Here, Darling.

Since the kiss the pair was much more affectionate to each other, sneaking a kiss in now and again and holding hands under the table but they tried to keep the personal displays of affection way down, barely ever showing any In front of the rest of the group and definitely not in front of Ava.

They weren’t serious, they were just having a bit of fun at the moment and taking it slow, not wanting to rush into anything and because of that reason they were definitely being romantic in any sense in front of Ava, not wanting her to get further attached to Zack for them to fall out or split up and then for the poor girl to be devastated.

Sure they enjoyed being around each other, and for Alaska it was like she was reliving her teenage years all over again, this time doing them right, not that she regretted getting pregnant with Ava, after all that girl was the best thing to happen to her but she loved the carefree feeling she now got, it was like she was finally young again.

Ava loved the fact that Zack was around more, always coaxing him into playing games with her, pleaing an extra ten minutes when he tried to escape and he could never so no. It was safe to say that she was he was also wrapped around her finger which she knew was something Ava was going to start taking advantage of.

Alaska groaned, crawling out of bed one of Zack’s t-shirts grazing the top of her thigh’s as she walked towards the living room like a zombie, her eyes half shoot as her hands fumbled the table, hands finally reaching the ringing phone grabbing it to try and stop the shrilly sound.

“Hello” she asked gruffily, her voice husky from sleep, her eyes taking longer to adapt to the bright sun light that was streaming through the windows as she collapsed faced down on the couch, waiting for this phone call to be over so she could crawl back in bed for at least another hour before woke up and would beg for them to start today’s adventure.

“Adelaide?” the male questioned down the other end of the phone, instantly she could recognise the voice, it was stirring memories in the back of the head but she couldn’t exactly place it or put a face to it.

“Speaking” she replied, sitting up intrigued by who was calling her if it wasn’t a company trying to sell her some product she would never need or wasn’t Lucy or the other guys, she could rule out the latter since it hadn’t even hit seven am yet.

“It Max...” the voice mumbled, the voice slightly raising at the end, the awkward tension instantly hitting her as she felt like her blood had run cold, holding her in place as she waited for the bad news to be delivered to her down the line. Because there was always bad news when it came to her family.

“Max” she breathed, curling her knees to her chest as she brushed back a strand of hair behind her ear, waiting for him to tell her whatever was so important. “What’s up?” she added hopefully prodding him into revealing the conversation, not that she wasn’t thankful for the phone call. She had missed him and was beginning to think about him more and more as the days went on, wishing that he had chance to meet Ava.

“I’m getting married!” he practically screamed down the phone, a little shriek escaping from Adelaide’s mouth as she slapped a hand to it, her eye’s instantly widening as she jumped off the couch a smile slipping onto her face.

“Oh my god, MAX” she shrieked jumping up and down on the phone as she smiled widely, she had never imagined Max getting married or settling down but now that he was she couldn’t be any prouder, dying to meet the woman who had managed to tame her wild brother. “I'm so happy for you! When do I get to meet her?!” Alaska practically yelped down the phone, not able to wipe the smile off her face as she jumped around the room.

“Calm down, Addie” Max chuckled down the phone, she could imagine him sat somewhere, rolling his eyes playfully as he ran through his hair, waiting for his sister to calm down so he could get the words out.

“Sorry, I’m just so happy my big brother is settling down” Alaska beamed, her voice high as she even winced at its pitch today was going to be a fantastic day, she could just tell.

“Well we decided that we’re going to have at the end of the month and we would like you to be there” Max mumbled, Alaska seemed to smile even wider, something that she thought was near impossible “and when you come up to help your big brother out I have something else to ask you...” he continued, teasing Alaska knowing that she found hated secrets and found it near impossible to keep them, something that used to bug Max when they were kids.

“Of course I’m coming Maxxie!” Alaska squealed, imagining the boy wincing at the other end of the phone which just caused Alaska to giggle “I wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world”

“I know I feel really bad that we haven’t kept in touch...” Max began to mumble but Alaska immediately cut him off, not allowing Max to ruin this happy moment over the fact that they hadn’t talked in a while. No this was a time for celebrating, not a time for wishing you did things that you hadn’t.

