In Another Life

20 - "And you're right back together like no time has ever gone by"

20 - "And you're right back together like no time has ever gone by"

Having Adam back didn't change much at first because Ava was home and Fox was also preparing to leave soon so their parents had planned a week vacation where everyone could spend time together.

They went to the coast and had a great time, Ava even managing to spin the story so it could fit her blog. She already had the last few weeks of summer blocked out for the blog and plans had already been made for it so her family deserved her time while she was there.

The weather was humid and hot, but it meant beautiful tans, drippy ice-cream and crashing waves. Her family was overly fond of the water and they had to keep remembering to slather Aaron in sunscreen since he burned pink instead of brown like them. His soft gold hair turned white that week and Bella and Andrés turned brown as nuts. Fox was already tanned beyond recognition and he admitted that he went for a run every morning which meant more time in the sun than he used to have. It had done wonders for his physique and both Belle and Ava gagged at the amount of attention it was getting him on the beach.

"A foot massage— I think that's what your mother needs. The way she was complaining about even coming on this holiday," Isaac Espín groused, leaning back in the armchair, flipping through the sport channels until he landed on a relatively old but interesting baseball match.

Ava nodded in agreement, munching on the caramel popcorn they'd taken from the snack box their mother had packed. "Please Papa, we all heard it. I think Mamá threatened to just send us off without her and that would be Mamá's holiday." She paused in her munching. "Is that what holidays are for mothers? A week without their families?"

Aaron came running over, making grabby hands at the popcorn and Ava lifted the bag, shaking her head. "That's not how we ask for things."

Her heart melted when he gave her his puppy-eyes but she didn't budge until he sweetly said, "Please, can I have?"

She pulled her brother onto her lap, grunting at how big he'd gotten in the past year, and offered him the bag. Then she turned back to her father who had gotten engrossed in the match. "Papá?"

"Hm?" He turned to look at her and shrugged. "What do I know? I'm not a mother." Ava raised an eyebrow and he grinned. "Probably. Families can be taxing."

"Then maybe that's what we should give her. A spa day without us. We can take the kids to that amusement park I showed Papá yesterday, I'll pack the food for us and we'll ship Mamá off."

Unfortunately for them, Jordi Espín decided to walk in at that moment. "Ship me off to where? Ungrateful family. I sit slogging the entire day for you people, not a moment's rest and y'all wanna send me away. I knew I should have just stayed at home. That would have been my holiday," she said for the thousandth time.

Her father threw her a panicked look and Ava took a deep breath. Being the eldest in a household automatically gave her third parent privileges, but sometimes it was too much.

"Ma, we were trying to see which way we could get everyone out of Mamá's hair so you could have some time to yourself."

Her mother huffed and walked to the kitchen to get lunch ready. Aaron turned to her and whispered into her ear, in an actual whisper which was impressive because his therapist had been spending a lot of time on his voice regulation, asking whether Mamá was mad at them. Ava shook her head and hugged him close. "She's just tired, baby. I'm going to help her in the kitchen and leave you here with Papá, okay?"

She waited for him to nod before shifting him off her lap and joining her mother in the kitchen. She went to hug her mother from behind and dropped a kiss onto her shoulder before stepping back. "Why don't I take care of lunch and Mamá can go and take a nap, huh? It's just to reheat the food, right?"