Never Say Forever (LAMS READERS CHOICE)

Chapter Eighteen

Option One: Side with Alex

"So it's settled, Peggy will watch Philip and Angie." Elizabeth nods.

"Elizabeth, I think you should trust Alex to watch them. They are his kids, too, after all." I say, drawing their attention towards me.

Alex smiles gently at me and Elizabeth gives me a worried look. "I just.. I don't know, Philip just went through a lot and-"

"And he'll be fine to watch them." I nod. "And I'll be with him, because I'm free tomorrow too."

She sighs softly and nods. "Okay, well, I'll feel better if you're there."

"Alright, glad that's all figured out. Don't worry, you won't regret this." I say.

Elizabeth nods and then goes to get Philip when the doctor lets her. Alex comes up to me, still smiling a small smile. "Thank you." He says.

I nod at him. "Of course."

Timeskip brought to you by the things the hamales and hymns won't teach ya

"Uncle John! You're here!" The little two year old exclaims. Well, sorry, almost three year old. She has corrected me many times on this.

I chuckle softly and lift her up. "Uncle John, huh?" I ask, smiling.

She nods. "Yep! That's what Mommy calls you."

"Ah, I see. Well, I like it."

"Hi John!" A little voice says from the couch. I close the front door and look over at Philip.

"Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" I go and set Angelica on the couch next to him.

"Better." He says quietly. "I'm not allowed to do, like, anything, though."

"Well that's alright. You have to fully recover, and then you can go back to playing and such." I assure him and he smiles and nods. "Where's your dad?"

"Up there!" Ange points up the stairs and I nod.

"Alright. Philip, why don't you pick a movie to watch, I'll be down shortly."

The two nod and I walk upstairs, going to the only closed door on the floor. I sigh and knock on it. "Alexander, I'm coming in." I say, opening the door.

He looks up at me. His laptop was open in front of him, with papers sprawled out around him. He smiles tiredly. "Oh, hey John. When did you get here?"

"Like five minutes ago. Why are you up here instead of downstairs with your kids?"

"Oh, I had some work to do. Just a couple side projects so I can prove I'm a good father to the courts." He says, looking back to his laptop.

"Right, but you do realize your toddler just opened the door for me, right? It could have been anyone, and you just let her open the door?" I cross my arms.

He tilts his head at me. "I'm sure she looked through the window to make sure it was you."

"She's two, she doesn't have that kind of common sense yet, Alex." I scold gently.

He frowns. "Well, it was just you, it's fine."

"You know, this is what Elizabeth was worried about." I say, and he gives me a confused look. "She was worried you were going to be working too much to pay attention to them."

"I am paying attention to them! I'm also trying to do extra so I can be a better father to them." He says.

"Alex, don't make me regret siding with you. Put your work away and come downstairs, watch a movie with your kids." I tell him.

He shakes his head. "John, it's fine, you're here now-"

"I'm only here because I wanted to make sure you were doing what you promised to do. And you're not, you're hiding away in your office instead."

"What, you don't think I can do this?"

"Alex, I thought you would be fine, hence why I sided with you. I'm starting to think maybe I should have let Peggy watch them instead."

He stands up, still frowning at me. "I can't believe you right now. I can take care of my kids, I'll show you." He starts walking past me.

"Don't forget about Philip's restrictions, and Angie is probably going to want ice cream or some sort of sweet while watching the movie." I tell him and he just walks downstairs.

I sigh and follow him, seeing Angie sitting in Philip's lap as they watch Frozen. "Philip, I told you you could pick, you don't have to watch what your little sister wants."

He shrugs a little bit. "She really wanted to watch it, and I don't mind watching it with her." He smiles before whispering, "Plus, it's not as sad now that Dad's back."

I nod at him and then turn and see Alex staring at Philip, a sad look in his eyes. "Philip, you're such a good kid, you know that?"

Philip smiles a bit wider at his dad. "Thank you!" He says.

Alex sits next to me on the couch and the four of us watch the movie, everyone singing along poorly to the songs. By the time it was almost over, Angelica had moved to her room to play with her dolls, and Philip went to go play with. Alex and I were right next to each other, but we were so far away at the same time.

My phone dings and Alex looks over at me. It dings a couple more times. "Are you going to grab that?" He asks.

I look at him and then nod, sighing softly. I grab my phone and see a couple text messages. "Oh.. Wow uh.."

"What's up?" Alex asks.

"I just.. This person reached out to me. We haven't talked in forever.." I say, staring at the messages a little longer.

"Oh, what do they want?"

"To meet up.. For dinner..." I nod.

He stares at me a little bit and then clears his throat. "Are you going?"

"I.. I don't know." I say, looking at the messages. "I probably should."

He nods. "Well, if you have to go, you can. I promise I won't go hide away in my office again."

I nod again and look between the messages and him, sighing softly.

Option One: Go to dinner.
Option Two: Stay there.

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