twenty one: milestones & mistletoe
one year later
early december 2023
Ally stood in the living room, holding Ava's hands above her head to help her stand up while Austin knelt on the carpet, patting the ground in an attempt to get her to take her first steps.
"Here, girl!" he exclaimed, "You can do it, Ava! Come to daddy!"
Ally rolled her eyes. "Austin, she's not a dog. That's not going to work."
"Well, then, what do you suggest?" he raised an eyebrow, "You have to let go of her hands some time, or else she'll never learn to walk on her own."
"I will," Ally responded, sounding unconvinced, "Just...not right now. If I let go right now, she'll fall flat on her face."
"That's how you learn," Austin argued. "You have to fall on your face a couple times before you get it right."
Ally glanced over at her husband, saying nothing, but just giving him a small grin, which he returned. He's smarter than we give him credit for, she thought.
"So," he said, "are you ready to let her fall on her face?"
Ally let out a laugh and, one, by one, let go of her daughter's hands. Ava looked up at her mom before taking two steps forward and falling flat on her face, as Ally predicted. Ally picked her up right away.
"Did she just..."
"I think she did!" Ally lifted Ava high in the air, spinning around in a circle. "Ava, you just took your first steps!"
"That's my girl!" Austin pinched Ava's cheek. She let out a giggle and Ally hugged her close to her body, planting kisses on her cheek.
"As much fun as this little celebration is, little missy here needs to go down for her nap. I'll go put her down, and then we can start planning the Christmas/Ava's first birthday party extravaganza!"
"Awesome!" Austin yelled sarcastically, plopping back onto the sofa.
/
ten minutes later
Ally came back down the stairs, letting out a deep sigh as she flopped down on the couch. "Man, that girl has an attitude. It took me, like, ten minutes to get her down. I think the terrible twos have come early."
"Hmm, I wonder where she gets that from," Austin teased.
Ally shot him a look. "Not funny."
"I thought it was pretty funny."
"Well, it's not. Now focus, we need to start planning Ava's party," Ally said, taking out her laptop.
"Slash Christmas party," Austin finished.
"Right."
"Oh, don't forget my birthday," Austin pointed out. "And our anniversary. Don't know how that would fit in, but..."
"Right, yeah." Ally paused. "Geez, there's a lot of things that happen in December."
Austin sighed. "I know, right? I'm getting a headache just thinking about it."
"Yeah. How are we going to all of those into one party?"
"I don't know." There was a pause, until Ally spoke up again.
"I can't believe Ava's almost one," she said, "This past year flew by so fast."
"I know. It's so crazy. I just want her to stay my little girl forever."
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Two in a Million | Auslly
Fanfiction[FEATURED ON WATTPAD FANFIC ACCOUNT!] "They both had meant the world to each other only a few years ago, and now, hopefully, they would mean the world to each other again..." It's been four years since Austin, Ally, Trish, and Dez graduated from Mar...
