I Fell For My Nemesis

Avery knew she had held onto her dad's apartment for too long. She should have let it go as soon as she got married. But especially after she knew her husband wasn't going to abandon her for the secrets she kept.

Having two apartments was silly. The money she was using to pay property taxes could better go toward Bailey's future. They would need to start a college fund sooner or later.

Her daughter's future was more important than holding onto her childhood home. She would be able to keep the truly sentimental items. But having an entire second apartment as a shrine to times long past was ridiculous when she really thought about it.

Avery hadn't changed a thing since her dad's death. That wasn't healthy.

She didn't have to let her love for her dad go. She would always love him and always miss him. But she didn't want to be trapped by the past anymore.

That was how she found herself sorting through items to donate, sell, keep, or throw out on a Sunday afternoon. Bailey was at her grandparents' and she, Christian, Avery, Jorge, Maribel, and Vanessa were all involved in the massive undertaking. She may or may not have bribed half of the participants with cake to get them to help.

Once everything was packed up and ready to go she also needed to repaint the walls and get everything professionally cleaned so she could sell it. She had no doubt it would go quickly. Real estate in New York City was always in demand.

"Your dad kept a lot of your old clothes," Maribel noted. "Do you want to keep any for Bailey?"

Avery nodded. "Yeah. Things always come back into fashion eventually. We can see if they're useful when we get to that point."

The women were sorting through her the walk-in closet in the master bedroom currently. There were an awful lot of boxes to go through. The men were out in the living room packing movies, board games, and the like.

"Is there anything of your dad's you want to keep specifically or do you want to donate his old clothes?" Vanessa asked.

"Donate them. I have nowhere to keep all of these. I do want his Yankees hat though."

Avery was looking through various memorabilia from her dad's earlier years. She needed to keep this box. She could check it all out more thoroughly later.

It felt strange doing this. She had put it off for so long.

Angelo had sold his childhood home almost immediately after his father's death. She supposed he couldn't stand being surrounded by the memories. She had been the other way around. She had needed those memories to keep her going as they stared down a seemingly impossible foe.

He repressed things and let his anger fuel him rather than feeling them. That wasn't healthy but there was nothing she could do about it.

She thought he might be doing better these days though. He was certainly spending enough time with Vanessa. If that wasn't a sign of starting to move on she wasn't sure what was.

They didn't seem together in any official capacity but she had noticed the way they looked at each other when they passed in the hall earlier. Vanessa might not want to admit it but she definitely returned Angelo's feelings.

If Avery had to guess she wasn't saying anything because she didn't want to push him away. In the meantime she was content simply to spend time with him. Anything was better than nothing.

It was sad but she couldn't push them. They were the only ones who could figure out what pace to go at.

She would do her best to support them from the sidelines without getting actively involved. She hoped for Vanessa's sake that Angelo figured things out soon though.

They both deserved to be happy but especially him because he had been through so much. It was beyond time for him to live for himself instead of for revenge. He was allowed to be happy even though his parents were gone.

In fact, that was all the more reason to try and find happiness. They wouldn't have wanted him to spend his whole life depriving himself of things that mattered. She was certain of it.

Avery couldn't worry about Angelo and Vanessa too much though. She had other things to worry about. Like selling this apartment. And Bailey's teething.

Those were perfectly normal every day worries that had nothing to do with her life as Nox. She was putting it behind her for good so she could focus on what made her happy. Her family. What had once seemed like nothing more than a distant dream.

When she first took up her dad's mantle she never would have imagined this. Happily married to his nemesis with a beautiful child. It was crazy when she thought about it. So much had happened that was still difficult to wrap her head around sometimes. She wouldn't have seen this coming in a million years but she was so grateful it had.

Avery felt rather sentimental as they finished cleaning out the closet, throwing things away, stuffing things in boxes to be donated, and so on. She had already listed all of the furniture aside from what they planned to save for Bailey's room when she outgrew her crib on Craigslist and was waiting for buyers so she could deal with that later. It was time to move onto the next room but they all took a break to order pizza first.

There was something about organizing that was absolutely exhausting. All of them were beyond ready for the food when it arrived and devoured it all in less than ten minutes.

They laughed and talked for a little while longer while waiting for the food to settle before getting back to work. She noticed that Angelo casually had his arm around the back of the couch as Vanessa sat next to him and seemed more relaxed than he had in ages. It made her smile.

It took another two and a half hours of work to get everything done because people kept getting distracted and they had to take a lot of stuff down to the dumpster. But eventually it was over and Avery thanked everyone sincerely and promised she would get their cakes to them in the next week. They all headed back home and she and her husband went to pick up the baby.

Bailey was playing with a hanging mobile toy she loved when she arrived but when she saw them she screeched in delight and began reaching out toward them. Nancy laughed.

"Now she acts like she missed you but she was perfectly content before you got here."

"She knows how to charm people," Christian replied with a laugh of his own. "Thanks for watching her, Mom."

"Anytime! How did the packing go?"

"We managed to get everything done. All that's left is selling or throwing away what's left of the furniture. We're hoping to get that taken care of in the next few weeks."

"Oh, good! I'm glad you were able to get that taken care of. I'm sure it will sell quickly once it's all cleaned up. The market right now is hopping. You guys picked the right time to sell!"

That hadn't factored into things at all. It was simply a perk. Avery hoped they were able to fetch a good price to provide for her children's futures. She was sure her dad would have wanted that for them.

The time had long since come though and she was only now acting on it. When they got home she and Christian took several trips to move what they did keep up to their apartment but she was too tired to unpack it just then. That took a few weeks.

In the meantime they had to go back to the old apartment several times to sell the furniture. It didn't take as long as she expected to get that all taken care of too.

On the day before the sale would close she wanted to go there one last time. She looked around the blank walls that had once been full of pictures, the place where the dent she accidentally left in the wall used to be, and the fire escape she had used so many times as Nox.

It was strange to see it all so empty. Wrong, even. But in the next few weeks the new family would be moving in and this place would be full of life again. Just someone else's life instead of hers and her dad's.

Avery could practically see her younger self messing around on the living room floor with Angelo. The ghosts of memories she would never truly forget even if she didn't have access to the place they were made in anymore. She might be saying goodbye but she would always remember how happy she had been here.

Christian came up beside her and seemed to sense what she was thinking. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head.

"Selling this place was really brave of you, Avery. I'm proud of you for moving on."

Avery smiled up at him. She never would have been able to move on to this extent without him. He had given her an awful lot to look forward to. There was nothing wrong with looking back now and then but she wasn't drowning in it the way she used to and it was all because he gave her hopes for the future.

"I couldn't have done it without you."

Christian returned her smile and leaned down to kiss her properly. "Come on. Let's go home."