Better Together: A Laurinah Adoption Story

Chapter 2: Torment

Crying and a series of ear-piercing screams awoke the young couple in the wee hours of the night. Violet was having a nightmare. The smaller girl thrashed her arms and legs about, trying to fight off something, or someone, that she was dreaming about. 

Lauren got up quickly, flipping the light switch to illuminate the room. Dinah pulled Violet into her arms, gently restraining her to prevent her from hitting herself. 

"Shhh, Violet, wake up," Dinah cooed just loud enough to be heard over Violet's upset cries. Lauren sat down next to the two just as Violet's eyes opened. Scanning the room frantically, Violet's eyes quickly filled with tears. 

"Hey, look at me, sweetheart," Lauren whispered in a calming tone, using her hand to gently guide Violet's head to look at her. The small girl's lip trembled as she made eye contact with Lauren and the floodgates soon gave way. 

"You're okay, I promise," Dinah assured, allowing Violet to rest her head on her chest. 

"We won't let anything happen to you and I pinky-swear that to you," Lauren added, gently caressing Violet's cheek, wiping away some of her tears. Violet brought her hands up to her eyes, wiping her eyes, struggling to come down from the aftermath of her nightmare. Dinah coddled her closer, Lauren snuggling close as well. Violet allowed herself to be comforted by the two, slowly making progress and calming down. 

"How about we go downstairs and you can watch a little tv until you fall back asleep?" Dinah offered. Violet shook her head, fighting to hold back sobs once more. 

"Hey, how come?" Lauren questioned, concerned. 

"W-what if-if..." Violet stuttered out, looking up at Dinah, tears pooling in her eyes even more. 

"What if what, love?" Dinah asked, hoping for Violet to use her words better. Violet looked around the room fearfully, her heart pounding in her head, and her breathing became labored. Lauren steadied her, exchanging a worried look with Dinah as she picked Violet up from Dinah's arms, wanting to try changing her surroundings. 

"Maybe we should take her in another room, ya know? Change her surroundings?" Lauren suggested. Dinah nodded quickly, standing up. Lauren followed suit. Violet clung onto Lauren's shirt, burying her face in her neck, and letting out distressed sobs. Lauren bounced her gently, picking up her blanket as well as wipes and a clean diaper as she noticed Violet was wet. 

"Babe, can you hand me some clean pajamas, please?" Lauren asked. Dinah nodded, grabbing a pair from amongst Violet's stuff. 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome," Dinah replied with a smile. Before leaving the room, Lauren got Violet cleaned up and got a new diaper on her. 

She also managed to get the clean shirt on her, but when she tried to put her pants on her, Violet sat up, still crying, and waving her hands, "No pants." 

"Okay, Okay. You can leave them off, baby. Come here," Lauren cooed, opening her arms for the upset child. Violet quickly made herself at home in Lauren's arms once more and the trio left the room. 

"Want your blankie, Vi?" Dinah asked, gently brushing Violet's hair out of her face and wiping her tears as they sat down on the couch downstairs. Violet nodded, still allowing the tears to flow down her cheeks. Dinah handed over Violet's blanket, Violet responding by pulling the blanket close to her chest and crying into it. 

"What should we do?" Lauren asked Dinah, simply at a loss for what she should do to help Violet. 

"Umm..." Dinah pondered, turning the tv on a children's cartoon channel and adjusting the volume. Lauren rocked Violet softly from side to side, hoping to comfort her. Sadly, nothing the couple tried to comfort Violet seemed to be working. They tried multiple means of distractions, music, tv, reading, physical comfort, basically everything they could think of. Violet only seemed to be getting more upset from whatever she had dreamt about. 

"Why don't we try driving her around?" Dinah suggested as she swayed gently while holding Violet. 

"It's worth trying, yeah. We should take a few things though," Lauren responded with a hopeful look in her eyes. Dinah nodded, picking up an empty tote and assisting Lauren with packing Violet a couple of changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, a stuffed animal, a couple of blankets, and a couple of bottles. One filled with almond milk and one with juice. 

"Ready?" Lauren asked as they slipped their shoes on and grabbed a pair for Violet. 

Dinah nodded, "Yep, do you want me to drive?" 

"Sure, thanks, babe," Lauren responded as she buckled Violet into her seat. Her heart broke a bit at the thought that she couldn't hold Violet to comfort her because she needed to be in her car seat since that was safest for the small girl. Violet quietly cried, still holding her blanket close as Lauren made sure she was comfortably swaddled with a blanket and that she had her bottle if she wanted it. 

"Shhhh," Lauren cooed as she closed the back door, sitting next to Violet. Dinah put on some music on a low volume and started driving. For the first 10 minutes or so it didn't seem to be making a difference, but when it hit the 20-minute mark, Violet had stopped crying and was fighting to stay awake. Another 15 minutes went by and Violet had fallen asleep. 

"Dinah," Lauren whispered. 

"Yes, baby?" Dinah responded, looking back in the rearview mirror at her wife. 

"She's asleep." Lauren smiled. 

Dinah returned the smile through the mirror, "Yayy." She quietly cheered. Lauren looked out the window at the sun that was now appearing in the morning sky as 7 am came around. 

They made their way home amidst the first round of morning traffic before arriving safely back home. Violet was lovingly tucked into bed with Dinah and Lauren on either side of her as she continued to sleep for the better of 2 more hours.