Dream Big (Sequel to Dreamer)

Chapter Seven

Tia's POV

I sat on the bed, knees pulled to my chest as Shawn and Chandler yelled back and forth. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but the two of them definitely were able to.  Shawn brought his hand up in a fist, ready to punch Chandler. I jumped up, grabbing his arm. "Shawn!" I yelled, grabbing his attention. I gave Shawn a hard glare, and his face softens. I let go of Shawn's arm, turning to look at Chandler. "Shawn, I need to talk to Chandler. I think you should go home." I tell him, starring at Chandler's wrists. He tries to hide them from me as Shawn leaves, but I carefully grab his arms. "Tia..." Chandler pleads once it's just he and I. "Chandler, no. I'm not letting you fall like that again." I stated firmly, yet gently. I turned over his arms, gently tracing his scars. "How long?" I asked him, choking back tears. "Since we lost our little baby." He whispered, and I nodded. "I want you to explain everything. Start from the beginning." Chandler pleads, and I nod. I lead him to the bed, and we lay down. Chandler lays his head on my shoulder, and I play with his hair. "Do you remember when Shawn went to the VMA's a year before Carter was here?" I asked Chandler, and he nodded. "Remember how I went with him after that girl stood him up?" I asked him, and Chandler nodded. "That was the night that Carter was..." I started, but I trailed off. "How do we know that Carter isn't mine?" Chandler asked, and I sighed. "Chandler, that was when you wouldn't touch me because you thought you caught something from a public bathroom." I explained, and he nodded. "I didn't touch you for a month and a half." Chandler stated, remembering now as he spoke his thoughts. "How did you tell Shawn? How did he react?"  Chandler asks, and I take a deep breath before I begin to explain.

I knock carefully on Shawn's front door, clutching the small plastic bag with the pregnancy test inside. Within seconds, the door is opened and a shirtless Shawn with a toothbrush in his mouth appears. Shawn ushers me inside once he sees the tears threatening to spill. I follow him to his master-bathroom, allowing Shawn to finish brushing his teeth. I carefully watched his reaction as I shakily places the plastic baggy on the counter. When Shawn notices the object, at first he's confused, but then realization crosses his face. I hug myself close, and Shawn shakily pushes his hair back. "Is there a possibility that this baby is Chandler's?" Shawn asks, almost afraid to hear my answer. "No." I state, shaking my head. "No, we haven't... Not since that scare." I squeak, and with that tears began to fall down my face. Shawn wraps his arms around me, hugging me close. "I have an idea." Shawn states, and I nod. Any idea as to what to do would be awesome to hear. "How far along are you?" Shawn asks, and I pull away. I start to dig out the papers from my purse. "I'm... Uh, two weeks ago I was two months. So... two and a half months."  I say, sniffling. Shawn gets down on his knees, gently raising his hands. "Is it okay... if I...?" He timidly asks, almost like he wanted to touch my stomach. I nodded, knowing what he wanted to do. Gently, he raises my shirt just over where the bump would form. Shawn places a gentle hand over the baby. "Hi, little one. I'm going to be your daddy. I love you so very much already, and I just learned about you. You're going to be an amazing part of the family, no matter what. I know your mommy loves you very much as well. If she agrees to this then you won't get to see her as much as I know she would like, but I do know that she would still get to see you and that she will be happy to see you when she can." Shawn tells our little baby. I smile, gently petting his hair. Shawn smiles up at me, obviously in love. Then he frowns, looking away. "Tia... I love you... I know you don't feel the same, but I do love you. I love our little baby. If you won't cancel the wedding... then at least do this for our little family: stage a kidnapping. Stay here until our child is born and he or she is a few months old. At that point I can say that he's adopted. Nobody will have to know that our baby is our baby, everyone will think he or she is just my baby and is adopted. I can be headed to the park our the grocery store or somewhere and you could come stumbling out of the alley. There are some drug addicts down the street from here, and we can keep the news hush hush. We could have them arrested. Everyone will think they kidnapped you, but in reality they just got busted for drugs." Shawn rants, coming up with solution after solution. I knew I would later regret this, but I also knew it would hurt Chandler horribly if he knew of my one night stand with our best friend. This would be easier. "Okay... but when this goes down we have to have a reason as to why they kidnapped me. What do we say? What do we do?" I ask him, shaking. Shawn pauses for a moment, thinking. "We say they grabbed the wrong person, but once they had you they couldn't just let you go. You became their maid. You cleaned their house and cooked for them."  Shawn says, gently rubbing my tummy. I knew he would be great with our little one. "Okay. When do we stage this?" I ask him, and he pauses. "When you start to show."  Shawn states, and I nod. "You should tell everyone that you're considering adoption. Not the fans, not yet, but our friend group." I say, and then pause for a second. "You should tell them that you've already filled out the papers and are on the list."  I whisper, thinking. I continue playing with Shawn's hair, feeling connected. "Over the next few weeks I'll slowly bring clothes over. Not many. Just a few to get me by. Mainly my bigger, uglier clothes. The ones Chandler will never know are missing." I tell him, and Shawn shakes his head. "Wear mine. When you start to show your clothes won't fit. Plus, it's better if you don't bring anything. Just your necessities for the store or something." Shawn explains, and I nod. "I can get you an extra tooth brush and a hairbrush." Shawn rants, and I nod. "I also have a doctor that comes to see me about my condition. We can just bring in another one for you, but we can tell everyone that he's a therapist to help me get through you being kidnapped. I can recommend that Chandler do the same." Shawn rants, and I nod. "This is all making sense. We can do this. We can do this..."  I state, then I recoil slightly when I feel something move inside me. Shawn and I look at each other. We knew right then that this was the right thing to do. The media would destroy all three of us if people knew that this baby was Shawn and I's. Chandler would be completely devastated by this. This was best for everyone.

"You believed that that was what was best for everyone?" Chandler croaked, choking back a sob. "Yes... it honestly was." I repeated, stroking his hair. "Why would you think that? Why would you consider that? Tia, I was a complete wreck after I believed you had been kidnapped." Chandler shot back, clinging tighter to me. "Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay." I whisper whilst I stroke Chandler's hair, trying to relax him. "Chandler, if I had've not done that then Shawn, Carter, and I would have all been destroyed by the media. You would have lost Violet again. Honey, Violet is still in my custody. You only get to see her because I hold the majority of the custody between Shawn and I." I explain, and Chandler nods with a sigh. "I didn't know it then, but wouldn't have our twins that we have now. You wouldn't want to wish them away would you?" I ask him, trying to get him to think positive. Chandler just shakes his head. "Okay. I believe you. It just hurts that..." Chandler starts, and I nod with a shush. "I know, I know and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been drinking the night that happened. Shawn shouldn't have been either. He was really hurt by what happened with his original date, and neither of us was in the right mind frame for that." I ranted, knowing that night was a mistake, even if Carter wasn't. I love Carter. I would never wish him away. I knew Shawn wouldn't either. "I love you, Chandler." I tell him, and he nods. "And I love you, Tia. I just think you love Shawn more than you do me."