Page 81 of Left Behind

The kitchen island had become a buffet of little sandwiches and an assortment of mini-quiche, and chips and dips, and little wieners wrapped in warm, yeasty bread. There were two huge flat-pan pizzas cut in squares, and in Ava’s honor, mac and cheese in the blue box, because it was familiar. But when it was time to make her plate, it was immediately obvious that she was too small to see over the counter, so Wiley sat her on a barstool.

“You point to what you want, I’ll put it on your plate, then you can sit back in your spot at the table. How’s that?” he said.

But her gaze was riveted on the cake, and Wiley paused, because there were tears rolling down her face. He put down her plate and picked her up. When he did, she tucked her face against his neck.

“Give us a moment,” he said, then walked away from the island. “It’s all a lot of fun at once, isn’t it?”

She clung tighter.

“What are you afraid of, Ava…being happy?”

She nodded.

“Look, Sister, here’s the deal. Corina is the reason you’re afraid to be happy. I’m not Corina. She tied you into tiny little knots, and my job is to untangle them. Now you sit in your spot, and I’ll bring you a little bit of everything, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. “I can walk, Bubba. I want everything and cake.”

“I can do that,” Wiley said, then set her back on her feet and watched her scramble back to the table.

B.J. stared at Wiley. “If you didn’t still have that face, I wouldn’t know you.”

Wiley shrugged as he began making her plate. “It was a knee-jerk reaction that turned into a rescue, that’s turned on every father instinct in me.”

“All you need is a woman to go with it,” Sean said.

“He has one, and he’s opted out of pursuing her to take care of Ava,” Aaron said.

“She’s already met her,” Wiley said. “It was a chance meeting, but there aren’t any problems other than priority, because right now, I save the one who’s drowning.”

After that, food shifted the party into fun and laughter. Ava had opinions about square pizza, scarfed down her mac and cheese with delight, took one bite of a chicken salad sandwich and then set it aside, and went for the little wiener roll-ups.

“Remember to save room for cake,” Wiley said.

“I’m saving room right here,” she said, pointing to her stomach.

And when it was time to cut the cake, they cleared off their plates and carried the cake to the table.

This time Ava was beaming. “Aunt Annie made my name pink!”

“Can you read what it says?” Dani asked.

“Yes! The big word is Ava. That’s me. And then the other words are Welcome to the family. That’s my Bubba and all of you.”

“Right you are,” Dani said.

“I have plates and forks,” Amalie said as she carried a stack to the table.

Wiley moved up behind where Ava was sitting and leaned over her, with the cake knife in his hand.

“Ava, this is your party, so you get the first piece. Where do you want me to cut?”

“My name! I want to eat my name!” she cried.

Wiley grinned. “That’s my girl. Jumping right into the middle of things.” He cut from the edge all the way to her name, removed the piece as neatly as a surgeon, and put it on her plate.

Amalie handed her a fork, and there they sat, holding their breath as they watched the tiny blond take a bite. There was a smear of icing on Ava’s upper lip, but her expression was one of pure ecstasy.

“What’s the verdict?” Wiley asked.

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