The Third Halstead

Chapter 33

Adam's POV
I woke up to crying. I opened my eyes to see Charlotte upset in the bassinet. I picked her up and started rocking her. I tried to calm her quickly because I didn't want Ava to wake up.

"Shh it's okay, daddy's here." I whispered. She started to calm down a bit. I looked over at Ava's bed to see her waking up.

"Mhmm, is she okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's good. Go back to sleep bear." I said kissing her head. She went back to sleep and I decided to have some skin time with Charlotte. I took off my shirt and sat in the chair. I rested Charlotte against me and she soon went to sleep. I sat soaking up the moment. I can't believe I have a baby with the woman that I love. After a while, I put Charlotte back in the bassinet and I fell back to sleep.

I next woke up to the sound of talking. I opened my eyes and saw my family there.

"You're finally awake." Jacob said.

"Shut up you idiot." I replied. My dad was holding Charlotte and my mom was stood next to him. She had an unimpressed look on her face.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"What do you mean what's wrong with me? You should know why I'm upset." She said and I was baffled.

"Mary, will you stop overreacting? It's not that big of a deal. You're just being a drama queen." My dad said.

"What is the problem?" Ava asked. My mom stormed out of the room.

"What is with her?" I asked.

"She's mad for multiple irrational reasons." Lucy said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"She's mad because she wanted to be in here when Charlotte was born." She said.

"We already spoke to her about it before hand. Ava wasn't comfortable with it, so we said no." I said.

"I know, but you know what she's like. She's also mad because you didn't name Charlotte after her. She said if you didn't want her first name to be after her, you should've named the middle name after her." She said.

"Is she on drugs?" I asked.

"That was my question." She said.

"She said she doesn't care whether or not you like the middle name as Camille, she wants it to be named after her instead." My dad said.

"Camille was the name of my dad's late wife." Ava said.

"I know, Adam told me. I spoke to your mom and she isn't having any of it." My dad said looking at me.

"Well, unless she apologises, she isn't allowed to see Charlotte." I said.

"Wait, what if mom is back to her old ways?" Jacob asked.

"What do you mean?" Ava asked.

"You never told her?" Lucy said.

"Nope." I replied.

"Tell me what?" Ava asked confused.

"Nothing." I said.

"She could be back to her old ways." Lucy said.

"I'll look into it." My dad added. They left a few minutes later and I felt Ava's eyes on me. I was looking down nervously. I never told her, and I'm scared she's going to leave me because I kept something from her.

"Baby, come here." She said. I looked up at her and I felt tears running down my cheeks.

"Addy, come lay next to me." She said. I put Charlotte in the bassinet and got in the bed next to Ava.

"What is it that you didn't tell me?" She asked.

"Umm." I said hesitantly.

"Hey, you can tell me anything." She said.

"My mom use to have a major drug and drinking problem. It was because of her postpartum depression. It was when I was 6, Jacob was 2, and Lucy was just born. She started hitting me all of the time when my dad was at work. She did it for a few months, up until my dad realised. She's been clean for ages though and we eventually built back our good relationship." I said, tears dripping down my face. She immediately pulled my head to her chest.

"Oh Addy, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you say anything?" She asked.

"I don't know really. I just don't like to talk about it a lot. I was weak." I said.

"You were not weak, you were 6 years old." She said stroking my hair.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too baby boy." She replied. She kissed my head and I decided to have a little nap since Charlotte was asleep. After a few hours, I woke up and saw Jay staring at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm still annoyed." He said.

"At what?" I asked.

"That you guys kept your relationship from me." He said.

"Because we thought that you'd try to kill me, which you did when you found out." I said and he chuckled.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to spend time with my favourite niece." He said and I smiled.

"She's starting to look a lot like my mom." He said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said. Jay left after a while and I was sat in the chair next to Ava's hospital bed holding Charlotte. She started to become a little fussy. I started rocking her. I started singing a lullaby. I felt eyes on me. I looked up to see Ava smiling at me.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"The man of my dreams." She said and I smiled.