Chapter 17

Shaw

       For the past few days, my mind has been all over the place, especially since today was Castiel's birthday party, and Kendra and I had been doing a lot of planning for it. I was hoping when the party was over, or even during the party, my mind wouldn't be so clustered.

       That wasn't the case.

       We booked out The Gold Mine for the birthday party, mainly because I worked there so it was a lot easier to do so. It was a good thing we did because at first, it was going to be at Kendra's house which wasn't fairly big and Castiel wanted to invite his whole kindergarten class. He was such a friendly and social kid.

       The only part I didn't like about the party was that Kendra's dad, Rudy, was here and we wasn't particularly fond of me.

       Okay, that was a complete lie. He couldn't stand me and he was always trying to tear me down. In fact, he even hated me a lot more than Holden's parents. Well, just Holden's mom. Lawrence was somewhat okay with me and Holden dating now, but at least he wasn't saying over and over again how I wasn't right for his son.

       I was hoping he would just choose to ignore me today instead so he wouldn't kill my mood at my youngest son's birthday party. 

       He didn't.

       The kids were playing one of the games right now, and Kendra was the one running it so I was standing off to the side by the table with all the food and drinks. Rudy walked over to me and I was trying my hardest not to scowl. "So," he said. "I am a bit surprised you're here. Wouldn't you rather be off drinking or something?"

       "For your information, I've been sober for a while now," I said. "And I wouldn't want to miss my son's birthday anyway."

       "I still have no idea why Kendra is letting you back into their lives," he said. "You almost ruined them."

       "Well, I didn't," I said. "I sobered up and I manned up. So I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't undermine me today of all days. Feel free to do it any other day."

       Surprisingly, Rudy didn't say anything else to tear me down, but he still stood beside me. He then looked at one of the tables Holden was sitting at with Mercy and Lucian. Those two were more interesting in drawing something instead of playing the game with the kindergartens.

       Even though the twins were only two years older.

       And they wouldn't let Holden move at all. They wanted him to stay with them, and he didn't mind at all.

       "So, who's that?" Rudy asked. "He kind of looks familiar, but not too much. Almost like I haven't seen him in years or something."

       "That's Holden, Lawrence and Tara's second eldest son," I said. "That's probably how you know him."

       "Ah, right," Rudy said. "The one that was in boarding school. What's he doing here, then? I mean, the rest of Lawrence and Tara's sons aren't that close with the kids, and Mercy and Lucian seem to really like him."

       "Because he's also my boyfriend," I said.

       "Isn't he a little young?" Rudy asked. "You're twenty-five and how old is he? And how are Lawrence and Tara okay with it?"

       No matter what, Rudy always found some way to judge me, even if it was nothing that involved him or Kendra or the kids.

       "He's eighteen," I said. "And to answer your question, Lawrence is somewhat okay with it. Tara's not, but it's not their choice."

       "Well, it should be," Rudy said. "You're only going to ruin his life like you almost did Kendra's. If he's smart, he'll leave you as soon as he could."

       Don't roll your eyes, don't roll your eyes...

       "Well, sorry, but that's not going to happen anytime soon," I said. "He loves me and I love him, and I would never do anything to hurt him."

       Rudy snorted. "That will be a first. You just eventually hurt everyone around you. And didn't you kill someone recently? I don't know how on earth my daughter is okay with you being around kids."

       "Oh, relax, it was self-defense," I said. "She had me at gunpoint and if I didn't do anything, your grandchildren wouldn't have a father. You may not like me, but I am going to be in my children's lives as long as I could so get over whatever problem you have with me."

       "That's a long list to get over," Rudy said.

       Thankfully, I was finally saved for now when Kendra walked over. "Alright, Dad, you can stop victimizing Shaw now," she said. "He's a good father and he doesn't need you trying to tear him down."

       "It's kind of hard when he's only going to disappoint you in the end and fall off the wagon," Rudy said.

       "Sorry, Dad, but I don't think he will," Kendra said. "He has been sober for a while now and he doesn't go anywhere near alcohol. So you can save your patronizing for another time and go help the kids with the game."

