I Built This Home For Me, For You

Chapter 4

            "What're you two arguing about?" A voice from the doorway asked, and both of them whirled around to face their daughter's, almost looking like they'd been caught doing something wrong as they sheepishly smiled at them.

            "Nothing," Camila quickly said, "Look at you, huh. You both look great. Let me get a picture before we go."

            "Ugh, more pictures, mom? You have thousands, you don't need anymore," Daisy complained, throwing her head back as she groaned in frustration. Camila laughed as she walked over to her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head and squeezing Lily's shoulder before she slipped out and went up to her photography room. Lauren smiled faintly, loving the fact that Camila still had that old polaroid camera, which came out often, and had provided them with thousands of photos, some of which had been carefully placed in photo albums spanning the past twenty years. Every memory and event could be found up in that photography room, and Lauren loved to sneak in sometimes and take a look at all of the photos that Camila had taken, both of them sitting on the floor drinking wine, sifting through them while they kid's sat in their rooms, and picking out their favorites. It was one of the things she loved doing – just the two of them because the girls weren't interested – and she loved how much Camila still loved taking photos of all the beautiful things in her life. Both of them cherished the moments, even the small ones because they knew how close they'd come to never having the chance to experience them. Sometimes it irked the girls though, and when Camila came back a few minutes later with three different cameras cradled in her arms, they both let out a groan in unison.

            "Come on," Camila called, laughing as she watched them both drag their feet into the foyer and stand in the middle of the tiled floor. "Daisy, you have to smile." Lauren walked over and took two of the cameras off Camila – the digital and film ones – and watched as Camila took a couple of snaps with the polaroid one. The other two cameras had their turn, and then Camila ushered Lauren in for some with both girls, before Lauren took over and clumsily tried to capture her family with the same finesse that Camila did. After all these years, she still couldn't manage to get the knack of the artistic way Camila did it, but the photos always came out fine.

            "Can I take some of you and mom?" Lily asked, a pleading look on her face at the chance to play around with Camila's cameras, and Lauren smiled as Camila agreed and Daisy groaned again. Walking over to her wife, Lauren wound her arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to Camila's cheek, quickly wiping away the smudge of red, before she turned to face Lily and smiled brightly.

            A few minutes of blinding flashes later, Camila carefully took the cameras and stack of polaroids and left them on the counter by the door. "Can we go now?" Daisy bluntly asked, "We're going to be late."

            "It's fine, I'll put my foot down," Lauren loudly whispered as she winked at her, handing Camila her coat, before slipping on her own.

            "Uh, Lauren Jauregui, you will not!" Camila protested.

            "That's Cabello-Jauregui to you," Lauren corrected her, and Camila wrinkled her nose as she smiled.

            "I know, it just doesn't have the same ring to it," Camila shrugged, slipping on a pair of heels.

            Jingling the car keys, Lauren smiled, "I like it just fine."

---

            "Grandma!" Lily exclaimed as soon as they walked into the private room that Lauren had reserved at one of the upscale restaurants in the city. Clara and Sinu both looked up, and Sinu climbed to her feet, holding her arms out for her youngest grandchild, who ran straight into them. Letting Sinu kiss her on the cheek, Lily smiled brightly, before repeating the process with the rest of her family gathered around the table, before taking her seat. Lauren smiled, knowing for a fact that she got her affectionate side from Camila, and Daisy got her dour side from her. Still, she watched as Daisy let Sinu hug and kiss her too, and the moody look on her daughter's face disappeared for a moment before she shuffled over to her own seat and slouched in it.