Blake's arm encases around my waist as his face snuggles into the crook of my neck. I wiggle backward so that I can consume the warmth radiating from his muscular chest.

"Why do I have to go to work?" he mumbles. "I need a holiday."

"Don't be too jealous, but I have the day off." I chuckle.

Blake repositions himself so that he's partially sitting up while I smile into the pillow. I've missed sleep-ins, I rarely get those between work and London's sporadic wakeups.

"What?" He hisses. "Now I'm extremely jealous."

"And I also have tomorrow off. The daycare center hired a new educator last week, so they've swapped some of the shifts around to train her."

That means I have a four-day weekend, two of which will be spent looking after London because she's due to spend the weekend with Tori.

"I hate this," he protests.

"Just think." I pause. "Wait, don't worry about it. I couldn't find any positives for you."

Blake growls while I laugh.

"I need a job that allows me to sleep in with you."

"Mhm, that would be nice." I sigh with delight.

"Just think of all the things we could be." He kisses the side of my neck, then trails down to my collarbone. I arch my back, then hold his head there.

"Yes," I moan. "You could bring me breakfast in bed."

"Or you could bring me food."

"Baby, no, I don't think that's how it works."

"Ava." He pouts.

"Fine." I roll my eyes. "I could bring you food."

I roll over and wrap my arm around his waist. Blake's green eyes dazzle in the morning light streaming through the curtained windows.

"We should go out tonight and do something. Tori could take London for an extra two days."

"Let me guess, you're going to call in sick, then we'll ride elephants into the sunset?" I shake my head. "You'll be tired after work and we'll spend the night binge-watching something on Netflix. I'm okay with that."

Blake begins to jiggle my shoulder, which causes tendrils of brown hair to scatter across my vision. He stops shaking my shoulder to tuck the loose hair behind my ears.

"And that's the perfect example of why we need to get out and do something." Blake smiles.

"Well, what are we going to do?"

"Leave it to me, I'll think of something."

"Fine, okay."

I suppose there's no harm in at least attempting to leave the house. Blake is correct, it's been weeks, if not months since we last did something thrilling. So, if we have a moment now, we better run with it.

"That's what I want to hear, and of course, other things." He winks.

I grab the pillow from behind my head and thwack him with it. Blake effortlessly grabs the pillow and tosses it over his shoulder.

"Hey!" I growl. "Go have a shower or you'll be late for work."

Blake kisses my cheek and squeezes my body before dragging himself out of bed. He enters the bathroom and closes the door. Seconds later, it's reopened and Blake pokes his head out.

"Do you want to shower with me?" He cheekily smiles.

"Nope, I'm fine here."

I reach for his pillow and snuggle into it. The smell of washing detergent and Blake's scent still lingers on the fabric.

Heavy foot thuds across the floor and then the blanket is ripped away. I peek over my shoulder and from as Blake tosses it on the floor.

"Ay, what the heck was that for?" I grumble.

He scoops me off the bed and walks into the bathroom. Blake sets me on the counter and begins to remove my top.

"Why?" I complain, " I was sleeping."

Blake's lips find my neck, "But I wasn't."

He turns the shower on and expects me to follow. I consider flopping into bed, but the steam coming from the shower also looks appealing. I strip out of my clothes and step into the shower. I stand directly under the steam of water and smirk.

"So that's how you're going to play?"

  "Yeah, looks like it." I nod.

When Blake leaves for work and I'm left wide awake watching television. There's a morning show about politics or Netflix. There was that episode from a show that I could watch, but I decide against it. One episode leads to three seasons and a week passed. I can't afford to lose time like that.

I endure thirty minutes of boring television until London wakes up. There's a patter of footsteps in the hallway as she staggers out. She's still dressed in her favourite purple unicorn pajamas, and has her pink blankie tucked under her arm. Her curly blonde hair is matted at the back and her blue eyes wide open.

