Chapter 25: Mercedes, Lucian, and Castiel
"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Shaw said as the two of us were sitting at a table in the cafeteria. "I mean, I get where you're coming from and why you want to do it but... I know all about sibling feuds. Forcing them to get along again might make things worse."
"It won't really be forcing them to get along," I said. "Just making Hennessy realize she's treating her brother completely unfairly."
"Remind me why Hennessy is mad at Grant," Shaw said.
I sighed. "Because apparently, she liked me too so she's upset Grant is the one dating me. But Grant did tell me that he liked me since the very first day of school and I didn't even know Hennessy then."
"Ouch, teenage drama," Shaw said. "The worst kind. Everyone's petty and nothing makes sense."
"It's even worse when I feel like the cause of their drama," I said. "And they're twins. But it's not my fault that I'm so lovable."
Ugh, I think Grant was starting to rub off on me. Then again, it could be a good thing since I was normally a very insecure person so at least I had some confidence in me to call myself lovable.
"Have you ever tried talking to Hennessy?" Shaw asked. "And explaining to her exactly why you like Grant."
I was silent for a bit, not sure if I should bring up what Hennessy said. Then again, Shaw was my sponsor and even though he was here for me mainly to talk about my addiction, he was willing to sit and listen to my teenage problems.
Even more so when we found out my mom and his dad are dating.
"I... I did," I said. "It didn't go too well. It seemed like for a moment, she would understand and then even realize she's treating Grant unfairly but she didn't. I told her how I have a drinking problem and how Grant did everything he could to help me through it. And she said he's only doing that to prove he's not like his dad but how he's already close to be like him, especially with a boyfriend who's an alcoholic."
"Okay, so if she said that to you, then why are you wanting to go through the trouble of mending Grant's family?" Shaw asked.
"She did apologize," I said. "I didn't forgive her because the apology was horrible but I could tell she was sorry about what she said. And Grant did tell me that if Hennessy apologized properly, he would forgive her. That's why Vikram and I want to help Hennessy realize she's in the wrong. Do you think we have a chance?"
"Well, if you want my honest opinion," Shaw said. "It's a low possibility. I don't know Hennessy too well but I did meet her, with the rest of Grant's family, when I was sponsoring him and let's just say it wasn't surprising what she said to you."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Did she say some horrible things about Grant's drug addiction?"
"You could say that," Shaw said. "It was mainly just her agreeing to whatever her mom said and even adding onto it. And her mom has never really been supportive to Grant through his tough times."
"Maybe mending their family isn't the best thing to do," I said with a heavy sigh. "There goes my and Vikram's plan. That we didn't even quite have yet. We just thought of getting Hennessy and Grant talking again."
"You can still try," Shaw said. "Even if I was Grant's sponsor, you probably know him more than me and if you really think you and Vikram should go through with it, then you can at least try. But, and I'm saying this as Grant's past sponsor and someone who went through something similar, only mend Hennessy and Grant's relationship."
"Only Grant and Hennessy?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Like I said, I met his family. And while Grant has been clean for a while, there's not a one hundred percent chance that he will stay off of drugs. Relapse is very common among people in recovery."
"So... What does him having a chance to relapse has to do with you meeting his family?" I asked.
"He'll have an even higher chance if he doesn't have supportive people by his side," Shaw said. "And his mom... Definitely not the most supportive person and she doesn't seem like she's the type of person who would change her mind about it. Trust me, I tried, and I'm a very persuasive person."
"I still don't get it."
"Just think about it this way. If you were sent back to live with your mom and she continued treating you the way you did before, do you think there's a chance you would relapse?"
"I hate to admit it but yes," I said. "And I see your point now. But... Grant really misses seeing his brothers but his mom won't let him. That's why I wanted to help make things better with his whole family."
"I think you can still find a way to get Grant to see his brothers again," Shaw said. "Especially if you do choose to help fix things between him and Hennessy."
This was getting all too complicated. I had to help make thing right between Grant and Hennessy, but not Grant and his mom, while trying to find some way Grant could see his brothers.
I just hoped if Vikram and I really did try with Hennessy and Grant, things would actually work out. But with those two, we couldn't be too sure.
My cell phone suddenly beeped so I pulled it out of my pocket to check the message. And it wasn't a surprise to see it was just a text from Grant being melodramatic.
"I should head home," I said. "Grant said if he's lonely any longer, he's going to cry and lock himself in the washroom. But thank you, for listening to me about my problems, even if they're not alcohol related."
"Hey, I'm here for you for anything you need," Shaw said. "Not just for your addiction. Come on, I'll walk you home."
We got up, leaving the cafe and as we were heading to my house, a young voice suddenly called out, "Daddy!" before a little boy rushed over to Shaw and wrapped his arms around his legs.