“Leave it Max, It’s equally my fault as it is yours let me know when you want me to come back home to help and I’ll be there in a heartbeat” Alaska replied, wishing her brother a good day before begging him to email her any details about the wedding he needed help with along with the gossip of his fiancé. Fiancé she couldn’t believe that her brother was engaged. It was just like the whole world was turning upside down and everything was going great for everyone that she loved and cared about.

Alaska put the phone down on the stand, turning with a smile on her face and collapsing on the sofa, even the now impending meeting of seeing her parents at the wedding couldn’t bring her down, even the negative opinions they had on Ava, or her career could upset her at this moment in time.

She didn’t know how long she was laid there, it could have been hours or it could only have been a few minutes. Allowing the silence elope her in a hug as she allowed her mind to wander, drifting from happy memories to things that she would love to happen, it was like she was drunk but without getting the lightheaded feeling or the headache the next day.

It was nice. Having a moment to her which wasn’t involving someone else or had to be put on hold to help other people. It felt relaxing, like a sense of calm was washing over her allowing her to recharge in the silence, which was quickly ruined by Chris clanging pans around in the kitchen as he attempted to make breakfast, or so she could guess.

With a sigh she pulled herself off of the couch, not even bothering to get changed or putting any pans as she headed to the kitchen, trying to keep the noise down and to keep Ava in bed as long as possible.

With a roll of her eyes she grabbed the mixing bowl off of Chris, shoving him with her hip towards the fridge as attempted to try and save the pancakes that Chris has started to make and by make she meant had started to balls up.

“Well someone’s in a good mood” Chris cut at her with an eye roll, not used to being greeted with this Alaska in the morning, usually it was one that was grumpy and was trying, with any means possible trying to portray a nice light hearted mood in front of Ava.

Today she didn’t need to try, not even bothering to reply to Chris as she continued to try and perfect the pancake mix, knowing that if she did it would put Ava in a great mood for the rest of the day allowing Alaska to do whatever work she needed to do before being conned into taking the girl out on a day trip.

“Of shurrup and get the drink’s sorted” Alaska quipped, pouring the now perfected batter into the sizzling pan watching it for the right seconds to turn the mixture over to get the perfect golden crust. Pancake was her speciality, the first thing her grandma had taught her to make and it always brought back memories of her grandma, one of the only family members that actually liked.

“Oh Bitc-“

“Mama, are we having pancakes?” Ava grinned form the doorway, running into the room and jumping onto her chair, her finger tips eagerly tapping away at the table as she wanted for the food to be put in front of her. Chris eagerly cutting himself, knowing that if he swore in front of Ava he wouldn’t hear the end of it from Alaska, and he thought it was better than saving himself the earache.

“Yes, baby” Alaska said, piling the now perfected pancakes up as she finished cooking the rest of the batter turning to Chris with a raised eye brow “but you need to thank Chris, after all he was the one who started making them” Alaska said, giving the boy a sly smirk, dumping the now empty bowl into the sink as Chris pulled a face at her behind Ava’s back, honestly he preferred grumpy Alaska to this knew happy one.

“Thank you Uncle Christopher” Ava beamed at the boy who merely ruffled her hair, collapsing into the seat next to him as he handed the small girl a glass of her favourite orange juice, her brown shiny hair mirroring her mother’s in the extremely messy bed head style.

“You are very welcome Princess Ava” Chris smile back, grabbing the warm plate out of Alaska’s hand before she even had chance to lay it on the table, piling his plate high and placing a couple onto Ava’s before digging in, barley allowing himself to breath as it looked like he was trying to attempt to fit a full pancake in his mouth at once.

“God Chris, do you have to eat like a pig?” Alaska scoffed, rolling her eyes as she collapsed in one of the available seats, crossing her legs as she pulled her shirt over her knees, placing a pancake on her place and beginning to cut it up into small pieces, taking a small bite as a small smile slipped on to her face, the pancakes tasted as good as ever.

