"Mani," Willa said as she sat criss cross on the floor, allowing her aunt to braid her hair for her.
"Yes, my love?"
"Are you going to marry my mama?"
Normani laughed at the question, having heard her fair share of random questions from the little girl.
"I hope to one day, why?"
"Because I want to be a princess at the wedding. Can I be a princess at your wedding?"
"You can be anything you want at the wedding. I pinky swear," Normani said, extending her pinky out for Willa to latch her own onto.
"So you're not mad at mama anymore?" Willa asked, well aware of the tension that existed between the two since they refused to talk to each other the entire party.
"Your mama is just a stubborn butt sometimes, but I'm not mad at her anymore."
Willa giggled at the expression Normani used, thinking about whether or not she should tell her mama those same words. "All done," Normani draped the braid over Willa's shoulder, allowing the child to admire it while she stood up and gather the brush and hair ties.
"Thank you, Mani," Willa said, wrapping her arms around her aunt's waist before hurrying into the kitchen to show off her hair to her mother and her other aunts.
When she entered, however, her mama and Aunt DJ were loudly arguing, Aunt Ally was cutting some vegetables, but she looked like she wanted to cut something else.
"I can't believe-!"
"Willa," Ally spoke up, making both women stop their fighting.
"Is everything okay?" Normani asked, coming up behind Willa. She heard faint yelling when she was braiding the child's hair so she played some music on her phone to keep them entertained. She didn't think the fighting would continue past the ten minutes it took her to do an intricate braid.
"This puta-!"
"I'm going to punch her, I swear!"
"Try me."
"Bitch, I might!"
The two began yelling again, motioning between themselves as they raised their voices. Normani placed her hands over Willa's ears, hoping to block out the swears.
"Hey, you idiots. No swearing in front of the child!" Normani called out, making them stop again. "Willa, go get dressed in the outfit on the bed. Our guest will be here soon."
Willa went to do so without question. Anything to get away from the fighting.
"Can someone please explain why you're both ready to throw hands and throttle one another in the throat?" Normani asked calmly, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
"Idiot One over there," Ally began to say, motioning to Lauren with the knife, "forgot to tell Idiot Two about our guest that's coming today-,"
"Because she went to walk Laker and just got home!"
"Shut it. Let Ally speak," Normani said, giving her girlfriend a pointed look.
"So of course the encounter between us and Camila last night was brought up again. Dinah said some shady things to Lauren, Lauren said some shady things about Dinah, and now they're at each other's throats."
"I leave the room for ten minutes," Normani mumbled, shaking her head as she tried to think of a way to restore peace. She wasn't about to let Camila come back to the house to find them fighting like cats and dogs. Even though she didn't admit it to anyone, she wants to show off to Camila that their lives were okay without her, because they were.
"Can you please just apologize to one another?" Normani finally asked, making both women open their mouths to fight again.
"If you to shout over one another one more time," Ally threatened, lifting the knife from the cutting board to exaggerate her point.
"Please? It's not like we can go back in time and change the course of the conversation. Can you please, for the love of god, just make-up and move on?"
Lauren folded her arms in frustration but nodded anyway, not wanting to get on the bad side of her band-mates anymore. "Fine. I'm sorry I called you a fish-brained dip-shit."
Dinah nodded in acceptance, grumbling to herself before saying, "I'm sorry I called you a two-faced bitch."
"Cool, now that that's settled, you two finish making lunch. I'm taking Ally to check on Willa," Normani said, grabbing the shorter girl's arm and pulling her away. Hopefully, some forced last-minute bonding would make Lauren and Dinah act normal again.
~.~.~
The doorbell rang at 1:00pm, the exact time that Camila promised to arrive for lunch.
Normani, who was cuddled next to Lauren and Willa on the couch, was the first one up to answer the door.
"Mila, hey, so glad you could make it," she said, pulling the girl in for an embrace.
"Yeah, thanks for inviting me," Camila said, taking a moment to look around once she was out of the hug. "It's still the same," she hummed, kicking off her shoes as she looked to the upstairs hallway and the living room to the right.
"Well, we got some new art, but yeah, nothing has really changed," Normani said, not adding that Camila's old room became Willa's room. She had an idea that the woman could figure that one out on her own.
"Mama, it's the pretty lady from the show yesterday," Willa said, peering over the couch and waving at Camila. "I forgot your name. Sorry," the child went on to add, making Camila and Normani laugh.
"It's Camila, but you can call me Mila."
"Okay," Willa said, giving one last goofy grin before turning around and sitting on her bum again.
"Hey, Camila," Lauren said once her daughter was done "greeting" their guest.
"Hey," Camila replied, not moving in for a hug since it was clear Lauren didn't want one.
"Look who finally arrived," Dinah said, entering the living room and pulling her old friend into a hug.
"I'm right on time, DJ."
"Shut up, let me be dramatic," Dinah said, earning a laugh from the shorter girl.
"Hey Mila, I hope you're hungry," Ally said, walking into the room while she wiped off her hands with a dishtowel. The two quickly hugged in greeting before the shortest of the five pointed to the kitchen. "Should we do lunch?"
"Good idea, I'm starving," Dinah said, turning to walk to the kitchen. She scooped Willa up along the way and carried the girl upside down, making her giggle loudly.
The group sat at the table and began to prepare tacos, Lauren assisting Willa in setting up her soft-shell one with ground beef, tomatoes, and cheese. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Damn, I forgot how well you guys make food," Camila said after taking a bite, almost immediately going for a second bite.
