Rejuvenate | Spruceworth 5.2

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Shaw

       I really didn't know why I agreed to spend time with my dad and sisters. Every time we had dinner together or were even in the same room, it was a complete disaster. So I must have been completely insane when I agreed to let them come over when my dad asked.

       But in his defense, he hadn't seen all of us together in a while since Viola was on vacation and Heidi was stumped with a case. Now Viola was back and Heidi finished the case, Dad wanted all of us together.

       Not even five minutes after they all arrived to my house, things went crazy.

       "Viola, I swear, if you don't shut up, I'm kicking you out of my home," I said.

       "I'm just saying that maybe you should rethink the whole thing," Viola said. "You were literally about to get a divorce and now you're still madly in love with Holden and want to stay together?"

       "Love is a crazy thing," I said. "You should know."

       "What's that supposed to mean?" Viola asked.

       "Oh, nothing," I said. "Except you haven't really had the best track record when it comes to boyfriends. At least Holden never kidnapped someone."

       "Alright, that's enough," Dad said. "Viola, you should be happy for your brother now that he and Holden decided not to get a divorce. And Shaw, you shouldn't ever bring up Roman again."

       "I technically can since I am raising his son, so..."

       Dad glared at me before slapping me upside the head. "Then don't bring up Viola's relationship with him because you and I both know I can bring up what you did to him."

       Hearing my dad say that made the anger inside of me start to boil. I hated what I did and hearing my own father bring it up was a punch to the gut. I had let Roman's death control my life for way too long, and I almost lost Holden because of it.

       I still would have lost him if I didn't realize that I could still be a good father to Gibson even though I took his birth father's life away.

       Because I really didn't want to snap at my dad and Viola, I ignored my dad and took my cell phone out of my pocket. "What are you doing?" Dad asked.

       "Calling my husband to see when he's going to come home so he can calm me down and stop me from punching a hole in the wall," I said, calling Holden's cell phone. Unfortunately, there was no answer. He should be on his way home from work, so he probably left his phone on silent.

       Since I couldn't talk to Holden, I sat down on the couch beside Heidi who was playing with Gibson. Heidi was probably the only other person who could keep me calm since she actually listened to what I said and tried understanding how I felt.

       Most people would just tell me I was overreacting.

       "You really shouldn't have said that, Dad," Heidi said, sitting Gibson down on her lap and handing him his stuffed bunny. "You made it sound like it was Shaw's fault when it was both an accident and self-defense."

       "Thank you," I said.

       Dad completely ignored the two of us and changed the subject. "By the way, I invited another person over. I would have asked but I had a feeling two of you wouldn't agree to it."

       "It's my mom, right?" Heidi asked.

       "How'd you know?" Dad asked.

       "She's my mom," Heidi said. "We tell each other everything. She told me that the two of you started talking again, so I just took a wild guess."