Operation Code Red! The String of Fate! (Trafalgar Law Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: Son in Law

"Baha! Ahahaha....Oh my god! That was too good!" Bridgette finally sat up from all the laughing, and patted her daughter on the head. The six year old raised a brow at her mother in confusion. Bridgette stared at her daughter lovingly as she explained, "Shanna, children don't come from the snow. Even if they do, Law is older than you, so that makes him your older brother, not younger brother." 

Shanna tilted her head. She didn't seem to quite understand the concept. "So is he my older brother?" Shanna asked.

"Not by blood, but Mommy already considers him as my son, so yes! Law can be your older brother!" 

"Hey don't go deciding on your own! I haven't agreed to anything!" Law said.

"But I want Law to be my prince!" Shanna said. She held a picture book in her hand that read 'Princess and the Pea.' "And live happily ever after!"

"Awwww! Sure! He can be your prince!" Bridgette cooed. She found the little girl absolutely adorable. She pinched Shanna's baby cheeks and snuggled her forehead against Shanna's. 

"What the- Don't go deciding on your own!" Law shouted.

"What, you don't want to be my son in law? Get it? Son in Law?" Bridgette smirked at the boy.

"First of all, no. Second of all, that was the lamest joke I've ever heard!"

...

Law wasn't exactly sure when Shanna actually started to like him the way she does. Perhaps it was when they first met? Or was it some time later after she went into puberty? Back then he always thought she was just a little girl obsessing over her princess dream, and playing pretend with him. But he should have known that they were done playing pretend after Bridgette passed away. When it became just the two of them looking out for each other, Law became the most important male figure in Shanna's life. 

He thought Shanna's crush on him was just because he was the only person she could direct her interest of the opposite sex at, so he always brushed her off. A part of him never even gave it a second thought that the reason she liked him so much was actually true love. Maybe he always liked her too.

From the moment he first saw her after waking up that snowy night in Bridgette's bed, he had thought, 'What a cute little girl.' He always thought she was cute, but he always believed it was just him directing his brotherly affection for Lammy onto this new little girl in his life. But the fact that there was no blood relation put a wall between them, a wall that prevented Law from actually seeing Shanna as true family. Perhaps that was why he eventually found himself fantasizing about Shanna. 

Just like how he wasn't sure whether Shanna found interest in him out of her hormonal reactions as a girl going through puberty, he too wasn't sure of whether he liked her because she was the only girl in his life during his most hormonal periods. Sexual fantasies, combined with his care for her as somewhat like a family member, can that really be considered love? Even now, he isn't entirely sure. All he knew was that he needed her. He went crazy without her. 

"I don't think I can just not be mad about what happened that night. And to be honest I don't know if I really understand where you're coming from. I....I just want to clear my head a little," Shanna told him. 

Law nodded. "I understand." Shanna shot him a weak smile before heading inside the cabin to go to sleep. She had trouble falling asleep due to all the mess in her head.

Over the past two years she thought of a lot of possibilities of what would happen if she met Law again, but she never once consideres the possibility of him actually confessing to her, that everything that happened two years ago was a big lie. She still loves him; she's sure of it. However, she couldn't help but feel conflicted, confused, and extremely uncomfortable. Was she perhaps...used to rejection?