Our Deepest Scars

Epilogue

It was 7 o'clock in the morning.

Camila's first thought upon waking up was that she could vaguely feel Lauren's hair draped across the side of her face, blocking her view of the blinding sunlight streaming into the room but also providing her with the sweet scent of the older woman's shampoo that she had come to love so deeply.

Gently pushing her wife's dark brown locks from her skin, Camila rolled onto her back and slowly opened her eyes. As she stared at the ceiling, the Latina let her mind roam over what had been the most perfect week in a long time. Everything had gone as she had planned it. They had been to visit both her family and Lauren's family over the last few days, after having been away for long enough to miss them. It almost reminded Camila of the days when Lauren and herself had been in Fifth Harmony, almost five years ago.

Allowing her thoughts to drift around in her head for a little longer, Camila mindlessly traced Lauren's hand, which was resting on the pillow next to the smaller girl's head. This is how life should be, Camila decided as she stroked her wife's soft skin and watched as a flock of birds flew across the bright blue sky far away in the distance. She closed her eyes again with the intention of falling back asleep, just for a minute.

"Mommy?"

Camila's lips instantly turned up into a smile despite the interruption. Opening her eyes and rapidly sitting up, she ran a hand through her hair that was tousled from sleeping and looked across the room to the door, which had been creaked open. A pair of wide green eyes were peering through the gap, and the second they saw Camila, the door opened further until a tiny girl was revealed.

"Issie? Hey, come here," Camila whispered, and the child ran over immediately, her little feet padding across the tiled floor until they reached the bed. She lifted her arms up and Camila carried her daughter gently onto the comforter, pulling her in for a cuddle as soon as she was on the bed. Burying her face in the tiny girl's chestnut curls, the older Latina remained as elated as she had been when Isabella was born three years ago.

"Mommy? Did I wake you up?" Her voice was high pitched, like most three year olds, but it had an intelligent tone to it as though the girl was wise beyond her years. The sweetness of her words and the anxiety in her eyes made Camila's heart melt with love.

Smiling at her daughter and gently stroking her cheek, Camila reassured the little girl. "No, sweetie, you didn't. I was already awake, it's okay." Issie looked relieved; she was the kind of child who hated when her parents were angry at her. Luckily, Camila and Lauren rarely were.

"Good," she nodded, making the curls that framed her face bob up and down. "Is Mama awake?"

Glancing quickly over to Lauren and feeling eternally grateful that Issie had turned out so much like the woman who had given birth to her, Camila shook her head. "No, Mama isn't awake yet...but I have an idea. Do you wanna hear it?" She had quickly formulated a plan to wake her wife up.

"Yeah!" Issie squealed, giggling excitedly, and Camila shushed her quietly to ensure that Lauren didn't awaken.

"Okay, here's what you're going to do." Camila whispered into her daughter's ear and cupped her hand gently over Issie's mouth to make sure no laughter escaped it and ruined their plans. Understanding her mother's instructions, the little girl climbed carefully across Camila's legs and jumped off the bed.

"Mommy? Will she be mad at me?" Isabella whispered fearfully, and Camila felt a surge of appreciation for her daughter's compassion and awareness of other people's emotions.