Chasing Papers

Expecting and Unexpected

Camila's POV

I didn't expect Shawn to be better at pregnancy than I was. I knew that pregnancy came with cravings, mood swings, nausea, fatigue, but I had trouble anticipating it and pinpointing exactly what I needed. Shawn knew. He would offer suggestions and help me figure out what I wanted.

"I'm craving something..."

"Sweet, salty or sour?" Shawn asked.

"Sweet."

"Okay, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, pastries?" Shawn continued.

"Ice cream."

"Chunky monkey, Ben and Jerry's?" Shawn perked his eyes up.

"YES! HOW DID YOU KNOW!?" I was flabbergasted.

Shawn went to the fridge and pulled out a little pint and a spoon and brought it over to me.

"I'm the dad, it's my job to keep the momma happy," Shawn smiled. I loved that. It was new and weird and I couldn't believe I was going to be someone's mom, but ready or not, I was.

As my belly grew, sleeping became increasingly difficult. Mostly, because it was hard to situate myself properly but also because I would randomly get cramps in my calf. Shawn would massage them and never once complain. I tried to be as easy as possible and tried to think before I talked, but inevitably, I'd hear myself snapping at him. I apologized profusely and Shawn, being probably the perfect human, would kiss my nose and tell me it's okay. 

Today I was randomly craving Olive Garden-- but not like the food, literally just the soup, but I didn't want to go out to eat at a restaurant. I felt fat and unattractive and even though Shawn insisted I wasn't, I didn't want to go out.

Shawn had never been to Olive Garden but he was asking me about it so I told him about the first and only time I'd ever been.

I must have been about 16 in high school and I was at the time homeless, because the foster family I was living with were absolute assholes. The dad would come home smelling of liquor and argue with his wife. There were other kids in the home too but some of them were older boys that were about to age out of the system and they only wanted one thing. I was very focused on my studies so most of the time I would work at a coffee shop of wherever stayed open the latest. One time I remember my English teacher, Mrs.Bain running into me. It wasn't something she ever asked about, but I think she knew I didn't have a place to go or somewhere to get a meal. She took me to Olive Garden and I remember I ate until my heart and stomach was full. My favorite thing was the soup. I remember it had sausage and potato and kale but I don't remember much else. Maybe it was because I was starving or maybe because for the first time in a long time someone had showed me kindness, but I remember it being one of the best days of my life. Shawn listened intently, but I could always see a sadness sitting just behind his eyes whenever I talked about a time before I knew him. 

When I got home from work the next day, Shawn was making something that smelled delicious and oddly familiar. "Baby, what are you doing?"

"You'll see," he said. He winked and kissed me and told me everything would be ready in 15 minutes. It was a long 15 minutes because I could feel my stomach growling and my mouth was already watering.

Shawn brought two bowls to the table and my eyes widened when I saw what it was.

Shawn's POV

Camila told me  the story of her teacher taking her to Olive Garden. To be honest I'd never been but I knew enough to know that it wasn't anywhere near authentic Italian food. I searched on the internet for the soup Camila was describing and I found a recipe for something called "Zuppa Toscana". I looked at the ingredients and knew I could make it better.