Duet: an Avi Kaplan fanfic

Livvie's Secret

A/N: Hey. Sorry this one is so short, it gets the point across. Some of your guesses were good some were close. Ready for the real answer? Hope you enjoy. As always votes and comments are apriciated,. Love y'all.

-Emmi

“When was the last time you saw her, Livvie?” I ask.

“A few months ago. She’s getting so big and so pretty. I wish I’d made a different choice.” She answers, tears welling in her eyes.

“Livvie,” I start, pulling my sister into a tight hug, “I think you should go see her again.”

She nods. “Will you come with me? She hasn’t seen you in forever.”

“Yeah, I’ll come. I’d love to see her again.” I assure her.

Livvie picks up her phone and dials. “Hey, Samantha. I was wondering if Arya and I could come visit. …. Okay, see you in about an hour.”  And with that, we get in the car to begin the hour long drive.

“Livvie, has Connor made any attempt to see you again?”

“No, that asshole is gone. He’s been gone for almost three and a half years. I mean, who leaves their pregnant girlfriend when she almost loses the baby? And all those times when I needed him there, he wasn’t. I knew I couldn’t raise this kid without her father, that’s the only reason I went to find Samantha.

“But when Jaqueline was born and I saw those big, brown eyes, I wanted to go back on every promise I made to Sam. I wanted to keep her. I begged for Sam to let me at least be a part of Jackie’s life. I swear I cried just as hard when she said yes as when Connor left us. So I go see my daughter once or twice a week. Then we moved and became so hard to see her, I only went once or twice a month, if that. And then, five months ago, I didn’t go back. I don’t know why, but I didn’t. I feel like…like I should have kept her, because she’s my daughter. And now, I’m just Auntie Livvie. It kills me. It really does. But at least, I can still see her and I’ve been invited to her next birthday party. It’s next month, she’ll be three. Can you believe that? It’s been three years.”

“We’re here,” I say quietly, pulling into the driveway of the light blue house. A woman, only a few years older than us, is looking out the front window, a little curly haired girl on her hip.

We walk in and the little girl squeals, “Livvie! Ary!” she can’t say Arya just yet, so Ary it is. Livvie was right, she is getting big. Jaqueline is one of those kids who is like a miniature of one parent with one feature of the other. She’s a mini Livvie, with Connor’s eyes.

The four of us settle down to watch Disney movies for a few hours and soon, it’s 4:30 and Livvie and I’s phones go off.

AVI: Where are you guys? You do remember people are supposed to hang out tonight, right?

               “Scott’s wondering where we are.” Livvie says.

“Who’s Scott?” Jaqueline asks.

“He’s Livvie’s boyfriend,” I tell her, then I turn to Liv, “Avi’s wondering too, we should probably go.” I sigh.’

“NO! Livvie! Ary! No go!” Jaqueline screams.

“I’m sorry baby girl, but we gotta go. But I promise, I’ll come visit more often, okay?” Livvie coos.

“Okay,” Jackie sniffles.

We get our goodbye hugs and get into the car. On the way home, Livvie cries again. “Every time she called Samantha ‘Mommy’ I died a little inside,” she whispers through the tears.

“Where were y’all today? You never answered.” Scott asks that night.

“We were visiting a friend and her little girl. Jaqueline’s getting big, isn’t she, Livvie?” I answer cheerily. Mel looks at us wide-eyed.

“Yeah. She looks just like her mom, but she’s got Connor’s eyes.” Livvie chokes out before bursting into tears for the third time that day. She runs out of the room to recover. Scott starts to go after her, but I put a hand on his arm to stop him. “Let her go, she needs to recover on her own.”

“What the hell?” Mitch blurts.

“Jackie’s dad, Connor, is Livvie’s ex. He left her with no warning about five months before Jaqueline was born.” Mel says, I guess she’s not technically lying.

“Why go visit some ex’s kid?” Kirstie asks.

“I guess the first time, she just wanted to see her once. But after that first look, Livvie fell in love. Loves that little girl as her own daughter. She can’t stand hearing Jackie call Sam ‘mom’ while she’s just ‘Aunt Livvie’. Livvie is always saying that she should have been her little girl to raise, not Sam’s.” I explain.

Mel and I are trying so hard to b convincing. Which shouldn’t be that hard, since we aren’t lying, we’re just not being entirely honest.