raising hope | s.m

♡Thirty-Eight♡

One month later:

Maya

For the past month, Shawn and I have been looking at houses out of the area of our apartment. Hope doesn't need to grow up where any bad person can find her. We have been working hard. Me at the cafe and Shawn at the gym.

Over the past month, Jade gave me the cafe and Mason gave Shawn the gym. They said that they had other things to attend to and that they'd be in better hands. Every day, Shawn comes by when I'm closing and helps me out. After that, we go pick up Hope from Kate's house. Hope has started walking. She took her first steps with Shawn and me at the park. I've never seen him so happy.

The last customer had just left. I'm wiping down the dishes in the beck when the bell above the door rings. Shawn knows to take the back entrance. This isn't him.

"We're closed," I announce, walking out of the kitchen. When I walk out, no one is there. "Hello?" Nothing. Rolling my eyes, I walk over to the front door and lock it. A pair of arms wraps around my waist causing me to jump. Quickly, I turn and see the warm eyes I've come to love.

"I'm sorry, baby, did I scare you?" he questions, smiling.

"A little, yeah. Did you come in through the front?" His eyebrows furrow.

"No, you know I always come in through the back. Why? What's wrong?" Shaking my head I pull him into me.

"I think someone is in here," I whisper to him. His arms tense around me. The silence is filled with a slow clapping.

"Beautiful scene, Maya, I must say," a voice I know all too well slurs. Shawn pushes me behind him. Drew stands there with two men behind him. He knows he can't take Shawn on his own.

"What do you want?" Shawn spits.

"Look, Mendes, I don't want any harm. However, if you don't give me what I want, I'm going to have to take it from you... forcefully." Drew looks past Shawn, at me. "And you know exactly what I want."

"Rot in hell," Shawn comments. I place my hand on his jean jacket. His back muscles are tense.

"Come on, Mendes. I just want to go for a drive. Talk and catch up with my old employee."

"Over my dead body," Shawn grits. Drew shrugs.

"Okay. Get her." Before I can react, the two men are walking over towards us. They grab Shawn and throw him to the ground. He's back up before they can do anymore. They push him into a table and he falls over. Drew is by my side. "Don't cry, darling. Let's go for a drive."

"No," I whisper. A tear falls onto the back of my hand. His dirty hand wraps around my wrist. He grabs my jaw and makes me look at Shawn. He's on his knees with a bandanna in his mouth and his hands bound behind his back. His eyebrow is cut and his nose is bleeding. He's looking at Drew with the fury of a thousand men in his eyes.

"Come on. He can come along."

We're in Drew's old, busted down car. I'm in the passenger's seat. The two men and Shawn sit in the back between the two men. A blade against his neck.

"What do you want?" I whisper. He doesn't answer. Dried tears stain my cheeks. He pulls down a dark alley. Then, stops the car. The guys pull Shawn out of the back and Drew pulls me out. They sit us in front of each other. Shawn's on his knees. 

"Maya, tell him the truth," Drew demands.

"What truth?" I cry.

"That the baby isn't his." A shallow breath leaves my lips. He knows I'm pregnant.

"Who else would it be, Drew?"

"What about... Jake's?" he questions.

"No," I respond immediately. "I haven't seen him in months."

"Don't lie to him, Maya. Let his final thought, his final memory be him knowing that the baby isn't his." A sob leaves my lips. Drew's hand is on my back. "Tell him."

"No. No, no, no," I cry. "Please don't take him."

My heart pounds in my ears. The love of my life sits in front of me with a gun to his head. It's all a dream, I tell myself. Dreams shouldn't hurt so fucking much. If this were a dream, I'd wake up. Shawn would be laying next to me. His arm around my waist, lips against my shoulder. I'd have another ring on my finger. A band to write us in stone. Most importantly, I'd have his last name.

"Wake up, mommy!" A small voice cheers. Hope jumps up onto our bed. Shawn chuckles. She shakes us and we pretend to be asleep. I hear her huff, then climb off of the bed. The door shuts and Shawn and I laugh. He kisses me. Slowly, he props himself up on his forearms. He places feather-like kisses down my neck and I giggle.

"How did I get so god damn lucky?" I can feel him smiling into my skin. We're in our own bedroom. In our own house. Hope is in preschool and the babies are happy and healthy. Two beautiful baby boys. Reece and Hunter. Two months old now.

"We should probably get up," I giggle. Shawn flops down next to me. His curly brown hair is a mess on his head. My lips kiss his forehead as my fingers run through my hair. He nuzzles his head into my neck.

Once we're up, we walk into the boy's room. Reece is rolling around in his crib. Hunter is still asleep. Shawn walks over and lifts up Reece. He kisses his cheek and I wrap my arms around him.

"Told you they'd be boys," I smile. He chuckles.

"Whatever you say, baby."

When I open my eyes, Shawn is there. A gun at his temple. Words become a scream. The world slows. My heart stops.

The man pulls the trigger and Shawn falls over.