The Meaning of Family

Lake Days

Fortunately, Ava didn't get sick again once they were at the cabin. She woke up an hour and a half after she'd been placed on the couch, confused.

"Haiwey? Jay?" She called out, panicked. She had no idea where she was and she couldn't see or hear them.

Hailey heard her from the kitchen and went around to the couch. "Hey, baby, how's your tummy?" She asked, pulling Ava into her lap.

"Tummy okay. Whewe awe we?"

"We're at the cabin on the lake, baby, do you want to see?" Ava nodded and Hailey carried her to the front windows.

They could see the lake, the views, and people out on the water in boats. Ava's eyes widened.

"Wow," she looked at Hailey with a smile. "We getta go in the watew?"

"Yup! We'll go into the water after you eat and we show you the house," Hailey said, rubbing Ava's back. She was glad Ava seemed excited and not frightened by the new environment.

"M not that hungwy," Ava mumbled, hiding her face.

"I know honey, but you need something in your tummy to help it feel better. And it'll help you have energy to go swimming," Hailey explained as she walked into the kitchen and handed Ava to Jay.

Ava sighed but nodded. Her tummy felt empty but she didn't want to throw up again. She knew they wanted her to eat though, so she'd try, and the fruit and crackers looked really yummy.

"You wanna go swim after we show you the house?" Jay asked, getting a happy nod from the toddler in his lap.

"Great! I think you'll like it, kid. Eat some of this and I have your juice," Jay got the sippy cup and Ava drank from it, then she ate most of what was on her plate before she was led through every room of the house.

Once that was done, they changed and put sunscreen on, then Hailey got Ava's crocs on her and they walked to the lake. Ava had a life jacket on to be safe and clutched both of their hands as they walked into the water.

She was a little nervous about it and squirmed when the water came to her torso, but she didn't cry at all, so they went a little deeper and Hailey crouched down. "What do you think?" She asked, tapping Ava's nose, making the girl giggle.

"Crocs feel weiwed wet," Ava scrunched her nose up and Jay laughed as he lifted her up, took her crocs off, and threw them to the shore. They were all wearing shoes because of the rocked at the shoreline, but now there were less rocks so he wasn't as worried about Ava cutting her feet open.

"Thank you!" Ava smiled up at him and they went a little deeper for Ava to actually swim around. It took her a few minutes to warm up to it, and once she did, she loved it.

They spent a couple hours just swimming around and playing in the water before going inside, taking showers, and making sandwiches for dinner. They ended the day outside by the fire pit, watching a disney movie on the tv Will and Jay had installed outside the year before.
——
The next day, Jay got up early and went for a run before he rinsed off and started on breakfast. Ava woke up before Hailey and came out of her room; she'd only had one nightmare that night; and went over to him with a pout.

"What's wrong?" He asked, scooping her up.

"Wet," she huffed, squirming. Jay nodded in understanding and got her changed, hoping the night terrors would stop soon and hopefully Ava wouldn't wet the bed so heavily anymore.

"Is that better?" He asked once she was dry and in a tank top and shorts. Ava nodded with a smiled and Jay took her wrist brace off to let the skin breathe for a bit.