Chapter 14:

Shaun couldn't believe it, Destiny was finally awake! Week by week her progress astounded him. First she woke up, opened her eyes and mumbled. Now she was sitting up in bed and talking clearly to him.

However, there were still signs that she wasn't 100% yet...

Physically, her head was still wrapped in white bandages and her arm was still in a cast.

Mentally was a doozy. To say she FREAKED OUT when she learned she was pregnant would be an understatement. "Shaun I never thought in a gazillion years I'd be a statistic. Why didn't Darren and I use protection?" she wondered aloud.

Damn sometimes its hard being a big brother knowing you can't protect your family 24/7 the way you'd want.

"Uh Lil D, Darren is not yo' baby daddy," Shaun approached gingerly.

"What are you talking about Shaun? Of course he is, I only have one boyfriend!" Destiny demanded angrily pointing her index finger up.

Shaun almost fell out of his chair, "Destiny what's the last thing you remember?" he took her hands in his to ease both of their panic. He could tell she figured something was up by him asking.

"Shaun you're scaring me..." Destiny admitted eyeballing him warily. "The last thing I remember is getting a ride home from Darren after school. It was the day Nate found out his dad was killed. Why?"

Shaun lowered his head to kiss Destiny's hand 'be strong, be strong' he chanted in his head. He couldn't help the tear that splashed on the back of Destiny's hand.

"Shaun...?" Destiny asked struggling to touch his head with her right hand forgetting it was in a cast until she felt it protesting in pain.

"Whatever it is please just tell me" Destiny begged.

"Destiny that was 9 months ago" Shaun confessed. "So you don't remember your accident?"

"No, I just figured Darren & I got in an accident on our way home. He was here when I woke up and he was holding my hand. I thought I was out for a night, tops, until I saw my pregnant belly" she rested her hand on it, "Shaun you've gotta tell me what happened; and DON'T leave anything out."

That's our Destiny, bossy as ever, Shaun thought "Ok Lil D, I'll tell you what I know. The rest you'll have to get from Matthew."

"Matthew...? That's the dweeb that was trying to push up on me the day I woke up. Who the hell does he think he is?" Destiny huffed.

"I'm the guy you love and the father of our baby" Matthew interrupted.

Destiny and Shaun turned around at the sound of their eavesdropper standing in the doorway. "As if" Destiny rolled her eyes.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Shaun reprimanded.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, I'll wait out in the hall until you're done" Matthew conceded after Destiny's abhorrence. I can't believe she doesn't remember me. She thinks she's still with Darren?

Matthew waited and waited, eventually walking past the room a few times to see if they both fell asleep. Each time Shaun would stare him down and smirk. He still despised Matthew and wanted him far from Destiny. Now that she didn't even remember him he saw it as a blessing. If he could keep them apart and convince Destiny to give this baby up for adoption, she could still lead a normal life. She was 17 years old, she should be applying to college and enjoying senior year not dealing with all of this drama.

"Destiny have you thought about putting the baby up for adoption? You can still go to college and follow your dreams" Shaun suggested.

"All I know is I'm not gonna play house with some strange guy. Besides, where does Darren factor in all this? I still really care about him. This must have broken his heart yet he was still here for me." Destiny confessed.

"You should call & ask him to visit you tomorrow. Only he can answer that question" Shaun offered tilting her chin to face him.

"Thanks Shaun. Did I ever tell you you're my favorite Uncle?" Destiny smiled.

"I'm your ONLY Uncle smartie" Shaun laughed back. "I'm so glad you're getting better. Soon you'll be outta here and back home; it's been too quiet without you."

"I personally can't wait. Oh and next time sneak me in some good food" Destiny begged as she saw Shaun getting up to leave.

"Will do Lil D. Sleep tight, I'll see you tomorrow" Shaun kissed her forehead and walked out.

He barely cleared the doorway before Matthew appeared out of the blue. Damn Ninja...Shaun thought.

"Shaun how is she?" Matthew asked.

"She's tired, its been a long day. Why don't you just go home? She doesn't even remember you" Shaun taunted. That's the only silver lining in this whole situation.

"That's just temporary" Matthew assured smirking.

This cocky bastard. I wanna knock that smirk right off his face. At first he really liked the kid and the friendship he had with Destiny. Then he broke her heart on New Years Eve and that knocked him down a couple of pegs in Shaun's eyes. Somehow, they remained friends. Then Destiny started dating Darren. He only had Darren on his radar at that point determined to keep him in check.

Then THEY broke up and a few weeks later she said her and Matthew kissed but he said it didn't mean anything.

At this point his head was spinning with all of this teenage drama. He was on the fence with this kid still not returning his Lil D's feelings. Finally this slick son of a bitch sleeps with her and gets her pregnant. So she's not good enough to date but using her is no problem?

Everytime Shaun saw him he wanted to beat him to a pulp."What the hell are you smirking for? Destiny has done nothing but suffer because of YOU" Shaun poked him in the chest "She's was never good enough to date but sleeping with her was cool? All of a sudden you are so in love? Why is it you never asked me if you could date her? She never said one word to me about you two being a couple. I'm guessing that's because she was waiting in vain for you to make it official. You had no intention of doing that though did you? You were just gonna continue to use her huh?" Shaun's voice rose in anger.

Destiny followed the entire exchange. Shaun never lies, just the rest of our family. No wonder I've blocked this jerk outta my memory banks. Apparently, he's been treating me like crap for years and I was so in love that I just let him?

"That's not true Shaun! It just happened a few weeks before the accident; and for your information I DID ask her to be my girlfriend and she accepted the very night of the accident. It's not that we were keeping anything a secret, we were just figuring things out ourselves."

I agreed to be his girlfriend? Why would I do that? Destiny wondered. He could be lying...

"I don't believe a word you say anymore. Any faith I had in you was gone the moment you knocked her up and almost got her killed." Shaun spat staring Matthew down.

"Shaun send him in, I want to speak to him" Destiny instructed.