Baby Love

Chapter 28

Word Count: 3136

Nobody's POV

It had been a few days since the incident and Averie had been slowly coming out of her shell again. The biggest problem was every time that she thought of Taylor, she also thought about JJ. She was so scared of history repeating itself that she decided it would be best to ignore those thoughts for as long as possible. This meant she would purposely try to avoid Taylor.

The best thing about these last few days was that Joe chose her. He chose to stay and not pawn her off on someone else. He held her all day and night through scary thoughts, nightmares, and silent hours. He stayed. He was patient and kind and everything that Averie dreamed of. Everything that her friends seemed to brag about.

It was the following week and Joe was getting ready in the bathroom for a friend's get-together. They were invited to meet up with a friend of Joe's from university to watch the rugby game.

Averie was already ready to go and was building tours for her cats in the living room when Joe's phone rang. Taylor's picture popped up on the screen with her kissing Joe's cheek. It was a cute, lovey-dovey picture but Averie couldn't care less at the moment.

Averie only answered the phone knowing that her Daddy would often get frustrated if he missed important calls like these. And feeling frustrated sucks, Averie would know because that's often how she felt about the past year. She felt frustrated that so many things kept happening to her and she couldn't do anything about it.

"Hello," She answered the call.

"Oh hey, Averie! It's Taylor, your daddy's girlfriend," Taylor greeted.

Averie crossed her arms, eyeing the phone suspiciously. "I know who you are," she retorted with a precocious attitude.

Taylor chuckled, impressed by her confidence. "So, how was school today?" she asked, trying to break the ice. This was the first time that they had spoken since the incident. Taylor wasn't sure where she stood with Averie since Joe had said that she just wasn't ready.

"I didn't go." Averie deadpanned.

"Oh did you spend the day with your Daddy?"

"Yes. And grandma and grandpa," Averie answered with a short attitude.

"That sounds fun. Are you looking forward to your birthday?"

"Eh," Averie hesitated. She didn't want to share with Taylor. She didn't know how to feel about her or her music.

"It's okay if you're not. Your grandmother told me that you're not sure what you wanted to do for your birthday," Taylor pushed the subject once more, despite already knowing how sensitive the subject was.

"Hmm," Averie paused not sure how to answer that one. Last year was kind of stressful and this year was beginning to feel the same way. It was right around when Joe had broken up with JJ so tensions were high and Averie felt so confused about what was happening. Joe had moved through the relationship too quickly while Averie was still deeply attached to the maternal love that she was receiving.

"It's okay, we can talk another time. Is your Daddy around?" Taylor offered seeing as now quickly Averie was shutting down.

"Who are you on the phone with, Nugget?" Joe interrupted. He wasn't sure if he was hearing things but seeing Averie with his phone in hand just confirmed it for him.

Joe knelt in front of Averie who instantly embraced him while passing over the phone. She didn't want to think those thoughts anymore. Taylor and JJ weren't the same person but she couldn't seem to separate the two.