A Little Love

Chapter 14

Lauren frowned as she walked into the house, stuffing her keys into her coat pocket.

She could immediately hear the ruckus happening upstairs and jogged up, lingering in the doorway until she caught Dinah's eye.

She had gotten an urgent call from her girlfriend to come home quickly because Camila was freaking out, but she had no idea what was happening and wanted to talk to Dinah before Camila realised she was home.

"What's going on?" she asked as calmly as possible. It was evident that Dinah was shaken up but she could also tell that Camila wasn't just throwing a tantrum.

"I don't know, I swear I tried everything," Dinah huffed, glancing at Camila who was screaming and crying on the floor, kicking her legs. "I even checked if she needed a change," Dinah stated.

"I'm so proud of you," Lauren rolled her eyes sarcastically. "How long has this been going on?"

"Like 15 minutes," Dinah nodded.

"Babe, can you go make her a bottle?" Lauren asked. 

Dinah nodded, relieved to be able to extract herself from the situation.

"Uh, D, use that baby formula milk powder we got last week," Lauren said, glancing at Camila.

"I thought we were going to wait?" Dinah said.

"So did I," Lauren said. "But I think it'll help."

Lauren walked in cautiously, not entirely sure what to do. She sat down cross-legged on the floor a metre away from Camila.

"Nena, come here," she said softly, reaching her arms out. 

Camila didn't respond and so Lauren grabbed Mr Bunny before edging forwards slightly.

"Here," she whispered, holding the bunny against Camila's chest. "It's okay."

Much to her relief, Camila took hold of the bunny, curling onto her side and clutching him to her chest. She reached over for the pacifier which was on the floor, assuming Camila had rejected it earlier.

"Do you know which little girl this belongs to?" Lauren asked gently, holding up the soother. She spoke just loudly enough for Camila to be able to hear her over her sobs.

Camila didn't reply but looked up at Lauren, and the older girl finally had her attention.

"I know, angel," Lauren's voice broke as their eyes met. She reached over and scooped Camila up, pulling her into her lap. "I know," she whispered as Camila calmed down while she rocked her gently. "Tell me what's going on, nena, I want to listen to you."

"I w-w-want Mummy and Daddy," Camila sobbed, burying her head in Lauren's chest. 

They had been here before, and Lauren was running out of distraction techniques at this point.

"They're not here, Mila," Lauren said truthfully. "And I'm not sure they're coming back."

Camila's face crumpled, and Lauren could tell she was about to launch into full panic mode again.

"Can you put this in your mouth?" Lauren asked, holding the pacifier up again and hoping Camila would take it.

Camila hesitated before opening her mouth, letting Lauren push the plastic nipple between her lips.

"Now, I can try and call Mummy so you can talk to her, or you and me and DJ can build a fort together to keep out all the bad things and I'll message your Mummy later tonight," Lauren said, deciding it wasn't her place to tell Camila she couldn't call Serena.