Watermelon

Chloe

"I'm hungry!" Maggie announced as Shawn carried her back into their house after taking Shelby to go surprise Camila.

"Yeah? You want a snack?"

"Yes!" she emphasized with a clap.

"Alright, stinky." He chuckled, tugging gently on one of her pigtails. "Go play in the living room and I'll get a snack ready for you." Shawn grabbed the remote and quickly turned on the TV to one of the toddler's favorite shows before moving into the kitchen to get something to ease her hunger.

He opened the fridge and grabbed a package of strawberries. As he washed them off in the kitchen sink, he couldn't help but notice Jace was in the backyard with the friend he had invited over — a girl that seemed to be around his age.

Shawn squinted his eyes in amusement as he watched them toss a frisbee back and forth in the yard. He couldn't help but smirk a little bit. In the years that Jace had been with him, Shawn couldn't recall a girl ever being mentioned. He didn't want to make any assumptions, but Jace definitely seemed to be very smiley with this girl — whether she was just a friend or something more.

"I'm still hungry..." a squeaky voice sung from the living room. Shawn snorted and shook his head, refocusing on the strawberries he was getting ready for Maggie.

"Just a couple more minutes, Mags. You've gotta be patient, remember?"

"Okay," the high-pitched voice sighed.

Shawn grabbed a pink flower-shaped plastic plate from the cupboard and then retrieved a small knife from the drawer. He sliced up a few strawberries into small pieces. He pushed the fruit to one side of the plate and filled the other side with some goldfish crackers.

"Here you go, little bug." He set the pink plate down onto the coffee table in the middle of the living room.

"Thank you! I love you!" She squealed, grabbing a piece of strawberry and popping it into her mouth. Shawn smiled at her and grabbed his laptop, sitting down on the couch and changing the channel to something they'd both enjoy. He responded to a few emails and followed-up on some work-related inquiries before shutting his laptop again and setting it aside.

After her snack and playtime, Maggie started to get a little sleepy. She yawned as she climbed up on the couch and onto Shawn's lap. She cuddled up with him, her head on his chest as he slowly rubbed her back until she started to drift off to sleep. He could always tell she was asleep by the surprisingly loud snores. It was almost comical how loudly such a small human could snore. He pulled out his phone — slowly, as to not wake the sleeping toddler in his arms. He opened the camera app and switched it to video mode, holding it out in front of them to capture the sweet snores on camera. Just as he hit the button to stop recording, his phone buzzed with a text from Camila.

C: I'm having a lot of fun shopping with Shelby but I really miss you. It's not fair that I only got to see you for a few minutes 🥺

S: You get to see me all the time dork! Spend some quality time with your bestie. You probably won't get to see her again until the wedding so you gotta soak it up while she's here. ❤️

C: I know...I'm just selfish and want both of you with me always. what are you up to today?

Shawn sent her the video he had just taken of Maggie snuggled up against his chest as sweet little snores echoed from her.

S: also spending some quality time with my bestie

C: I think my heart just exploded
C: Nvm it was my ovaries not my heart 🤪

S: LOL good to know
S: Btw...Jace has a girl over right now 👀

C: OH SNAP

S: I came home and they were in the backyard playing frisbee