wiped an errant tear from the top of her cheek
and sniffled. “Blame it on hormones then.”
“I’d say.” I pushed off the sofa.
“Where are you going?”
“I need a drink, I’m gonna grab a glass of
water.”
“Ooh, get me something – like an iced tea? Oh, and
some popcorn.”
“Popsicle!” Max hollered.
“And bring that bag of peanut butter M&Ms with
you, too.”
“Anything else?” I hid a smile.
“Do we still have those salted caramels from the
candy shop we went to in Oceanside?”
“I’ll check.”
“Thanks, if not, bring the Oreos.”
“The whole package?”
“Mmm … yeah.” Her head bobbed swiftly.
“Ok, so, one iced tea, popcorn, peanut butter
M&Ms, salted caramels and/or a package of Oreos?”
“Popsicle!”
“And a popsicle.”
“You got it. Oh, and don’t forget your water.”
“Right.” My suppressed smile slid up my face into a
full grin.
I returned a few minutes later from the kitchen
totally loaded down with snacks and drinks.
“You’re the best, Ari.” Ava scooped a handful of
buttery popcorn into her mouth with a crunch. “Your turn to pick a
movie.”
I perused the movie queue on the TV and thought I
picked something we would all enjoy. Turns out, I was wrong. Max
was bored within the first ten minutes, moved down to the floor and
dumped out a tote full of matchbox cars to play with. Ava finished
off the caramels and popcorn then eased her head onto my shoulder.
She was asleep with her head in my lap five minutes after that. She
woke ten minutes before the movie ended and popped an M&M in
her mouth.
“Is it my turn to pick yet?”
“That depends on what you want to watch.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you pick bad movies.”
“Oh, please, what ever – your movie is the one
that stinks. Give me the remote.”
She snatched it from my hand and turned off my movie
just as the ending was unwinding.
“You’re killing me, Ava.”
“Whatever. You know that guy with the scruffy beard
was double crossing the agent and was behind the conspiracy the
whole time.”
“I totally did not know that.”
“Oh,” she laughed, “I thought it was obvious,
sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah. What’s this movie you want to
watch?”
“ La Métamorphose. ”
“Ehh…” I moaned. “A French thing? Really?”
“Please.”
“I thought you had already seen Le whatever.”
“It’s La , Ari, La ,and I haven’t seen
it yet. I was waiting for you to watch it with me. August said it's
really, really good.”
“Yeah and Collin said it freaking sucks.”
“I want you to watch it with me. Please.” Her bottom
lip jutted out in a pout.
“You know I can’t tell you no so just put the stupid
movie on already.”
“Yay.” She pushed up on my leg and kissed my scruffy
cheek.
We watched the movie and she laughed at parts that I
didn’t know were funny, gasped when things happened that I didn’t
understand and in the end, she cried again.
“Wow. Wasn’t that just so good?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. French people are weird.”
“Ari!” She elbowed me energetically in the ribs.
“You aren’t French, you 're Greek -- you can’t take
offence to that comment.”
“What didn’t you like about the movie?”
“There was so much going on in the picture that I had
a difficult time reading all the subtitles. My eyes didn’t know
where to look.”
“You’ll learn.”
“I’d rather not.”
“See what happened was ...” Ava explained, with much
enthusiasm, all of the parts I had failed to understand. She is so
cute when she's passionate about something. Her hands fly around
with excitement, her eyes grow wide and her smile beams. “It was
just so sweet. You know, how the couple evolved and changed so
much. When they first met they were so young, selfish and naïve. It
was hard for them to focus on anything but themselves, but as they
matured, their personal needs became less important to them and
they focused more on their
and sniffled. “Blame it on hormones then.”
“I’d say.” I pushed off the sofa.
“Where are you going?”
“I need a drink, I’m gonna grab a glass of
water.”
“Ooh, get me something – like an iced tea? Oh, and
some popcorn.”
“Popsicle!” Max hollered.
“And bring that bag of peanut butter M&Ms with
you, too.”
“Anything else?” I hid a smile.
“Do we still have those salted caramels from the
candy shop we went to in Oceanside?”
“I’ll check.”
“Thanks, if not, bring the Oreos.”
“The whole package?”
“Mmm … yeah.” Her head bobbed swiftly.
“Ok, so, one iced tea, popcorn, peanut butter
M&Ms, salted caramels and/or a package of Oreos?”
“Popsicle!”
“And a popsicle.”
“You got it. Oh, and don’t forget your water.”
“Right.” My suppressed smile slid up my face into a
full grin.
I returned a few minutes later from the kitchen
totally loaded down with snacks and drinks.
“You’re the best, Ari.” Ava scooped a handful of
buttery popcorn into her mouth with a crunch. “Your turn to pick a
movie.”
I perused the movie queue on the TV and thought I
picked something we would all enjoy. Turns out, I was wrong. Max
was bored within the first ten minutes, moved down to the floor and
dumped out a tote full of matchbox cars to play with. Ava finished
off the caramels and popcorn then eased her head onto my shoulder.
She was asleep with her head in my lap five minutes after that. She
woke ten minutes before the movie ended and popped an M&M in
her mouth.
“Is it my turn to pick yet?”
“That depends on what you want to watch.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you pick bad movies.”
“Oh, please, what ever – your movie is the one
that stinks. Give me the remote.”
She snatched it from my hand and turned off my movie
just as the ending was unwinding.
“You’re killing me, Ava.”
“Whatever. You know that guy with the scruffy beard
was double crossing the agent and was behind the conspiracy the
whole time.”
“I totally did not know that.”
“Oh,” she laughed, “I thought it was obvious,
sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah. What’s this movie you want to
watch?”
“ La Métamorphose. ”
“Ehh…” I moaned. “A French thing? Really?”
“Please.”
“I thought you had already seen Le whatever.”
“It’s La , Ari, La ,and I haven’t seen
it yet. I was waiting for you to watch it with me. August said it's
really, really good.”
“Yeah and Collin said it freaking sucks.”
“I want you to watch it with me. Please.” Her bottom
lip jutted out in a pout.
“You know I can’t tell you no so just put the stupid
movie on already.”
“Yay.” She pushed up on my leg and kissed my scruffy
cheek.
We watched the movie and she laughed at parts that I
didn’t know were funny, gasped when things happened that I didn’t
understand and in the end, she cried again.
“Wow. Wasn’t that just so good?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. French people are weird.”
“Ari!” She elbowed me energetically in the ribs.
“You aren’t French, you 're Greek -- you can’t take
offence to that comment.”
“What didn’t you like about the movie?”
“There was so much going on in the picture that I had
a difficult time reading all the subtitles. My eyes didn’t know
where to look.”
“You’ll learn.”
“I’d rather not.”
“See what happened was ...” Ava explained, with much
enthusiasm, all of the parts I had failed to understand. She is so
cute when she's passionate about something. Her hands fly around
with excitement, her eyes grow wide and her smile beams. “It was
just so sweet. You know, how the couple evolved and changed so
much. When they first met they were so young, selfish and naïve. It
was hard for them to focus on anything but themselves, but as they
matured, their personal needs became less important to them and
they focused more on their
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