Word Count: 2554
Nobody's POV
"Oh bloody hell, it's the mother of your child!" Clara screamed through the phone. Joe's jaw dropped in surprise. Averie furrowed her eyebrows confused at what was going on.
"One second, Nugget, it's for work," Joe calmly told Averie before stepping out into the hallway. He could still see her as Olivia grabbed her attention. "What do you want?" Joe's demeanor hardened as he returned to his phone call.
"What are you doing in Nashville? I just saw those damn paparazzi pictures of you, my daughter, and Taylor Swift. What the hell is going on, Joe?"
"I'm visiting my girlfriend's family," Joe calmly answered, but the annoyance was clear in his tone.
"Why is my daughter there?" Clara asks, sounding annoyed by Joe.
"Averie has been spending time with Taylor, she's become a big part of our lives now," Joe explains simply, "I'm actually trying to put her to bed right now, but we can talk later," Joe tries to quickly hang up without causing more of an issue.
"A part of her life!?! You never even told me that you were dating someone new, what about Julie?" Clara angrily shouts through the phone.
"Julie passed away last year, she was in a bad accident," Joe bites his lip. He's hesitant about sharing any more details about Averie. That's not her business anymore. She walked out. She left her, without anything more than an I'm sorry and dropped her at a Safe Haven drop. Thankfully, Joe was able to claim her within the 24 hours but it was so stressful. Averie also had small traces of drugs in her system, which Joe suspected was from Clara's new boyfriend.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that," Clara apologizes, but her tone unwavering, "she's my little girl, Joe. Can I please just see her, even over the phone?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Joe furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced at Averie. She was carefully petting the top of Daisy's head while Piglet was tucked in her shirt. She had recently started doing that a lot so that she'd always have a free hand to pet the cats with. It worked well, especially when she was going up the stairs. This way she would hold onto the banister to keep from falling over.
"Daddy? Look!" Averie was standing on the bed, just behind the railing now to show Joe the mohawk she had managed to make. Olivia was taking her place beside Averie, making herself comfortable.
"Wow, that's so cool, Nugget!" Joe praises her instantly, hoping to make Clara a little jealous in the process.
"Is that her? She sounds so big," Clara sniffles, sounding tear eyed.
"She's four now," Joe deadpanned.
"I know, I birthed her. Nine hours of labor isn't something you forget easily," Clara reminded him, snarkily.
"You seemed to do that pretty easily," Joe huffed while he tried to direct Averie to lie back down with his hand motions.
"That was a bit low of you," Clara scoffed.
"Daddy?" Averie whimpered, as she watched anger flood his facial expressions. Why was he fighting, who was he talking to? Was his work being mean to him? Is he going to jail? Mommy went to jail once.
"Aves?" Clara tried to get through, even if it was useless.
"It's okay, Nugget. Daddy's okay, you're okay, look even Dibbles is okay," Joe tried to shift the focus anywhere else but this phone call.
"Who you talking to?" Averie reached out for him once again.
"Nobody," Joe took a step back effectively rejecting Averie's need for comfort once again.
"Joe? Please can I talk to her?" Clara pleaded, sounding a little too desperate when comparing how long she'd been gone.
"No, she doesn't need her mother to confuse her again," Joe rolled his eyes at the request. The audacity this lady has. She walked out over two years ago.
"I'm not going to confuse her. But may I remind you that we still share custody, so I'd recommend not starting a war over something this small," Clara hissed. Her tone is cold as she threatens Joe. They've been down that road a few times already.
"You have two minutes," Joe sighed, returning to Averie's bedside. She was sitting at the end of the bed, leaning on the bed rails and watching him carefully.
Joe reluctantly accepts the Facetime request from Clara as he sits down next to Averie on the bed. She shuffles closer to him curiously.
"Hi Aves, it's Mummy. Do you remember me?" Clara cooes nervously through the phone. A shiver runs down Averie's spine as she hears her call her Aves. Averie leans into Joe's side more, unsure of who this stranger is.
"Who are you?" Averie furrows her eyebrows nervously, unsure if she's telling the truth. Is she supposed to recognize this stranger?
"I'm your Mummy, sweetie. I used to be with you all the time when you were really little," Clara tries to cheerfully remind her but the hurt is evident in her eyes.
"It's your Mummy, Nugget. She wanted to talk to you. I know it's been a long time, but she just wanted to say hello," Joe cuts in trying his best to balance the emotions. He wasn't so sure about Clara calling her Aves, but that was slowly becoming less of a trigger for her.
"Oh, hi," Averie shyly waves at the phone screen. It had been a very long time. She looked so different compared to how Averie pictured her. She probably wouldn't have believed that it was her mom if they hadn't told her.
"What are you doing right now?" Clara asks in a soft tone.
"Going nite-nite," Averie mumbled as she tried to study every feature on her mom's face. What if she never got the chance again?
"Are you in your big girl bed now?"
"Yeah," Averie shrugged, she wasn't sure how true that statement was. She was sleeping in one of Taylor's beds. Apparently, when you get old, you can have multiple beds.
"What did you do today?" Clara smiles sweetly as Averie lets out a big yawn. Her eyes were still as blue as she remembered. Averie always resembled a lot more of her father than Clara liked. But regardless she was still hers.
"Um, we went to the park and the museum, and played music, and ate dinner, and Daisy and Piglet and I saw the river at dinner. And Piglet tried to eat my dinner but Taylor said that wasn't okay because it was my dinner," Averie rambles easily. Whether it be genetics or just a craving for maternal attention, Averie wanted to try her best to keep all of Clara's attention on her. She always heard about her friends and all the amazing things that their mommies did for them. She wished for even just a second that she could experience that.
"Wow, that sounds like a full day. When are you coming back to England?" Clara knows better than to ask Joe for travel plans.
"Soon," Averie shrugs not sure.
"Now that I'm better now, I was thinking that you could come visit me. We could spend time together now, just like we used to," Clara proposes, a gentle smile creeping across her face. Averie tenses at the suggestion, she hadn't spent a night away from Joe or her grandparents since the accident. What if Clara drove crazy like JJ did? What if she hurt her like JJ had?
