Calm Before the Storm

Part 3

After Lauren asked Camila out on a date, they had both decided to set  it for the following week on the same day. Camila was glad that she didn't ask to see her some time sooner. She wasn't sure if she would even have time and she kindly explained that to Lauren when they were figuring out a day.

Lauren was quick to agree as she was completely behind on unpacking and she warned Camila that she probably wouldn't make it to Saturday night at the club to see her either. Camila understood, remembering that Lauren was going to start her new job the week after.

Camila told Dinah, who was excited for her best friend especially after Camila practically had given up on dating all together after her last miserable date where he threw up on her.

The date didn't last more than an hour before he projected his half-digested lunch onto Camila's shirt. Dinah had to come and pick Camila up with a change of clothes and well, she never saw him ever again. After that, Camila decided that maybe the universe was giving her a sign and she hasn't been on a date since then, which was over a year and a half ago.

She was proud of her best friend for putting herself out there again but she still had her guard up. Camila has been hurt multiple times in the past and Dinah was always there to pick up the pieces. It tore her apart to see her best friend upset so she wasn't going to let anyone off easily. She didn't exactly trust Lauren, but she was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

To say that Camila was nervous was an understatement. This was her first date in over a year and she didn't want to screw things up.

She had Dinah working on her make up after Milika, Dinah's mom and practically her sister, curled her hair. Because of Dinah and Milika's involvement, the whole house eventually found out about Camila's date. No matter how hard she tried to keep it low-key, they were all bound to find out and make a big deal about it.

The kids were all seated on Camila and Dinah's bed, not-so patiently waiting for her to be finished. It has been a while since someone's been on a date in the house. The last one had been Dinah (their parents don't count since they were already married) and even that didn't last long. She was quite picky with who she went out on dates with so
there wasn't much excitement around the topic of dating until tonight.

"Camila, just so you know, we've got your back if this one ever hurts you." One of Dinah's brother called out from the bed, the sound of his fist hitting the palm of his other hand making Camila smile.

"That's right. I'll give them a taste of my mind when it comes to it and if gets really bad, I'll pull out the fists." Kamila added and all the other kids agreed.

"You look beautiful, mommy." Above the voices, a small one stood out from all of them. Camila locked eyes with her daughter from the mirror and smiled before motioning her over. She picked up the smaller brunette and placed her onto her lap.

"Thank you sweetheart," she pressed a kiss to Ava's forehead as Dinah switched brushes, "and thanks to all of you for sticking up for me."

"We're family. We may fight the hell out of each other but no one else is allowed to mess with us." One of the older boys spoke up from looking through his phone in the back. They didn't even notice that he was listening.

"Y'all are cheesy as hell but it's cute." Dinah spoke to her siblings in pure admiration and Camila noticed her shooting at them a smile from the corner of her eye.