Everything

Chapter 28: Family grill night

"We're building a castle," Lori said, grinning happily.

Lauren was as focused on the project as she would be on one of her medical inventions. Camila couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's Legos, babe," Camila said, smiling at Lauren, "You don't have to be quite so ambitious."

"This is the section for the queen," Lauren said, smiling pointing out a completed large area, "Now we need a place for her dragon." Lori grinned widely beside her.

"Makes sense," Camila answered, giggling and sitting down to help.

A few minutes later the door opened and Ruby entered with Normani just behind her. Dinah followed with Eliza rolling the stroller holding Jeremiah. 

"ZaZa!" Lori squealed happily, running and jumping into Eliza's waiting arms.

Camila watched Lauren, noticing immediately that her expression showed the inner turmoil of her day. Camila stood and held out her hand, helping Lauren up from the floor. Everyone greeted one another and they all poured drinks and headed out to the backyard to relax and grill their dinner. Dinah helped Camila cook while Lauren, Normani and Eliza tended to the kids. Normani looked over at Lauren with a curious expression.

"I heard Clara was lurking around today," Normani said, "I hope she didn't cause any problems."

"No, she didn't," Lauren said, pausing to collect her thoughts, "Actually, I'd like to talk to you all later. I need some advice."

"Need help burying a body?" Normani teased, "I'm there."

Lauren looked conflicted and Normani immediately softened.

"Laur, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Normani asked.

"I am," Lauren answered quickly, "Let's talk later."

Normani nodded and Lauren changed the subject, bringing Lori into the conversation to tell Eliza about her day at LJCorp. They all laughed hearing Lori spend much more time talking about the donuts than she did on anything else.

They enjoyed dinner together, even as everyone noticed that Lauren was clearly distracted. After cleaning up Normani asked Ruby to take Lori to Lauren's bedroom and watch a movie so that the adults could talk. Jeremiah was lying in his stroller, sleeping soundly. Camila poured everyone a glass of wine and they moved to the den.

Lauren sat on the loveseat and patted the cushion next to her for Camila to take. She leaned into Camila who immediately put a hand on her back and rubbed her supportively. Lauren took a deep breath before telling them about her meeting with Clara, trying her best to give every detail of their conversation. Dinah could feel Normani's body tense on the couch next to her as Lauren spoke and she reached out and took her hand to try to get her to relax. When Lauren finished, she looked at Normani expectantly.

"I know you're not a fan of Clara," Lauren said to Normani, "But I'm really feeling conflicted."

"Laur, it's not like I dislike her because she made the cheerleading team and you didn't," Normani said, trying to keep the disdain from her voice but mostly failing, "She never supported you emotionally. Every time you got your hopes up, she failed you. I'm sorry, but I can't look past that."

Dinah squeezed Normani's hand gently before speaking, "Lauren, do you want a relationship with her?"

"I don't know," Lauren answered honestly, "I feel like I shouldn't, but there's part of me..." Lauren shook her head, unable to find the words to describe how she was feeling.

"It's normal to want a mother's love," Eliza said softly, "Don't feel bad about it."