Camila realized very quickly that once they got Presley to start talking, it would be difficult for her to stop.
"What's that?" the tiny girl asked, pointing to the box of cereal Camila had brought over from the kitchen. Presley was seated in the dining room, sitting on a small booster seat so that she could reach the table.
"Fruit loops," Camila read off the front of the box, nodding softly. "Are these okay? We are out of muffins...." She set the box down on the table, biting her lip.
"I like these," Presley nodded, giving Camila a crooked smile. She lifted her bowl in the air, looking at the girl hopefully.
"Good," Camila giggled, opening the box and carefully pouring a small amount of cereal into the bowl. She slipped back into the kitchen, putting the box back in its place and retrieving a jug of milk.
Camila paused when she walked back into the dining room to find the cereal dumped out of the bowl. She raised an eyebrow, watching as Presley carefully separated the pieces of cereal into separate piles. One for each color.
"What are you doing?" Camila asked, tilting her head to the side.
Presley paused, a blue fruit loop in her fingers. She looked up at Camila and then back down at the cereal. "Putting them with their friends," she nodded, continuing to organize the small pieces.
"Oh," Camila laughed softly. The brown eyed girl sat down at the table, watching as Presley carefully added a blue fruit loop to the blue pile.
"Close your eyes," Presley giggled, looking up at Camila. The older girl raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told.
Camila waited as she heard Presley lean over the table, pressing something against her lips. "Eat it," the small child giggled, poking Camila's cheek with her other hand.
Trusting the girl, Camila opened her mouth and allowed her to place a single piece of cereal on her tongue. Opening her eyes, Camila chewed for a few moments, giving Presley a questioning look.
"What color does it taste like?" Presley giggled, sitting up in her seat slightly and looking at Camila with a curious expression on her face.
"Color?" Camila laughed and raised an eyebrow. "How do you taste a color?"
The tiny girl giggled, plucking a blue fruit loop from the pile and popping it into her mouth. "Like this!" she smiled widely. "It's blue."
"What does blue taste like?" Camila asked, a soft smile forming on her lips. Presley paused, debating this for a few moments.
"The sky," she giggled, clasping her hands together.
"What does the sky taste like?" Camila couldn't help but laugh, watching as Presley's expression fell slightly as she pondered her question.
"Like blue fruit loops," the caramel girl finally spoke up, giggling and offering Camila a piece of cereal from the pile.
"Makes sense," Camila smiled softly to herself, enjoying the smaller girl's conversation. She accepted the offering, popping the piece of cereal into her mouth.
"Can he try?"
Camila lifted her head, looking at Presley who was pointing to something below them. Glancing down, Camila giggled when she saw Wolf circling around their feet. "Sure."
Smiling excitedly, Presley carefully selected an orange fruit loop and set it down on the floor in front of Wolf. Camila then snapped her fingers, gaining his attention and making him sniff the piece of food on the floor.
Instead of eating it, though, the large white cat tapped it with his paw, sending it scattering across the floor. Turning playful, Wolf pounced forwards, causing the small piece of food to fly under the table.
Presley burst into laugher, finding Wolf's antics amusing. "You're supposed to eat it, silly!" she giggled, leaning her head under the table and watching as the cat pawed at the piece of cereal.
"He is crazy," Camila laughed softly, an affectionate smile spreading across her face.
"What's your favorite color?" Presley turned back to Camila, surprising the girl by changing the subject so suddenly. Laughing softly, Camila shrugged.
"Yellow," she nodded, giving Presley a small smile. "What is yours?"
"I don't have one," Presley glanced back down at Wolf.
"Why not?" Camila raised an eyebrow.
"Cause' I don't want the other ones to get jealous," Presley nodded confidently. "I don't wanna make em' sad."
"Oh," Camila giggled, amused by Presley's logic.
"On my birthday my cake had rainbows on it," Presley remembered, sitting up straighter and nodding excitedly at Camila. "It was this big," she explained happily, holding out her hands.
Meanwhile, Lauren had been stirred awake from all the commotion in the dining room. At first, she was confused when she woke up alone, but she quickly remembered the events of the night before.
Hearing Camila and Presley's soft voices coming from the dining room caused a small smile to spread across her face. Everything was starting to feel normal again.
Yawning, the green eyed girl brushed her hair out of her face and wandered into the dining room. She leaned against the doorway, watching as Camila attempted to toss a piece of cereal into her mouth. It bounced off of her nose and rolled onto the floor.
Not yet aware of Lauren's presence, Camila giggled and grabbed another fruit loop. But when she saw Presley's gaze was focused elsewhere, she turned around to look where the other girl was looking.
"Morning," Lauren laughed softly, her voice quiet and raspy from just waking up. Her lips curved into a soft smile when Camila laughed quietly.
"Hi," Camila giggled, glancing back at Presley. "We were eating breakfast."
"I see that," Lauren laughed, leaning against the back of Camila's chair and placing a kiss into the top of her wife's head. She reached over Camila's shoulder to check the smaller girl's phone, furrowing her eyebrows when she realized what day it was.
"Shoot," the green eyed girl whispered under her breath, running a hand through her hair and standing back up. "I told Toby we'd watch Lucas today while he drove Maia up to see her mom..." she bit her lip.
Camila nodded softly and glanced at Presley, who was looking at them both curiously. Standing up, Camila gave Lauren a soft smile.
"I can get us ready," she nodded in Presley's direction. "Call Maia and tell her we will be there soon."
"Have I ever told you I love you?" Lauren laughed softly, leaning in and kissing Camila's cheek. She was relieved that Camila didn't mind that she'd had something scheduled for them. Her wife just smiled, looking down to hide the blush on her cheeks.
