"I guess you're mad at me still?" Camila asks as she moves over to Lucy who was standing in the kitchen.
"Oh, you have no idea." Lucy responded.
Biting her lip, Camila slowly wraps her arms around Lucy's waist. "I'm really sorry."
Lauren just stood there.
Nuzzling Lucy's neck, Camila places a gentle kiss there.
"Camila, don't." Lucy muttered.
"Then give me a kiss." The younger girl mumbles.
"Why?" Lucy responded.
"Because I love you and I want a kiss from my fiancé." Camila responds, pulling Lucy closer.
Lucy shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot.
Kissing Lucy's neck once more, Camila rubs the older girl's hips.
"Camila stop." Lucy repeated.
Sighing, Camila steps back and turns to Lauren. "How about you?"
"Hmm?" Lauren hummed in question. She looked between Lucy and Camila. "What? I wasn't listening."
Moving over to her, Camila slips her arms around Lauren's waist. "Let me kiss you?"
Camila saw Lauren relax a little and shrug.
Smiling, the younger girl leans in and kisses Lauren slowly and passionately.
Lauren's eyes fluttered closed and she wrapped her arms around Camila's neck. It seemed like Lauren had forgiven her for her outburst at Hayley and Taylor's wedding.
Pulling her closer, Camila deepens the kiss and slips her tongue into Lauren's mouth.
Lauren slowly tangled her fingers in Camila's brown locks. She pulled away after a few minutes, taking a deep breath.
Stepping back, Camila moves over to Lucy and pulls her into a rough but passionate kiss.
Lucy fought against Camila, eventually able to separate their lips. "I'm mad at you." She walked away.
Groaning, Camila drops her head into her hands. "Dammit."
"Camz, take a deep breath." Lauren said cautiously. She didn't dare move any closer out of fear that Camila would snap again.
Camila takes a deep breath and runs a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry."
"Promise me something?" Lauren said, watching Camila's every move. "When you feel angry like that, try doing some meditation."
"I promise." Camila breathes out before moving closer to Lauren and pulling her into a needy kiss.
Lauren kissed her back before pulling away. "Can we just hold each other?"
Nodding, the younger girl wraps her arms around Lauren and buries her face in her neck before closing her eyes.
Lauren rested her head on Camila's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Have you taken a test yet?" Camila asks softly.
"A test?" Lauren asked, confused.
Nodding, Camila moves closer to Lauren. "A pregnancy test."
"Oh." Lauren shook her head. "I forgot."
"We have some here if you want to take one." The younger girl says softly.
Lauren yawned and rubbed her eyes before slowly lifting her head. She opened her eyes and looked at Camila. "Help me?"
"Help you?" Camila asks in confusion.
"With the test." Lauren clarified.
Nodding slowly, Camila leads Lauren to the bathroom and opens the door.
Lauren followed Camila into the bathroom and sat down on the lid of the toilet seat.
Digging in the bathroom closet, Camila pulls out the pregnancy tests, frowning when she sees two are missing.
"What's wrong?" Lauren asked quietly.
"It's nothing." Camila says, passing Lauren a test.
"Thanks." Lauren said, taking the test from Camila. "Are you sure."
"Yeah, I'll wait in the hall." The younger girl responds before leaving the bathroom.
Lauren sighed and did what the instructions told her to do before washing her hands and taking the test out of the bathroom and to Camila.
Camila sends Lauren a soft smile. "How'd it go?"
Lauren shrugged. "I didn't look." She held the stick out to Camila. "I'm too afraid."
Looking at the stick, Camila smiles. "It's positive."
Lauren's eyes lit up. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." Camila responds, smiling brightly.
Lauren couldn't fight the smile that crept it's way onto her face. She jumped into Camila's arms.
Leaning in, Camila kisses Lauren slowly and passionately.
Lauren's eyes fluttered closed and she relaxed against Camila.
Pulling away, Camila smiles softly. "You should go get some rest."
"Hold me?" Lauren asked. "Please."
Nodding her head, Camila leads Lauren to the guest bedroom.
The two of them lay down on the bed together. Lauren curled into Camila and closed her eyes.
****
"Mama, mommy," Braelynn whines from her crib.
Lucy sighed. She got up out of bed and left her room. She went into the nursery.
Camila follows behind her and sighs softly upon seeing the two year old standing in her crib and rubbing her eyes.
"Pretty girl, you need to lay down." Camila says softly, running her fingers through Braelynn's curly hair.
Whining softly, the two year old fights back tears. "Up, mommy, mama, up."
