Moving Forward

Talks With Jane

"Jane! Oh my gosh, I missed you!" I practically run up to my mother in law, who just flew out to California to see us "How are you?"

"Much better now that I'm here. I missed you guys so much. This whole not living in the same state thing sucks."

"Majorly." I agree, sitting on the couch with her "How's Will doing?"

"He's good, he's going to fly out tomorrow. Apparently my flight was too early for him to be ready." She rolls her eyes laughing "Just to give you some insight on what you're in for."

"I can't wait. He's seems to be getting more and more like him every day. Drives me crazy sometimes."

"So how have you two been? And Ava? I miss my little princess."

"She's good. Always doing something new." I answer, trying to think of what to tell her about Brad and I "We're doing okay. We've just been stressed lately and not handling it like we should, but we're fine. I think we just have too much going on right now."

"Is he still filming? He never really said how long it'll be." She asks, referring to Mr. And Mrs. Smith.

"Yeah he has another week, then he's done for about 2 or 3 months. They're filming it slowly for some reason." I look around at the set, thinking about how this is going to end soon "I'm just glad he'll be off for the last episode. I know I still have almost 4 months, but it's still hard to think about."

"I don't even want to have to think about it." She jokes "You know how much we love the show, but I'm sure Ava couldn't be happier to have you home with her more. Every time I talk to her she tells me about you and how long until you're done."

"Oh yeah, she asks me every morning when she wakes up if it's the last day yet. I'm really excited to spend more time with her."

"I can't wait for her party tomorrow. She seems so exited." Jane says, noticing how excited I get at the mention of it "You know, you're an amazing mom. I don't know how you juggle all of this, but however you do, it's working out good. She looks up to you more than I've ever seen a kid look up to their parents, and she has a great role model."

"That seems to be what pushes me forward: being a good role model for her. I can't imagine life without her anymore, it's so weird to think back on the times before we had her and our lives seemed so simple." I stop to think about the issues going on right now, knowing that they tie in with the added stress from having Ava, but also knowing we wouldn't change our lives for anything.

"Hey, he loves you. I have never heard him talk about anyone the same was as he does you. I know he can be an ass at times, all men are, but I also know that he's going to do everything in his power to continue to make you and Avalynn the luckiest girls in the world."

"He's always trying to, I know he is. It's just hard sometimes. But we love each other, and I don't think either of us would ever want to live without each other."

We talk for a while longer before going to Ava's school to surprise her and get her out a little early as a birthday present.

"Grandma!" She yells the second she sees Jane, running up to her and throwing her bag towards me "I miss you."

"I know honey, I missed you too." Jane picks her up as we walk out "But we're going to have lots of fun today to make up for it. And then grandpa's coming to see you tomorrow for your party."

"And daddy!" Ava adds excitedly.

"Daddy should be home tonight, he's excited to see you."

I drive to my normal hair salon where we are surprising Ava with getting her hair and nails done for her party tomorrow, since she always loves coming with me to get mine done. She runs in to find Chris as soon as I get her out of her car seat, and sits in his chair.

"I thought you said this is the first time you're letting her do this." Jane watches as she talks to Chris "She looks experienced."

"It is, I guess I just bring her with me too often. She watches everything."

I make sure to tell Chris what she's really allowed to have done based on what Brad and I agreed on, knowing we don't want any drastic changes.

"Okay, would faint, washout pink be okay? She very specifically asked me for 'a little pink' in her hair and it is her birthday." Chris asks, not letting her hear us "The longest it would last in her hair is a week, and I won't need much since her color is already really light."

I think about it for a while, wondering if I should call and ask Brad or not, but eventually decide she can do it.

"Just only do one on each side or something like that. I don't think Brad will care, but just in case I don't want it to be too crazy for him."

"She loves this. I didn't think she liked attention this much." Jane leans over closer to my chair "She's going to look cute with the pink, even if Brad isn't thrilled."

"I may need your help convincing him of that..." I sit back to let them wash my hair, loving the pampering.

Once we all have our hair done, we move on to nails.

"We get purple?" Ava picks out the nail polish color "I love purple."

"Sure honey, whatever color you want." Jane sits down next to her "Are you excited to turn 5 tomorrow?"

"Yeah!! I'm getting big!" She looks towards me "Mommy doesn't like it."

"Mommy just misses her baby, that's all." Jane says.

"Yeah, I miss when you were so little and cute." I agree with Jane.

"I'm still cute." Ava quickly adds, causing us to laugh "I'm even cuter!"

"You're right, honey. You get cuter every day."

They start paining our nails, which inevitably becomes a game with Ava because she cannot sit still to save her life, and wants her nails to just end up painted magically. She eventually gives up on waiting for her toes to try and decides to lay her feet across Jane's lap and her head on mine with her arms hanging off the side of my chair.

"You're lucky we love you." Jane rearranges herself so they can continue to work on her fingers "And I hope you're comfortable."

Chris comes over to finish Ava's nails since she won't let anyone else, and she surprisingly sits still for almost the whole time until close to the end, when she practically jumps off our laps.

"Daddy's here!" She runs to the door, pointing outside. Jane and I look at each other confused, but as soon as I see Brad get out of his car I let her run out to him.

"I had one more nail." Chris laughs "One more."

"I bet you she'll sit still for him. She hasn't seen him in a few days now."

They walk in a minute later, Brad carrying Ava who is smiling ear to ear with excitement. He looks at her hair, and then at me, questioning why it is pink.

"She wanted pink." I answer before he gets upset "And they're washout. She just doesn't know that."

He just nods his head and leans down to kiss me, before sitting between his mom and I.

"You guys look tired." He notices how both Jane and I are yawning "Why?"

"Someone decided to wake me at 5:30 today, and her flight left at 9..."

Ava quickly cuts me off before I can say anymore.

"I wasn't tired so I jumped on mommy's bed until she waked up."

"You're going to make your mommy go crazy sometime." Jane laughs at how Ava is jumping around to show us how she woke me "You need to sleep more."

"Her mommy's already crazy. That happened years ago." Brad smirks over at me.

"Yeah, 8 year ago. The day we got married."

"Hey, I'm not that bad. You know you love me."

"I do." I lean in to kiss him "Sometimes I don't like you much, but I do love you."