75 Gifts

After breakfast Avery decided that everyone needed to go to the mall. He had already called the interior decorator and wanted the girls to pick somethings out for their room and take the twins clothes shopping.

They packed themselves up into Avery's BMW were excited for their shopping spree. After they arrived to the parking lot Avery found a spot close to the entrance and parked the car. "You girls go on ahead, I'm just going to make a phone call." he said as he handed over his black card.

Olivia's eyes sparkled as she took the card from her father. "Can we buy anything?" she asked in a teasing voice. Avery waved his hand in the air trying to get them out of the car. "As long as you get me a salted pretzel sure why not." Olivia blew air kisses to her father as she got out of the car when she turned around she noticed the twins hadn't moved an inch. She found their hesitation adorable and couldn't help but laugh and she hauled their butts out of the car.

Once they were out Olivia wrapped an arm around each girl's shoulder and grinned brightly as she held onto the black card. "We are going to go be kings... wait... no! Queens of the world today!" she shouted happily. Laila and Loreley couldn't help but laugh.

"So how do we become queens of the world?" Laila laughed. Olivia gave her a mischievous grin "Oh my sweet sister, the answer is simple, we indulge our desires! So bubble teas, frozen yogurt, and finally b*ild-a-b*ar!" Loreley facepalmed her self as they walked through the doors. "Here I thought you were thinking of buying the mall." she said as she dragged her hand down her face.

"My sweet and adorable Loreley we need to d*ck around a bit before we start our serious shopping! Plus dad has to be with us to fawn over our cuteness so why not do something we can enjoy ourselves first?" she said as she batted her eyelashes and tapped Laila's shoulder to signal her to join in. They both looked at Loreley with giant puppy eyes and pouting lips. "Fine!" Loreley shouted bitterly and off the went on their first stop.

They did everything Olivia had suggested and couldn't stop feeling embarrassed as they made wishes on some hearts that were to be stuffed into the bears. Olivia pulled out her phone and snapped a few pictures of their journey through b*ild-a-b*ar when Avery finally found them.

He threw his hands in the air as he walked into the store. "Why would you come here without me?" he cried and Olivia shrugged. "Thought you were too old for this." she said bluntly. Avery placed his hands onto his heart and took a step back. "Old?" he echoed.

Avery looked over the bears and picked a cute pink bear with a silver star pattern. He walked up to the lady who ran the stuffing machine and bent over, giving her his million dollar smile. "I'm not too old to make a bear am I?" he said softly. The lady couldn't help but gulp when he bent over and watched his mouth form every word.

She quickly shook her head no and hand him a small red heart. "Never too old to make a life-I-mean-uh... cough... age is never a restriction when you build your dreamy-dream bear!" she said awkwardly. Avery chuckled and his hazel eyes started twinkling with excitement. "Hear that girls I'm not too old!"

The three girls instantly turned into the sensor monkeys. Olivia covered her ears, Laila covered her eyes and Loreley covered her mouth. They all felt mortified as they watched this middle aged lady drool over their father.

Finally they were out of b*ild-a-b*ar and headed towards the clothing stores. As Olivia predicted their father went crazy as they tried on various clothes and couldn't help but take pictures of them in various poses. Laila and Loreley were starting to feel exhausted and Olivia was just about ready to pass out by the time the reached the checkout.

Olivia stretched out her back as she yawned. "Hey have you guys seen dad?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes. The twins shook their heads no. He left them after paying for their clothes and asked them to wait for their bags.

The girls looked around and spotted Avery at another counter. "Dad what are you buying?" Laila asked curiously as she tried to take a peek into the bag. "A gift." he said happily. Loreley took a a look herself and was disappointed when she saw that the gift was already boxed and wrapped. "Aww... can we take a peek?" Loreley asked as she looked up at Avery with anticipation.

"Nope. Besides it's not for anyone you know." he said with a smirk. He then herded his girls towards the exit. "Aren't you all exhausted by now? I know I am so lets go home and put everything away. I'm sure the decorator has already done a fantastic job so let's go see."

The girls groaned as the were escorted towards the parking lot. Avery shoved their spoils of war into the trunk as the girls squeezed into the back seats of the BMW, soon enough Laila and Loreley leaned against Olivia and fell asleep while Olivia leaned her head back and started to snore softly.

Avery covered his mouth to stifle his laughter the hadn't even left the parking lot and they were fast asleep. So he decided to take the scenic route home and enjoy the moment.

...

Olivia woke up in a cold sweat, her hands were trembling as she reached out to grab her phone. She pushed the power button and looked at the date and time. It was now August 2nd, 3:30 a.m., Olivia flopped back onto her mattress and tried to take some calling breathes. "It was just a dream... it was just a dream." she repeated to herself as she exhaled.

She rolled to her side and felt a wave of nausea hit her, she got up and ran to the bathroom in time. "Get it together Olivia." she said to herself weakly. She got off the floor and went to the sink to rinse out her mouth. She looked at herself in the mirror, her face became pale but her cheeks where a beautiful shade of pink and her hair was looking more silky.

She turned the light off and dragged herself back into bed. She was ready to fall back asleep and hoped that her nightmare was not going to come back again. As she snuggled under the blanket and closed her eyes, a second later she suddenly realized something.

She shot straight up and grabbed her phone again. "August 2nd..." she whispered to herself before she called up the calendar. "1, 2, 3... 22, 23 ..24.. 24.. 2-4." she counted out the days. She covered her mouth and calculated the dates again.

She became panicked and started to hug herself. She felt a stinging sensation in her eyes and refused to let even a single tear drop fall. She took a deep breathe and called Eli. The phone rang a few times then went to voicemail. She hung up and bit her lip she was contemplating on whether to call him again or leave a message when her phone started to vibrate.

Eli's name came up on the display screen and she quickly answered. She slowly put the phone against her ear and held her breathe. "Hey you ok?" a groggy voice was heard from the other end. Olivia covered her mouth and started to breath heavily through her nose.

"Olivia?" Eli said, sounding a little bit more alert. Olivia dropped her hand and in a trembling voice she answered "Ya." Eli sighed on the other end of the line. "You scared me. I thought something happened to you." Olivia clutched the phone in her hand "What if something did?" she asked slowly.

"...Hold on I'm getting dressed, I'll be there in 15 no 10 minutes." he said seriously and Olivia could hear some rustling sounds on his end. "No you don't have to come." she protested silently not wanting to have her voice travel through the house.

"No! I'm coming good or bad you need me right?" he replied and Olivia felt her heart ache. "Please don't come, I was just feeling a little sick and ... ugh... sorry hold on..." Olivia ran back into the bathroom leaving her phone on the bed.

She made it back to the phone in a huff and could hear the roaring of his bike. Eli didn't hang up the phone and left it on in his pocket. Olivia sighed, hung up the call and decided to get dressed herself. After a few minutes she tip toed out of her room and down to the foyer.

She heard the sound of Eli's engine coming closer the estate and snuck out the door to meet him. Eli jumped off his bike and grabbed her shoulders, he gave her a quick look and sighed in relief. "You're ok." he said as he placed his forehead against hers.

"Not really." she said awkwardly and Eli lifted his head and looked at her seriously. There was a long pause before Olivia bit her bottom lip and dropped her gaze. Eli cupped her chin and brought her face back up again. "Talk to me." he murmured as he placed a sweet kiss on her trembling lips.

"I'm late."