Three Years

sixteen

There were many different ways how Kirstin would have liked to be woken up. Maybe with breakfast in bed, a loved one whispering sweet nothings in her ear. 

However, being squished to death by Avi Kaplan at only seven in the morning, was not on the list. 

She woke up with the man laying on top of her, his curly locks dangling in her face and his rough beard tickling her neck. "Avi," she muttered, trying to push the bearded man off of her.

 Unfortunately, by the time that the two landed in London it was early hours of the morning, which meant that visiting time had long passed and Sierra was asleep. It was also too late for Avi to book into any hotel so Kirstin was forced to let him stay by her apartment.

Not that she minded.

"Avi, get off of me!" Kirstin groaned, using all the strength she had in order to remove the uncomfortable weight on top of her. Honestly, she didn't mind having him so close to her, his deep breaths on her neck, it was only the fact that he was making it hard to breathe - and not in a good way. In one final attempt to get him off, she accidentally pushed him off of the bed, getting dragged along with him. They landed on the carpet with a soft thud and the impact finally woke Avi up.

"What the- Kirstie?" He murmured, wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed with the girl of his dreams. 

"You were lying on top of me, I had to get you off somehow," Kirstin chuckled lightly before getting up from off the floor. "Come on, I'm sure the ground isn't that comfortable," she rolled her eyes in a teasing manner and offered her hand which Avi gratefully took. Seeing as Avi was quite strong - and Kirstie was as light as a feather - instead of her lifting him up, he brought her down to the floor again. "That's some strength you got there."

"I've been working out," Avi winked dramatically which caused Kirstin to roll her eyes for the second time that morning. This time, the bass stood up first and then proceeded to help the mezzo-soprano up from her spot on the floor. 

"Avi, do you feel like we're forgetting something? I just have this uneasy feeling that we're forgetting about something important." Kirstin and Avi both became silent as they concentrated hard on what they could have possibly forgotten. Suddenly, both their eyes became wide and they slowly turned towards each other as they realised what was missing.

They gave a shriek at the exact same time, "Sierra!"

***

The car ride to the hospital was quiet and uncomfortable, and was mostly filled with awful music on the radio. Kirstin was having a hard time focusing on the road - mostly due to her panicking and Avi's very noticeable shaking. "You're worse than a fucking earthquake right now," Kirstin muttered, looking at the man beside her for a brief second. He looked paler than a white bed sheet. 

"I'm sure you would also be nervous if you were meeting your daughter for the first time," Avi snapped back. Nervous wasn't even the right word to describe how he was feeling; petrified would probably be more accurate in this case. They finally pulled into the car park of the hospital and he swore his heart stopped beating for a few seconds. 

Kirstin sighed and ran one hand through her smooth, blonde hair, "I'm sorry, Avi. Honestly, I'm just as nervous as you are. I feel like it's my fault that she's in the hospital." She leaned over and gave him one of her warm, reassuring hugs that let him know everything would be okay. He felt safe in the comfort of his arms but as soon as she let go, he felt cold and numb again. Kirstin patted his knee quickly and said, "Let's go."

With every step Avi took, his breathing felt shallower. The silence in the corridors was deafening; not even Kirstie's hand in his and her sweet, little whispers in his ear made him feel better. He just wanted to be a good father for his daughter, he wanted to be there more than ever since he wasn't there for the first three years. He was just terrified that she didn't want him in her life.

Once they arrived at Sierra's room, Avi completely stopped breathing and almost thought he would pass out. "I can't do this Kirstie. What if she hates me?" He choked out. The fear running through his veins was worse than he had ever experienced it in his life. 

"She's three years old, Avi, she's not going to bite your head off. I can promise you now, she's going to be so excited to meet you," Kirstin rubbed Avi's arms in a loving manner, she felt sympathetic towards him. "I'll go and speak to her first and explain everything, when I call you then you can come in." Avi nodded his head slowly to say that he understood and Kirstie gave him a quick peck on the cheek to lift up his spirits. 

Kirstin opened the door slowly to reveal a smiley Sierra sitting on her bed, her arm wrapped in a thick cast which already had a few signatures on it. "Mummy!" Sierra squealed and Kirstin almost started to cry tears of happiness and sadness. She was ecstatic that she got to see her daughter again - the separation was driving her crazy - but it was heartbreaking to see the cast on her arm and to see her little princess in hospital gowns. She was the cause of all of this. 

"Oh, sweetie, how are you feeling? How is your arm? Was it scary? I missed you so much, my angel!" Kirstie rambled, clutching her daughter close to her while she sat on the hospital bed in tears. 

"I'm okay, Mummy. It wasn't very scary, just sore. Doctor says I'm a good girl, though!" Sierra beamed. "He even wrote his name on my arm!" 

Kirstie stroked her hair as she smiled back, "I'm so proud of you, my girl. You're so grown up already." She took a peek at the door and remembered who was waiting anxiously outside. "And since you were so well behaved, Mummy has a special surprise for you." 

Sierra's eyes lit up immediately, "What is it, Mummy?"

"Sweetie, would you like to meet your daddy?"

Sierra is finally going to meet Avi!! Yay, happy families :) Four more chapters left of this book, what do you think is going to happen?