Dream Big (Sequel to Dreamer)

Chapter Twenty Four

Tia's POV

"What do you mean he's already on his way?" Shawn snaps, his volume causing Kai to start crying. I gently scoop him up, holding him to to my chest as I begin to rock him in my arms. "He is currently on his plane from Birmingham, Alabama, United States to Toronto, Ontario, Canada." I tell Shawn as calmly as I possibly could to keep from frightening either of the babies. "Tia, why didn't you ask me first?" Shawn asks, pulling on his hair. "Ask you what? Permission for my best friend, who you've already said- this morning might I say- is welcome at any time, to come stay the week with us?" I ask, a little angry at him. I walk over to Kai's dresser, picking out a black button up and jeans so he would match Shawn. I then walk over to Shawn, handing him his son and his son's outfit. "Do you mind changing him while I change Melody?" I request as I go over to the jumper my boyfriend's daughter was in. "At what point were you going to inform me of all of your plans with these strangers meeting at my house?" He asks, and I roll my eyes. "You mean the people that I've know for years and trust?" I ask, and pull Melody gently out of her toy. "Shawn, you're meeting the only family I have tonight. I love Aria and Nathan, and they love me. Nathan helped me get to you, and Aria is my sister. She's been my best friend since before I met Nathan." I walk over to Melody's dresser, picking out a pair of black jeans and a blue flowing blouse. I carry the outfit and Melody to her changing table. "Next time ask me before you invite people over." He demands, and I scoff. "You never ask me before you invite over Destiny, Ian, or Camilla." I fight back, and he gets quiet. By the way, I washed Destiny's panties and bra, I thought to myself bitterly, again. I begin to unbutton Melody's onesie, looking over to see Shawn struggling to get Kai into his pants. "Baby swap." I state, and we quickly walk over to the other child's changing table. I pick Kai up, using one arm to hold him up and my free hand to tug up the pants. Once he's completely got them on I see Shawn now struggling to get Melody's pants on. I walk over, tapping his shoulder. "Let me show you." I tell him, and he backs up. "The easiest way to get a baby's pants on is to hold them like this." I demonstrate how to hold Melody by wrapping my left arm around her back and pressing her against my chest. "And using your free hand to pull the pants up around her waist." Which I also demonstrate. Shawn nods, and I put Melody on my hip. "His flight should land here around 11:00 P.M." I tell Shawn quietly, he groans. A timer beeps, and I rush out of the room with Melody. I carry her downstairs and into the kitchen, placing her in her high chair before grabbing my oven mitts and getting the meatloaf out. Shawn comes down shortly after, and begins to pull plates out of the cabinet. "The next time Aria and Nathan come over you should invite Destiny and her boyfriend." I tell Shawn, and the entire room goes silent. "What's wrong?" I ask innocently, turning around after putting down the oven mitts. "I didn't know Destiny had a boyfriend." He tells me, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. "Yeah, she's always talking about him. His name is Peter, and he works at Island Records. He writes songs and plays a couple different instruments." I tell him, informing Shawn about what I know about Destiny's boyfriend. Before Shawn had a chance to say anything else the door bell rang. "Will you set the table while I answer that?" I ask Shawn, and he nods while I head towards the door. Kai was crawling around the kitchen, chasing after our cat, Cali. I pick him up, carrying him with me so he'd stop harassing the cat and wouldn't get attacked. I approach the front door, unlocking it after checking out the window by the door carefully. We'd put up a mirror in a specific way so that we could see who was outside without them seeing us. I knew it was Aria, so I opening the door for her. "Hi, T-Oh, you're a mom. You didn't tell me that part of the story." She said, shocked. I let out a small laugh. "This is Shawn's son, I'm not a mom." I tell Aria, stepping aside to let her in. As she comes in Aria pauses and stares at the picture I had drawn for River's birthday. "Tia..." she breathes, and I put a hand on her shoulder. "I can take it down until you leave if you want me to." I offer, and she shakes her head no. "Shawn doesn't know, by the way." I tell her quietly, and she nods. I guide her towards the dining room, and I see that Shawn is placing the last dish on the table. "I made your favorite, Arie." I inform my sister, directing my statement with her childhood nickname. "Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans with Banana Pudding for dessert?" My baby sister gushes, and I smile proudly. "Hi, you must be Aria." Shawn says, sticking his hand out. "You must be Shawn." Aria answers, going in for a hug. I mouth a warning, and he gets hugged as soon as I do. He hugs back, smiling. "I'm a hugger." Aria tells him, and he just laughs. They pull apart, and I introduce her to the babies. "This is Shawn's son, Kai." I start, and she gushes over him sweetly. Then Melody begins to do her 'I want attention' squeal. I walk over to her, gently touching her hair. "And this is Kai's twin sister, Melody. She's the drama queen of this house, although Shawn's quite her competition." I tease, causing Shawn to protest. "We had a funeral this morning, and honestly Shawn was crying the whole time." I tell her, and I turn to Shawn, "Would you like to tell her what it was for, or shall I?" I ask, and Shawn glares at me with a pout. "I'll tell her then." I say, turning back to Aria, who's giggling, "A chocolate chip muffin fell off of a high chair this morning. The funeral was for the muffin." Aria and I both begin to giggle, and once we sober up I offer her a seat, and she sits down. "Help yourself, I forgot to get the drinks." I tell her, and then place Kai in his chair before going to the kitchen. When I come back with the sweet tea and unsweetened tea Aria's plate is full, and Shawn is fixing the twins' plates. I set them down, and explain which is which while I help Shawn. All we really gave them were the potatoes and a tiny bit of meatloaf. Shawn didn't think they'd be able to eat the green beans, but I thought they'd be able to. Through out dinner we just goofed around and got to know each other. Well, I already knew her. Shawn didn't. We just caught up. Aria and the twins got along great, they adored her. I learned that Aria had accepted a job in Canada under the ruse that she was older than she really was. She hadn't explicitly lied, but they just brushed it off as a misunderstanding. She told them that she was moving up there, but hadn't yet. She left after the funeral, taking a bus to the airport, and then bought a ticket to get to the closest bus station to Canada before crossing the border with her green card. She had already tricked our parents into emancipating her, so she was able to start her citizenship with Canada. After that things just fell into place. "What I don't understand is why." Shawn finally said, and we all just got quiet. "Shawn..." I say, trying to get him to stop. "No, I'm serious. I want to know why. What made you want to do that? You were, what? Fourteen? It couldn't have been that bad." Shawn insisted, and I said his name a little louder. I quickly looked around, trying to figure out how to get his attention somehow or change the subject. Aria clearly didn't want to talk about it. I saw the clock read 9:52, and so I knew we had to leave soon. "Aria, I have a late night errand to run. Would you like to come with me?" I offer, and she looks at me thankfully. "Sure!" She agrees, and I smile. "Shawn, do you mind cleaning up and getting the kids to bed? I can do the dishes when I get back." I ask, and he agrees. Aria follows me as I grab my keys, jacket, shoes, and purse with my phone and wallet inside. We head out to the car, and she climbs in with me. "I'm sorry about Shawn. He can be a little dense sometimes." I apologize to Aria, and she just gives me a tight smile. I let her pick the song as I pull out of the driveway and into the street.