a reason to love

chapter 6

Lauren woke up to an empty bed. It took her a few minutes to realize that there were actually two people missing and that it was not just a few days earlier when she would have woken up alone regardless. She looked at the clock. It was a little after 9am. How had she slept that long? She pulled on a sweatshirt since it was a little chilly and headed downstairs. As she approached the kitchen, she stayed back so she could watch what was going on.

Camila had Brooklyn on her hip and was twirling her around as music filled the air. They stopped just long enough for the older girl to flip a few pancakes and then went back to their well-choreographed kitchen dance. Lauren caught Camila's eye and the pair stopped spinning, smiles still plastered on their faces. "Say hi to Lauren, baby." Camila let Brooklyn down so she could run to Lauren. Once she got close enough, Lauren scooped her up and held her tightly against her chest.

"Hi," the tiny girl whispered into her ear. Lauren leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead. Brooklyn grinned and kicked her legs back and forth happily.

Lauren turned to watch Camila. "So how long have you guys been awake?" Camila flipped the remaining pancakes and piled them onto three plates before starting to cut Brooklyn's into bite-sized pieces.

"Well, Miss Energizer Bunny here decided that 5am was the perfect time to wake up. So we came downstairs to hang out so that you could get some more rest."

"Is that right, Brooksie?" Lauren cooed at the little girl in her arms. She nodded her head and flashed that award-winning smile.

"Dora!" she said, as if that explained everything.

"Babe, I think we're going to have to buy every episode of Dora ever made." Camila shocked herself by using the nickname, but Lauren didn't seem to notice. She was worried about how they had left things yesterday when Brooklyn woke up from her nap and interrupted their "talk". In that moment they had let their feelings take over, but they still had a decision to make. They needed some time to themselves to talk it over. "Laur?" she said as she sat down in front of her stack of pancakes.

"Mhmm" Lauren said, her mouth full of breakfast.

"I think today during nap time we should try to finish the conversation we were having yesterday. I'm sure Mr. Murdock would like to know our official answer." Lauren nodded her head and reached over to put a hand on top of Camila's. The warm gesture caught Camila off guard, but she wasn't going to complain.

Lauren caught Camila's gaze. "Thanks for making us breakfast, Camz. We love pancakes! Don't we, baby girl?" She looked over to where the little girl sat almost finished with her meal. It was amazing how much she could eat. If she didn't know better, Lauren would be convinced that it was actually Camila who gave birth to her. Brooklyn looked at Lauren's hand on top of Camila's and decided that she would do the same to show her gratitude, sliding her hand over and placing it on top of the two that were already there. Lauren laughed and kissed the little girl on the cheek.

*****

Sitting in the waiting room at a Pediatrician's office was the last place both Camila and Lauren thought they would be just a few days ago. They signed "new patient" papers and filled out what information they could, which honestly wasn't much. Lauren kept a close eye on Brooklyn, not wanting her to wander too far off. There must have been 20 kids in the waiting room with their parents. Lauren found herself wondering why they all needed to see a doctor and tightened her grasp on the little girl in her arms. Now more than ever Lauren felt like she could actually see the germs floating through the air. This must be what all parents felt like, she thought to herself. Welcome to the world of paranoia.

While Lauren was still working on the paperwork, Camila grabbed the coloring book and crayons that she had packed for Brooklyn to use while they were waiting out of her bag and handed them to the tiny girl beside her. "Here ya go," she said, using her quiet Dr's office voice. She knew what a quiet Dr's office voice was because Lauren had scolded her for apparently being too loud just minutes before. The green-eyed girl had modeled the voice herself in order to show both Camila and Brooklyn appropriate Dr's office volume. "Let's color one together." She pulled the little one into her lap and they started working on a masterpiece.