Ava spends about ten minutes showering and then another ten drying her hair, braiding it, and changing into a pair of jeans and a white tank top. Moving into her room, she shuffles around in the closet until she finds a neatly wrapped gift box. She makes sure that it's the right present before she heads back downstairs. "Alright, what's left to clean?"
Cameron had gotten a lot done in ten minutes. He had vacuumed, washed down the tables, replaced the wood in the fireplace, spray down the couches with a nice cleaner he got a while ago, and had just started on a lunch for himself, Ava, and Cormac if he came around. Cameron turned when Ava bounded in. He still looked pale and nervous.
“Oh, nothing much. I wanted to clean out the closets but that’d be stupid. What’d you get him?”
Ava glances around the house, surprised at how clean and tidy everything is. "It looks like we're living in a home decoration magazine," She comments, shaking her head a little. "Yeah, I don't think that cleaning out the closets is nessicary." Ridiculous is more like it. "I got him a camera, a notebook, and a pen," She says with a slight shrug. "There's also a ten dollar Amazon gift card in there in case he doesn't like it."
Cameron huffed at her softly, waving a new plastic spatula in her direction. “I want it to look good for him. I don’t know what lies my ex-wife has told him. So I want to contradict them all.” He turned back to the stove. “Those are good gifts. I’m sure he’ll like them. Does the notebook have anything cool on it? Or is it just a generic notebook?” He was genuinely curious.
"Everything looks great, Cameron. You're going to prove anything your awful ex-wife said wrong." Ava assures him. "It's hardback and made out of leather. Kinda old timey looking. There's a strap and some secret pockets." She offers a general description of the object. "Oh! I got it personalized so his name is burned on the front cover. It looks pretty cool."
“Oh, sweet. That sounds awesome!” He hummed with a grin to her over his shoulder. Anyway, I’m almost done with lunch so you can go ahead and—“ The rest of his sentence was interrupted by a single ring of the doorbell. In about half of a seocond, Cameron was gone from the stove (which rarely happens) and to the door, beating the two dogs that would have gone nuts at the doorbell.
Ava works fast to to the stove off so the house doesn’t burn down. She’s learned from expirance that fires actually do happen that way. Knowing that things are about to get crazy, she grabs Kreja and Lily by their collars, getting them into the living room. She can still see the front door from where she is so she won’t miss anything but this way the dogs will be kept in check.
Cameron had paused near the door to fling off his apron and smooth out his hair, making sure he didn’t look like a complete mess. His hair was still fluffy and curly, and he looked… familiar.
Shaking his head and making sure the dogs were contained, he carefully opened the door. His son was standing there, looking up at the house curiously. He was holding a backpack full of stuff. He didn’t look of his father, his face was thinner and so was his body. But his hair was the same shade and texture of Cameron’s. The pair set eyes on each other, and their smiles were almost identical. Cameron took his son into a hug without a word, squeezing him close. Cormac laughed in that strange way that sounded like a choked sob, tucking his head into his father’s arms.
Ava watches quietly as this plays out. Her sharp blue eyes study the young man, examining his features. Though he's rather scrawny compared to his father, the hair, the crazy hair, is the same. When she sees those smiles, she can't help but crack one of her own. This is such a sweet moment. She should leave and give them some time to themselves. "Smiri se, ti velika Šunko," She murmurs when Kreja starts to growl. The dog's fur is on end and his teeth are bared. Having a stranger in the house isn't going over well with him. She tugs on the dogs' collars, working on getting them over to the stairs.
Cameron had dipped his head to lean it against Cormac’s. And they stood there for quite a while, a lot of Cameron’s worried thoughts melted away. This was his son. His adult son. And he had come back like he promised without any second thought. It was still noon on the day of his birthday. He could’ve gone off with friends or stayed home to celebrate. And it meant everything to Cameron that he came to spend it with him.
Lily was pushing against the hold of the human at her collar. The old girl wasn’t barking or being hostile, she just seemed excited and curious.
Ava hangs onto to the collars as best she can. It's a difficult task since both dogs are huge and neither wants to go with her. "Lily, come on," She says, gently tugging the dog's collar. If she can get Lily to come then she knows that Kreja will come as well. She's not worried that Lily will attack, the dog is much to sweet, but her own ball of energy is being protective and aggressive. "Who wants a treat?" Bribing them may not work but it's certainly worth a shot.
Lily whined back at Ava, but allowed herself to be bribed by the treat. She looked up with big puppy eyes at Ava, her tail starting to wag slowly. She seemed convinced. Lily loved her treats. She let out a soft bark.
Cormac jumped a little at the barks and growls from inside, glancing up at his dad from the hug.
“You got another dog?” He asked in a voice akin to Cameron’s as well.
“Oh. Well, sort of. I still have Lily but my roommate has another dog named Kreja. You can probably hear him growling, but he’s very sweet.”
"There's a good girl." Ava smiles at Lily, bending down to kiss the top of her head. "Sit." The treats are in the kitchen so she'll have to go grab some. "Kreja, sit down." Her tone is warning now. The last thing that's needed right now is for Kreja to break free and to scare Cameron's kid. With a disappointed huff, the dog sits down. Rolling her eyes at his attitude, she releases their collars and heads into the kitchen. She riffles through the cabinets until she finds the treat jar. Bingo. Pulling it down, she takes out two treats.
