Hey everyone... sorry its been a hot minute since I updated this... I got COVID and I have been literally so sick and so tired over almost 2 weeks now. I am feeling a lot better and my brain is functioning again so here is an update I've been working on. Thank you for all of your kind reviews; Also a lot of you mentioned you wanted Olivia to have a baby but I am here to tell you that this is NOT the story where Olivia will be having a baby lol. She is TOO old and it would be too weird. If you are looking for a story with a Langson baby, check out my other one (I Dont Know You Anymore)... I am still recovering from COVID and am still incredibly exhausted, so bare with me. Also, leaving a review that says nothing but; "UPDATE NOW" is incredibly rude given that I have a lot of other responsibilities in my life and these updates take a long time to write... so please don't do that. I appreciate the review, but would prefer a genuine comment or response over a blunt demand...
Anyway, thats all for now. Thank you all for being so kind and patient and for leaving me lovely comments all the time (most of the time lol) my next update will be for I Dont Know You Anymore, my other Langson story, so please bare with me and if this takes longer, let's just blame my covid exhaustion or writer's block.
oxoo
"Mommy, I'm tired," Noah complained, crankily, he stood at the foot of the bed, feeling a little awkward because he wasn't at home in his own house where he was allowed to just jump in beside Olivia when he wanted.
"I know, it's been a big week…" she smiled at him. "Why don't you come over here," she patted the space beside her where Trevor normally slept.
"Am I allowed?," he asked, his shaggy curls in desperate need of a haircut.
"Yes honey, of course you're allowed to come and give Mom a snuggle," she felt bad that he had even considered it. He crawled up the bed beside his Mom. She wrapped her arms around her small boy and drew him close to her. "Sorry I couldn't take you to school today…"
"I know," he sighed, "work," he murmured.
"I'm sorry," she apologised again. "But you've had fun with Trevor and Ava and Lucy this week, right?"
He nodded but he was pouting.
"What's wrong? Did you prefer being at home with Lucy?," she wondered, "because you can tell me."
"No, its okay," he said sullenly, "I just missed you."
Olivia gave him a squeeze. "I'm sorry," she kissed his forehead. "I missed you too. Would you like to go home for a few nights?," she wondered. "Just you and me," she added.
Noah shrugged. She stroked his hair. "If you're unhappy, my love, we can go home."
"I'm not unhappy I just missed you," he whined, frustrated with her. She realised he was too tired to discuss much with her. He wanted to be coddled. She kissed him again and let him settle in to the crook of her arm.
"Okay, well I missed you so much too," she replied.
"What's going on in here?" Trevor asked with a little smile, appearing in the doorway.
"My boy needs some Mommy time," Olivia smiled, winking at the man who just drove her crazy every single time she laid eyes on him.
"I understand that," he replied, taking the hint. "I just dropped Ava off at her friend's house to study for their math exam tomorrow so I'm gonna go and do some work in my office. Do you guys want anything for dinner?"
"No, you go do your work and Noah and I will hang out and get up and organise dinner, won't we kiddo?," she asked her son.
He nodded.
She didn't want him to fall asleep, it was stil. She had just come in to Trevor's room to get changed and rest after the overtime she had worked on a rough case. She hadn't been home to take Noah to school and had spent the day in bed until school pick up. She'd picked up Noah and Ava and negotiated Ava's visit to her friends house to study.
She still felt sluggish and tired.
Trevor had spent some time with Noah on homework before letting him have some screen time while he worked. It was a bit of a juggle, but together Trevor and Olivia managed to get everyone's schedules to work.
"Okay," Trevor smiled, he came in to his room and gave Olivia a kiss on the forehead and leaned over and placed a gentle hand on Noah's back and kissed him atop of his head. "I love you both very much," he said meaningfully, realising that maybe Noah was feeling a little left behind.
"We love you too, don't we Noah?"
Noah nodded and gave Trevor a little smile.
"You know where to find me…" he said, turning his heel and leaving them to it.
/
"Noooo, don't do that, Noah!" Olivia let out a peel of laughter as Noah screamed triumphantly and evilly.
"Its the game, Mom!," he told her, "you're really bad at it!"
"Its my first turn you little brat," she gave him a gentle shove.
They both sat on the floor in front of Trevor's huge TV playing a retro game that he and Ava liked to play against one another. It always ended in playful yelling and teasing and Olivia was understanding exactly why. She hadn't realised quite how competitive her son was.
"Okay I'll let you win some then," he shrugged.
"I don't want you to let me win!" She chuckled.
"It's the only way you'll win, so I hope you love to lose!" Her son shot back breezily, causing Olivia to laugh again at his hostility.
Trevor emerged to see what the yelling was about and grinned to find Liv in a pair of leggings and one of his t-shirts sitting on the floor with her son, laughing and enjoying some time together with him.
"Ooh, sorry, we'll keep it down," she said to Trevor, pausing the game, "we didn't mean to interrupt."
"No," he grinned at them; both stared at him a little guiltily. "Its totally fine, it just sounded like a lot of fun happening. I'm a little jealous."
"When Ava comes home you could play too, Trev," he told him, "we could have a competition."
Trevor smiled, "that sounds like fun but I'm terrible at video games, Ava kicks my butt all the time."
"That's okay, you can do teams on this one," he explained with a shrug "and you could be on my team and I'll teach you."
"Hey! What about me?!" Olivia exclaimed, pushing her son gently, "why won't you teach me?"
Noah snickered, "Mommmmmm," he sighed as if she were embarrassing him.
"Fine you boys can stick together, Ava will teach me and we'll kick both of your butts," she poked her tongue out at Noah.
"When is Ava coming back?" Noah asked, "I miss her."
"She's with some new friends," Trevor explained, "I'm going to pick her up after dinner," he replied.
/
"Just call your Dad and ask if you can stay the night and we can go hang out at Rory's house," Rose gently pushed her new friend. "There's some cute boys who are in High School that hang out with him, not that you'd be interested, but it doesn't mean some of us can't have fun. Maybe there'll be a hot girl too," she shrugged.
Ava tried not to feel like her new friend was insulting her. She thought for a moment and stared at Rosa, trying to figure out if she should just go home. She didn't want her to think that she was too much of a baby, but she wasn't sure that her Dad would agree anyway, he was a little funny about her staying at her friend's houses. Also, she would have never had admitted it to Rosa, but Olivia had just come off nights and she missed her and wanted to spend time with her and Noah and Trevor together.
"I guess… I could ask," she said finally.
Rosa grinned mischievously at her. Ava felt a little nervous and pressed call on her Dad's contact while Rosa replied to Rory and said that they'd probably come and hang after all.
/
"Hey sweetheart, all good?" Trevor asked, picking up his phone, balancing it between his ear and his shoulder as he smiled at Noah and handed him a glass of juice.
"Hi Dad," Ava replied, "I'm fine, Rosa and I just finished our homework," she added, "hey ummm, she just asked me if I am allowed to sleep over tonight."
Trevor winced. He really didn't want to be the bad guy. He glanced at Olivia for help but realised she couldn't hear the conversation. "Oh honey, I'm sorry, but… not tonight, you have swimming really early."
"You could just pick me up early…" she murmured but she knew her father wouldn't relent. He didn't want her to stay and she could tell swimming was just one reason.
"I really would feel comfortable if you came home tonight… just until I know your friend a little better," he added.
"Okay," she sighed, sounding disappointed, but truthfully, Ava was a little relieved. She knew if her father found out that she and her friend had gone off alone to meet someone else from school he would be furious.
"What about if you stay at Rosa's a little later, if it's okay with her parents, maybe I can come and get you just before your bed time."
"Umm, yeah, okay, that works, thanks Dad. Can I call you when I'm ready to be picked up?," she wondered.
"Yeah, but not too late, honey. We aren't having a late night tonight. Liv is tired and so am I."
"Okay, love you."
"Love you, be safe," Trevor hung up.
