You and me?

It's a forever kind of thing.

Ava Morris

"Honey, don't wander around. Stay with Bryan," I say looking at Ivy.

"Okay, but Bryan isn't here. He went surfing with Uncle Celeb." 

"We want to play with water," Taylor said. When Brad and Noah asked if they wanted to get into the water. They immediately rushed to the sand. They planned to build a big fortress. Now they lost their interest as the fortress kept falling down. My gaze goes to Colin and Kevin, who are watching the waves.

"Colin!" I yell. They turn their heads and are immediately running towards me.

"Do you want something, Ava? Aren't you feeling good?" Colin asks in worry. I chuckled shaking my head.

"No darling, thank you for asking. I'm good but please do me a favour. The girls want to play in the water. Why don't you two take care of them? Others are busy."

"Sure, if you want something just call us," Kevin said holding Ivy's hand. The boys take the girls to the water while I watch them. They have grown up and it still feels surreal. I hissed when I felt the baby kick.

I exhale rubbing my heavy stomach searching for my husband. A smile breaks on my face when I see him playing with our baby Blair.

I laugh as she pulls Brad's face before kissing his nose. Brad blows the raspberries making her laugh.

"Here drink this," Tom said handing me the juice he made at home.

"Thank you, Tom," I say taking the glass. He sits beside me and goes through the bag. He pulls out the novel that he had been reading. It is a romance book. I wonder who made him read it. Or who gifted it? When I asked him about it, he blushed and shrugged his shoulders saying he wanted to give it a try.

"Where are Noah and Robert?" I ask him.

"They are with the boys, there." I lean against the bench looking at all of them. I can't believe how much they have grown up in a span of five years.

Noah, Robert and Tom turned 21 this year. Tom went to Harvard. On the day of the acceptance letter, Brad couldn't contain his happiness watching Tom. Brad threw a private party to celebrate Tom's admission to Harvard.

Tom spent most of his holidays and leisure hours preparing for his exams. When he was a junior, Brad took him to a seminar and Tom was inspired by the Harvard Alumni. On that day, he made it his dream to study at Harvard.

Noah and Robert ended up at Eastman School of Music. Vincent suggested that it would be better if they went to Music school and brush up their skills. Noah and Robert were thrilled when they got into Eastman.

They have done some projects together and uploaded their music on YouTube. Their channel has around 106k subscribers. 

Robert wants to be a songwriter and composer while Noah wants to become a singer and a guitarist. They balance each other well and we are proud of their work.

Zac, Samuel and Leonard turned twenty this year. The three got into Alabama College. Their solo aim is to get recruited by the NFL. They have been constantly on top, working hard and missing out on the holidays because of the training. 

Paul, Ashton, Bryan, Denzal, Aaron turned 19. Paul and Ashton are going to the same college while Bryan and Denzal joined the art college.

Aaron, Kevin and Colin turned 17. They are in senior high. Chris and Eric turned 15. They are in tenth grade. Scan and Colton turned 14. They are in ninth grade. Taylor, Elsa and Ivy turned nine.

 *

I watched my baby Blair and Brad walking over to us. Tom went over to surf for a while and I took a quick nap.

"Mommy!"Blair yelled excitedly.

"Yes baby," I say as Brad pecks my lips before sitting beside me.

"I love the waterrrr, water makes me happy," she says pointing to the water.  Blair is three years old, we took her to beaches but this is the first time she went for a swim with her dad.

"Did you take the medicine?" Brad asked rubbing soothing circles on my stomach.

"Yeah."

"Is he giving a hard time?"

"He is kicking a lot," I reply handing him the basket where  Blair's lunch is.

"Blair's fruit and lunch are in the pink box."

"The girls ate?" he asked.

"Yeah, they ate with the boys. Noah and Robert didn't eat."

"Pappy I want to eat watermelon," Blair said. Brad handed her the watermelon pieces.

"Zac, Samuel and Leonardo are leaving tonight. Their train is at ten," Brad said. I remove the sunglasses which I put on.

"Why? Aren't they going to stay for the weekend?"

"Their coach called in the morning and asked them to be there by tomorrow morning. Their practice sessions are going to start so they are leaving tonight."

"We can leave early if you are not feeling good, Celeb and Mack will be here to take care," Brad said.

"We will leave after Blair's lunch." I'm not really feeling good and my back started hurting. We have been here the whole day. My back and legs have started hurting.

"I want to play dollhouse with Ivy, Ella and Taylor. I don't want to go home," Blair said as her eyes filled with tears. She started pouting her mouth as her cheeks started turning pink. 

"You can play with them tomorrow cupcake, now it's time to go home," Brad said wiping her tears away.

"No! I want to be with them." Blair started crying. I lean back in the seat not having any energy left. 

"Brad, we will take care of her. Don't worry we will drop her off if she wants to come home," Noah spoke walking towards us.

"Noah bear..." Blair said as she tried to go to Noah. I chuckled seeing that.

"Sure, just call me if she throws a tantrum." Brad handed Blair to Noah. Blair loves the girls and she has no one to play with other than Ivy, Elsa and Taylor. 

*

"Brad..."

"Hmm?" he massaged my feet while I lay back on the bed.

"Can you shave my legs tomorrow morning?" 

"Sure, you want anything else?" he asks gently.

"I don't know but my back hurts. It has been hurting since yesterday."

"Should I spray pain relief spray?"

