Note: I was having a complete writer's block trying to write the wedding, so I skipped to the reception. Lol sorry.

Chapter 27

       Never in a million years would I ever see myself this happy from getting married, let alone marrying someone I had known basically all my life. Ever since he was born, in fact. But here I was, at the reception, officially married to Holden.

       I was so surprised when his parents, mainly his mom, decided to plan everything out so we could go ahead with the wedding the day after. I never thought I would have seen the day where Tara was finally accepting our relationship.

      And even though there wasn't any better feeling in the world than celebrating marriage with the most amazing person in the world, I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty inside because I had a drink last night. 

       And I was starting to crave it even more.

       I wanted to tell Holden, but I was too afraid to. He was always telling his parents how I wasn't going to go back to my old ways and how I was going to stay sober. I felt like I was going to let him down.

       "You seem very gloomy for someone who just got married," Kendra said as she walked over to me.

       "Is it showing?" I asked.

       "Yeah," Kendra said. "Is everything okay?"

       I sighed. "For the most part, yeah. There's just... Something on my mind that I want to tell Holden, but I also don't want to. I'm worried what he'll think."

       "That sounds bad," Kendra said.

       "It's not, really," I said. "Just... I don't know, complicated. Should I tell him?"

       "That's your choice to make, not mine," Kendra said. "But whatever it is, I think you should tell him. If it's a secret you're hiding, you don't really want to start your marriage off with secrets, do you?"

       "Yeah, you're right," I said, but I was still feeling worried about telling Holden. "I'm actually going to talk to him right now."

       I walked over to Holden, who was currently surrounded by Mercy, Lucian, and Castiel. They probably hadn't left his side since we got to the reception, so I barely had time to spend with him.

       "Alright, I know you three love him, but would it be okay if I talk to my husband alone?" I asked my kids. 

       "Fine, whatever," Mercy said, looking annoyed.

       I just chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll have all the time in the world to spend with your new stepdad."

       Hearing me call Holden their stepdad made the kids really happy as they walked away and to Kendra.

       Holden smiled as he looked at me. "I really love those kids."

       "And they love you too," I said. "So... I have to tell you something and... I'm not sure how you'll react."

       "What is it?" Holden asked, sounding a bit worried.

       I took a deep breath before saying, "Yesterday, after I got that text that Roman sent from your phone, I went to the nightclub and I had a drink."

       "You what?" Holden asked. "You're supposed to stay sober."

       "I know," I said. "And I swear, it was just a one off. It's never going to happen again. I was just upset and heartbroken thinking that you called off the wedding."

       Holden was silent for a bit before saying, "Well, I hate the idea that you drank but I can't blame you. What Roman did was just plain cruel. Just... Promise me it won't happen again."

       "Yeah, of course I promise," I said, though there was a part of me that wasn't sure if I could keep the promise. I was craving alcohol again, no matter how many times I was telling myself I couldn't touch a drop.

       Holden smiled slightly. "Thank you for telling me about it."

       "I had to admit, I was a bit scared to," I said. "I thought you would feel like I let you down."

       "No, of course you didn't," Holden said. "Like I said, I hate the idea of you drinking but I can't blame you. And you told me about it, so it's not like you wanted to hide it from me. I can never feel like you've let me down."

       I smiled. "Seriously, what did I ever do to deserve you?" I asked as I pulled him in for a kiss.

       Kissing my husband right now only made me feel a lot happier, and more confident to stay away from alcohol. I had to do it for him. I had to do it for us. I couldn't ruin everything we had worked for just because I couldn't resist a drink.

       Shortly after we pulled away, Viola walked up to us. "Hey, Shaw," she said. "Would it be okay if Dad comes in for a bit?"

       "Are you serious?" I asked. "You know I want nothing to do with him, right?"

       "Oh, come on, it's his son's wedding reception," Viola said. "You can't exclude him."

       "I can, and I am," I said. "I don't want to forgive him, I don't want anything to do with him, and I would really appreciate it if you stopped trying to get me to forgive him."

       "He's your dad, Shaw," Viola said. "Holden, tell him."

       "Sorry, but I'm on Shaw's side," I said. "I know what it's like to not want to talk to my parents. The only reason why I forgave them was because they did something that proved they were sorry. Your dad never really did anything."

       "Thank you," I said. "Sorry, Viola. It's not happening. Just because you're all buddy-buddy with Dad doesn't mean I have to be. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to be anywhere else but here."

       I grabbed Holden's hand and pulled him away from my annoying sister. Sometimes, I wanted to forgive my dad just so Viola would leave me alone. 

       But I wasn't going to cave in that easily.

       Unfortunately, Viola decided to let Dad into the venue anyway as if she had some sort of control over it. I sighed when I saw Dad, feeling very tempted to roll my eyes.

       "Listen, I'm not saying you should forgive him, but I think you should talk to him just for today," Holden said. "Viola's right about one thing. It is his son's wedding reception. He needs to earn forgiveness."

       "Alright, fine, I'll talk to him, but you're coming with me," I said.

       I led Holden over to where my dad and Viola were, trying my best not to scowl. "I know you said you didn't want him in here, but just hear him out," Viola said.

       "Hear him out?" I asked. "For what?"

       "There's something I haven't told you and Viola," Dad said. "And I don't know of any other time I could tell you since you refuse to talk to me."

       "Can you blame me?" I asked.

       Dad never answered that question. He rarely addressed him leaving us nine years ago, so I wasn't surprised when he avoided the topic. Instead, he decided to get straight to the point. "You and Viola have a sister," he said.

       "Wait, what?" I asked. 

       "You have a half-sister," Dad said. "She's about twenty-four now and she'll be coming to Spruceworth soon."

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lol more dramaaaaaa.

and sorry i didn't write the wedding. i tried but it just wasn't working so i skipped to the reception. BUT AT LEAST SHAW AND HOLDEN ARE ACTUALLY MARRIED NOW. 

so here's a gif that i like to call a sholden husband gif because they seem like husbands in it:

my babiesssss <3

so turmoil is definitely going to be the longest spruceworth book so far. and honestly, i find it hard to believe this book is in the same series as change, because the orginial characters haven't showed up in this book. :(

i need to do something to bring dan, destiny, ariella, and all of them back so they're not in the cast list just because