/
Ava looked around nervously as they walked quickly to their friend's apartment. It wasn't a particularly nice part of town but Rosa didn't seem worried so Ava tried to be cool. "We can't stay too long, Rosa, my Dad will want me home by about 10ish."
"Wow, rich parents are strict…" she laughed.
"We're not rich," Ava replied, a little annoyed. "And he's not strict, he just worries about me, his girlfriend is a police officer and she wo-"
"I know, Ava, just relax, its okay. You don't even like guys so it's fine, we're just hanging out with Rory and his friends. Why do you think you'd get in to trouble for that?" She asked.
"Stop mocking me," Ava snapped, "my Dad and I are close, he trusts me and I told him we were at your place and if he finds out I lied, he won't trust me. I care about what he thinks of me."
"Okay, well he's not gonna find out…so just ….chill the fuck out." Rosa rolled her eyes as they made their way up the stoop to an old weathered looking apartment block. Rosa pressed a buzzer and a few moments later they were on their way to the walk up.
Rory opened the door and let them in. He smiled at Ava a little lingeringly; she had the impression that perhaps he had a crush on her from the private DMs they'd exchanged, but he knew she liked girls, but it didn't stop his innocent flirting. There were a few more people than Ava had expected.
"Where are your parents?," she asked him over her shoulder as he nodded her inside.
"My Dad is at work…."
"Oooh fresh meat!," a guy who looked a little older grinned at the two girls walking in. Ava tried not to make a face. She was immediately uncomfortable given that they were the only girls amongst a whole bunch of boys, most who looked older than Rory.
Rosa had already sat down on the couch beside a guy who was playing a video game.
"Do you want a drink?" Rory asked her, "don't worry about those butt heads…."
"I'm okay, thanks…" Ava replied.
"Come through here…" he nodded toward the kitchen where she followed him. She was thankful, she didn't want to be left behind with the other guys who seemed a little creepy. He helped himself to a can of beer in the refrigerator. Ava was shocked that he seemed to have so little concern about his parents noticing it missing.
"I have soda if you prefer…" he smiled, realising she was a little freaked out.
"No… I'm good, thanks Rory," she looked around what was an absolutely tiny apartment. She had never been inside something so small — it was old and dilapidated and cold too, despite the weather warming up. "This is your apartment right?" She asked.
He nodded and took a seat at the tiny dining table. Ava did the same. "I bet its a piece of shit compared to where you live."
"No, no…" she said quickly.
Rory laughed, "its okay, it's not your fault your Dad has a solid job and gives a shit about where you are and what you're doing."
She felt shocked. "What do you mean? Of course your Dad cares…"
Rory smiled at her and sipped his beer. "You're very cute, Ava Langan."
She felt her cheeks flush. "You said you had sisters, where are they…"
He gave a little laugh, "I don't have any sisters, I just told you that I did because I didn't want you to be embarrassed that day, I felt really awful for you and I didn't want those assholes to harass you anymore."
"Oh…" she was irate about the lie but considered that it was kind of him to try to placate her feelings. "Thanks for being so nice to me."
He leaned over a little closer, "be careful of Rosa," he said softly, looking over his shoulder.
"Why? I thought you guys are friends…" Ava replied, a little blind-sighted.
"We are… but you're … different to us and I don't want you to get in to any trouble. Your parents care and you got a little brother to watch out for."
"One of my parents care," she replied.
"Your Mom is the cop and your Dad is the fancy lawyer right?"
Ava rolled her eyes, "No, Olivia is my Dads girlfriend and her son is the kid I walk to school," she tried to act aloof, "And my Dad barely practices law anymore, he's out there crusading for everyone else's kids."
Rory smiled. "At least they're good people," he shrugged, "I bet they work hard. My Dad gets home from work and drinks til he passes out and barely remembers my name so I think you're lucky."
She felt awkward, she couldn't imagine what that was like to not have a parent to rely on; to not have had Olivia or Trevor to call on when she was in a bind in the bathroom a few weeks earlier.
Before she could respond, he stood up. "Come on… let's go in the other room."
Ava began to cough as she entered the smoky room. She knew it wasn't cigarettes by the sweet, sickly scent. She was shocked to find Rosa drawing back on what she knew without ever being exposed to, was pot.
"Just in time," Rosa giggled, as smoke billowed from her mouth. "Your turn, Langan,"
"No thanks," Ava replied.
"Oh come on, one puff isn't going to hurt you," she pushed her.
"Rosa, cut it out, she doesn't want to smoke," Rory replied.
Rosa began to giggle uncontrollably. "She's not gonna fall in love with you, she likes girls, remember,"
"Maybe you guys should kiss then," the guy who was playing the x-box suddenly paused his game, his interest piqued. Ava desperately didn't want the attention on her sexuality and felt her face heating up for Rory who looked furious with Rosa.
"Give it here," she said, making a snap decision, holding out her hand for the joint, wanting everything to just stop.
"Ava-" Rory went to stop her but it was already in her mouth.
/
"What time is a reasonable time to expect that Ava should be picked up at 14?" Trevor asked Olivia as they finished the dishes from dinner.
"Probably 10:30 at the absolute latest especially given that she has to be up at 6 for swimming."
"Okay, I'm going to text her and say I'm leaving in ten," he told her, shaking his hands off. "Am I too strict by not letting her stay the night at her friends house?," he wondered.
"Honestly? No, I don't think so. I know you can't control teenagers but… I think until you know her parents well, I wouldn't be letting her. I'm really funny about Noah staying the night. I'd rather him have his friends at our place. I make sure they are safe, well fed, have things to do and I can sleep soundly knowing that they're okay."
Trevor nodded. "Maybe I should have suggested she invite Rosa here…"
Olivia shrugged. "I think you did a fair thing," she agreed.
She glanced over at Noah from the kitchen. She smiled — he was asleep on the couch. He desperately tried to stay up waiting for Ava.
Trevor texted his daughter and put the phone down. "Want me to take Noah up to bed?," he asked, passing Olivia, letting his hand graze upon the small of her back.
"Sure… thanks…"
He gave her a smile and went to the living room to scoop up her son. Together they climbed the stairs. He waited for Olivia to pull the bedding back and he laid Noah down, kissing his forehead. "Night bud," he whispered.
Olivia smiled and kissed her son too as she tucked him in. "Love you," she murmured.
/
"How was your night?" Trevor asked his daughter as she pressed her lips together hard, trying her best not to burst in to giggles. It proved to be too much for her, she let out a scream of laughter followed by hysterics.
At first Trevor smiled at her, confused, but when she couldn't even speak, he considered that she could have been drunk. "Ava," he snapped as they drove toward their apartment.
She quickly sat up straight, trying hard again to stop. She took short little breaths, letting a snicker or a snort slip out. "Ava, have you been drinking?," he asked as they stopped at traffic lights. He turned to her and took her shoulder. "Ava!" He snapped, "breath on me…."
"No," she said shaking her head. "Sorry Dad," she blurted out as she began to laugh hysterically all over again.
Trevor was annoyed. "Ava, have you been drinking at your friends house, answer me?!"
"No!" She exclaimed, "I swear! No!" She was still giggling.
"What's so funny? You're being really silly."
"I don't know!" She sputtered, "R-R-osa is ju-st funny!"
"And you haven't been drinking?," he asked seriously, feeling slightly more relaxed knowing that his teen was just having a silly moment.
"I swear…" she hissed as she broke up again.
Trevor said nothing and allowed her to calm down in her own time.
/
Ava and Trevor came loudly in the door. Trevor was smiling too. Olivia rose her eyebrow at the hysterical teen. "What's so funny?" She asked.
"Oh, I don't know… she's in a silly mood. I thought she'd been drinking," he rolled his eyes with a laugh, "but she hasn't been… I'm gonna go and make sure she goes to bed."
"Hi Ava," Liv greeted her, "did you have fun?," she asked, curiously.
