raising hope | s.m

♡Twenty-Three♡

Shawn

Maya took Aaliyah out to the cafe. He got to her and I thought it was Jake. While he didn't help, he didn't exactly hurt her as I'd thought. My mom walks in holding two cups of coffee.

"Coffee?" She questions. I nod tiredly. She hands me the to-go cup and sits in a chair close to the bed. 

"How did you get into this, Shawn?" she whispers. No mother wants to see or hear of her child being a street fighter.

"Noah. It seems like all of my problems revolve around him, mom." She takes my hand.

"Hey, it's okay. He's gone now." She rubs her thumb over my swallow tattoo. I didn't have any tattoos other than the guitar one when I lived in Canada.

"At least I have Maya and Hope."

"Hope?" she questions.

"Her daughter. She was with someone before me."

"Don't let her get away, Shawn. She's special."

"I know. I just don't know how to protect her. She's been through so much."

"That's why you can't leave her. She's already broken, don't break her anymore."

"I know," I look at the door, waiting for Maya to walk through. "I won't."

"You love her, don't you?"

"Yeah," I look at my mom, "she told me she loved me just before we found out I was bleeding internally. I'm going to stop fighting after this. No one can make me continue."

"Good. You'll get to spend more time with her and the baby. How old is she?"

"Maya or Hope?"

"Both."

"Maya is twenty-one, she turns twenty-two about a month after I do. Hope is almost two." She sighs.

"You all are so young and have been through more than anyone will ever go through in a lifetime."

"Yeah, but there are people who have been through worse." She smiles softly. "What?"

"That's what I love about you. You think of other people first. Take this for example. You were hurt but your first instinct was to go find her."

"She was upset with me. I didn't listen to her when she said the other fighter would be wearing knuckles." He hits the back of my head playfully. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Always listen to the women you love. They only want what's best for you."

"Does dad listen to you?" She scoffs out a laugh.

"Of course not. Men tend not to listen, clearly." She gestures to the equipment around me. We both laugh.

"Mom," my voice is shaky.

"Yes?"

"Tell me how to protect her. How to keep her safe, keep her happy, keep her in love with me." She grabs my other hand.

"From what I can tell, you are protecting her-" I cut her off.

"I let her get raped, mom." She takes a deep breath.

"No, Shawn, you couldn't have known that was going to happen. She's okay now though. She's happy with you. She won't stop loving you."

"How do you know?" I ask shyly.

"I have seen many things, true love is one. And you two are in true, pure, happy love. Things like that won't end." I smile down at her.

"Thank you, for talking to me."