"She cried the whole time, didn't eat lunch, picked fights with kids twice her size and she was throwing a tantrum when I got there," Lauren sighed. She had just gotten home with Camila, the little girl fast asleep in her arms having not hd her nap at daycare.
"She needs a crib, Lo, I found her in the kitchen at four am," Dinah said, taking Camila from Lauren and carrying her over to the sofa where she put her down.
"I know, but turning the guest room into a nursery- uh, bedroom, for her would be a bit premature," Lauren sighed. "We can't keep her, D."
"Why not?" Dinah jutted out her bottom lip.
"Because she has loving parents," Lauren said, crossing her arms.
"Loving?" Dinah raised an eyebrow.
"They won't let us," Lauren sighed. "And we couldn't afford to raise a child with special needs."
"All she needs is love, Lauren," Dinah argued. The tables, seemingly, had turned completely.
Lauren turned around at the sound of mumbling to see Camila waking up.
"Hello, chica," Lauren cooed, walking over and sitting down next to Camila who immediately snuggled into her side.
"I'll get her a bottle," Dinah said.
"D, she doesn't need a bottle, just put it in a sippycup," Lauren said, not wanting to break the rule of only giving Camila her bottle when she was distressed.
"Bottle," Camila mumbled, still half asleep as she sprawled out across Lauren's lap.
"Kid said she wants a bottle," Dinah said.
"And I said she doesn't need one," Lauren said firmly, causing Camila to start crying. "Shh, Mila," she soothed, shooting Dinah a look about what she had started.
Dinah rolled her eyes before leaving. She returned a few minutes later with Camila's baby bottle, and Lauren decided it wasn't worth upsetting Camila over.
"Here, nena," she hummed, moving the little girl so that she was cradling her. "Say ahh."
Camila immediately started suckling, relaxing in Lauren's arms.
"Hey, slowly," Lauren said softly as Camila started to cough, lifting her into her arms and patting her back gently to burp her. "There we go," she hummed once Camila had burped and stopped coughing.
"More," Camila whispered, reaching for the bottle.
"Okay, okay," Lauren said, pushing the nipple back into Camila's mouth. "Have you had a little accident?" Lauren asked gently, patting Camila's diaper and feeling the dampness.
Camila shook her head adamantly, sucking even harder on her bottle.
"Okay, okay," Lauren soothed, rubbing Camila's back reassuringly. "I still need you to eat some dinner after this," Lauren reminded Camila.
"Your phone, Lo," Dinah said, throwing it to her.
"No," Camila whined, trying to cling onto Lauren.
"Shh, I'll just be a minute," Lauren promised.
Only, she wasn't a minute.
An hour later at dinner time Lauren was still in her room talking in a hushed voice.
"No, I want LoLo," Camila insisted as Dinah tried to feed her a bite of her dinner.
"She's busy," Dinah sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Camila burst into tears. "I'm sorry," she groaned, not knowing what to do as she lifted Camila into her arms. "Uh, do you know where your pacifier is?" she asked, bouncing Camila in her arms in hopes that it would soothe her.
"Hey, what's going on?" Lauren asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Thank fucking god," Dinah exclaimed, holding Camila out at arms length.
"Thank fucking god," Camila copied her, kicking her legs which were now dangling in the air.
"Don't teach her stuff like that," Lauren scolded, taking Camila from Dinah and putting her down on the counter. "Why are you crying, hmm?" Lauren asked, using her hand to wipe away Camila's tears.
Camila didn't reply, putting her thumb in her mouth to soothe herself.
"You need to be a good girl and eat your dinner," Lauren said, glancing at Camila's untouched plate of food.
"Lo, are you okay?" Dinah asked, noticing Lauren's stressed expression.
"We need to talk," Lauren said. "Later. Mila, please don't suck your thumb."
"I don't suck my thumb, I'm not a baby," Camila insisted, immediately putting her hand down by her side.
"Of course you don't," Lauren said, subtly reaching down to check Camila's diaper. "Fuck, D, why didn't you change her?"
"Don't do diapers," Dinah shrugged.
"Might have to start," Lauren mumbled under her breath.
"I don't wear diapers," Camila said proudly.
"We're going to do something special tonight," Lauren said. "We're going to go change your diaper and I'm going to trust you to eat with Sofia while I talk to Dinah."
"On my own?" Camila asked, her bottom lip quivering.
"Shh, c'mon," Lauren said, lifting Camila onto the floor and taking her hand and leading her upstairs.
"Whats wrong?" Camila asked softly, looking up at Lauren with wide, innocent eyes as Lauren lay her down on her changing mat.
"Uh, your Mummy called," Lauren said, taking off the wet diaper.
"When's she coming back?" Camila asked, sitting up excitedly.
"Come here, angel," Lauren extended her arms to Camila who immediately crawled into her lap. "You know that Mummy and Daddy love you, don't you?"
"Mm-hmm," Camila nodded, nestling into Lauren's arms.
"And they only want what's best for you," Lauren continued, nervous about the topic. "But Mummy and Daddy are starting to think that they aren't what's best for you, and they might not be coming back to get you."
Camila was clearly confused, unsure as to what was happening.
"When's Mummy coming?" Camila asked, demonstrating her lack of understanding.