Ava waved, almost calm. She smiled and giggled and nodded at her fathers girlfriend. "I gotta go to bed, so tired, gotta sleep," she broke up again.
Trevor got her up the stairs and it was all Olivia could do to hope she didn't wake Noah up. Unconvinced that his daughter was just in a silly mood, Olivia decided to follow them upstairs. Trevor was arguing with her to go to bed.
"Ava," Olivia cut in.
Ava looked up, she had stopped laughing long enough to be irritated with her father's demands for her to go to bed.
"Honey, what did you do at Rosa's house?," she could tell by Trevor's daughter's eyes immediately that she was affected by something.
"Uhhmmm studied. We studied."
"And that's all?"
Being a detective, there were some very easy tell-tale signs that a person was lying and even more noticeable was it among kids and teenagers. "Mmm hmmm," she replied, flopping back on her bed.
Trevor glanced at Olivia, wondering why she was questioning her.
"Ava," Olivia let herself in the room and tugged on her hand, "Ava, sit up for a minute."
Ava sat up reluctantly and tried to steady herself, feeling a little lightheaded. "Look at me," Olivia got in her face a little. It was all she could do not to burst out laughing.
Olivia sighed and turned back to Trevor. "You are going to be feeling really rotten in the morning, Whiz Khalifa…" Olivia remarked, knowing there was no point getting mad at the stoned teenager in front of her.
"What?" Trevor remarked, "Olivia's 'joke' going right over his head.
She helped Ava take her shoes off and pulled her sweater over her head as her body became heavy. Her giggling was dissipating, realising that Olivia found her out, that she knew she was stoned. Olivia made a face, smelling the pot on her school shirt.
She turned to Trevor over her shoulder, "Your daughter is stoned, Trevor," she told him matter-of-factly.
"No…" his voice trailed but he realised Olivia wasn't kidding around. "Are you kidding me? Ava?"
"Noooooo I'm not," she replied, "Livvvvvia, don't tell Dad liesssss…" she giggled.
"I think you need to go to sleep. You have to get up early for swimming and you should hope that you don't feel a pot hang over…" Olivia told her.
"Fuck…" Trevor cursed, turning around and leaving Olivia to help his daughter in to her pyjamas. Once in bed, Olivia tucked her in.
"Olivia, are you mad at me?!" Ava hissed as Liv turned her lamp off.
"I'm not mad," Olivia replied, "but your Dad is and we both thought you were smarter and more mature than this… now you need to go to sleep, Ava."
/
Olivia found Trevor downstairs pouring himself a second whisky and guzzling it down. "Easy, baby…" she told him, softly. She knew he was disappointed and upset and probably a little angry with himself.
She slowly pried the glass from his hand and set it down. "Its okay…"
"No, Liv, it's not okay, why the fuck is my daughter doing drugs?," he asked, angrily. "What the hell was she thinking?"
"Well," she began, "peer pressure maybe, maybe she was just trying to fit in— and while we might expect more from her, she's still essentially a kid who has had a lot of issues trying to find a place for herself recently…"
"I knew that kid was bad news," he fumed, "I just had a bad feeling about her from the beginning," he added, talking about Rosa. "She was so sweet to my face and she had a sugar-coated answer for everything…"
"I think you just need to relax, this is the first time anything like this has happened. Tomorrow she will be feeling pretty damn sorry for herself and we can talk to her about it then."
"She's grounded," he said, "indefinitely."
"Well… her punishment is your business, but we've both been teenagers and know what it's like to experiment."
He let out a deep sigh. "Liv, I'm not ready for this bullshit."
She slid her arms around his waist and felt him slowly giving in, reciprocating her embrace. "I think as parents we're never gonna be ready for any of that," she told him, "but we don't get a choice."
"I'm disappointed with her," he admitted, "I really trusted her and I feel so disappointed."
"I know baby," Olivia replied. "We'll get through it with her and we'll make sure it is only a one time thing."
"Thanks…" he murmured, kissing her forehead.
"Come on, you don't need alcohol to deal with your upset," she told him, "let's just go to bed and we can deal with this in the morning."
/
"Mommmm, wake upppp," Noah whispered, shaking his Mom awake.
Olivia jolted awake at her son's voice. "What is it, babe?," she asked, sitting up.
"Mommy, Ava is vomiting—"
"Okay," she sat up. "Go back to bed, I'll be in there in a minute…"
"What's going on?" Trevor asked, sleepy and disoriented. He could hear his daughter down the hall and needed no further explanation. He halted Liv, "its okay, you stay…" he said said, drawing in a deep breath.
Olivia decided to let him handle it. "Come here babe," she told Noah who was hovering, unsure of what to do, ignoring the fact that Olivia had told him to go back to bed. She lifted him in to the bed beside her. "Its okay, Trev will look after Ava."
She cradled her little boy in her arms hoping that she never had to endure the same situation with him.
/
"Ava…" Trevor sighed softly torn between feeling concerned and frustrated with his daughter.
"I'm sorry, Daddy…" she apologised between wretches, sobbing because of how rotten she felt.
"Its okay," he said gently. He navigated past the patches of vomit over the bathroom floor and made his way to her, holding back her hair. He patted her back, "get it all out, kiddo…" she sobbed as she vomited and he began to realise that she would have been regretting her choices already.
"I'm going to get something to clean this up, just stay where you are and try to get rid of all of that pot out of your system…and whatever else." He went downstairs and grabbed a bucket and some floor cleaner and took it back upstairs.
Ava had finished vomiting and sat with her head slumped over the toilet bowl.
"Are you okay?," he asked gently, "feeling okay?"
"Mmmm…" she shrugged, slowly sitting up. He lifted her up from the floor.
"Ok try to brush your teeth and go back to bed and I'll be in to talk to you in a minute after I clean this up."
Ava did what she was told as her father wiped up the tiles and gave the floor a mopping. Ava went back to bed and Trevor went downstairs to empty the bucket and have a drink. He grabbed a sparkling water for Ava hoping that it'd settle her stomach.
It was just on 1am. He yawned and took the bottle up and the empty, rinsed out mop bucket with him to her bedroom. He set the bucket down, "if you're going to be sick again," he held it up for her. "And I want you to sip at this one…"
Ava took the drink from him and sat up and took a few sips. Trevor sat down on the edge of the bed. He glanced at her, wondering if it was the right moment to talk to her. He struggled for the right words.
"Daddy are you mad at me?," she asked in a soft voice, breaking the silence.
Trevor sighed. He wanted to say no, but he needed to be honest. "Yeah…" he nodded, "I'm pretty angry with you, Ava…. I expected more and I trusted you."
He watched her wipe her eyes as the tears ran slid down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Its okay," he said softly, "I know you didn't mean to upset me, or… get caught or do something that would misplace my trust in you, but you did. You're a kid, you messed up. I just don't know if I can trust you or your new friends."
"I don't care about my friends… will you let me tell you what happened?" She asked.
"I don't know, Ava, is it gonna be the truth or is it going to be a lie?," he wondered.
"The truth, Dad…"
"I think, you need to go to sleep. You have swimming in the morning and you need to be up early and you're not going to feel great as it is."
She wiped her cheeks, hurt that her father wasn't interested in hearing her side of things. He stood up and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Goodnight Ava. I don't want a fight when I wake you up."
She didn't say a word. She put the bottle of water on her bedside and watched her father walk out without looking back.
/
Olivia woke up just on daybreak to use the bathroom. She vaguely remembered Noah waking them up because of Ava's vomiting. She remembered Trevor getting up, but had fallen fast asleep again and didn't hear him come back to bed.
As she rinsed her hands and came back to bed, she was surprised to see that Noah was sleeping between them still — that Trevor hadn't bothered to put him back to bed. Through the cracks of the light in the curtains, she could see her son's tiny body dwarfed against Trevor who was hugging him close. She smiled to herself. Noah was tucked beneath Trevor's chin, curled up with an arm around the man who was his new hero.
