2. August

Chapter 2

August

O f all the things AJ originally thought he’d be doing on a stinking hot Saturday afternoon in early-November, picking up a kid he’d only learned about two weeks earlier from Brisbane International Airport was not one of them.

He’d arranged discrete DNA tests as soon as he had gotten off the phone call which had changed his life, paying extra to expedite the results, and —when they’d come back confirming Betty’s claims— the rest of her plans had launched into motion.

In the intervening weeks, he had Facetimed with Ava twice, wanting her to be able to put a face to his name (and wanting to be able to do the same with her) before she came to live with him.

Through the iPad screen, he could see the resemblances Betty had told him about. She had dark blonde hair, a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and eyes the same shade of blue as his own. She’d been cute and bubbly, reminding him a lot of his nephew at the same age, and had demanded the right to call him ‘Daddy’, even though he’d told her that AJ or August was fine.

It was going to take some getting used to.

Getting a solicitor to draw up an appropriate custody arrangement and have it sent to Betty had also been a priority. Unsurprisingly, but depressingly, she had signed the papers without any argument, despite the terms being heavily in his favour. Even though he was terrified of throwing himself into fatherhood so late in the game, he vowed that he’d never let Ava feel unwanted on his watch.

His family, though over in the UK, were also incredibly supportive, which helped settle his anxieties about the entire situation. As soon as he’d gotten off the phone from Betty, he’d found three voicemail messages from Freddy. It had seemed as though Betty had called AJ immediately following her own conversation with his brother, beating the older man to the punch.

Though the chat with his former fling had thrown AJ for a loop, he was glad that she’d been the one to deliver the news, and not his older brother. As compassionate and supportive as Freddy was, there had been a little bit of derision over AJ’s past behaviour when they’d finally spoken. While he knew he’d deserved it, he also knew there was no changing the past. There was only moving forward.

Which was why he was anxiously pacing around the crowded Arrivals Hall of Brisbane International Airport on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the critical early weeks of the football season, instead of running through additional plays and strategies with his team.

Thank Christ they weren’t playing again until Wednesday.

Ava had boarded a plane —by herself; something that distressed August more than he’d cared to admit, even if she did have a personal member of the airline staff looking after her for the entire trip— over twenty-four hours earlier. There was a stopover in Perth, where AJ had received confirmation that the little girl had touched down and was in safe hands for the transition to her connecting flight, but he’d needed to see her with his own eyes. In person.

Part of him thought he should have flown back to London to escort her home himself, but Betty had talked him out of it. With his anxiety ratcheting, he regretted not going with his gut instinct.

‘You should have asked someone to be there with you,’ Freddy texted in response to August’s message admitting his nerves. ‘First time meeting your kid is a big deal.’

‘Exactly,’ August typed back, his eyes glancing towards the arrivals gate as muscle memory guided his fingers across the screen, ‘I don’t have anyone here I’m comfortable enough sharing that with.’

That was a sad admission, he knew. He’d been living in the God-forsakenly hot country for four months and hadn’t made any friends, and certainly hadn’t made any romantic connections either. Being a workaholic, he hadn’t really noticed how lonely his existence was…until an ex-lover had dropped a five-year-old secret on him and forced him to rethink everything about the way he lived his life.

‘You could always come home.’

Not bothering to respond to that, AJ tucked the phone away in his pocket. It buzzed again inside the denim. With nothing else to distract himself, he pulled it back out and read the message.

Freddy had followed up with: ‘Send photos and let us know when Ava’s settled. And call if you need anything.’

A small smile tugged the corners of his lips upwards. ‘Will do.’

This time when he slid the phone into his back pocket, it remained silent.

Passengers were beginning to trickle out through the Arrivals gate, and August straightened as Ava soon appeared, her hand tightly holding onto one of the airline crew member’s hands, practically dragging the poor woman forward. He watched as she scanned the crowd and caught sight of him, her eyes widening and a grin blooming across her cherubic face.

“Daddy!” she cried out, tugging her escort forward in her bid to break into a run, and AJ swallowed against a lump of unexpected emotion hearing the title spoken so excitedly in person.

“Ava,” he greeted, dropping to his knees as she finally wrenched her hand free from the crew member’s and flung her little arms around his neck as though she’d been doing so for her entire life. Fighting off a wave of emotions, he cleared his throat and asked, “Did you have a nice flight?”

She burst into animated chatter about the experience, still clinging tightly to him. August made all the appropriate sounds to go with her rapid-fire story, pushing himself back to his feet and settling her on his hip. She was too old to be carried this way, but she was petite for her age, and he was loath to let her go so soon.

The crew member who had escorted her was waiting patiently, and he apologised and handed over his ID, proving that he was the person nominated to pick up the child in her care. She checked it against her documents, then passed over the large suitcase Ava had travelled with, as well as the backpack that had served as Ava’s carry on.

Ava thanked her and said goodbye without prompting.

Then it was just the two of them, alone in a throng of people in the airport’s Arrivals Hall.

“Well,” August said, finally giving in and setting the little girl on her feet so he could slip the neon pink backpack over his shoulders, “shall we head off, then?”

She nodded and slotted her left hand into his right one, and he grabbed the handle of her suitcase with his other hand.

“I’m afraid it’s about an hour’s drive from here until we get home,” he told her, “but if you need the loo or want to stop for food, let me know, okay?”

She beamed up at him and agreed, and he led the way through the terminal to his parked car.