“Hey girls, walk with me to get a drink at the bar?”

“Carmen-“ Shane said.

“Not for me. For you. Want a beer?”

“Um sure.”

“Mom?”

“I’ll have a margarita.”

“Ok.”

—————————————————————————————————————————————

When Carmen walked away, I wanted to run. I couldn’t believe she had just left me sitting there with her mother, I didn’t know what to talk about or what to say.

“Shane.” Mercedes pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Yes, Mrs. Morales?”

“You can still call me Mercedes.”

“Ok, yes Mercedes?”

“Do you love my Carmen?”

“Yes. More than anything in the whole world.”

“Then why did you leave her?”

“Mercedes, my dad was there and he told me I was just like him and I saw him with a woman that wasn’t his wife. I just thought that I would do that to Carmen and I didn’t want to hurt her like that. I know that that is not an excuse but I just wanted to spare her the pain I would cause, because I thought she could live without me, but I can’t live without her. I love her with all I have. I want to be by her side forever. I want her by my side forever. I know I can’t promise I won’t screw it up, but I am going to try.”

“Shane, I think I believe you. Carmen told me everything about your relationship, we are closer than ever and I just want to say that you better not hurt her again like you did, but I think that you are right for each other, I support both of you.”

“Thank you Mercedes.”

“Now what about my grand baby? Are you ready for that Shane?”

“Yes. I know that it wasn’t supposed to be our baby, but I want this baby. I want it to be “our” baby. I want to raise this baby with Carmen. I want to show the baby new things and watch him grow. I just want to be part of the baby’s life.”

“Perfect.” She just smiled at me and I smiled back. I looked up and saw Carmen watching us from the bar. I gave her a big smile and a small wave. She smiled back even bigger and walked back towards the table.

————————————————————————————————————————————– 

After Shane and my mom had a little chat I walked back over to the table and it was like everything was back to normal. We had a nice dinner and chatted about the baby and the family. After dinner we took my mom home and then drove back to our house.

“So what did you guys talk about?” I asked Shane as soon as we walked back into the house.

“You, mostly. And about Canada.”

“Oh. What did my mom say?”

“She just asked why I left.”

“And what did you say?”

“I said I left because of my dad but I know that’s not an excuse and that I love you with everything I have and I want to be by your side forever.”

“Aww, baby.” I wrapped my arms around Shane.

“Yea, well what can I say? It’s the truth.” I felt her arms go around my waist.

“I love you baby.”

“I love you too.” I kissed Shane but I pulled away real fast.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you feel that?”

“No.”

“The baby just kicked.”

“Oh let me feel.” Shane put her hand on my stomach and the baby kicked again. We looked at each other and laughed.

“He’s going to be a soccer player.” I said to Shane.

“I hope so.” She said with her hand still on my stomach. I pushed her hair to the side and kissed her forehead while we stood in the living room talking about all of the great things our baby could do.