Touched By You

"Logan Christopher Cabello." (Epilogue)

The stark white of the room was too peaceful when contrasted with the violent screams echoing around it. They bounced off the walls and attacked listening ears and no one could ask her to stop because this was a new kind of pain that no one in the room had experienced themselves.

Camila stood beside her wife's bed and held onto her shoulders and whispered little words of encouragement that were drowned out by wails and angry slurs. Lauren went from saying how excited she was for what was to come, to cursing Camila to the moon and back but the younger girl paid that no mind, she knew she'd be in the same state if roles were reversed.

"We don't even have a fucking name." Lauren cried out as she pushed a little harder." Why the fuck didn't we get its gender? At least then we would have a name ready."

"We wanted it to be a surprise."

"Surprise! I'm birthing a fucking monster." The older girl growled out before being silenced by the agony of another push. "Next time," She breathed out for a moment. "This is on you."

"Thanks for taking one for the team, babe." Camila pressed a kiss to her wife's cheek before Lauren was asked to push one last time. "Now get the monster out of you so we can give it all the love in the world."

And with that last push, their lives were forever changed. Because Lauren's wails stopped and the room fell silent for a split second as Camila's eyes drifted to the tiny creature being cradled in the doctor's hands. It was split second of silence, it was a fleeting moment that Camila would never forget as her heart was split in two and offered to the baby before her and the woman beside her.

A moment that left her in the blink of an eye.

But it was enough to take her breath away.

And then the cries started and that both tore at her heart and soothed every worry in her mind. The cry meant the baby was okay, nothing had gone wrong. And after so many things that had gone wrong in their lives, she could not be more grateful that this wasn't one of them.

"It's a boy." The doctor announced as her handed the baby over to the nurse to wrap up. "Ten fingers, ten toes and a healthy set of lungs," He smiled. "Congratulations."

"A boy." Camila muttered softly, not quite being able to wrap her head around it.

"How the fuck are we gonna raise a boy?" Lauren groaned before letting her head fall back against the pillows behind her.

"The exact same way we would've raised a girl," The younger girl smiled as their son was brought over to them. "We teach him compassion and respect and love. We'll assure him that it's okay to cry and feel and hurt, anger doesn't have to be his fallback emotion."

And when she had her son in her arms for the first time, Camila knew that this was exactly where her life was supposed to end up. This boy would be the reason she now breathed, the reason she woke up in the mornings and the reason they would fight for a better world.

She perched herself on the edge of Lauren's bed and leaned down close to her until the older girl could take a good look at the being she'd created within her and marvel at the power of what her body could do.

"So you're the reason I slept uncomfortably for the better part of two months, threw up all my good food in the beginning and nagged your mother's ear off," The green-eyed girl reached up and ran the back of her finger over her son's cheek. "But fuck me, if I wouldn't do it all over again to have you right here."

"No cursing around him." Camila warned.

"Hey," Lauren shot a playful glare at her wife. "I will raise an outspoken rebel if it kills me."