WONDER | shawmila

seventeen.

"What do you want to do for your birthday?" Shawn asked her the day before. "We can do whatever you want—I won't take you to a fancy restaurant if that's not where you wanna go."

Camila spent a while thinking about it. The last fun birthday she really had was two years ago. She was still with her ex then, but they'd had a pretty consistent group of friends and they all went to laser tag.

It was one of the few outings she'd had with her ex that didn't turn into a fight. She ended up having a lot of fun.

"I think I know." She said. "And I have a feeling you'll actually wanna do this too."

"What? Tell me."

"Later tag."

"Laser tag!" Shawn gasped. "Yes! I love that! How have we not done that before? That would be so fun. But, wait, can I still spoil you? Just a tiny bit? I'll make you breakfast in bed again."

"Okay." She laughed, secretly hoping he'd offer.

She woke up on her birthday to Shawn's breakfast in bed. They ate pancakes together, letting Tarzan lay up on the bed with them and just enjoying each other's company.

Camila finally got out of bed around noon and took a long bath before her parents called her on FaceTime. She was in her bathrobe, blow-drying her hair. She switched it off before answering.

"Getting ready to go out? Where is he taking you?" Her mother asked. "Somewhere fancy?"

"We're just going to go out and have some fun." Camila said.

She carried the phone with her as she stepped out of the bedroom and went into the living room for better lighting. In her own camera view in the corner, she could see Shawn on the couch eating the leftover bacon from breakfast.

If she could see him, she knew that meant her parents could see him too. She didn't know how much of Shawn's career they followed—if any, but her mom was at least somewhat on social media, and had likely seen all of Camila's posts about her and Shawn's music.

Camila decided that maybe now would be as good of a time as any to introduce them all.

"Say hi to my parents, Shawn!" Camila angled the phone so they could all see each other.

Shawn glanced up from letting Tarzan lick the bacon grease off his fingers, a slight panic-stricken look on his face. Camila held back her laughter at how cute he was when he smiled shyly.

"Um, hi." He quickly wiped his hand on his pants.

"Hello!" Sinu smiled back at him. "Where are you taking Camila tonight?"

"Um, we're just going to play laser tag with some friends."

"Oh, that sounds so fun!"

"Okay, well, I have to get dressed now." Camila put the camera back on her. "I'll text you guys later."

"Happy birthday! We love you!"

"I love you guys! Bye!"

"You could have warned me, you know." Shawn said after she hung up. "I could have at least fixed my hair or something."

"Sorry." She giggled. "You just looked so cute over there, plus your hair looks fine. My parents like you, so don't worry."

"They do?"

"Yeah, because I told them you treat me right, which you do." She walked over and kissed him on the temple.

Shawn followed her back to the bedroom and watched her as she finished brushing her hair and braiding it before taking her robe off. He immediately put his hands all over her naked body, pulling her close to him.