Avery and Cadence, and OTA
Avery and Cadence weren't going to miss the party for anything. He'd asked Beth to come with them, knowing it was a bold move. He probably wasn't ready for that, but he liked her, and she was new in town and it seemed like a good way to introduce her to people. It was win/win as far as he was concerned.
He'd just down play that there was the possibility of anything more than friendship, because honestly, there wasn't anything more than friendship between them at the moment. Avery was okay with that. He wasn't exactly looking for anything more.
He finally gave in to Cadence's insistence that he put her down. "Stay where I can see you," he told her, though at just under two years old, he knew she wasn't likely to listen.