara walks over to them and wraps her arms around her girls. "See, she loves you babe. Even if you did give her yucky squash," she teases and kisses Ava's cheek.
"But seriously, we love you Aves, no matter what okay?" Ava just nods and leans into Sara.
Sara smiles and turns towards Laurel, "can you say we love you to mommy baby girl? Huh?" She says softly tickling the baby's belly.
Laurel laughs her adorable baby laugh and mumbles, "ahhhh mmmm mmmuvvvv uuuuuuu mommmmmm!"
Ava smiles the biggest and brightest smile, it could rival that of the sun, "babe did you hear that!?" She says excitedly.
Sara smiles and nods, "yeah babe, our baby's a genius. Just like her mommy."
"I love you mama," Ava says softly and kisses Sara's lips.
Sara hums softly into the kiss and then pulls away, "I love you too mommy."
Not being the center of attention is not a good thing for baby Laurel, so she whines and puts her hands on both her mothers faces and tries to turn their faces towards her, as if she's saying 'pay attention to meee.'
Ava laughs and blows a raspberry on her cheek, "it's not nice to interrupt little bunny." She says in her baby voice reserved only for Laurel, obviously.
She just squeals and hug her mommy and pushes Sara away as if to say my mommy. Ava laughs a happy and loud laugh and holds onto Laurel tightly.
Sara, pretending to be hurt, puts a hand to her chest and lets out an over-exaggerated gasp. "Hey, that's my woman there missy!"
Sara moves forward to go and hug Ava but Laurel pushes her away and cuddles back into Ava, "noooooo mmmmmeee mom!"
Ava smiles adoringly down at Laurel, "awww my baby."
Sara's heart swells with love and happiness at the sight of her girls, "I love you both so so much," she says and kisses the top of laurels head and sneaks Ava a kiss.
"We love you too," Ava smiles and starts rocking Laurel who lets out a big yawn.
"Ohh is our little bunny tired?" Sara whispers and rubs her fingers through laurels soft baby curls.
She got another yawn in response. Ava continues to rock their baby and relaxes into Sara's arms. "Lets go put her to bed so we can finish getting everything ready for our baby's first Easter," Ava says softly.
Sara nods and they walk together to Laurels room, which is painted a soft purple, with gigantic flowers along each wall, and "Laurel Avaiana" painted in a darker purple above her crib.
Ava carefully places Laurel in her crib, and Sara lays her blanket lightly on top of her. Both women kiss their baby goodnight and turn to leave.
Ava flips on the canary night light before walking out and Sara closes the door behind them.
Ava wraps her arms around Sara's neck and rests her head on Sara's shoulder. "Thank you."
"For what?" Sara asks while wrapping Ava securely in her arms.
"For being you. For being an amazing mama. For being an amazing wife. For being the woman I'm truly, madly, and deeply in love with." She whispers and holds onto her tighter.
"Oh baby, you never have to thank me. I will always be those for you and our baby. Even if I'm being a stupid asshole. I'll always love you and Laurel, and I'll always be devoted to making you two happy." Sara says kissing the patch of skin on Ava's shoulder.
Ava just smiles and relishes I'm being in the love of her life's arms.
After a few minutes Sara pulls away and kisses Ava's nose, effectively making her smile and giggle. "I finished putting her Easter basket together, I'll bring it down before she wakes up tomorrow. Let's go to bed love."
Ava smiles and takes hold of Sara's hand and leads them to their room.
They both change into their underwear and oversized sleep shirts. Ava wearing Sara's old Starling University shirt, and Sara wearing Ava's old Harvard law shirt.
They get under the covers and Sara lays on her back and Ava lays her head on Sara's chest. "I love you Sara."
Sara wraps her left arm protectively around Ava's waist and runs her right hand through her hair. "I love you too Ava. With all that I am."
Ava hums happily and they fall asleep in each other's arms.
*Easter morning*
Sara wakes up first, surprisingly. She kisses her sleeping wife's head and slowly gets out of bed so she doesn't wake her.
She grabs Laurel's Easter basket and brings it downstairs and puts it on the kitchen table. She spends the next hour or so getting breakfast ready when she sees the legends walking up to their door before they even knock. She opens the door and they all come inside, each with an Easter basket.
"Awe you guys, you didn't have to get her anything." Sara says and hugs them all.
Amaya smiles and takes the basket from her wife and puts it on the table with the rest. "Of course we did. How could I not get my god daughter anything for her first Easter?"
Zari smiles at her wife and looks around, "so where is our goddaughter? Auntie Z wants some cuddles."
