A/N: Okay. So here is the second part of the dinner. I think most of you will be happy with it. Let me know if you are or even if you aren't. I'm interested in anything any of you have to say.
Thank you. Enjoy.
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Camila fidgeted in Lauren's arms as the room stood in silence for several minutes while Mike debated his options with himself. The raven-haired woman tightened her hold around the smaller woman and covered her mouth lightly with her hand when she went to speak. "You push, he snaps." She whispered in Camila's ear. "Just be patient."
Camila rolled her eyes. Patience was not her thing and she felt that if he was going to make the right choice he would have done so by now. He shifted in his seat, breaking Camila's thoughts from interrupting despite Lauren's warning.
"I..." He managed a single word before he had to adjust in his nervousness and clear his throat. "I came here because I missed you. I've spent the last four months brooding in an empty house and that's not how I want my life to be. I want you back in my life but I'm having a hard time with your stipulation."
"I understand and expected you too," Clara informed him, surprisingly not caving at his apparent weakened state. "When I first left with Lauren and Camila, I didn't like or approve of their lifestyle. I cringed and looked away every time they touched or kissed or even spoke about their feelings for one another. I don't expect you to be any different." He looked at her questioningly across the table so she elaborated. "I came from the same background you did, raised with the same beliefs. What they were doing was wrong. I had no doubt about it in my mind."
"Then why did you leave with them?"
"For my daughter." The older woman answered back quickly, leaning into the table. "She is my daughter. Your daughter. And despite what you say, she always will be that little girl you use to carry around on your shoulders when we went to the park. She will always be that little girl who could sit still for family photos. But now she is a beautiful woman who is capable of making her own decisions."
"How can you sit back and-"
"Because it wasn't for me to judge, Mike. She knew my feelings on it and made her choice anyway. Me telling her over and over what I thought wasn't going to sway her. So instead, I decided to just let her be happy. And when I let her be, I found myself right there beside her, just as happy. I also found that I no longer feel threatened by their relationship. It's love. A true and unfaltering love between two adults that overshadowed my own love for my daughter in the past."
Mike had begun fidgeting in his seat more frequently, almost never sitting still. He was struggling. He wanted to listen and to trust his wife. He wanted to have her next to him again and to have his little girl, but it wasn't going to be that easy.
Unable to see his face, Lauren was going by her mother's expressions to try and read his. Clara was mashing her lips and looking at the slouched man with sympathy in her eyes. Knowing that, after she had just talked to him with the confidence she had, Lauren knew Mike was staring at the table, lost in thought. He was truly thinking about it, weighing his options. He had decided in a split second to throw her out when she said she was pregnant, but now he was honestly considering trying to remain civil despite disagreeing with her choice.
She lowered her arm from the brunette and took her hand, pulling her along. "Come on." She called, grabbing the casserole with the other hand. She set the food on the table and let Camila take her place directly across from the man who was struggling to keep his emotions under control. "Why don't we just have dinner right now. You can make your choice after."
Lauren didn't wait for an answer, not wanting to put him on the spot, and busied herself serving her mother and Camila their food before she turned to him. He lifted his eyes to hers as she offered him a serving and waited for him to present his plate. It had been a long time since she had really looked into his eyes and he into hers. The last time had been before graduation and they had been filled with resentment. At this moment, there was nothing. He was looking at her just as she was looking at him, trying to see what she was thinking without asking while she was doing the same to him. It was an odd connection that they held for a few seconds, with no animosity between them. It was almost like the slate had been wiped clean and there had never been any yelling or disownment. Things were just the way they had been before she got pregnant. She knew things were never going to be like that again, but if he wanted the chance, and Clara wanted to give it to him, who was she to deny it.
"What's in it?" He asked as he held out his plate and Lauren served him his meal. He was looking at the food and not Camila as he asked. He wasn't ready for that yet. Not to admit that he was trying to tolerate their relationship. This was just a question he was asking, or so he tried to convince himself, not an icebreaker or admittance of wrongdoing. Just a general question.
"Anything you would expect to find in green bean casserole, just with a vegan substitute for butter." The brunette explained.
He nodded, still looking at his food until he turned to his daughter. "So you don't eat meat anymore?"
