the last straw

help

Mike POV

I went up to my bed, only to find Angie asleep, with Avery on top of her. Avery was watching TV.

"Hey Avi. You okay?" I ask.

She looks down, and slowly shakes her head.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" I ask, sounding concerned.

"I don't wanna go to Leslie's house." She replies, looking down. Tears start forming in her eyes.

I walk to her, and pick her up. She lays her head on my shoulder, and starts crying.

"I'm sorry, daddy. I hurt my arm again."

Huh!? I took everything sharp from her room?? How did she do it??

I set her down on the bed, careful to not set her on top of Angie's legs. She showed me her arms, and they were very red.

She wouldn't even look at me. It felt like when Sierra wouldn't look at me.

"Avi, why did you do this? How?" I question.

"I pinched my arm since nobody wanted me. But i talked to mommy, and i won't do it again." She replies, like it's not a big deal.

"Avi, we wanted you. We all did. Why did you think we didn't?"

"I thought you and mom were gonna send me to Leslie's house." She says, suddenly lookijg nervous.

I just look at her for a few seconds, not sure of what to say. I would never even consider sending the kids to her house. I don't even talk about her unless Sierra wants to know something about her side of the family, which is very rare.

"Why did you think we'd do that?"

"Because i was bad."

"Baby." I say, pulling her into a hug. "You are not bad. And we would never send you there."

She just won't look at me.

At this point, Angie wakes up.

"Hey, babe." She says, and smiles smally at me.

"Hey, honey." I say, returning the smile.

"What's going on?" She ask.

Avery just looks down.

"Nothing." She mumbles.

"We were talking about never sending Avery or Sierra to Leslie's house. Which we would never do."

"Avery, baby, we love you, okay? We never want tk get rid of you." Angie says. Avery just nods.

"Should we tell her now?" I ask. Angie nods.

"Well, you know how Sierra goes to the doctor to talk about how she is feeling?" I start. "Well, we think it would be good for you to be able to do that, too. So we are setting up a meeting for you."

She looks up, and her face lightens.

"Really!? I can be like Sisi!" She says, suddenly excited.

"Aaaaand you'll be able to talk freely, and feel better." Angie says.

After a few minutes Avery was watching tv in the edge if the bed, as happy as can be.

I guess all she really needed was to talk.

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Sierra

Mom and dad left, so now it's just me, ty, and George. We decided to all go up to the kitchen and sit at the island.

"So Ty, wanna hook me up with some vape?" I say with a smile. He pushes my head, and tells me no, but is smiling.

"Ms. Sierra, I vividly remember Mrs. Angie telling you to not get any ideas." George says in a stern voice.