Free (Sequel to Trapped)

Ch. 10

Ariana

Wednesday, 11:13 am

"Aviella Monet, what are you doing?" Justin asks.

She drops the knife immediately, looking up at him.

"Nothing." She says, continuing to color on her kids menu.

"I thought so." He says.

She giggles and Justin rests his hand on my thigh.

We already ordered, and now we're just waiting for the food. It was obvious Aviella was getting bored.

"Only daddy handles the knifes, baby girl."

"What about me?" I ask.

"Yeah, you too." Justin says.

"Okay, daddy." Aviella says.

About 5 minutes later, the waitress comes with our food. Aviella's smile is a little too big as her food is set in front of her.

"Calm down, Avi. You act like you haven't eaten in 10 years." I say.

"I haven't been alive for 10 years. I think."

"You haven't. Mommy was just being silly." Justin says as he cuts her pancakes.

I cut my french toast and start eating.

"Are you sure you can eat all that, princess? You're very small." Justin says.

"Oh, shut up. You already know you're gonna get whatever I don't eat."

"You would do that? For me?" He places a hand over his heart and I roll my eyes.

"You were gonna eat it anyway."

"You know me so well." He says, digging into his own food.

2:31 pm

"Aviella, let's go!" Justin yells.

There's footsteps on the stairs and Aviella appears in the doorway of the living room.

"Baby, practice starts at 3. You gotta be ready way before then." He tells her.

"Sorry, daddy." Justin swings her off of the ground and she squeals as we walk outside.

He buckles her into her car seat and gets in the drivers seat, buckling up.

"It takes 10 years to get there. We're gonna be late."

"Let me drive." I say.

He looks at me like I'm insane before his lips mold into a smile.

"You're right. You drive so fast, and you never get caught."

"Exactly. So am I driving or not?"

"Yes, you definitely are." We switch places and I begin the drive to the park where Aviella has practice.

I'm going at least 5 miles per hour over the speed limit at all times, 10 when I'm absolutely sure there are no police around. We get to the park with exactly 2 minutes to spare, and Aviella runs directly over to her team.

Me and Justin both sit at a bench and I take out my phone.

"It's your favorite, J. Snapchat!" He sighs.

"Someone please help me." He groans, letting his head fall back.

"Excuse me. Ariana and Justin, right?" The coach's wife, Kaila, says.

I mentally groan. She gets on everyone's nerves, even her husbands.

"Yes?" Justin says.

"I'm just going around collecting the tournament fee. It's in a few weeks."

"Oh yeah. That." I say, taking my wallet out of my purse.

I take three $20 bills from it and give them to Kaila.

"Thank you. That was a lot easier than the other parents." She laughs.

It sounds like one of those cliche 'fake soccer mom' laughs.

Probably because they're being fake, just like you.

"Have a nice rest of your day." She says, smiling before walking away.

"That was the most awkward thing I have ever experienced." I say.

I continue playing with Snapchat while Justin watches the girls practice. It was adorable to see them running around and giggling. Coach K is really lenient with them. Mostly because they love playing soccer, and they learn quickly. They'll definitely listen if you ask them too. But if there's no instruction given other than to run the plays, then they'll be laughing and having fun while they run around kicking the ball.

Coach K calls a water break and Aviella runs over to us. I give her the light pink and gold water bottle with an A on it.

"You're doing amazing, Avi." Justin says.

"Thank you."

She puts her water bottle down and runs back to the field.

9:37 pm

"Daddy has a movie ready, princess." I finish brushing through Aviella's hair and lift her off my lap.

She goes downstairs and I put her brush up before following her. Aviella was already snuggled up under a blanket in Justin's lap. Justin pats the spot next to him and I sit down. He presses play on the movie and puts the fire stick on the coffee table before leaning back on the couch.

He puts his arm around me as we watch Monster House. Aviella loves all these scary cartoon movies, yet she always falls asleep watching them.

Aviella's out like a light 30 minutes before the movie is over, but when it ends, Justin turns on Grey's Anatomy, which neither of us watch. He falls asleep first, with Aviella on his chest. I'm the last to go, after watching a bunch of old shows, I fall asleep around 12 am.