Leaning against the doorframe, Avery watched Debbie sleep with Cookie laying by the girl's feet. Regret washing over her all over again. How could she allow herself to relapse and risk losing her little family?

Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of losing Happy and Debbie. And again, as much as she wanted toᅳ she couldn't just blame Kim for her relapse. She had just as much responsibility and should've been strong enough to resist.

And that she would from now on. Avery would never risk losing the love of her life again. For the first time she felt safe and loved in a relationship. She had found someone who cared for her and supported her. Destroying that would be absolutely stupid and thoughtless.

The fear that Happy would leave her was worse than any fear before and even though he had assured her that he would stay with her and that nothing would change as long as she would follow certain rules, she would still make an extra effort to prove that a relapse won't happen again.

"You okay?" Happy's raspy voice sounded behind her, startling Avery for a moment. The redhead turned around slowly to face him.

When his arm wrapped around her waist to pull her against his chest, she let out a sigh of relief, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just can't quite believe how stupid I was."

"You weren't stupid." Happy placed two fingers under her chin to lift it, his dark eyes searching for hers. "You were desperate, and maybe just not ready to resist drugs once you saw them."

"Maybe", she agreed with a sigh. "Still, I should've acted differently. I should've called you or Lyla. But I didn't and that meant I risked losing the most important things in my life", she tilted her head towards Debbie, who was still sleeping peacefully in Happy and Avery's bed. "You and Debs."

Happy's gaze also wandered to his daughter, relieved that she hadn't noticed much of all the chaos in the last few hours. "But you know you made a mistake, it's the first step in the right direction", he grunted, then removed his arm from her waist and cupped her face in his hands.

Avery swallowed hard, her eyes closed and her face scrunched up in concern. Nevertheless, she let the kiss that Happy gave her happen and placed her hands on his chest. And she still couldn't believe how lucky she actually was.

"I'll keep my word, Hap", she whispered against his lips, her eyes half open again to look into his. "I will go to therapy regularly and do everything I can to stay clean."

"I know", Happy grumbled appreciatively, placing another kiss on her forehead. "Get dressed, we have an appointment in an hour."

Avery arched her eyebrow, looking up at him. "What appointment? Where?"

"You're officially becoming Debbie's mom", he said with a shrug, grinning slightly as he saw the shock cross her face. "I told you nothing would change. And this might give you some extra motivation to stay clean."

"But...since when do we have the appointment?" she asked in surprise, still speechless that everything happened so quickly. "And are you really sure? God, I have to take a shower!"

"Hey." Happy grabbed her wrist as Avery began pacing around nervously. In contrast to her, he was completely calm. "You still have time. Go take a shower, get dressed. Lyla will be here in a minute, she'll stay with Debbie while we're getting this done."

“Debbie doesn’t have to be there?” Avery asked, her nervousness increasing by the minute. "Shouldn't we ask her again if she really wants to be adopted? What if she changed her mind?"

Happy shook his head, almost amused. "I talked to her again two days ago. She can't wait for you to be her mom. Stop worrying, little girl."

Avery took a deep breath. Debbie still wanted her as a mom, there was no greater honor for Avery. Finally, a faint smile formed on her chapped lips. Even though she still felt like she had been hit by a truck, she couldn't wait to get ready and sign the papers.

"Okay, I'll try", she answered willingly, took a look at the clock on the wall and ran towards the bathroom, but she came running back again to steal a kiss from Happy's lips with the widest smile on her face.

ᚔ

Lyla had come to her sister's help as she picked out an outfit for the adoption date. The blonde could understand the nervousness, after all this was a big deal. At the same time, Lyla was also worried. She kept studying her younger sister from the corner of her eye.

"Are you sure you are ready for the appointment?", the blonde wanted to know as she reached for a top and held it out to Avery. "Try this, it looks neutral, even a bit elegant."

"I have to. Adopting Debbie really means a lot to me. And it gives me one more reason to stay clean." Thankful for Lyla's help, Avery reached for the top and pulled it over her head. A few moments earlier she had already decided on a pair of simple skinny jeans and simple black boots. “Do you think that’s appropriate?”

Unsure of herself, Avery looked at herself in the mirror as she smoothed the already tight top over her body. "Isn't that too...revealing?"

"It's a regular top, Avery. Besides, it's hot outside. It would be weird if you walked around in a sweater." The blonde squeezed Avery's shoulder encouragingly. "You look good. How are you feeling?"

In the reflection of the mirror, Avery studied her sister's worried expression. Sighing, she lowered her arms and turned to face Lyla. "I feel sick and I'm freakin' nervousᅳ and not just because of the appointment. The craving is there, but I'm trying to ignore it as best as I can. And the pills that Tara left here also help. You don't have to worry, Lyla."

The blonde just huffed, shaking her head before lightly nudging her sister's arm. "I'm your sister, of course I'm worried. I've already lost Ian, I can't lose you too", she said firmly. "I want you to talk to me if you ever struggle again, do you understand, Avery?"

