"When's Mommy coming back?"
"I don't know, honey."
"But she promised we could start a new book today." Normani pouts, following Ally around the house as she puts away some washing.
"I can read with you if you want?"
"But I always read with Mommy."
"I know, angel, I'm sorry. Why don't you read to Camila or Lauren? You know they love it when you do." Ally suggests, heading to the kitchen to start making lunch.
"No Mamaaa, I wanna read with Mommy."
Sighing, the blonde woman bends to look her oldest daughter in the eye, brushing the hair out of her face and cupping her cheek. "I know you do, sweetheart but Mommy had to go out and I'm not sure when she'll be back. So you can either go read by yourself or with your sisters, or you can help me make lunch, it's up to you."
"I'll help."
"Okay, can you get the spaghetti from the cupboard please?"
"Yep."
————
"Wan' Mommy!" Lauren screams for the fourth time in the last ten minutes.
"Lauren, baby, please. Stop shouting at Mama." Ally breathes frustratedly.
Dinah was still gone and it was almost time for their daughters to go to bed and Ally didn't know how much more she could handle. Sure she was perfectly capable of taking care of the girls on her own but all three had picked up on the negative vibe in the house and the absence of their other mother, and they had all expressed their feelings about it in different ways.
Normani had been doing her best to annoy both of her sisters all day, while Camila had argued with everything Ally said. But Lauren, Lauren had been the worst of the three. The toddler had cried for most of the day, making it very apparent that she was unhappy about the absence of her mother.
"Stop kicking please." She sighs, lifting the girl into her crib.
"Out! Out!" Lauren continues to scream as she tries to climb out.
"No, Lauren. Stop climbing and listen to me."
"Mama! Out!"
"Lauren Michelle, stop that now!" Ally snaps, losing her patience with the girl, causing the little one to drop to her butt and cry quietly.
"Alright, that's better. I didn't put you in your crib to sleep, I put you in to give you time to calm down. So I want you to sit there until I come and get you, do you understand?" She questions firmly, receiving only a whimper in response.
"Use your words. Do you understand, Lauren?"
"'es, Mama."
————
"Lauren? Why aren't you asleep, honey?"
"Mommy!" She calls happily, standing up in her crib and reaching for the woman.
Dinah smiles softly at the sight, moving forward and bringing the toddler into her arms. "Hi, baby! Mommy missed you today!" She coos, pressing a kiss to Lauren's head and starting to rock her.
"Miss Mommy too."
"You did?"
"Mhm. No go."
"I'm not going anywhere, cub." She murmurs, moving to sit on the rocking chair in the corner of the room. "Why are you up, sweetheart?"
"Mama putted 'ime out. Forgetted me." Lauren pouts sadly, cuddling into her mother.
"When did she put you in time out?"
"A'ter dinner." She mumbles with a sniffle.
Frowning, Dinah begins to soothingly pat the toddler's bottom, standing up again when she notices that the tiny girl needs changed.
The blonde was livid. How could her wife have forgotten their daughter?
The girls always have their dinner around five, which means that Lauren was in her crib for at least two hours, if what the toddler had told her was right anyway.
"Wanna sleep with Mommy tonight?" She coos as she changes the girl into a new diaper and onesie after applying rash cream to her slightly reddening skin.
"P'ease."
"Of course, Lo. Let's get your things, hmm? And maybe a baba?"
After collecting Lauren's comfort items, Dinah makes her way downstairs to the kitchen before heating up a bottle of milk and heading back upstairs into the spare room.
Looking confused, the small girl raises her head with a frown. "No Mommy bed?"
"Me and you are gonna sleep in here tonight."
Ally had been in the shower when she got home, so the younger blonde had changed into her pyjamas and went to check on their daughters. She was disappointed to see the oldest to asleep even though she knew it was after their bedtimes.
"Why?"
"You want your baba now, Simba?" Settling under the covers, she changes the subject not wanting the little one to know she still wasn't happy with her other mother.
Receiving a nod, Dinah adjusts the tiny girl in her arms before pressing the nipple of the bottle to her mouth, a soft sigh escaping the toddler's lips at the feeling of the warm milk.
She watches little lashes flutter, cooing softly to her baby as she slowly falls asleep halfway through drinking her milk. Trading the bottle for a pale pink pacifier with a butterfly on it, Dinah slowly lies them both down in the bed, settling Lauren beside her with her blanket and Nala.
"I love you so much, baby. You are perfect no matter what anyone says." She whispers, pressing a kiss to her daughter's hairline before turning off the lamp and wrapping an arm around the toddler.
"Sweet dreams, cub."
————
Shorter chapter but I haven't posted anything for a while so I wanted to get something up.
Let me know what you wanna see next chapter 😊.
