=23=

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1 Year Later

The first year with Avery was a learning process, but they loved having that lively little girl in their lives. Elliot proposed to Olivia, and they were going to have a long engagement before finally getting married.

They both turned 18, so there was a lot of different things they could now do and what seemed to be 10x more responsibilities. 

But along with the good and the bad, came worse.

"Hey, someone just called the house phone. They left a message... she left a message." Elliot spoke, as he came into Avery's room. Olivia and Avery were cleaning up her room a bit since she had gotten many gifts from Violet and Cane when they came to visit.

"She?" Olivia questioned, as her three year old stood and ran over to grab another toy to put in her toy box.

"Uh, S-e-r-e-n-a." Elliot spelled, and Olivia's eyes went wide.

"What?"

"I'll take over here and you go listen to the message," Elliot spoke, and Olivia nodded slowly. She pushed herself up off the floor, and she felt like her body weighed a ton. Just hearing her mother's name made her body ache and she felt like getting sick at this moment.

Olivia made sure to shut Avery's door tightly, before walking towards the living room. She could see the bright flashing red on the answering machine and she didn't know if she should just go over and delete it or actually hear what her mother had wanted to say to her. Olivia knew that somehow Serena would find her, but she didn't want her to find their house number or their address.

Olivia walked over and pressed the play button before waiting for the prompt to be over. Eventually, Serena's voice filled the quiet house.

"Uh, hi there. It's Serena... your mother? Olivia, I found your number by searching you online. I guess that it's been what, two years since you walked out. A lot had happened, I know that. I hope that you hear this and don't just delete it because I'm sober now. I left him, and I took the plea deal and am now out for good. I'm going to be cut off soon, but please just call me back. Star 69 me or something so you can get my number." 

Olivia deleted the message as soon as she heard it, then she turned and headed towards Avery's room. She made it to the door, but she didn't go in. All she did was listen to Avery and Elliot laughing inside.

She wished that when she was younger and still living with her mother, that she laughed more. That she had enjoyed her time like Avery was here. But instead, Olivia's childhood was filled with so much pain. The pain got worse when Avery was forcefully conceived, but now Olivia wouldn't trade her daughter for the world.

=+=

They were quiet once they headed back to bed. Olivia was laying flat on her back and staring at the ceiling, while Elliot watched her and waited for her to start talking. Her demons were a little more still free roaming than his were. Elliot's father was in prison, his mother was in the mental hospital still. But Olivia's mother and Avery's biological father were still out there and they could still very well come back and hurt her as they had hurt her before.

"Do you think that if I hadn't ran, that you would have?" Olivia breathed.

"No, I would have died a coward, trust me." Elliot breathed.

"You weren't a coward, Elliot. You never could have been. Your father is a coward." Olivia huffed. She was angry at Joseph for what he did to her Elliot, not how Elliot took the beatings because he didn't know how to fight back.

"Liv, let's just block her number so that she can't contact us any more. We don't want Avery to answer the phone one day and to here Serena's voice on the other side of the call."

"I'm scared that she'll show up here because she probably also knows our address. She knows where we live thanks to our fucking area code." Olivia huffed.

"Don't let her get to you, Olivia. Because in the end, we are stronger now than we were before. We have fire running through our veins. We will fight anyone and everyone who could possibly hurt us or Avery. Do you understand me?" Elliot spoke, his voice cold and sharp. He didn't want to be cold towards her, but he had to get her to understand that he wouldn't let anyone get to them and their small family.

=+=

Olivia tried to stay positive. She kept just focusing on her fiance and her daughter and kept her thoughts away from Manhattan.

"How was preschool today, pretty girl?" Olivia questioned, as she held Avery's hand as they walked home from the preschool. Elliot had the car, and Olivia knew that a mile walk home wasn't going to be bad for them.

"It was good, Momma! I won a teddy bear today for reading a big book!" Avery exclaimed, and Olivia smiled.

"That's great. You are a very smart little girl, huh?" Olivia replied, proudly. She was glad that her daughter was doing so great in school, because once Serena's boyfriend had moved in with Olivia and her, Olivia barely made it through school because so much was happening in her house and she got distracted.

"I'm smart like you, Momma." Avery beamed. They stopped to cross the road, and Avery hit the button before they waited.

"Is Elliot my Daddy?" Avery questioned.

"What?" Olivia replied.

"Like, did you and him make me?" Avery asked, and Olivia's eyes went wide. She was so confused why Avery was thinking about that stuff when she's only three.

"Uh, no. I met Elliot after I had you." Olivia breathed.

"Who's my Daddy then?" Avery asked, and Olivia swallowed hard before frowning deeply.

"A bad man. A very bad man. But he's gone now, Avery Mae. Trust me." Olivia replied.

"So, can I start calling Elliot my Daddy?" Avery questioned, and Olivia nodded and smiled.

"If that is what you want. But don't forget about Cane." Olivia spoke.

"I can't, because I have two Dads and to Moms!" Avery exclaimed before they went to cross the road.

"You are a very lucky little girl. So many people love you." Olivia replied as she smiled.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Please vote and comment all of your feedback below! :D

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