The picture above is important for this chapter.
This story was moved up from Wednesdays to Tuesdays.
Two characters debut. One is a surprise, a good one.
-
It had been a month since Normani and Lauren moved in with them. And things were great.
It was the day of Lauren's speech therapy/first sign language class. The family finished their breakfast and were getting ready for the day.
"Is there anything you want to wear?" Ally asked, looking at the girl covered in a towel.
Lauren pointed to herself.
Ally smiled. "Yeah, you can wear anything you want."
Lauren looked at the clothes hanging in the closet. She pulled the ends of her towel tighter and pointed to the one she wanted to wear.
Ally looked at it and smiled. "That's to sleep, do you want to wear anything else?"
Lauren shook her head.
Ally shrugged. "Okay then, lets get you dried up and in your cute outfit."
Lauren clapped her hands, her towel dropping. She gasped, picked up her towel and covered herself. She looked up at Ally with wide eyes.
Ally narrowed her eyes. "I just showered you."
Lauren just turned and walked to her bed.
Ally shook her head. She smiled, as she watched Lauren wait for her. For someone so scared to have a stranger look at her, Lauren was picking up some of Camila and Dinah's sassiness.
She followed her youngest foster daughter to get her ready for the day.
-
Dinah walked into the living room with a sleepy, dressed Camila. She gasped, when she saw a little bear sleeping on the couch. She turned to Camila.
"You see that bear?" Dinah asked her daughter.
Camila nodded her head, while she rubbed her eyes. "Beaw."
"Should we wake it?"
"No, it eat us. We leave," Camila whispered, pointing to the door.
"What about Mama, Normani and Lauren? Do we leave them?"
Camila looked at Dinah as if she were crazy. "Yes."
Dinah laughed, causing to the little bear to wake up. Camila froze as the bear sat up and rubbed it's little eyes. The adopted girl gasped.
"It Lolo," Camila whispered. She then grinned. "Beawy!"
Lauren looked up with wide eyes, not sure who was with her. She relaxed when she saw Dinah and Camila.
Normani skipped into the living room and smiled when she saw Lauren sitting on the couch in a bear onsie.
"Boo!"
Lauren reached for Normani, her covered hands doing grabby motions. Normani sat with Lauren and allowed her sister to wrap her arms around her.
Ally walked in and soon were on their way to the appointment.
-
Lauren looked around the room. Normani was holding one of her paws while Camila held the other one. Nala sat on her lap.
The door opened, and a new lady walked in. She was taller than Lauren, by a lot. She had really curly yellow hair, just like Ally and Dinah.
If she had yellow hair, maybe she was nice too?
"Oh, there's a bear in here," the lady said, looking at Lauren.
The bear in question looked away, not wanting the yellow hair lady to look at her. She didn't like it.
"The Bear is a little shy," Ally said, smiling slightly.
Lauren looked up at Ally, tilting her head.
"I'm Camila," the older three year old said, before pointing to Lauren. "Dis my new baby sis'er, Lolo, but I call her Lolo, on'y me. Dat my new big sis'er, Nani, on'y me call her."
Lauren looked over to see the lady smiling.
"Hello Camila, Lauren, Normani. My name is Tori Kelly. Do you know what I do?"
Two of the three girls shook their head.
"I'm going to try and help Lauren talk. And teach you sign language. Do you anything in sign language?"
Camila raised her hand. "I know!"
Everyone turned to Camila. The girl raised her hand and stuck out her middle finger. She looked proud of herself.
"Karla Camila," Ally reprimanded, glaring at the girl.
Camila frowned. "G'amma Mili teach me."
"Why mother, why?" Dinah whispered.
Tori laughed. "That's bad sign language. I'm going to teach you nice sign language. But first I want to see if Lauren knows how to say anything." She turned to the bear.
Lauren squealed, as she tried to hide behind Normani, releasing the hands of Normani and Camila.
Tori looked at the mothers.
"She's scared of new people. She'll have to get comfortable with you."
Tori nodded her head. "How about I just teach you all to say hello?"
"P'ease!" Camila said, raising her hand.
Tori grinned, and started going through the motions.
Lauren peaked around Normani and watched Tori move her hands, and she did the same with her little paws.
