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[shawn]

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"good morning my love!" i hear anya say loudly, as i groan to myself, opening my eyes and seeing her lifting avery out of her cot. "hey baby, how did you sleep?" she coos, beginning to rock our eight day old child in her arms.

"so no good morning to me?" i mumble, shuffling onto my back, pulling the duvet closer around me.

"good morning gorgeous," she grins, walking over to me, and gently lowering avery down onto my chest, pulling away the duvet as she does so.

"hi baby girl, did you sleep good?" all i get in response is a blink of her caramel eyes. "no? yes? baby, talk to me."

"she's a baby," anya giggles, sitting in the bed next to me, leaning her back on the headboard. "but i bet she's hungry, you want some milk baba?" she asks, putting her voice in a baby tone.

"you want some coffee?" i ask, sitting up once anya takes avery off of my chest, and positions her to feed her.

"mm, please," she hums, lifting up her-my t-shirt, positioning avery next to her breast. "could you take out the mango i cut last night too?"

"of course," i say, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. "morning beautiful."

"thanks baby," she grins again, biting her lower lip gently. "why do you look so good in the morning? it's not fair."

"it's the mendes genes," i wink, making her roll her eyes playfully, as i chuckle, standing up from the bed, and heading straight into the en-suite to quickly brush my teeth and wake myself up. i then head straight to the kitchen, flicking on the coffee machine, and opening the fridge, taking out a cartoon of eggs, and the mango anya cut last night.

"hey, babe?" i hear her yell from our room. "can you get a bottle of pumped milk from the fridge please? she's not latching on," anya says, as i put the stuff i was holding down onto the counter, and open the fridge up again, taking out a bottle of breast milk.

"how long do i warm it up for?" i yell back, opening up the microwave.

"one minute on low power, make sure to check the temperature on the back of your hand too!" she shouts. "thanks hun!"

i chuckle to myself, shaking my head, before lowering the power of the microwave and putting the bottle in for a minute.

whilst that heats up, i make mine and anya's coffee, putting them both in the small grey mugs she seems to love, and call her 'special coffee cups', even though they're the same as all mugs out there.

the microwave beeps loudly, and i take the bottle out, testing the temperature on the back of my hand, feeling it to be warm, but not too not to the point it'll burn avery's mouth. i take the bottle back to the bedroom, seeing anya rocking avery gently in her arms, leaning down to kiss her little forehead.

"here, let me feed her. your coffees in the kitchen, and the mangos on the counter," i say softly to anya, walking next to the bed, and taking avery out of anya's arms.

"are you sure?" anya asks me, as i grin, nodding my head.

"yeah, we'll come sit on the couch anyway," i say, as anya smiles gratefully at me, standing up from the bed, and walking out of our room. i follow her slowly, being careful because i have avery in my arms, before entering the lounge, and taking a seat on the comfy white sofa, pulling a blanket over my lap.

"hey baba," i say softly to the baby in my arms, easing her in a comfortable position to feed. "are you giving mama a hard time, my love?" i chuckle gently, opening up the bottle with one hand, and easing it to avery's mouth. "please try not to, i know you can't help it, but your mom has been through a lot recently, and i don't think either one of us wants her to feel upset." avery looks up at me, and blinks her eyes, as she eagerly takes little gulps from the bottle. "easy baby, don't drink too fast." i laugh lightly, as avery blinks again, probably not even knowing what i'm trying to say. i look up from her, looking into the kitchen, seeing anya walking around, preparing her breakfast so it matches her new breast feeding diet. "i'm gonna marry your mama some day," i whisper, looking down at avery. "gonna be one big family, and maybe we can get a pet, maybe even give you some little siblings," i continue to say to my child who still remains clueless. "you'd like that baba, wouldn't you? have some little friends to play with?"

i look back up again, seeing anya taking a sip of her coffee, and flinching slightly, probably burning her tongue in the meantime, as i hold in a laugh, before looking back down at avery.

"gonna do everything to make sure my girls have the best life. i promise you, baby girl."

-

"she looks so confused," aaliyah laughs, holding avery against her chest. "i bet you're wondering how weird your daddy is, aren't you angel?" she says in a baby voice, making anya laugh loudly.

"hey!" i complain, putting my feet up on the table in front of me. "i'm right here, you know? ave, don't listen to them, i'm not weird."

"oh hunny," anya giggles, sitting on the arm rest of the couch i'm sitting on, moving her hand up to my hair, knitting her fingers in my curls. "you're not weird, just a bit of an idiot."

"thanks," i chuckle sarcastically, bringing my hand up to her thigh, tracing small patterns over it.

"i can't believe you two have a child," aaliyah says randomly, as avery let's out a loud gurgle, making me smile softly. "like an actual child. i can't believe it. an actual breathing child, shawn, being a dad, it's so weird."

