DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN THE JONAS BROTHERS AS CONNECT 3. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM. I ONLY OWN KYLA, KIANNA, ALLISON, EMILY, MADISON, AND OTHER NON-FAMOUS CHARACTERS. I ALSO DO NOT OWN THE SONG 'ITSY, BITSY SPIDER'.
A/N Come on, guys. I thought ya'll liked this story. The same two people have reviewed (thank you by the way JonasPonage and mmg1195) on the last 2 chapters.
I'm totally open to suggestions on how to make the story better. So..give me some suggestions. I can't read your minds, tell me what you like to read!
Chapter 11 : You Know I Never Wanted To Hurt You
-Shane's POV-
I thought that Mitchie and Kyla were the only girls in the world with the power to break my heart until I overheard my 6 year old niece ask her mother a simple question. "Mommy, why doesn't Uncle Shane like me?"
I couldn't see Emily's reaction, but she sounded shocked when she replied. "Madi, what are you talking about? Uncle Shane loves you."
"But he never wants to play with me or talk to me." A small voice said.
I grimaced. It was true. Whenever me and Kianna came over to their house, I would give the girls a hug, and then I would hang out in the background, talking to Nate or Jason while making sure I could still see Kianna.
Nate, Jason and Mitchie were so good with little kids that I figured it didn't matter that I wasn't.
Besides, I've got my own kid and I'm still learning how to do things. Once Kyla was gone, I was having to learn things that I never thought I would have to learn.
"Madison, Uncle Shane is just a little hesitant towards kids. It doesn't mean that he doesn't like you."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. Come give me a hug and let's go see if we can find Aunt Mitchie."
I'm feeling a lot happier than I've felt in a long time. I never thought it would happen, but somehow me and Mitchie are SO CLOSE to dating again. The only thing that's keeping us from dating is - we have such a great friendship now, that neither of us want to ruin it by dating again. We didn't have a perfect relationship the first time, so there's really no guarantee that we'd have a perfect relationship this time.
But other than the whole Madison-thinks-I-hate-her problem, and the I'm-not-sure-if-I-should-date-my-ex-girlfriend problem, I'm extremely happy.
Mitchie was actually with me today, and even though she's not "technically" part of the family, both the kids call her 'Aunt Mitchie' anyway. Maybe it's because she's around me so much.
It's just so much easier to let them think that she's their aunt, than it is explaining to a 4 and 6 year old that "Aunt" Mitchie has no biological connection to them whatsoever.
I turned and walked quietly down the hallway towards Jason's study, so Emily and Madison wouldn't see me when they left the kitchen in search of my girlfriend. I sat in a chair, staring at the wall - thinking about the sound of Madison's sad little voice. I was still sitting there a half-hour later when Mitchie opened the door, looking for me.
"Shane, what are you..." Her voice broke off when she saw the look on my face. "Shane, what's the matter?"
"Madison thinks I don't like her."
"What?" Mitchie asked. "What makes you think that?"
"I heard her tell Emily. I was going to the kitchen to grab a snack and heard them talking. She thinks I don't like her because I don't play with her like you or Nate or Jason do."
Mitchie was quiet for a moment, and I know she was trying to decide the best way to approach this topic with me. She finally sighed and shook her head. "Well, honestly, Shane. What did you expect? You don't really spend any time with her. She barely knows you." Mitchie said.
"I know. I just don't understand little kids, though. The only kid I actually understand is Kianna, and that's only because she's half me and half Kyla. I understood Kyla, and she understood me..."
My voice trailed off and I came back to the original subject. "Mitchie, I do love Madison. I never thought that what I was doing was actually hurting her." I looked down, and continued. "You should have heard her, Mitch. Madison sounded so upset."
Mitchie put her hand on my shoulder. "Okay. So, what are you going to do about it?"
I looked back up at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"
Mitchie rolled her eyes at me. "Sitting in a dark room moping isn't going to make you or Madison feel better. What are you going to do to show her you love her?"
"Can you help me?" I pleaded. I'm horrible when it comes to these kind of things.
Mitchie sighed again. "Okay, we all know you are pretty lame with any kid that's not Kianna, so why don't we try and play to your strengths. Madison loves to sing. You love to sing. Go out there and ask her to teach you some of the songs she learned in kindergarten."
I smiled. "I can do that." Just because I quit Connect 3 doesn't mean I'm going to stop singing. I just won't record anymore. "Where is everybody?"
"I'd try the family room." Mitchie suggested.
"Thanks, Mitchie. You're the best." I stood up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
I walked into the family room to find Jason giving Madison a horsie ride with Emily on the couch, trying to hide her laughter. My own daughter was bouncing up and down waiting for her turn. Now it was my turn to try and hide my laughter.
"Hey, Madison. Auntie Mitchie told me you learned some great songs in kindergarten. Do you think that you could teach me some?" I asked.
Madison's face lit up. She leapt off Jason's back and raced over to me. Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at me. "You want to sing with me? Really?"
"Of course I do." I reached down and took her small hand in mine. "What's your favorite song?"
Madison sat happily across from me as she taught me an extended version of 'Itsy, Bitsy Spider.'
I was surprised to find that I was having a great time. Kianna even plopped down beside me, and started trying to learn it.
This is horrible. This makes me think I'm failing as a father. She knows some of Connect Three's songs, (like, my song - Gotta Find You, and our most famous one - Play My Music) but she doesn't even know basic songs like 'Itsy, Bitsy Spider". I'm a terrible father.
Me and Madison had to help her get her fingers right sometimes, but for the most part, she got it faster than I did. I got shown up by my 4-year old.
When the song was over, I looked over at the couch to see Emily, Jason and Mitchie, who was sitting in the recliner, smiling at me.
"Uncle Shane, you did a great job." Madison said in her best teacher voice as we started to stand up.
I had been given a lot of positive reviews on my singing in the past, but none of them meant as much to me as that one did.
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