Camila shook her head. "You need to lie down." She repeated.
Shaking her head, the little girl releases another cry. "Bad dweam."
Camila sighed. "I know. I get bad dreams too. But they are just dreams, they can't actually hurt you."
Braelynn reaches for Lucy when she realizes Camila won't pick her up.
Lucy hesitated before shaking her head. "Mama is right. Dreams can't hurt you, they don't exist."
The little girl just holds her arms up more. "Mommy!"
Lucy shook her head. "It was just a bad dream."
Dropping down, Braelynn begins to softly sob.
Lucy took a deep deep and shook her head.
Closing her eyes, Camila tries to fight back the urge to pick the two year old up.
"Dreams are just things our minds make up. They don't exist and can't hurt you." Lucy said.
"Scared!" The two year old cries out, kicking her feet.
"I know but it can't hurt you because it's all inside your head." Lucy said.
Swallowing thickly, Camila gives in and gently picks up the tiny girl.
Braelynn buries her face in Camila's neck and continues to softly sob.
Lucy sighed and left the room. She knew Braelynn was emotional but they couldn't give in every time she cried otherwise she'd never be able to get back to sleep on her own.
Braelynn lifts her head up and looks at Camila tiredly. "Mama,"
"What?" Camila asked.
"Cuddle," the two year old responds, curling closer to the brown eyed mother.
Camila sighed. She held Braelynn close.
"Camz, I'm going to head home." Lauren said from the doorway.
Frowning slightly, Camila turns to look at Lauren. "Don't leave."
"Why not?" Lauren asked.
"Move in, you and Alice." Camila responds immediately without thinking.
"What?" Lauren asked; shocked.
The younger girl repeats herself, gently shifting Braelynn in her arms.
"Lucy won't like that." Lauren responded.
"Move in." Is all Camila says in response.
Braelynn releases a soft whine. "Mama, cuddle with mommy."
Lauren shook her head. "I can't. It would upset Lucy and clearly Braelynn wouldn't like that."
"She just wants to lay down with Lucy. Just move in, this way you don't have to go back and forth all the time." Camila says calmly.
"But Lucy... she'll hate me even more." Lauren responded.
Sighing, Camila looks into Lauren's eyes. "She'll have to get used to it."
"And if she doesn't?" Lauren mumbled.
"She will." Camila responds with a soft smile. "Go back to bed, we'll talk more in the actual morning."
Lauren sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair.
Leaning in, Camila pecks Lauren's lips before carrying Braelynn to her and Lucy's room.
"Mommy," Braelynn whines softly upon seeing Lucy.
Lucy was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Climbing onto the bed, Camila rolls onto her side, facing Lucy with Braelynn between them. "Hey,"
Braelynn immediately relaxed between them and closed her eyes.
Lucy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.
Smiling softly, Camila is quick to follow them, holding both Lucy and Braelynn close.
****
Lauren sat down on the couch. She couldn't sleep.
"Mommy?" Remi asks, walking into the living room and rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"What's wrong?" Lauren asked gently, lifting her eldest daughter onto her knee.
The five year old releases a soft yawn. "Are you and mama gettin together?"
"Um..." Lauren swallowed. "I'm not sure, princess."
Frowning, Remi lays her head on Lauren's shoulder. "How come?"
"How come what?" Lauren asked, rubbing Remi's back gently.
"You aren't sure if you and mama are gettin together." The little girl responds, relaxing against Lauren.
Lauren nodded. "Yes."
"How come?" Remi repeats.
"I don't know." Lauren responded. She ran her fingers through Remi's hair.
Nodding slowly, the five year old releases a soft yawn. "I'm hungry."
"Okay." Lauren said slowly. "What do you want?"
Shrugging, the little girl looks up at Lauren. "Grilled cheese?"
"Okay." Lauren stood up and lifted Remi up. "Oh, you're heavy." She joked.
Giggling, Remi lays her head on Lauren's shoulder. "Love you mommy."
"I love you too." Lauren kissed Remi's head.
Smiling, the five year old curls into Lauren.
"What's going on in here?" Camila asks as she walks into the kitchen.
"Remi's hungry." Lauren responded.
Frowning, Camila looks at the time. "At three in the morning?"
"She came to me." Lauren shrugged. "Ask her."
Remi looks up at Camila. "Hungry mama."
"Told you." Lauren shrugged again.
The five year old reaches for Camila. "Mommy makin grilled cheese."
Camila took Remi from Lauren.
"Love you." Remi mumbles, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"I love you too, princess." Camila kissed Remi's head before turning to look at Lauren, watching the older girl move around the kitchen flawlessly.
