Ava thought she had the world figured out until it was turned upside down. She must decide if she wants to be free or re-building the life she had.
Series Order: Baby Steps, Colossal Jump, Moving Forward, Little Leaps and Passing Motions.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
London rests her head against my chest, then hooks her little fingers around the flimsy material of my dress. Her tears soak into the light fabric, which leaves dark wet patches. I rub her back and slightly rock her back and forth. When London's whimpers settle to a sniffle, my attention turns back to them.
"I'm waiting." I tap my foot against the ground. "What the hell is going on?"
Blake shifts on his feet uneasily as he looks at Tori. Jude crosses his arms over his chest, waiting to see what Tori will do. Instead of a grand explanation, her mouth falls open like a gasping fish suddenly thrown out of the water.
When the silence continues, I notice the distaste growing Jude's face. He takes a step out of the shadows to address the situation. I can smell the beer on his breath, so I know this courage isn't really courage, its evaporating liquid confidence.
Thankfully, Blake hasn't had anything to drink, yet. I hope he'll keep a level head throughout the conversation because we don't need another physical fight on our hands, especially if we want full custody. There's no telling what Tori might spin out of a stupid heated argument to the courts.
"I don't want to date someone who was playing around on me," says Jude.
My head falls to the side with confusion. Am I hearing this right? He tried to get with his brother's girlfriend, but Tori sneaking around behind with another man is hurting his feelings? I can't comprehend. Did Jude not think his actions were going to hurt Blake as well?
"Are you kidding me?" she huffs. "You kept showing up after things blew up. There was no relationship and we never slept together!"
"Tori," he grumbles.
"You lied to Blake about us sleeping together, I never forced you to do anything. You made me the enemy for no reason, but I played the part anyway. Look what happened, Jude, look what it did," she yells.
London whimpers but I can't find the surge of energy to move from the room. It's like my feet are stuck to the ground.
"You're nothing but a whore." Jude snubs his nose in the air.
I have to stop myself from sighing with annoyance. Why do people need to sink down to childish behaviour? What is calling someone a whore or a slut going to do?
"Keep it coming, Jude, I don't care what you call me," replies Tori. "Slut, prostitute, bitch, disgusting, dirty, tell me something new for once." The glow of anger in her eyes makes me almost terrified to be standing here. Yet, Jude's poster tightens and he launches into a counter attack. Add some Pokémon balls and popcorn, and we might have something decedent on our hands.
"Are you sure the baby is Blake's? Or did you lie about that too?" Jude straightens out his button down shirt, almost as if he's brushing dirt off his shoulder. It's like his comment was supposed to hurt Blake, but it didn't. His comment just seemed to add more gasoline to the burning fire.