"She's not, my love," Lauren sighed. "Mummy and Daddy can't look after you right now, they think it would be better for you to go live with someone else."
"No," Camila whined, kicking her legs. "Want Mummy."
"I know you do," Lauren blinked back her own tears, cradling Camila in her arms. "Right, let's get this diaper on," she said, putting Camila back down.
"Off?" Camila asked, tugging at her top.
"Do you want this?" Lauren asked, handing Camila her blankie.
"An' paci?" Camila asked.
"No, sweetheart," Lauren said, picking Camila up. "It's dinner time right now."
She carried Camila downstairs, picking up her sippycup and sectioned plate from the table before going into the living room where she put her down on the floor, placing the plate and sippycup in front of her.
"Here, baby," Lauren said, making sure Camila had her blankie securely in her grasp. She glanced over her shoulder to see Dinah in the corner. "Show me how good you can eat on your own," Lauren urged, turning the TV on before walking into the kitchen with Dinah, closing the door behind them.
"Fucking idiots," Lauren cursed, a tear slipping down her cheek.
"Lo, what's wrong?" Dinah puzzled pulling her girlfriend into her arms.
"The bastards don't want her," Lauren said, hugging Dinah back. "They, uh, Serena said to either drop her off at a children's home or at her Aunt's, but the Aunt is practically abusive, so there's no option there."
"You can't be that surprised," Dinah sighed, rubbing Lauren's back.
"I mean, they don't want nothing to do with her, Serena said they'll stay in touch, but...how could anyone give up on someone that precious?"
"We'll keep her, what's the big deal?" Dinah shrugged.
"What's the big deal? D, she's high-maintenance and she has behavioural issues and she needs psychiatrist appointments and medication she won't take and-,"
"And we love her," Dinah cut her off.
"We?" Lauren asked, looking up.
"I meant you," Dinah quickly corrected. "Point is, we'll adopt her, or get legal guardianship or whatever, we'll get her a crib and all the god damn support she needs."
"I love you," Lauren breathed, leaning in to kiss her girlfriend.
"I lo-,"
They were cut off by loud sobbing sounds.
"Mila?" Dinah asked, pushing past Lauren and walking into the living room. She was immediately met by the sight of a distraught Camila who had accidentally turned off the TV. "Calm down, kid, it's an easy fix, see?" Dinah said, turning Sofia the first back on.
"Wan' paci," Camila whined, climbing into Dinah's lap.
"Lauren!" Dinah shouted.
"What?" Lauren walked in, her eyes still bloodshot.
"It's on me," Dinah said uncomfortably.
Lauren rolled her eyes at Dinah's discomfort, reaching out for Camila and picking her up.
"Hi, sweetheart," Lauren said softly, patting Camila's back. "Aren't you cold in just your diaper?"
"Are you crying?" Camila asked, gently stroking Lauren's cheek.
"No, baby," Lauren reassured her with a weak smile. "You didn't eat your food," she noticed, sitting down with Camila in her lap.
"Paci," Camila whined, starting to suck her thumb.
"Okay, let's turn Sofia off now," she said, turning off the show. "Aah, baby," Lauren said, lifting the spoon to Camila's mouth.
"NO!" Camila shouted, kicking angrily and pushing the spoon away.
"Camila, we don't kick when we're angry," Lauren said firmly.
"Give me my paci," she sobbed, squirming in Lauren's arms.
Dinah groaned in frustration at the noise.
"Upsie-daisy," Lauren sighed, picking Camila up by her armpits and carrying her up to her bedroom.
"STOP IT," Camila screamed, kicking angrily and crying.
"If you don't stop you're going to have a very sore bottom, Mila," Lauren warned as Camila escaped her grip, throwing herself on the floor.
She carried her to the corner of the room.
"You're going to stand here facing the corner for the next ten minutes," she said strictly.
Camila whimpered, but Lauren forced herself to not cave.
"Please," Camila whispered, tears running down her cheek.
"Baby, I'm right here," Lauren reassured her. "I'm going to go sit on the bed and I'll tell you when your corner time is done, okay?"
"N-n-no," Camila choked out, turning around and reaching for Lauren. "Don't leave me."
"I'm not leaving you, I'm right-," Lauren cut herself off with a sigh. "Okay, doll, let's have some cuddles," she picked Camila up, holding her close to her. She was calmer now anyway, and Camila was getting far too anxious about 10 minutes in the corner for it to be worth it.
"Thank you," Camila mumbled, curling up in Lauren's arms.
"I'm not trying to give you anxiety, love," Lauren said, sitting down. "I know it's been a really hard day," she hummed.
"Hold me," Camila mumbled, trying to push herself even closer to Lauren.
"Shhh," Lauren soothed, rubbing Camila's back. "I know, baby, I know," she hummed.
She did know. She knew that Camila's parents were essentially abandoned her. She knew that Camila was confused.
And she knew that she was going to do everything she could to help her.
***
Hey guys! I'm writing a new Camren fic about Lauren and Camila being in school and Camila being really shy and always hiding in the library and Lauren's pretty cool and...bit cliche, I know.
Anyway, opinion: should it be ageplay or not?
Lots of love! xx