I choose you - Part 1

Chapter CXXV

Mitch put a hand on Avi's shoulder and turned to look at the sleeping twins. He looked at the fiancé again, but the man was focused on the road.

"How are you feeling?" Mitch asked quietly.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Avi glanced in the rearview mirror to see if Scott was still following him.

"You didn't say much about what happened in court."

"I don't want to talk about it right now." He glanced quickly at Mitch. "Not with the kids around, even with them sleeping."

"Fine, but are we going to talk about this?"

"Yes, we are going to talk about it." Avi turned his attention to the road and felt Mitch's hand slide to his thigh. "I just don't want to talk about it around them."

"I know." Mitch sighed looking out the window. "Maybe Liz is right, spending a few days at your parents' house might be the best thing to do."

"Did he send you anything?" Avi squeezed the steering wheel.

"Not around the kids, forget it." Mitch tried to joke, but the tight smile made Avi a little angrier.

They were silent until Avi parked at his parents' gate, he rolled down the window and typed in the password. Scott was parked just behind them, Avi sped down the road and saw Scott following as they parked. Mitch unbuckled his belt and turned to look at the kids.

"They'll wake up in a bad mood."

"Exactly like their father before the first cup of coffee." Avi let out a low laugh when Mitch pinched him. "I'll get the bags, wake up the kids."

Scott was opening the back of the car to release the dogs that had run merrily across the lawn.

"Do your parents have dogs?" Scott stopped after a moment, realizing he shouldn't have let them go before asking.

"No." Avi dropped the tarp that was covering the truck's bed and opened the back so he could get what they had brought out.

Avi started pulling the two portable cribs down onto the floor as he listened to Mitch talking to the kids inside the car.

"Oh, you've arrived." Michael approached with Joshua following closely behind. "Was it okay? We arrived before you."

"Yeah, we just took a while to get out of the house and into traffic," Avi replied as his brother pulled one of the bags. "The kids are sleeping."

"Your mother left their room ready, she also asked for a light dinner for them. Our dinner is still being made." Michael approached helping Mark carry Nick and Kelly, "someone is getting heavy." He joked smiling at Kelly who was sleeping in the portable chair. "Your room is also ready, it's in the same hallway as Avriel and the kids' room. Shelly thought you two would prefer it that way."

"I appreciate it, but we didn't mean to disturb you." Mark smiled as Rick helped Scott unload the car and Connie held a still-sleeping Maddie in her arms.

"They'd better come in with the kids while we take care of the luggage," Joshua spoke as he lowered one of the suitcases Avi had given him.

Michael handed Kelly over to Rick and walked over to pick up Tony who snuggled into him almost instantly. Old Kaplan smiled and put his hand on the boy's back, bringing him close.

"Let's accommodate the children." Michael nodded.

Mark looked at Scott who was still unloading the car.

"Go, I'll go upstairs with their stuff," Scott murmured, kissing Mark softly.

They quickly emptied the cars and Joshua took the two boxes that held the portable cribs.