***
“You sure they can pull it off?” Dean murmured, absently rubbing his hand on his wife, Kayla’s bulging stomach whilst watching the children arrange themselves for the show.
“I hear they’re good so let’s hope they can.” Shane laughed.
So far Adele’s party had been a blast. Shane’s estate was huge and Pamela, the party planner, had made good use of the vast space. She had actually transformed the place into a mini Disneyland with all its perks. There were different shapes and sizes of bouncing castles, trampolines, mini racing cars, ponies, assorted games, clowns, a comedian, and lots and lots of sweets, drinks, and food.
Since the theme for the party was Disney’s Lillo & Stich, each kid received an Aloha welcome item on arrival, connecting them to the theme. Some had on L&S beanies, slippers, bracelets, grass skirts, leis, glasses, watches, hats and some even held cute L&S bags. Every kid and most of the moms had tropical fern leaf headbands on their heads and lei around their necks, depicting the Hawaiian setting of Lillo & Stich.
There were Aloha banners everywhere and even the cups, plates and tissues had ALOHA printed on them. The kids loved it. They oohed and aahed over the giant L&S birthday cake and even danced like a train around the cake, with the birthday girl in lead. Of course, the grown-ups had their own setup but they loved mingling with the kids and generally, being kids themselves for a change.
Adele’s teacher said her class was putting together a play in which they were to sing Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’. So the kids in Adele’s class were going to perform the song for the grown-ups. Seeing as the arrangement of that song was rather complicated, the grown-ups, though excited to hear the kids sing, were expecting the worst.
“Maybe we should bet on it or something,” Matt murmured, earning an elbow to his side from his fiancee, Jen.
Every member of the squad was there with their wives, fiancees and in Tyron’s case, no one. But Tyron was having too much fun to even notice he was the only single person amongst his pals. At least he was enjoying the full attention of the beautiful Briana, Cole’s fiancee. Soon Adele’s teacher was introducing the group and urging everyone to enjoy their performance. And what a performance it was. The children sang well and danced exceptionally well too. And when they got to the part where they were all chanting… ‘Find me somebody to love’, everyone joined in, singing and clapping. It was a really enthralling performance from such little kids. And after their performance, the applauds were thunderous.
Adele ran to hug her mother and Sam and then dashed for where Shane and Chris sat amongst the squad. She gave them each really tight hugs, enjoying their praises. Before she turned around to go, she stopped and squealed excitedly when she saw Michael.
“Doctor Michael.” Adele jumped into Michael’s outstretched arms.
“You were spectacular out there, Adele,” Michael said, kissing her on the cheeks.
“Thank you.” She said and skipped off to where her Grandma Sylvia sat. She climbed into a beaming Sylvia Lewis’ lap and coiled her little arms around her neck, drawing smiles and chuckles from the people around.
“You have a really lovely daughter Shane.” Kayla turned to smile at Shane. “Don’t allow Chris to corrupt her.” She added with a teasing smile. “He’s insane.”
“More insane than your husband?” Tristan gushed with mock surprise, staring at Kayla with wide eyes.
“Tristan…” Dean growled warningly whilst the others laughed.
“I’m outta here.” Tristan laughed, pulling Briana off Tyron’s lap. “Come on girl. Let’s go dance.”
“Kyle, can I talk to you for a moment please?” Shane asked, getting off his chair and giving Chris a quick kiss. “Be right back.” He whispered.
“Sure.” Kyle stood and fell into step beside Shane. They soon disappeared to a secluded part of the huge estate. “Sup man?” Kyle asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“I need your help, Kyle.” Shane started wearily.
Shane couldn’t help but feel like out of the guys, Kyle didn’t really like him. The man sort of stayed out of his way whenever they were together. Kyle had been pleasant to him at Damon’s house but hadn’t been as welcoming as the others. He’d noticed the same cool attitude at Adele’s party too but Shane somehow felt Kyle was the only person who could help with what he was going through at that point.
“Listen, I know you guys share everything so Chris has probably told you I’ve booked to see Dr. Murray,” Shane said quietly.
“He hasn’t,” Kyle said evenly.
“Oh…” Shane raised a brow in surprise. “Well, I have. I’m to see him next week Tuesday.” Shane seemed not to know how to say what was on his mind after giving that piece of information. He went quiet and looked at Kyle, who gave a slight shrug.
“So? What do you want from me?” Kyle asked.
Shane gave a deep sigh. “Look, I know you don’t like me but…”
“Whoa… Hold it right there.” Kyle said coolly. “What makes you think that?” He asked, his face blank.
“I’m not an idiot.” Shane shrugged. “I just know you don’t. I don’t know why though.”
“Before we continue with that, where does Murray fit into all this?” Kyle unfolded his arms and stuck his hands into his back pockets.
“I need to talk to someone so Chris recommended him,” Shane said. “He said he helped you and Aaron work out some problems so he can…”
“Are you guys having problems?” Kyle asked.
“No. No, we’re not. I’ve just been advised…I know I have to talk to someone because of my…childhood problems.”
“With Chris.” It wasn’t a question.
Shane nodded. “I’m just not comfortable talking to people. I’ve never had to tell anyone what goes on inside my head. And I don’t know what to expect.” Shane squeezed the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Since you’ve…consulted this doctor before, I just wanted to know… fuck.” Shane swore as he tried to put his thoughts together. “Can he help?” Shane looked so worried and confused, Kyle felt sorry for him.
“Did Chris tell you the reason why Aaron and I had to see Murray?” Kyle asked quietly.
“No.” Shane shook his head. “He just said the man did a good job with you guys.”
Kyle went quiet for a moment. “I’ve vowed to myself not to tell anyone this. But I know you’ve been through a lot so I’m going to make an exception.” Kyle took a step closer to Shane. “Aaron raped me.”