****
One year later
"Hey, is he asleep?" Camila asks softly as she wraps her arms around Lucy's waist.
"Hmm, finally." Lucy mumbled in response, yawning.
Kissing Lucy's shoulder, Camila can't help but smile. "You're so beautiful."
"I'm sleepy." Lucy mumbled.
"Let's go lay down, all of the kids are either napping or at preschool." The younger girl says softly.
"You should check on Lauren first. I don't know if she's awake or what but Marley kept her up all night." Lucy said.
Nodding, Camila kisses Lucy's cheek. "Go to our room and I'll be there soon."
Lucy nodded, stepping away from Camila and going into their bedroom.
Camila made her way to Lauren's room. The older girl was curled up on the bed, fast asleep, with Marley's tiny body lying beside her.
Smiling softly, Camila moves over to the bed and covers them up before gently kissing their foreheads.
Lauren grunted, shifting on the bed. Her leg twitched slightly.
Leaving the room, Camila makes her way into her and Lucy's room and strips to just her boxers and a tank top before climbing into bed and wrapping her arms around Lucy.
"They're both asleep." She says softly.
"That's a first. I thought that kid would never sleep." Lucy mumbled, resting her head on Camila's chest.
Nodding her head, Camila wraps her arms around Lucy and kisses her forehead.
Lucy closed her eyes and relaxed.
"We should plan our wedding." Camila says softly.
"In the morning." Lucy mumbled. "I'm sleepy."
Nodding her head, Camila holds Lucy close and closes her eyes.
It wasn't long before they were both fast asleep.
Around three in the morning, Camila wakes up to Braelynn's soft sobbing.
The three year old was trying to climb onto their bed.
Groaning, Camila rolled onto her back and sat up. "What is it this time?" She mumbled grumpily. Every night Braelynn would come into their room crying about some stupid bad dream she had, even though she knew they weren't real and couldn't hurt her, and Camila was starting to get tired of it.
"Can't sleep mama." The little girl sobs out.
"Yes you can." Camila responded. "You close your eyes and imagine your are in a field playing with a puppy." She knew this worked for her daughter. "Eventually you'll drift off to sleep."
Crawling onto the bed, Braelynn curls into Camila's side.
"Braelynn, you need to sleep in your own room." Camila said firmly.
Shaking her head, the three year old grips onto Camila's shirt.
"Yes, Braelynn." Camila said firmly, prying the little girl's hands off of her shirt.
Whining, Braelynn tries to grip onto Camila's shirt again. "Mama,"
"Braelynn." Camila said calmly. "Back to your own bed. I have work in the morning." Camila held Braelynn's arms away from herself gently.
Tears fill the three year old's eyes and she shakes her head. "No mama,"
"Yes." Camila repeated. She got up and lifted Braelynn up, carrying the girl back to her room and sitting her on her bed. "Lie down and go back to sleep. Mommy and I both have work tomorrow." She left the room and went back to the warmth of her own bed, sighing heavily.
Yawning, Lucy curls into Camila. "I love you."
"I love you too." Camila whispered. "We should sleep, we have work tomorrow." She kissed Lucy's forehead and rolled onto her side, facing the wall away from Lucy. She closed her eyes and let sleep take over.
"Come back and cuddle me." Lucy mumbles trying to curl into her.
Camila didn't responded. Lucy sat up and saw that she was sleeping.
Frowning, the older girl curls into Camila and closes her eyes.
It wasn't long before she fell asleep.
****
"No!" Ben whines, kicking his feet.
"Ben, eat your breakfast like a good little boy." Lucy said.
The one year old shakes his head and reaches for Lucy. "Up!"
"Ben, eat now. I have to go to work. Grandpa is coming to watch you." Lucy said.
Shaking his head, the one year old reaches for Lucy. "Up!"
Lucy shook her head. "Eat." She moved over to the fridge and grabbed her lunch, putting it in her bag.
Lauren came out of her bedroom carrying tiny Marley in her arms.
The little girl stretches and nuzzles Lauren's neck.
Lauren looked down at Marley and smiled. She bent down and kissed Alice's head, followed by Remi's head.
"Mommy, I'm tired." Alice mumbles tiredly.
"I know, princess." Lauren ran her fingers through Alice's brown hair. "Me too."
The little girl holds her arms up. "Up mommy."
"Um." Lauren swallowed. She shifted Marley in her arms and lifted Alice up with her free arm.
Laying her head on Lauren's shoulder, the three year old relaxes.
Lauren kissed Alice's head again.
