#ava torres

From a seat in the back Princess Ava looks at her with wide eyes. “Shoot?” She repeats, clutching the armrests tightly as the ship rolls again, avoiding another hit from the pirates behind them. Ava’s cheeks tint green and she closes her eyes tightly. “How can anyone shoot with you flying like this?” She groans, putting a hand over her stomach, willing the growing sickness to stay down.

Jean shakes her head, keeping her eyes focused on the viewport. She kicks a leg out, moving the passenger seat open to Ava’s view. “Climb in and quick, you’re getting a lesson.” She says. Ava looks at the smuggler in disbelief but something told her, Jean was not joking. Fumbling with the seatbelt, Ava dashes quickly for the passenger seat and straps in tightly. 

Without looking, Jean leans over and pulls up a firing control from under the panel. The ship rumbles when another blast flies overhead. Ava stares as several of the pirate’s gunships fly ahead, turning on them. “It’s easy,” Jean explains, flipping a switch to activate the blasters. “Just, aim and then fire.”

“I wouldn’t have figured,” Ava responds sarcastically, blowing a few fallen strands of her hair from her face. Her hands shake slightly as she grips the controls. The ship lurches and Ava gasps, squeezing on the trigger. Several blasts fire from the guns and directly hit one of the pirate ships.

Jean’s eyes widen in impress, as she nods. “Not bad, princess.” She compliments. “Now, just four more to go.” She grins nosediving the ship downward. “Ready?” She calls out over AX’s frantic beeping.

Ava stood in the middle of the baby section at a local department store, and watching the endless rows of infant clothes made her feel excited and terrified all at once. The idea that she was suddenly going to be a mom had already sunk in for nearly four months now, but the uncertainty of it all still hadn’t left her mind.

Luckily she wasn’t alone, as her aunt Damaris made sure to accompany her during such a big moment in her life, but Jasper must have told his mom, Maria, because she insisted on also coming with her (“It’s my grandchild after all!” she had said), which then Ella tagged along as well, because she wanted to pick out the best clothes for her unborn baby cousin, and lastly Jean got word of it, and was quite upset at Ava that she wasn’t the first person she thought of bringing along, but was still very excited to join.

And there she was, surrounded by them talking over one another about which onesie was the cutest for her future baby, which was both funny and overwhelming.

“Listen, I’ve been through this before,” Maria told Damaris, who was holding a cute Stitch onesie. “And I’m telling you that’s no good!”

“But it’s so cute!” Damaris insisted, holding up the onesie to her face.

“It’s not warm enough,” Maria explained. “Plus, it’s gonna be such a hassle when it’s time to change the baby’s diaper, I can already tell!”

Damaris sucked her teeth as she placed the onesie back on the rack, when across from them Ella let out an ear-piercing squeal.

“Oh my goodness, look at this!”

She brandished a tiny tuxedo one-piece over the clothing rack, which was met with a chorus of “awws”.

“He’ll look like such a business man in that!” she added.

“Oh my goodness, that is adorable!” cried Jean, taking the little tux from Ella and showing it to Ava. “What do you think?”

“It’s cute.” she smiled, half-heartedly, but Jean took notice.

“Hey, is everything ok? Are you feeling alright?”

At that moment, everyone directed their attention towards Ava as they all rushed over to her, looking just as concerned as the next person, and asking one question after the other.

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Ava chuckled, raising her hands up in defense. “Really, I am!”

Maria broke away from the rest, and placed her hand on Ava’s shoulder. The look in her eyes was of concern, but also with a twinge of experience, as though she was reliving her moments as a new mom, and with that look alone made Ava feel comforted, but also heightened her emotional imbalance.

Tears already began to swell in her eyes as Maria lightly squeezed her shoulder.

“Really, I’m fine,” Ava repeated, but the crack in her voice betrayed her. “I’m loving all of this—I guess I’m just…I don’t know, nervous?”

Maria simply nodded, and took a hold of her hands, while Ava was already beginning to sob.

“I just…everything feels like it’s happening so fast,” she explained. “And I can’t help but think, like—what if I’ll be a bad mom? What if I mess things up, or–or–”

Another sob left her lips, but Maria pulled her into a comforting hug, soothing her until she managed to catch her breath.

“I understand how you feel,” she said. “I felt the same way when I had Jasper, everything felt weird and confusing, I felt unsure of everything…

“But do know that it gets better,” she continued. “Especially when you have people that are there to support you, I don’t know where I’d be without the support of my family.”

Ava looked at Maria, who was bearing a warm smile, then turned to the others who all had the same expression, and for once since arriving at the department store, she felt at ease.

“You know we’re all here for you.” she added.

“Yeah.” Ava nodded, wiping the tears from her face.