Their bond had been steadily growing but she hadn't realised quite how comfortable her son felt with him until that moment. If the room had a little more light she would have been inclined to get a photo, but she didn't want to disturb either of them. She slid back beneath the covers and tried to stay awake, knowing that they would have to get up for Ava's swim meet.
She must have dozed off again, because she woke up to Ava sitting on the side of the bed. She was startled, but glanced at her. "Hey babe…" she whispered, "are you okay?"
Ava nodded, "I know I need to get up soon but…" she struggled to tell Olivia that she was a little jealous of Noah being coddled by both Olivia and her father. She knew it would be hard to win back her Dad's affections and could only hope Olivia wasn't mad at her too.
Olivia didn't need her to say it, she saw her eyes flick to her father and Noah and knew exactly what his daughter craved. Olivia pulled back the covers and got out of the bed. "Hop in," she told her, "even big kids need snuggling too," she smiled. Olivia knew Trevor was angry and that he would be tough on his daughter, but it wasn't her job to parent Ava, just to be there as promised.
Ava climbed in to bed beside Noah. Olivia got back in too. "Are you feeling okay?" Olivia asked her.
"I feel sick…" she replied, "and sad."
Olivia put her arms around her. "Close your eyes, honey, enjoy your last few minutes of sleep before swimming."
Ava tried to compose herself. She squeezed her eyes tightly and tried her best to go back to sleep.
Olivia stroked her hair and glanced at Trevor to see that he was waking up. He gave Liv a weary smile. He lifted his hand from Noah's back and stroked Ava's hair, happy for the first moment of peace before the day began and he would have to face up to what his daughter had done the night before.
"I love you…" Trevor whispered to Liv in the ill-lit room.
"I love you too," she whispered back. She felt Ava's body become a little heavier against her and realised that she had drifted off to sleep.
"I should get up… and get some coffee. I need to get little miss up."
"You go get coffee, I'll get them both up in a minute,"
"No, you and Noah should stay in bed and rest, its your weekend. I'll take Ava this morning…"
Olivia figured he might have wanted some time alone with her to talk without other distractions. "Okay," she replied. "But, maybe I'll come downstairs and have coffee with you and come back to bed after you guys go."
Trevor carefully extricated himself from Noah and covered him back over and Olivia did the same. "You get dressed, I'll go get the coffee," she told him as they crossed the room, meeting briefly to kiss good morning.
"Thanks baby…"
/
Trevor watched with frustration as his daughter was laughed by Rhiannon and another girl as she climbed out of the pool, not even looking up. The coach approached her and spoke quietly to her aside from the rest of the girls. Ava was nodding, looking very serious before walking away from her team.
He noticed as she began walking around the pool toward the bleachers where he sat waiting that she had began to wipe tears from her face. She used the towel that was draped over her shoulders to wipe her cheeks. She peeled off her swim cap and held her goggles in her hand and he watched her face redden as she got closer to him.
He knew he didn't have to say a word; that she got the point, that her night of stupidity had cost her two races — she had come second last in her freestyle heat and hadn't even made the semi-final. She was sluggish and her brain felt exhausted and she knew her father was going to be furious with her for blowing her meet.
He stood up and met her at the foot of the steps. "Can we go?," she asked.
"We should stay, don't you think it's a little rude to go now?" Trevor asked, "it's poor sportsmanship."
She glanced up at him and he saw her blue eyes fill with tears of humiliation. "Nobody wants me here, I embarrassed my team."
He glanced over her shoulder and could see Rhiannon and her friend looking in their direction and laughing. "Well, I don't know why Rhiannon is laughing, I've never seen her win a race in the entire season," he replied, knowing that's who Ava was referring to. "Come on…"
He put an arm around her and walked her out to the car.
/
Trevor texted Olivia while he waited for Ava to put her things in the car. "Leaving swimming, what a disaster, little miss is feeling very sensitive and sorry. Want me to bring back breakfast for you guys?"
Ava got in to the car and sank back in to the seat. She picked up her phone and glanced at it for a few moments and rolled her eyes. There were a few messages from Rosa.
Told you it wouldn't be a problem…
Rory really likes you, are you sure there's not a tiny part of you that likes him back?
Not talking to me? Still asleep? I totally didn't expect that you would smoke up last night, even Rory was surprised. He's mad at me for 'letting' you.
Message me when you get up, maybe we can hang out later.
Ava locked her phone and tossed it in the centre console of her Dad's car. "Thanks for that," he said, picking it up. "No phone for two weeks."
"Two weeks?!" She exclaimed.
"Want to make it three?," he asked, raising his eyebrow at her alarm.
Ava shook her head and then shrugged. "I don't even care, no one actually likes me anyway."
Trevor wondered for a moment if she was being sassy, but she looked out the window and slumped her shoulders and he realised she meant it. "I'm not taking your phone because I don't want you to have friends, I am taking your phone because you used it to lie to me and I trusted you to be responsible and mature and when I dropped my daughter off, she was a sweet, honest and trustworthy kid who I would have never expected would be smoking pot behind my back…"
"I'm sorry," she apologised quietly.
"You're also grounded until further notice too. That means you go to school, you come home, you do your homework, you go to swim practice, we find you a new dance school and you can do that, but nothing else."
"Okay," she agreed and was secretly glad.
"Where did you guys get the pot from?," he asked, "was it from Rosa?"
Ava shook her head and shrugged. "We went to Rory's apartment…Dad, I didn't want to, but… I didn't know how to say no."
"Easy, Ava," he told her with frustration, "you just say 'no, I don't want to do that.' Or, 'let me ask my Dad's permission because he thinks I'm here,' and if you called and asked me, I would have said no, Ava, you're not walking to a boy's house after dark on your own in a shitty neighbourhood."
"You make it sound so easy," she told him, her face wet with tears. "That life is so black and white, but it's not and I didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't even want to stay later, I wanted to come and hang out with you and Noah and Olivia but I just wanted to have friends that like me and to fit in for once."
"And did you?," he asked, "did you fit in, honey? Cos I gotta tell ya, if sneaking out to a boy's house and getting stoned is what it's gonna take to fit in with Rosa and Rory and God knows who else, then is that who you're going to become? Just fuck-it to everything, forget swim, dance, your family, because your friends need you to get stoned in order to be who they need you to be?" His voice rose as he tried to make his point.
She winced at her father's cursing; it was very rare that she heard him curse in front of her.
"No… it was stupid, I know it was stupid, stop yelling at me."
"I'm angry, Ava, anything could have happened. When you lose your inhibitions, people take advantage of you and I just really thought you were smarter than that. You're not seeing Rosa or Rory again either, that's done."
"Rory tried to stop me," she told her Dad. "When Rosa was teasing me in front of everyone, he tried to stop it…"
Trevor shook his head.
He got a reply from Liv. "No thanks baby, Noah and I are going to make some French toast for you guys, sounds like a rough morning."
"I messed up and I'm sorry. I will never do it again, I will never lie to you again, Dad, I promise."
He said nothing and pulled the car out of park and started to head home.
/
"Mommy is Ava feeling a bit better today?" Noah asked as he stood on a chair at the kitchen counter dipping the bread in to the egg as Olivia got the skillet ready.
"I think she's still feeling a bit sick and sad, babe," Olivia explained, "but she'll be okay,"
"I like that we are cooking, this is fun," he remarked. She smiled at her son and handed him the damp dish cloth to wipe his fingers on when he was done with the bread.
"I like it too, it's nice to spend time together just you and I, sometimes, isn't it?," she asked.
"Yeah, but I like being here too…" he replied.
"I know, I like it too, but it's okay to like to have alone time with me, or even alone time with Trevor if that's what you wanted, your feelings are totally okay."
"Mommy do you think that we could go to the cinema to see the Lego movie?," he asked.
"This weekend?," she wondered.
"Yeah… or maybe another night…" he wanted to give Olivia an option.
