ymms drafts

zoos and new friendships (3)

"Lauren, sweetie, wake up."

Lauren's eyes blink open, still not at all used to the gentle wake up calls. Even though she's been living with the Jaureguis for a few months, she expects to be dragged out of bed by her hair, not gently woken up by Clara's voice. It's so surreal to her.

When Lauren sits up, Clara sends her a small smile. "Morning, honey. We've got a big day ahead, so you'll need to get dressed straight away."

Lauren nods, and clambers out of bed, rocking on her heels when Clara passes her some clothes to wear. She quickly strips out of her pyjamas, and gets dressed, Clara helping her with her socks, because Lauren finds them tricky to put on.

She holds Clara's hand to walk to the kitchen, and her mami gets her a bowl of Cheerios, without milk on, just how Lauren likes them. She sits down at the table to eat, and Clara sits with her, watching cartoons with her and pointing things out to make Lauren laugh.

When Lauren finishes her cereal, she holds the bowl out. "Mami. Mami, done."

Clara smiles and kisses the top of her head. "You're so good. I'll take this into the kitchen, you wait here."

Clara disappears into the kitchen, and Lauren occupies herself with the TV. When her mami doesn't come back for a while, Lauren gets a little nervous, but she'd told her to stay on the couch, so she has to stay there, or she might get hit.

(She knows that Clara and Mike have said they won't hit her, but she doesn't know if that's true or not, since she hasn't been in trouble yet.)

When Clara finally comes back into the room, she holds out a Lion King backpack, and Lauren beams. "'ine?"

"Yes, this is for you," Clara smiles, "We're going out today, and this backpack has some snacks for you, as well as a few things I put in for precaution, in case you accidentally wander off."

Lauren blinks, and Clara kneels down in front of her and holds out a laminated sheet of paper. "If you get lost, I need you to go to someone who works at... at the place we're going to, and give them this. It has your name, my phone number on it, and your papi's, in case they can't reach me. He's at work, but if you get lost, he can come and get you."

Lauren nods as Clara tucks the paper back into the bag. "Where go?"

Clara smiles. "That's a special surprise for you."

"'kay," Lauren answers, and hops off the couch when Clara tells her to. Clara helps her get her shoes on, and when she leads her out to the car, Lauren hesitates. The last time she was in that, was when they brought her home from the orphanage. Maybe Clara is taking her back there? "No."

Clara squeezes Lauren's hand. "It's okay, Lauren. We have to go in the car, for your surprise."

"No leave," Lauren tries to tell her, "no- no or'nage."

Clara looks down at her sadly, and kneels in front of her, trying to make eye contact. Lauren stares at her feet. "Lauren, you're not going back to the orphanage. Ever. You're staying with me. We're going in the car, to go for a nice day out, and then we'll come back here. I promise."

"I 'tay?" Lauren asks. "'tay mami?"

"Yes, you're staying forever," Clara assures her, "can I get you in your car seat?"

After a few moments of hesitation, Lauren nods. She trusts Clara, and she really hopes she's right in doing that, because she wants to go somewhere nice.

Clara buckles her into the booster seat in the back, and walks around to the driver's side. When she starts the car, she puts a disk into the CD player, and when the music starts, Lauren's jaw drops, because it's music from The Lion King.