Sara chuckles as she puts the last basket on the table, "she's still asleep, I'll go get her and Ava. Maya and Z, I have all the stuff for breakfast on the counter, everything's already made and ready except for the eggs. So if you wanna start making a big batch you can. After Laurel opens her baskets we'll eat, and then it's egg hunt time." Sara says smiling and goes upstairs to wake her favorite girls.
She walks into her and Ava's room first and sits on the edge of their bed. She moves her hair from out of her face and leans in and kisses her softly, slowly moving their lips together.
Almost immediately she felt Ava smile and start kissing her back. She pulls Sara's bottom lip between her teeth and sucks gently then lets it go with a 'pop.'
Sara blushes lightly and looks lovingly at her wife. "Morning gorgeous. Happy Easter."
"G'morning love, Happy Easter," Ava stretches and then sits up and pecks Sara's lips once more. "Is Laurel up yet?"
Sara shakes her head, "no but the legends are here. Amaya is finishing breakfast and the rest are sitting in the living room watching baseball." Ava chuckles and shakes her head.
"Of course," she says fondly, loving having their dysfunctional family here with them.
Sara smiles and kisses her cheek, "you get dressed, and I'll go get the princess."
Ava says okay and gets up to get ready.
Sara walks quietly into Laurels room and sees that she was right on time. Laurel had kicked off her blanket and was stretching, her arms raises high above her head and her legs sticking out straight.
"Good morning Princess!" Sara says excitedly and picked her up, "happy first Easter baby bunny!"
Even though she just woke up, Laurel squealed happily and hugged her mama.
Sara giggled and hugged her back. "Alright bunny, time to get dressed."
She lays Laurel down on her changing table. She changes her diaper, "ewwwww stinky butt!" She says making a face that Laurel laughs at.
She puts a new diaper on her and grabs her outfit, a white onesie that said "Laurel's First Easter," written in purple, white stockings with Easter eggs on them, a pink and purple tutu, white sandals, and a headband with bunny ears on it.
She puts it on her, with little fuss from Laurel which was a miracle, and stood her up on the changing table. "Ohhhh look at my beautiful princess!" Sara says and blows raspberries on laurels cheeks and places kisses all over her face.
Laurel giggles and laughs, trying to do the same to Sara. Ava comes in and pulls out her phone and starts to record them.
After a few moments and decides to make her presence known. She keeps recording and walks over to them, "Happy First Easter pretty girl!" She smothers Laurel with kisses of her own.
She passes her phone to Sara when Laurel reach for her. She grabs her baby and spins her around, that has Laurel cracking up.
She sets her on her hip and kisses the dizzy giggly baby's head. "Can you wave to the camera? Wave like mommy!" Ava says and looks at Sara with the camera and waves at it.
Laurel just looks at her for a second and the starts copying Ava. "Yayyy! Good job baby!" Sara says smiles and waves back at her, this making Laurel wave faster.
The family's little bubble is burst when Zari walks up the stairs and stands in the doorway, "Hey, stop hogging my goddaughter! Some of us want to actually see her," she teases them.
Laurel goes nuts when she sees one of her godmothers and starts leaning and reaching for her. Zari smiles big and takes her from Ava.
"Hi pretty princess! I've missed you! Happy Easter!" Zari says in an excited baby voice that has Laurel's never ending smile growing even larger.
Ava and Sara smile at the two and grab each other's hand. "Let's go downstairs, I'm sure the others want to see her, no hogging the baby Z." Ava teases Zari back and the four of them walk downstairs.
The rest of the morning and really the rest of the day, go perfectly. Laurel got so utterly and completely spoiled by her aunts and uncles, getting anything from toy rattles, bottles, building blocks, dolls etc.
Breakfast was spent talking, sharing stories, and being especially thankful for the invention that is a bib, Laurel managed to get food all over it, thankfully none of it got on her outfit.
When it was time for the egg hunt, Ava and Sara each held one of their daughters hands and helped her walk around the yard and pick up all the eggs that were hidden.
Since Laurel was too small and couldn't have candy, Sara filled the eggs with fruit snacks and the baby puffs that dissolve in their mouths, Laurel had a lot of fun opening the eggs and eating the puffs.
All and all, it was an amazing day, and the perfect first Easter for their little bunny.
And as they all sat around the fire that night in the backyard, everyone wearing sweatshirts, and Laurel wrapped in her favorite fuzzy blanket with her favorite bear that Dinah gave her when she was born on Ava's chest, who was sitting on Sara's lap, everything thing stayed perfect.
With her daughter snuggled in her arms, herself wrapped up in her wife's, and their dysfunctional family surrounding them, there's no place else Ava would rather be.