Avery was about to speak, but closed her mouth again and lowered her gaze. Ian's loss still hurt and just mentioning his name was enough to rip open old wounds. However, Avery also noticed that she was slowly getting better at dealing with the pain and grief.

"I never meant to worry you like that, you have to believe that." Avery looked at the blonde with sincere regret in her blue eyes and squeezed Lyla's hand that she had reached for a second before. "I didn't want to cause anyone extra worry and I'm sorry that I put all of you through this."

"It's okay." This time it was Lyla who took a deep breath and finally gave Avery a bone-crushing hug. "Just never do anything like that again, promise me."

Even though Avery wasn't sure if she could promise such a thing, she really wanted to. Wrapping her arms around Lyla's small waist, the redhead nodded. "I promise."

Lyla quickly wiped some tears from her eyes before pulling away from Avery, putting on a smile again. "I think you should get going. Debbie and I are waiting here."

"Thanks again for everything, Lyla." Avery blew a kiss against Lyla's cheek, looked at herself in the mirror again and finally nodded, recharged with new energy.

Once again she ran her hand through her freshly washed and blow-dried hair, which fell straight down her back, and checked her make-up again before leaving the bedroom with Lyla. Shortly afterwards she was making her way to the registry office with Happy, who was just as nervous as the redheadᅳ not that he would ever admit that out loud.

ᚔ

Overjoyed, Avery stared at the papers in her hands. She stood there petrified, the people who had to pass complaining loudly because she and Happy were in the way, or simply pushed past the couple in annoyance. But nothing could ruin the mood of the two of them right now.

"I still can't believe it", she whispered, smiling from ear to ear. She was now officially Debbie's mother. "I can't believe I'm a mom."

"Why? You've been her mom for months", Happy pointed out, smirking. Seeing Avery happy was a huge relief.

Until the last moment he had been worried that Avery would leave, that she would change her mind. After the last few turbulent hours, that wouldn't have been a big surprise. He was all the more relieved that she was finally officially the mother of his daughter. Their daughter.

A huff almost escaped his lips when Avery unexpectedly threw her arms around his neck, almost knocking him over with the force with which the redhead hugged him.

It had been an emotional moment for both of them when Avery signed the papers. His daughter finally had a mother who could actually be called a mother. Debbie now had a mother who wasn't ashamed of her child because of a small speech impediment.

"I love you so much, baby", she murmured against the crook of his neck where her face was hidden. "Thank you for giving me the chance to be a mom."

"I love you too", he rasped with a lump stuck in his throat. Once again, Happy cupped her face and kissed her after gently pushing her back a little. It was a tender kiss, one that expressed how much she meant to him without having to say it.

Avery's knees weakened at the kiss. After over a year and a half with Happy, she was still just as in love. No, she fell more and more for him every day and he still had the power to make her all soft for him with only a kiss.

Still holding the papers in her hand, she pulled away from Happy's lips but stayed close. "Let's go home. I want to tell Debbie the news", she whispered, smiling.

"She's going to flip", Happy stated with a grin before reaching for his Old Lady's hand, pulling her towards his bike. "I'm sure Gemma is going to throw a party. I hope you're up for it."

Chuckling, Avery took the helmet after carefully putting the papers in her bag. "I've gotten used to Gemma's spontaneous parties, she leaves you no other choice."

"There's some truth to that", Happy murmured under his breath, a raspy laugh vibrating through his chest. Then wrinkles formed on his forehead. "I still have to tell Debs that Kim is gone."

Avery immediately felt uneasy, but she knew it had to be done. Debbie had a right to know that she would never see Kim again. "I know. Do you wanna tell her about it today?"

Avery got on the bike after Happy sat down and put on his sunglasses for protection, then handed her a pair as well. By now he had doubles of everything so that Avery was also taken care of.

He tensed his shoulders, leaning slightly against Avery after she wrapped her arms around his torso. He sometimes needed her comfort as much as she needed his, even if he didn't say it.

"Better now than if she finds out from someone else", he said, tipping his head back to look into the distance as Avery tightened her arms around him as if she knew he needed that right now. "I just don't know if it's the right thing to do or if it's better to keep her in the dark."

"Well", Avery began, searching for the right words as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "You're her dad, you'll know what's right. You know her best, Hap. If you think it's the right thing to do, it is. No matter what you decide to do, I've got your back."

Happy said nothing. Instead, he just grunted and squeezed her thigh gently to show his appreciation, knowing that Avery now understood what he was trying to tell her even if he didn't use words.

"You know you're a good Old Lady, right?" he told her, his hands already placed on the handlebars. In the mirror he could see Avery blushing.

"You make it easy for me to be a good Old Lady", she said honestly as a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm anything but easy, little girl", he remarked with amusement, started the engine and left the parking lot of the registry office to get home as quickly as possible.