"Hey, Doc. You ready?" Gabe asked me, not looking the best himself. It seemed we'd both had less than easy days.

"Yeah. Let me just enter one last thing in here." I sighed.

He nodded, waving at Rico with the best smile he could muster and making Rico frown. Rico walked over and looked him in the eye.

"What's going on with you?" Rico asked him.

"Just a student, Bro. It's not a big deal, I'm just frustrated." Gabe sighed.

I signed one last thing before turning in the tablet and taking Gabe's hand.

"Let's go?" I asked.

"You two take care of each other." Rico said, making me smile.

"We will." Gabe and I both said at the same time as we made our way out into the open air.

I stopped and just took a deep breath. It felt nice to just feel the breeze on my face and breathe in the fresh air.

"It's nice out tonight." I smiled.

"It is." He chuckled. "Feels free after being inside for so long, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." I smiled, taking his hand again.

"Do you feel ok?" He asked me.

"I've had a rough day." I sighed.

"Well, that makes two of us." He said to me.

I smiled and we walked around the side of the building to the parking lot behind the hospital.

"Tell me about the meeting." I urged him.

"It was a disaster." He sighed. "Lily's parents didn't show up, of course. Her teacher is a total jerk about everything. I mean she basically just said she shouldn't be in school because she has a mental barrier preventing her from learning. The principal argued with me against that. But she's on a trial." He groaned.

I pulled him towards a bench beside the building, having him sit down with me so we could finish talking.

"What does that mean? On trial?" I asked.

"They're going to give her a few weeks and then test her and if she fails that test, they're going to refer her to a special needs school and if her parents don't engage they're calling child services and probably putting her in foster care because her parents seem to be neglecting her. I mean, she's always hungry and she always falls asleep and they won't respond to anything." Gabe sighed.

"They're going to take her away from them?" I asked.

"Most likely. It's just heartbreaking. Being in foster care will destroy that little girl." Gabe sighed.

"It's sad that foster care is the solution, but it's always so rough. I mean the foster care system really needs work." Ava sighed.

"It does. I just don't want anything bad to happen to Lily." I sighed.

"It's ok, Gabe. She'll be alright. I know you'll make sure of that." Ava told me.

"I need her to pass the test. I just need her to pass. They can't send her to a special needs school. No one goes to those schools unless they have money, serious amounts of money, and I'm willing to bet that her parents do not. And besides a lot of those school need a lot of work." Gabe said.

"That's not true, lots of parents send their kids there." I said.

"The expensive ones. Her parents won't even respond to emails and she's always hungry, somehow I doubt they can afford something good enough for her. She does need a different approach to learning. But not like this. This is extreme. She'll only freak out, get scared and shut down." Gabe sighed.

"I think that her teacher is going to come through, don't you? She'll pass this test. She'll pass it because she needs to and because you'll make sure of it." I insisted.

"I will make sure of it. I will give her all the knowledge that I can. But in reality. By the time the summer hits, we need to have found a solution. I can't teach my own class and Lily. And what I'm doing isn't a good preparation for junior high or high school..." Gabe explained.

"Gabe, it's only September. Relax." I told him.

"It's not just Lily... if this happened to any one of my students, I'd be upset." He sighed. "And I only have this year to find a solution... and this is a very long term thing."

"Gabe. It's ok." I said, rubbing his back.

"I know." He said, slumping his shoulders.

"You ok?" I asked him, knowing he wasn't.

"It just doesn't feel good to see that happen to an innocent kid. I know it's not my fault and that I've done a lot more than what's asked of me.... But it feels like I failed. Like I have a student and I'm failing at my job and watching them suffer because of it." He sighed.

"Gabriel! You're an amazing teacher and it looks like you're little Lily's best friend... things will work out. I promise." I told him, pulling him down and kissing him on his cheek.

"I believe you... now you, tell me why you seem like you had a bad day." He said to me.

"I had a difficult patient... not the actual patient, but the diagnosis." I said.

