The Tutor

Part 11

There was only one day between when Lauren returned home from spring break and when she had to return back to school. She decided to spend that day with Camila, who didn't mind. She was happy to introduce Lauren to her family.

"So . . . this is my Abuelita," Lauren shook her hand, "And that's Berto and Sofia."

"Hello," Lauren waved down at them. The two of them waved back shyly.

"And over there," Camila pointed to the couch where her little brother was taking a nap, "Is Victor. He's the youngest."

"Aw, he looks so cute."

"He's the devil," Berto laughed.

"Don't say stuff like that about your brother!" Camila's mom walked into the room, "Hi, I'm Sinu - Camila's mother."

"It's nice to meet you," Lauren shook her hand.

"So you're the one who's lifted my daughter's spirits," Sinu laughed, "You two make a cute couple. I approve."

Lauren beamed, "Thank you."

"It's early, honey. Did you eat?" Lauren shook her head, "Stay! Eat breakfast with us! I can tell you all about how weird Camila was as a baby." Sinu grabbed Lauren's hand and led her to the kitchen.

Lauren looked back at Camila smiling, "Ma! Stop! Bring her back!"

Sinu was taking out all the pots and pans, "I'm only making pancakes and eggs. Is that okay?"

"I love pancakes and eggs."

"You know . . . a few years ago, Camila was a vegetarian. Did she tell you that?"

"She didn't actually."

"Ma!"

"It only lasted a week. I told her she couldn't live in this house and be a vegetarian. We only have meat!" Sinu began to make the pancake batter, "I told her when she gets her own house, she can eat all the leaves she wants."

Lauren laughed.

"Also, when she was younger, her and her sister were always breaking each other's bones. We were regulars in the emergency room," Sinu laughed fondly at the memory, "I thought I was going to have to ship one of them back to Cuba because I could not handle it!"

Camila leaned against the sink in the kitchen, "Yeah, me and Sofia were wild children."

"Do you have any siblings, Lauren?" Sinu asked.

"No, it's just me."

"Oh, that's the dream."

"Ma, you just make your pancakes," Camila stepped between her mom and Lauren, "We're gonna be in the living room." Camila grabbed Lauren's hand and dragged her out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Your mom's nice."

"She's got a lot of stories," Camila rolled her eyes.

At that moment, Sofia walked up to the pair. She grabbed a lock of Lauren's hair and twirled it, "Can I play with your hair?"

Lauren looked at Camila confused before turning back to Sofia, "Sure?" Camila knew she was going to regret that.

Sofia went to her room to grab her supplies. When she came back, she went to work. In the back, she gave Lauren two uneven pigtails. Then, she added braids around the perimeter of her head and tied the remaining hair in a bun. A true masterpiece.

"I love it!"

Sofia beamed, "Me too," She turned to Camila, "Can you take a picture."

Camila put her hand over her heart, "Sure! I would love to," She took out her phone and pointed it at Lauren, "Say cheese, baby!" Lauren stuck out her tongue and made a peace sign. Camila took the picture.

Sinu came into the room, "Breakfast is done!"

Breakfast was nice. Everyone was telling their favorite stories about Camila. Sinu told the story of the time Camila stuck gum in her hair and Sinu had to cut it out. Berto told the story of the time their grandma was visiting and Camila helped him steal the candies from her purse. Sofia said her favorite memories were when she'd let her do her hair. Victor said he liked it when Camila made him food.

After breakfast, Camila and Lauren left to go to the park. They wanted to spend their last day before school relaxing. They walked around the park, side by side, talking about nothing important. They stopped to sit down under the shade of a big tree.

"Today was a good day," Lauren smiled, "I like your family."

Camila smiled at her, "I'm happy you like them. They obviously love you as much as I do." The words slipped out before Camila even realized. They haven't said that to each other before.

Lauren's eyes softened and she bit her lip, "I love you two."

Camila couldn't help herself. She put her hand underneath Lauren's chin and tilted her face up. She kissed her lips softly. Lauren smiled and kissed her back. Camila pulled away and smirked, "Oops."

Lauren laughed, "It's fine," She looked around, "Nobody saw."

Camila nodded before standing up, "Let's go. We've still got a lot of park to walk." Lauren laughed and stood up and the two continued their walk.