Winds Of Heaven

Chapter 19

Every passing day, Camila tried to predict the arrival time of the new Jauregui.

"Okay. I got it." She sat at the kitchen table.

Lori was eating a banana, and Lauren was smiling and obediently listening.

"Now, your due date is December 3rd. That gives us two weeks. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. Don't worry about dinner; I'll take care of it."

"Baby, have you ever made a turkey before?" Lauren asked.

Camila blinked stupidly. "Well..."

"I can do it."

"No. You shouldn't. Wait, I have an idea."

Lori let out a baby groan and lowered her head. Camila furrowed her brow and gaped at her. "Hey, this will work. Now, tell me what to do, and I'll make the dinner. Shortround and I will go to the store and buy everything."

"I help," Lori said cheerfully.

Camila smiled and pointed at her. "See, that's good!"

Lauren groaned. "Alright. I'll make a list." She then handed the phone to Camila, who gave her a curious look. "You want to invite Mercedes, Dinah, and Normani, right?"

"Of course, but remember, you're not doing anything," Camila said firmly, and Lauren simply nodded.

Camila pushed the cart through the grocery store. "Your mom and her lists," Camila said and looked at Lori, who was sitting in the child seat, arms crossed over her chest in a defiant pose. Camila glanced at her, trying to avoid the grumpy humanoid.

"Cami, I walk..."

"No. You'll run all over the place, and we need to focus."

Camila looked at the list. "Well, I need to concentrate." She stopped in the produce section and stepped away from the cart. "Okay, onions, celery. I can do this," she said and grabbed the items. "Potatoes..." She crossed it off the list.

As she took the items back to the cart, she saw Lori reach out, grab a tomato, and bite into it.

"Shortround..." she muttered, and Lori pulled the tomato out of Camila's reach. Every time Camila reached for it, Lori moved it out of her way.

"Golldarnit, ya octopus..." Camila muttered. She was getting better at not swearing.

Lori then dropped the half-eaten tomato on the floor. "Sorry, Cami," she said with a mischievous smile.

Camila looked at her, and to her embarrassment, a woman picked up the tomato and smiled. "Did you lose this?" the redhead asked.

Camila shyly smiled. "Th-thank you. I shouldn't have left the little troublemaker alone," she said and looked at Lori, who was still smiling.

"Well, you seem busy. Is this your daughter? Or are you single?" the redhead asked and looked into Camila's eyes.

She swallowed hard and smiled helplessly. "Yes to the first question and no to the second." She smiled, and the redhead shrugged.

"Well, have a nice holiday," she said and walked away.

Camila looked at Lori, who seemed to know what the redhead wanted. Is that possible? Camila thought. There was so much she didn't know about kids.

An hour later, Camila was exhausted, and Lori was so cranky her face turned red.

"Well, everything went smoothly," Camila said sarcastically as she pushed the cart to the car.

Lori crossed her arms in a fit of anger. "cami, I help," she said, her lower lip trembling.

Camila stopped the cart next to the car and looked at the sad face. Suddenly, she felt like a heel. "Lori, I had to do this. Did you see how many people were in that store? Wow, if I had let you go, I'd be chasing after you."