Dylan's PoV
She had my arm in a death grip and her eyes were black like the Devil's. The thick metal spoon was pressed against my hand as she yelled at me in my face. "You ungrateful little bastard! Your Mommy doesn't love you or you wouldn't be in here while she's out there doing God knows what."
Laughter was being heard from all sides of me and I choked up, tensing as the old brittle woman told me to never leave her gaze. She'd make me her children's next lunch meat if I did. "You think that dyke Camila wants you? She only wants what your Mommy has to offer."
I couldn't move and it was killing me. The painful grip on my arm and the horrible looks I was getting – it was all too much.
I woke up in a strange room in a strange bed and slightly panicked, whimpering and sweaty. I had another nightmare again.
I blinked away the sleepiness in my eyes and clutched at my pillow as another shiver ran through my body.
Where was Lucas?
"Dylan?" I heard a soft knock on the door and sat up quickly, trying to wipe the unknown tears from my cheeks. Camila's head popped in the door and she tilted her head, dressed in a black robe and she looked like she just had a shower. "Hey sweetie," she came inside the room and closed the door behind her before crawling under the covers with me, "are you okay?"
I swallowed and shook my head.
"What's wrong?" She pulled me into her lap and ran her fingers through my hair, rocking gently. "Please don't cry Baby Dyl, it breaks my heart."
I curled up into her warm body and briefly noticed she smelled just like my Mommy. I immediately felt safe in her arms but couldn't shake the dream from my head.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Camila whispered and I noticed she glanced at the clock. It was only after four in the morning. I nodded and allowed her to hold me tighter. "Did you want to talk about it?"
"No." I whispered and stared at the wall in front of me. "Where's Lukey?"
Camila smiled and rubbed my back. "I'm guessing she took off to sleep with Nana and Grandpa. It's a thing with her."
"Oh." I sighed heavily and continued to stare at the wall. "Do you love me?"
I felt her shift and she moved me so I was eye level with her. "What?" She asked confused and I regretted that I asked the question. "Of course I do."
"Sorry." I murmured. "I had a dream that you were only around because Momma gave you something." I wasn't entirely sure what that meant in my dream but I knew it wasn't exactly a good thing.
"I'm around because I love you both very much, Dylan." Camila pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You're my daughter and I wouldn't want it any other way."
I couldn't help but grin and blush at those words. A moment of silence passed and I yawned, snuggling more comfortably in Camila's body. "How'd you know I was awake?"
"I heard you whimper," she softly said, "I was just coming back from the bathroom."
"Can you stay?" I asked quietly. Spencer smiled and nodded, kissing the top of my head.
"I'll be right back, I promise." She made her way towards the door and left it open while I watched her sneak into the room she was sharing with my mom. A few minutes later, she came back out in flannel pants and a jersey, crawling in next to me. "See? I came back."
I smiled and wrapped my small arm around her shoulder, burying my face in her neck.
Sleep came easily to me that time.
--
Camila's PoV
It felt different waking up when I rolled over to find a miniature Lauren curled up behind my back sleeping peacefully. I brushed some stray curls out of her face and kissed the tip of her dark freckled nose. "Sleepy head," I whispered when I realized it was already after nine and no one had bothered to wake us up.
Lauren was probably still sleeping no doubt. I definitely wore her out – yea, I was that good.
Dylan stretched and let out a soft mewl before opening her eyes and looking confused for a second before her dark green eyes landed on me. God her smile will always melt me. "Morning."
"Morning," I grinned and sat up, stretching my own worn down muscles, "how are you feeling?"
"Better." Dylan nodded and licked her lips. "Sorry you missed morning snuggles with Momma."
"Ah," I waved her off and scooped her up, kissing her cheek, "I have a lifetime supply of Momma snuggles."
Dylan giggled happily and it felt different from her mood earlier that morning. I didn't want to push it so I rubbed her knee and got out of bed. "I believe we're going to have Grandpa and Nana make us a huge 'welcome home' breakfast, wanna come watch?"
She nodded and pulled the covers off her small body, her hair messy. "How do I look?"
"Cute." I smirked and grabbed her overnight bag and dug out a few clothing items.
"Mila?" Dylan's hand was on mine and I glanced at her. "I'm kind of scared."
"Of what baby?" I knelt down and was eye level with her.
"Will they like me?" She asked in a shaky voice. "Anton and Cailyn, will they like me?"
"They're going to love you." I smiled and then frowned and cupped her cheek. "What's wrong, Dyl?"
