Godparents (Camren)

3.

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L

"Lauren! I'm so glad I found you," Camila spoke, quickly grabbing me and pulling me inside.

The sudden movement nearly made me drop the sleeping Skylar that I held in my arms, not because she weighed very much, but because I definitely should go to the gym more. I regarded the somewhat distressed woman who still hadn't let go of my forearm with a bit of annoyance. She had walked out on me weeks ago in the wake of Dinah and Normani's death, not to mention the fact that Sky was now our, or i guess just my, responsibility.

Not that I minded the small seven year old. She had Dinah's attitude and Normani's confidence and a hell of a lot more personality than I'm sure I was capable of procuring at her age. She really was something special, and I was thankful everyday that she had survived. There were still plenty of things to get used to, plenty of things I didn't think I was ready for, though.

"Uh...Lauren? Did you hear anything I just said?" Camila spoke, snapping her fingers in front of my eyes, causing me to blink repeatedly. The annoyance from my earlier thoughts returned instantly.

"What do you want Camila?" I spoke harshly. The small pang of hurt that flashed across the smooth features of the shorter girl's face made me regret it momentarily.

"Um...I'm sorry to bother you, I know I shouldn't be here..I mean, I bet you're mad at me, right? I would be too, for fucks sake, but I'm only nineteen, I don't know anything about raising a child. I am a child-" Camila's rambling was beginning to attract the attention of several people in the lobby of the building and so I cut her off and dragged her toward the elevator, careful not to disrupt the girl who was now snoring in my arms.

"You're only nineteen?" I asked as I attempted to push the button to call the elevator down to the ground floor but struggled due to the weight of Sky against me. Camila pushed the button as she nodded her head, her cheeks flushed. I look at her for a moment longer, she does look really young.

"God, you are just a kid," I speak as the elevator dings and we step inside.

She nods as she reaches toward the buttons of which floor we're headed to and looks at me expectantly.

"Sexto..er, sixth," I catch myself as some Spanish slips out.

"Claro que si," she replied, not missing a beat and smiling softly.

"You speak Spanish?" I ask, stunned, as the elevator makes it toward the sixth floor.

She keeps are gaze trained on the floor, frowning a little, "Yeah, I grew up around a lot of kids who spoke it and sort of picked it up."

"Oh, that's cool," I take in how her features have changed and how her eyes, brown as freshly planted soil, now seemed dim. "I'm Cuban, my parents have always spoken it to my siblings and I even though we were born here in Miami."

The elevator ding signaled that we had reached the sixth floor, ending my speech effectively. Camila and I step forward at the same time, almost running into each other.

"Sorry, you go first," Camila and I speak in unison and laugh at the awkwardness of the current situation.

"Age before beauty," Camila speaks again, gesturing for me to go first.

"Asshole," I say even though I'm smiling. My residual anger at the girl for leaving me alone with Skylar seems to have vanished somewhere. I lead the way to my apartment and as I reach the door, I realize that my key is in my back pocket. I shift Sky in my arms in order to try to reach for it, but the shuffling causes her to hang on tighter and wrap her arms suffocatingly around my neck.