A Little Love

Chapter 10

"She cried the whole time, didn't eat lunch, picked fights with kids twice her size and she was throwing a tantrum when I got there," Lauren sighed. She had just gotten home with Camila, the little girl fast asleep in her arms having not hd her nap at daycare.

"She needs a crib, Lo, I found her in the kitchen at four am," Dinah said, taking Camila from Lauren and carrying her over to the sofa where she put her down.

"I know, but turning the guest room into a nursery- uh, bedroom, for her would be a bit premature," Lauren sighed. "We can't keep her, D."

"Why not?" Dinah jutted out her bottom lip.

"Because she has loving parents," Lauren said, crossing her arms. 

"Loving?" Dinah raised an eyebrow.

"They won't let us," Lauren sighed. "And we couldn't afford to raise a child with special needs."

"All she needs is love, Lauren,"  Dinah argued. The tables, seemingly, had turned completely.

Lauren turned around at the sound of mumbling to see Camila waking up.

"Hello, chica," Lauren cooed, walking over and sitting down next to Camila who immediately snuggled into her side. 

"I'll get her a bottle," Dinah said.

"D, she doesn't need a bottle, just put it in a sippycup," Lauren said, not wanting to break the rule of only giving Camila her bottle when she was distressed.

"Bottle," Camila mumbled, still half asleep as she sprawled out across Lauren's lap.

"Kid said she wants a bottle," Dinah said.

"And I said she doesn't need one," Lauren said firmly, causing Camila to start crying. "Shh, Mila," she soothed, shooting Dinah a look about what she had started.

Dinah rolled her eyes before leaving. She returned a few minutes later with Camila's baby bottle, and Lauren decided it wasn't worth upsetting Camila over.

"Here, nena," she hummed, moving the little girl so that she was cradling her. "Say ahh."

Camila immediately started suckling, relaxing in Lauren's arms.

"Hey, slowly," Lauren said softly as Camila started to cough, lifting her into her arms and patting her back gently to burp her. "There we go," she hummed once Camila had burped and stopped coughing.

"More," Camila whispered, reaching for the bottle.

"Okay, okay," Lauren said, pushing the nipple back into Camila's mouth. "Have you had a little accident?" Lauren asked gently, patting Camila's diaper and feeling the dampness.

Camila shook her head adamantly, sucking even harder on her bottle.

"Okay, okay," Lauren soothed, rubbing Camila's back reassuringly. "I still need you to eat some dinner after this," Lauren reminded Camila.

"Your phone, Lo," Dinah said, throwing it to her.

"No," Camila whined, trying to cling onto Lauren.

"Shh, I'll just be a minute," Lauren promised.

Only, she wasn't a minute.

An hour later at dinner time Lauren was still in her room talking in a hushed voice.

"No, I want LoLo," Camila insisted as Dinah tried to feed her a bite of her dinner.

"She's busy," Dinah sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Camila burst into tears. "I'm sorry," she groaned, not knowing what to do as she lifted Camila into her arms. "Uh, do you know where your pacifier is?" she asked, bouncing Camila in her arms in hopes that it would soothe her.