Exhausted&Lost

Chapter Twenty

They spent the evening playing with Elliott and eating take out, and despite the heaviness of the first half of the day, Ava felt surprisingly peaceful. Watching Dave roll around on the floor with Elliott was the best medicine for her mood.

Once they convinced Elliott to stop playing and get into his pajamas, the next battle was trying to get him to fall asleep.

"C'mon baby," Ava pleaded, "I'll read TWO stories if you promise to stay in bed."

Elliott looked at her, contemplating her offer, and finally shook his head, his blonde curls rustling on the pillow.

"No. Dave story."

Ava turned to look at Dave, leaning against the doorway with a wide grin on his face, who gave a little nod to let her know he was okay with reading a bedtime story.

"Alright, but just one, and you have to go straight to sleep, okay dude?"

Elliott's eyes sparkled with excitement when Ava and Dave switched places, her shoulder now resting against the door frame while Dave squeezed himself in the small space in the bed beside El.

Ava felt her heart skip a beat when Elliott snuggled his head into Dave to get comfortable, the sight of the two of them together was almost too sweet to handle.

It meant so much to her that Dave had put so much effort into bonding with Elliott this early on in the relationship. It showed her how serious he was about them.

"Okay, ready?" She heard Dave say as she moved down the hallway to clean up the mess of toys that were scattered along the floor of the living room.

"Once upon a time..." *Dave appeared a short time later and laid a hand on Ava's back. She was crouched over the toy box in the corner of the room, tidying away the evidence of the fun they had earlier in the evening.

"That was quick," Ava gasped, not expecting him back so soon. She had planned to go and relieve him of bedtime duty once she was done in the living room.

"Passed out in minutes, I must have the magic touch," he joked.

"Must have... he fights me for hours sometimes," she grumbled.

"It was always the same with the girls when they were younger. They would give Jordyn the run-around, using every trick in the book to stay up later, but they always fell asleep straight away when daddy told a story."

"Maybe you just have a very boring voice," Ava said, unable to hold in her giggle.

"Is that right?" he smirked, pulling her up onto her feet, "So boring that it has won me a few grammy's."

Ava stepped in close and looked into his eyes.

"Thank you for today," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For being patient with me, for being amazing with Elliott, and for being here," she continued.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be... except maybe Vegas."

They both broke into giggles when Ava's elbow dug into Dave's ribs.

"I love you," he said quietly, tucking a curl behind her ear.

Every nerve in Ava's body was alight at his words, words she was sure she would never tire of hearing. She traced the lines of his chest tattoo through his t-shirt and pulled her lip between her teeth.

"Wanna show me how much?" She asked, her voice low and seductive.

Without missing a beat, Dave's arm wound around her back and she was tossed over his shoulder with a squeal.