Another Reason to Love

chapter 14

A/N: I'd just like to point out that this is one of my longest chapters so far in this story :) Enjoy!

The rapid tapping on the table was causing Camila to lose all focus on what she was reading. She put a bookmark in her book to hold her place and then looked at the source of the tapping: her nervous wife. "Okay, are you going to tell me what's going on with you?" she asked.

Lauren's green eyes were vacant, but snapped back into the present when she heard her name. "Huh?" she asked.

"Are you okay?" Camila asked as she reached over the table and placed her hand over her wife's. "You just seem nervous about something."

Since she couldn't keep her eyes from rolling, Lauren opted closed them. "I'd say it's probably that we're getting ready to go tell our parents that we're having a baby. Not only that but the fact that there is one currently growing inside of me right now."

"Whoa, hello pregnancy hormones," Camila muttered under her breath. She immediately regretted it and was pleased to find that Lauren hadn't heard the comment. Or at least she had decided not to acknowledge it. "You think they won't be happy about it?" Camila asked, clearly concerned. She tugged on Lauren's hand and when she got her attention, she made her wife stand and walk a few steps over to sit comfortably in her lap. This conversation was one Camila felt better having in a closer proximity. She rubbed Lauren's back, trying to comfort her enough to open up.

"I don't know why I'm so nervous, Camz. I can barely control my emotions anymore! I'm a complete mess. Yesterday I cried while watching a dog food commercial, okay? A commercial for dog food and I'm sitting there with actual tears running down my face. Do you think that's normal?" she asked seriously, looking her wife straight in the eye.

Camila looked away for a second to compose herself as not to let Lauren know that she thought it was a little ridiculous to cry at such a thing. "Were the puppies cute?" she asked, hoping that she could somehow make her wife feel validated.

Lauren hung her head. "They were so cute. Just running everywhere and playing their little puppy hearts out. Then they showed them running to their mother and I just lost it."

"Well in that case," Camila assured, "I think crying is the only thing you could do." She reached up to grab Lauren's neck and pulled her down to give her a kiss.

"You're too good to me," Lauren laughed. "I'm a basket case right now."

Camila's hand returned to the small of Lauren's back, tracing patterns on the skin that was exposed by the lift of her shirt. "You are definitely not a basket case. You're the most intelligent woman I know. You're also the most beautiful. You're kind and gentle and fierce when you want to be. You're everything."

Lauren shook her head as if she didn't believe the words that Camila spoke. "I don't see it. The baby is hardly showing at all and I still feel as big as a house."

Camila lifted up Lauren's shirt in order to see the tiny bump that was barely visible to the outside world, but she knew exactly what was in there. She leaned down and kissed the soft skin on Lauren's stomach. "This only makes you more beautiful to me," Camila shared, using the tips of her fingers to lovingly brush against her wife's belly.

"So let's get back to the question at hand," Camila said. "Why is it that you're nervous about dinner?"

"I'm not sure. I guess I felt this way before we told them about Brooklyn too. I know that both of our families have been extremely supportive and I want to let them in on our secret, I really do, but I can't help but feel this nervous feeling inside my stomach. It feels like butterflies are constantly flapping their little wings in there."