(One more chapter after this one.)
It's been about two years since the day Camila had said I do, and although life hasn't been the easiest, she is well aware that with Lauren by her side, she can do it all.
It's been a year since the two of them moved back to Miami and into their new home. Once again, it was't much, but at least this time they had an apartment with their own bedroom, and a guest room. The one they were planning to fill pretty soon.
Baby talk occurred a few times in the past few months and both of them knew they're more than ready to do it.
Sure, they were young and had all of their life ahead of them, some even called them crazy because why would you want a child so early when you can explore the world, Camila would only shrug her shoulders at their words and maybe roll her eyes if they aren't looking, Lauren however had no pardon, she'd flip them off and said it's their life, their bodies and their choices. Camila had to admit, she looked sexy as hell while doing so.
So, as September rolls around and Lauren is busy with work, Camila decides to take the matter into her own hands and surprise her wife.
"Are you sure about this?" Dinah questions as the two of them sit in the parking lot
"Yeah, I mean, we're ready, right? We both want this."
"Wouldn't you rather take her instead though? Considering she'll be raising this child with you."
"I want to surprise her. It can be my Christmas gift for her. I mean, I've been saving for this for some time now and I know I'm young, like fuck, we're not even twenty-five, but I know that it'd be good for us. It's not like I'm trying to save our marriage by getting a baby, we're more than fine without the baby, but..."
"But having a baby would bring back the spark?"
"Oh, we have plenty of spark." Camila laughs "I just feel like we're both at the time of our lives where we're ready for it, you know? Who knows when we'll be ready again, something can happen soon and it'd never be the right moment. There are no right moments, Dinah. You have to grab the moment and make it the right one. That's what I'm doing now."
"Okay then, let's get you pregnant." Dinah replies as she claps her hands excitedly
"Not a word to anyone about it though. Got it missy?"
"Of course Mila. But I'm the godmother."
"No, you're not." Camila mumbles before leaving the car
The brunette has already been here a few times, exploring her options and looking for potential donors. She wanted the child to be similar to Lauren.
And boy, do you know how hard it was to find the right donor? Green eyes, dark hair, smart, funny, caring, and Latino? It was, hard.
But, she made it. His name is Emanuel and he's got a bachelor's degree in banking and finance concentration, he can play a piano, likes to read and plays handball, on top of that, he apparently spends Sundays volunteering in a local shelter for homeless people. And like, he's from Argentina and Camila always wanted to go to Buenos Aires, so there's that.
Her heart was beating like crazy as she listened to the doctor's words carefully.
"Are you okay?" Doctor smiled at her
"Yeah, just like, nervous a bit."
"You're gonna be fine, don't worry."
So, Camila took a deep breathe and decided to deal with it by putting on big girls' pants and calming her nerves.
"So, how did it go?" Dinah asked
"Good."
"Just good?"
"Like, do you want me to explain the whole process of the things that had happened in there and-- "
"Um, no, nevermind. Let's get something to eat, I'm starving."
"Aren't you always?"
"Rude."
Lauren's very good at reading people, she likes to observe people in her free time, she brags about that being one of the things she's the best at. And she really is great at it.
But Camila, you see, Camila has been her best friend since she was five years old and has spent almost all of her life getting to know Lauren and how her mind works. She knows how to hide things from Lauren, how to make her think that she guessed something when really Camila kept giving her cues. Lauren's a pro at reading people, and she's a pro at reading Camila, when Camila wants to be read.
This time however, she doesn't.
She manages to keep things hidden, to keep them a secret.
On rare occasions when Lauren is present for her morning sickness, she blames it on too much food she had last night, or on the fact that she had too many wine(really, it was just cranberry juice in a wine bottle), so Lauren doesn't think much of it.
She doesn't think much of the fact that Camila has some weird cravings, no matter what time it is, because like, it's not once that Camila woke her up in the middle of an hour because she wanted to eat something weird, like banana bread with peanut butter and bacon, or pizza with M&M's, like really?
And lately, Camila's been really clingy, but then again, Camila has always been clingy with Lauren.
So, no, Lauren doesn't suspect a thing about Camila having another tiny human to be inside of her belly.
Like, not even when it kind of starts to show, because Camila never works out and she eats like a maniac, so Lauren just shrugs it off, happy that her wife finally gained a few pounds.
"I'm so nervous." Camila whispers to Dinah who is sitting next to her
They're having Christmas' Eve dinner at Cabello's place and everyone is there. Like, literally everyone. Cabello's Christmas party tend to be big, like huge.
"When are you gonna tell her?"
"When the clock hits midnight."
"Like in front of everyone or?"
"No, I'll drag her upstairs, I think it'd be too much to tell her in front of everyone, ya know?"
"Yeah, for sure."
And then, the clock hits midnight and once Camila is done wishing everyone a very merry Christmas, she walks over to her wife.
"Hey wifey."
Lauren smiles at her and pulls her in for a kiss. "Hello love, merry Christmas."
"Do you have a moment? I want to give you your present."
"Camila," Lauren groans "which part of no gifts did you not get?"
"Just come with me upstairs."
"Ooh," Lauren smirks "it's that kind of a gift, okay. Lead the way m'lady."
"Such a perv, it's not that kind of a gift."
And then, a few moments later, they're sitting on Camila's childhood bed, and Camila is playing with a tiny box.
"Open it."
Lauren looks at her as she takes the box.
Inside, lost among all those baby blue confetti lays a necklace with a locket, shaped as a circle, the sun and the moon decorating it.
"It's beautiful."
"I saw it a few weeks ago in one of those old bookstores where they sell everything and anything. If you find the right guy, you can put pictures in it."
"Do you know how many pictures of you I have that I want to put in it?" Lauren jokes "Like, fuck Camz, you're so beautiful."
"Open it. I-- I've already put pictures in it. Hopefully, you'll like them. It's too late to change it now." Camila replies as she touches her own belly
Her eyes never leave Lauren as the older girl opens the locket and takes a look at the pictures.
The picture on the left is the picture from their wedding, it's a candid picture that none of them knew is being take, they're looking at each other as if they're looking at the most beautiful and most precious possession, which they kind of are; the second picture, the one on the right is the one that makes Lauren cry. It's a picture from the ultra-sound Camila got a few days ago. It's small and you can barely recognize it, but Lauren knows.
Camila watches as Lauren's fingers trace over the picture before she turns around and pulls Camila in for a gentle kiss, followed by a tight hug.
"When?"
"When is the due date?" Camila asks
"Yeah."
"Somewhere in May."
"I love you, so fucking much." Lauren says as she plants another kiss on Camila's lips
"I love you too." Camila lets out a giggle
Lauren's reaction is so priceless.
"And I love you too." Lauren adds as she leans down and lifts up Camila's shirt to press a kiss to her belly "Actually, we both do."
She looks up at Camila, a special light in her emerald eyes, the same light Camila has in her own eyes.
"We?" Camila lets out a shaky breath
"We." Lauren nods "I had my first appointment on the first."
"And suddenly, my heart beats for three." Camila smiles
"We're gonna go crazy, aren't we?"
"We've gone crazy long time ago, my love."
"As long as we're crazy together." Lauren replies before planting another kiss on Camila's lips
Camila smiles as she pulls the older girl down on the bed, where they lie in comfortable silence until they both fall asleep with smiles on their face,
Because, they know. They know that no matter how crazy it gets, they can do it all, as long as they have each other.