She leaps onto the couch and crawls to my side. London places her hand on my thigh and rests her head against my arm.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah." She nods.

"Do you want blueberries and yogurt for breakfast?"

A cheeky smile appears on her face, so I scoop her up and walk to the kitchen. I grab a bowl and spoon which she holds while I take the yogurt and blueberries out of the fridge.

I place everything on the bench including London. Her legs dangle off the side and thud against the kitchen cupboards.

"Be careful," I warn.

I spoon a couple of scoops of yogurt into the bowl, then grab the container of blueberries. London's eyes follow the container and watch as I scatter them through the yogurt.

"Do you think that's enough?"

"More, more!" She demands.   

"Okay, a little more."

I place London on the ground and hand the bowl to her. She walks into the dining room and waits for me to join her. Taking the bowl, I place it on her mat, then help her onto the chair. She doesn't waste any time diving into her bowl of creamy fruit goodness.

"Are you going to get changed today?"

    "Noo." London shakes her head.    

"I didn't think so." I laugh.

    My phone rings, so I race into the bedroom and leap across the bed to grab it off Blake's nightstand. The cheeky bugger had taken my phone charger and I couldn't be bothered moving it back to my side. I yank it off the charger and answer the call.

"Hi, Tori, what's up?"

    "Hello Ava, I just spoke with Blake and I wanted to let you know I'll be over soon to collect London."

    "Sure, she's just eating breakfast."

    "No worries, I'll see you soon."

    "Okay, bye."

    I hang up and dial Charlotte's number as I return to the dining room. It takes a few rings until I hear the phone line crackle.

    "Hey Ava, how are you?"

    "Good, thanks. I was wondering if you'd like to hang out today, maybe grab breakfast? I'm people free and it's been awhile since we've hung out." That, and Kyle's demanded I come and see you.

"Okay, sure, the usual?"

"The cafe on the harbor strip?"

"Yes," Char confirms.

"Great, I'll see you in an hours time?"

"Yeah, see you then."

When I turn my attention back to London, I laugh. She has her hand in the yogurt trying to fish the blueberries out.

"We had a discussion about this." I laugh. "You need to use the spoon."

London pouts but grabs the plastic spoon in her fist.

"You're going to spend the night with mummy, isn't that exciting."

    London ignores my comment in favour of picking the blueberries out of her yogurt. I internally laugh, of course, she values food more than anything else.

Once London is finished, I clean her hands and face before walking to her bedroom. I grab her backpack and toss a few changes of clothes, not that she needs it.

"Do you want to take anything?"

"Yes, I need toys." Despite the fact she's got hundreds at Tori's house, I let her pack the things she wants. At least half of the bag is filled with stuffed unicorns, a pink monkey and her favourite blanket. She's becoming attached to things and it's increasingly harder to get her to throw out or change her clothes.

London has a pair of sparkly pink shoes that she wore everywhere, including muddy puddles in the backyard. It was easier to watch her trudge mud through the house than attempt to swindle them off her. Thankfully, Blake purchased a second pair and we were able to toss the old pair.

I didn't think I was going to be that kind of 'mother', the one who gives in, but I've decided it's easier to give into the smaller things. Hell, if she wants to wear her purple unicorn pajamas everywhere, I'll let her do it. A child's happiness is better than a screaming one.

"Is that everything?"

"Yeah." London grins.

"Are you sure?"

A cheeky smile appears, then London runs towards her wardrobe and grabs a pair of blue thongs. There are yellow fish prints and frills. Not her usual colour or pattern choice, but it's the shoe of the week.

"Okay, great." I shove that into the bag and zip it up.

The doorbell rings which brings a smile to both our faces. I help London put her bag on and we walk to the front door. I swing it open and London leap into Tori's arm. A wide smile appears on Tori's face as she holds London in her arms.

My heart aches watching the exchange, but I tug on a smile. It's been more than hard watching London grow up, but I endure it with a smile. She deserves the best, even if Tori questions what the 'best' is, even after relinquishing her rights to full-time custody.

