Watermelon

As Soon As Possible

"Do you think we should tell the kids?" Camila asked Shawn as he drove them from the Toronto airport back to his parents house to pick up Maggie and Jace.

"I don't see why we can't tell them that we're getting married," Shawn noted. "I don't want to tell them about the adoption until we know if it's going to happen."

"It is going to happen," Camila assured him, reaching over to rest a hand on his leg.

"You said that last time..."

Shawn stared straight ahead as he continued to drive. Camila sighed and removed her hand from his leg, turning to look out the window. She clasped both of her hands together in her own lap. 

"Sorry," Shawn said quietly. "That was unnecessary. Obviously I don't blame you for it not working out the first time." He reached over and grabbed one of her hands, intertwining their fingers and squeezing gently.

"It's okay. I never meant to give you false hope, I just never thought they'd reject you. It's so obvious that they belong with you."

They pulled into the driveway of his parents' house minutes later. Shawn wasted no time parking the car and getting out, quickly heading for the front door. He couldn't wait to see Maggie and Jace again. Camila couldn't help but smile at his excitement; she couldn't wait to see them either.

"Hi stinky!" Shawn smiled widely when Manny opened the door with Maggie in his arms. The little girl squealed and held her arms out to Shawn. He grabbed her from his dad and hugged her tightly against his chest, her little head laying on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You have fun?" The toddler asked in her squeakiest voice. Shawn chuckled.

"We did have fun! How about you? Did you have fun?"

"Yeah!" Maggie pulled her face away from where it had been pressed against Shawn's shoulder and spotted Camila standing behind him. "Mila!"

"Hey cutie!" she giggled. Maggie leaned over to her, Camila taking her from Shawn's arms and hugging the small girl herself.

"Where's Jace?" Shawn asked.

"He's out with Chloe," Manny replied. "He sure does spend a lot of time with that girl."

"He's smitten," Camila joked.

"Tell me about it," Manny snorted. "He said he'd take his stuff back to your house after they were done hanging out."

"Sounds good. Did they give you any trouble?"

Manny shook his head just as Karen came walking down the stairs.

"They were complete angels!" She embraced her son in a loving hug before doing the same with Camila who was still holding Maggie. "Did you two have fun? How was the wedding?"

"It was great!" Camila noted, knowing Shawn didn't want to discuss how they spent the majority of the night. He pulled out his phone and opened his camera roll, selecting one specific picture and turning his phone around to show his parents.

"Oh my god, you look so beautiful!" Karen said sweetly. Camila peeked at the screen to see that it was a picture Shawn must have snuck of her walking down the aisle during the ceremony. "That dress looks so beautiful on you."

"Thank you," Camila giggled. "I didn't realize you were sneaking pictures..."

"Look at you! I couldn't help it. You were the most beautiful bridesmaid."

"Bet she'd be even more beautiful as the bride..." Karen sighed dramatically, obviously hinting at her own desire for a wedding between her son and Camila. Shawn and Camila shared a glance, both of them trying to suppress a knowing grin.