"Good morning, kiddo," Lauren smiled, turning to Presley and bending down to match her height. She ruffled her caramel color hair, earning a shy giggle from the girl. "You're gonna meet some new friends today. I know they've been dying to meet you."
"Are they nice?" Presley asked, a curious smile on her face. Camila nodded from behind Lauren.
"Super nice," Camila laughed softly, slipping past Lauren and gently taking Presley into her own arms. "But we have to hurry up and get ready, because they will be waiting for us."
Shooting Lauren a soft smile, Camila gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing out of the dining room, taking Presley into the bedroom to get ready.
Not soon after, Lauren was dressed and waiting on the couch for the other two girls to finish getting ready. Quick footsteps brought her attention away from her phone, and she looked up just in time to see Presley hop into the living room. The smaller girl was adorning a bright yellow sweater, which fit her like a dress. Lauren realized it must have been Camila's.
"You're s'posta to help me with my hair," Presley said shyly, standing in front of Lauren and tilting her head to the side. "I don't know how'ta do it."
"C'mere, goof," Lauren laughed, setting her coffee aside and pulling Presley into her lap. Almost effortlessly, she pulled the girl's hair up into a loose bun, securing it quickly and turning on her phone's camera so Presley could see herself. "Like it?"
Presley simply giggled, making a funny face at herself in the camera and looking up at Lauren with a wide smile on her face.
"I'll take that as a yes," Lauren laughed, sliding her phone into her pocket and hopping to her feet. She scooped Presley into her arms, making the smaller girl laugh.
Raising an eyebrow, Lauren spun around in a circle with the child in her grip, causing her to laugh even harder. Laughing along with her, Lauren flipped Presley upside down and pinched her stomach, making the smaller girl squeal playfully.
When Lauren pulled her back upright, she was met with her wife leaning against the doorway, an eyebrow raised.
"We are going to be late," Camila scolded her half heartedly. Presley looked back and forth between the girls.
"Party pooper," Lauren mumbled, pouting playfully. Presley giggled, keeping her arms wrapped around Lauren's neck as the girl bent down to retrieve her bag from beside the door.
"How is her mom doing?" Camila asked, slipping on her shoes and shivering in the chilly fall air as they walked out to the car. Lauren glanced at her wife, passing Presley over to Camila so she could buckle her in to the car seat.
"I don't know," Lauren bit her lip, sliding into the driver's side of the car. "Toby says Maia doesn't talk much about it."
"Oh," Camila nodded softly, helping Presley get adjusted in the back of the car and hurrying to buckle herself into the passenger seat. "Do you think she is....? She is...."
"I don't think she's doing well," Lauren whispered. "I've never seen Maia so upset over something."
Camila nodded quietly, relaxing back into her seat and letting her thoughts wander as they made the drive to their friend's home.
Once they finally arrived to Maia and Toby's house, Camila hurried around the back of the car to take Presley into her own arms. She could sense that the smaller girl was shy, especially around new people.
They'd become so acquainted with their friends that it was normal for them to let themselves into their house. Lauren held the door open for Camila, slipping into the house behind her.
The moment they stepped into the living room, they were practically swept up in a tornado. Lucas was immediately passed into Lauren's arms by Maia, who didn't even acknowledge the girls as she quickly gathered her things and slipped past them out the door.
"Ignore her," Toby appeared, almost out of nowhere, carefully handing a list of phone numbers to Lauren and giving her an apologetic smile. "She's just stressed."
The green eyed girl nodded, adjusting a sleeping Lucas in her arms and looking down at the paper in her hands. Meanwhile, Toby gave Presley a small wave, smiling at the small child.
"We'll have more time to get acquainted later," he nodded in Presley's direction, acknowledging Camila with a quick smile. "Wish us luck," he laughed nervously, giving the girls one last wave before slipping out the door.
"What's he need a wish for?" Presley broke the silence as the door was pulled shut, leaving the three girls alone with a sleeping Lucas. Camila set her down, allowing her to study the unfamiliar room.
"I-I, uh," Lauren stumbled over her words, still confused by how worried Maia had appeared. "I don't kn-,"
"Sometimes people make wishes when they need a reason to keep believing," Camila said softly, interrupting Lauren. "Sometimes it is all they have to hold onto."
"If you wish on a shooting star, it always comes true," Presley nodded excitedly, a small smile on her face. She turned to look out the window, frowning when she realized it wasn't nighttime.
Lauren reached over and squeezed Camila's hand, causing the smaller girl to look up at her with a soft smile. The green eyed girl knew well enough that Camila had relied on only wishes for a long period of time.
And Camila smiled back at Lauren, because she knew her wish had come true.
Lauren was distracted by a tug on her sleeve, bringing her attention away from Camila and down to Presley, who was looking up at her hopefully.
"What's his name?" the girl whispered, pointing to the sleeping boy in Lauren's arms.
"Lucas," Lauren said softly, kneeling down next to Presley. "He's gonna be a year old soon," she added with a shy smile.
"Why's he sleepin'?" Presley tilted her head to the side, reaching out and feeling the sleeping child's hair. "Is he a baby?"
"Kinda," Lauren giggled, looking up at Camila who was just as amused by the situation.
"He needs to wake up," Presley nodded, sure of herself. "I wanna play with him."
Lauren and Camila exchanged glances, hoping the rest of the day would go this smoothly.
--
a/n: i'm exhausted. lol. remind me never to have classes back to back for 12 hours again, kay? kay.
anyway, lemme know what you think! ily so much. be nice to yourselves.
- lena (lenajfc on twitter, speakhurricanes on tumblr)