"What happened?" Gabe asked, his forehead scrunching in concern.

"Well... the woman has lung cancer. She didn't know that before she came in. There's hope, but not much." I sighed.

"Oh, God. Did you have to tell her?" He asked me.

"Yeah... Rico offered to do it, but I refused." I said.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Ava. That sounds horrible." He said.

"It is. It doesn't feel good to have someone come in and you have to tell them how little hope there is that they're going to survive. I mean... it just feels so bad. I went through so much training for this and still, I'm helpless in some cases." I sighed.

"That's the thing though, Ava. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do. Everyone's life is going to end eventually. Your job is just to prolong it. You cure small illnesses here and there and sometimes bigger ones, but really, you're just giving them more time. Because no matter what you do now, they're going to have to go one day." Gabe told me.

"I know... that's just the sad truth." I nodded.

"It is. Just like it's the sad truth that Lily might end up in foster care at a school she doesn't belong in and never get the future she deserves." He sighed.

"It's ok. Everything is going to be ok. Life goes on. All we can do is try our best." I said, taking his hand.

"You're right." He smiled, kissing my hand.

"Ready to forget these things and just have fun tonight?" I asked him.

"Yes." He said to me.

"Alright. First stop, that park in Portside." I told him.

"What for?" He asked.

"To eat, of course. I'm famished!" I said, smiling as I stood up.

"And what are we doing on tonight's date?" He asked me.

"Well... since you don't have work on Sundays and I have the morning off tomorrow. I was thinking we could stay out as long as we wanted and I wanted to do a whole bunch of stuff. I made a list to pick from. But we can basically just do whatever we want." I told him.

"Sounds good." He chuckled.

We finally reached the car and he didn't let me get in on my own. He opened my door for me and gave me his hand to help me in, as if I was some sort of princess.

His car smelled amazing. I saw all the food in the back of it and I couldn't wait to dig in.

We arrived at the park and I located a bench while he followed me with the food. We sat down and Gabe took his jacket off, wrapping it around me.

"You look cold. And I've got a hoodie on anyway." He told me.

I smiled and snuggled into the huge jacket. I remembered how horrible it felt when Noah offered me his jacket near the beginning of our relationship. I had seen that jacket around the shoulders of every girl at our high school and most of the girls in his classes on campus. But this jacket, it was only mine to steal. It would be around two people's shoulders. Gabe's and mine. No one else. I liked that. I loved how secure I felt in this relationship with Gabriel. He wasn't even my boyfriend yet and still, I felt like I was the only girl he would ever give his time to.

"I'm stealing some of your chicken." He said to me.

"You will do no such thing." I said, pulling my chicken closer to me.

"Oh come on. I'll let you try some of this." He said, showing me the delicious food he had ordered.

"Fine. Only one little piece." I said to him.

"That's fair." He said, filling his spoon with a chunk of that kebab and some of the rice. He brought it to my mouth and I accepted.

He then took a spoonful of salad and brought it to my mouth. I accepted it as well. I had to say, he knew what he was doing when he ordered that food.

"Ok... chicken." I smiled, grabbing my chopsticks and picking up a piece of my chicken. I brought it to his lips and he shook his head, handing me some dipping sauce.

"What's this?" I asked him.

"Something you won't regret... come on." He said, urging me to dip the chicken in the sauce. I dipped it for him and he finally accepted the chicken.

He closed his eyes and let a smile spread across his face.

"Delicious?" I asked him.

"Yes. Very. Try it." He said to me.

I picked up my own piece of chicken and I dipped it in the sauce, As soon as it entered my mouth, I felt like I might pass out from how delicious it was. The chicken was still very warm and it was very spicy, but the sauce added a little hint of sweetness and neutralized the spiciness. It was absolutely delicious. Take some rice." He said to me, handing over some of his rice.

