For Him - Shawn Mendes

RIGHT in the heart of spring

HANNAH

In the heart of spring two years later we decided to move back to Canada. It wasn't just because it's impracticable to raise a child in an apartment in New York, but because it's almost impossible to raise two.

And my dad was dying.

"Mum?" Kar mumbled, her curly brown hair flying in the wind of the open car window.

Shawn hummed, eyeing the little girl in the rear-view mirror. "Yes?"

Clutching her crayons the toddler furrowed her eyebrows, "You're not mum."

"I'm not?" Shawn smiled mischievously. "I guess I am now. What's up, buttercup?"

Fidgeting in her car seat, Kar huffed. "Am I going to be a big sis-ter?"

Shawn turned to me and laughed, his left hand reaching for mine over the center console where I gripped the wheel excitedly. "Yes," He grinned, "you are. You're going to have a little brother. Is that okay with you?"

Kar frowned, scrunching her nose. "No, duh. Mum?"

"Don't annoy mummy," He cooed softly. "Hey, how about you tell us what you've drawn?"

"It's a po-ny, duh." She stuck her tongue out and held up a sketch that seemed to surpass the ability of the average two-year old.

Shawn turned to me again and his cheeks stretched, but I looked away. On the phone that morning my mum had told me my dad wasn't well. He'd been sick the week beforehand but insisted on working in the cafe the day he could get out of bed himself, despite the word of everyone else. Chloe came in at midday to help, and found him on the floor of the kitchen. He'd had a stroke.

Shawn squeezed my hand as his jeep carried us off the main highway and into the loved suburb of Pickering. We'd bought a house on the outskirts, behind the river where suburbia met thick forest. Shawn fell in love with the way the sun painted shadows across the stone of the house at sunrise and caught handfuls of yellow at sunset. I fell in love with the way it reminded me of our childhood.

But these observations were just from pictures on the internet, and as we pulled up the cobblestone driveway for the first time it surprised me how much more beautiful it was in real life. Wisteria vines stretched in whites and greens from the edge of the path at the doorstep all the way to the circular dormer window at the top of the house, creating a magical aura that captured my heart instantly.

"It looks straight out of a Disney film," I smiled, watching as Shawn laughed at my comment and scooped Kar from her car-seat and into his arms.

With the key between my fingers and my hand hovering beside the door, Shawn wrapped his fingers around my arm. "Wait," He breathed.

"Wait!? Oh, come on..." Kar collapsed her impatient head against his chest with frustration.

I nodded at him to go on. "The house has a studio for me," He confirmed, "and an office for you to finish your book..." He shook his head, as if he was still trying to wrap his head around it. His eyes flashed as he went on, "think about how much more time we're going to have together!" Taking in a sharp breath he placed his hand on my stomach, where we'd only just discovered laid another bean. "All four of us."

I shook my head at him, taken-aback by his sudden excitement. I kissed him then, before opening the door to our first ever house - blissfully unaware of the gut-wrenching things that would later unfold in that very building.

SHAWN

30th of December, 2025

Date of Birth: 12/30/25