Lauren hesitated in mid-bite, shifting her eyes over to the other women in shock that he was trying to carry on a conversation, let alone asking a question about her. She chewed quickly to answer. "I eat meat. And dairy."
"I don't try and force my beliefs on anyone else," Camila informed him and then tensed at how it sounded when he actually looked at her. "I didn't mean to insinuate anything about... I was referring strictly to my vegan diet." Lauren reached over and took her hand to calm the babbling brunette's nerves and Mike's eyes locked onto the intimate gesture. It may have been too much, too soon, but she wasn't going to pull away from Camila for his comfort.
"So what flavor did you two settle on for the wedding cake?" Clara asked, breaking into the conversation and downplaying the poorly timed comment.
"I would prefer if we didn't discuss the wedding," Mike commented, taking a bite of his meal and pulling the attention of the three women to him.
"Well, we are," Clara replied before turning her attention back to the girls.
Camila faltered, not liking being a catalyst for an impending argument, so Lauren answered. "We are actually going with multiple layers, rotating flavors. One will be white cake with little dices of strawberries in it and the layer on top of that will be... I forgot which flavor of chocolate we decided on because I was beyond nauseous at that moment."
The brunette pouted her lip in memory and squeezed Lauren's hand. "So the two layers together make chocolate covered strawberries."
Mike sat in silence for the majority of the meal, fuming. They had been expecting the anger but not the silence. He had done as Clara did, looking away and cringing as Camila and Lauren played with each other's fingers, or when the raven-haired kissed Camila's hand, or the latter kissed Lauren's cheek. But the difference between him and Clara was he made it visibly clear he didn't approve while Clara at least tried to make her reactions discreet. Still, it was something.
"Would you like a refill of your water, Mike?" Camila asked as Lauren and Clara were lost in a discussion of the forever shifting seating chart.
He looked up at her and nodded his head. "Please." The brunette paused in shock before she beamed at him and took his glass.
"Mom, I told you, I can't have Adrianne anywhere near Zayn. It would be disastrous." Lauren reminded her mother once more and Clara threw her hands up in the air in surrender. She had thought it would be nice to have Lauren's new friends mingle with the old.
"Zayn," Mike interjected, finally deciding to partake in the conversation. "That's Malik, right? The, uh, father of the baby." Lauren studied him to make sure he wasn't trying to start a fight and then nodded her head. "And this 'Adrianne' doesn't like him?"
"That's an understatement." Camila offered from the kitchen as she poured herself another glass of wine. "She hated him long before she even met him."
"And why is that?" The room fell silent as Clara and Camila waited to see if Lauren would answer. Mike had never taken the time to figure out what all had happened when Lauren got pregnant. Maybe this was an opportunity. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to do it at Zayn's expense. Then again, it was because of him.
"She, umm... She hates him for some pain he caused me."
Mike looked behind him to Camila, learning quickly that she was Lauren's tell all. If Lauren was hiding something or talking around something, Camila was her give away. Sure enough, the brunette was subconsciously pursing her lips and raised her eyebrow at the response, so he pushed further. "And what pain would that be? That he got you pregnant?"
"Partially. It was more of the circumstances of the event."
"The event? You mean when you lost your virtue at sixteen?" The remark came out biting and Lauren's jaw clenched. "Sorry. I'm sorry. Please continue." He apologized. Even if it was just so she would continue, it was still odd and a rarity.
"I... I'm really not sure I want to." Lauren replied, shaking her head and looking down at the table. She felt like she was causing trouble while trying to solve some others.
"I thought you would like it if I was interested in your life." He stated, looking between Lauren and Clara for approval. "I can't do that if you shut me out."
"It's just that I have put the issues behind me and I feel like I'm stirring them back up."
He laughed lightly. "Clearly they haven't been dealt with, otherwise you would be able to talk about it openly and with no trouble. People only hesitate when they think it will hurt the feelings of the person they are talking to, or they are protecting their own. You can't hurt my feelings with the topic so it must be yours that is still tender." Camila leaned against the counter as she listened, realizing what Clara meant by they were both deep thinkers. "So, if it's not a big deal anymore, then why does Adrianne not like him?"
