A few days later, Lauren once again finds herself walking through the now familiar corridors of Camila's school. This time though, it wasn't because she was picking her up after a long day, it was because she had got a school about an hour ago claiming that Camila wasn't having a very good day and needed to go home.
She had expected something like this to happen so to say she wasn't really surprised was an understatement, after all, the youngster had put up a fight and a half getting out of the door this morning. She was just glad work wasn't busy or she'd have yet another boss on her ass.
Coming to a stop at the reception desk, she was greeted with obviously, the receptionist, who looked up from her computer with a curious look, "Hi, I'm here to pick up Camila Cabello?" She says, pocketing her phone into the back of her jeans.
The woman nods, "of course, she's currently in the isolation room. I'll go get her for you, just give me a second" she says, sending a soft smile Lauren's way as she stands up and heads towards one of the doors that were a few feet away.
There were signs above them. Isolation 1, and Isolation 2.
Lauren nods at her words, and before she could really blink, she was met with Camila being lead out of one of the rooms.
The young girl was looking down at her feet as she walks, not making eye contact with anything or anyone around her and that was the first sign she could tell something was very wrong. Normally, she ran to her arms without hesitation, no matter what mood she was in.
"C'mere angel" she murmurs softly once the two had stopped in front of her, holding her hand out for the youngster to take. Thankfully, she takes it, but she still doesn't make eye contact and refuses to bring her attention away from her shoes.
"What happened?" She asks the woman as she looks up from her baby, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she reassuringly squeezes her smaller hand.
"I'm afraid miss Camila here got into a bit of a fist fight. We're unsure on who started it or why it happened as both girls have refused to talk, but they've both been excluded for the rest of the day"
Lauren's eyes widen, and she's quick, but careful, to cup the girls chin and ease her head up so they were making eye contact. She was met with a bright red mark that was sure to form a bruise sat on the girls left cheek, and she lets out a sigh of frustration.
After thanking and saying goodbye to the receptionist, Lauren was leading Camila out to the car with a blank look on her face. She couldn't believe it, she actually couldn't believe it. Her Camila, her innocent little Camila had actually gotten into a fist fight. A fucking fist fight.
Sighing, she pulls the car door open and allows Camila to slip inside before following her lead, "I want you in the corner when we get home. I don't know what possessed you to get into a physical fight with somebody, but I don't tolerate violence of any kind" she says sternly as she reaches in to buckle the girl up.
Camila nods ashamedly with tears burning her eyes, and she looks down at her lap not having the guts to make eye contact or defend herself by tell her side of the story. She didn't think mama would listen when she was so mad anyway.
Despite the girl being in trouble, Lauren knows she didn't want Camila being terrified of her, so letting out a sigh, she presses a soft kiss to her head before closing the car door behind her and getting into the drivers side.
Camila doesn't move a muscle or make a sound during the whole drive back, scared that if she gave Lauren another reason to be mad at her, she'd leave again, scared that if she interrupted her thoughts, she'd hurt her. Sure, a part of her brain remembers Lauren promising she'd never lay a hand on her, but the other part also remembers her storming out of the apartment when she was bad last time.
If she did it once, then why wouldn't she do it again? What she did this time was much worse than refusing to eat.
Being cautious of any noise or sound she made that would give Lauren an excuse to snap, she tries her best to hold back her tears as she watches the cars pass by.
They pull up outside of the apartments about ten minutes later, and Camila has to once again hold back her tears of legitimate fear as she was led up to their home. Like she was told, she heads straight to the corner, not even bothering to take her shoes off.
"Good girl" Lauren praises as she kicks of her own shoes and closes the front door behind her. She knows that despite being punished, the young girl still needed the reassurance that just because she made a bad decision doesn't mean she was a bad girl.
While Camila stands with her nose in the corner, she heads into the kitchen to prepare her a warm bottle. Her milk had started coming in as of recently, and as she didn't think neither of them were ready for the intimacy the nursing provided, she'd been using a pump and bottle instead.
Sure, it wasn't the most comfortable thing, but she'd deal with it until they tried actual nursing.
After warming up a bottle of milk she had pumped last night, she shakes it to make sure it was fully warm before she walking back into the living room and setting it down on the coffee table. By now, if her trembling body and sniffly nose was anything to go by she could tell Camila was properly crying.
Glancing at the clock to make sure it had been a good amount of time, she perches on the seat of the arm chair and lets out a sigh. Here goes nothing.
"Mila, come here sweetheart" she calls, running a hand through her hair.
Hearing her name, Camila was quick to turn round in her place. She doesn't however, move, fear still lingering in her entire body. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her bottom lip was still trembling, but before she could completely break, she see's her mama hold her arms out invitingly causing her to quickly to rush into her arms.
"Sshh, you're okay" Lauren coos when the youngster clambers onto her lap, wrapping her arms securely around her small frame before rocking back and forth, "you are such a good girl for taking your punishment without a fight" she praises, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
Camila completely disregards her mama's words and clings tightly onto her sweater as she sits up in her arms, "it wasn't my fault" she whimpers as her nose begins to run. She didn't wanting the woman to be mad at her.
Lauren frowns, "sweetheart, I-" she starts.
"She saw my pull-up and was making fun of me, I didn't do anything to her mama, I promise. She wouldn't back off and got frustrated that I wasn't retaliating. I'm sorry, I promise I'm really sorry" Camila cuts her off as she once again begins to sob, leaning forward against her mama's chest so she could once again hide from view.
Instead of telling girl off for interrupting her, Lauren simply holds her close. Now she knew the reason behind the fight, she didn't feel so mad.
"It's okay baby, mama's not mad you. You were such a good girl for not retaliating, I know how hard that must have been." Lauren starts, "if it happens again though, you know the answer would be to tell a teacher right?" She asks, running a hand through the girls hair.
It was getting long and they would probably need to make a trip to the hair salon soon.
Camila nods, "Yeah mama" she whispers, bringing her hand up to wipe the snot from her nose.
Lauren winces and grabs her hand before it could make it to her face, reaching towards the box of tissues on the coffee table, "There we go, much more sanitary" she murmurs softly, wiping the excess of her face before pressing a kiss to her cheek.
The young girl smiles shyly at the action and allows herself to be manoeuvred so she was sat across her lap, bringing her hand up to rub tiredly at her eyes.
"No no, that'll make your eyes sore. Look what mama has" Lauren says, picking up the bottle from the coffee table. She pulls the top off and rubs the nipple across her lips, prompting the youngster to open her mouth and latch on.
Knowing that this wasn't just her normal milk and was mama's, she begins to suckle eagerly. Sure, she was a little disappointed when she found out she wasn't able to directly nurse from her, but she got over it eventually after being told that they were going to take it slow.
After all, she was still getting her milk.
"Good girl, is that yummy?" Lauren asks in a coo, gently stroking the girls soft cheek with her pointer finger whilst the other hand places steady pats to the girls pull-up clad bottom.
Camila grins tiredly behind the nipple of the bottle and nods, still suckling greedily on her milk as she brings her hand up to enclose two of Lauren's fingers with her hand.
Lauren smiles softly, "Good, mama's glad." She whispers, "go on, close those eyes, have nice nap for me" she adds in a whisper as she watches the battle with Camila trying to keep her eyes open.
Not having the energy to fight, the youngster nods and allows her eyes to fall close, her
suckles gradually growing less and less frequent as the minutes go by.
Eventually, they stop completely, and Lauren gently eases the nipple out of her mouth before replacing it with her pacifier and attaching the clip to her shirt.
"Good girl" she whispers, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead.
**
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