Chapter Ava Reynolds
AVA REYNOLDS
We landed in Thailand twenty-seven hours later.
We had been flying for so long that we had had plenty of rest. So, since we landed in the morning, Thailand time, we hit the streets.
Cairo was with us. Leaving him home for two weeks hadn’t been an option.
I couldn’t do it, and neither could Reek, even though he tried to act like he had only agreed because I wanted Cairo to come.
The same man who had spent months swearing he didn’t want anything to do with a baby had packed half of Cairo’s things like we were moving to Thailand instead of visiting.
He had checked the stroller three times, argued with TSA about how they handled the car seat, and kept Cairo strapped to his chest through the airport like somebody was plotting to snatch him.
Now we were here, in the steaming heat, and Reek was looking around frowning at the different exotic foods on the carts of the street vendors.
“You’re smiling too hard,” he said, walking beside me with Cairo against his chest in the carrier harness. “That mean you got some bullshit planned.”
“I do.”
“I knew it.”
I laughed and adjusted the thin strap of my dress on my shoulder. “You remember all those foods I told you about when I was here?”
“The ones I told you I wasn’t eating?”
“Yes.”
“I’m still not eating them.”
“You are.”
“Ava.”
“Reek.”
He looked down at me through his shades. “I’m not eating no bugs, fermented fish, meat I can’t identify, or anything that got a smell.”
“You’re going to try what I put in front of you.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are, because you love me and because you’ve been acting like you’re cultured ever since you figured out how to say thank you in Thai.”
He smirked. “Khop khun.”
“That does not make you bilingual.”
“It make me something.” He looked down at Cairo. “You hear how your mama talk to me? This why we should’ve left her in Chicago.”
Cairo kicked his little feet and made a noise like he agreed with that bullshit.
I pointed at RoRo. “Do not start picking sides this early.”
Reek kissed the top of his head without thinking about it.
It was natural now. That was the part that still got me.
He didn’t have to remind himself to be a father.
He reached for Cairo without being asked.
He checked his diaper bag. He kept his blanket tucked right.
He looked for shade before I did. Reek had become the man he was scared he could never be, and he still had no idea how much that healed in me.
“I have meetings tomorrow with my distributors,” I told him as we walked down the sidewalk.
He glanced at me with a raised brow. “So, I’m here as your man or security?”
“Both.”
“I know you didn’t fly me across the world to stand behind you while you negotiate prices.”
“You do it so well.”
He grinned. “I do.”
“And after that, I’m taking you to the night market, the floating market, and the elephant sanctuary. They allow babies as long as they stay in a stroller or carrier. We can do a longtail boat ride if Cairo is in the right mood. There’s a park with the big monitor lizards.”
“Big what?”
“Monitor lizards.”
He stopped walking for half a second. “You takin’ my son around dinosaurs?”
“They’re not dinosaurs.”
“They close enough.”
“You literally shoot people for a living, but a lizard is where you draw the line?”
“A gun doesn’t run out the bushes with a tongue hanging out.”
I laughed as Reek shook his head like I was the unreasonable one.
A few minutes later, we reached Ploy’s restaurant.
The sign was faded the same way it had been when I left.
The red awning still dipped low on one side.
The front window still had the small gold stickers near the corner, and the same little bell hung over the door.
The second I pulled it open, the smell of garlic, lemongrass and basil hit my nose. I had to pause for a second.
I had sat in this restaurant during one of the most confusing seasons of my life, staring out of the window and feeling so alone and lost. I had been pregnant, stubborn, and scared, carrying a secret I didn’t know how to bring home.
Now I was walking in with the secret in Reek’s arms.
“Damn,” Reek said quietly. “It smells good in here.”
I cheesed. “I know.”
He held the door open and followed me inside. The lunch crowd was light. A fan turned lazily in the corner, pushing warm air through the room. Ploy was behind the counter, per usual. She looked up, ready to greet us like we were any other customers, then froze.
Ploy’s mouth fell open. Then she screamed. “Ava!”
Every head in the restaurant turned as Ploy rushed from behind the counter so fast her slippers slapped against the floor. She was shorter than me, round in the middle, with her hair pinned up and a towel over one shoulder. She grabbed my hands, then pulled me into a hug before I could speak.
“You come back!” she yelled. “You no tell me! Why you no tell me?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” I answered through giggles.
“You surprise me too much! My heart, Ava! My heart!”
I laughed, holding her tight. “I missed you.”
She pulled back, and her eyes dropped straight to Cairo.
Her scream got louder. “You bring me baby!”
“Oh my God,” she said, pressing both hands to her cheeks while looking at RoRo. “Beautiful baby. So beautiful. Look at him.”
Cairo stared at her like he was wondering who the hell she was.
Ploy bent down closer. “Hi, baby. Hi. You know Ploy? I feed your mama when she cry and say she not cry.”
I gave her a look. “Ploy.”
Reek’s head turned toward me. “When she did what?”
I waved her off, shaking my head. “She’s exaggerating.”
Ploy pointed at me. “I no exaggerate. She sit right there all the time. Look out window, eat little bit, think too much. I say, ‘Ava, you sad’. She say, ‘No, Ploy, I’m tired’. Always tired.”
Reek got quiet beside me.