"Just you and I?" It wasn't lost on her that they had been spending a lot of time at Trevor's and far less time at her place.
"Only if Trev and Ava doesn't want to come…" he said slowly and she knew that he was being polite and trying to save her feelings. Olivia flipped the French toast.
"I think I'll take you, it'll just be something for us… maybe we can do it this weekend, I'll have to see when the movie is playing. If we don't go this weekend, maybe I can take you after school next week."
"Okay," Noah smiled.
"Wanna set the table for me, babe?," she asked, "and then you can get the stuff out of the fridge for scrambled eggs."
/
Ava briefly greeted Noah and Olivia and went straight upstairs to shower and change from her swim meet.
"How'd she go?" Olivia asked as Trevor came in to the kitchen, smiling finally. He rested his hands on her hips and planted a kiss on her cheek. She turned her head to face him and he kissed her again, this time on the lips.
"Not great, terrible in fact — but we knew that would happen and maybe it was a little bit of a humbling experience for her to lose and lose badly."
"Oh no… do you think she'll want to eat?"
"Well now that she's feeling sick, her ego has taken a beating and she's been grounded and had her phone removed, I doubt she's going to want to leave her room," Trevor replied.
"Alright," Olivia agreed.
"I'm really sorry Liv, that our time is being dominated by my 14 year old and all of her issues. I miss our time alone when I was able to concentrate on you and just having fun with the kids, this has all been a lot," he sighed.
"Its okay," Olivia replied. "Noah and I can go and spend the weekend at home, give you guys some time if you like."
"That's not really what I'm saying," Trevor answered, "but I guess I just want to say that I'm sorry if I'm distracted."
"No, don't be sorry, kids are number one. Take a seat, grab some breakfast. Noah is bursting at the seams to feed you," she smiled, "and then we can either just have a quiet day together or Noah and I can go and do something for the day and leave you guys to it."
Trevor stepped in close and towered over her. He gave her a smile and took her cheeks in his large, warm hands. "Thank you, Liv, for being so understanding and for Noah too, you guys always know how to make me smile."
He kissed her lingeringly. "I love you," she murmured. "I really just want to make you happy."
"You do," he replied softly, lifting a hand to stroke her hair. "You guys really just make me so happy. I hope we make you guys happy too, current drama not withstanding."
Olivia managed to laugh. "You both make me and Noah feel happy…we are both happiest with you guys."
Trevor kissed her again. "Good…" he smiled, "And thank you for making breakfast; where's Noah?"
"He's just playing my iPad in the living room… is it okay if I go and invite Ava down to eat?," she asked, "I made some pancakes for her."
"You're an angel," Trevor grinned. "I'll get Noah."
/
Olivia knocked on Ava's bedroom door. "I'm getting dressed," she called back.
"It's Liv, let me know when I can come in…" she called back.
A few minutes passed before Ava called out again. She was brushing her wet hair in front of the mirror and Olivia could see that she'd been crying. "Hey kiddo… how are you feeling?"
"Stupid and angry with myself."
"Honey, your Dad needs time to just cool off, it'll be okay…"
"I blew it…" she dropped her brush on her dresser. "I was starting to have the best relationship with him and I blew it and now he probably regrets having me dumped at his door."
"I know for a fact that's not true. He loves you very much that's why he reacted the way he did. If he didn't love you so much he wouldn't care what you do."
"He didn't even want to hear my side of the story….I know nothing can make up for lying but I wanted to tell him what happened."
"I'm sure Dad will want to hear your side of the story, babe, but he just needs some time. I want you to come downstairs and eat some breakfast. I made you some pancakes and there's some French toast."
"I can't face Dad…" she murmured.
"The more you face your Dad, the quicker things will go back to normal," Olivia told her. "I'm not letting you skip out on breakfast, so…"
"K…"
Ava piled her wet hair on her head and followed Olivia downstairs.
"Hi Ava!" Noah greeted her excitedly, "Mommy and I made breakfast for you and Trevor."
Ava tried to smile. "Thanks, Noah, that was so nice of you both."
Olivia picked up the plate that was in Ava's spot as she took a seat. "What do you want? Would you like some pancakes?"
"Yes please," Ava did her best to avoid her father's eyes. Trevor had already helped Noah with his plate, so she organised her own and took a seat across from Trevor. They exchanged small smiles, acknowledging the awkwardness of the situation.
"You and Mom were busy this morning, lucky Ava and I are really hungry," Trevor smiled at Noah.
"I made the French toast, didn't I, Mom?" Noah asked, "and I made the pancakes too."
"He did," Olivia confirmed, "he's better at cracking eggs than I am."
Noah giggled and put some maple syrup over his pancakes and French toast. "Are we gonna do something fun today?," he wondered.
"I'm not sure," Trevor answered, "what would you like to do?"
Noah shrugged, "I don't know, go to the park maybe…"
"That sounds like it might be fun," Trevor replied, "what do you guys think?," he asked looking at Olivia and Ava, "what about a nice walk through Central Park and we can stop at the Jungle Gym for awhile — maybe Mom and I can get a coffee…"
Ava just nodded and concentrated on her food.
"I'll never say no to a coffee… maybe we can go to the Jump & Climb…" Liv suggested knowing that her son loved to expend all of his energy there.
"OOooh really?" Noah asked with a big grin. "Ava will you come to Jump & Climb too?," he asked.
"Sure, if I'm invited," she replied.
"Of course you're invited. You're part of this family," Trevor replied to her. "Why don't we all have a nice easy morning and early afternoon, any homework that needs doing should get done - out here on the table where we can see you both and then you kids can watch TV or play the x-box or do something quietly while Mom and I get some chores done…"
"Okay," Ava replied quietly.
/
"Do you think I'm being too harsh?" Trevor wondered as he and Olivia stood at the kitchen folding laundry together. He watched Ava and Noah colouring in together. She never looked more like a child than she did as she laid side by side with Noah on her stomach furiously and carefully colouring between the lines.
"I think you're angry and shocked, you expected more, but you're looking at it with adult eyes," she told him. "Sometimes we can't help our initial reaction and you might think she should know better than to want to fit in, but you need to consider everything she went through with Rhiannon and her dance troupe and this is the only girl that's showed her any kindness, of course she didn't want to lose that."
"She told me she didn't even want to stay later, but she wanted to come home and hang out with us instead, but didn't know how to say no."
"Its the same way when someone puts you on the spot to go out for drinks after work, you want to say no, you know you don't want to go, but you feel pressured, like you might offend someone by saying no — I know you definitely get that," Olivia reminded him.
"Point made…" he remarked.
She smiled. "Why don't you take Ava for a trip to Starbucks, you know how she loves those shitty, milky drinks, have a talk with her without your anger, let her explain herself. You can't stay mad forever and you know she is very remorseful."
"Ew," he screwed up his face, "that would mean I'd have to lower myself to drinking Starbucks."
Olivia laughed. "You are such a snob."
Trevor laughed too and finally sighed. "Alright, I'll do that. I am careful not to reward her behaviour though."
"I know, but Ava is an honest kid, she isn't able to hide anything on that face of hers and you know it."
Trevor laughed. "She gets that from me…"
"Go on, leave this… I'll finish it off. When you guys get back we can have some lunch and head out if you like."
"Why don't Ava and I bring some lunch back? Maybe something from Shake Shack or Wendys?"
Olivia smiled, "I'm trying to lose the pounds, Trev, not add them."
"Oh shut up," he rolled his eyes, slowly pulling one of Ava's t-shirts from her hands. He put it down on the dining table and wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands on the small of his back, allowing one to slip sneakily to her backside.
She smiled up in to his beautiful face, letting his gorgeous eyes search hers. "I love you as you are, sexy, curvy, Olivia Benson and I can't wait to have you at my mercy again…"
"Me either…" she murmured against his mouth as he closed the gap for a kiss. "Your next night off is going to be date night. Casi or Lucy can come and stay with the kids at one apartment and we'll stay at the other."
