FULL CIRCLE

Hostile Take over

Lauren had a tearful reunion with her siblings, crying even more when Sinhue had delivered her mother's message. After an exhausted day, she was wiped out and had fallen asleep the second they had left.

She was eventually woken up by a nurse, asking if she was willing to do a feeding since they were having a hard time with feeding a hungry Leah formula.

Lauren and Sinhue had both spoken at length about the probablilty that the baby would need to be given breast milk, and arranged for Lauren to pump her breast for the first three months at least, knowing it was the healthier option for little Leah. Demi would be bringing it daily to the Cabello house on her way to work, and it seemed to be the best option for the young baby.

Lauren wanted her little girl to have best chance of growing strong, especially since she was so small compared to healthy full term babies at almost 5 pounds. After discussing it with the doctor and being told the antibodies in the breast milk were important for growing babies, she decided to help in any way she could.

She may be giving her baby up, but that didn't mean she wasn't giving her baby the best possible, if she could do it she would.

Sinhue handed Lauren a crying Leah, and told her she would give her some time together before she went home. She was heart broken at separating them, but Lauren had been adamant that the family leave together, so they could welcome their new child home. Lauren was a stronger woman than she ever could be.

Knowing that this would be the last she would see of Lauren, she gave the teen a hiss on the head, along with a gentle hug, quietly thanking her for all the sacrifices she had made for her new daughter.

When Sinhue left, Dinah and Normani passed her, giving her sad smiles, and made their way inside, seeing the baby in Lauren's arms nursing. They each took a seat on a side of Lauren's bed, in awe at the life their friend brought into this world.

Lauren who had been staring at her little girl feeding from her breast happily, had tears welling her eyes when she looked up in Normani's eyes.

"This hurts so much." Choked out Lauren.

Normani's eyes glossed over as she asked,"Are you sure this is what you want? I know she wasn't conceived with love, but you obviously love her."

Dinah nodded in agreement, wiping her eyes as she looked at the little infant with a sad expression on her face.

Lauren used her free hand to wipe the tears from her face as she looked down at her daughter.

"I have to do this. I'm so angry. .. So sad, and I honestly can't imagine giving her everything she needs right now. If I was straight and this was just a stupid mistake, I would have kept her and made the most of it. But I raise her, when I'm still so angry at the world, I don't even want to imagine what that would do to her. As it is, I have years of therapy to ahead of me. I'm 17 years old now, and I have a life to live. I have to go to college, and figure out how I'm going to live with the fact that the world I knew isn't the world I live in any more. One day, I hope she forgives me, but I'm just not ready. I can still feel him touching me, and until I get past that... I'm not okay. I'm just a kid, and right now, especially right now, I need to be a kid." Lauren whispered, giving her daughter a soft kiss on the head.

Normani swallowed the lump in her throat, and nodded in acceptance.

The two friends helped Lauren pump out as much breast milk as they could and put it in the ice box for Sinhue to take with her.

After an hour and a half of Lauren gazing at her daughter, Alejandro and Sinhue came and said their own whisper of thanks as tears pricked their eyes.