“Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” –Anthony Brandt
Camila POV
When are grandma and grandpa coming?" Riley asked me while she was playing with her teddy in my lap.
,,They should be here any minute." I said and kissed her cheek.
,,I should get a quick shower." Shawn said and I nodded.
While Shawn was in the shower, the interphone rang and I knew that Karen and Manuel were there, so I put Riley on the couch from my lap and stood up to go and answer the interphone.
,,Yep?" I answered it.
,,The oldies are in town." Manuel said and I couldn't help, but laugh.
,,Come in." I said between laughters.
I opened the apartment door and waited for them. When they got there Riley immediately ran to them and gave them a big hug.
,,Grandma! Grandpa!" She said while she was hugging them.
,,How is my potato?" Manuel asked her.
,,I'm not a potato..." Riley said and looked mad at Manuel.
,,I meant princess." Manuel said and Riley gave him smile.
,,We brought you something." Karen said and Riley turned around to look excited at me.
,,You are spoiling her." I joked.
,,We only have one granddaughter." Karen said.
,,She's right." Mary said.
,,By the way, when do we get more?" Manuel asked and I couldn't help, but laugh lightly.
Soon...I hope.
,,I don't know." I said wanting to surprise them when we finally get pregnant.
,,Where is Shawn?" Karen asked me and I saw in her eyes that she still wanted to know what happened.
,,In the shower." I said and she nodded. ,,Mary, in which guest room did you sleep?" I asked her.
,,In the one next to Riley's room." Mary said.
,,Okay then let's bring your stuff in the other one." I said to Karen and Manuel.
They only had a bag because they only stayed for a night, but I showed them into the bedroom and when I wanted to leave, Karen said to bring Mary and come back because we needed a girls talk. I was confused, but did as said.
Manuel played with Riley while Mary and I walked in the guest room Karen was in.
,,What's up...?" I asked.
,,Close the door." Karen said and I did so. ,,Sit down." She said and Mary and I sat down next to her on the bed. ,,Now tell me what happened today." She said and I was scared that she would ask that.
,,Ahm...I-..." I said and looked down at my hands.
,,Mila, please don't be scared to tell me something." Karen said and placed her hands over mine while Mary started rubbing my back.
,,You might think differently about me if I tell you..."
,,Mila, I could never. You're like my second daughter." Karen said.
,,And it wasn't your fault what happened." Mary said.
,,Please tell me what's wrong." Karen said and I took a deep breath before I told her everything. She pulled me in for a tight hug afterwards and told me that it wasn't my fault.
Mary, Karen and I ended up in a big group hug as suddenly the door to the room opened and it revealed Riley.
,,Group hug!" She said and jumped in our arms.
We all giggled lightly at her cuteness and added her to the hug too.
,,It wasn't your fault. Okay?" Karen asked one more time and I nodded.
,,Girls Meeting?" Manuel said as he appeared in the doorframe.
,,Yep." Karen said.
,,Argh we need more men in this family. This family is literally so big and the only males are Shawn and I and when Carlos and his family come over the we are four men and literally seven women when Aaliyah is here too." Manuel complained.
,,Girls power." Mary said and we all laughed.
,,By the way, when can Carlos and his family come to New York?" Karen asked.
,,The kids started school and it's a little harder, but we talked about meeting next week and maybe go for a picnic. Are you two free next weekend?" I asked Karen and Manuel.
,,I can see Caroline and Alex!?" Riley asked excited.
,,You can see Caroline. Alex is in college and probably can't come, but let's hope he can." I said to Riley.
,,I think we have time. If not, we make some." Karen said and Manuel nodded.
,,What about me? You don't ask me?" Mary asked and I chuckled.
,,You never have plans. The only people you hang out with is us and Mrs Harrison." I said and she gasped and then slapped my shoulder lightly.
,,What is going in here....?" Shawn said as he walked out the bathroom and saw us all in the guest room.
,,We were just talking, but DAMN, son, you are still in good shape." Manuel said and hit Shawn's abs and that made everyone laugh.
,,Did you expect something else or what?" Shawn asked.
,,When I was thirty, I started to lose my dream body." Manuel said and chuckled.
,,I'm not thirty!" Shawn complained.