"Wait, you can't cook anything to save your life. How on earth have you been surviving all these months?" Dinah asked, earning some laughs.
"My mom taught me. I've also been eating a ton of cookies."
"Lucky," Willa said, turning to Lauren. "Why can't I eat cookies all the time?"
"Because you're still little," Lauren said, smirking when Willa looked at herself and then the others before sighing in defeat.
"It's not my fault I have little legs," Willa replied, making the whole table laugh. She was too darn cute for her own good sometimes.
"Trust me, Willa. Eating cookies all the time isn't that great after a while. Maybe the first day it's fun but after that they're not as exciting anymore," Camila said, seeming to satisfy the little girl with that response.
"So, anything exciting coming up for Fifth Harmony other than the new album?" Camila asked, trying to keep the small talk.
"World tour after we drop the new album in a few days, but it's nothing new," Normani said with a shrug. "How about you?"
"Well, I'm taking a small break once my tour wraps up in October. After Christmas I'll get back in the studio to make CC2."
"Mila, do you wanna hear something cool?" Willa asked, making the woman look her direction.
"Sure."
"When mama and Mani get married I'm gonna be a princess."
An awkward silence fell over the table, Lauren and Normani staring at each other while Camila cocked an eyebrow.
"You're getting married?" The Latina asked with an amused smirk on her lips.
"We're getting married?" Lauren questioned her girlfriend, this being the first she's heard of any weddings and princesses.
"Yeah, mama. You love Mani and Mani loves you, so you're gonna get married," Willa explained, making the two women snicker in amusement. "And I'm going to be a princess."
"I told you it would happen one day, Willa. Not tomorrow," Normani said, reaching past Lauren to give the small girl a tickle.
"But still," Willa said past her giggles, squirming away from Normani's fingers.
"When did you two become a thing?" Camila asked, motioning between the two women.
"About six months ago?" Lauren said, looking to Normani for confirmation.
"Something like that."
"I didn't see that coming," Camila said with a nervous laugh, making Dinah nod in agreement.
"Neither did I. I thought Normani was as straight as a ruler. Turns out she's a wonderful squiggly line like our Lauren."
"Can I be a squiggly line?" Willa asked, making the women laugh.
"You can be anything you want, mija," Lauren said, pressing a kiss to the child's forehead before shifting her focus back to the conversation.
"I'm happy for you two," Camila stated. "And you're not going to make it public?"
"We're not hiding it," Normani said, with a shrug.
"We're just letting things happen on their own. The fans are pretty intense, so they'll FBI their way to the truth eventually," Lauren explained, earning a nod from the girl across from her.
"Do I get an invitation to the wedding?"
"Yup! The princess gets to plan it," Willa said around a mouthful of tomato.
"Manners, my love. And I hate to break it to you, but princesses don't plan weddings," Lauren said, making the child deflate.
"Who does then?"
"The maid of honour helps," Normani said, making the little one light up again.
"Okay. I'm gonna be the maid of honour."
"To who?" Lauren asked.
"Mani obviously. I'm gonna be your best man, Lo," Dinah said, speaking up about the future wedding.
"Excuse me, what about me?" Ally asked, pointing to herself.
"Catering," Dinah said, flipping her hair.
"That's just straight insulting, Dinah Jane."
"You can be my second maid of honour," Normani said with a shrug.
"Uh, no. You can only have one," Dinah said, earning a glare from the older girl.
"My wedding, my choice," Normani stated blatantly.
"Well, it would actually be our wedding, but whatever you say, dear," Lauren said, making Normani's glare at Dinah shift to her.
Camila sat back in her chair and watched the five people interact. This dynamic was so foreign to her now, but she couldn't help but admire how beautiful it was.
~.~.~
After lunch, Camila had to head out for a meeting with her team. It was at the door that she took one last look around her old home and looked at her old friends.
"Listen, I know this doesn't fix anything, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. Fifth Harmony was the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life," Camila began to say. "You were all such great friends and sisters and you made me the person I am today. My leaving wasn't any of your faults. I just needed to learn how to love myself alone."
"We get it, Mila. Water under the bridge," Ally said, rubbing the woman's arm.
"You all made such a beautiful new family unit. I just wanted to say I'm happy to see you all flourishing and I hope I can earn our friendship back so I can continue to watch you all grow."
A collective response of agreement was made as the four others nodded. Dinah was the first to hug Camila goodbye, followed by Ally, Normani, and then Willa.
Lauren was hesitant to step forward, her movements awkward as she finally wrapped her arms around the other Latina's thin frame and gave her a hug.
When Camila pulled away she carefully wiped under her eyes, and looked down at the little girl between Lauren and Normani.
"Hey Willa, you found some of the best people in the whole world. Be sure to keep them close," Camila said, speaking to the child who nodded before she reached up to Normani to be carried. "I guess I'll see you all around."
"Come over anytime, Mila," Dinah said, opening the door and allowing the girl to step out.
Camila looked back one last time and smiled widely at her old family. She willed herself to remember how beautiful they all were in their new life that they built.
---------------------------------------------
Not my best, sorry guys.
I don't think Camila will be coming back. Maybe a few pop-up appearances, but I just wanted to give some closure to the issue in this story.
I'll probably do another chapter before I do a time jump. Everything seems to have fallen into place in the 5H household so I just want to move forward in time to bring in new things and mix it up a bit.
If I were to write a Power Rangers collection of Trimberly One-Shots, what would you like to see? Comment here, please :)
Until the next update, my loves.
Valentina