"No!" Ben yells, kicking his feet again.
"Ben." Lucy turned to him. "Eat now or you won't get any ice cream after dinner tonight."
The one year old shakes his head and reaches for Lucy. "Up!"
Lucy shook her head. "Eat your breakfast." She got her bottle of water from the fridge and put it in her bag.
Tears fill the little guy's eyes. "Up mommy."
"Ben eat your breakfast right now." Lucy responded before leaving the kitchen.
Later that night
Camila walks into the house in her police uniform to find Ben crying in his playpen.
"Hey, big guy, what's wrong?" Camila lifted him up. "Hey, Shh." She began bouncing him gently.
Lauren came in from the kitchen with a bottle of warm milk for Ben.
The one year old buries his face in Camila's neck and continues to softly cry.
"Here." Lauren held Ben's bottle out to Camila.
Taking the bottle, Camila gives it to Ben. "Thanks."
"No problem." Lauren offered her a small smile.
Smiling, Camila lays Ben down and moves foward to kiss Lauren.
Lauren smiled. "Did you have a good day at work?" She asked.
"It's better now." Camila responds as she kisses Lauren once more.
Lauren rested her forehead against Camila's. "Tell me bout it."
"It was a kidnapping one, I don't think you want to hear about it." The younger girl says softly.
Lauren shrugged. "I want to hear about your day. It's more interesting than mine."
Taking a deep breath, Camila sits on the couch and pulls Lauren close. "A father kidnapped his kid because he was getting a divorce."
"Oh." Lauren rested her head on Camila's shoulder. "What did you do?"
"We had to talk him out of it." The younger girl responds softly.
"Did you get the kid to its mother?" Lauren asked.
Nodding her head, Camila runs a hand through her hair. "It almost didn't end well."
"Oh." Lauren lifted her head.
Marley's tired cry echoed from Lauren's bedroom.
"Let me get her." Camila says softly.
"Are you sure? She might just cry even more." Lauren said.
Nodding, the younger girl stands up and makes her way toward Marley.
The girl was lying in her crib, sobbing.
Picking up the one year old, Camila smiles softly. "I've got you baby,"
Marley wrapped her tiny hand around Camila's finger and squeezed.
Kissing her forehead, Camila smiles softly. "Hey pretty girl."
Marley looked up at Camila with her tiny brown eyes, tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"Shh," Camila says softly, rocking the little girl in her arms.
Marley squeezed Camila's fingers again as a small smile crossed her face.
Smiling softly, Camila continues to gently rock Marley. "Mama loves you."
Marley smiled again.
Carrying the little girl into the living room, Camila continues to talk to her softly.
Camila sat on the couch beside Lauren who looked down at Marley and smiled.
Marley smiles and lays her head on Camila's shoulder and closes her eyes.
"She's tiny." Lauren whispered. "Why is she so small? She's smaller than Remi and Alice were. Is that because of me?"
"No baby, it's not because of you." The brown eyed girl says softly.
"Then why is she tiny?" Lauren mumbled.
Camila smiles sadly and looks up at Lauren. "She's like Braelynn."
"That's not an explanation." Lauren responded.
Sighing, Camila turns to face Lauren. "It's hard to explain, but it's more my fault."
Lauren frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Almost all of my kids are like this because of me." Camila responds softly.
"I'm confused. How is it your fault?" Lauren asked, tilting her head to the side.
Sighing, Camila runs a hand through her hair. "Think about it Laur."
Lauren furrowed her brows in thought. "I don't get it. You need to explain it to me." She said honestly.
"Braelynn, Ben, Alice, Remi, and Marley are tiny because of my genes." The younger girl responds softly.
"Your genes." Lauren repeated slowly as if repeating it would help her understand it. "What genes?"
Groaning, Camila shakes her head. "Just forget it."
"Oh." Lauren sighed, she looked down. She just didn't understand what Camila meant.
"Oh, um." Lucy stops in the doorway, thinking she did something wrong.
Lauren and Camila turned their heads simultaneously to look at Lucy. "What?" They asked.
"I walked in on your conversation." Lucy says softly.
"The conversation was finished." Camila responded.
Nodding slowly, Lucy makes her way into her room and changes out of her scrubs.
"I'm going to put Marley to bed and then take a shower." Camila stood up and walked away.
Lauren sighed and slumped back on the couch, running her hand through her hair and rubbing her face. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes before putting them back on.
Lucy came back into the room.
"You should go get some sleep." Lucy says softly before making her way into the kitchen.
"I'm not tired." Lauren responded.
