A Little Love

Chapter 17

Lauren watched with a small smile as Camila nuzzled into Mr. Bunny, thumb in her mouth as her index finger circled her nose they way she sometimes did. It was a Monday morning and Lauren had woken Camila up a little bit early so she could have some quiet time before school, knowing that it would be hard to get her to go after what had happened the day before with Serena.

They were in the living room, Lauren on the sofa while Camila was curled up on the floor in just her diaper seeing as she found her school uniform uncomfortable and usually wanted to put it on as late as possible.

"Do you think it's time to get dressed, babe?" Lauren asked, closing her book and standing up.

"Not going," Camila mumbled around her thumb.

"Hey now," Lauren said, sitting down opposite to Camila. "You're going to have a great day at school, I bet Miss. Epseley has some really fun activities planned for you today."

"Please don't make me," Camila groaned, sprawling out.

"Come here," Lauren sighed, pulling Camila into her lap. "I know last night was hard, but you need to go back to school, nena."

"I hate school," Camila said dramatically.

"No you don't!" Lauren said animatedly, trying to convince Camila. "Come on, munchkin," she started tickling Camila's tummy, smiling at the sound of Camila's giggles as she squirmed in her arms.

An hour later, there were no more giggles.

Camila was screaming and in tears, throwing a tantrum, while Lauren chased her around the house with her school uniform.

"We're late," Lauren said in frustration as Camila slipped out of her grip for the third time. Lauren pressed her fingers against her temples, giving up. She knew Camila was going to be a challenge, but this was exhausting her.

She put down the skirt, retreating to her bedroom where Dinah was still asleep.

"What's going on?" Dinah asked sleepily.

"I can't do this," Lauren whispered.

Dinah immediately sat up upon realising that Camila wasn't the only person in tears.

"Hey, why are you crying?" she asked, putting an arm around her girlfriend.

"I can't do this, D," Lauren said hoarsely. "We can't keep her."

"Where is she?" Dinah asked in confusion.

"Fuck, I just left her alone in the middle of a tantrum," Lauren realised, shoving her face into her pillow. "She doesn't want to go to school and now we're late even though I got her up early," she rambled.

"You know what," Dinah grabbed her bathrobe. "You're right, you can't do this," she stood up, tying it around the front. "But we can," she planted a kiss on Lauren's lips. "You get ready for work, I'll get the baby and take her to work with me, okay?"

"Okay," Lauren took a deep breath.

"We got this," Dinah promised, giving Lauren a wink before walking out of the room. "YO, KID?" she called. She quickly found Camila lying on the kitchen floor, exhausted from her tantrum.

"D.J?" Camila asked wearily, reaching up for her not having enjoyed both the adults forgetting about her.

"You've outdone yourself, huh?" Dinah joked, picking Camila up and bouncing her in her arms the way Lauren always did when Camila was upset.

She realised it was time she started pulling her own weight; Lauren really couldn't do everything on her own.

"Okay, uh, you're wet," Dinah realised, feeling the back of Camila's diaper. "It's fine, that's fine," she reassured herself.