You Distract Me - S01 E73

Story 4 months ago

You Distract Me - S01 E73

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 73

"Grandpa!"

Little Noah ran to his grinning grandfather, his young mind hardly registering the ugly orange jumpsuit.

Oran lifted him and wrapped his arms around his tiny six year old body.

Noah giggled against the embrace. "Grandpa you're squeezing too tight."

He put him back down and raised his hand above the boy's head. "My God, I just saw you two weeks ago and you're already turning into a giant."

Noah laughed like his grandfather was the funniest man to live on earth.

"He encourages you too much."

Oran smiled at his daughter, fresh affection filling his eyes. "Hello, my darling girl."

"Hi, dad," Olivia said, kissing her father on the cheek. "You look well."

"Well, good behavior pays for comfortable things in this place." His eyes dropped to her stomach. "Man, you're getting bigger by the day."

"Careful, you might offend her, six months along is not the place to make careless remarks." Shayne said, kissing her wife's temple for good measure.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "We'll see how you like this when you're baking the third one."

"You finally agreed?" Oran said, embracing Shayne as he spoke.

Every time he saw them together, he got more certain he'd made the best decision of his life ten years ago.

"Agreed is a strong word. More like considered it."

Olivia scoffed. "Seven years of marriage and that's how much progress I've made, can you imagine it?"

Oran let out a deep chuckle. "Actually I can."

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"I need you to stop staring, it's turning me on."

Shayne, who was in constant awe of his wife's beauty merely shrugged. "I'm down for a trip upstairs," she said, watching the lively backyard from the patio.

Olivia looked around her in disbelief. "You're unbelievable. We're having a family gathering for god's sake," she said, disapprovingly, but the glint in her eyes gave her away. "Plus you're literally holding our son in your lap."

Shayne looked down at Noah, sleeping soundly against her chest, instinctively placing a kiss on his forehead. "Poor kid is knocked out from playing and eating cake all afternoon. He's out cold."

Former Mrs. Ryans stepped out the house and onto the patio, an apron adorning her waist was showcasing her hard work in the kitchen. "Let me take him upstairs." She was already raising her hands to take her grandson. "Shayne, I'll have to steal our favorite fashion designer for a bit. We need her to show us how her fancy oven works."

"You'll never get a handle on it. I've been trying ever since she bought the damn thing." Shayne handed sleeping Noah over to his grandmother, and then proceeded to help Olivia out of her chair.

"You're just upset you still can't bake as good as I can."

Shayne feigned surprise. "Wow, that's a low blow, even for you."

She got a kiss and a wink instead, and stood in place long after they walked away.

"You continue looking like that, we'll be forced to assume you'd sacrifice the entire world for them."

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"And then some," Shayne said, turning to Drew, who had just won the family basketball match. He was no longer big and grizzly. Man lost almost a hundred pounds in the last few years. Side effects that came with being the type of leader that he was.

"Yeah remind me never to place the fate of the world in your hands." A seriousness gradually entered Drew's face. "Freya's in the country again. She wanted to come by later."

Genuinely pleased, she said, "Really? That's great then."

"She's not sure you want to see her, so she might not show."

"Nonsense, tell her to get her ass here. It's been over a decade, they're worse things to be concerned about right now."

"Alright, I'll call her right away. Laura can go pick her up." Drew set his eyes on the white haired-woman. "Hey, Laura!"

When she stepped on the patio, she grinned like a fool. "I took a picture of you looking like an idiot a moment ago. You can't just stand like that in public, people will think you've gone crazy."

"A beautiful pregnant wife and a cute little kid will do that," Drew said chuckling. "I'll need you to go pick up Freya. Don't think she'll have the courage to come alone."

"Well it's about damn time. Let me go get my keys." She started to move but then turned back on her heel. "Oh by the way, Sasha wanted to let you know that you can go screw yourself."

Shayne frowned, amused but disappointed. "Ah yes, same old Sasha. At least some things never change."

Sasha was currently being held up at an off-grid location. Drew had decided letting her go was a liability for everyone, and he was right. Her intentions were never good-natured towards Shayne and her family, much less to anyone else.

"Thirteen years is a long time to be pressed. I think we should consider getting her some professional help," Laura said, looking absolutely serious.

"I second that."

Later that night, when family and friends left one by one, Shayne watched Olivia see her mother and sister off, her gaze making its way to hers every now and then.

Alexander Ryans smiled beside Shayne. "The way she looks at you reminds me of how her mother used to look at me. You might just be the luckiest person I've ever known."

"No doubt about that. But you're living your best life yourself. A young wife to travel around the world with. Those are two things that are almost unattainable for a man in your shoes."

"I owe it to you, Shayne. If you didn't love my daughter as much you did, I might not have been here right now."

"Enough with that. You thank me one more time and you might make me regret a couple of things," Shayne joked.

"I'll still be grateful till my dying breath."

"Is everyone gone already?" Came Noah's soft little voice from behind them.

Alexander immediately turned and grinned. "Oh there he is."

"You sleep good, little guy?" Shayne said, lifting him up.

Noah nodded, rubbing his eye. "Where's mommy?"

"She's over there."

Olivia caught Shayne gesturing to her and when their eyes met, the slightest dread flashed between them even as they smiled.

Had things been different years ago, they wouldn't have been as happy as they were in that exact moment.

THE END.