Page 34 of Aussie
“I’ll explain when you get here,” Aussie replied. “Just promise you won’t laugh too hard.”
Ava chuckled, her curiosity piqued. “No promises. I just need to pick up Christian from school, and then I’ll be there.”
When she hung up, Sarah leaned forward, her grin widening. “So…the SEAL needs rescuing. Guess it’s your chance to save the dayandask him to go to the gala.”
Ava shook her head, laughing. “We’ll see.” But as she grabbed her coat and headed out the door, her heart was already racing. She was going to see Aussie and ask him out on a date.
???
On the way to Bear’s house, Ava swung by the school and grabbed Christian.
“What do you think happened that they needed to call you to help with?” Christian asked her as she pulled her SUV into Bear and Jocelyn’s driveway.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Aussie just said that he would explain when I got there. Oh, and I had to promise that I wouldn’t laugh.”
Christian chuckled. “Well, now I’m curious.”
Ava smiled. “Me too. Come on, let’s head in.”
As she and Christian walked up to the house, she admired the Christmas decorations. The warm white lights decorating the house gave the home a soft glow, giving off a cozy vibe. However, that vibe was quickly shattered the moment she opened the door and was instantly hit by a smell that could only be described as diaper disaster meets biohazard. She scrunched her nose up as she exchanged a knowing look with Christian, who was already pinching his nose, clearly regretting his decision to tag along.
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered, holding her breath as they stepped inside.
The first thing she saw was Nails, who was shirtless and appeared freshly showered. He looked as if he’d been through a battle of ages. He was toweling off his hair, and from the faint smell of shampoo, it was clear he’d just survived an emergency decontamination. Aussie stood nearby, smirking, clearly enjoying Nails’ suffering.
“Oh my God,” Ava laughed, taking in the chaos. “What happened here?”
Nails groaned, gesturing at the scene with an air of resignation. “Let’s just say that the explosive poop got everywhere, including me.”
Ava couldn’t stop her laughter, and even Christian let out a snicker beside her. The scene felt surreal. One tiny baby nearly undid two battle-hardened SEALs.
Just then, Aussie leaned down, catching Ava by surprise as he greeted her with a soft kiss. The warmth of his lips sent a jolt of surprise and happiness through her. The kiss lingered a second too long, and when they broke apart, she could feel the eyes on them.
Nails raised an eyebrow, grinning. “Well, look at that.”
Christian, not missing a beat, smirked, folding his arms with a teasing glint in his eyes. “Nice job keeping this little development a secret.”
Ava’s cheeks burned. “Alright, alright,” she said, laughing off the attention. “Can we focus on the matter at hand here? First, let’s open some of the windows. I don’t care if it’s December in Virginia. We need fresh air, stat.”
With some reluctance, Nails and Aussie started cracking open windows, letting the cold, crisp air rush in. Ava turned her attention to baby Isadora, who was happily gumming on a shaker toy in her playpen. She was wide awake, clean, and grinning as if she hadn’t just caused a biohazard incident.
“Where’s her diaper bag?” Ava asked, glancing around.
Nails pointed at the white bag with pink polka-dots by the couch, and she rummaged through it. She was happy when she found the thermometer. Gently, she held it to Isadora’s forehead, breathing a sigh of relief when the reading came back normal. “She’s fine,” Ava said, looking up at the guys. “Nails, did you feed her anything?”
“Yeah,” he said, scratching his head. “I gave her some baby food that Duke and Hannah left. It was some green mushy stuff. But I only gave what they said to give her.”
Ava laughed. “Well, that’s probably what did it. Maybe avoid any more of the ‘green mushy stuff’ until Duke and Hannah are back.” She turned to the guys, adding, “She seems fine, but be sure to let Duke and Hannah know.”
“I don’t think anybody will miss what happened around here,” Nails muttered as he opened up another window.
Meanwhile, Christian had rounded up the other kids, entertaining them with some silly antics until the smell got to be too much for them.
“Alright, we’re going upstairs to escape the smell!” Amira announced, holding her nose dramatically as she and Sienna ran up the stairs.
Ava couldn’t help but laugh as she watched the girls dart upstairs, trailing giggles behind them.
With the smell thankfully dissipating, she turned back to Aussie and Nails. “Alright, you two. Time to tackle the aftermath.” She eyed the remnants of the “disaster zone” on the floor and the walls. She swore that she saw some on the curtain by the front window.