Lauren wasn't over it. She had tried to put her issues with Zayn behind her and it was easy enough when she had cut everything and everyone from Miami out of the picture, but now, like with her parents, Normani, and Michelle, they were needing to be addressed and dealt with so she could actually move on instead of just ignoring them. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose, keeping her eyes on the table.
"I had no intentions of ever having sex before marriage. I had gone to Zayn for attention, but not sex. He gave me a couple drinks to get me buzzed and then tried to talk me into it. I told him, no so he gave me another until eventually, I didn't really care about anything." Mike straightened up in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "That pissed her off when she found out. But what pissed her off more was when I told her that I asked him if he had a condom and he said he did, but he never used one. If he had, all of our lives would be very different right now because sleeping with him was a mistake that I had no intention of ever repeating."
"He took advantage of you."
Lauren shook her head. "Not completely. I was drunk but I could have still said no."
"Only for him to put another drink in your hand." Lauren couldn't argue with that even though she wanted to. "That's what happened the first time you said no, wasn't it?" She didn't answer and after a few seconds, he moved on. "If it was just that one mistake, how did you convince that quarterback that he was the father?"
Both Lauren and Camila let out a light laugh. "Shawn had... I think it was 'had'." Lauren commented, looking over to the brunette.
"Yes, it should be past tense. He got over it."
"Okay, he had a little problem with premature ejac-" Mike held up her hand to stop her and she arched an eyebrow at him. "Dad, I'm nearly twenty-six years old and obviously not a virgin. It's okay if I say those things."
"That may be, but you're still my daughter and it's not exactly something a father likes to hear from his little girl's mouth." Lauren froze at his comment, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his seat. He had claimed her as his. "Anyway..."
"Right. Well, he had that issue and the problem... erupted in the hot tub one night and I convinced him that it happened that way." Mike and Clara dropped their brows in disbelief. "He wasn't the most intelligent of guys." Everyone nodded in agreement to that. "So it really was only that one time. All the way up until just a few years ago when I met Adrianne."
Mike's furrowed brow deepened even more. She was just a name to him. He didn't even realize he had already met her in the studio.
"Adrianne is my ex-girlfriend." He tensed as he was reminded of the fact that discussing his daughter's past boyfriends didn't negate the fact that she was gay. He may have been ready to let his daughter back into his life but it was going to take more than just a dinner for him to deal with his feelings on that topic.
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"Can you see them?" Camila asked as she approached Lauren standing on the front terrace, looking down as Mike and Clara talked on the sidewalk.
"I can. I just wish I could hear them too."
"Maybe it's better for them if you can't." The brunette commented as she wrapped her arms around her fiancée and pressed the side of her face between her shoulder blades. "Somethings can only be fully discussed in private."
Lauren sighed, knowing she was right but not liking what she was right "So, what did you think of him?"
"I was impressed, to be honest. I was completely expecting him to start name calling almost immediately. Especially when Clara stood up to him. I thought that maybe he would go all dominate manly, man on us and end up storming out." Camila confessed as Lauren leaned over the edge a little more when the two moved out of sight. "Any further and you're going to end up down there with them."
"Well, it's a good thing you're holding me then."
"Just don't lean any further. With you being taller it would throw my center of gravity off and I would be a terrible anchor weight."
"Especially since my camera bag weighs more than you do." The raven-haired quipped absently as her eyes followed as the pair on the street took a few steps down the sidewalk. Lauren only took a breath when they stopped walking and started talking again.
"Do you think she's going to take him back?"
She shook her head. "Not that easily. However, he did show enough progress for her to give him another chance to prove himself. He won't be moving in or anything like that. I doubt he'll even move to New York."
Camila dropped her brow. "So you think they might try it long distance? Trying to fix a marriage over the phone doesn't sound too logical."
She could feel the raven-haired shrug. "He may fly back and visit."
Camila turned her head and rested her chin on Lauren's back before she pulled away to join Lauren at watching the couple below. "They aren't going to get a divorce, are they?" There was a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Not yet at least."
The pair fell silent and they could hear the distant mumblings from Mike and Clara. The tones weren't harsh so it eased Lauren's worries, allowing her to pull her eyes off of them and to Camila. She didn't know if it was the look in her eyes, the pout on her lips, or the way the light breeze brushed her hair, but Lauren was hypnotized by her. If this was the kind of love that Mike and Clara had, at any point in their life, she could see her father not giving up just yet.
