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Ava walked into the precinct with Morgan, begging her mother to change her mind. "Please! It's only one quiz." She said. "Yeah, one quiz and four assignments. Oh, don't forget the project last month." Morgan listed off, half paying attention to the conversation.
"It's just a stupid class, which I don't even understand. The teacher doesn't know what she's doing. Can I please go to Avery's house this weekend?" She begged once again, for what must have been the 50th time since she was picked up from school, along with a note that Ava had failed her 5th Spanish Class assignment that month.
"Nope, not till you get your grade up. I get that it's hard, but it's gotta get done, Ava." Morgan said. As she began packing her things from her rarely used desk, Karadec walked over, files in hand, and stopped seeing the distressed teenager.
"Something wrong?" He asked his girlfriend and partner's daughter. "My mom's being unreasonable." She responded. Morgan rolled her eyes and handed Karadec a paper with a "D-" at the top, marked in red pen. "This is not being unreasonable, Ava. Look, if you can pass the test on Friday, then you can go to Avery's." She said, wanting the conversation to be over. Selina called Morgan into her office to discuss something, leaving Ava and Adam at the desk.
Karadec looked over the paper, noticing the mistakes that ran across the assignment quickly. "There's no way I'm gonna pass that test." Ava groaned to herself, falling into her mom's chair, her bag landing beside her on the floor. "You can, you've just got some mixed-up grammar and definitions."
She looked up to the man at his answer, with confusion. "You know Spanish?"
Karadec laughed quietly and responded, “Crecí hablando y también ayudé en algunas tareas.”
I grew up speaking it, and I also helped with a few assignments. In a perfect accent, smoothly.
Ava quickly sat forward, "You gotta help me pass. Please, Karadec!" He looked at the office where Morgan was, talking to Soto, as he contemplated it. "I'm not a great teacher, and I don't have a lot of time-" Ava rolled her eyes, "Just do it before you sneak over to our house later." His eyes widened, and she smirked slightly.
"You leave your shoes by the door. I sometimes get up in the middle of the night. C'mon, please. If I don't pass this test, I'm screwed." Adam thought about it, then sighed and dropped his head forward. "Okay, fine. But we don't mention the sneaking-in thing again." Ava nodded quickly and jumped up, hugging him, "Yes, thank you!" He froze, shocked by the hug, but slowly reciprocated it. "You're welcome."
"Whoa, so I don't get a hug, but she does?" Morgan asked teasingly. "What's this about?" She asked. Ava pulled away and shrugged, grabbing her bag from the floor. "Just you guys being terrible at sneaking around." She said, then began walking out of the bullpen, leaving the two adults staring at each other with a mix of emotions.
– – – – –
That night, Karadec arrived early; instead of sneaking in after all the kids had been asleep, he had stayed for dinner and was now sitting on the couch, trying to help Ava with her studying. Eliot and Chloe were with Ludo, visiting his mother, so they had open space to work, with Morgan watching from the kitchen counter in amusement at her partner finally meeting his match. She could tell before they had started that he didn't think it would be much of a challenge, but he had clearly not seen her daughter's attempt at Spanish before.
"This is impossible." Ava groaned, sliding off the couch onto the carpet, hands over her face. Adam rubbed his eyes, looking at the clock. They'd now been at it for two hours, and both of them were starting to lose hope of her getting ready in time. "No, no, it's not. Alright, you've just got to memorize this sentence for the oral exam on Wednesday, then we can work on Friday."
She sat up with a blank face, "No hablo español! Can't do it."
Adam slid onto the floor, sitting against the couch, and picked up her assignment outline. "Yes, you can, Ava. C'mon. Again." She sighed and began what she'd been trying to memorize,
“Me llamo Ava Gillory, tengo dieciséis años. Tengo un hermano y una hermana, ambos menores que yo. Mi madre se llama Morgan y trabaja en el departamento de policía como consultora, y mi padre…” She drifted off.
My name is Ava Gillory, I'm sixteen years old. I have a brother and a sister who are both younger. My mom is Morgan and works at the police department as a consultant, and my dad…
Morgan followed along as best she could, but could only get so far. Being honest, Spanish wasn't her best subject either, and she had tried to keep that in mind when talking to Ava. However, she knew that her daughter was capable, so she encouraged her to keep going.
Karadec noticed the pause, thinking that she had just forgotten what was next. “Tu padre…” He coaxed her along. Ava sighed and pulled her legs up. “Mi padre se fue. Y no sé dónde está.”
My dad left, and I don't know where he is.
Karadec nodded, finally understanding her reason for pause. He wasn't sure what to say and tried to find the words. “Ava, sé que estás preocupada. Haremos todo lo posible para encontrarlo.”
Ava, I know you're worried. We will do our best to find him.
She nodded, and he handed her the paper. Ava stood up, and Karadec did the same, "I'm gonna go to bed. Thanks for the help, Karadec." She said quietly and kissed Morgan's cheek before heading to her room.
Morgan moved to the couch and sat down, Adam following her. "Everything okay?" She asked, noticing his silence. He nodded and draped an arm around the back of the couch over her shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah, all good. She's gonna do great."He said, with a slight smile to reassure the woman.
Morgan nodded and leaned into his touch. "Alright. You know, I knew you spoke Spanish, but I just never expected it to be so good. I'm impressed." She said, and he laughed, "Nice to know I can be impressive sometimes." He said and leaned down to kiss her.
– – – – –
Two days later, Morgan walked into the precinct with a smile on her face, holding a folder. Daphne looked over and noticed her expression, "You look happy." She said. Morgan nodded, "Well, thanks to the master tutor over here, Ava passed her Spanish assignment with a B. Best grade all year for her." She said, proud mom style.
Oz and Daph smiled and congratulated her, telling her to pass it on to Ava, with Morgan agreeing happily. She walked over to Karadec and sat at the edge of his desk, handing him the folder. "Thank you for helping her. You should've seen her face when she told me her grade. That's her assignment, I'm not gonna lie, I don't understand half of it, but I wasn't about to tell her."
Karadec smiled and nodded, "Glad I could help. She's smart, just needed a push." He flipped the folder open and took out the paper, reading it over.
Me llamo Ava Gillory, tengo un hermano menor, Eliot, y una hermana menor, Chloe. Mi madre, Morgan, trabaja como consultora para la policía. Su pareja también es su novio, y es una de las mejores cosas que le han pasado a ella y a mí. Karadec ha estado siempre ahí para nosotras. Los quiero a todos, son mi familia.
His chest tightened with pride and admiration. The rest of the paper had been about her interests and hobbies, with minor grammar mistakes. He tried not to let it show, but Morgan already saw it. "Might not know that much Spanish, but I did see your name thrown in there." She said as his eyes drifted over the paper once more. "Yeah, just mentioned the help with studying…"
My name is Ava Gillory. I have a younger brother, Eliot, and a younger sister, Chloe. My mom, Morgan, works as a consultant for the police. Her partner is also her boyfriend, and he's one of the best things to happen to her, and to me. Karadec has stepped up and been there. I love all of them, they're my family.