Page 113 of All My Broken Pieces

“Oliver, are you bothering your Auntie?” A breathless voice sounds above us.

Oliver shakes his head aggressively. “Nu uh, Mommy.”

Ava chuckles, ruffling his dark hair with her hand. “Stop it!” He cries, moving out of her reach. In doing so, he spots my other half, his earlier grin appearing once more as he takes off in her direction.

I watch after him for a moment before pushing to my feet. Turning toward her, I wrap Ava into a hug. Well, as much as I can manage around the large bump between us. “Hey, Ava.” I smile, leaning away to take her in.

“Hi, babe!” She greets, her eyes alight. A sheen of sweat has formed on her forehead, face flushed from the exertion of traveling to greet us.

One look at her and I know Arriana was right, there’s no way they could have traveled to come see us.

Killian steps up beside her, wrapping his arm around her body protectively. “You need to sit down, baby girl.” He gently demands, nudging her toward the row of seats behind them.

Ava waves off his concern, focusing on me instead. “I am so fucking excited you’re actually here!” She cries, resting one of her hands on her extended stomach.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I ignore the nagging reminder that I missed her last pregnancy.

There was still too much heat at the time, and traveling to the States was out of the question. She was able to come see me a few times, but Killian put his foot down as she got farther along, his worry that something could happen while they were out of the country both endearing and beyond frustrating.

Ava smiles softly at me, reaching her hand out to gently squeeze my arm. Glancing over her shoulder, she catches Killian’s concerned gaze. She looks back at me, rolling her eyes and indicating the exit. “Well, you ready to get this show on the road?”

My eyes seek out Arriana, finding her enraptured by Oliver, nodding along with his animated exclamations and reacting to his stories in an overly exaggerated manner to show her enthusiasm.

My heart swells at the interaction, somehow falling more in love with her than I already was. She peeks over at me, throwing a wink my way before returning her attention to our nephew.

“Yeah, let’s go.” I reply, finding the earlier worries have melted away by being surrounded by those we love and who love us right back.

“Oh. My. God.” Ava barks a laugh, clapping her hand over her mouth. “What is this?”

I jerk my head to look at Arriana. “What did you do?” She simply shrugs, sipping at her drink. Rolling my eyes, I turn back to Ava. “I had no part in this.” I laugh, holding my hand out. “Can I see it?”

Ava leans to hand over the small box, huffing at the movement. I smile at her, taking it from her outstretched arm and inspecting the gift closely, both horrified and near hysterical giggles threatening to break free.

The box looks just like any other toy box, except the child on the front is holding a plushie knife, another concerning plush toy in the shape of a body bag lies beside the child. Written across the top isEl primer kit de asesinato del bebé.

“Baby’s first murder kit? Seriously?” I can’t hold back the laugh this time, incredulous that she was even able to find something like this.

“I’m sorry, what?!” Ava cries, her eyes widening.

Arriana glances between her and the gift, a sly grin pulling up the side of her lips. “Can never start too early.” She shrugs once more, settling back in her seat as if this is the most normal interaction.

I glance up and find Killian glaring at Arriana, the hard set of his jaw and expression so furious I’m certain if the kit was real he would be using it on her. Laughing awkwardly, I hand the box back over to Ava. “She watches too many true crimedocumentaries.” I offer, trying to ease some of the tension in the room.

It’s obvious Killian still hasn’t disclosed what his job consists of, and while I hate keeping Ava out of the loop, I have to agree that it’s probably for the best.

Ava shakes her head, examining the gift once more. “Is it bad that I find it kind of adorable? In a creepy as fuck kind of way.” Arriana beams at the comment, winking at Killian’s furious gaze.

“Okay, not that that’s weird or anything, but maybe open ours next. Ya know, anormalgift.” Andrew cuts in, smirking as Arriana lifts her middle finger in his direction. He slings his arm around the girl beside him, leaning back and spreading his legs in a relaxed position.

While I still don’t know him very well, it’s nice to see the happiness he exudes, a direct contrast to the last time we were in this room. From what Arriana has told me, a lot of it is due to the woman beside him.

She looks up, catching my gaze and smiling, her grey eyes almost ethereal in the light. I return her grin, finding I’m excited to get to know her more. Something about her presence draws you in, a fact I had noticed in all the interactions I’ve witnessed so far.

Is it weird to use her as inspiration for a future character? Probably weird.

Mentally shaking myself, I return my attention back to my best friend.

Ava tries to grab the gift in question, growing frustrated as she is hindered by her belly. Noticing her struggle, Killian gently rests his hand on her shoulder, reaching down and picking up the present. She smiles up at him before tearing into it.

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