Beautiful When You Don't Try (Camren)

Chapter 68

A/N: Okay. So here is the second part of the dinner. I think most of you will be happy with it. Let me know if you are or even if you aren't. I'm interested in anything any of you have to say.

Thank you. Enjoy.

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Camila fidgeted in Lauren's arms as the room stood in silence for several minutes while Mike debated his options with himself. The raven-haired woman tightened her hold around the smaller woman and covered her mouth lightly with her hand when she went to speak. "You push, he snaps." She whispered in Camila's ear. "Just be patient."

Camila rolled her eyes. Patience was not her thing and she felt that if he was going to make the right choice he would have done so by now. He shifted in his seat, breaking Camila's thoughts from interrupting despite Lauren's warning.

"I..." He managed a single word before he had to adjust in his nervousness and clear his throat. "I came here because I missed you. I've spent the last four months brooding in an empty house and that's not how I want my life to be. I want you back in my life but I'm having a hard time with your stipulation."

"I understand and expected you too," Clara informed him, surprisingly not caving at his apparent weakened state. "When I first left with Lauren and Camila, I didn't like or approve of their lifestyle. I cringed and looked away every time they touched or kissed or even spoke about their feelings for one another. I don't expect you to be any different." He looked at her questioningly across the table so she elaborated. "I came from the same background you did, raised with the same beliefs. What they were doing was wrong. I had no doubt about it in my mind."

"Then why did you leave with them?"

"For my daughter." The older woman answered back quickly, leaning into the table. "She is my daughter. Your daughter. And despite what you say, she always will be that little girl you use to carry around on your shoulders when we went to the park. She will always be that little girl who could sit still for family photos. But now she is a beautiful woman who is capable of making her own decisions."

"How can you sit back and-"

"Because it wasn't for me to judge, Mike. She knew my feelings on it and made her choice anyway. Me telling her over and over what I thought wasn't going to sway her. So instead, I decided to just let her be happy. And when I let her be, I found myself right there beside her, just as happy. I also found that I no longer feel threatened by their relationship. It's love. A true and unfaltering love between two adults that overshadowed my own love for my daughter in the past."

Mike had begun fidgeting in his seat more frequently, almost never sitting still. He was struggling. He wanted to listen and to trust his wife. He wanted to have her next to him again and to have his little girl, but it wasn't going to be that easy.

Unable to see his face, Lauren was going by her mother's expressions to try and read his. Clara was mashing her lips and looking at the slouched man with sympathy in her eyes. Knowing that, after she had just talked to him with the confidence she had, Lauren knew Mike was staring at the table, lost in thought. He was truly thinking about it, weighing his options. He had decided in a split second to throw her out when she said she was pregnant, but now he was honestly considering trying to remain civil despite disagreeing with her choice.

She lowered her arm from the brunette and took her hand, pulling her along. "Come on." She called, grabbing the casserole with the other hand. She set the food on the table and let Camila take her place directly across from the man who was struggling to keep his emotions under control. "Why don't we just have dinner right now. You can make your choice after."

Lauren didn't wait for an answer, not wanting to put him on the spot, and busied herself serving her mother and Camila their food before she turned to him. He lifted his eyes to hers as she offered him a serving and waited for him to present his plate. It had been a long time since she had really looked into his eyes and he into hers. The last time had been before graduation and they had been filled with resentment. At this moment, there was nothing. He was looking at her just as she was looking at him, trying to see what she was thinking without asking while she was doing the same to him. It was an odd connection that they held for a few seconds, with no animosity between them. It was almost like the slate had been wiped clean and there had never been any yelling or disownment. Things were just the way they had been before she got pregnant. She knew things were never going to be like that again, but if he wanted the chance, and Clara wanted to give it to him, who was she to deny it.