Seconds later, two slightly older kids, a boy and a girl, hurried over as well. "Save us," the girl said in a whisper. "The evil man has us."
"Mommy's at work so we're stuck with him," the youngest boy said. "Can we come over? Please?"
Before Shaw could even say anything, a man walked over. "Alright, kids, you've had enough time to say hi to your dad," he said. "Time to go."
"No!" the youngest said. "You can't make us!"
"Just let them come with me, Hugh," Shaw said to the man. "Besides, I haven't seen them in a while like I'm supposed to so I technically should have them sometime this week."
"Sorry but I have to run it with Kendra first," Hugh said. "But I'll save you the time since I know what she'll say. No."
I didn't know much about what was going on but from what I understood, these kids were Shaw's children and that man was either babysitting them or was the partner of their mother. But babysitter seemed highly unlikely since they would obviously stay with Shaw since he wasn't busy. The reason he agreed to meet with me to listen to my problems was because he was free.
And even though I had no business in the situation, I decided to say something anyway. "But he's their dad and they want to see him. You can't say no to that."
Hugh looked over at me and scoffed. "I'm sorry, and you are?"
"Who are you?" I shot back.
"Uh, their stepdad," Hugh said.
"No, you're not," the girl said. "You're not even married to our mom."
"Yeah," the youngest boy agreed. "You're just a meanie head!"
"Castiel, what did I say about calling other people name's, even if it is Hugh?" Shaw asked.
"Don't say it to their face," Castiel said. "Only say it when they're not around."
Hugh snorted and rolled his eyes. "And remind me, Shaw, why you think you're a better parent than me."
"Because you're not a parent at all," Shaw said. "My children clearly don't like you and like what Mercedes said, you're not even married to Kendra so you're technically not their stepdad. And if you really want to save time, I suggest you just let them come with me because they'll be resisting to go with you."
Hugh just glared at Shaw, not saying anything. Shaw glared at him back and things started getting awkward as the two of them had a stare-down, trying to undermine the other and make them cave.
But it was clear neither of them were going to crack.
"Would you just agree to let them go with Shaw already and end this argument-thing?" I asked.
Hugh broke away from the glare to look at me again. "I'm sorry, I still don't know who you are and how you have a say in any of this. You're just a kid yourself."
"He's my brother so back off," Shaw said.
"You know what? Fine," Hugh said. "They can stay with you. But don't blame me when Kendra gets mad at you."
As he walked off, Shaw said to me, "Wow, that was easier than I thought. It's not hypocritical of me to say he's not their stepdad when you're not technically my stepbrother, right?"
"I'm going to say no because I'm clearly nice than that jerk," I said.
"Daddy, you don't have a brother," Mercedes said. "So who is he?"
"This is Ollie," Shaw said. "And he's sort of like my little brother, especially since he's my dad's girlfriend's son. Oh, and actually, he's someone else. Do you remember Grant?"
All three of the kids smiled. "Yes!" Castiel said. "I love Grant!"
"Ollie is Grant's boyfriend," Shaw said. He then looked at me. "Do you mind if I take them to see Grant? They really do love him and miss him."
"Of course I don't mind," I said so we continued our walk to my house, this time with Shaw's kids.
When we got there, I walked inside with them following me. Grant was just lying on the couch, trying to through popcorn in the air and catch it in his mouth but with all the popcorn on the couch and the ground, he wasn't doing a good job.
"Grant, you have some visitors," I said.
Grant sat up right as the three kids rushed over to him and Grant immediately broke into a smile. The third kid whose name I didn't know yet was first to hug him, which made Castiel and Mercedes scowl.
"Move out of the way, Lucian," Mercedes said. "We want to hug him too. I missed him."
"Too bad," Lucian said. "I'm hugging him first and I missed him more."
"Relax, you can all hug me at the same time," Grant said, which caused Castiel to jump onto the couch and hug Grant from behind, laughing as well. "I missed all three of you. I haven't seen you in so long."
Seeing Grant acting with them was only making me smile a bit. I haven't seen him interact with kids too much but every time he did, he was such a sweetheart.
And now, thinking about it, it also made me feel sad for him. He loved kids. That was clear. He was probably amazing with Wilbur and his baby brother, yet his mom wasn't letting him see them.
All because of a past drug addiction and the face that he's dating the guy Hennessy liked.
Now I could see Shaw didn't want me to help fix things with Grant and his mom; she wasn't making any sense and I didn't know if she would ever change her mind with him.
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grant being a sweetheart to kids makes me swoon <3 grant doing anything makes me swoon O O F
and ew hugh is here.
but let's ignore hugh and now appreciate shaw and ollie's brotherly bonding even though they're not technically brothers. BUT THEY'RE HONORARY BROTHERS SO IT COUNTS.