"I had a dream that no one liked me." Her small hands crumbled in her lap as she hung her head. "It felt real, it felt like I was back at Mrs. Hotkins place again where she had 5 other kids and I was the only one that had to stay home from school to clean."
I frowned and stood up slowly. "Mrs. Hotkins?" I was guessing that she was a Foster Parent of hers.
"She would always make fun of my mommy and why she wasn't ever coming back for me. I never understood what that bad 'S' word meant until she explained it to me." Dylan's shoulders fell and it broke my heart.
No one at that age should know what the word 'slut' meant. I highly doubted Lucas knew what that was and even though bad language was thrown around a lot, which was one word that was never thrown around.
"Oh baby," I sat next to her on the bed, "you know who's across the hallway snoring at the moment? Your mom."
Dylan grinned slightly and looked towards the door that was propped open slightly. "Is Grandpa," she blushed at those words but continued her sentence, "is Grandpa the one that helped me get into your home?"
I smiled. "Yea, Auntie Sofi helped as well."
"Camila?" Her voice went back to being quiet. "When I was at Mrs. Hotkins, she'd never let me talk at the dinner table. I remember the one time I wanted to share a story because the other kids were, she smacked me hard with a wooden spoon on the hand. She told me if I cried then I'd only get it worse."
Oh God.
//
A small noise pulled me out of my thoughts and I found the small brunette standing shyly in the doorway. Her green eyes were full of life but her body language was anything but. Her hair was dirty and clothes were ripped.
Where did she just come from? What kind of foster parent or group home would allow a child to look like that?
"Dylan?" I smiled and she nodded, her eyes casting downwards. "Don't be shy," I got up and patted the chair in front of my desk, "you can sit here."
Dylan shuffled her feet slowly and crawled into the chair, her eyes looking straight ahead out the window. "How are you, Miss Cabello?" She finally spoke and I glanced up at her with awe.
She had manners.
"I'm very well, thank you." I sat on top of my desk and leaned forward. "How are you?"
"I smell." She scrunched up her nose in the cutest nose crinkle, causing my heart to immediately swell.
//
All I could picture in my head with the broken small nine year old standing in the doorway of my office dirty and shy. No wonder she had a hard time opening up to people.
"Was this the first time that happened?" I asked softly.
"No, it happened a lot." Dylan murmured. "I cried a lot going to sleep. I hoped all the tears would be gone for when I woke up the next morning."
I closed my eyes and hugged her closer. "You're afraid something bad is going to happen, aren't you?"
"I'm just scared."
"Well," I got up and combed my fingers through her hair, "you've got me here now. You're under the Cabello household and I guarantee you that you can tell a very awesome story about your mom at the table and we'll all be listening to every single word."
I could tell that made her feel slightly better and she nodded, grabbing her clothes and running towards the door. "Don't tell my mom, okay?"
It wasn't for me to tell but I did encourage Dylan to let Ashley in more. "She would really be there to listen if you needed someone to talk too."
"I just don't want her sad." Dylan whispered with a frown.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," I smiled softly, "Mothers know when their child is sad. I promise if you tell her, you'll feel so much better. Both of you will."
Dylan thought about it for a moment. "Okay, love you!"
I snickered and stumbled into my childhood bedroom to find the bed still occupied by one gorgeous brunette. I crawled onto the bed and slid down next to her sleeping frame. "Sleepy head," I repeated the same line I used on her daughter while tucking longer curls behind a perfect ear.
Lauren stirred and blinked several times before smiling and pulling me in for a kiss. "Morning baby."
"Good morning." I whispered and kissed her softer that time. "It's time to get up. I don't hear the house stirring yet so we may have gotten lucky with not being heard last night."
"Please," she groaned while she stretched, "you totally screamed my name several times."
"Uh," I nodded – like I'd deny that, "duh but maybe everyone was out like the dead."
"Maybe." Lauren smirked but didn't buy it. She got up and grabbed her clothes, stuffing them under her arm after pulling on a robe. "I'm going to shower, meet you downstairs."
"What if I wanted to shower first?" I pouted when she opened up the door.
"Too bad, I called it." Lauren shoved me playfully.
"But I-"
"How about I keep the girls occupied downstairs and you two can pick up where you left off early this morning." Sinu said calmly as she walked by giving us the thumbs up.
"Told you." Lauren snickered with a soft blush and rolled her eyes. "Meet you downstairs Cabello."
"Meet you downstairs Cabello." I mocked but kissed her anyway. "Hurry up and don't waste the hot water."
"Go, you already showered earlier you hog." She grinned teasingly and shut the door.
"Not my fault you refused an early morning shower with me!" I banged on the door that closed in my face. "You used to be fond of those!"