It Takes Two

Mornings and Flavored Beer

"Avery, wake up." Jake said softly, rubbing his daughter's back. It was the first day of school for Avery in her new living situation.

"Nooooooo." She groaned, burying her face in the pillows. Jake laughed and this, and shook her gently. "Avery, you have school today, you need to get up."

"I don't want to go." She whined, sitting up with a huff.

"Yes you do, you just don't want to get out of bed." Jake scoffed, standing up from where he was seated on her bed so she had room to get up.

"Same thing." She replied, but still got up.

"Someone's being sassy." Jake chuckled. He always thought it was hilarious when she got an attitude with him. She never pushed to the point of being disrespectful- well sometimes, but she never had to be corrected more than once-.

Jake went into the kitchen to find Andy already making coffee. "You are a saint." Jake groaned gratefully.

Andy chuckled at that, shaking his head as he tried to pull all of his hair back into a ponytail.

"What are you doing today?" Jake asked, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet for some cereal.

"Writing session with In This Moment." Andy replied, pointing at a drawer when it was obvious Jake had no clue where the utensils were. "What about you?"

"Meeting with some band that wants me to produce their next record." Jake replied.

"You gonna do it?" Andy asked curiously. Jake usually seemed to be more enthused about upcoming projects so his clear disinterest made Andy curious.

"Yeah. Their music sucks, but I need the money." Jake shrugged. He hated that he was now having to stoop to working with artists he didn't believe in, but he had a kid to feed, so artistic integrity could suck a dick.

Andy chuckled at this, but nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I've had to write many shitty pop songs recently trying to avoid getting evicted." Andy related.

"It's a wonderful time, truly." Jake chuckled.

Avery stalked out of her room, clearly not pleased with the fact that she had to be awake, and sat at the table.

"Good morning, Avie. What would you like for breakfast?" Andy asked, trying not to laugh when the young girl glared at him. "Seer-uhl." She said.

Jake stifled a laugh as he watched Andy struggle not to correct the child's pronunciation of the word. "Okay, I'll make you some cereal." He said, emphasizing the word.

"That's what I said." She said with an eyeroll.

"Someone's not a morning person." Andy mumbled to Jake with a slight smile.

"She's never been. Even as a baby she would scream of the mornings." Jake chuckled. She definitely got it from Clara. His ex had never enjoyed early mornings as long as Jake had known her.

"Are you excited about soccer practice, pumpkin?" Jake asked his daughter. The older she got, the more she looked like Jake, though she did have Clara's eye shape and curls.

"Yeah." She mumbled, laying her head on the table as she tried to stay awake.

Andy covered his mouth to hide a smile as he sat the bowl in front of her. Jake bit the inside of his cheek, and looked away from the younger man. Laughing would only make the five year old more moody.

"I'm gonna get going, I'll see you tonight." Andy said, grabbing his laptop from the table, and patted the top of Avery's head. "Bye, Avery."

"Bye, uncle Andy." Avery grumbled.