Playing with feelings

29

It had been about 2 months since the move. They were actually coming up on the anniversary. She'd managed to get a small house in the college town not too long after they got here, which turned out to be the greatest find because she likely would've gone crazy if she moved back to her parents house. As much as she loved them, she still needed her space.

The house was less than a 10 minute drive to campus so luckily she didn't have to wake up that much earlier for her 8 am class. Because she was a new professor, she got mostly Freshman and Sophomore classes which also meant most of her classes were in the morning.

The little bits of extra sleep were good because sleep was limited these days. Her alarm had just went off for the day and she rolled over to meet Camryn's open eyes.

Every night since they moved, Camryn refused to sleep in her own room. She would throw massive, sobbing tantrums every time Emmy tried to cut off the lights after putting her in bed. It got to the point where she would wail continuously until Emmy picked her up and took her to her room. The tantrums were an every night thing for the first couple weeks until it transformed to her simply starting to cry when the lights went off. Eventually, Emmy just gave up on putting her in her own room.

"I'm scared of the dark," she'd said with a trembling voice when Emmy had sat her down to talk about it.

Camryn had been having such a hard time adjusting to the move. She'd either have a week of screaming fits or one of clinging to Emmy like her life depended on it. It was like she didn't know how to act in this new environment and it broke Emmy's heart.

This fear of the dark, however, was familiar. When Camryn was just a baby, her mom had stayed with Emmy to help out. She'd come everyday to babysit while Emmy worked, but when Camryn turned two and was old enough for daycare, she stopped coming. That's when same pattern of today had started. Emmy would put Camryn in bed, hit the light switch, and all hell would break loose. Being such a new mom, Emmy had no idea how to handle it, so she called her own Mom. That led to Sharon coming over every night to sleep with Camryn, and Camryn now being two years older and wanting the same treatment.

Emmy was thankful for the help back then but now she was left waiting for Camryn to grow into the changes in her life.

But for now, she stroked her baby's soft but messy morning hair. "Good morning my sweet girl." She was choosing to look to the bright side that was the extra cuddles she got with her.

Camryn lifted her arms to Emmy as she sat up. "Good morning Mommy."

Emmy picked her up and sat her on her hip as they started their morning routine. They ended with hair, and Emmy sat her on the counter in front of the mirror of the bathroom.

"Ready to have a good day at school?" Emmy asked as she started to section off her hair for two space buns.

Camryn shook her head, taking her hair with her, "I don't wanna go."

"Cami," Emmy sighed, "Why don't you want to go to school?"

She crossed her arms and dropped her head, "None of my friends are there."

Her words pulled at all of Emmy's heart strings. "I'm sorry babygirl," she rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, "I'm sure you can make some new ones."

"I don't want new ones," the young girl shook her head again.

"You miss Amber?" Emmy asked, already knowing the answer.

Camryn nodded.

"We'll have to figure out a way to get you two together again," Emmy replied, though she didn't know how to actually make that a reality.