Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
-Sincerely Shark (Shawna + Mark)
"Nice shot, dude," I cheered, as another ball slipped passed me into the hockey net that I was supposed to be guarding.
Evan beamed, holding his hockey stick up over his head, "Yes!" He jogged back, running back to high five Ryder, who was playing on his team.
"You suck," Ty laughed, rolling his eyes. Scooping the ball from our net, he shuffled forwards to try and get a shot in on Cynthia who was goaltending at the other end, expression fierce.
Getting Ryder to hang out with Shawna's siblings had been one of my better ideas in life. He was the same age as Cynthia, but still got along well with the older boys. You could tell he looked up to them. They always had him laughing, and were great at including him in their games, like making sure he got lots of chances to score while he played road hockey.
Shawna was in the house hanging out with Allison. Shawna hadn't been at school since the accident, and they claimed they hadn't gotten enough 'girl time' in a while, since I was 'always lurking around'. Which made me sound like I was some unwanted creep in the corner, but whatever. So they were inside girly talking, and I was outside with the kids to give Thomas and Jessica a bit of a break.
Even though nobody had been seriously hurt in the accident, I figured Shawna's parents had to be dealing with some emotional baggage from it, right? I mean, I hadn't driven Shawna anywhere yet because the thought of her being in a car again made me feel queasy. She wasn't the least bit worried about it, completely unfazed, but it bothered me.
I wasn't exactly sure how her parents were doing, but I knew they deserved a break after having to be strong for everyone. I know that holding all those feelings in couldn't be good, so I had offered to look after the kids for the afternoon. They had looked really grateful, too, so I guess they really needed the time to themselves.
"Mark. Focus, you doorknob," Ty complained, as Ryder shot another goal passed me while I had been lost in my thoughts.
"Doorknob?" I raised an eyebrow. "You must get your insults from Shawna."
"He also gets his butt kicking skills from her, too," Ryder taunted, making all of Shawna's siblings giggle.
I scowled. "You guys think that's funny?"
"Yeah," they grinned, mischievously.
"Well that's a shame," I shook my head, dropping my goalie stick and taking a few menacing steps towards them. They automatically took steps back, all toothy grins. "Because now you're all going to get it. I suggest you run."
And then I lunged.
The air filled with screams, and they scattered, running off in different directions, laughing the whole time. I playfully grabbed at them while they dodged me. When I did catch them, I would scoop them up in my arms and turn them upside down, spin them around, or tackle them to the ground and tickle them mercilessly.
We were all out of breath by the time we realized we had an audience.
Shawna and Allison were standing on the doorstep of the house watching us with amused expressions.
We all froze in our spots.
Unfortunately for me, at that very moment, I had Evan upside down, holding him by one leg, and was smacking him with a hockey stick. We both paused me with the hockey stick in mid-swing. "It's not what it looks like."
Shawna's mouth twitched, "Uh huh."
We all chuckled and unfroze again. I lowered Evan to the ground before helping him up again. "Sorry, man," I patted him on the shoulder.
"It's cool," he shrugged. "You're just a sore loser because we kicked your butt at hockey."
I narrowed my eyes and reached forward, but he jumped away before I could get him again. Shawna rolled her chair next to me, a big smile on her face, "Am I hearing that you suck at every sport, Mark?"
"Only when you're watching."
"Should I not come to your football game tomorrow, then?"
Ryder's eyes lit up. "You're coming? We can sit together."
"Wait, can I come?" Ty asked.
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
"Me four," Allison put in.
I looked over their eager expressions, pointing to each of them accordingly, "Yes, yes, yes, and no."
"Hey!" Allison crossed her arms. "I'm still the best friend, buddy. Just because you got her to say 'I love you' doesn't mean that you can't be replaced."
I wrapped my arm around Shawna's head, effectively putting her in an affectionate headlock. "Actually, that's exactly what it means. Right, Shawna?"
"I'm not choosing sides," she said, voice muffled by the sleeve of my shirt.
"But if she was, she'd pick me," Allison pointed out.
"That's what you think," I shook my head at her. "But I can provide her with certain perks that you, my friend, cannot."
Raising her eyebrows in defiance, Allsion questioned, "Yeah? Like what?"
I grinned, "Well, make-out sessions, for one."
"Ew."
"Way too much information."
"I told you he was her boyfriend."
"Mark!" Shawna scolded, shoving my arm away from her now bright red face. "Little ears listening."
