real life.

FOR ONCE, THEIR lives felt somewhat normal, more normal than it had been in almost a year. Carmen wouldn't change a thing however, and she often found herself growing even happier whenever she glanced at her little family. She knew very well that she wouldn't change a thing, because she knew that life was perfect for her in that moment, no matter what was to come in the future.

Chris glanced in the rearview mirror to find Bridget asleep then glanced at his fiancée to find her lost in thought. His hand left the steering wheel and inched over, gently laying his palm over her thigh. She was unsurprised by his actions and rested her hand over his, intertwining their fingers together.

"You're awful quiet, princess." Chris commented, quirking an eyebrow at her as he kept his eyes on the road.

Carmen laughed, "Just enjoying the peace before life gets crazy again. We do need to work out kinks in our wedding and have discussions before this baby born too."

He grinned, "Alright, baby doll." He looked at her smirked, "I can't wait to meet our little Mackenzie."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "The baby isn't a girl, I'm telling you. Mother's intuition. The baby's a Dylan."

Chris laughed, pulling her hand up and pressing kisses to the back of her palm. He shook his head and nuzzled his face against her hand softly as he kept his attention on the barren desert road.

"We're never going to stop arguing what this baby is until we get a professional's answer, aren't we?" He predicted.

Carmen smiled as she nodded, resting her free hand over her bump. "Most likely."

Chris glanced at her, a serious expression set in his features. He gently removed her hand from his cheek and pressed kisses to each of her knuckles, smiling softly at her before his expression returned. Chris sighed softly, but she caught it and shifted slightly in her seat to face him.

She quirked an eyebrow as Chris opened his mouth to speak. He huffed out a breath, "You know that I love this baby, right? Regardless of gender."

"Of course, I do." She smiled, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "The baby knows that too. There's no shame in wanting a girl, sweetheart. Besides, who says we can't try again after this one?"

Chris chuckled, tearing his attention away from the road briefly to smile at his to-be-wife, his heart swelling at the sight of her.

"Really?" He asked, "You want to try for another one after our first is born? I would've thought you'd say no since the bean's giving you trouble."

"Maybe a few years down the line," she stated, the laughter falling from her lips. "Give me a couple years and I'm sure we can try again. It's been sixteen years since I was last pregnant, Chris."

He began to grumble about her previous baby daddy and the low-key drama that he was creating. It definitely didn't go unnoticed, especially the tweets, but when Chris glanced at Bridget through the rearview mirror again, he stopped grumbling and smiled.

Chris truly loved Bridget as his own and would do anything for her. She knew it, and so did Carmen and Anna.

"You know, she asked if I'd ever adopted her." Chris stated as the thought came to mind. He remembered that, and he didn't think he'd ever forget, this girl trusted him enough to ask if he'd ever become her legal father. "You know what I said?"

"What'd you say, baby?"

"I told her that if she ever wanted me too, that I would." Chris answered, "I don't care about Daniel, no matter how angry he makes me. I have you, Bee and our baby, and Anna of course. But as long as I have you guys, our dysfunctional family, I'm happy. I'll be holding your hand at eighty and I'll say we made it, princess. That's my end goal."

Carmen leaned over and grinned, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "We don't deserve you, Christopher. I love you, so much."

•  •  •  •

yikes, only took me forever to update this. i've rewritten this chapter so many times, and since it took me so long to update, double update tonight! next chapter should be up in the next few minutes!

also, I want to do a fun poll, just for the sakes of it. What do you think the Evans baby will be? just a hint, I already know. 😏

Boy or girl?