AUGUST'S POV
I walked into the house holding Ava, who was asleep, in one arm, and her bag in the other. I just got back from picking her up from Bahja's house. It's kind of early, so of course Ava is grouchy as hell. I swear, sometimes, this lil girl is just like me, and sometimes she's just like her mama. I guess it just depends on how she's feeling.
I carried her upstairs to her room and put her stuff down before going over to her crib. I tried to lay her down, but I stirred her too much and she realized what was happening. She whined and held onto my shirt. Her eyes were still closed and she had her bottom lip poked out.
"Ava-Jai, stop th--"
"Papa!" She whined. "Up Papa!"
I sighed and lifted her back up, letting her nuzzle her head into my neck. She reached to put her thumb into her mouth, but I stopped her.
"What I tell you about that thumb, Ava?" I asked in a stern tone.
"No, no." She whispered before sitting up to look at me.
She dried her thumb off on her shirt before looking around for a few seconds.
"Mama?" She asked me.
"She's upstairs. Come on, let's go wake her up."
I carried her upstairs to the master bedroom and stepped inside. I carried her over to the bed and sat her down. She immediately crawled over to Nique and shook her.
"Mamaaaa..." Ava whined. "Mama!"
Nique's eyes opened and she yawned before sitting up some.
"What is it baby?" She asked Ava.
Ava didn't say anything. She just snuggled up to Nique and rubbed her arm.
"Well, good morning to you too." Nique chuckled and lightly kissed the top of her head.
"I tried to put her in her bed, but she wanted to be difficult." I stated while shaking my head. "You know how she is early in the morning. I swear we got a lil spoiled brat."
"Or maybe you're just a big pushover." She teased.
I sucked my teeth. "Whatever. How could I not give her whatever she wants?" I chuckled. "I mean, look at that face."
"That's why she's such a little brat." She giggled as she ran her fingers through Ava's hair.
"Nah, she got that from you." I smirked as I flopped down onto the bed.
"Anyways," She playfully rolled her eyes at me. "I think we should start looking into preschools, babe..."
"Nah, she ain't ready to be away from us that long." I objected quickly.
She raised her eyebrows at me. "She isn't ready or you aren't ready?"
"Both." I chuckled. "I ain't ashamed to say I'm not ready for my lil girl to grow up."
"That's really adorable, but I still think it's time for her to start preschool." She stated. "She's pretty mentally advanced for her age, but I don't want her to get behind in her social areas. I mean, she's never really around other children her age."
"She's always with Rylei." I argued.
"Yes, but she needs to experience being around a group of children. She needs to learn how to share with more than just one other person and how to wait her turn." She explained. "It'll also teach her that the world doesn't revolve around her and she'll learn how to follow rules better. This will also show her that she has to respect the authority of other adults besides us, Bahja, Bre, and your mom."
