FULL CIRCLE

Lay with me

When the girls got there, Lauren showed them to their rooms after a tearful introduction with Rose. Her mother was so emotional when Leah walked through the door, she had been busy in the kitchen making sure the first dinner as a family would be special ever since. She was in grandma mode, and nothing Lauren said would get her out of it.

Leah had bonded quickly with Jesse, realizing that he was pretty much her nephew, and reveled in finally being older than someone in the family.

After making sure everyone was situated and unpacking, Lauren walked back into the kitchen where Dinah and Normani were talking with Rose.

"I have to go to work for a few hours, so don't wait up, I'll be late. I have two uniforms guarding the front and back of the house, and Normani is staying with you too. We're not taking any chances with him trying to bait you. I already brought over some of her things." Dinah said, ignoring Normani's affronted look.

"How are we going to prove he's the one that attacked Demi?" Rose asked worried. She wanted him to pay, and was not willing to let him get away with it.

Dinah turned to Lauren and said,"I left a ton of evidence and reports to go over in your room. Look it over and see if I'm missing anything. I still haven't figured out how he found out about all this."

"I may have an idea, but I'm going to have to do some investigating before I point any fingers. I'll look at the stuff after dinner, and we'll see what I come up with." Lauren said, typing away on her phone distracted.

"Okay. See you guys later, and stay safe. Call me if there is any news or problems." Dinah called back, kissing Roses cheek as left.

Rose smirked as she watched Normani longingly stare at Dinah's back as she left, shaking her head at how blind all her girls could be at times.

"Alright you two, get in here and help me with dinner. We're having fresh bread and salad with the lasagna. Lauren get to chopping. Mani help with the bread and I'll start the sauce and noodles, let's go girls, we have hungry mouths to feed." Rose ordered, rushing around the kitchen, grateful for the full house. It was a relief to have something else to focus on, than to constantly feel the void her wife's absence was causing.

Lauren rolled her eyes and started to gather vegetables, Normani snickering behind her. It felt like her high senior year all over again, and a small smile was on her face at the memories that came with the life she had felt inside of herself at the time..

When Leah and Camila had finally finished unpacking with Ally and Sofie's help, they made their way down stairs, smiling at the smell of pasta sauce in the air.

They passed the living room where Jesse was playing video games as he listened to his I-pod, and made their way into the kitchen to see Lauren and Normani throwing pieces of dough and vegetables at each other behind Roses back.

"Don't think I don't know what you both are doing! Lauren Michelle you know better, you too Normani." Rose scolded, with her back still turned.

Lauren and Normani jumped, shooting each other glares at being caught, and looked surprised when the new arrivals were heard laughing.

"Your middle name is Michelle?" Leah asked smiling shyly at her birth mother.

Lauren smiled back, saying, "Sinuhe actually named you after you were born, and added my middle name. She wanted you to always have a piece of me. I was very flattered and grateful. She was a wonderful woman."

"I wish I remembered more of her." Leah said sadly as she sat at the table in the kitchen, her family also taking the empty seats near her.

"She was an amazing woman, and I'm sure she loved you tremendously. Demi and I were really grateful of how supportive she and Alejandro were. They went to every appointment with Lauren, and were very involved. Which was wonderful, since Demi and I were new to the whole process. They were great at asking the right questions, and it definitely helped when Demi and I had Jesse. We weren't so green about the whole thing." Rose added, opening the can of cherries for the yum yum.