28

"You are the best."

Brad McCarthy

I could hear voices coming from somewhere in the apartment. When the space beside me felt empty, I opened my eyes and looked around for Ava. Stretching my arms, I got out of bed. Ava decorated the whole place with pictures we clicked with the kids. She is on a call with the kids. She was typing on her laptop as I fell on her legs and wrapped my arms around her thighs.

"But when are you coming?" Ivy's cute voice made me smile.

"I will come, baby, after work," Ava said, massaging my head. I leaned into her stomach and blew raspberries as she laughed. "Are you alright, Ava?" Ava tried to push my head but I didn't move. She placed her laptop on the table and caressed my back. "Yes, baby."

"Brad will do your work, you please come here." We could hear the background noises. Noah is calling the girls to finish their homework.

"No baby, Brad is busy with his work and I like my work." Ivy signed and spoke gibberish.

"Okay, visit us in the evening. Noah is calling us."

"I love you, Ivy, baby. I will visit you all in the evening." Ivy laughed before ending the call.

"You done?" I asked her against her stomach. "Yeah."

"Vincent messaged me last night to come over for family dinner." She started drawing imaginary things on my back. "Yeah, we should go to the mart and buy new toys for my niece." Vincent and Valerie gave birth to a cute baby. They named her Viviana.

"Isn't she too young to play with toys?" I asked her in confusion. "Yes, but we could get her soft toys and other baby toys to keep her busy. Anyway, I want to spoil my niece."

"Okay, madam." She giggled while I smiled. "Brad, can you massage my legs? They have been hurting."

"Yup." I got up and sat beside her, putting her legs on my lap.

"I love you." She said as soon as I massaged her legs. "How was the previous project? Did you have a good time there?"

I listened to everything she said about her recent wedding project. I'm planning on buying our dream house but I'm not sure how she is going to react. We have been living in my old apartment for months now. I know she is happy, but I want to give her the best things possible.

"What do you want to eat for dinner?" I asked her.

"I'm carving for pizza." She replied.

"Do you want to dine in or call for a delivery?"

"I will call them." She called Pizza Palace to order while I turned on the television to see the news.

"I think we both need to take a break from everything. We have been so busy that we haven't spent much time together," she said.

"I was planning a trip after this dinner. However, Jack and Hailey said they would take care of the kids and Conner, Mack and Augustus would take care of their training." I told her.

"Hmm, that's good." We spoke about the kids. Not all of them are interested in boxing. We decided it would help the girls if they did gymnastics from now on. Some boys have joined go-karting as they were interested in cars.

Ava and I don't want to force the kids into any field, it's completely their choice. We made martial arts mandatory in the house. They started their schooling. We spend most of our days with the kids and we have our bedroom there. Ava is attached to the girls, especially Ivy.

"I'm going to collab with Micah Delgrosso soon as we both have some ideas for the content shoot and it involves the kids." I looked at her surprised. "Micah Delgrosso? The one who was on the front page of Times magazine?"

She chuckled, nodding her head. "Goodness, you remember that?" I gave her a wink. "I went through his work and got impressed."

"Hmm, now they are going to be models for your shoot?"

"Yup! They are beautiful. I asked for their opinion and they were excited after hearing the news. It will help them earn some pocket money." The kids on occasion be a part of Ava's photoshoots.

"The other day I heard Leonardo, Samuel and Zac talking about the cute girls from their classes." Ava laughed. "Taylor was telling me that Leonardo was talking with a girl on the phone."

"Wow, they already got the girl's numbers? I'm impressed." We both set up the table and opened the takeaway boxes. "Vincent and I spoke with the boys regarding this. I hope they don't end up being bad."

"Hope so."

"Kevin and Colin are notorious rascals of the house," Ava said, remembering how they ran around chasing each other while training.

"They have been best friends from day one," I added, thinking of the duo.

"Yeah." I watched her face as something crossed her mind and a smile grew on her face.

"But Brad, don't you think Taylor, Ella and Ivy will end up with any one of the boys in the house?"

"They are too young to date and from where did you get such a nice thought?" I gave her an offensive look.

"It's a waste sharing with you, I will gossip about this with Valerie." She said smugly, taking a bite of her pizza.

"You and your gossip."

"Where do you wanna go on holiday?" I asked her.

"NYC, I always wanted to go but couldn't because of college and then work."

"Sure."

"Change the channel and put on some Disney film."

*

"Hey, Ava is here?" I turned to see Noah, who walked towards me with wet hair. "You could've dried your hair." He smiled, shaking his head. "I'm air-drying it."

"She is in the living room with the boys."

"Thanks." He walked away as I gazed at the new kids who are here doing their first lessons.

"Concentrate." After the class, I walked into the living room. Ava and Noah were talking, a genuine smile playing on Ava's face.

"What are you both talking about?" I sat beside Ava.

"Oh, Noah is telling me about his new school and stuff."

"You never share anything with me," I said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You never ask and it's weird."

"What is weird?"

"Talking about high school stories with you..." Ava patted my shoulder. "He is joking..."

"Stop it, he is saying the school is different from the school he went to. You know private schools and their rules," Ava explained.

"And don't forget about the uniform, it feels weird wearing it every day and making sure that the tie stays in place."

"We all went to public school. But isn't it cool to wear a uniform? You look hot in uniform, Noah." Ava patted his cheek.

"Hay, he is ugly and he needs to work out." I butted in, removing her hand from his cheek. They both rolled their eyes.

"Yeah... Yeah... The girls look hot in their school uniforms but not us," Zac said, walking into the room. Ava snorted while I laughed. Mack and Conner are teaching the team beta. I divided the kids into teams for their scheduled training.

"So you are checking out the girls?" Noah asked smugly.

"Like you don't," Zac countered back. Ava and I shared a look before chuckling.

"I don't... You don't too."

"Where are Tom and Robert?" I asked Noah.

"They are doing extra shifts. They will be back by nine," Ava said.

"Did they inform you? I didn't get any message from them." Informing me or Ava before stepping out of the home is one of the strict rules.

"Yes."

"Samuel and Leonardo?" I asked about the 15-year-olds.

"They are helping Janet in the kitchen." Janet is the private chef and the caretaker who lives here permanently. She is one of the best people I know. She used to cook for the team in Las Vegas. Janet is alone, I met her personally if she would be happy moving in with the kids. She shifted to North Carolina. Now the kids love her dearly.

I relaxed, leaning against the sofa as Ava, Zac and Noah talked. I listened to their conversation before the middle kids joined us. Taylor and Elsa ran around while Ivy fell asleep in my lap. I massaged her tiny head. Ava smiled when she saw Ivy's drool on my clothes. "She loves you the most," Ava whispered. A smile played as I caressed Ivy's cheek. Taylor and Elsa are more attached to Noah and Zac.

"And I love her back the same..."

*

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