,,Twenty nine. It's the same." Manuel said and Shawn hit his arm lightly.
,,Don't hit me. I'm not in shape like you are." Manuel said and everyone else besides Riley who seemed confused started laughing.
,,What does that mean?" Riley asked and looked confused at Manuel.
,,That daddy has abs and grandpa doesn't." Manny explained and hit Shawn again in the abs.
,,If I have abs it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt when you hit me in the stomach." Shawn complained.
,,Okay, but get your pretty ass out of here. You're still in just a towel." I said and everyone –besides Riley of course– laughed at the fact that I didn't want Shawn to stay there almost completely naked.
Shawn walked in our room and closed the door after him to get changed and the rest of us moved the conversation in the living room. Aaliyah came over too and we had a beautiful family day.
Karen and Mary said that they want to cook for lunch and try something new. Aaliyah and I offered to help, but they would only throw us out of the kitchen. When we all sat at the table, we were surprised to see burgers in our plates.
,,You didn't let us help with burgers!?" Aaliyah asked confused.
,,No, because you two can do it. We wanted to learn too, so we tried it on your own risk." Karen said and everyone laughed.
Riley had a mini burger and still had problems eating so I helped her as much as I could, but we just ended up in a mess.
,,Guys..." Aaliyah said at some point when I was cleaning up Riley's face with a napkin.
,,You pregnant?" Mary asked and Shawn's and Manuel's eyes widen like they would fall out of their heads.
,,What!? No!" Aaliyah said and both Shawn and Manuel let out a breath.
,,You have a boyfriend?" Karen said and once again Shawn's and Manuel's eyes widen.
,,Yes..." Aaliyah said and Manuel spilled out water out of his mouth.
,,You what?" Manuel asked.
,,I have a boyfriend, dad. I'm twenty four. This kind of things are normal at my age!" Aaliyah said and I couldn't help but laugh lightly.
,,Thank god! I waited so long for this day! What's his name?" Karen asked Liyah.
,,He's name is Zack..." Aaliyah said with the smile I always had when I talked about Shawn.
,,,How old is he? When did you meet him? How long have you two been dating?" Shawn asked and Aaliyah seemed overwhelmed by all his questions.
,,Bro! Chill! I'm already scared at the way you'll react when Riley will have a boyfriend." Aaliyah said.
,,I don't want a boyfriend!" Riley said defensively.
,,Good girl! Please remember that for the rest of your life. Would you do that for daddy?" Shawn asked Riley and I rolled my eyes lightly.
,,Yes, daddy." Riley said and Shawn gave me a victory smirk.
,,Now answer his questions." Manny said to Aaliyah.
,,He's name is Zack like I said and he's also twenty four. We had some mutual friends and that's how we met. We started dating 6 months ago...." Aaliyah said and started getting nervous about last part.
,,6 months!? Why the fairy didn't you tell us earlier!?" Shawn asked shocked.
,,Well because I wanted to be sure about him and because I wanted to avoid this kind of interviews, but anyways. Mila knew. Mom also kinda knew. And Mary saw us a few days ago." Aaliyah said and Shawn turned to look at me and give me THE look.
,,Why didn't you tell me, Missy?" Shawn asked me.
,,It's not my job to do that..." I said.
,,We’ll talk about this later." He said and gave me a fake mean look and I knew what he really wanted to do later...
,,Can we meet him?" Manuel asked.
,,Friday at eight you can all come at my apartment and have dinner with him, but promise me not to intimidate him. And I'm serious, DAD, SHAWN." Aaliyah said.
,,I promise, but he is the intimidating one. He has abs." Manuel said and everyone started laughing lightly.
,,I won't promise anything." Shawn said and Aaliyah rolled her eyes.
,,I have him under control. Don't worry." I said and everyone started laughing again.
The rest of the day was just as good and we had so much fun. I was already so excited for the next weekend to meet Aaliyah's boyfriend and see Carlos and his family again. I really hoped that Alex will be able to come too because I haven't seen them all in a while. It was so crazy now to think about the fact that I had this amazing big family and as a kid I could only call a person family.
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I have my exam tomorrow and I know everything, but I'm still so fucking scared. Wish me luck! 😭