The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 162
"Are you going to give it to Aubrey?" She asked as she watched Angel finish the painting up by drawing some grass and flowers in the background for the subjects of his painting to be in a garden of sorts.
He looked up at her with a smile and nodded. When he was done, he picked up another canvas and did another painting. This one, she was quite familiar with. Angel had painted it over and over, the same four subjects with just a few slight differences.
Her, Damon, Angel, and a baby in a bassinet. This time, they were all leaning over to peek into the bassinet. Her heart melted once again when he offered her the painting. Like the others, she was going to hang it over the nursery she and Damon were currently preparing. They had moved Damon’s office to the first floor in one of the spare rooms, and converted his former office into the nursery. It was the only other room on the second floor along with the master suite aside from Angel’s room.
It was so perfect she was starting to think it was a dream.
She was still thinking about this with a smile on her face when Damon and Aubrey returned, with badges slotted on their shirts. She looked at them with a raise of her brows.
"You won?"
Aubrey giggled happily, skipping over to show off the badge. "Uncle Damon is really good at racing. He didn’t fall on his feet and we won!" she cheered.
"That’s awesome! Let’s get some snacks, shall we?" she offered. The kids were indeed hungry, they made a beeline for the snack stand.
Later, Aubrey dragged Avery over to a stand where mothers were painting their nails with their daughters. It looked like the kind of set-up she used to see in mommy-and-me classes on spa days.
She ruffled Aubrey’s hair, wondering if maybe this was overstepping. Julie probably enjoyed doing such things with her daughter.
But again, she cared about Aubrey. How could anyone not like her? She was an angel, just like her mother.
One thing Avery was certain about was that Julie wouldn’t want Aubrey to feel left out. So although it bugged her a little that she was doing something Julie would have loved to be able to do with her daughter, she helped Aubrey choose the color she wanted to paint their nails and picked up the rest of the tools and chose a spot for them to sit.
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The visit to the doctor that day revealed worse news than any of them would ever expect. It turned out Julie’s lungs were getting weaker by the day and soon, she would need to have a portable oxygen concentrator.
Alas, Julie’s end took them all by surprise. It happened in her sleep, the mask must have slipped off at some point and she couldn’t breathe on her own. It was only about a month since she started using it. If Aubrey didn’t insist on saying goodbye to her mother that morning before leaving for school, no one would have found Julie until hours later as she had been sleeping in lately.
For a moment, the doctors considered trying to resuscitate her when the ambulance arrived but when they saw the bracelet on her wrist, they had to stop.
It was shocking for a woman that young to be so unfortunate and the urge to try to get her heart to beat again was killing them, but she had made herself clear in not wanting that to happen.
The day of her funeral felt like a nightmare. Only a few people were present. Julie was a wonderful woman but not many people knew her. Those who did were all heartbroken to say goodbye so soon.
Aubrey didn’t understand everything that was happening yet, but she knew her mother had been in pain and was now resting—even though she would never come back.
She tugged at Avery’s dress and asked, "Is she really not in pain anymore? In heaven?"
Avery wasn’t quite certain herself. She wasn’t sure she believed in heaven or hell, but if there was an afterlife, there was no way someone like Julie would continue to suffer on the other side.
She pulled the sobbing Aubrey into her arms and whispered, "she will always be with us. In our hearts."
As Julie was laid to rest, the sky turned dark with thick, looming clouds and soon it began to rain heavily. Even the sky couldn’t stand the loss.
Avery had noticed Julie’s husband going through the motions the whole time, looking like a robot programmed to follow a set of instructions. He had nodded at everyone who offered him comfort but she had a feeling he didn’t hear a word they were saying. It must be hard on him, she thought.
So when everyone left the cemetery and it was time to drop Aubrey off at home, she bought some chicken soup from the Chinese restaurant on their way. Julie had mentioned how much he loved it.
As they neared the house, Avery noticed the girl in her backseat become more fidgety by the second.
She pulled over close to the house and turned to her to ask, "are you okay?"
She shook her head. "Can I have a sleepover with Angel?"
"Of course. Let’s just give your dad the soup, okay?" She said.
Although Aubrey looked reluctant to go home, she couldn’t leave her in the car on her own, so she held her little hand in one hand and the takeout bag in another.
She rang the doorbell and almost decided to leave the food at the doorstep when she noticed Aubrey shrink to hide behind her. She heard footsteps from the other side before the door was opened, and she was hit with the strong smell of alcohol and cigarettes.
"Oh, Avery?" The man looked at her in surprise, having not expected to see her.
"Hi Charles. I..." she trailed off. He was looking at her like she was in enemy territory and he was ready to stomp her to death. "I brought you chicken soup."
For the first time, he looked down to see the takeout bag she was carrying, with characters she couldn’t read splattered across one side, which she assumed had to be the name of the restaurant. "There’s chicken soup and—"
"I don’t want another wife." He snapped.
She blinked. "Excuse me?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "I know you may find a fresh widower tempting and all, but save it. I don’t want to see you ever again."
Now she was furious. "Julie asked me to take care of Aubrey and I’ll do just that. So, you know what? Get used to seeing me around here. Not that I have any interest in you."
That seemed to snap him out of it. He let out a guttural groan. "Look. I’m sorry. I’m just..."
"I understand." She assured him. She knew he was hurting, even if that didn’t excuse him acting like a jerk. It certainly was best for her to take Aubrey home. Her father wasn’t in the best shape to take care of her right now.
"Here’s your soup." She held the bag up for him to take it and added, "Do you mind packing a bag for Aubrey? She wants to stay with us for a few days and play with Angel."
He looked frustrated. "That...where is she?" He cut himself off from whatever he was going to say, making Avery’s brow itch to rise.
She took Aubrey’s little hand that was gripping her skirt and pulled her beside herself for her father to see her.
He stared down at her for a few beats before he said, "Okay. Wait here." He said and slammed the door shut.
"Okay." It was odd but she didn’t question it. She knew people took grief differently.
While she had her family and friends to console her, Charles probably had no one. It must be irritating him that his daughter didn’t even want to be close to him at the moment and was hiding away from him. But again, she wouldn’t want to be near someone who had turned so hostile either.
A few minutes later, the door opened again and she debated talking to Charles about seeing a shrink. Mabella, for instance, was a miracle worker of sorts. She wouldn’t bring Julie back but at least she would help him through his grief. But when she saw the look on his face, she decided against it. He would probably rage at her again.
He was carrying an overnight bag, which he nearly threw at her. "Her uniform’s in there too. Now can I go back to what I was doing before you so rudely interrupted?" He growled.
"Of course." She peeked into the bag to make sure he had packed the coloring book Aubrey loved so much and walked away from the doorstep. She couldn’t help wondering why Aubrey didn’t want to stay home. Was he taking out his grief on her?
She shook her head. She couldn’t jump to that kind of conclusion. Kids could be spooked by things adults wouldn’t find in the slightest bit scary. Or she could be too sad to enter the house where her mother would no longer be.
Either way, she hoped this wouldn’t last long. It was unfortunate but Charles wasn’t just a widow. He was a father as well.
"Aunt Avery, who is that?" Aubrey suddenly asked.
Avery turned to look in the direction the girl was pointing, and she frowned when she saw the curtain close just as she glanced over. She would have assumed it was Charles having gone upstairs as soon as they left but she was certain she caught a glimpse of shiny, green, long nails right before the curtains closed.
