Free (Sequel to Trapped)

Ch. 84

Justin

Tuesday, 3:14 pm

"Daddy!" Aviella yells.

She runs in the bedroom and jumps on the bed to hug me.

"Hey, baby. How are you?"

"Great! I'm going to gymnastics!"

"I know you are. I was right next to mommy when she signed you up."

"Where's Bella?"

"Hiding. Daddy made progress." I say as Ariana comes in.

"What does that mean?"

"It's called training your daughter not to cry when you put her down."

"That still doesn't answer my question. Where is she?" Aviella repeats.

"Upstairs in her own bed!"

"It's called a crib, daddy."

"I know what it's called. I just put her in her crib and closed the door."

"So basically you abandoned my daughter and left her to cry?" Ariana asks.

"Yeah." I nod.

"That's kind of smart, I guess."

"Well, I wanna see her." Aviella says.

She gets off of the bed and runs out of the room.

"So how exactly did your plan work?" Ariana sits next to me on the edge of the bed.

"She's not crying, is she?"

"She's probably asleep."

"I'm sure she is."

"You forced my baby girl to cry herself to sleep."

"Mommy, can you come get Bella and bring her down here?" Aviella appears in the doorway.

"Isn't she asleep?"

"Yes, but she shouldn't sleep by herself. I don't like that, and neither does she."

"Oh, I see. I'll be up there in a second. For now, you go make sure she's okay."

"Okay!" Aviella runs out again and I laugh.

"She's too much." Ariana says.

"I wonder who she gets it from." I say.

"Yeah, me too." Ariana replies.

"I guess I'll go retrieve my daughters." Ariana stands up and starts to walk away but I grab her arm.

"You didn't give me a kiss."

"Oh, I didn't. Did I?" She smiles.

I pull her closer to me and she plants a kiss on my lips.

"You're welcome."

She starts to walk away and I let her.

Ariana

3:19 pm

I walk up the stairs and into Bella's room, where Aviella is staring into her crib.

"Is she okay?" I ask.

"Yep." Aviella backs up and I walk over to Bella's crib.

"My baby is so cute." I smile and pick her up before following Aviella downstairs.

"You can put her in this. Then she won't be lonely." Aviella points to Bella's bassinet and I laugh.

"She's not lonely, baby. She's sleeping."