The return of a destructive London makes my life feel like normal once more. I don't miss the sound of her crying, but I do miss spending time with her. It's hard to explain, but there's something fulfilling about taking care of someone else.

London splashes me with warm soapy water, which quickly shatters any kind of thoughts running through my mind. She giggles loudly, then goes back to playing with the yellow rubber duck floating in the water.

"Are you almost ready to get out?" I ask.

She looks back at the water and continues to play with some stacking blocks I threw in. The sound of the front door opening is like a timer going off. London doesn't get a choice now, Blake's home and I need to do other things, like cook dinner.

"Come on, baby." I smile. "You can play in the bath tomorrow." Grabbing the towel off the floor, I pull the plug from the bath and wrap the towel around her body. London starts crying and grabbing at the disappearing water.

"I'm sorry, but we can't sit in the bath all night." She starts screaming, but I don't give in. This is certainly something I did not miss . . . London's destructive modes where she wants everything her way. I knew this was coming, I'd spend enough time reading about egotistic babies in my text books, but having to deal with one by yourself didn't make it an easy practice.

I lay London on the bathroom bench and start drying her off. One of the toys on the bench captures her attention which sooths the tears. London starts chewing on the block as she looks up at me with a cute look plastered on her face. This is what I can handle – a happy baby.

Just imagine two screaming babies, ugh, that doesn't sound good. However, by the time this next baby comes, London will be much older and more manageable in regards to needs. Hopefully, she's happy to have another little brother or sister to play with. I think sometimes she gets lonely, like she needs someone else to play with.

"Ava, there you are?" I hear Blake call out.

"We're in the bathroom," I shout back, glad to hear his voice.

Blake walks into the bathroom and instantly wraps his arms around my body and kisses my check. He smiles down at London, who quickly returns the same pleasant greeting.

"Ah, you're back." Blake places his hand on London's stomach to wiggle her back and forth. She giggles, then raises her hands to be picked up.

"Are you expecting someone else?" I laugh.

"Tori asked if I could pick her up today since she was busy, I guess she found time?" I step to the side so that Blake can take over drying and dressing her for bed. I sit on the edge of the bathtub and look up.

"Yeah, she ended up skipping a class so that she could drive up. Tori and I had lunch today and took London for a walk around the park," I explain.

"You are going to sleep so well tonight." Blake leans in and blows a raspberry against her tummy before buttoning her clothes up. He cuddles London in his arms as he walks into the bedroom to take a seat.

He gets comfortable on the bed and opens up a story book to read. London lays her back against his chest and tries to copy Blake by turning the plastic page. Blake battles to read the words on the page, so he starts making up a story about a frog and a mushroom while London flicks through the pages.

At the end of the story, London takes the book from Blake's hand and throws it on the ground. She bends forwards and grabs another book from the bed and looks up at Blake, an expecting look on her cute face.

"Can I read this book?" He laughs. "Or are you going to flick through all of the pages?"

London just blinks and starts chewing on the book. Instead of trying to read it, Blake lets her have at it. We'd switched London onto plastic story books when she started chewing on things. It wouldn't surprise me if the drama kicks in soon, her teeth are going to be making an appearance and I'm not looking forwards to it. Is it bad that I want to palm her off to Tori when it happens?

Taking a seat on the bed, I lay down and stretch out my back. From being on my feet all day and carrying around London, it's putting my back out. She's gotten considerably heavy over the last couple of weeks from the growing. I can't imagine what it's going to be like having a solid lump attached to my stomach all the time and ever growing. The thought of that doesn't sound comfortable.

Shaking my head, I dismiss those thoughts for now. I should ask Tori what she did for comfort with that kind of stuff. At least Tori would be a great assistance with this, and surprisingly, I don't feel weird about asking her.

"So, how was work?" I ask. "Get anything productive done?" I haven't had the chance to see Blake in action much with work, but I half imagine him slacking off. Why do I think this? Blake's always had that charm with people. He should have gone into retail, like seeling houses or cars, he could talk anyone into anything.

"Always, baby." He winks. "There's this house near a job site for sale, and I was thinking it might be worth checking out," he adds.

"Why would it be worth checking out?" I tilt my head to the side and frown.

The idea of moving away from Angela and Thomas almost feels like a dream. It would be exciting to have our own privacy, put London in her own room, and possibly a place without stairs so that we don't have to little ones playing on them.

Don't get me wrong, I love living with Angela so close by, but we can't stay here forever. This is a great place, it is rent free which is amazing for our finances. It would be hard to suddenly uproot everything and go. I'd be scared to live alone and without the security of running next door for help.

With the prospect of buying a house and a baby on the way, those expenses are going to pile high on a one income household. I won't be able to work with two babies to raise and a house to run. Though, I can't help but love the idea.

"It's a one story house, medium size, and close to the beach. White exterior and a leafy green garden. I could add in a white picket fence if you like." He chuckles.

Blake gets up from the bed and walks over to London's cot. He places her inside and tucks her into bed before switching off the lights. He softly presses his hand on her chest and mutters goodnight to her.

Within minutes, London is passed out and curled up with her stuffed toy for the night. London might be stroppy sometimes, but she does love her sleep and does incredibly well with it.