"Love it when you take charge," she mumbled, pulling him close so that his pelvis crushed against hers. She kissed him with an open mouth, welcoming the tip of his tongue, welcoming him to taste her mouth and make out with her slowly, paying attention full attention to the way she came at him with passion and a little urgency.
"Gross," Ava muttered, coming in to the kitchen.
Olivia pulled away from Trevor quickly. He started to smirk, giving his lip a little wipe, watching Olivia's face turn crimson. "This is a public area of the house, guys," she couldn't help but to tease.
"I make no apology," Trevor replied, "I'm allowed to kiss my girlfriend."
"That's fair, but maybe hands above the waist, butt-toucher," she smirked at her Dad. He couldn't help but to laugh.
"You're a brat," he remarked, "go and get something presentable on, I'm taking you for a walk with me."
"Me?," she almost choked. "You want to take me for a walk? Am I going to get in to more trouble?" She looked panic-stricken.
"You will if you don't do as I ask," he replied good-naturedly. Olivia resumed folding clothes.
"Well… let me tell Noah, he's waiting for me, I told him I'd get him a snack," she added.
"Its okay," Liv replied, "I can get him something."
"No, no… we can wait." Trevor insisted, "get Noah his snack and then we'll go."
Ava nervously chopped up some apple and banana and took it to Olivia's son as promised and explained that she would be back soon enough and was just going out with her Dad. He didn't seem too worried.
/
"Where are we going? Oh god, are you taking me to Port Authority and putting me on a bus to nowhere?" Ava asked, blurting out her alarm.
Trevor couldn't help but to laugh, "Calm down, I'm not getting rid of you, you're fourteen, I'm far too attached to you now… if you were six… well, we might be having a different conversation," he joked. "I'm taking you to Starbucks."
"Why? You know I like Starbucks right? Like, that's not a punishment for me."
"Ava, I'm really trying here, okay?" Trevor told his daughter. "I don't want to be angry with you. I said what I had to say this morning and now I want us to talk about it because I don't want us to lose the ability to communicate. I want you to be able to share your feelings with me and I realise that if you are always scared of my anger, you're going to be less likely to want to tell me what you're feeling."
"Okay," she replied.
"So, I'm taking you to Starbucks and you can get one of those disgusting sugar drinks and I'll endure some crap excuse for a coffee and we're going to talk about last night and I want to give you the chance to tell me your side of the story."
"Okay, Dad."
/
"What is that?" Trevor asked, nodding toward Ava's green drink.
"It's a kiwi starfruit lemonade….try it," she held her drink out to him.
Trevor took it, eyeing her suspiciously and took a sip. It was sweet, but the lemonade taste balanced it out. "Actually, it's surprisingly not that bad," he smiled. "Certainly better than this caffeine," he nodded at his poor excuse for coffee.
Ava managed to smile.
"Okay kiddo, tell me…" he said, setting her drink down and pushing it back toward her. "Tell me what happened last night, let me know your thought process."
Ava dropped her eyes and glanced down at her drink. "I don't have any excuses," she said softly, "I really wanted to just come home and be with you and Liv and Noah and Rosa kept calling me a baby and she kept making comments about being rich and I really just thought that she might shut up if I agreed to go to Rory's with her."
Trevor listened. He watched her eyes fill with tears. She reached for a napkin and balled it up in her hands. "Does Rory live close to where I dropped you off?"
Ava shrugged, "about six blocks… I was really scared but Rosa kept telling me it was fine and I told her that if you found out you'd probably never forgive me and she was just being … mean. When we got to Rory's house there was a bunch of other guys there who were older and I guess it was planned but I didn't know that… some of the guys made some gross comments so Rory took me in to the kitchen away from them and we just talked. He was really kind to me."
Trevor tried not to say anything. All he could think about were older boys making passes at his sweet daughter who just made one mistake. He knew Olivia would understand exactly why the idea of her going unattended to a house full of teenage boys made him nervous.
"Then what happened…"
"We just talked, he drank a beer and offered me a soda but… I said no. I like Rory but… I remembered what you said about drinks and accepting them from people at parties," she explained, "and eventually we went back to the living room and Rosa was being obnoxious and smoking a joint. She offered it and I said no and she teased me and Rory told her to cut it out. She kept teasing Rory about me not being interested in him cos I only liked girls and then the other guys were being creeps and I just wanted them to stop, so I smoked it with her and I didn't like the way I felt so I made up a lie about you coming to get me so Rory walked us back to her place. I felt really weird and not myself and not in control and I was scared to stay there."
He was glad she at least had her wits about her.
"You should have called me. I would have come to pick you up."
"I know but… I didn't want anyone to ridicule me or tease me or get back to school on Monday and add to the rest of it. I just…" she wiped her cheeks. "I know you're really mad at me but I just needed someone to like me, school is really hard, Dad," she told him, daring to look up at him. "Every day people are mean to me, they throw things at me, they write stupid things on my locker, they put notes in my locker, they talk about beating me up…. Rosa and Rory were on my side."
"Honey, it doesn't sound like Rosa is on your side. I haven't made my mind up on this Rory kid yet, but I need you to stay away from kids like Rosa. She isn't your friend. Friends don't do that to each other."
"I know…" she murmured.
"I understand school has been really hard and I understand that you're feeling lonely and alone, sweetheart, but you still need to be careful. You have no idea how much it terrifies me to think about you turning up to someones house without me knowing and something terrible happening. I don't want to keep on about it, but you know what Olivia does for a living…"
"I know, I knew as soon as I walked in that it was a bad situation."
"Okay, well…. I'm just so thankful that you're fine and that you had at least one person looking out for you."
Ava nodded. "I'm so sorry that I let you down, Dad, I really, really hate that you're mad at me or that you don't trust me, I'll never lie to you again, I swear."
"Come over here, sweetie." He patted the bench beside him. Trevor was sitting on the booth side of a long bench that lined the back wall of the coffee place. Ava got up and took a seat beside her Dad. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. "I love you so much and you really gave me a scare. I don't think you realise just how infinite a parent's love is," he told her, squeezing her tightly.
"I love you too," she murmured.
"And I'm sorry that nothing's changed at school…I think we need to look at alternatives…"
He loosened his grip on his daughter and kissed her forehead again. "You're my tiny, baby," he smiled, "I know you think that's lame, but… that's all you're ever gonna be and I need to protect you at all costs because you're all I've got and you'll always be my number one."
"You have Olivia and Noah now too," she murmured.
Trevor nodded. "But you're still my only daughter and the nicest thing that's ever happened to me is having you living with me again."
"You don't think it's lame that I don't want to spend time outside of school with anyone but you guys?," she asked.
He shook his head. "I want you to have friends, but I also want you to have focus and I want you to understand how much your family loves you. You have no idea how much Olivia loves you too, she adores you and all both of us want is for you to be happy, but our bigger concern is your safety."
"I know, I'm sorry."
"I don't need you to keep apologising, baby," Trevor told her, "I know that you're sorry, I can tell, but I just need you to know to understand that if having friends means that you have to be someone you're not, I'd rather you come home and feel comfortable with us and not have to pretend. Pretending is not something I ever want for you. I want you to always be who you are and not water yourself down for me or for Liv."
"Okay."
"If you ever get in a situation like that again, go to the bathroom and call me and I would be more relieved than mad that you did the right thing."
She nodded. "I got a bunch of texts from Rosa this morning and I don't understand because I didn't think she was like that, I thought we had a lot in common."
Trevor shrugged. "I'd prefer you stay away from her… and if you're going to continue hanging out with the other kid, it's only to happen under our roof, okay?"
Ava nodded in agreement.
/
"Dad, I need to tell you something I did…" Ava told him as they walked home.
"Oh jeez…" he sighed, "what did you do?," he wondered, bracing himself for hearing yet another part to what had happened the night before.
"The night after I got my period and Mom finally texted back… I told her what happened but I left out the part about calling Olivia," she started.
