Chapter 3

Shaw

       I couldn't help but softly smile as I watched all three of my kids gathered around Holden. Castiel was sitting beside him on the hospital bed while Lucian and Mercy were sharing the chair beside the hospital bed as they were telling him crazy stories that happened at their school.

       They really loved him a lot, and Holden loved them. Which was a lot different from my other exes.

       In fact, the only ex that my kids liked was Kendra. Who was their mom.

       I think I learned my lesson to stop dating people that my children didn't like. 

       I did call Kendra shortly after Holden woke up and she brought the kids here almost right away --Castiel just wanted to finish his get well soon card first. Since then, Lawrence and Tara hadn't come back to the hospital room after going to the cafeteria, and I really hoped they wouldn't come back.

       At least not when I was here. Then again, I wasn't really going to leave the hospital room until Holden was released. The only time I was going to was to get something to eat, to go home and shower, or to head into work.

       I just hoped I wasn't going to have to work until Holden was released because I would be worried about him the whole time.

       "You know, I'm really glad you found someone that the kids absolutely adored," Kendra said to me.

       "Yeah, me too," I said. "It definitely makes things a lot easier. Well, it was my fault for dating people like my other exes. At least it's in the past and I never have to see them again."

       "Jordan still lives in the village," Kendra said.

       "Yes, and I would very much appreciate it if I never see him again, thank you," I said.

       My wish of Holden's parents not showing up faded when they both walked into the hospital room. "I'm going to take that as my cue to leave," Kendra said quietly to me before looking at our children. "Alright, come on, kids. It's time to leave."

       "Aw," Mercy said. "We want to stay with Holden."

       "Yeah," Castiel agreed. "Can we stay?"

       "I think he needs some rest," Kendra said. "If it's okay with him, I'll bring you three back here tomorrow to visit him."

       "Of course it's okay," Holden said. "I love seeing you guys."

       Castiel, Lucian, and Mercy all gave Holden a hug before leaving the hospital room with Kendra. 

       "How are you feeling, Holden?" Lawrence asked.

       "A bit better," Holden said. "My head hurts. I'm just glad it was only a concussion and nothing else. At least that's what the doctors said. They just want to keep me a bit longer to test my memory since I already have problems with it."

       "That's good," Lawrence said. "So... We never had a chance to ask you or the twins. How exactly did you get into a car crash?"

       Holden was silent for a bit and looked away.

       "Holden?" Lawrence asked.

       Holden sighed. "I crashed the truck. My vision was getting blurry and I lost control truck and crashed into the fencing on the side of the road."

       "Are you serious?" Lawrence asked. "This is why we didn't want you taking Julian and Noah to Vancouver. You're not fit to drive. You should have called me or your mom to pick you up once you started getting blurry vision."

       "Why?" Holden asked. "So you could only tell me again and again that I should be more careful?"

       "Obviously you're not being careful enough," Lawrence said. "You could have seriously injured the twins along with you!"

       "I don't want to keep dealing with you getting mad at me for everything," Holden said. "Can you just leave? I want to be alone."

       Lawrence and Tara, surprisingly, left without demanding to stay. Once they did, I walked over and sat down on the chair beside the hospital bed. "You could have called me to pick you up," I said. "Julian did after the crash happened."

       "I didn't call you because I didn't crash it," Holden said. "Julian did."

       "How come you're taking the fall then?" I asked.

       "You saw my dad's reaction," Holden said. "I'm guessing it would have been worse if I told the truth and said it was Julian since both Noah and I are the ones recovering from the injury. My parents would have just gotten really mad at him and grounded him. I thought it would be better if I took the fall since I don't live with them anymore."

       "Well, then that's very nice of you," I said. "A bit stupid because they're even more mad at you, but nice that you were thinking of your brothers first."

       There was a sudden knock on the hospital door and we both looked over to see a girl standing there, and I immediately recognized her as Holden's ex-girlfriend. I only met her once in the winter time when she was visiting her grandmother and Holden's parents, of course, tried making me jealous.

       "Jane, hey," Holden said. "What are you doing here?"

       "I heard about the accident and I wanted to see you," Jane said. "Can I come in?"

       "Of course," Holden said and while she was walking over to sit in the other chair, he said, "Oh, by the way, this is my boyfriend, Shaw. Shaw, this is Jane, my, uh... Friend."

       "It's okay, Holden, I already know she's your ex-girlfriend," I said.

       "How do you know?" Holden asked.

       "How do you think?" I asked. "Your parents. They tried making me jealous."

       "Did it work?" Holden asked.

       "Yes, Holden, it worked," I said sarcastically. "I totally got jealous that my gay boyfriend has an ex-girlfriend, even though I, myself, has an ex-girlfriend whom I have three kids with."

       "Okay, I get it," Holden said. "So, Jane, what are you doing back in Spruceworth and not at the boarding school?"

       "I was really hating the school," Jane said. "So I kept begging my parents to let me transfer to another school for second semester since it is my last year. They finally let me, but only because my grandma offered I stay with her since there aren't any schools close to where the rest of my family lives. So, I'm living in Spruceworth."

       "Well then, welcome to Spruceworth," Holden said.

       "You'll love it here," I said. "Just make sure you stay away from Holden's parents."

       "Oh, don't worry, I already plan to," Jane said. "I am a bit mad at them for lying to me and saying Holden still has feelings for me."

       "What?" I asked. "Why would they do that?"

       "It was when you and I were broken up," Holden told me. "They thought if I got back together with Jane, I wouldn't worry about you."

       "But you're gay," I said.

       "Well, in their defense, and I can't believe I said that, I never specifically told them what my sexuality was at the time," Holden said. "I could have been bi or pan for all they knew."

       "They were just lucky I didn't still have feelings for Holden," Jane said. "Mainly because I already knew he was gay. I think I even knew he was gay before he did."

       "I don't doubt that," Holden said.

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lol i'm really gonna love jane. she's cool.

i thought since shaw has quite a few exes, it would only be fair to bring holden's ex in. (even though kendra and jane's aren't threats to sholden)(BUT YOU KNOW WHO IS????)(jk i ain't saying)(moohowhow)