Cadence ( Part 2 of Rhythm ) Completed*

Chp 22: Resilience

Walking through their front door for the first time with Ava is anticlimactic, not that Mickey expected fireworks and rainbows or anything. Ava stays asleep in her carrier and Mikayla bounds into the house, going directly to her toys.

It's all relatively quiet until Ava wakes up and is insistent on something, he and Ian are not quite sure what. She balls her hands up and clenches them in wavering fists near her cheeks. Ava doesn't need a new diaper and he supposes she could eat, but she ate right before they left the hospital, so this level of dramatics seems uncalled for.

"Daddy, too loud," Mikayla gripes, putting her hands over her ears and frowning. She glares up at Ian, looking eerily too much like Mickey in that moment.

"Sorry princess," Ian apologizes. "Ava doesn't mean it. She's just hungry, I think..." He tries plopping the pacifier in her mouth again but Ava forces it out. "Okay, relax sweetheart."

Mickey unbuckles their daughter from the carrier and scoops her up. "Aye, you need to calm down. Nothing worth complaining about that much." He bounces her, letting her cheek rest on his shoulder. She doesn't settle down much and keeps fussing loudly near Mickey's ear, making him wince. He asks Ian, "make her a bottle?"

Nodding, Ian does so. By the time he's done, Ava is still crying. Mickey tries to feed her but she's gone into a spiral of being so upset that she can't focus her attention on the bottle's nipple.

Mikayla tugs at Mickey's pant leg, eyebrows furrowed. "Turn it off."

"Believe me, I'm trying," Mickey tells her in an exasperated tone she's not used to hearing from her father. It makes the wrinkle between her eyebrows deepen as she cockes her head. Mickey sighs. "Kayla, I'm trying. She's just upset."

In complete innocence, Mikayla asks, "why?"

That, Mickey thinks, is not a fun game. Mikayla has discovered the word "why," using it to get her parents to rattle off information about everything and anything.

"Yeah, why?" Mickey asks his newborn, raising an eyebrow at her. Her answer is more crying and Mickey sighs. "Come on, Bunny. You want the bottle?" He tries again but Ava twists her face away.

"Bunny, no!" Mikayla scolds, glaring up at her sister.

"Let me try," Ian offers, reaching to relieve Mickey of their daughter. As soon as she's in Ian's arms, he makes a soft "tsk tsk tsk" noise near her ear. Bouncing her, she starts to snuggle against him and her crying winds down quicker than it had revved up. "That's my girl," Ian says with pride, pressing his lips to her temple and kissing her. He reaches out for the bottle.

Mickey hands it to him and narrows his eyes. "How did you do that?" It's genuinely mind boggling how quickly Ian got Ava to settle down.

"Dunno," Ian shrugs. He tries offering Ava the bottle and this time she latches on quickly.

Now that the crying has stopped, Mikayla tugs on Mickey's pant leg. "Tata, play?" She points towards her toys and grins.

"I dunno, baby girl. Don't you wanna help daddy feed Ava?" Mickey gestures towards Ian with a tilt of his head, hopeful that maybe Ava and Mikayla could have a do over on their first meeting. So far, Mikayla has acknowledged Ava but hasn't shown any intention of interacting with her.

"No." Mikayla shakes her head soundly. "Crayons?" She holds out her hands expectantly, waiting for Mickey to retrieve the crayons for her.

Mickey sighs. He gets the crayons down from the top of the refrigerator and carries them with him towards the couch. Meanwhile, Ava scrambles to find something to color on, retrieving scraps of construction paper and a half used coloring book. She spreads her bounty out on the table in front of the couch and blinks up at Mickey. That look melts him and as much as he wants Mikayla to get to know Ava, he knows Mikayla takes attempting to color in the ocean scenes depicted in the coloring book seriously. He hands her the crayons and she bites her lower lip, stifling a happy squeal. Mickey plops down on the couch and lets his head fall back to rest against it. His eyes flutter closed but he feels the moment when Ian takes a seat beside him and opens one eye to take in the sight.