connected 연결된 s.m.

t w e n t y - s i x

   With those last words, Shawn's masculinity was overshadowed by his protective mother-fathering mode. He was both parents to Ronnie since she had no mother figure.

The whole way home, Shawn shook his head in disappointment, for Ronnie disobeyed his simple order of not interacting with felicity's son. She didn't cognize that conversing with some boy her age could cause this much backlash. "Dad- I'm sorry for not listening."

"Veronica, I don't want to hear another word." He kept his eyes on the road, turning smoothly to the houses on the right. Pulling into the driveway, there was a blue Honda parked by the mailbox. "Veronica, stay here." He motioned a hand out to her. He got out from the car, and walked down the walkway to the front door. Sticking the key in the knob and turned it, the scent of a strong Japanese flower perfume greeted his obdurate, impassive face astringently.

He grabbed Ronnie's silver baseball bat, gripping it at the end, moving into the kitchen. He held the bat up, ready to strike at anyone. "Shawny?" His divorced wife spoke cheerily, excited to have seen Shawn for the first time since Ronnie was born.

   "Don't Call Me That." He gritted his teeth and squeezed the life out of the bat. His tensed body eased down, and he placed the bat onto the table. "Where's my baby?" She grinned, being touchy with the baby pictures of their, well mostly Shawn's daughter.

   "Kansas...you need to leave." He pointed to the door, "Veronica doesn't want to see your face." Ronnie had no idea she even had a mum; Shawn always made up stories of Ronnie's origins to keep her from being curious.

Ronnie's mum never wanted her, she said so herself after she had her. She held baby Ronnie in her hands and told it her to her innocent little face. So why all of the sudden does she want his daughter? money, child support, and giving Shawn the hell of a hard time.

"Kansas y-"

"Dad?" Ronnie entered the house, suspicious as to why he was taking so long. "Da- dad, who's this?" A smirk plastered on Kansas' face, she went to envelop Ronnie but Ronnie went directly for her dad.

"I'm your mother." She had her arms still open, inviting her in for a hug. "You're not my mum." Ronnie spat lowly.

Shawn's face was full of surprise, in fact he held back a laugh. "Yeah, what she said." Shawn laughed silently at Ronnie's mother, "you're not her mother. You never will be."

"That's where you're wrong, shawny. I'm fighting for custody of our daughter. Wear your best suit 'cause we're going to court next week." She smugly grinned, getting her point across then leaving.

"Daddy, don't let her take me from you." She pouted, her eyes showed fear of losing her dad. Shawn's eyes showed the same. What she felt, he felt. "I won't, I promise I wont let her."

-

   At home, Gage was given the punishment of cleaning the dusty, webbed attic. Pleading for a different chore, he offered to clean his mums study instead. Saved from getting unknown diseases, he exhaled a breath as he stepped up the stairs to felicity's study.

   His hand on the doorknob, ready to open the door, felicity grabbed the knob and shut the door, locking it from the inside. "This room is Off limits, young man. You know that already."

   He raised his hands in surrender, backing away from the secretive room. "I was just trying to help." He brushed the few hair strands away from his face, grabbing a baseball and his bat to go outside.

   Felicity went down the stairs, following until he continued down a small hall to the backyard, and she sat at the kitchen table, her fingers running intensely through her hair. To keep from stressing over her unfinished editorial, she scribbled down notes.

   "Crap, I've got to prepare dinner. Oh and schedule Gage's parent- teacher conference. Ah, i mustn't forget to call off work to attend his baseball game. So much to do in so little time." She bit her nail, jotting dates and events on the scratch paper.

   Felicity tapped her nails on the marble counter, contemplating what to do first. She went with scheduling a conference with Gage's teacher.

-

   "Veronica Amycus Mendes, get your butt in here this instant." Shawn called her by her full name, he was pissed. very pissed. "Yeah?" She peeped her head into his bedroom as he sat on his bed, re-listening the voicemail from her teacher.

   "Sit. Now." He pointed to the chair by the bed, snidely and quick. "What's this parent-teacher meeting I'm hearing about? Why haven't you told me?"

   Ronnie shrugged, "you're never home-" he raised a brow and cut her off mid sentence, "woah there Amycus, I'm always here for you."

   She looked away from him, "yeah...i know." She dropped her shoulders, "Gage." Is all she said, Shawn knew exactly what that meant. He closes his eyes and took in a breath.

"No, this isn't happening." He said with his eyes still shut and probably never going to open due to the disappointment he felt. "You absolutely do not know what a boy is. I didn't even know there was boys at your school. - just no. Ronnie-" he reopened his eyes and grabbed her shoulders, coming eye to eye.

"-no boyfriend until you are exactly one hundred thirty, Veronica Amycus Mendes." She mocked what he told her long ago. "But I didn't want to tell you because there's a chance you'll see his mum. And I noticed you do this weird thing when you tense up when you see a girl you're interested in, but when you seen his mum you tensed up, the vain in your neck was bulging; like you were internally shouting at her to notice you."

"Oh," he covered his neck with his hand, "I never knew that. You should probably go now, sport." He smiles awkwardly, walking her out of his bedroom, a hand on her shoulder as they walked.

Shawn took note on his phone of the things Ronnie was noticing about him. He had to be careful about his feelings. Or things could possibly get out of hand, or blown way out of proportion.

   She took things wrong. While Shawn hated felicity with every one in his aching body, she reckoned that he enjoyed felicity's existence, he loved that she was still breathing on this planet. In reality, he actually didn't, he wished the worst of the worst upon her.

I'm excited for tomorrow's update 😩