I just want to start by saying, "I love you guys!" Your feedback is, as always, wonderful and you make my day :) Thank you very much, from the bottom of my sentimental old heart! …am in a strangely poetic mood…hope this chapter turns out okay now!
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Part Seventeen
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Shawn sighed and rubbed at his eyes. They had stayed at the hospital overnight and were waiting on an update on Devlan. The doctor had assured him that there was likely nothing further wrong with him, and she seemed confident that the boy was on the mend, but Shawn wouldn't be satisfied until the tests confirmed that.
He glanced over at the bed again, smiling as Devlan snuggled into the blankets. The boy had amazed Shawn. He had been too little to remember his mother, apart from the stories that Shawn and his father had told him he knew very little about her, and now he had lost his father as well. Shawn had expected more than the small bout of tears the previous night, but Devlan seemed happy to think his father was happy and with the angels, and looking after his mother.
It wasn't that Devlan wasn't sad, because he was. Whenever his mind wasn't being occupied, he would start to cry, and it broke Shawn's heart to see it. But Devlan was coping with everything remarkably well considering that he had just lost his father.
"You know," Lita said, slipping onto the arm of his chair, "I think he'll be just fine."
"I know he will," Shawn said, pulling her onto his lap. "I just want the test results to confirm that before I accept it." Lita nodded and he sighed. "I just don't understand how he can be so calm about it."
"He's not calm Shawn," Lita said, placing her arm around his shoulder and holding him tighter. "Look, I'm not trying to take anything away from what Dev had with his father. He's lost his father, and that's not something he's going to get over anytime soon. But you are the one constant in his life. You are the one thing that he has had in his life since he was a baby, and he still has that. And he knows that."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Being here," Shawn looked up at her and she smiled. "Thank you." He leaned closer, and gently captured her lips, slowly kissing her, and making no move to deepen it. He heard a giggle and felt Lita smile against his mouth.
"Unca Shawnie?"
"What is it, Dev?" he said, resisting the urge to groan.
"Is Lita going to come live with us now?"
Lita snorted and Shawn floundered for a moment. "Eh, no, Dev, Lita has her own house."
"Oh," Devlan looked confused. "Can she come visit?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself," Shawn said, smirking as Lita glared at him. It was easier than asking her imself, but he knew that he wouldn't have made it through the night without losing it completely if she hadn't been there, and truthfully, he didn't want to lose that. He wasn't sure what was starting to grown between them, but he did know that he liked it so far, and he wanted to see where it would go. The fact that Devlan seemed to be on his side made things a whole lot easier.
"Lita would you come visit us?"
"I'd love to come visit you, Dev," Lita replied, and for a moment, Shawn thought she only wanted to visit Devlan, until she smiled at him. "Both of you." Shawn smiled back at her, and stopped himself from pulling her closer and kissing her again. His nephew witnessing it once was bad enough.
"Unca Shawnie, when are you fighting Uncle Hunter?"
Shawn's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about his match. He looked at Lita and he could see that the same was true of her. He doubted that she had forgotten about her own match, but the fact that they had less than six hours to get back to the arena and get ready, seemed to have slipped both their minds.
"Dev, I don't think I'm going to be able to fight Uncle Hunter tonight."
"But why?" Devlan asked as he sat up, whimpering a little as he hurt his sore ribs.
"Because I have to stay here and take care of you," Shawn said with a smile. "There's nothing more important than that."
"Can Lita stay and you go beat up Uncle Hunter?" Devlan asked. "He's been too mean and you have to win. He said you wouldn't win."
"Dev, honey, Lita and Jeff have to fight their own match."
"But I don't." Shawn turned around to see Torrie and Jeff standing behind him. Jeff was closing over the door and Torrie was smiling at him. "I can stay with him, if you like."
"I…I don't think so, Torrie," Shawn said with a sigh. "Thanks anyway."
"But you have to!"
Shawn turned to Devlan and frowned. "What is it, little buddy?" he asked, moving to sit on his bed as Lita stood up.
"Uncle Hunter said bad things about you and you said you'd fight him. If you don't he'll say more bad things."
"Dev, that doesn't matter anymore."
"But Daddy said that you would beat him."
Shawn didn't know what to say to that, but he knew what he had to do. He nodded and squeezed Devlan's knee. "Okay, Dev, okay." He turned to Torrie. "You still okay to stay with him?"
The blonde smiled and nodded. "I'd love to. We can watch it on the TV, can't we Devlan?"
"Yeah!"
Shawn smiled and accepted a hug as Devlan threw himself into Shawn's arms. He didn't seem to care that his ribs were still a little sore, because his Uncle Shawn was the best wrestler ever, and he was going to beat his Uncle Hunter. Just like his daddy had said.
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End of Part Seventeen
Next Chapter, Summerslam! Jeff, Lita, Rob and Shawn have some serious ass to kick!
