A Big Kind of Little Love

Chapter 21: Betrayal

Content Warning: This chapter has discussion of bullying and other potentially triggering subjects, particularly surrounding LGBTQ+ violence and marginalization.

Evie was finally napping in her Mama's arms after sobbing non-stop for hours. The girl had been dismissed from school with a disciplinary warning by Principal Paulson after the verdict from Bella and her friends. She had been a mess ever since. She didn't understand how Bella could frame her like that for something she saw Phoebe do with her own eyes.

The whole ride home, Evie sat in her carseat balling her little eyes out as her Mama tried her best to comfort her. But there wasn't much either women could do. Evie was hurt, betrayed by a person she didn't think would ever betray her; her family. And she needed to feel these feelings in that moment. 

The tears didn't stop after the family had returned home. Evie clung to her mommies for the entire afternoon, clutching for dear life on to whomever was holding her. Camilla and Lucia had quickly learned from their mistake of trying to put Evie down for a nap in her crib. The moment the girl lost physical contact of her mommies she melted down straight into a sobbing mess.  

Eventually, Evie cried herself into a slumber in her Mommy's arms as the family sat on the living room couch. The silence was a welcome one, giving the two Colossi women a respite from the sobs and sniffles of their distraught little girl. 

After sitting in the peaceful quiet for a few refreshing moments, Camilla broke the silence with a whisper to her wife. "There's no way our Evie did that, right? Write those words on the lunchroom table? I mean, she's so well-behaved, it just wouldn't make any sense for her." 

Lucia shook her head. "Absolutely not." She said, feeling herself getting heated. Looking down at the sleeping Evie, the woman wanted to make sure she didn't wake up her baby girl. "I hate to say it, but I think Bella and her little friends were lying through their teeth." 

"You think she's capable of telling a lie like that? And getting her cousin into this much trouble? Camilla asked skeptically. 

"Babe, she may be a little but she's not nearly as little as Evie." Lucia began to explain. "Add that with the fact that she's one of the cool kids at their school and, yeah, of course she's capable of lying like she did."

Camilla took a deep breath. "I guess I didn't want to believe it. We've just taken care of her so often, she's a niece to me. I don't want to think that she's capable of hurting our little girl the way she did." 

"I don't want to believe it either." Lucia answered with a shrug, "But it's either that, or, our Evie actually did write on that table. And I think the former is a lot more likely than the latter."

Camilla curled into her wife and began to rub her sleepy little's back as she snoozed. "I agree. I guess that means we should talk to Marcella and Adrian, right?"

"That'll be a fun conversation." Lucia replied with hushed sarcasm.

She look over to see Camilla leaning against her with her eyes closed, quickly finding that her own were getting heavier. Soon enough, the trio were fast asleep on the couch.

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Camilla sprang awake to the sound of the doorbell. 

She looked at the clock to see that the three of them had been asleep for several hours, and it was now well into the evening. The setting sun outside casted a beautiful orange glow throughout the house that Camilla might have noticed if she didn't know who was at the door.

As she stood from the couch, Lucia awoke with a stir, followed by a grogged Evie. Thankfully, she wasn't crying... yet. 

Camilla made her way to the door as the other two woke themselves up a bit more. Opening the door, her intuition had been proved correct as she saw Marcella and Adrian standing on the porch. Between them, but trying her best to hide herself, was Bella, who's reddened eyes clearly looked like she had been crying.