Lucy doesn't respond as she begins making dinner.
Lauren got up and went into the kitchen. "Need some help?" She asked.
"You don't have to." The older girl responds softly.
"What if I want to?" Lauren responded, rolling up her sleeves and washing her hands.
Lucy shrugs and dries her hands before getting the items for dinner out.
Lauren dried her head on the towel that Lucy had used and pushed her 'secretary' glasses up her nose.
"I'll chop the vegetables if you can start boiling the water for the noodles." Lucy says softly.
Lauren nodded. "Sure." She grabbed a pot from the cupboard. She poured some water into the pot and put it on the stove to boil it.
The older girl silently begins cutting up the vegetables.
Lauren watched her reflection in the water in the pot. She swallowed.
A soft cry from the playpen in the living room catches their attention.
"That'll be Ben." Lucy said. She put the knife down and wiped her hand before going to get her son and bringing him into the kitchen.
The little boy laid his head on her shoulder, crying softly and rubbing at his eyes.
"Shh." Lucy bounced Ben gently. "You're okay, little man."
Ben sniffles slightly and nuzzles her neck, closing his eyes.
Lucy kissed Ben's head and went back to chopping the vegetables with one hand. She glanced at Lauren who was still looking at the water in the pot as it boiled, distorting her reflection.
The little boy yawns and starts to slowly relax against Lucy.
Lucy popped a piece of carrot into her mouth and chewed it slowly.
"Hey, you girls need help?" Camila asks, walking into the kitchen.
"You could help me chop the vegetables. I'm not quite sure what Lauren is doing." Lucy said.
Nodding, Camila moves over to help chop vegetables.
The girls got to work in silence.
By the time dinner was done, the kids were all awake and seated in their highchairs or booster seats.
"Mama," Braelynn mumbles reaching for Camila.
Camila placed Braelynn's dinner in front of her. "Eat." She said before going to get some more plates.
The three year old just stares at her stir fried vegetables and spaghetti sauce covered penne noodles.
Camila came back with Ben's meal. Lauren followed her with Alice's and Remi's meals.
Lucy walks over with Rowen and Lucas' meals while Blake just rubbed at his eyes tiredly.
Lauren placed the plates in front of her daughter's before going to get Marley's.
It wasn't long before everyone had their food and was eating. Well everyone but Braelynn who wouldn't touch her food.
"Braelynn, Eat your dinner or you don't get ice cream after." Lucy said firmly.
The little girl looks up and fights back tears before pointing at her plate. Normally, no matter what they were eating it would get cut into smaller pieces for her. This time it wasn't.
"It's small enough." Lucy responded.
Shaking her head, the little girl frowns.
"Braelynn, Just eat it." Lucy said. "If Ben can eat it, you can too."
Ben wasn't exactly eating it. He was making a mess of himself and the table around him.
Braelynn looks toward Camila with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Listen to your mother." Camila said. "Just eat it."
Using her fork, Braelynn picks up a piece and puts it in her mouth, chewing slowly and swallowing only to start choking.
"You have to be kidding me?" Lucy muttered under her breath before standing up and moving to Braelynn.
"She's so dramatic." Remi rolled her eyes.
Braelynn's lips were starting to turn a light blue as she continued to choke.
Lucy began performing the heimlich manoeuvre on her daughter.
After a few seconds the small pasta flies out of the three year old's mouth and she begins to softly cry.
Lucy sighed. "You're okay." She rubbed her daughter's back gently.
"I don't want this anymore." Remi mumbled, pushing her plate away.
"Eat Rem." Camila says softly before moving over to Lucy and Braelynn.
The three year old reaches for Camila, still coughing slightly.
"I don't want it anymore." Remi mumbled. She looked at her mother. "Can I be excused?" She asked. Seeing the piece of chewed up food fly out of Braelynn's mouth had put her off her meal.
Lauren nodded, understanding how her daughter felt because she felt the same way.
Sighing, Camila runs a hand through her hair. "Okay, I'll clean this up."
Braelynn releases a soft cry and reaches for Camila again.
"I'll clean up." Lucy said, shaking her head. She passed Braelynn to Camila and began cleaning up.
The three year old curls into Camila and buries her face in Camila's neck.
"Shh, you're okay." Camila rocked them gently.
Remi came out of her room with a soccer ball. "Mommy, I'll be in the backyard." She informed her mother.
"Okay Pumpkin, be careful." Lauren says softly.
Remi nodded before opening the back door. She didn't care if it was raining, kicking a ball about helped her relax. She was actually very talented with a soccer ball but she wasn't on a team or anything.