"Uhuh…" he knew exactly why Ava had left that part out and he didn't blame her, especially when the relationship was already on tenterhooks.
"She replied with something really vague like, 'I'm sure you got yourself worked out then,'" Trevor listened to his daughter and drew in a deep breath.
"I got mad," Ava continued, "and I was mad because of how Olivia had been so kind and helpful and I know even if Mom was home and even if I lived with her, she would never have dropped everything like Olivia did and she wouldn't have been so kind to me and made a big deal out of it in a sweet and non awkward way like you did… so I wrote her a really long message and I told her that I was glad I was with you and she was selfish and I hoped that she didn't really plan on coming back in three months."
Trevor had to hide a smile; it was inappropriate. He was sad for his daughter, but he was glad that he didn't have to fill her brain with negative things about her mother in order for her to see the writing on the wall herself.
"Did she respond?" Trevor asked.
"She said that I should be careful what I ask for… it's all on my phone, you can read it if you want, I don't have any secrets on my phone, Dad."
"Okay, maybe you can show me later," he said softly. "Do you feel sad about what you said to Mom?," he wondered.
Ava shrugged. "I just get sad that she doesn't want me." Trevor put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. "I didn't ask to be born, I don't think it's crazy that I'd want her to want me."
"Its not crazy, you're right, she chose to be your Mom and I chose to be your Dad and there's no other job that is more important to me and there's no other job that should be more important to her, sweetie, but this is far less about you and more to do with her personal issues."
Ava nodded. "I know, I mean, I know that in a logic sense…"
"But it still hurts, I understand," he finished for her. "You are dealing with a lot of things right now, Ava, and despite slip ups which are always going to happen because you are young, I want you to know that I'm very proud of you for the way you are handling it."
"Thanks Dad… its because you and Liv and Noah make it easy for me to feel loved and comfortable to not try to be tough… and sometimes I don't feel like being fourteen, I want to be a little kid again, I don't want to grow up. I just want my Dad…"
He couldn't help but to smile at her admission. "Gosh… you know what? I'm not ready for you to be fourteen… and sometimes I just want my little girl to need me too. You are still a kid though and even though you're growing up, you're still a little girl in so many ways and I don't want you to grow up too fast…"
"Me either," she agreed.
/
Olivia rested her head on Trevor's shoulder as they watched the kids play together. "Ava!" Trevor shouted in reproach, watching her launch Noah meters in to the air on one of the trampolines. He gasped, watching as Noah did a series of rolls and landed on his backside back on the trampoline, collapsing in laughter.
Even though Olivia's heart had momentarily stopped, she knew how limber her son was and had watched him do the same thing on his own many times.
"Its okay, Noah loves a little rough-housing," Olivia told him, "Sonny normally takes him for some boy time and gives him a bit of a hard time and he thinks its great, I'm sure he can handle Ava and I know she won't hurt him."
"Still…" Trevor sighed, relaxing again. Olivia linked her arm within his and sipped her coffee, leaning back on him.
"How are you anyway, you seem tired…" Trevor asked. He didn't want to say it, but she was a little bit more affectionate than usual. He wondered if perhaps he hadn't been paying enough attention to her.
"I'm okay, I am tired, just trying to adjust coming off nights, I always regulate my sleeping and then its time to start again," she laughed. "I feel a bit worried about what you told me about Ava walking in to that boys house… I know she's fine and I'm thankful for that, but I think maybe I should talk to her about some of the situations that I've had present at work…"
Trevor nodded. "I guess…"
"Unless you don't want me to, I won't…"
"I just want to keep her innocence a little longer," he replied, "like, look at her…" he smiled, "she's just a little girl trying so hard to be grown up, I just want to keep her like this forever."
"Okay," Olivia agreed, "I get it, I feel the same about Noah. I just really hope there's never a next time or there's never a time where she puts up with a situation that could turn just because she doesn't want someone to think badly of her."
"Me too…" Trevor murmured. He was troubled by the idea of Olivia having to explain what happens when young girls don't listen to their instincts. "But, I don't want to have that conversation with her so quickly after being angry with it, because it would mean that I would be blaming her if something bad had happened, and I wouldn't."
"Okay," Liv respected his answer. "Maybe another time…"
Trevor nodded. He let go of her arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. He turned his head to kiss her lips. "I love you, thank you for understanding."
"I love you too," she replied.
"I was thinking that we really need some alone time…" his voice trailed off. "I just wanna take you out for dinner or a night alone where we can just watch what we want to watch on television," he leaned in close, "hang out naked in the kitchen…" he smirked.
"Stop…" Olivia laughed softly, swatting him away from her ear.
"I'd love to see you hanging out in the kitchen with a t-shirt and little pair of underthings on…" he nudged her, chuckling at how flushed her face became. He nuzzled her neck, causing her to shrug him away.
"Go away! You're giving me goosebumps, this is not appropriate," she told him, setting her coffee down. She stood up, still grinning at him. "I have a lot of pent up… energy to expend," she told him, backing away slowly.
He laughed at her knowing that she was lying, given how tired she was, but he knew she was about to go and hang out with the kids and possibly jump with them and he wasn't going to be too allergic to watching her bond with both of the kids.
"Ooohhhhh Mommmmy, are you gonna jump with us?" Noah asked as she approached, throwing Trevor a wink over her shoulder. He knew that she loved his sexy talk, but in a public place, it was a little too hard for her to deal with.
"Yeah, why not?" Olivia laughed, bouncing on the trampoline mat with her socks. Trevor watched them back bouncing races along the run of the trampoline and back from one end of the play centre to the other.
He felt back at peace with everything and was happy that he had resolved things with Ava. He watched his daughter grinning and play wrestling Olivia until Noah joined in and they teamed up against her, toppling her over. The three of them lay on the trampoline mat laughing hysterically.
He felt content, but was serious when he told Olivia he needed some time alone. He considered taking her away for the night, somewhere not too far, but out of the city, somewhere different. He would speak to Lucy and try to organise it for her next days off.
/
"Trev, what can we do?" Noah asked when Olivia and Ava went upstairs to braid her hair and help sort out some of her old clothes that didn't fit anymore. "Can we do something fun together like Mom and Ava?"
Trevor smiled at Noah. Sometimes he was careful of being too forceful of a relationship on Olivia's son, but forgot that it was probably easy for him to feel left out. "Sure, do you have any ideas?" Trevor asked.
Noah shrugged. "I dunno…"
"Have you ever been camping?" Trevor wondered, striking an idea.
"Nooooo, Mommy says she doesn't like the outdoors and it's not very safe for just the two of us."
Trevor smiled. "Well, we can do at-home camping tonight if you like…" he thought for a moment, "sometimes when I was small and my parents couldn't afford to take me camping for real, this is what we would do…." Trevor got up from the couch, "come, follow me…"
/
"Dad gave your phone back?" Olivia asked, noticing that Ava had been texting a little.
"Yeah, we went through Rosa's texts together and he helped me reply and I'm not allowed to reply to her anymore and I won't…. But I'm allowed to text Rory and use my instagram only because you're on it but I had to turn private messaging off and Dad connected my iCloud to his, so texts go to him too."
Olivia nodded, thinking that Trevor had made some great parenting decisions. "Are you on TikTok and stuff like that?"
"No, Dad doesn't want me near anything like that, he hates it."
"So do I, its really dangerous. I see a lot of young girls getting in to hot water on it."
"Liv, do you really see girls my age getting raped or assaulted? Or is that just something Dad gets scared about?"
"I really see it," Olivia replied as she went to work on Ava's second braid. "I don't really want to tell you details, Ava, but I genuinely believe that as women, we need to be very, very careful of all situations. Whenever your intuition tells you something is off, you need to trust it. You need to call us immediately regardless."
"Okay."
"We just want to keep you safe… I'm glad your friend looked out for you last night, he obviously cares about you."
