Moving Forward

Ava's Set Visit

"Mommy is Julian there?" Ava asks from the back of the car "I wanna play with him when we get there."

"I don't think so, honey. Maybe he can come visit."

I continue driving to the Friends set, trying to think of things to keep her entertained since she's going to be here all day.

"Let's go, mommy can't be late." I get her out of her car seat, waiting for her to pick up all the toys she brought with "You have plenty of toys to play with already here."

"But I want these toys." She says, handing me what she can't carry as she looks through the pile "I love them so much."

"You ready now?" I ask once she finally has every toy she owns in my hands "Everyone is waiting to see you."

She runs up to the door ahead of me, pulling it open and letting it shut right on my face.

"Thanks for holding the door, Ava." I eventually walk in to see her already talking to the cast, probably annoying the hell out of them "Where do you want your toys?"

"Right here." She decides, pointing to the middle of the floor. I put them off to the side where we won't be tripping over them, and of course that pisses her off.

"We are not going to be tripping over all your stuff. You either play where I put them or in my dressing room."

"Fine." She looks up at me with the meanest look she can manage "But you're the meanest mommy ever."

"I know, honey. I know."

"Why isn't she at school?" Matt asks "Did she get kicked out for fighting already?"

"No, not yet." I laugh, picturing that "They have off today and tomorrow for teacher meetings so she begged to come here for the day."

"We missed her." Court says, setting Ava on her lap and reaching for toys "Our entertainment has been gone for too long. Her and Julian are the best."

"I want Julian!" Ava quickly yells, turning to Lisa "Please?"

"Maybe later. He's at home with his dad right now." Lisa sits next to Court to play "I'm sure he'll be excited to see you."

"Yeah, cause I'm the best Ava ever!"

"You are, baby. Just don't get too full of yourself."

I watch as Court and Lisa play with her, loving that I know I can count on everyone here to watch her.

"So does this mean we have the day off?" David interrupts my thoughts "We can just play with toys and act like kids again?"

"I'm fine with that. Just have fun getting her to share. She isn't too good at that yet."

We eventually have to start work for the day, which means I have to go through wardrobe for this weeks episode. Since Brad is working and can't pick up Ava like he normally does, I trap her in my dressing room while I try on everything.

"Which one do you like better?" I hold up the two shirt options they gave me. She quickly runs over to help me decide, picking the grey one.

"That one is really pretty." She says, looking at the pants they gave me and picking out a pair "And these too!"

"Thanks, baby." I quickly try everything on to make sure it all fits "Stay here for a minute, okay? I'll be right across the hall."

She ignores me, already playing with her toys, so I quickly run over to show the wardrobe people what I chose, and let them make any changes.

"I thought for sure you would pick the other shirt." The lady says, checking everything "This looks good on you."

"Ava picked it out. I had to keep her entertained."

We go over all my shoe and jewelry options, deciding which go best with the outfit and fit in with the episode.

I get everything I need, ready to go back to my dressing room when I hear yelling in the hallway.

"Ava!" Matthew yells, running "Come back here!"

I quickly run out, hoping she didn't get herself in trouble, only to see her running around in circles. She waves to me right away, and I stand there laughing at her and Matthew's weird game.

"You have fun?"

"Yeah!" Ava yells excitedly as she runs past me.

"I walked past your room and she looked bored so I thought I would help." Matthew walks up next to me, taking a break from all the running "I didn't think she had so much energy stored up. She can really run for having such little legs."

"She runs laps through the house for fun. I just hope it eventually turns into something more than just bumping into all my nice furniture."

"I can't wait for the baby to get here so we can watch them play." Court walks up behind me "Her and Julian are going to be so good."

"I know." I look over at Court smiling "I'm so happy you'll finally get to deal with everything. You can see why I wanna lose my freaking mind half the time."

"I'm so excited for it!" She laughs, knowing that I'm not really serious "But I'm not excited about all of this ending. I wish I would be able to bring her to set like you and Lisa do."

"It is pretty cool. I love that they're growing up around such great people." I watch Ava finally give up on running and lay herself right in the middle of the floor "It's cool to see them bond with everyone, especially each other."

Lisa walks over to us with Julian running behind her, pushing past us to get to Ava.

"I asked him if he wanted to visit me today and he said only if Ava is here."

"They're so cute." Court says as they hug each other "When they get married it better be here on this set."

"That would be really cute."