New Adjustments to a Little World

26

Dinah ventured out to the kitchen, seeing Camila and Normani sat at the small table eating turkey sandwiches and applesauce, which she had to stifle a laugh at how Camila seemed to get most of it on her face rather than in her mouth.

The taller blonde smiled at Ally, who was stood at the counter making another plate, and walked to an empty chair, setting Lauren down.

However, the green eyed girl just shook her head and tightened her grasp on the woman, letting out a small whine of discontent.

Dinah looked between the older women, who only shrugged. "Alright then," she murmured, sitting down in the chair herself and adjusting the girl into a comfortable position on her lap.

Ally walked over, setting a plate in front of the younger blonde. "I think Lauren doesn't quite know how to handle her emotions, so just let her be clingy," she said quietly.

"I was getting kind of worried," Dinah admitted. "She hasn't said a word yet, I thought I did something wrong."

The shorter woman shook her head. "I think there's a lot going on in her thoughts right now, and you're the one comfort she has right now. Just give her some time to settle and we can see if she's ready to talk after lunch."

The younger woman nodded as Ally went back to finishing preparing lunch. She grabbed one of the cut up sandwiches, offering it to the girl in her lap.

Lauren took the sandwich and began nibbling on it, keeping herself pressed as close to Dinah as possible.

Camila watched the two in silence, a slight frown on her face. She pushed her own plate near Normani and got out of her seat, climbing up onto the dark skinned woman's lap. "Wan' Mommy 'uddles."

Normani chuckled, wrapping an arm around the smaller girl to keep her from falling. "We were just cuddling while you napped, baby. But fine, you can have more cuddles."

The smaller brunette giggled happily, curling up as she munched on a sandwich slice.

Ally watched the scene with a smile, happy to see Camila was going back to her normal exuberant self. It would take a bit more time for Lauren she was sure, but the fact that the older girl was letting Dinah hold her and not pushing the blonde away was a good sign. She was admittedly slightly jealous that she was missing out on cuddling with the little ones, but Camila always switched who was the favorite Mommy every couple of days (and Normani had always been her slightly more favorite even if the girl wouldn't admit it) and Lauren needed to be with who she felt most comfortable with, so she wouldn't say anything.

Lauren silently continued to eat, reveling in the feeling of safety she felt sitting with Dinah. She looked at her plate, a little upset to see she had only eaten about half her sandwich. She didn't feel all that hungry, but that could just be because her thoughts were racing and she wasn't quite sure how to get them to slow down.

She had felt so safe and loved, and if she's completely honest with herself, she had felt so little and small and it was so nice and perfect, but she didn't know what to make of that. Before today, she had finally accepted that maybe there was some truth to Dinah implying she was a baby, but she refused to actually believe it was entirely true. But now, she was beginning to understand that Dinah really was right. She really didn't want to, but she couldn't deny it anymore.

Lauren really was just a baby in headspace. And truth be told, she was finding it wasn't such a bad thing.

However, she didn't know how to tell them that. While she knew the women wouldn't have a problem with it, there was a small part of her that was worried they would decide she was too much of a hassle and they would no longer want to be her caregivers. And she knew that was an irrational thought, because she had called Dinah 'Mama' and the woman didn't yell at her, and there was just a rush of happiness and warmth in her tummy when she did it and it felt perfect. Not to mention the fact that Dinah let her nurse. There was no way the taller blonde would let her do that and then say she didn't want to be Lauren's Mama, right?

Then there were Ally and Normani, who she wanted to call Momma and Mommy, too, but she didn't know if she was allowed or when a good time to start was. To be fair, she didn't exactly mean to call Dinah 'Mama' when she did, but she needed the blonde and it just slipped out. She wouldn't take it back though.

"What are you thinking about, lovebug?" Dinah asked suddenly, breaking her from her thoughts.

Lauren just shrugged, laying her head on the woman's shoulder.

Dinah checked the girl's plate, seeing she had eaten about half of her lunch. "Are you done, Lo?"

The green eyed girl nodded, turning her face into the crook of the blonde's neck.

"Hmm, alright, but at dinner later I want you to eat a little bit more, alright?" Really, it probably wasn't the best idea to not make Lauren eat more, but she didn't want to push the girl right now.

Ally walked over and took their plates and Dinah stood, adjusting Lauren so she could carry the green eyed girl into the living room.

The moment the blonde sat down, Lauren burrowed into the woman's side, not wanting to have the conversation she knew was coming. It wasn't the conversation itself, but the fact that she didn't know how to voice her thoughts. Honestly, it scared her slightly that she just felt so little that she didn't know if she could verbalize any of her thoughts.

"Hey, are you alright, sweets?" Dinah questioned softly, wiping away a few tears Lauren didn't realize had spilled down her cheeks.

The girl shook her head, letting out a small whine. She didn't know how to tell the woman she couldn't speak because she couldn't speak and it scared her.

"Hey, Lo, baby, whatever it is that's upsetting you, we can figure it out together, okay?" Dinah suggested, patting the girl's back soothingly.

"Dinah, what did you do? She was fine not even five minutes ago," Normani teased as she walked in with Camila on her hip.

"I didn't do anything," the younger woman argued, glaring at the dark skinned woman. "Lauren just got a little bit upset, but I'm not sure why, and I don't know if she does either. I said we could figure it out together, right, Lauren?"

The older girl nodded, but didn't raise her head from where she was hiding her face in the blonde's shoulder.

"Maybe she's just over loaded with emotions and can't voice her thoughts," Ally said as she finally entered the small living room, sitting on the coffee table in front of Lauren and Dinah. "It's normal with littles, especially after extremely emotional moments, which Lauren has had a lot of in the last few days."

"Oh, that makes sense," Dinah replied, pulling Lauren closer to her. "That's alright, lovebug. We'll figure it out together, alright?"

Lauren shyly looked up, seeing the three women looking at her encouragingly, Camila was more focused on the episode of Blue's Clues that was quietly playing on the tv.

After a few moments she nodded, releasing a nervous breath. There wasn't anything to be nervous about, she told herself, but still, she was.

She just hoped the women would be able to help her make sense of her racing thoughts.

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A/N: Shorter update, but I think they're going to start being shorter than usual. It's my fic I'll do what I want, okay? Let me know what you think! Comments, questions, concerns and ideas are welcome!