       Rudy did so, mumbling something under his breath that probably had to do with me being the scum of the earth.

       "Thank you for saving me from your dad," I said. "I just don't get why he's still acting this way towards me."

       "He's just overprotective of me and the kids," Kendra said. "He'll stop soon. Hopefully."

       "At least he's the only one acting this way towards me now," I said, right as Holden got up from the table and walked over to get something to drink. "Believe it or not, Holden's parents aren't even close to being that annoying."

       "Whoa, really?" Holden asked. "Someone's more annoying than my parents? Who?"

       Kendra sighed. "My dad. Imagine how your parents acted towards Shaw, always trying to tear him down. But ten times worse. Anyway, apart from all of that..." Kendra looked at me. "You brought the cake, right?"

       "What cake?" I asked.

       "Shaw, the cake for Castiel's party that you ordered a week ago," Kendra said, and when I didn't reply she continued. "Don't tell me you forget to order a cake."

       I sighed. "I'm sorry, my head has just been all over the place."

       "Well, then you better hope the bakery has a cake," Kendra said.

       "I can't go now," I said. "Castiel will get extremely sad if I step out for even a bit."

       "I'll go," Holden said.

       "Really?" I asked.

       "Yeah, of course," Holden said.

       "Holden Eaton, you are seriously a life saver," I said, pulling my wallet out of my pocket and taking out a twenty-dollar bill and a ten-dollar bill before handing them to Holden. "What would I do without you?"

       "Probably nothing," Holden said.

       "Oh, ha ha, you're very funny," I said before giving him a quick kiss. "Seriously, thank you."

       After Holden left, I looked over at Kendra who didn't look that happy. "I still can't believe you forgot to order a cake," Kendra said. "If there isn't any left in the bakery..."

       "I know, I know," I said. "I'm sorry. Like I said, my mind has just been all over the place."

       If I had to choose my favourite thing about Kendra, it was that she was always willing to listen to me. If I messed up or something was wrong, she didn't ignore me or keep putting the blame on me. She would want to hear why.

       I was happy she still stayed that way right now. "Why? Is everything okay?" she asked.

       "Yeah, definitely," I said. "There has just... been something on my mind that I can't shake off, thanks to our lovely kids."

       "What did they do?" Kendra asked, starting to sound worried.

       "Oh, nothing bad, don't worry," I said. "What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone at all. Not even our kids because I still don't know if I'm going to go through with it."

       "Don't worry, I won't say a single word," Kendra said. "So, what is it?"

       "The kids got mad at Holden because when they said he was their step-dad, but he said he technically wasn't," I said. "So I told them he was right and when they asked how he could be their step-dad, I said we would have to get married. And then of course, they kept saying that we should actually get married."

       "So?" Kendra asked.

       "So... I think I want to ask Holden to marry me," I said. 

       "Really?" Kendra asked, her face a bit unreadable.

       "Do... do you think it's too soon?" I asked. 

       "I have no say," Kendra said. "It's up to you and Holden to figure out of it's too soon, but if you want my honest opinion... I don't think it is too soon."

       "You don't?" I asked.

       "No, definitely not," Kendra said. "There isn't a set timeline people have to be dating to be ready for marriage. It all depends on the couple and with you two, I think you are. You love each other, you already live together, you make each other better people. Seriously, I've never seen you so happy before. All your other exes were complete douche-bags. Well, except me of course."

       "But of course."

       "And the kids absolutely love Holden," Kendra said. "When you and I find people we want to marry, it has to be people who love our kids and want to be a part of their lives. Holden does. It's all up to you if you want to propose or not."

       "I really want to," I said. "I can't get it out of my mind. There's only one problem."

       "What?"

       "He's eighteen."

       "So?"

       "So he needs to be nineteen otherwise it has to be with his parents' consent. And there's no way they'll consent to it."

_______________

just to clarify: where the story takes place (british columbia in canada), you do have to be 19 to get married without parental consent since 19 is the age of majority. you can still get married at 18. you just need consent.

but woo possible proposal/marriage coming soon????? we'll see????

lol i am gonna be spamming this a lot because GIFS. i have a gif i want to use and there are dramatic chapters i want to get to.