Lauren stepped closer and brushed the blowing strands of hair out of Camila's face. "Don't worry about it, Baby." The raven-haired cooed in her ear as she pulled the brunette away from the ledge by the neck gently and into a hug. "She's not going anywhere."
"I feel so stupid for being so worried about it. Not worried that she will go back to him exactly, but that she would leave us to do it. She's not even my moth-"
"Yes she is." Lauren cut her off and then kissed her lightly before resting their foreheads together as she ran her thumb over the side of her neck. "She is very much your mother and don't ever think anything different. And you saw how strong she was in there tonight. She's not going to allow herself to fall back into his grasp if the opportunity presents its self. Trust me."
Camila nodded as best she could from their current position, not wanting to move from the closeness. "Then what have you so scared?" She asked quietly as she gently fisted Lauren's blouse to keep her in place.
"I was scared of that," Lauren confessed, feeling an urge to be even closer to her fiancée, so she moved to kiss the other side of her neck, lingering there to inhale her scent. "But after everything that happened tonight, I'm scared that he may actually do the right thing."
Camila understood where this need for closeness was coming for with Lauren. She was opening up and need to feel secure while doing it. "You're scared to let him back in."
"Yes." She answered, running her nose up Camila's neck until her mouth was at her ear. "I'm afraid of letting him in, only to leave again." Both women laughed in mild amusement that their fears of Mike and Ariana were so similar.
"If he tries, let him in slowly. Don't go running into his arms like I did." The brunette warned as Lauren started to stand up, returning her forehead to Camila's. "If he wants to try and fix things, let him try, but protect yourself too. And let me help with that last bit."
Lauren shook her head, pulling away with a very faint smile on her lips. "Nope. You get to be my distraction to prevent me from 'running into his arms'." She informed the brunette, taking her by the hand before turning and taking a peek back down to the sidewalk as Mike got into a cab. "I am going to worry about protecting you enough to keep me on my toes and very aware of everything."
Camila groaned lightly as they made their way back inside. "I don't know if I like the thought of being your distraction."
"Well, you should have thought about that a long time ago. Like, before you ever spoke to me. Because you are my biggest distraction and consist of lots of little distractions." She confessed as they made their way downstairs, Camila blushing as she was led by the hand. "I mean, there are your sexy as fuck legs, your perfectly shaped ass, your body, your smile, your laugh, your eyes. My God. You look at me and you get anything you want. It's those big puppy dog eyes that do it."
"Is that what makes you such a pushover with me?"
"That, and many more things that I'm not going to mention in front of my mother." The raven-haired teased as they approached Clara who had just exited the elevator. "So... final decision?"
Clara looked at the nervous pair. "I'm not going back to Miami." She stated flatly to ease Camila's fears instantly. "There's no way I'm leaving you two. As for Mike... he's trying which is more than I ever thought possible, but he's not there yet. And I mean," She paused as she moved over to sit on the sofa. Lauren took the chair across from her and pull Camila to snuggle with her. "There are so many things that he is going to need to do besides just prove that he will be tolerant. I'm not going to be his housewife anymore so he's going to have to learn to take on part of the work. He's going to have to go to AA meetings because I'm never going to deal with a drunk husband again. But all of these things need to be dealt with before."
"That's going to take a lot of time and determination from him," Lauren commented, resting her temple to Camila's forehead as the brunette played with her fingers.
"It is. That's why he is going back to Miami to think it all through. If he decides he is wanting to try, then he will move up here. In his own apartment." She added quickly to answer any questions about it. "But if he doesn't, he said he would start the divorce papers from Miami so we could both move on."
"That sounds good," Camila noted with finality in her voice.
"I'm glad you approve." Clara quipped back with a smile. "And I'm serious. I'm glad you approve. I'm still learning how you think and feel so I wasn't too sure how you would respond to that."
Camila shifted slightly, bringing her feet up and braced them on the armrest, pulling Lauren's hand deeper into her lap. "I just didn't want to lose you."
The older woman smiled and bit back her tears. She really was home here with these two women. "I'm not going anywhere or ever risking losing either of you. Besides, you still owe me a promise of sperm shopping."