“Can I go meet them?” Cormac asked, peering over Cameron’s shoulders by standing on his tippy toes.
Cameron released his son and stepped to his side, peering into his house. “Hmm. Wait until Ava gives them a treat.” He set a hand on Cormac’s shoulder, tilting his head to gaze at him. “Thanks for coming by. And on your birthday. You’re still the sweetest boy I’ve ever met.”
Cormac blushed and tilted his head away from his father. “Thanks dad. I didn’t want to stay with mom anymore. She was kind of annoying me about not leaving. But ironically she got me a car for my birthday so… I dunno.”
Cameron seemed to deflate a little. Dammit, she already had the upper hand.
Ava steps over to the dogs, handing them each a treat. "And I don't want to hear another word out of you." She warns Kreja, fixing him with a stern look. The pup looks up at her and wags his tail, barking once happily. "You were just hangry, huh?" Laughing, she shakes her head a little in amusement. She takes Kreja's leash off of the peg and clips it to his collar. She trusts Lily but it's best to keep Kreja on a short leash. Literally.
“Alright, come on. Ava and I got something for you for your birthday. But it’s not really as big as a car.” He lead the way into his home with a curious Cormac following behind.
“Oh. I didn’t want a car, dad. I just wanted something small. I bet whatever you got me will be very nice. I’m just glad to be here with you,” Cormac hummed softly, gazing at the two dogs as they approached. Lily stood and walked towards Cormac, sniffing his hands once he offered them. He smiled shyly at Ava.
Ava glances over when Cormac and Cameron come into the room. "Play nice," She murmurs to Kreja, reaching down and setting her hand briefly on his head. "Hey, I'm Ava," She greets Cormac with a friendly smile. This means a lot to Cameron so she wants it to go well. "This ham is Kreja." With a quiet bark, the dog snuffles at the young man's hand. For once in his life, Kreja is behaving well.
“Hello. I’m Cormac,” He said politely back, turning to Kreja to offer one of his hands. He carefully rose his hand to pet Kreja’s head, wondering what the dog will do. Meanwhile, his other hand was already petting Lily’s head, whose tail was wagging rather hard.
Cameron chuckled softly, reaching down to pet Lily’s back. “She missed you, Cormac. She was just a puppy when you left, but she still remembers you.”
Kreja stands still, staring at Cormac with his big blue eyes. He barks twice before tugging at his leash so that he can go be beside Lily. Reaching out, he nuzzles her cheek before snuffing at her ears. It's not fair that she's giving the human attention and not him.
With an amused expression on her face, she steps forward and unhooks Kreja's leash. At least he's only jealous and not aggressive. That's about as good as she could have hoped for.
Lily turned to snuffle Kreja’s ears back and give him a kiss. Lily stood up from her sit and snuffled at both of Cormac’s hands, continuing to hog him. Cormac smiled at his father’s words and gently stroked her soft head.
“She’s so pretty. And big. I didn’t think she’d ever get this big.”
“That’s Just her breed. They’re naturally very big dogs, even the females,” Cameron answered with a warm smile.
Kreja whines pitifully when Lily continues to give Cormac attention. He nudges her shoulder before running off. Only a few moment later he returns, a tennis ball in his mouth. He drops it at Lily's paws and barks playfully, his tail wagging like crazy.
Ava listens to the conversation but most of her attention is on the dogs. It's funny to watch Kreja trip over himself in an effort to get Lily to play with him. She almost feels bad for the big ham of a dog, he just always wants to be loved.
Lily took her head from out of Cormac’s hands, picking up the tennis ball, her tail now wagging like Kreja’s. She hopped around for a little bit before running to one end of the house, throwing it with a weird but oddly successful jerk of her head.
Cameron chuckled, watching the pair of dogs run off. “Anyway, Ava got you a present. I did too, I just couldn’t get it out…” Cameron ambled off to the closet in which he kept the presents he got. He only got two presents for his son, but they were both quite big.
Kreja trots after Lily, shooting Cormac an overly smug look from over his shoulder. When the ball is thrown, he takes off after it with a few loud barks. He manages to successfully grab it before he turns and prances right back over to Lily.
Ava watches with raised brows as Cameron drags two big presents out of the closet. An amused look on her face, she turns her attention back to Cormac. "Happy birthday," She says with a slight smile as she presents him with a wrapped gift box.
Cormac looked a little overwhelmed but he accepted the box from her nevertheless. He opened it carefully, setting down his book bag before opening it up. He looked through the presents, grinning happily.
“This is great. Thank you.” He set the journal and camera back down into the small box, looking up at his dad.
Cameron gestured for them to come sit at the table, which Cormac complied.
“So, I wasn’t entirely sure what you like, but I do know that you’re going to be graduating and moving out soon. So I got you… well… just open the boxes.” He chuckled nervously. Cormac just grinned warmly up at him and went about opening the boxes.
Ava fidgets a little. This is awkward. She stands off to the side and watches as Cormac opens the presents that Cameron got her. Maybe she'll find an excuse to leave the house after this. She could always go hang out at the tower. Glancing at the clock, she bites back a sigh. It won't be dark outside for a few more hours so she can't go on her rounds and she can't take anyone out. That means her options are either the tower, going to see a movie, walking around the market, or taking Kreja for a very long walk.