The Guardian - A My Inner Demons AU Fanfic

Chapter Twelve - Mrs. Oates, Focus!

Mrs. Oates bent down as she shuffled through the storage containers under the kitchen counter. "Oh, for heaven's sake! These children..." she murmured under her breath, turning towards the stove. "Nothing but Spam and a bag of rice? Emmy's stretching herself more than I thought..."

"Forgive me for asking, but what are you doing?" Rhys cut in gently.

"Wondering how Emmy managed to get past Ava's fathers on this. Usually Devon and Andrew are very observant about their living conditions." She gave them a sly wink. "But I take it they were too distracted with Ava's relationship with you boys to pay attention."

"They had 'laid down the law' with us, but they also mentioned that, for them, it was nice to see us in her apartment. They also promised Emerald they would try to respect her privacy as well."

"Ooo! Hmm... I'm going to assume, since Ava has friends, they're going to try to give her more personal space. Well, I'm glad her parents are making an effort to let her spread her wings and fly. Though... *heh* I wonder how they're really taking it."

* * * * *

Across town in their own apartment, Andrew and Devon were sitting watching a police drama on television. Well, trying to watch may have been a more accurate description: Andrew looked bored out of his mind and Devon kept staring at their cell phones sitting on the coffee table.

"Oh, come on Andrew. Just let me call her once."

"No! It's only been a day. We are trusting her to - "

"They're making videos, I know it! I've seen it in my shows! Once the parents leave, the kids pull out the weed farm and get back to causing trouble!"

"Devon, we raised Ava to be a smart and responsible - "

"Responsible?!"

"I, uh... "

"See?!"

Andrew laughed nervously. "She's a young adult. Who says they're responsible in the first place?" He gave him a calming look. "Besides, that's why we have her living with Emerald: she's made her own share of mistakes and can help Ava avoid making the same ones."

"Are you sure about that? What if she gets desperate for money and starts taking advantage of our baby girl?!"

"Because she would never do that!" He took a deep breath. "Look, I know you can get pretty wrapped up in your shows and start thinking everyone acts like the characters in them, but Emerald is not like them. It's true she had a few rough spots when she was younger, but she came back here and got her life sorted out again. From what I've seen of her work for that science magazine, she's an excellent editor and writer."

"What if she decides to take a job somewhere else and just abandons our baby girl in the middle of the night?! What if Ava wakes up one morning and she's all alone?!"

"You and I both know Emerald is too responsible to leave her obligations like that. They're both young women just trying to figure out their way in life and - "

"I'm calling her!" Devon launched himself off the couch, reaching towards the phones on the table.

But Andrew was even faster. In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of his partner blocking the way. "Don't make me cuddle you to death," he threatened through gritted teeth.

"That won't stop me from checking on our baby this time! She's with five strange men: who knows what they're doing?!"

"I know exactly what they're doing!"