Ploy finally looked at him fully. Her eyes moved from his face to Cairo, then back to his face again. “This baby daddy?!”
Reek slid his shades to the top of his head, grinning. “Yeah.”
Ploy studied him with no shame. “You handsome.”
His smile deepened. “Thank you.”
She pointed at him. “You give her trouble?”
“At first he did,” I answered before he could lie.
Reek looked at me, fake offended. “You had to put me out there like that?”
As I giggled, Ploy nodded like that told her everything. “I know. Handsome men always trouble.”
“You hear that?” I asked him.
Reek shrugged. “I heard her call me handsome twice. That’s all I’m taking from it.”
Ploy laughed and reached for Cairo’s little hand. “Baby look like both. Nose like daddy. Mouth and eyes like mama. He look like he boss already.”
“He is,” Reek boasted.
“He gets it from his father,” I added.
Ploy clapped her hands once. “You sit. Your table is open.”
I walked toward the same spot by the window. It was still tucked near the glass, close enough to see the street but far enough from the door that I couldn’t feel the heat.
I slid into the seat facing the window. Reek sat across from me with Cairo still strapped to him, and for a few seconds, I didn’t say anything.
I could still see myself alone, pregnant, and too proud to admit that I missed Reek. I could still feel the distance between what I wanted and what I thought I had to accept.
Back then, I never imagined Reek would ever be sitting across from me in this restaurant. I never imagined he would be holding our son. I never imagined I would come back here with my family.
Reek watched me closely. “You good?”
I nodded, but it took me a second to answer. “Yeah. I’m good.” Then I blew out a sigh of relief. “When I was living here, I would sit here, pregnant, mad, emotional, and scared.” I looked at Cairo, then back at Reek. “I never thought you would be here with me one day.”
Reek’s jaw flexed as I saw the guilt blanket his eyes. “I should’ve never made you feel that way.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But you’re here now.”
He looked down at Cairo and rubbed his back through the harness. “Yeah, I’m here now, and I’m never going anywhere.”
Ploy came over with a menu and placed them on the table, but said, “I cook for you. No menu.”
Reek lifted a brow. “Hold on now.”
Ploy ignored him. “You try everything.”
I grinned. “That’s what I told him.”
“It is good food,” Ploy insisted.
Reek smiled at her. “I’m willing to be convinced.”
Ploy pointed at him again. “Good. I bring food. Not too spicy for baby daddy.”
“I appreciate that,” he said.
“Little spicy,” she added, though.
Reek looked at me. “See, she playin’.”
I laughed as Ploy walked away, calling orders into the kitchen.
Cairo started fussing, his little face scrunching as he kicked. Reek unfastened him carefully and lifted him out. He checked his diaper first, then reached for the bottle from the bag beside him.
He warmed the bottle between his hands and settled Cairo against his arm like he had been doing it his whole life. Cairo latched onto the nipple and calmed down almost immediately.
Ploy brought the first round of food out herself. Ploy brought out chicken satay with peanut sauce first. Then came tom kha soup, pad kra pao with a fried egg, and papaya salad she swore was mild. She had a plate of mango sticky rice too because Ploy said we needed something sweet.
Reek stared at the table. “This all for us?”
Ploy set down another dish. “More coming.”
He looked at me. “She trying to kill me.”
Ploy laughed. “Eat.”
Reek picked up his fork and started safe with the chicken satay. He dipped it in sauce, tasted it, then paused.
I leaned forward. “Well?”
He chewed slowly. “It’s cool.”
I rolled my eyes. “Cool means he likes it,” I told Ploy.
Ploy beamed. “I know.”
He tried the soup next. Then the rice. Then the basil chicken. By the time he hit the papaya salad, his confidence had gotten too high. He took one full bite, stopped chewing for a second, and reached for his water.
I smiled. “You good?”
He swallowed and nodded. “I’m straight.”
His eyes were watering.
Ploy frowned. “Too spicy?”
“Nah,” he said, holding back a cough. “It’s respectful.”
“Respectful?” I laughed.
“The spice introduced itself.”
I laughed so hard Cairo pulled off the bottle and stared at me.
Reek wiped his mouth with a napkin and pointed at me. “Don’t do that. Your son eating.”
“Our son is judging you.”
“He can’t even talk yet. His judgment don’t count.”
Ploy brought him a Thai iced tea without him asking. “For spice.”
Reek took it. “Thank you, Ploy.”
She smiled at him, then looked between me. “You happy now, Ava?”
I looked out the window again. The street was still busy. Scooters still cut through traffic. The same heat pressed against the glass. My old memories were still there, but they didn’t own me anymore.
I looked at Cairo first. Then I looked at Reek.
“I am,” I replied. “I really am.”
Reek reached across the table and took my hand, his thumb brushing over my fingers.
Ploy nodded like she had been waiting for that answer since the last time I sat in that chair. “Good. Now you eat more. Happy people eat.”
Reek looked at the plates, then at me. “Your girl aggressive.”
“She loves through food.”
“She about to love me into a coma.”
I smiled, but I kept my hand in his.
Thailand had been the place where I ran to breathe. It had been the place where I hid, protected my peace. It had held the loneliest version of me without judging her.
Now it was holding this version too. This was not the ending I had pictured when I first came here.
It was better.
It was full circle.