"Hmm." He goes to get the spray. I can't help but think how lucky I am to have Brad. He has been patient all these months and has taken care of Blair. He is the one who cooks all the meals, gives Blair a bath, changes her diaper and feeds her without involving me.

He never got angry whenever I would throw tantrums because of my mood swings and even Blair would throw tantrums but he would gently talk to us and calm us down. 

He came back with spray, he massaged the place where it was hurting me. "You want something to eat?" he asked.

"No, just stay beside me," I say holding his hand in mine. He got into the bed beside me. I leaned into his chest as he started caressing my hair.

"I love you, Brad," I whisper kissing his chest.

"I love you, Ava," he kissed my forehead.

*

"Ava, don't strain yourself. They are going to visit us next month," Brad says as he combs my hair.

"Pappy, I want to wear this!" Blair yells throwing a blue frock on the floor. I rub my stomach as the baby kicks.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Blair yells excitedly running towards me in her diaper.

"Yes, babe?"

"I want to kiss the baby," she says standing in front of me. Brad chuckles looking at me in the mirror.

"Sure honey, baby loves you so much," I said patting her head. She grins showing her front teeth. She comes closer pushing Brad's t-shirt which I'm wearing.

She gives kisses to my belly before hugging it. "I love you, baby," she says in a hushed tone. Brad and I share a look before smiling.

"Baby loves you too."

"He should mommy." Brad laughs out loud while I look at her in surprise.

"Blair come here, let's get you dressed," Brad says when he is done with my hair. He tied my hair into a neat ponytail. 

I watched the duo as Brad dressed Blair in the blue frock while she sang a rhyme. He then took her comb and started combing her hair. 

"Are we going to meet Vivi and Vihaan?" Blair asks. Vivianna and Vihaan are my brother's kids.

"No baby, Vivi and Vihaan are in London with uncle and aunt. We will meet them when they return home," Brad explained.

"London? What is London?"She asked getting into his lap.

"London is a city, you know the rhyme London Bridge is falling down?" Brad asked.

"Yes, yes! I learnt that from Colton," she says jumping in his lap.

"Yeah, London Bridge is in London. We went to London when you were a little baby," Brad said pulling his phone out to show her the pictures.

"Mommy looks so beautiful in this frock," she says.

"Mommy is always beautiful." 

"Pappy, will you take us to London when the baby is born?" Blair asks with her chubby hands placed on Brad's cheeks.

"Sure baby, when mommy and the baby are healthy we will travel."

"Okay!"

"It's time for lunch," Brad says standing up with Blair.

"I will walk, pappy, you help Mommy," Blair says getting down. She runs out of the closet.

"Blair don't run," Brad calls out.

"She is going to hurt herself again," I say taking Brad's hand as he helps me stand up. I walk with my hand in Brad's.

"I love you," Brad says bending down and kissing my lips. I smiled kissing him back.

"Pappy! Why are you not coming?" Blair yells standing outside the door. Brad and I laugh shaking our heads. We step outside our room to see Blair bouncing on her feet.

Upon seeing us she starts running towards the dining area. "Blair, slow down."

"Okay dokey..."

I settle down on the comfy chair which Brad personally brought for me. Blair sits on the dining table facing me. Brad goes into the kitchen to bring the dishes.

"Mommy, I learned Uncle Vincent's song," she says holding the spoon.

"Good baby, sing for mommy," I say. She starts singing the song which my brother wrote for Valerie. I chuckle recording her as she uses the spoon as her mic.

She mispronounced the words but that's not a problem at all. She stopped singing with a huge grin on her face.

"Wow baby, you are so cute when you sing. Who taught you the song?" I ask kissing her chubby cheeks. Brad is arranging the table with a smile on his face.

"Colin and Kevin taught us the song last night."

"You want me to mix the rice and curry?" Brad asked.

"No, I will mix it." Brad made my plate and handed me before making Blair's. I eat my food as he feeds Blair. She started telling us what they did last night, how they played with the pillows and blankets.

"We played ice and water. Colton fell down so many times." Blair laughed.

"Did he get hurt?" Brad asked.

"Tom was there, he helped Colton." Blair took the spoon from Brad's hand and started feeding him her baby food.

"Eat pappy," she said pushing the spoon. Brad ate without saying anything.

"Pappy, I want to paint my toenails blue."

"Okay, we will paint your toenails when we are done with our lunch," Brad replied.

"Mommy has so many colours." I shake my head sipping my water. Blair is definitely a dad's girl. She makes him agree to all the little demands of hers.

If she wants to try a new hairstyle then she shows Brad the hairstyle and tells him to do her hair. Poor Brad watches the YouTube videos at night so that he can style her hair in the morning.

She only allows Brad to do her hair. She gets irritated if my mum or I touch her hair. She only wants her Pappy to do her hair.

"Pappy!" she shouts all of a sudden.

"Yes, cupcake?"

"Pappy you didn't tell me I love you today," she says pouting her pink lips. Brad chuckles pulling her face closer to his.

"I love you cupcake," he whispers kissing her forehead.

"I love you pappy," she says kissing his nose and forehead.

"Then what about mommy and baby?" I ask with a fake pout.

"You know I love you and baby, mommy," she says standing up on the table. She walks over to kiss my lips.

"Careful," Brad helps her as she kisses my lip.

"I love you and your pappy so much," I tell looking at Brad and her.

"I love you," Brad mouths before leaning over to peck my lips.

Brad MacCarthy

Ava Morris MacCarthy

Blair Natalia MacCarthy