Lauren frowned as she walked into the house, stuffing her keys into her coat pocket.

She could immediately hear the ruckus happening upstairs and jogged up, lingering in the doorway until she caught Dinah's eye.

She had gotten an urgent call from her girlfriend to come home quickly because Camila was freaking out, but she had no idea what was happening and wanted to talk to Dinah before Camila realised she was home.

"What's going on?" she asked as calmly as possible. It was evident that Dinah was shaken up but she could also tell that Camila wasn't just throwing a tantrum.

"I don't know, I swear I tried everything," Dinah huffed, glancing at Camila who was screaming and crying on the floor, kicking her legs. "I even checked if she needed a change," Dinah stated.

"I'm so proud of you," Lauren rolled her eyes sarcastically. "How long has this been going on?"

"Like 15 minutes," Dinah nodded.

"Babe, can you go make her a bottle?" Lauren asked. 

Dinah nodded, relieved to be able to extract herself from the situation.

"Uh, D, use that baby formula milk powder we got last week," Lauren said, glancing at Camila.

"I thought we were going to wait?" Dinah said.

"So did I," Lauren said. "But I think it'll help."

Lauren walked in cautiously, not entirely sure what to do. She sat down cross-legged on the floor a metre away from Camila.

"Nena, come here," she said softly, reaching her arms out. 

Camila didn't respond and so Lauren grabbed Mr Bunny before edging forwards slightly.

"Here," she whispered, holding the bunny against Camila's chest. "It's okay."

Much to her relief, Camila took hold of the bunny, curling onto her side and clutching him to her chest. She reached over for the pacifier which was on the floor, assuming Camila had rejected it earlier.

"Do you know which little girl this belongs to?" Lauren asked gently, holding up the soother. She spoke just loudly enough for Camila to be able to hear her over her sobs.

Camila didn't reply but looked up at Lauren, and the older girl finally had her attention.

"I know, angel," Lauren's voice broke as their eyes met. She reached over and scooped Camila up, pulling her into her lap. "I know," she whispered as Camila calmed down while she rocked her gently. "Tell me what's going on, nena, I want to listen to you."

"I w-w-want Mummy and Daddy," Camila sobbed, burying her head in Lauren's chest. 

They had been here before, and Lauren was running out of distraction techniques at this point.

"They're not here, Mila," Lauren said truthfully. "And I'm not sure they're coming back."

Camila's face crumpled, and Lauren could tell she was about to launch into full panic mode again.

"Can you put this in your mouth?" Lauren asked, holding the pacifier up again and hoping Camila would take it.

Camila hesitated before opening her mouth, letting Lauren push the plastic nipple between her lips.

"Now, I can try and call Mummy so you can talk to her, or you and me and DJ can build a fort together to keep out all the bad things and I'll message your Mummy later tonight," Lauren said, deciding it wasn't her place to tell Camila she couldn't call Serena.

"Fort, please," Camila said quietly after a moment's thought.

"Look, there's DJ now, I think she has something for you," Lauren said, nodding to the door where Dinah had appeared with a baby bottle.

"Is everything...," Dinah trailed off, walking in and sitting down next to the other two, instinctively shaking the baby bottle in her hand to make sure the formula was mixed up properly.

"Camz really wants to make a fort with us," Lauren said overly enthusiastically, endeavouring to excite both Dinah and Camila.

"Ooh, I have a really good idea," Dinah sprung to her feet, dashing out of the room.

"Do you know what her surprise is?" Lauren asked Camila, who was still a little teary. She shook her head, leaning further back into Lauren's arms.

"Look!" Dinah said excitedly, running back in.

"D, is that..,"

"A STAR PROJECTOR!" Dinah exclaimed, her enthusiasm scaring Camila a little.

"Oh my god," Lauren laughed, shaking her head and comforting Camila with her hand.

They set to work building the tent, Dinah doing most of it while Lauren held Camila who would fuss every time she was put down.

"Should we get snacks?" Dinah asked, stepping back to admire her masterpiece. 

Lauren had to admit, it did look rather magical, especially with the projector spreading stars across the room now that the main lights were turned off.

"Yeah, get some crisps or something," Lauren nodded, putting Camila down. "Shh, darling, I'm just opening my laptop."

"I'll take her," Dinah offered, reaching out for Camila's hand.

"Thanks, D," Lauren smiled before focusing on turning on her Netflix account.

"What snacks?" Camila asked, taking her pacifier out so she could talk without as much of a lisp.

"Hmm, maybe popcorn," Dinah suggested. "Don't forget Lauren still has your bottle for you."

"I don' wanna wear this," Camila said, pulling at her dress.

"I can change you after this," Dinah offered, silently acknowledging that the ridiculous smock dress Lauren had dressed the little one in. "I want to wear my pyjamas too."

Dinah quickly finished making a bowl of popcorn before walking back upstairs with Camila.

"Lo?" She said, ushering Camila into her room were Lauren was adjusting the tent. "Can you change her?"

"Yeah, sure," Lauren nodded.

"Are you awso wea'wing jamas?" Camila lisped, pacifier back in her mouth now that she was with Lauren.

"That's a good idea, baby," Lauren said, moving carefully around the fort to get to the wardrobe. "Are you wet, angel?" 

Camila nodded absent-mindedly, evidently tired from her meltdown.

"C'mon, let's go change you in our room because there's no space here," Lauren said, ushering Camila into the room next door.

"I wan' that," Camila said once she was sitting on Lauren's bed in just her diaper.

"What?"Lauren asked, turning her attention back to Camila. 

"That," Camila whined, pointing at the pyjama top Lauren was wearing. 

"Just give it to her," Dinah said with a raised eyebrow, in no mood for another escalation. 

"Okay, it's going to be big, sweetie," Lauren said, taking her top off effortlessly. 

Once again, Camila's eyes were trained on Lauren's bare chest.

"Up," Camila leaned towards Lauren to the point that if the older girl hadn't caught her in her arms she would've fallen off the bed.

"Hey, careful," the older girl warned as Camila cuddled into her chest, resting her head on Lauren's left hand breast. "C'mon, I need to get both of us dressed."

"No," Camila whined, clinging to Lauren.

"I don't know what she wants," Lauren sighed in frustration, bouncing Camila gently in her arms.

"You don't?" Dinah asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing at Camila who was sucking her pacifier intently, her eyes focused on Lauren's nipple.

"Hey, look, you wanted to wear my pyjama top, didn't you?" Lauren tried to excite Camila, pulling her off of her torso and slipping the top on over her head.

"Baba?"

"Just let me get changed and I'll feed you, doll," Lauren promised, changing into another top.

"What're we watching?" Dinah asked as they walked to Camila's room, crawling into their fort.

"Frozen until someone falls asleep," Lauren nodded towards Camila who was now cradled in her arms. "Where's her bottle?"

"Here," Dinah quickly handed it to her before pressing play on Lauren's laptop.

"Here you go," Lauren cooed, tracing Camila's lips with the bottle teat until she accepted it. "Is that yummy?"

"Diffewent," Camila lisped sleepily.

"Do you like it?" Lauren asked almost nervously, glancing briefly at Dinah. Camila nodded, nestling into Lauren's chest. 

Ten minutes later, Camila was drowsy in Lauren's arms but still awake, suckling lazily at her bottle.

"Go to sleep, angel," Lauren whispered, patting Camila's bottom. 

"You're safe, I promise."