-
"Have you guys thought of a therapy dog?" Tori asked Ally and Dinah.
Both women shook their head.
"Maybe you can get her a dog. When soldiers come back, they sometimes get dogs to deal with the PTSD. And Lauren seems to have some PTSD symptoms. Having a dog can also teach Camila and Normani how to be more responsible."
Ally looked over to see Normani and Camila play with blocks while Lauren petted Nala. The little Lauren-Bear was so tensed.
"We'll try it."
-
Lauren, in regular clothing, walked around, looking at all the puppies. She spend a few minutes, looking at each dog.
She reached the part where puppies were playing with each other. She looked around, seeing Ally and Dinah talking to someone. Normani was looking at the birds, and Camila was looking at the bunnies. Lauren turned back to the puppies, before finding the door.
She opened it and walking inside the doggy-pen. She closed the small gate behind her and sat down on the ground. Her eyes widened as an army of puppies ran to her.
-
Giggling.
Unfamiliar giggling.
Ally looked around. She saw Camila cooing at the bunnies. She saw Normani trying to get the parrots to talk. But she couldn't find Lauren.
"Where's Lauren?" Ally asked Dinah, her eyes wide.
Dinah looked around, before a look of panic washed over her as well. They excused themselves form the worker and went to search for the missing girl.
(Really, they followed the unfamiliar giggling.)
They found Lauren giggling as she hugged a light brown puppy with a dark brown snout. The dog was trying to lick her face, while Lauren tried to get away. She looked up and smiled at the older women.
Lauren let the puppy go and stood up. She then grabbed the puppy again and walked to the door. She looked up at Dinah and Ally, her big green eyes filled with hope.
"Can we keep him?" Camila asked, appearing next to her mothers. She stuck her hand through the gate and touched the puppy.
"If everyone decides on the dog," Dinah said, and then called Normani over.
Normani looked at the puppy, before nodding. "I want him."
Dinah nodded and reached for the puppy. Ally took the puppy from Dinah, who then picked Lauren up and over the fence. She then placed the girl on the ground, who then reached for the puppy. Once the puppy was in her arms, she gave it to Camila.
Normani petted the dog as the five walked to the front of the store.
Ally and Dinah filled out the forms, before turning to the three girls.
"What's his name?" Ally asked them, her eyebrows raised.
Lauren turned to Normani.
"Leo."
-
Dinah opened the car door, before smiling. Lauren was asleep on the carseat, Leo curled up on her lap, asleep as well. Camila and Normani were also asleep. She took out her phone and took a picture.
"Go, take the Munchkin to bed, I'll wait with the Koala and Cub," Dinah told Ally, who unbuckled Normani and took her into the house.
Ally walked back out again and picked Camila up, taking her inside. Dinah placed the leash on Leo and picked him up. Lauren whimpered and reached for the dog, still asleep.
Dinah placed the dog on the ground and started to unbuckle Lauren. Dinah closed the door and walked into the house. Leo sniffed things on the way. Dinah placed Lauren on the bed next to Normani, (Camila slept on the bed as well) and Leo sat next to the bed and whimpered, looking up at Dinah.
The tall woman sighed and placed him on the bed. Leo snuggled next to Lauren, and closed his eyes. Lauren smiled in her sleep, her arms around the dog.
"I think he's going to be good for her," Ally said, smiling.
"Did you hear her giggle today? I almost died."
"I hope Normani and Camila don't get jealous that we got a dog because of Lauren," Ally whispered, looking at the girls on the bed.
"They can still play with him. He's everyone's dog," Dinah said, turning to Ally.
"Can we start the adoption process?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
-
Next chapter will have the adoption talk and the start of adoption. And then the chapter after will have the cute/scary chapter.
Quick question. What sounds better, Hernandez-Hansen, Hansen-Hernandez, just Hernandez or just Hansen? I can't decide.
And I hope you guys liked the sign language Camila knew.
I created the covers for book two and three.
Look, this story as 727 comments.
This story has an entrance because this story is about home and family. The next one is a backpack, and it has to do with school, friends, and baggage. The last one has is about the future and their places in the family and life, a five girls, five puzzle pieces and they fit together.