Chuckling, I looked over at them. I had kind of forgotten that they were standing right there. "Um... so how about that football game, huh? I'll need all the cheering squad I can get."
With their squirrel-like attention span, they were already back to talking about the game tomorrow.
"Good cover," Shawna scoffed.
Allison snickered, "Yeah, real smooth."
I rolled my eyes at them. "I'm not going to come over here anymore if you two keep picking on me."
"Aw, Marky-poo," Shawna cooed, sitting up straighter and trying to pinch my cheeks, but my face was out of reach. "Come down here so I can pinch you, dang it!"
"You're so much nicer to me when she's not around," I pouted, fighting her hands off.
Shawna looked between the two of us. "Eh. Get used to it."
"I can take a hint," Allison sighed. "I'll go."
"Good," I teased, at the same time that Shawna called 'no!', but Allison sent us a grin before moving over to the kids and grabbing the hockey stick I had abandoned, joining in with them.
Once we were alone, I smiled. "I like her."
"She likes you, too," Shawna promised. When I didn't look convinced, she latched onto my hand, "She does!"
Laughing, I squeezed her hand. "Okay, I believe you. As long as you like me more than her."
She sent me a small smirk, lowering her voice. "Of course I do. Just don't tell her that."
"Our little secret."
Shawna turned her wheels so that she could face the game, and dropped down onto the grass next to her, still holding her hand. "Thank you," she said quietly.
"It's cool," I shrugged.
She rested her head on top of mine, letting out a happy sigh. "You're the best."
"Not really," I mumbled, shaking my head.
"How'd your talk with your dad go?"
"Good, I think. He uh, wants to talk to you. To say sorry."
"He doesn't have to--"
"He does."
"Okay. Is he going to be at the game?" When I confirmed, he would be, she nodded. "I'll talk to him then." My stomach twisted at the thought, but I needed to trust that he understood now, and that he was choosing to be better, too.
"Do you want to go for ice cream after the game tomorrow?" I asked suddenly.
"Yeah, sure. But you better be prepared to bring the whole circus along," she reached out a hand, gesturing towards the kids and Allison.
"They can come," I agreed. "I like them, too."
"They're pretty cool."
I laughed and leaned into the wheels of her chair. "What are we going to do, Shawna?"
"Right now?" she questioned, using her free hand to play with my hair. Something she had quickly figured out that I liked.
"No, with the rest of our lives, I mean."
Her fingers stopped their motion for a moment, before continuing to twist the strands of hair around her finger. "You need a haircut," she murmured.
"Hm," I agreed, absentmindedly. "Are you going to college, do you think?"
"I don't know."
"But you're a genius," I blinked, surprised. "What do you want to do?" She let out a laugh, "Well..."
"I'm not sure yet," she answered quietly. "I haven't decided yet. What about you?"
"Something with kids, I think."
"Really?"
I shrugged, a little embarrassed, having never voiced that idea before. "I mean, I know I'm not the best person for being a role model or whatever. But I like hanging out with them and I thought I could, you know, be there if they need someone. Share myself with the world or whatever you said."
"I think that's perfect."
I hesitated at her enthusiasm, "Yeah?"
"Yes, absolutely! Mark, that's great."
I smiled a little, "Yeah, well, it's not that big of a deal."
"I'm proud of you," she said simply, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I couldn't help but smile, glad that she thought it was a good idea.
"But besides that," I switched topics, feeling a little embarrassed. "We should do something."
"Like...?"
"Travel around the world."
"Together?"
"No, separately," I squinted.
She laughed, "Okay."
"Okay," I smiled. "It's a plan then."
"Then we'll get married," she joked.
My heart pounded against my chest, and immediately I knew that yes, that was something I wanted. Something that could be a part of our future. I smiled, mostly to myself since she couldn't see my face. "Deal."
"When you two lovebirds are done with your sappy talk, why don't you come over here so we can beat you," Allison called over.
I lifted my head to look over at Shawna who, to my surprise, eyes were a little watery. I wasn't sure why, or what to do, so I just lifted her hand to my lips for a quick peck before standing up. "You want to?"
She cleared her throat once. "Uh yeah. Dibs being goalie!"
"No fair," Ryder pouted. "Your chair is going to take up the whole net."
Shawna stuck out her tongue, positioning herself so that she did indeed block most of the net.
Sighing, Ryder shook his head. "Girls..." he complained.
"Yeah," I grinned, looking over at Shawna, over their heads. "Girls."