“Do you have to be such a B-I-T-C-H?” he questioned, spelling the word out knowing that he couldn’t get in trouble for doing that. If there was a loop hole, Chris would try and find it nearly always succeeding.

Alaska didn’t even have chance to reply, the doorbell ringing as she instantly touched her nose. This was a game that her Chris had decided when they had first in together; whoever touched their nose last had to answer the door. It was the law.

“Nah, uh!” Chris called, waving his finger at Alaska who rolled her eyes, frowning slightly as she glared at him pointing towards the door as he merely shook his head “I’m not getting it! I got it last time!” Chris tried to counter causing Alaska to leap from her sigh, her hands hitting the table as she shook her head, Chris repeating the action.

“No you didn’t! That’s not the rule anyway, you touched your nose last therefore you need to answer the door” Alaska counted, waving her fork filled with pancakes at the boy, her eyebrows furrowing together as Chris shook his head viciously, stuffing his fingers into his ears as he started shouting from the top of his voice.

“I’M NOT LISTENING! I’M NOT LISTENING” he repeated over and over again, his voice shouting over hers, continuously drowning out her side of the argument. The pair was too involved in their own debate over who was going to answer the door that they hadn’t realised Ava crawling off her seat, skipping out the room as she headed down the corridor.

“Chris it’s your turn! Chris! IT’S YOUR TURN CHRIS! I TOUCHED MY NOSE FIRST, NOT YOU!” Alaska continued to shout, her voice rising to try and drown out Chris’ but he was having none of it, jumping around in a circle, eyes clenched tightly shut, fingers still stuffed in his eyes as he continued to scream his chant, this only made Alaska angrier.

“YOU’RE NOT PLAYING FAIR CHRIS! YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THE DOOR! CHRIS! CHRIS! CHRIS! LISTEN TO ME; YOU NEED TO ANSWER THE DOOR. IT YOUR TURN YOU POO-POO HEAD!” Alaska continued to shout, clamouring on her chair, and waving her arms in the air, her fork waving wildly spraying chunks of pancake over the room.

The group of boy’s didn’t bother to let the pair know that they had practically witnessed the whole fight, or so called fight, Alaska giggling as she clung herself between Zack’s right leg and Alex’s left one.

The pair didn’t seem to notice the additions leaning against the doorway, the group seeming to get angrier and angrier, Chris now stood on his chair, his boxers low slung on his hip as he jumped up and down now shouting “LA LA LA” at the top of his voice, which just aggravated Alaska more, as she now picked up a pancake, jumping on the table as she began to tear clumps off, balling them up and throwing them angrily at the boy.

This was beginning to get ridiculous.

Alaska, looked like she was going to wrestle the boy to the floor, her shirt beginning to ride up on side, close to showing her underwear, only an inch or so allowing her modesty to stay intact.

“PUT THE FORK DOWN AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP” Alex called, cupping his hands around his mouth as he put on a fake voice, trying and failing to sound like a police officer, causing the pair’s heads to snap and look at him, mouths dropping open as they jumped off whatever item of furniture they were stood on, Alaska instantly tugging the shirt down as far as it would go as she wrapped her arms around her chest, Chris stood scratching the back of his neck looking anywhere but the group of men stood in the doorway in front of them.

“What – the – how?” Alaska questioned, her words not running together or managing to make sense as she ran a hand through her hair, her eyes trained on the floor as she itched to get away, to get into her bedroom and be able to change into something more appropriate instead of being in front of five guys half naked.

“Ava let us in?” Jack said, his thumb pointing to the girl in question who was still hid behind the two boy’s legs, gripping them tightly as she giggled softly, a hand covering her mouth as she looked up at her mother.

“Ava you know you’re not supposed to answer to the door” Alaska chastised, bending down to the girl’s level, holding her hand out as the girl immediately ran forwards, clinging onto her mother’s hand as she pressed her cheek against her mother’s cool leg, one eye rubbing at her eye. “Now I think we should go and get changed, so do you guy’s want to go and watch TV or something while Chris cleans up?” Alaska suggested, shooting a meaningful look over her shoulder at Chris, who simply gave the girl the middle finger after double checking that Ava was not looking.

So much for today being a great day.