Saving Her

Chapter 46

Shawn's POV

As we are driving home, Sinu makes a detour, to my parents house. "Mama, what's going on?" Camila asks curiously. She squeezes my hand as we both anxiously await her answer. "Karen invited us all over for her famous cheesecake to celebrate Shawn!" She replies happily.

"YES!" I exclaim and the girls break out into a fit of laughter.

"You're so cute baby." Camila whispers in my ear.

"Nah you're cuter!" I say as I kiss her forehead.

It still amazes me that after everything Camila's been through, she is so comfortable with me. The more I talked with my own therapist and her therapist during our "couples" therapy... it's become clear that our years of friendship prior to the incident and me being the one that saved her that night triggered something in her brain that even through everything else felt blank and dark for her, I was a light.  A sense of security almost immediately for her. Someone she knew she could trust that wasn't going to hurt her. Neither one of us realized it at the time, but she could sense it was me, even though she couldn't respond to me, she knew it was me. Had Connor or even Brian been the ones to remove her from the scene, things could have ended very differently for all of us and it's very possible we would not be where we are today.

As I look over at her, I can't help but admire her. She's so strong and so resilient, I know she gets that from her papa. Oddly enough, he came to me in a dream a few nights back after we got back from Banff. He thanked me for taking care of his daughter and being the person that, as hard as it was for me, was the one that saved her that night and has saved her from herself everyday since. He told me how grateful he was that I was keeping my promise to him and that I just needed to continue to be patient with Camila, because in the end, we'd both be rewarded in unexpected ways. It was like an out of body experience living in that dream. It was so vivid, so real that I swore I felt him hug me when he reached out for me before he disappeared.

Leaning back down, I kiss her forehead again and take a deep breath against her skin, allowing my senses to fill with her. Her smell of warm vanilla and something I can't quite place, but had always intrigued me, filled me. She giggles a little and I feel her head bounce slightly in her laughter as she pulls her head away and looks at me.

"What was that Shawn?" She asks with a look of mock horror on her face.

"Just making sure you're real baby, that's all." I reply simply. I can't tell her that there are times I feel like none of this is real and that she's going to wake up one day and realize I'm just another guy and she bails because I scare her. Ugh...

"What's got you so occupied in that head of yours? Your eyebrows are doing that thing again." She says quietly as she brings her finger tips to trace my eyebrows. "It's nothing Banana, I'm okay!" I say convincingly. "Mhmm okay..." she trails off. "Talk to me later okay?  I know when you're lying Canada. You're not the only one who can read people like a book." She says lowly and out of earshot of her mom and sister.

"We're here!!" Sofi says excitedly and Camila and I are brought out of our little bubble. I know she's not going to let this go. This has also been part of our therapy, not keeping things inside. The need to talk about things as they arise. Realizing that secrets and lies of omission don't help anyone and that in order for us to be successful as a couple, we need to air everything out; almost like ripping the bandaid off; so we can work through and move past.

Helping the three girls out of the car, I grab Camila's hand as we walk to my parents front door. As Sofi and Sinu enter my house, Camila pulls me back and asks Aaliyah to close the door, as she was the one who answered it and screamed when she saw us. "I still can't get use to this, but I LOVE it." She squealed.

"Shawn, you know I love you right?" Camila asks, a look of concern on her face. "Of course I do baby! Why are you asking that?" I counter. "Because back in the car, when you kissed my forehead and said you were just making sure I was real, I got really worried." She says.. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." She says firmly as she places her hands on either side of my face. "I'm right here. With you. In your arms. I'm not going anywhere." She says confidently as she reaches up on her tip toes and connects her lips with mine. My hands instantly wrap around her waist as I kiss her back. She tastes like mint and the Diet Coke she had earlier at the awards show because she's not drinking alcohol right now. As her smooth lips leave mine, I can't help but lean down and kiss her again, pulling her as close as humanly possible to me.

We must have been kissing for awhile because we are broken apart by the sound of Aaliyah and Sofi opening the door. "Cheesecake is being served you lovebirds!" Sofi quips. "Seriously! So cute, but honestly Shawn, kissing her on the front step in this cold, don't you think you could at least kiss her inside." Aaliyah says as she shivers in the night air. "It's not that cold you big baby; and I can kiss her wherever I want okay?" I say trying to defend myself crossing my arms. "Awww baby... so cute when you're pouty." Camila says using her baby voice.

"I'm cute all the time honey... I don't know what you're talking about!" I say sarcastically as I give her one more quick peck on the lips, take her hand in mine again and help her inside. I see Sofi and Aaliyah look at each other in mock disgust.

"Y'all are so cute it's sickening." My mom says as we enter the kitchen. Camila and I look at each other and smile, as I pull out her chair and offer her to sit down, taking the seat next to her.

"We're so proud of you son!" My dad says. "Cheers to Detective Mendes and cheers to Camila for her beautiful murals!" My dad continues as he gestures for us to all lift our forks with a bite of cheesecake on them.

"Cheers everyone!"

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Cheers to Detective Mendes and Camila!!  Also, who loves them some cheesecake?! It's my favorite 😋