"you don't even want to know how long i've spent just thinking at how crazy it all is," anya chuckles. "like i could be sitting there, feeding her, and i'll just be thinking over everything, but then i look down at avery and i don't regret anything."

"i'm glad he had a child with you," aaliyah tells us. "honestly, i somehow had a feeling you guys would end up together, just somehow."

"really?" i ask, suddenly quite curious. "if i'm honest, i thought i would be single forever." i say, making both anya and aaliyah laugh. "heck even mum thought i was gonna be single forever."

"i don't know if it's because anya basically grew up with us, but i've just always seen her to be a pretty big part of our lives, and i always thought you guys were always taking care of each other. don't you remember when anya fractured her ankle at my tenth birthday? you cared for her the whole afternoon, and went to the hospital with her." aaliyah explains.

"i remember that day," anya smiles softly at me, bringing her hand down to cup my cheek as i look up at her. "my knight in shining armour."

"gross," aaliyah whispers to herself, making both anya and i chuckle. "anyway, after that, i always thought you would just end up together. and then that stuff happened, but i truly believe anya got that job from andrew for a reason. it's the universe telling you guys you should be together."

"i'm not gonna lie, when the stuff with what's her name, hailey, went down, i did feel slightly jealous," anya admits. "and when you had that casual thing with georgia before stuff happened between us."

"oh yeah?" i ask, a coy smirk playing with the sides of my mouth. "i was pretty jealous of you and jason, and that other guy you met in paris, thomas?"

"are you joking, i got coffee with that guy!" anya giggles. "i mean we talked for a bit after that, but he lives in paris, nothing more would have happened. he was cute though."

"i'm cuter," i say, as anya giggles again, nodding.

"even you and laur, i was a little bit jealous, but that's only because i wasn't the most important girl to you, barre aaliyah and your mum." anya shrugs, a small frown finding its way on her face.

"well now you're my number one girl, we're in this forever," i say softly to her, making her look up again, with a small smile on her pink lips. "you and avery, my number ones."

"hey!" aaliyah groans.

"oh shush, you and mum are my granted tops, you've always been that, and always will," i say, making aaliyah laugh.

"i still can't believe you started something with georgia, of all people," aaliyah chuckles, making anya snort out a laugh.

"i don't even know what i was going through during that phase," i chuckle, shaking my head. "i mean she's sweet, just a bit, you know."

"much?" anya asks, a little laugh leaving her lips.

"yeah, a bit much," i say, laughing with her. "i'm glad i've got anya though, i'm eternally grateful to have her."

"i love you," anya tells me softly, grabbing onto my hand that rests on her thigh.

"i love you," i reply, as she leans down, pressing her lips against mine.

"two legal children in the room, keep it pg-13," aaliyah piped in, making anya pull away from me and burst out into giggles.

"thanks aaliyah," i roll my eyes. "you made her pull away."

"here, have your child, will that make you happy?" aaliyah asks, gently picking up avery, and standing up from where she was sitting, walking over to me, as i grin, scooping avery up in my arms. "better?"

"much," i grin. "thanks liyah."

"i'm gonna go help mum and dad," she says, before rushing out of the room, making both anya and i laugh.

"hi bubs," anya coos, using her finger to caress avery's cheek lightly. "yeah baby, your auntie aaliyah is really cool, she's cooler than me and your dada for sure."

"way cooler," i butt in. "but your mamas not as cool as me."

"no, i'm the cooler one ave, don't listen to daddy, he's talking rubbish," she giggles, bringing her nose down to avery's cheek, rubbing it gently. i chuckle softly, letting out a soft yawn as anya looks down at me. "hey, go get some sleep baby, take a nap."

"are you sure?" i ask her, looking straight at avery. "how about we all take a nap?"

"but what if your mum-"

"she won't need help, we both deserve some sleep, and it's getting close to avery's nap time anyway," i chuckle, as anya sighs, standing up, holding avery to her chest. "wait, you're coming?"

"yeah i am, genius," she says sarcastically making me breathe out a chuckle. "i've never napped in your old room as your girlfriend," she says randomly, as we walk to my old bedroom.

"i've never napped in my room with you as my girlfriend, or with my child," i say to her, making her giggle softly, as i open the door to my room.

"oh baby, already asleep?" anya whispers, kissing avery's cheek gently. "come on bubs, let's get you comfy." anya crawls onto the bed, supporting avery's head with the back of her hand, before she lies down, placing avery on her chest. i chuckle gently, before lying down next to anya, resting my head in the crook of her neck.

"oh so now i have two babies?" she jokes, as i grin, shutting my eyes.

"uh huh, you definitely do," i whisper back. "goodnight, my love."

"night night, baby," i smile automatically at her, moving my hand to rest over her side. "i wasn't talking to you babe, sorry."

"rude."

"you love me."

"sadly."