"How come she's still in her pj's?"

"Because she loves them and refuses to wear anything else. Everything else is in her bag -- shoes, blankie and stuffed toys."

"Thank you, Ava."

"No worries." I tug on another smile to get me through it.

As I wave goodbye, I watch in envy as Tori straps London into her car seat. I close the door and press my back against it.

Just breathe, but even that feels impossible. I'm not the doe-eyed girl in the school, nor the doting mother, I'm a little more cynical these days.

I step into the bedroom and grab the first dress from our joint wardrobe. It's a dark blue off the shoulder with white swirl pattern. The dress clings to my chest, then flows to my ankles. I pair it with a set of white wedges and a silver bracelet.

Wearing a dress feels weird considering I spend most of the time wearing yoga pants and polo shirts. Heck, wearing jewelry a child can't tug on is nice.

I take my purse and phone before rushing out of the house. Thankfully, it's only a short drive down the road because we live close to the beach. I park in the first spot I can find and then rush through the small location of markets that overlook the ocean.

 The cafe is located near the boat dock which gives you a nice-ish view of the clear blue ocean. The location is stellar in summer because the breeze wafts through the cafe and breaks the summer heat.

Charlotte is seated beside a large window which provides the perfect view. When she notices my arrival, she waves her hand in the air. I wander over and take a seat across from her.

"Hey, it's so good to see you." I smile. "Is there anything good on the menu?"

"Waffles, toast, or some weird porridge assortment. The waffles look good, but I always order that."

"The waffles are amazing! I can't fault you there." I chuckle.

"Great, I'll order us that." Charlotte grabs her purse and races towards the counter. I slump in my chair and look out the window. My mind is hazed by thoughts, thoughts I need to shake away.

After a few moments, Char returns with two glasses of orange juice.

"Should we skip the pleasantries. I assume you're here because of Kyle?"

Regretfully, I nod, she'd caught me there.

"I was meaning to call, but." I sigh. "Work."

I lie, work wasn't an issue, not really, I just didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say? This complex situation is hard to hold an opinion because there are no black and white answers to it.

"Things are complicated." She sighs. "I don't know if I should push through the roadblocks or admit defeat?"

"I-" I have no flipping idea what you should do. "You should do what's best for you."

A soft smile floats to my lips. My stance should be that I'm for Charlotte, she deserves to know her son and to be happy.

"What if that involves ruining another family?"

I shrug, "You have to think about what's best for you and your son. That's a decision only you can make."

"What would you do?"

My attention is shifted towards the boats floating on the ocean. I take a deep breath and attempt to find the 'right' words, whatever those are. When I come up blank, I find the honest words, even if they aren't the right ones.

"I'd do anything to hold my son once more," I admit. "Even if it meant breaking a family up."

"Okay." She nods. "Thank you for your answers."

    "It's . . . fine."

The conversation comes to a halt until the food arrives. We grin at the waitress as she places the dishes onto the table. I snag the knife and fork so I can stuff my face with syrup covered waffles.

"Kyle is suffering and I feel terrible. Though I have this burning desire, the need to know and I can't turn that feeling off."

"I understand." I nod. "That's why you need to keep fighting."

If there was a glimmer of hope, I'd chase it until I could no longer move. I can sympathise with both parties, but I couldn't live knowing he's out there growing up without me. It's just as hard knowing that you'll never see or share those moments.

Charlotte needs to keep fighting because if we don't fight, then what do we have?

"I'll keep fighting." She smiles with hope. "Besides my nightmare of a life, how are things with you?"

"We're actually going out tonight which should be nice."

"Awe, that's awesome."

I shove another piece of syrup covered waffle into my mouth and smile. As much as I love Charlotte, Kyle owes me for having to re-live these feelings I'd worked so hard to move on.

Where do you think Blake is going to take her, and what are your thoughts about Charlotte's situation?