I smiled and ate some rice with my chicken. It was absolutely amazing and not as filling as I expected. It left a good amount of room for the soup and the garlic bread. I was apprehensive about the soup not having much flavour, but I was wrong to even consider that. Sophie basically knew how to make every food you could ever dream of and she made it perfect.

"Alright... The soup automatically came with these rolls, but I'm stealing some." Gabriel said to me.

I smiled and I took a roll, stuffing my face with it. It was absolutely delicious.

"You know these chicken roll things have history. Dip it in this sauce." He said to me, handing over another dipping sauce.

"History?" I asked, before stuffing another roll in my mouth.

"Yeah. The day the older generation were finally all together, Sophie made these. Hazel and Rico met that day, Killian flew over to spend time with Em, Rico flew back to see Sophie because she wasn't doing well after meeting Dad. So, Mom and Dad were back together and of course Aunt Bella and Uncle Teo were together. So, they had this huge feast." Gabe explained.

"When Sophie met your Dad?" I asked.

"Oh... yeah... so... Sophie is actually my half sister... and she's Dad's biological daughter." He told me.

"Oh... really?" I asked.

"Yes... Dad was... he was raped... the woman intentionally got pregnant with Sophie... and she ran away from him, wanting him to follow after her and destroying his relationship with Momma." Gabe told me with a deep sigh.

"Oh my God." I said, frowning and listening for more.

"Dad didn't really handle it properly, but Dad is a sensitive man, he wasn't in his right mind at the time. And so he ran off and didn't tell anyone what happened. For eighteen years, he tried tracking Sophie down, not wanting her to be raised by that monster... but he couldn't find her." He explained.

"Oh my God, and how did she end up with your mother?" I asked.

"Sophie was in an abusive home until she met Rico... then Rico got her out of it and she landed in Momma's care. Momma thought she was infertile, and so she wanted to just adopt... and it ended up being Sophie. It was a huge coincidence." Gabe explained.

"And... your dad?" I asked.

"Momma adopted Sophie and that brought Sophie and Rico back together. Then Dad came back into their lives because he's Sophie's biological father and they finally matched their DNA." Gabe said.

"Oh wow." I said in shock.

"Yeah. It's quite crazy... and I came after all the drama. Turns out Momma was never infertile." He shrugged.

"Oh... that's actually insane." I said.

"Yeah. It's sad... my parents have been through a lot. But... they're two extremely happy people and they got through everything together. What I love about this family is that they understood why my father ran... he was scared and sensitive and his mental health was not good." He said to me.

"I get it... he didn't know what to do. I mean... the thing is... if he were a woman and he got pregnant and ran, people wouldn't blame him, right? So people should understand that it's equally as difficult for a man. He may not have to carry his kid, but he knows his little one is out there and he'd definitely be afraid for his kid's well being." I said.

"Exactly. And they understood that. They knew he loved my mother more than anything and that he just didn't want to lose her in an ugly way. He also couldn't talk about the rape. He quite literally had panic attacks every time he tried... it was just a huge mess... and they just took him right back in. Momma set him up with a therapist and they worked hard to make sure they told each other everything." I explained.

"That's beautiful... I genuinely think that everything was meant to happen the way it was. Their love was probably so much stronger after getting through all that together." I smiled.

"It is." I smiled.

"That's amazing." I smiled. "You have an amazing family."

"I do. I'm very lucky." He chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked him.

"That's what Dad calls Momma. Lucky." He told me with a smile.

"Aw. That's so cute." I giggled.

"Are you going to call me Teach forever?" He asked me.

"I am. You're my teacher. You teach me more than you understand. You teach me a lot about family, about how it should be, you teach me a lot about what makes a good relationship. You teach me patience and generosity." I smiled at him.

"And you're my doctor. You make everything better. Like this lousy day." He chuckled.

I giggled and dipped another roll into the sauce. I held it up for him to eat and smiled.

"Eat and stop being so sappy." I laughed.

He chuckled and he took a bite. We continued to feast on those chicken rolls and finished our meals.