As I look around the bedroom, I notice how small it really is. We wouldn't have room for two cots, and I don't know how I'd feel about putting London downstairs without us. I don't want such a large gap to be between us. Maybe moving out is a good idea?

Blake returns to bed and lays down beside me. Like clockwork, Blake slips his hand under my stomach and gently rubs the skin. If only he'd rub my aching back, that would be better for me.

"But can we afford to move out?" I ask.

"Dad mentioned putting in for the house. They want to sell this property and downsize. They'd be willing to give us money to put towards a house," he explains.

"No." I shake my head. "We can't ask your parents to sell their house for us."

"They want to downsize, so it's not just for us, Ava. I feel weird, but I think it would be great too. We can get our own place and finally just be ourselves. We can paint the nursery, London can have her own play room. We can grow into a house and make it our home."

"I don't know." But Blake is putting forth a pretty convincing argument. It would be nice to have our own house, to make it our own, and to have the space we need.

"Just think about it." He squeezes my stomach. "Dad is going to talk to Mum about it, then have a discussion later this week," explains Blake.

Despite the soft tone in his voice, I can see the excitement lingering in his eyes. We could always pay his parents back over time for their money that would make me feel better. I could easily see Angela putting her foot down and telling us to keep it, of course, she'd have a glass of red wine in hand too.

"Why is all the horrible stuff happening now?" I ask, my mood suddenly in a slump.

"Well, at least you can get it out in one hit?" he offers. "Then you'll have nothing but goodness to look forwards to." At least Blake was right there.

"Still, I can't wait until this blows over." Not only do I have to talk to Blake's parents about letting them sell their house, I need to make peace with Kyle somehow, and still find whatever strength I have left to tell my parents about the baby. We were going to have dinner with them last night, but we're giving it a couple of days since Dad's working long hours.

Blake's also worried about my stress levels and how they might be affecting the baby, so he's trying to minimise it the best he can. Somehow, I think Blake is forgetting that I spend a majority of my bad stressing about something ridiculous. Pft, if I wasn't stressing, then he should be worried about me.

"I was talking to Ben today," says Blake. "He mentioned Kyle's been upset but hasn't mentioned why. You should talk to Kyle, sort things out before we talk to your parents."

"Is this some kind of test?" I ask. "Where you say I should go see Kyle, but you secretly don't want me to?" I know Blake isn't that kind of person, but I get those vibes from this situation.

"I just want you to be happy, Ava." Smiles Blake. "You've been friends with Kyle for a long time and I don't want to see your friendship end because of this. You've been through so much more together, so you can patch this up. You're both as stubborn as each other, though, so that's an issue."

"I feel weird about this." I frown.

"Then do it for me then?" Blake puts on his best cute face which sends my heart racing. I swear, this man could get away with more by just looking at me. "I might want you for myself, but I do care about your happiness."

"Fine, I'll visit Kyle tomorrow and sort things out, happy?" I ask.

"Much, thank you." Blake leans up and kisses my lips before rolling off the bed. He walks towards the drawers and pulls one out. He ruffles through the clothing before my curiosity peeks and I have to ask.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going for a run," he answers. It's already dark outside, so it makes me wonder why he's decided to go for a run now. It's been a while since Blake hasn't come home and crashed on the couch from exhaustion. Maybe he really has been slacking off?

"Why are you going for a run at this time?"

Blake shakes his head and smiles. "Because I need my hot bod back, of course!" He tenses and turns from side to side to check himself out. Once he's finished mucking around, Blake walks into the bathroom to change.

I get off the bed and follow him inside the bathroom. Blake is already stripped out of his work gear and standing in his underwear.

"What about dinner?"

"That's your job," he replies.

"Why are you just assuming I'm making dinner?" I pout. "I'm always cooking you dinner."

Blake pulls on his blue shirt before turning to look at me.

"Because my beautiful, Ava, I made dinner and cleaned last night."

"Oh."

"I promise to cook tomorrow, better?"

"I'm craving spicy food, though." I bite my lip with annoyance.

"I'll make you a curry tomorrow, I'll even grab some chillies out of Mum's garden." Despite the annoyance of having to wait, the thought of a hot curry makes my mouth water. I guess I'd learn to wait for that.

"Fine, I'll make dinner then." I smile.

"Thank you, baby." Once Blake's dressed, he kisses the top of my forehead and runs down the stairs to leave. I grab the baby monitor and my phone off the bedside table before heading down.

As I walk, I open up a new message for Kyle. I don't know if he'll response, but it's worth a shot. At the very least, I can say I tied to make things right between us.

'Can I see you tomorrow? We need to talk!' – Ava.

I owed this to Kyle, Blake was certainly right. Not only have we been friend since before time, he's always been there for me. There are too many times where I've said I'm fine, or that I don't need him, but I did. He was smart enough to listen to the emotion in my voice and not the words coming out of my mouth.

Now it's my turn to do the same. I would listen to what Kyle has to say, even if it hurts me. Kyle is my family and that means we put each other first.

What do you think about the chapter? I like to make you think everything is okay before I gracefully shove you off a cliff of feels :3