Another Reason to Love

chapter 25

A knock on the door over a year ago brought Lauren and Camila the greatest gift they could imagine. This time, the knock on the door was almost missed completely due to the chaos of their life. Lauren's eyes opened slowly and blinked them again when the sunlight that was shining through their bedroom window was too bright. She took note of her position, which was quite comical. Her arms were extended so that she could reach Abby with one of them and Camila with the other. Her legs were bent at an awkward angle and her head was propped in the most uncomfortable way on her pillow.

Abby was lying beside her in the mobile crib they had gotten for her first few weeks. When Lauren peeked over the edge of it, she noticed the baby was still sleeping soundly. Turning her head slightly, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her neck. She groaned and used the palm of her hand to apply pressure there.

"Good Morning," Camila said. She yawned and stretched out her arms. She obviously had slept more comfortably. "Do you think we should let them in?" she asked, flashing a lazy smile.

Lauren loved that smile more than life itself. So much that she got lost in it for a few seconds and had totally forgotten why she was awake to begin with. "Oh!" she said a little louder, covering her mouth and checking to see if she had caused the baby to wake. When she didn't see Abby move, she turned back to Camila. "I totally forgot about rescheduling the baby shower for today. I can't believe we slept so late," she added.

As much as Camila wanted to lie there forever, she slowly started to move when her phone started to ring. She groaned and turned to the table beside her bed and grabbed the phone unenthusiastically. "Hello?" she said, clearing her throat before she started talking.

Lauren could hear Dinah screaming from the other end of the line and it made her smile. She loved their friends, even if they were a little demanding.

"Yes, Dinah. We're getting up right now. We forgot that the baby shower was happening today and we have a newborn, so we're sleep deprived. That should be enough of an excuse, right?" Camila said, looking over to Lauren and shrugging. She was hoping that would be enough to get Dinah off her back for a little while. "Yes, I'm getting out of bed right now and coming to open the door. You know, we really just need to make you guys a spare key to our house for times like these." She looked back at Lauren, who was frantically shaking her head no to that idea. "On second thought, we'll just open the door when you knock next time."

Camila pulled on a pair of shorts and walked out of the bedroom and downstairs to let in their friends. She opened the door and saw Ally, Dinah, and Normani smiling brightly. Looking down at herself, Camila noticed that she was going to have to take a shower. Her shirt was spotted with who knows what and her hair was in knots. "Hello. Welcome to our home," Camila joked, waving each of them inside. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go up and take a shower so that I don't smell so much like a baby. Lauren should be down soon, but you know where everything is. Let the decorating begin!" Camila turned to walk back up the stairs when she heard someone calling after her.

"Mila!" Normani shouted. "Shouldn't your other kid be awake right now? Where is she?"

Camila's eyes grew wide and she climbed the stairs quickly. She heard her friends laughing from downstairs, but they had no idea what Brooklyn could get into when she was left alone. She tiptoed around the corner and looked into Brooklyn's room. Her heart picked up speed when she noticed that the little girl was not in there. She walked inside, hoping she was in her closet or in a corner of the room that she couldn't see from where she was standing. No sign of the 4 year old.

All of the sudden Camila heard a loud "Oh no!" coming from downstairs where her friends were. Her stomach dropped and she went back down the stairs following their voices. She followed them all the way to the kitchen, where she saw Dinah, Normani, and Ally all standing there in horror at the display in front of them.