14 Avery You Need to Step Up

Olivia had no idea how she made it home or what really happened after the play. So couldn't concentrate on the play or properly eat during intermission. Eli's kiss had completely disarmed her senses. As she walked in to the kitchen she saw her dad trying to sneak a bite of cake from the fridge.

"Livy! How was you day dear?" he asked while liking some strawberry frosting from his finger. Olivia just stared at her dad trying to get the words out her mouth. "Heh ah oh ha ha ha ... Sorry honey I know you made the cake for dessert tonight but it looked so good and it was only a small taste."

Olivia dropped the bag on to the floor and threw herself towards her dad. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled against his chest. Avery struggled to get his one arm free from her embrace while he asked "Hey Livy you know I love your hugs but this is a little to tight. At least let me me hug you back properly." Suddenly he felt Olivia's body start to tremble and his shirt was starting to feel a little damp.

Alarmed Avery tried to coax Olivia to ease up her grip on him. "Honey. Hey Honey. Oh come on sweetie look up at me sweetie pie." with no luck he just sighed, wrapped one arm around her shoulders and used his other hand to caress her hair. Every once in a while he would kiss the top of her head till she finally stopped trembling. From his chest he heard her under the words he never thought he would hear her say "I wish mom was here."

....

It was Saturday morning and it was Olivia's second day off. She had planned to have a date with her dad but now she wasn't really up for it. She didn't have any strength to leave her room. She had cried till she passed out last night and felt awful. Her poor dad had no idea what had happened but held her safely with in his arms.

There was a knock on the door and she heard her friends call her name as they walked in. Olivia didn't budge from her bed when they let themselves in and sat on her bed. "Hey hun. Your dad called us this morning. How are you feeling?" Autumn asked as she stared at Olivia's back. "...."

"Hey is that the robe Eli gave you? Wow this is really nice! The branches and blossom are hand painted and oh there are little silver dots hand stitched everywhere. Someone must have put in a lot of time in to make this." Blair said as she touched the robe that was hanging off her vanity mirror. "..."

Both girls looked at each other concerned that they hadn't even gotten a response from Olivia. All they could do was keep talking trying to get her to say something. The talked about how cutie each other's outfits were yesterday, how out of character Blair was for wearing such a lady like outfit, how it was such a huge coincidence they ran into the guys, how funny it was when Marek opened his pop and was sprayed in the face, or how Blair jumped to his rescue with her handkerchief in hand. Olivia started to laugh.

The girls felt relieved when they heard her giggles. Olivia sat up and faced the girls "Blair you were so cute trying to wipe his face clean." Olivia said with a small smile before continuing "Well not as cute as Autumn when she asked if Ronan was ok just because a drop of soda landed on his glasses." Blair looked at a Autumn completely shocked. "How did I miss that!"

Autumn tried to shrug off her embarrassment when she answered "Well you were too busy try to dry every inch of Marek, so I would say it happened somewhere around the time when you were wiping this pecks." Blair instantly turned bright red as she crossed her arms and turn away from them in a huff. Autumn and Olivia gave a quick look to each other before bursting out loud with laughter.

Avery was glad he made the right choice in calling the girls over. When he heard them laughing from the other side of the door, he took it as his que to leave. As he took his first step away from the door he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Olivia's question.

"Hey guys?" Autumn had to quickly compose herself while Blair turned back to face her "What's up?" Blair asked. It was quiet for a little too long and Avery felt the sweat starting roll down from his temple. Finally she asked "What's it like talking to your mom? You know ... I mean...really talk to her... about anything?" Avery's heart broke, he couldn't stay there any longer and walked downstairs to his study.

Avery sat in his chair for a while trying to think of an answer to Olivia's question. Completely frustrated he rubbed both his hands back and forth through is chestnut hair then down his face. He finally came to a decision as he pulled out his phone, his hazel eyes searching through his contacts list till he found the number he was looking for.

The phone rang a couple of times before he heard the familiar voice say "You do realize today is Saturday right? S-a-t-u-r-d-a-y! What do you want?" Avery didn't say anything for a while. The other person other phone wondered if he lost connection. He was about to hang up when he heard Avery say "Robin I need to talk to your wife."

.....

The girls were finally able to get the full story from Olivia about what had happened when she was alone with Eli. They didn't know what to say so instead they just hugged her. This small act of love and kindness brought Olivia back from her despair. She was able to get up, get changed and go downstairs with them.

Avery was waiting for them by the door. When they made their way down. He was delighted when he received a text from his daughter asking if they could still have their date today. "Well it seems I will be surrounded by some beauties today. Where would you ladies like to go?" Avery flashed is most charming smile.

Autumn and Blair had try to insist that they did not need to tag along but Avery was more persuasive with his argument "You do realize I see the both of as one of my own and this is a daddy-daughter date, so please come along." With that how could they refuse?

...

The beach! Avery had the staff run around and prepare everything so that the four of them could take a the private jet to Sol Country to have a fun day at the beach! The flight was only an hour and the ride itself wasn't too long either but they felt the wait was well worth it.

Once they saw the sand, the girls started to rip off their clothes piece by piece while they ran towards the shore line. Avery followed behind them, picking up their clothes along the way. He didn't think they would be this excited when they found out where they were all going. Well at least they had their swim suits on.

After a full afternoon of fun in the sun the girls were exhausted. It was finally night fall and they started a camp fire on the beach. While they were busy roasting marshmallows Avery took the chance to clear his throat. "Ladies I have something to ask you." his words grabbed their attention, all eyes focused on him. Avery started to feel uncomfortable and quickly stuffed a marshmallow into his mouth to give him some time to calm down.

"Am I to old to start dating?" he finally asked. The three girls looked shocked as they gazed at him. "Why?" Olivia asked. If Avery felt uncomfortable before but now he felt like he was a speeding train ready to crash into a brick wall. He rubbed his hands furiously and began "Well Liv-uh-oh-Olivia, you are getting older and so am I don't get me wrong! I-um-wow ok! You are turning into a fine lady and there is only so much I can do but you need a mom in your life and I need a wife, don't get me wrong my heart is still with your mom but you know ...I...well ... well ...w-w-well one day you will leave and start your own life so I'm gonna be lonely so I wanna know am I too old to start dating again?"