There's No Way

New Beginnings

[Shawn's POV]

We pulled into the parking lot of the home builder's office when my phone started ringing. I glanced down at the screen and noticed that my mom was FaceTiming me. It had been about a week since we had ordered the mug set, and after checking the shipment's tracking info we knew that both packages were meant to be delivered today. Camila's face lit up when she realized that was exactly why my mom was FaceTiming us.

"They got the mugs!" she squealed as she grabbed the phone and answered the call. My mom's face filled the screen as my dad peeked at us from behind her shoulder.

"Hey kids!" she excitedly greeted us. "We got a box in the mail and it said we have to FaceTime you before we could open it," she said as she held up the package and gently shook it.

"Don't shake it too hard. Puppies don't like that," I joked as my mom rolled her eyes.

"Very funny," she said dryly. "So can we open it now?"

"Go for it," Camila encouraged. My mom excitedly pulled open the box and screamed in excitement when she saw the Grandma & Grandpa mugs.

"You're pregnant?" She asked to confirm the meaning of the mugs. We both grinned and nodded as she screamed with excitement. My dad smiled and congratulated both of us, and if I didn't know better I'd say I saw a tear in his eye. "Aaliyah isn't here right now...but she's going to be so excited to find out!" Camila and I gave each other a knowing smile. Aaliyah was the only person aside from the two of us that knew all of the fertility issues we had been facing. Camila reached into her purse and pulled out one of the ultrasound pictures, holding it up to the phone's camera to show my parents. "Look at that little bean!" my mom said as we all laughed.

"So what's the plan?" My dad asked. "I assume you're turning the guest room into a nursery?"

"Actually..." Camila said as she looked over at me and grinned. "We're literally in the parking lot of a local builder right now getting ready to meet with them about building our house. As soon as the building process starts we'll put our house up for sale."

"Oh, that's such great news you two! I was wondering when we were going to get some grandkids..."

Part of me felt guilty for keeping our struggles with conceiving this child a secret from our families—but at the same time I hated the idea of putting the burden Camila and I felt on their shoulders too. We chatted for a bit more before ending the call and heading inside to begin the process of building our forever home—the home that the baby we had fought so hard for would grow up in.

We had found a floor plan online that we liked, and after finding out that we could customize it we knew that we could turn it into something we would love. Camila especially loved the exterior, noting how it looked like something that would come out of a fairytale or Disney movie. We sat in a room at a large table with the people who would be in charge of getting our dream house built as they rolled out a large map of the floor plan we had chosen. We talked through each of the changes we wanted to make as they sketched our edits onto the paper with a pencil.

"So...is this your home?" Benji, one of the builders, asked as he finally set down his pencil. I looked over at Camila who was beaming with happiness as she nodded.

"Yup. This is it."

——

[Camila's POV]

Later that evening, we found ourselves sitting at the dining table eating pizza and playing Scrabble as we did most Saturday nights. Since my one fluke victory, Shawn had taken back his title as the Scrabble master—and this game was no exception. It was borderline embarrassing how much he was beating me by. Just as I was debating my next move, my phone rang. I looked down and saw that it was my mom FaceTiming me. I was overwhelmingly giddy as I answered the call, knowing that my mom was beyond ready to become abuela.

"Congratulations!" she shouted with tears in her eyes as soon as the call connected.

"What? You already opened it?" Shawn asked in surprise.

"Well, Ale did. He didn't think it was necessary to read the card first...but still! This is so exciting!"

"Aaliyah and I are literally going to be the coolest aunts ever...you realize that right?" Sofi chimed in.

"Oh trust me, we realize that," I replied. As I had done with Shawn's parents, I grabbed one of the ultrasound pictures and held it in front of the phone's camera—showing them our little bundle of joy. A choir of "awwww"s erupted at the sight of our unborn baby.

"Do you have a name yet?" Sofi asked excitedly.

"We haven't even thought about names yet..." Shawn admitted with a chuckle.

"Yeah, so if you think of any good ones let us know," I added. We talked for about a half an hour before saying goodnight and hanging up. Moments after ending the call, Aaliyah had sent a text to both Shawn and I.

Congratulations you two! If the quality of siblings you both are is any indicator of how great you'll be as parents, I'd say that baby is in pretty wonderful hands. You have no idea how happy I am for you guys. Love you both!

Shawn read the text out loud before pulling me in for a hug. "Has it set in for you yet that we're actually having a baby? That you're actually pregnant?" he asked.

"Not at all...it's weird. I actually keep forgetting. You'd think I'd be able to remember something that's such a big deal for us."

"When do you think it'll finally click that this is actually happening? I feel like it all still feels too good to be true." I couldn't disagree with him. It did feel too good to be true, but at the same time I could feel it. My body knew it was pregnant but my mind hadn't quite wrapped itself around the fact yet.

"Well, we have our first official ultrasound appointment on Tuesday afternoon. I imagine that'll make it feel pretty real...especially if we get to hear the heartbeat." I smiled from ear to ear at the idea, and Shawn did too.

"You have no idea how happy you make me..." Shawn whispered as he leaned his forehead against mine. He moved his hand to carefully rest on top of my still non-existent baby bump. "...both of you."

A/N: Happy Mother's Day ♥️