"Yeah, Rosa kept saying he has a crush on me, but he told me today that he doesn't he just likes talking to me because I don't judge him."
Olivia smiled. "Its because you are a sweetheart, you take after your Dad like that, he's very kind."
Ava smiled too. "Thanks Olivia."
"Okay," she began, fastening her hair tie. "Now let's go through these clothes. When you have some more room, Dad has asked me to take you shopping for new stuff."
"oooOOooh exciting," Ava grinned, "I have a garbage bag for Goodwill and I'm ready to get rid of a bunch of things that don't fit anymore."
"Great, let's get started and we can finish tomorrow."
/
"Right, have you got that side?" Trevor asked Noah. He held on tightly to the blanket that Trevor had pulled over the two back-to-back couches, spread as far apart as possible.
"I've got it, Trev!" Noah told him with a serious nod. Trevor fastened his side of the blanket down with a pile of books from his office and went around to Noah's side and fastened that side down too.
"Okay, how's that? Do you think that's big enough for all of us to fit in?," he asked Noah, "go in to our cubby and you let me know what you think…"
Noah disappeared beneath the blanket and checked out the fairly decent expanse of space. "I think so!," he called out. "It might be a little squeez-y. We'll have to cuddle up with Mommy and Ava!"
"Fine by me!" Trevor replied as Noah emerged. "Okay, what do you think we need in there for a good, fun camp out?," he asked.
Noah thought for a minute. "We need ummmm… blankets and pillows and a flash light and maybe some snacks."
"Sounds like you're all over it. Alright… you go get the covers from your bed and you grab your pillow and drag it down here, I'll find us a flash light and I'll see what snacks we've got for the night."
Trevor couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Ava had never really been interested in camping and Noah couldn't have been more excited if he tried and Trevor knew that the little boy inside himself was excited by the whimsy too. Having a little boy around allowed him to indulge a different side of parenthood that he'd never experienced.
As Noah passed Ava's room, pulling the blanket behind him and a pillow under one arm, Olivia halted him. "What are you doing, Noah?"
Noah looked up at his Mom as if he'd been caught doing something wrong, "Trevor and I are making a tent in the living room, he told me to get my blanket and pillow. We are camping."
Olivia rose an eyebrow, "Oooookay, should I come down and see?"
"No! Boys only!," he said quickly.
"Suit yourself," she murmured, letting him go.
"Trev are you gonna sleep out here with me too? And Mom and Ava too?" Noah asked, passing the kitchen where Trevor was taking out some appropriate snacks.
"Yep. I think we could get Mom and Ava in on this, you leave them to me. We're gonna make some s'mores and toast some marshmallows, what do you think about that?" He asked Noah.
Noah grinned at him excitedly. "Could we go camping for real one day?," he asked.
"Of course!" Trevor exclaimed, "I'll take you camping on your summer vacation, Mom and Ava could come too if they wanted," he paused, "unless you just want a dudes weekend."
Noah shrugged. "Maybe they could come the first time and maybe we could go another time for just boys. We could go fishing and we could make a real life fire."
Trevor grinned at him, "I would love that, kiddo, that sounds like so much fun. We've only got a few more weeks before your vacation and that's what we'll do."
"Thanks Trevor, I love you!"
Trevor set the flashlight down on the coffee table and knelt down on one knee. "Aww, buddy that's the first time you've ever said that to me!," he exclaimed a little sentimentally. "Come here, come give me a hug."
Noah smiled and dropped his pillow and blanket and made the short distance between he and Trevor and hugged his Mom's boyfriend tightly. "I love you too, kiddo! I can't wait to have some fun adventures with you." Trevor remarked hugging him tightly. He pulled away and smiled at a bashful Noah. "Let's make up the beds in the tent and we'll make some s'mores and some popcorn and we'll read a book by flash light and then we'll tell Mom and Ava its time for bed and show them our cubby," Trevor suggested.
They went to work on the s'mores. Trevor had to improvise a little using regular choc-chip cookies and some Hershey's block chocolate and hoped that the old marshmallows would melt in the microwave.
He made the popcorn and went upstairs to grab some pillows and another blanket and met Noah by their make shift tent. He turned off the lights and managed to set the TV to a campfire app from his phone and texted Liv and Ava to let them know to come downstairs to see the cosy, tv-less atmosphere he and Noah had set up.
He'd set up Ava's water bottle and even made a special one for Olivia with some vodka, lime and soda and one for himself with a similar drink.
He saw them both come through in to the mostly dark room save for the fire that crackled loudly from the TV and the flash light that came from beneath the cubby he'd helped Noah build.
"Oh my goodness, Dad this is so cute!" Ava hissed.
"Noah and I had some fun," he flashed them both a smile and a little wink as Noah crawled out. "Mommy, Ava!" He exclaimed, "we're all camping tonight so you have to get your pillows and be super quiet because we don't want any bears."
"Okay love," Olivia replied, smiling at how full of joy and excitement Noah was.
The four of them sat beneath the living room tent and ate popcorn and chatted quietly and for Trevor, the silence couldn't have been more perfect. Noah sat in close to Trevor as they broke a s'more in half and shared it. Olivia beamed at her two boys, feeling so heart-warmed that Trevor had gone so far out of his way to prepare such a fun night for Noah and in turn, Ava also seemed to relish the novelty of it all. The four of them were undisrupted by technology and social media or texts… the only time Trevor brought his phone out was to take some photos before he put it back out on the coffee table so the fire could continue.
"This is so fun," Ava remarked, "Dad, are you gonna tell us a creepy story?," she asked.
"Maybe not," he flicked his eyes to Noah as if to prove a point. "But I might tell you guys a non scary story, how about that?"
"Yeahhh!" Noah exclaimed. "Mommy, Trevor said we could go camping over the summer, didn't you Trev?"
"Yeah, maybe if Mommy and Ava would like to do that, we could…" he agreed.
"That sounds like such a fun idea, especially if we camp somewhere near a lake or a beach."
"Leave it with me, I'll find the best spot." Trevor replied. "Okay, kids, Mom… you all got your drinks ready to lay down and get a little comfortable? It's gonna be a little squeezy than usual, but are we all okay with that?" He wondered.
Noah and Ava smiled. He couldn't help but notice Olivia gazing at him with so much love as she finished the last bite of the S'mores she'd shared with Ava.
"Okay everyone get comfortable. Kids in the middle…" he ordered them.
Noah and Ava got comfortable first. Olivia covered them over with blankets before Olivia laid down behind Ava, looking as tired as both of the kids. Trevor got comfortable too.
"Okay Dad, tell us the story…" Ava commanded with a yawn. She knew she was too old for a story but she knew that Noah wasn't and one of her favourite things as a child had been listening to her father's deep voice as she drifted off to sleep for the night.
Trevor laughed and thought for a second before he came up with something.
He began to tell the story and saw his daughter smirk at him and shake her head. She closed her eyes just like Noah in no time at all.
Once the kids were asleep he glanced at Olivia. "Should we leave them here and go to bed?" He joked. He knew that if they went to bed and left them, Noah would be disappointed in the morning.
She chuckled. "No, but you do realise you just told the kids the story of Aladdin right?," she laughed, "And I don't think Ava was fooled."
Trevor chuckled lightly too and reached for Liv's hand and linked their fingers together beneath the blankets. "Maybe…"
"I love you," she told him, "this has been the nicest night…"
"For me too," he replied. "Noah told me he loved me earlier and it took my breath away and I feel a little emotional about that."
Olivia smiled at him. "He does love you. He hangs on to everything that comes out of your mouth. We both love you and Ava." He noticed that even Ava kept an arm protectively around Noah as she slept. He was so happy with the kids. Their relationship could't have been more perfect.
"I know, and I won't take that lightly, ever. I love you both so much."
"Me too," she smiled. He watched her eyes close and soon enough his own eyes fell closed and the four of them slept closely, huddling together and enjoying their first attempt at camping.