The Meaning of Family

A Really Good Day

(Shoutout to sparkledinadaydream for the idea for this chapter!)

Ava's days continued to be up and down, some were alright and others were rough, ending with Ava in tears or having a panic attack. It was what it was. Trauma for a 4 year old was hard.

There was one day that became Hailey's favorite though. It was when Ava had a really good day, and she ended up showing them a bit of a new side of herself. It was amazing.

Hailey had gone to pick her up at around 4:30 that day and Ava happily ran to her and jumped into her arms, absolutely beaming, holding a piece of paper. "HAIWEY!" She yelled, clearly happy.

"Hey, Ave! Did you have a good day?" Hailey asked, smiling as she signed Ava out and grabbed her stuff.

"It was the BEST day, Haiwey!" Ava bounced in Hailey's arms as she spoke and Hailey thought she was going to break down and cry right then and there. Ava had never said those words when it came to school/daycare, at most they got an "okay" or "kinda good", never great or best. This was huge.

"Oh really? How was it the BEST day, miss Ava Grace?" Hailey asked, tickling Ava as she placed her in her car seat.

"It just was! I had fun! I wanna tell you an Jay together though," Ava gave her a very serious look and Hailey smiled, buckling her up.

"Okay, kid, you can wait till Jay comes home to tell us all about your best day at school. What should we talk about on the way home?" Hailey asked, kissing Ava's head before she closed the car door and went to get in the driver's seat.

Ava was smiling when Hailey got into the car. "Can we sing songs?" She asked, happy.

"What do you want to listen to?" Hailey asked, suddenly thankful she had spotify.

"Disney!" Ava cheered, the kid loved the old Disney soundtracks.

"Your wish is my command," Hailey got it good and Ava sang the whole way home, this truly was a newer side of her, and Hailey absolutely loved it.

They got home and went ahead and did bath time, then Hailey started making tortellini for dinner with Ava's help; the little girl had insisted she be a part of the dinner-making process. So, she was sitting on the counter, stirring sauce when Jay came into the house.

"JAY! I hadda BEST DAY!" Ava yelled as soon as he came in, reaching for him, giggling when he tickled her as he lifted her into his arms.

"You did?! I'm so glad! I want to hear everything after I go shower, okay?" Ava nodded and wiggled out of his arms, making a face when he and Hailey kissed.

"Boys have cooties, Haiwey," she said seriously. They both busted out laughing, she'd never said anything like that before.

"Did you learn that at school, kid?" Jay asked, tickling her again.

"Stoppp!" She squirmed away and hid behind Hailey, eyeing Jay, which had him laughing.

"Yes, I wearned it from Isabew. Kissing gross," she said, very serious again.

"Well, boys don't have cooties when they become adults and when girls become adults, so we're safe from cooties," Hailey explained, completely bs'ing it.

Ava looked at them skeptically before accepting the answer and reaching up to Hailey. "I hewp now," she said, and Hailey smiled and put her back on the counter.

Ava kept stirring the sauce with Hailey's supervision while Jay showered. Dinner was ready when he came back downstairs and Hailey was putting bowls on the table. He scooped Ava up and carried her above his head over to the table and set her down, kissing the top of her head.

They said their prayers before digging into dinner, Ava going straight for the garlic bread and all but shoving it into her mouth. Girl loved her carbs. Hailey managed to snap a picture of it before putting her phone way to the side so she could focus on their family dinner.

She and Jay talked while Ava munched on her bread and they ate their pasta, then, when she was done with her bread and had taken a few bites of pizza, Jay looked over at Ava. He wanted to hear what made her day the best ever.

"Ave, you wanna tell us about your day yet? Or do we still have to wait?" He asked.

Ava put her fork down and drank some water, then she smiles and nodded. "It was the BEST ever! I wove soow now! We gotta bet aminaws and there was a doggy and baby ducks, and more but I wiked those best, and then we didn't do woud time, we gotta paint in a box with marbews and then finger paint! And we played outside a wot and me and Faith gotta bring dolls outside and pway with them and it was so fun! And then we gotta pway dress up and it was a good day and I had so much fun! I want aminaws at soow every day and no woud time, I don't wike woud time, it scares me and it's not fun but today was so fun! That's why it was the best day ever!" Hailey and Jay just smiled and nodded along the entire time Ava spoke.

"Really, that sounds sooooo much better than our days! I wish I'd been with you, petting animals and playing!" Hailey said, leaning over and kissing Ava's cheek.

"For real, kiddo, your day was better than ours. But what's loud time?" Jay asked, a little concerned.

"Aww the kids jump around and yeww and I don't wike it. I hide. Miss Awison tries to keep them quiet but some scream," Ava shrugged and kept eating.

"I think she means music time, babe," Hailey said and Ava nodded. Jay sighed, but if Ava wasn't having meltdowns daily, he decided to leave it alone for now. Ava was content.

The rest of dinner was spent in happy conversation and the little family cleaned up together before going to the living room and curling up on the couch. Jay had grabbed some books and they spent time reading together before Ava started to get sleepy. She was curled up on Jay, sucking her thumb and rubbing her eyes.

"Okay, let's go brush teeth, go potty, and put a pull-up on," Hailey said when Ava's eyes started getting heavy.

Ava whined but reached up to Hailey and allowed herself to be carried upstairs. Hailey and Jay got her ready for bed and Hailey swayed with her and hummed for a few minutes before laying Ava down in her bed and they both kissed her goodnight.

"We love you, bug. I'm so glad you had such a good day," Hailey said and Jay gave her his love as well before they left her room and went to get everything prepped for the next day.

"I've never heard her talk so much," Hailey said with a smile as she started making Ava's lunch.

"Me either, it was amazing," Jay smiled, going over and kissing her. "I'm just worried about her hating music time because it scares her."

"Me too, I may talk to Allison about it. See if Ava can go do something else during that time if she wants because it scares her so much," Hailey admitted. It wasn't too bad if Ava wasn't having meltdowns or panic attacks.

"Good idea. I just don't want to leave her in a situation that scares her if she wants to get away from it. She's only 4, if she wants to face her fear, great, but I'm not ready to make her do that if she doesn't want to," Jay's protective side was coming out and Hailey loved it. She tilted her head up and kissed him.

"I love you being protective of our kid," She said.

"She really is our kid," Jay smiled. They finished everything up downstairs then went up to get ready for bed and have some time just the two of them.