“Where’s Ava?” I murmur to Max.
“Sleeping.”
Except she’s absolutely not sleeping, because when we reach the kitchen, I can hear Leah’s crying apologies a mile away.
Max and I both look to Nash in a panic as his eyes light up.
“Hey, little man,” I start, “Why don’t we—”
He dives through the kitchen door before I can get another word out.
Fuck. Nik is going to murder me.
Max sighs, gesturing for me to go first. “This isn’t a bad thing. It was always going to happen, sooner or later.”
When I walk through the doors, Nash is already climbing onto Leah’s lap. “Don’t cry, Aunty Lee,” he demands, pushing her cheeks together. She moves his hands away with a half laugh, half sob.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. I promise. Do you want to say hello to Ava?”
We all watch in amazement as the loudest six-year-old in the history of the world blushes. Nash promptly hides his face against Leah’s shoulder, and she tries not to laugh. Ava glances between us all, a little wide-eyed, but her eyes keep going back to Nash.
“Hi,” he mumbles. “I’m Nash.”
Ava smiles. “Hello, Nash. I’m Ava.”
“I know,” he grumbles. “She’spretty, Aunty Lee,” he whispers loudly into Leah’s neck.
Max’s shoulders start to shake, and I try not to laugh as I tug Nash away from Leah and hang him over my shoulder until he shrieks.
“I think Ava’s very pretty too, Nash,” I say, throwing a small smile at Ava and watching with interest as her cheeks go pink.
“Why don’t you sit next to her and tell her what you’ve been learning about?”
It takes approximately thirty seconds for Nash to get over his first crush and start telling Ava about the schoolwork we’ve all been taking in turns to teach him. Ava gives him her full attention, exclaiming and asking questions, and my shoulders relax.
Nik stops sharply when he and Luc walk in a few minutes later, his eyes widening as he takes in Ava and Nash chatting animatedly at the table.
“Papa!” Nash exclaims delightedly. “Look! I met Ava!”
“I can see that,” Nik grumbles, and Ava flinches.
He turns to her in a panic. “I didn’t mean… he can be a lot,” Nik says under his breath. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
Ava’s shoulders relax at his explanation. “I don’t mind,” she says with a small smile. “He’s beautiful, Nikolai.”
They smile at each other as Nash continues to chat non-stop, only pausing for breath when Luc pushes his plate towards him. Mumbling something around his sandwich, he swallows.
“Are you going to live with us, Ava?”
Everybody goes silent as Max flushes, and I try not to stare at Ava. She clears her throat uncomfortably, pushing her sandwich around her plate.
“Nash,” Nik scolds quietly. “It’s not polite to ask Ava that.”
“Oh,” Nash looks down. “But Max and Bastien were talking about it earlier!”
Oh, god. Please let the floor swallow me up.
Max stares at the ceiling for inspiration as Luc leans forward to glare at us.
