Exhausted&Lost

Chapter Twenty Six

Ava crept out of the bedroom where Dave had fallen asleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow and softly closed the door behind her. It was still early, having left the Hawkins' place at around 7 PM, she knew El would probably be in bed by now, but she thought she would take a chance at calling her dad.

The ringing echoed through the quiet house and she hurried down the hallway to the living room so she could speak freely without waking Dave.

"Hey honey," her dad's voice crackled through the speaker, she could tell by the background noise that he was in the car.

"Hi dad, where are you guys?" she asked, hoping her voice blaring through the car's Bluetooth wouldn't wake Elliott if he was asleep.

"On our way back home from Anaheim now. What a day, Elliott had a blast. Fell asleep as soon as I buckled him into the seat," her father chuckled. Ava smiled, though she couldn't help but feel a little sad that she had missed all of the excitement of Elliott's first Disneyworld trip.

"You think he missed me?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Honey, I don't think he even noticed that I was there. Don't worry, he had a great time."

"Listen, Dad, I know it's not cheap to take a kid to Disney, so let me send you some money-" she was cut off by her father's abrupt laugh.

"Money? I take it David didn't mention that he paid for the entire day then."

She sighed, "Nope... he didn't. I didn't even know you were going until you were already halfway there."

"He sounds like a good one, Ava. We didn't talk for long but I can tell he cares about you and Elliott. A hell of a lot more than that Stephen ever did."

Ava cringed a little at her father bringing up Stephen as it reminded her that she was yet to tell him about Stephen's demands to see Elliott over the summer.

"Yeah dad, he's great. Listen... about Stephen..." she started, only to be interrupted by a sleepy voice joining the conversation.

"Mama..." Elliott groaned, and she could just imagine his chubby little fists raised to his face to rub at his tired eyes.

"Hi baby, mammy is on the phone because she misses you so much. She can't wait to see you tomorrow," she cooed, feeling emotional at how suddenly and desperately she was missing him.

"Miss you, mama," he murmured, before yawning and going silent again. She didn't notice the silent tears streaming down her face until she felt the heat of them hitting her forearm.

"Honey, I better go, we are almost home," her dad spoke, more softly now, obviously trying not to wake Elliott again.

"Okay Dad," she said, trying not to let her dad hear the upset in her voice, "I love you both, and I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

After they hung up, she sat on the sofa for a little while, allowing herself to cry for a few moments. She knew she was just feeling 'mom guilt', and that she deserved a day here and there to unwind, and that it didn't make her a bad parent... but there was a certain catharsis in purging those emotions.

She knew that part of it was due to the exhaustion of being awake from 3 AM and the millions of emotions Dave had made her feel over the past 24 hours. She dried her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie she had changed into and mentally shook herself to rid herself of the past few minutes.

She headed to the bathroom to splash water on her face and brush her teeth before joining Dave in bed and tangling herself in his embrace.

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