Changing | SM

Part 57: convincing his dad

Adriana:

After we ate dinner we all moved back to the living room to talk again.
Shawn was smiling and talking about exciting things the entire way, and I saw his dad just looking at him from time to time.
Like he's trying to examine him, to find who he is now.

He sometimes smiles as he lokked at him, but I could see his eyes were still sad to see what he lost.
His family was enjoying his presence and I could see in his sisters eyes that she missed him. Things quite down for a while and he called me over to sit next to him again.

"Are you okay?" He asked, taking my hand in his and intertwining our fingers. "Yeah. I'm okay, are you?" I brushed my fingers through his quiff, smiling at him as I saw the smile and sparks in his eyes.
All the stars are shining tonight, right here in his eyes.
"I'm good." He pecked my lips. Just then, after our lips disconnected, his dad stood up and walked outside.

"I got this." I whispered to him afer seeing the sad expression on his face again. And joy looked so good.
"What will you do?"
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." I grabbed his face in my hands, giving one deep kiss before walking out to his dad. I stood behind the door at first, scraping together some confidence to talk with him.

I let out a deep breath before opening the door and walking out to him.

He was standing on the porch, looking out over the lake as he rested his arms on the railing. "Hey Mr. Mendes." I said nervously as I stood beside him. "Adriana. Oh, Hi." He looked over to me, only for a second before looking back over the view.
It was silent, and I was mesmerizing the reflection of the moon on the water.
A beautiful picture.

"What am I doing?" He sighed deeply. "What do you mean Mr. Mendes?" He shook his head, sighing again.
"He's my son, my own son, but I feel like I don't know him. The things he did and the person he is, it makes me scared. It makes me feel like I failed as a parent." I smiled faintly as he looked over to me.
"Trust me Mr. Mendes you did not fail. Shawn is a different person, you should see him for who he is now. The things he did was not his own choice, but the experiences shaped him for who he is, for who he turned in to. Who he became. He's amazing, you have an amazing son Mr. Mendes." He shook his head.

"But why can't I see that?" I placed my hand on his shoulder, "If you start to laugh along, listen to him and just see him as the best, see him for who he is now... he might just surprise you. He loves you sir, don't lose him." I walked back inside with a big smile on my face.

I don't know if it pulled through to him but I feel like I succeeded. He'll think about it now, and hopefully the family will be one again.

"What happened is everything okay?" Shawn asked as I sat down next to him, taking his hand in mine. I smiled, looking at his dad now walking through the door.
"I uhm... I think someone might want to talk to you." I pointed to his dad and he got up. I saw him rubbing his hands against his jeans as nerves took over his entire body.
He glanced back at me over his shoulder, and I just mentioned for him to breathe.

They walked outside to probably talk things out, make things right. All I saw was the relieved look on Karen's face when she looked over to me.
"Thank you Adriana. Whatever you said, did, anything... thank you." She pulled me in to a hug. 

I know I can't fix everything, and not everything can be fixed.
But I like to try my best to help others, make them happy.

Even though I fail sometimes, it'll always be something worth trying.