There's No Way

The Grandparents

[Camila's POV]

I knew childbirth would be painful, but holy hell—everything hurt. The doctor and nurses had assured me that there had been no tearing down there, but it sure felt like I had been ripped open.

"How are you feeling?" Shawn whispered to me as he took a turn holding our daughter.

"Lets just say it's a good thing she's cute..."

Shawn chuckled at my response but I could tell he felt bad that I had to endure so much pain in order to bring our little one into the world.

"You're like...the strongest and most badass person I know, you know that right?" he asked genuinely. I smiled and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I know."

"Well...should we bring our parents in? I have a feeling they're dying to meet their first grandchild," Shawn said as he handed Hazel back to me. I smiled and nodded, knowing that they would be over the moon excited to finally get to see her. Sure enough, mere seconds later, our parents were entering our room while emitting quiet yet excited "aww"s.

"She's beautiful, mija. You did so good..." My mom was holding Hazel for the first time and the happiness on her face made my heart swell. She never put too much pressure on me to start a family, but I knew she had always wanted to be an abuela.

"Aaliyah and Sofi are flying in later today, we booked their flights and texted them the details while we were waiting," Manny said as he put he hand on his son's shoulder with pride. "She's beautiful. You're going to be such a good father, I just know you are. Congrats, kid."

The next hour was spent passing Hazel from grandparent to grandparent as they each met our little baby girl for the first time. At one point, Karen yawned and soon enough they were all yawning in unison.

"I'm sorry, you guys barely got any sleep last night. Why don't you go back to your hotel and get some rest?" I suggested. They really must've all been exhausted because none of them put up much of a fight.

"We'll come back once the girls get here so they can meet her," my dad said as they left. As much as I loved having them there, I also was really grateful for the alone time with just Shawn, Hazel, and myself.

——

[Shawn's POV]

In the short time that Hazel had been out of the womb, it became fairly clear to us that she was a pretty chill baby. She didn't really cry, at least not the stereotypical newborn baby scream-cry. It was more like a whimper-whine with a few little sobs here and there, and it was only when she was trying to tell us she needed something.

"She's hungry," Camila said as Hazel began to fuss in her arms. She had yet to breastfeed her and I knew it was something she was somewhat nervous about. One of the nurses came in to help her the first time and make sure that Hazel latched on properly—which she did almost instantly. I could tell by the way Camila's face contorted that the sensation was new and weird which made me chuckle. After the nurse left, I watched in awe and wonder as Hazel happily drank down her food.

"What does it feel like?" I asked curiously.

"Weird," Camila laughed. "I kind of feel like an alien."

"It's crazy that your body just knows to do all of this stuff...you know what? I think you are an alien."

After Hazel finished eating she was ready for a nap. We all were. Once the baby fell asleep, so did Camila. I tried to stay awake that way at least one of us would be alert and present, but I was also exhausted and found myself nodding off a few times as well.

Later that day, once Aaliyah and Sofi had arrived, everyone came back to the hospital so our sisters could meet their new niece. Sofi was the first to hold her and was giddy with excitement over how much she was going to get to spoil our little girl as she grew up. Aaliyah on the other hand seemed nervous and a bit distant, and I had a feeling I knew why. When it was her turn to hold Hazel she didn't share the same giddy excitement that Sofi had, but instead wore a face that was borderline expressionless—it was as if she couldn't process the fact that she too, at one point, was almost in this situation with a baby of her own. Camila and I both looked at Aaliyah before bringing our attention back to each other. She nodded and I made a mental note to talk to Aaliyah about how she was feeling.

About half an hour later, after baby holding privileges had been passed along to my mom, Aaliyah snuck out of the room to go get a drink out of one of the vending machines. I followed after her, hoping to get some alone time with her so I could see how she was doing.

"So...how are you feeling...with all of this?" I asked cautiously. She sighed.

"Sorry if I don't seem excited for you guys—I obviously am, you know that. I just...I don't know. Actually holding a newborn baby made everything feel super real, like...that could've been me." I could tell she was struggling to adequately put her feelings into words and honestly I didn't blame her.

"Do you...do you regret it?" I asked. I quickly realized it may sound like I didn't approve of her decision though, so I did my best to backtrack and correct myself. "I mean, it's okay if you don't—I just...I'm sorry. I'm just trying to understand what you're feeling."

"It's okay," she smiled as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "I don't regret it. I know I wasn't ready for that, I'm still not. But it's still weird to think about, you know? I don't know...it's just kind of tripping me out I guess." She fed the dollar bill into the vending machine and pressed the button for a grape soda. "You're going to be like...such a good dad by the way. I mean, if how great of a big brother you are is any indicator...Hazel is a very lucky girl." I smiled proudly and quickly kissed the top of her head.

"Thanks, knucklehead." She rolled her eyes at my juvenile nickname for her as we both laughed and headed back to the room to reunite with our families. Camila smiled at us as we walked in and Aaliyah quickly walked over to her bed and wrapped Camila up in a hug.

"Congratulations," she whispered sincerely. "She's beautiful...you two deserve this more than anyone else I know. She's so lucky to have you two as parents."

A/N: Chapter 100 WHOOP WHOOP