Left Behind

Special Spots

    "Who were you talking to," Carlos heard as he immediately began to panic at the tone of voice that his cousin used. It was obvious Jay had been out with his crew again which was never a good combination.

Especially when Carlos could smell booze and smoke from his breath. "I was just talking to Ava," Carlos quickly told his cousin as he was hoping Jay would just let it go and go to sleep or something as it was clear he was out of it again and Carlos had just put Mal to bed after talking to their big sister after months and months of not talking to her.

He had really missed her and he was glad she had picked up for once, but now he was starting to miss her even more as that call just reminded him of how far away she really was now.

Jay just rolled his eyes as he threw himself down on his bed and turned on the tv blasting it. "She called! Are you kidding me! Get her back on the phone now! Tell her to come get her baby! I'm not a parent!" Jay sneered out angrily as he was sick of Ava.

She had the audacity to make him take in her two little siblings and then wouldn't even answer his calls or come visit. She just threw the two kids at him and took off. And Jay couldn't take the constant crying and screaming from his baby cousin.

Before Carlos could do anything Jay forcibly grabbed the remote from his hand as he started calling Ava again, but unsurprisingly Ava didn't pick up making Jay almost lose it as he tried over and over again trying to get Ava to answer the phone.

"Ugh screw this! Ava Jalali pick up the dang phone!" Jay screamed out in frustration as he slammed the phone down causing the small baby that had been sleeping to wake up as she started wailing.

"No! You have got to be kidding me!" Jay screamed out in frustration causing the baby to cry harder. "Jay it's fine I got her. Just go to sleep," the young boy told his older cousin hoping to stop him from completely losing it as he hated when his cousin would get like this.

"How can I sleep when there is a screaming baby," Jay told Carlos again in frustration making Carlos sigh as he was really hating this. He was only twelve and he wasn't supposed to be dealing with not just a baby but a drunk teenager all the time.

"Fine I'll take Mal out for a walk is that better," Carlos asked his cousin as he was trying to stay calm, but with the screaming baby combined with the frustrated and whining teen Carlos was finding it hard to do that.

"Yes just please get that screaming out of here. I have a headache and she's making it worse," Jay told Carlos who just nodded as he went to Mal's crib and picked up the crying baby.

"Aw Mal it's okay pup come on let's go get some fresh air," Carlos told his baby sister as he picked Mal up and placed her into the stroller after grabbing the diaper bag and leaving. Carlos was in too big of a hurry to get out of the house that he forgot his key though.

"Look Mal, look at the stars," Carlos told the small baby as he found his favorite spot in Auradon where he would always take Mal when she was either really fussy or just couldn't sleep.

He would lay down a blanket and just lay with Mal until she fell asleep or calmed down. It was also the only time that Carlos could just relax and be himself without having to be stressed or worried all the time.

It was his and Mal's special spot and it reminded him of when he was younger and Ava used to do the same thing with him. He was a little older than Mal at the time, but everytime Carlos would have a hard day or have a nightmare Ava would take him to their spot and stay with him until he felt better.

Carlos could still remember the first time Ava had taken him to their spot. He was about four at the time and Ava was around ten.

Flashback