A Soldier's Life

Chapter 15 - You're not there anymore

Y/n's POV:

This last week had flown by. Ava was settling into school with ease. She had already made friends and was loving her time in the classroom. I can't tell you how happy it makes me when I see my happy little girl running out of school, launching herself at me to say hi and telling me all about her day. The whole car journey home is full of stories of what they had done in class.

Thankfully, her fears of not making friends were quickly washed away and she would look forward to going to school every morning. But she wasn't used to being so active all day and would always be wiped by the time dinner would come around. One night she was practically asleep in her spaghetti bolognaise. As the week drew on, her excitement from school was mixed in with the excitement for her birthday on Saturday.

I hadn't told her yet who was going to be joining us. I thought it would be a nice surprise when we got there. So as far as she is concerned, it's just Sophie and me that will be spending the day with her at the beach. Robert and Scarlett had been great and arranged everything so all I needed to do was sort out what I was getting Ava.

All I can say is thank God for online shopping. Between work and Ava starting school I barely had time for lunch, let alone getting out and going shopping! Luckily, I knew exactly what I was going to get her, and everything got delivered in time for the weekend.

This week at work had seen our workload increase significantly. Unfortunately, we had received new orders increasing our training schedule. Tensions were increasing in Afghanistan, and we were having to send out additional troops to support the Afghan Army. Our current cohort of Soldiers were due to deploy imminently so required their final training sessions to be brought forward.

It had been a really stressful week and I couldn't wait for the weekend to relax and celebrate my daughter. Thankfully on Friday, Sophie had offered to come over and cook for the both of us. We spent the evening in our pjs watching movies and enjoying the food cooked for us.

Whilst I was cleaning up, Sophie joined me in the kitchen leaving Ava watching Toy Story. "Is everything prepared for tomorrow?" Sophie asked, helping me to load the dishwasher. "Yep, Scarlett text me this afternoon to let me know everything is under control. We just need to turn up with the birthday girl. Did Lizzie pick the cake up?" I asked.

"Yep, she collected it from the café this morning. You're going to love it! What's the plan for tomorrow?" Sophie asked whilst grabbing two wine glasses from the cupboard. "Uh, birthday breakfast and presents, then we're meeting at the cabana at 12:00. How are you feeling about spending the day with the Marvel cast?" I ask, knowing that she would freak out as soon as she meets Robert.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm shitting it! I know I've met a couple of them, but seeing them all in a group and just hanging out with them. It just doesn't seem real. But don't worry, I'll try not to embarrass you too much!" Sophie chuckles giving my shoulder a nudge. She grabbed a bottle of white wine and the corkscrew to open it. I watched with amusement as she struggled to open the bottle.

"Need a hand with that?" I say smirking. She looks up and gives me daggers, throwing the corkscrew at me. I'm not quick enough and it hits me in the chest and falls to the floor. "Ok, ow, you're just so violent." I tease whilst retrieving the bottle opener from the floor. Sophie simply walks past me, giving me a shove on her way by, as I'm bent over, causing me to fall on my ass. I can just hear her laughing as she walks back to the living room.

Once I open the bottle, I pour us both a glass and join Ava and Sophie in the living room. "Promise you won't throw this at me?" I said laughing, whilst handing Sophie her glass. "Keep being this annoying and I can't promise anything." She retorts giving me daggers. I laugh to myself and make myself comfortable on the sofa, Ava instantly gravitating towards me.