...And Then Some

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"This is beautiful," Karen gasped when they walked into the tiny chapel. She was right; the pictures online did this place no justice. It was small and old but so perfect for their little last minute wedding.

"It really is gorgeous," Camila agreed

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"It really is gorgeous," Camila agreed. She looked over at Shawn and smiled. Their officiant arrived at the chapel just minutes after they did. She was even kinder in person than she was over the phone, which both Shawn and Camila were grateful for. With them doing almost no research before this wedding they were really hopeful that they'd made the right decisions and in talking to their officiant and seeing their venue they were confident they had.

"Ready?" Shawn asked her, taking her hands into his. She sighed and looked over his shoulder to see her younger sister standing there, her eyes scanning the interior of the beautiful chapel.

"Almost. I just wanna talk to Sofi real quick, okay?" He nodded and kissed her forehead. Camila scurried over to her sister, pulling her aside for a quick chat. "Hey peanut. Can we talk for a second?" Sofi nodded and sat down in one of the pews with her sister.

"What's up?"

"I know this is all kinda surprising. Just wanted to see how you're feeling about it."

"Really, Camila?" Sofi giggled. "I wouldn't necessarily call you two getting married surprising."

"So I have your blessing?" Camila smiled.

"Of course. Shawn is like, the coolest guy ever. And I think this is the happiest I've ever seen you. I'd be upset if you didn't marry him." Sofi looked down at her hands, twiddling her own thumbs in her lap. "I just feel bad that mom and dad aren't here. I mean, I know obviously neither of us would want them to be here...but you know what I mean. It just sucks."

"I know," the older sister sighed. She looked over to see Shawn talking to his family — seeming to be a similarly emotional conversation. "Hey, I uh...I have something for you."

"For me?"

"Mhm. I mean, it's not like and actual present that you can open or anything...but, it's something I've been working on for a while and I think now is the perfect time for you to finally get it. When I first moved out of mom and dad's house, I felt so free. Letting go of all that toxicity was incredibly liberating and as much as I wish things could be different I did eventually come to the realization that my life was happier without them." Both of them had tears in their eyes as Camila spoke. "It always really hurt me to know that you had no choice but to depend on them because of how young you were. I knew better than anyone how horrible they could be and I knew that wasn't going to change with you. I wanted to get you out of there but I didn't really know how so, um...I started a savings account for you." Sofi's eyes widened and her brows knit together.

"What?"

"I struggled a lot financially when I moved out...which is kind of how I ended up as a stripper in the first place. I wanted to do whatever I could do to make sure you didn't have to do whatever it took just to survive like I did...so I just started putting any extra money away into a side account for you. I know you like living with the Mendes' but if and when you're ready to move out, you don't need to worry about money. You're covered...for a while, at least."

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