Free (Sequel to Trapped)

Ch. 56

Ariana

Tuesday, 5:11 pm

"Come on, birthday girl." I tell Aviella.

"Where are we going?"

"To dinner. At Applebees."

"Yay! I love apples and bees!"

"I don't know why you love bees but it's your choice." She grabs Tommy and follows me downstairs where Justin is waiting with the keys.

"Daddy!" Aviella says.

He smiles, lifting her off her feet. They hadn't seen each other since this morning because Justin just got home about ten minutes ago.

"Hey, birthday girl. How was your day?"

"It was fun! Mommy brought cupcakes and the whole class sang happy birthday to me!"

"That's nice." Justin kisses her head and we walk outside to the car.

After he buckles her into her car seat, he gets in the drivers seat and turns the car on.

"To Applebees!" Justin says.

"To Applebees!" Aviella repeats.

I laugh at their silliness and Justin backs out of the driveway.

5:29 pm

"Grandma and Uncle Frankie are here?" Aviella asks.

"Yes, they are." I answer her as the waiter leads us to the booth where my mom and Frankie were sitting.

"Did you bring Toulouse?" Aviella asks Frankie as Justin places her down in the booth.

"No, Avi. He's not allowed here." Frankie says as mom kisses Aviella's head.

"That's mean." Aviella pouts and I laugh.

"He'll be okay for a little while."

"Good."

"I'm Selina and I'll be your server today. What can I start you off with to drink?" The waitress asks.

We all tell her out drink orders, and Justin orders one of their many adult drinks, then says that he won't be sharing it with me.

"That's not nice. Don't you know that sharing is caring?" Aviella says.

"Yes, I am aware of that." Justin nods, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we look through our menus.

"Then why can't you share with mommy?"

"Believe me, I've shared enough with her." Justin smirks and I roll my eyes.

"Justin!" Mom gasps.

Frankie laughs, looking from Justin to me then back to Justin.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing." Mom says quickly.

"So, Aviella, how was your day?" Frankie asks.

Aviella smiles, going through a much more detailed description of her day then what she told Justin. I grab my phone right as Selina comes back with our drinks, and ready to take our orders.

5:47 pm

Once our food arrives, Aviella is completely silent as she stuffs her face with her macaroni and fries. A horrible combination, I know. But it's her birthday, so I let her get what she wanted.

Justin and Frankie got steak, mom got a bacon cheeseburger, and me being me, I got a chicken salad, because even though I'm pregnant, my appetite seems to be decreasing.

Once everyones done eating, Aviella wants desert, so Justin calls Selina over and tells her that it's Aviella's birthday. Selina calls the other waiters and waitresses over to sing happy birthday, and Aviella keeps a smile on her face the whole time.

My sweet little princess.

Aviella gets strawberry cheesecake with whipped cream on top and happy birthday written on the plate in chocolate fudge.

"I like this." She says.

"I hope you don't eat it all because sharing is definitely caring." Justin says.

"You don't get any. You wouldn't share with mommy. But I'll share with mommy, because I'm nice." Aviella says.

I laugh and Justin shrugs.

"I'll get my own then."

"But it won't have happy birthday written on the plate so ha."

"She's right." Mom says.

Justin rolls his eyes playfully and orders his own cheesecake to share with me.