Two months later...
Lauren and Camila arrived at LJCorp and Camila walked quietly with Lauren to her office. Camila was glad she had fond memories of Lauren's sex-craved stage of pregnancy, because it sure beat the stage she was in now. Lauren was grumpy – a lot of the time.
Lauren's belly had grown, and she had a clear distaste for maternity apparel. Every day before work she checked herself in the mirror repeatedly with a frown on her face. At first Camila tried to assure her she still looked beautiful. After a few days of getting her head bitten off, Camila changed strategies. She waited in the kitchen until Lauren was ready to go then rode quietly to work.
"Have a good day," Camila said cheerily.
Lauren sat down and opened her laptop and took a deep breath, not answering. Camila left with a sigh and started toward the lab before changing her mind and heading toward Normani's office. Normani's assistant buzzed her and told Camila to go ahead in. Camila entered and closed the door behind her.
"Hey, Mila, what's up?" Normani asked with a smile.
Camila walked to the chair across from Normani's desk and plopped down with a sigh.
"Trouble in paradise?" Normani asked, smirking.
"Everything is okay right now, but I'm worried about Lauren," Camila said, taking a deep breath.
"What's going on?" Normani asked, looking more serious.
"Her emotions are all over the place," Camila said, "One minute she's happy, the next she's angry, then she's crying. I don't know what to do."
"Oh, you should probably ask DJ" Normani said, shaking her head, "I don't know how she made it through when I was like that."
"You were the same way?" Camila asked, "I don't remember that."
"Unfortunately, it's usually the spouse that bears the brunt of the emotion swings," Normani said, "Are you guys having any legitimate issues or is Lauren just acting kind of crazy?"
"Well, I mean, I don't want to call her crazy...," Camila started.
"But, for lack of a better term," Normani interrupted, "Does it feel like her emotions are all over the place for no reason whatsoever?
"Yep, pretty much," Camila huffed out.
"How is she today?" Normani asked.
"She's fine, I guess. Working," Camila answered, "But every morning she changes clothes like three times and throws her stuff everywhere. I mean, you know how neat she usually is. And if I offer any suggestions or try to tell her she looks nice she loses her shit entirely. She thinks she looks terrible."
"Well, that's patently ridiculous," Normani said, "She looks like a goddamn supermodel. Makes me jealous."
"I know, I tried to tell her that, but she nearly punched me," Camila said, chuckling and shaking her head.
"Well, I'll bet you my house she seems perfectly fine to everyone here at LJCorp," Normani said, "No one will be the wiser."
"You're probably right, she does do better when other people are around," Camila answered, "Did DJ do anything that helped you?"
"She loved me unconditionally, even when I was a complete asshole," Normani said with a chuckle.
"That's pretty much what I've been trying to do," Camila answered.
"Mila, this will pass," Normani said confidently, "Just hang in there and be supportive."
"Okay," Camila sighed out, standing and turning to leave.
