A Soldier's Life

Chapter 11 - Football and Wingmen

Y/ns POV:

I'm rummaging through the back of my wardrobe, dressed in a pair of jeans and bra, trying to find my football shirt. Today's the day I'm meeting Tom to go and watch the Liverpool v Tottenham game. For some reason I'm really nervous. Not being able to find my shirt is making me to become more anxious.

I've got a couple of boxes full of stuff that I've not needed since moving from England. It's all mainly winter clothes, which I have no clue when I'll need them again. Whist my head is stuffed in the back of the wardrobe, I feel a weight jump up on my back. "What have you lost Mummy?" Ava asks whilst wriggle on my back.

"My Liverpool shirt, I swore I still had it in one of these boxes." I sighed giving up on looking and turning my full attention to my daughter. I grabbed her from my back and pulled her into a cuddle on the floor. Her infectious laugh rang out around my room as I tickled her.

"M-Mummy, st-stop!" She tried to call out between laughs. "And why should I do that?" I asked whilst carrying on in my attack. She struggles trying to escape my grasp. "I have your shirt" she manages to blurt out. I stop tickling her and pull her to her feet. "My little princess is actually a little thief!" I spoke in shock. "No Mummy, I just bowwoed it!" She protested running out of my room.

I heard her little footsteps running into her own room and a few seconds later heard them get louder as she returned to my room. "See Mummy! She said proudly holding up the shirt with a big grin on her face. "Thanks bug, but what caused your mischievous thieving streak?" I asked, taking the shirt and pulling a face.

I watched as she became shy and shifted on her feet. "It's ok bug, you can tell me." I said pulling her onto my lap. She sat sideways on my lap and I held her head against my chest. "It smells like you, and I wanted to look like you." It made my heart warm at her admission. "Would you like me to buy you a shirt that's all yours? Then we can wear them together?" I ask. She lifts her head to look at me with excitement in her eyes.

She nodded enthusiastically and grabbed my shirt and started to pull it over my head. It got caught and the two of us burst out laughing. I was eventually able to escape, and my head popped through the shirt. Ava leaned over and helped to straighten up my hair as I pulled my arms through.

Whilst sat admiring my daughter, I caught the clock in the corner of my eye and realised that we were going to be late if we didn't leave now. "Right, now we've solved the mystery of the lost shirt, are you ready to head out to Sophie's?" I said jumping up to grab the last of my things. Ava nodded and followed me out of the room. "Bug, could you grab me a bottle of water from the fridge please?" Whilst Ava was grabbing the bottle, I was packing up the rest of my backpack. As Ava walked back to the living room, she handed me the bottle and took my hand.

I grabbed our sunglasses off the side table, and we left the apartment. I bent down as we got outside and placed a pair of sunnies and a cap on Ava to protect her from the hot LA sun. It was only a 20 minute walk to Sophie's Café but halfway there, Ava started to drag her feet and was getting distracted very easily.

Not wanting to leave either Tom or Sophie waiting, I quickly lift her up and place her on my shoulders extracting more laughter from her. For the rest of the short walk she spent it chatting away, forcibly turning my head to look at the things she was pointing out.

Ava's curiosity was one of the things I loved most about her. She was never afraid to ask questions and she always showed an interest when talking with people. I couldn't wait for her to start school as I knew she was going to love it. It was only 2 weeks away before she started Kindergarten and I can't wait to see how she'll grew through school.

As soon as Sophie's café was in sight, Ava started to bounce around on my shoulders in excitement. I lifted her off and she ran straight through the door leaving it to slam shut in my face. I could see through the window that Sophie was trying to stifle a laugh whilst embracing Ava into a tight hug.