Chapter 19
Danika, Nichole, and Rowan went with her to Ava’s place the day after Wild and his team left. It still was strange to Amelia that Wild would be gone for at least eight months. The sadness was evident in Ava’s eyes, but she seemed to be dealing with it well.
“Emma’s birthday party, what are you all doing?”
Ava pulled out a card with children bouncing on it and held it up. “We’re doing a bounce house. Anything so I don’t have to clean here.”
Nichole nodded. “That makes sense.”
Rowan moved into the kitchen to fix more coffee. “How is Mel doing?”
Ava's lips spread into a wide smile. “They are doing great. Everyone is happy, and the baby is growing fast. I guess baby is the wrong word. More like a toddler.”
“Kids grow so fast,” Amelia said. They all nodded in agreement. “I don’t know if I’d have another one.”
“How is Apple taking it all?” Ava asked.
“He’s a good dad. We haven’t had any big meltdowns yet, so we’ll see how he handles that. But Lainey is fairly mild. Even when she did melt down, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Ava snorted when she laughed. “The girls were older when they came to live with Wild, but there were some fits they threw that were huge meltdowns. It was understandable, though. They'd lost so much.”
Rowan nodded. “Kids go through so much. I never really wanted to treat kids.”
Asher turned to her, her eyebrows bunched. “Really, why?”
Rowan shrugged. “If they are hiding something, it can be really bad. I know firsthand how bad adults can be, but with kids, it's stuff that can screw them up for life. I don't want to be responsible for that.”
Asher nodded. “That makes sense. You would be good at it, though.”
“Maybe. I just don't want the responsibility.
I know it would give me a chance to fix something before it goes off the rails, but what if I missed something?
At least, that's what I thought in school.
I'd have to go back if I wanted to specialize in children.
Working with adults has its own challenges, but at least then I don't have to worry about what a child is hiding from me and how to get them to reveal it.”
Ava nodded. “The psychologist we worked with was really good, but it took her a while to dig deep enough to really help Emma and Lila.”
Nichole's body shook. “There are times I wonder what in the world are we doing.
Like I'll be working on a story, and in the middle of it, I learn something, and I think, what are we doing to each other?
Like how can people be so evil? It's heartbreaking and crazy, and I don't understand how it happens, and nothing has been done.”
They all sobered a little. It was awful seeing what people did to each other. She'd experienced it firsthand. And there were more women in the same situation she'd been in.
Amelia shook her head. “It’s hard to take in.”
Rowan nodded. “You know, it is if you focus on it too deeply. We can really only control a few things in life, and one of them is our response. We have to choose what we react to and what we leave alone.”
Danika threw her arm around Rowan’s shoulder. “I like all of you. You’ve come into my life, and it’s been amazing. I’m glad I get to go through this part of life with you. I can’t imagine trying to make it through this crazy world without you as friends.”
They all hugged, and laughter filled the room.
Danika was fast becoming someone she considered a close friend.
Thoughts of Dena crept in, and she vowed to visit her the next week.
The last time she'd spoken to the doctors, they hadn't held out much hope.
That made her incredibly sad. Dena was a good person and hadn't deserved this.
She would talk to Avery later and see if he would be willing to let her borrow his vehicle next week so she could go to Los Angeles and see Dena.
“You okay?” Nichole asked.
“Yeah, I was just thinking about my friend Dena. She's still in a coma, and the doctors don't think she'll recover.”
Nichole shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”
Amelia nodded. “If she does recover, she'll have a lot of pain to work through. She lost one leg and has a few internal injuries. Then, she had a stroke during surgery. She has really been through it.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It is. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if she does survive, I’ll be there for her.”
“And we’ll be there with you,” Danika said.
“Thank you. You all are the best.”
She was thankful she had these people to go through life with.
Having them and Avery in her life would help her heal.
She wanted more with Apple, but maybe she shouldn’t be thinking that way about him, at least not until she had her life in order.
Everything was messy, and she needed to get things straight before she lost it all.
Getting with Avery and then losing him would be devastating.