Shawn's P.O.V.

    "Come on Matthew, eat your dry cereal please." I try to rush him because I'm late. Unfortunately, he knows few words and probably only understood the words eat and Matthew. He begins to bounce up and down in his high chair so I give in. "Fine, let's get you cleaned up."

    I push the table back and pick him up. He grabs onto my tie, pulling it down and trying to choke me in the process. "Okay, give him to me." Mom says as she takes him out of my arms.

    She couldn't have had better timing. "Thank God you're here. He won't eat his food and he's been fussy all morning." I grab a paper towel and wet it, wiping the dried snot from his face. Matthew moves his head away from me, trying his hardest to keep the snot on his face. I give up fighting him and throw the towel away. "Have it your way." I say.

    My mom chuckles at me. "He's probably just worked up. I'll take him to the park to play with some of the other kids today."

    "Just be careful." I say. "This is New York City, not a small town in Colorado. People don't look after each other here." Who knows how many kids go missing from central park.
    Mom sets Matthew back down and turns to me, "You worry too much, I'll keep my third eye on him." Before I can ask what the hell her third eye is she explains, "It's a mothers intuition. How do you think I always knew where you two were always playing?"

    I shake my head, "Honestly, I don't remember."

    "Hmm." She hums.

    I kiss Matthew on the forehead and grab a banana. "I'll be back at six."

    "No, it's Friday, you should go out to dinner. Jack made a reservation at Mastro's at seven-thirty." How does she know this before I do? It doesn't matter, I decide, I have to go.

When I step inside the restaurant the first thing I notice is Jack's absence. "Do you have a reservation?" The hostess asks.

I stop looking around to answer her question. "Yeah maybe under Briers, or Morgan."

She checks her list, nodding enthusiastically as she finds my name. "Yes! Your date is already here."

"I'm sorry my what?"

The hostess looks at me questionably. "Yeah, just over there." She points to a table beside the bar. There's a petite blonde with her back turned to us.

I smile at the hostess, "There must be some misunderstanding, I didn't-"

"Shawn!" The woman turns to wave me over. I walk past the hostess and meet the woman at her table. She holds her perfectly manicured hand out for me to shake. "My name is Melinda Simpleton. It's nice to finally meet you."

It dawned on me that this is a blind date, and I've been set up by my brother and mom. "Shawn Morgan, nice to meet you." I let go of her hand and take the seat across from her.

A waiter comes to take our order. She orders us a bottle of white wine and sends him away. "So," Melinda begins. "Jack tells me you're a partner at his company."

I feel nervous and awkward. Something I'm not used to feeling around women but this is different. I'm not supposed to be dating other women. The feeling of being set up like this is overwhelming. I'm sure Melinda is nice but I wish they would've asked beforehand. The last thing I want is to date right now. "Yes, but before that I was a professor at NYU."

"No way!" She exclaims. "I went to NYU. I studied to be a lawyer but I couldn't pass the bar so now I'm a paralegal."

She continues to talk about her career as the door to the restaurant opens and Ty walks in. Holding his hand is Livia. She's wearing a short black dress with long sleeves. 

Her hair is down in waves and she's even wearing lipstick.

This is why I'm uncomfortable with Melinda. I've been hiding with Livia for the better part of two years now. I never got to do things like take her to a nice restaurant and get to know her better.

I pretend I'm listening to Melinda as I watch Ty bring Livia to their table. His hand stays on the small of her back while they get closer and closer to us.

My heart feels like it stops and my breath gets caught in my throat when I think Livia is going to see me. Instead it's Ty's eyes that I meet.

He looks away from me and whispers something to Livia. She nods along and let's him push out the chair that has her back turned to me. He's making it to where she won't see me. "Anyways, enough about me. Tell me about your job."

Melinda looks pointedly at me but I don't want to tell her anything about myself.

Not when Livia is a few feet away and easily the most beautiful woman in the room. "Actually, Melinda, I have to be honest with you." Her lips press into a firm line, as if she already knows what I'm about to say. "I didn't know this was happening tonight, my brother set me up. I think you're very beautiful but I have a baby at home and his babysitter needs to be relieved."

"Oh." She sadly replies. I am killing Jack for this.

I pull out my wallet and set a hundred dollars on the table. "Dinner is on me, again I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding." I stand from the table and walk out the other door, making sure Livia doesn't see me.

Once I'm outside I hail a taxi and head home. It wasn't fair to Melinda but my heart wasn't in it. The second Livia walked in my attention went to her. What if she had seen me? Would I have wanted to explain what I was doing there with another woman? Would it have even mattered to her?

She wouldn't even speak to me at the club the other night, so maybe she would've let this one go also. I'll never be ready to find someone else if it's Livia I'm worried about. "Thanks, keep the change." I tell the driver as I get out.

I need to clear my head and walk the rest of the way. She left me. I remind myself, even though it's no use. I've been through all of it hundreds of times before. Each time I come to the same conclusion, that I still love her. My feelings for her will never go away, so how could I love anyone else?

The sun sets and the skies become dark by the time I make it home. It gave me just enough time to make my mom and brother think I stayed on my date with Melinda.

"How was dinner?" Mom asks as I walk inside. Matthew isn't with her so I assume she put him to bed a little early.

"It was fine, mom." I miss her cheek and try not to give her any details. "Thanks for watching Matthew."

She scoffs, "Well, is that it?"

I turn to her, feigning confusion. "Is what it?"

"Melinda!" Mom finally says in frustration. "Jack went through a lot of trouble to set you up with her. She doesn't date." Neither do I.

I sit on the couch and undo my tie. "It was a nice thought but I don't think she'll be wanting a second date."

Mom scoffs again and gathers her things. "You need to put yourself out there more." She rambles. "Now I liked Livia but she moved on. You should too."

"She hasn't moved on Mom, she doesn't know what she's doing with Ty." I can tell she's not happy with him, just like she wasn't happy with Dean. She'll figure it out too. When she does I'll be there.

"That's bullshit and you know it. The poor girl went through hell and you coped by adopting Matthew."

"Mom." I warn.

She puts her hands up, "Don't get me wrong I love him just as much as you do. Come on though honey, what did you expect her to do?" I expected her to stay with me.

I remain silent, knowing deep down that what I expected was too much all at once. "I get it okay? She needed her space." I just thought she would've come back to me by now.

Mom walks over to the couch and sits down beside me. "You know I just want what's best for you right?" As much as I do know that, I wish she would understand that

Livia was what was best for me. Now that she's gone I have Matthew to take care of and a business to help run. My priorities aren't dating and settling down with a woman I don't want to be with.

Mom pats my arm a couple of times and walks over to the door. "By the way, this came for you. It's from Brookview and looks somewhat important." With that my mom leaves and I'm left to myself.

The envelope is addressed to me from Jenny and Jake. When I open it, it's an invitation to their wedding. I'm not sure why they invited me but I am sure of one thing, Livia will be there.