Lauren looked up upon hearing a knock at her classroom door.

Although tired from the night before, Lauren realised that she couldn't give up on Camila. She had a special bond with her, and so had told Serena when she came back that she would be happy to babysit Camila for the next two weeks.

"Hi, I'm Miss. Epseley, you can call me Nancy," the lady said with a smile. She couldn't have been older than 21, Lauren noted, which wasn't unusual for the teaching aids at the school.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Lauren said warmly. "Hi, Camila," she said, noticing the girl hiding behind her teacher. "Come in."

Lauren had stuck to her word and dropped by Camila's classroom to talk to Mrs. Williams that morning while all the kids were at assembly and it had been agreed that Miss Epseley would bring Camila to Lauren's classroom every lunchtime for a change rather than to the nurse.

"I'm not wet," Camila whined, tugging on Miss Epseley's sleeve.

"Hey, you're lucky you're in here and not playing outside in this weather," Miss Epseley joked, nodding towards the window which showed that it was raining heavily.

"We'll do it quicky like yesterday," Lauren promised, closing her classroom door.

"I hate school," Camila complained sulkily.

"C'mon, let's get it over with," Lauren said, rolling out the changing mat on the floor.

"No," Camila said, her bottom lip wobbling.

"Is this going to be a bigger problem than going to the nurse?" Miss. Epseley asked, nudging Camila gently in Lauren's direction.

"We have our special plan too, don't we?" Lauren said, winking at Camila and causing her to giggle. "So, you finish school slightly earlier than the year 13s do, so if you come to my classroom you can sit at my desk for 15 minutes and start on your homework."

"Uh, I don't think that would work," Miss Epseley pitched in as Lauren lifted Camila's school skirt and untaped her wet pull up.

"I'm sure you could sit still for fifteen minutes, couldn't you?" Lauren asked, not saying anything about the messy pull-up as she wiped Camila down.

"Not at the end of the school day," Miss Epseley said, knowing how disruptive Camila could be.

"I just wanna stay with my friends, it's only fifteen minutes," Camila shrugged.

"How about I just pick you up from your classroom," Lauren suggested. "We can see about playing with your friends later."

"Okay," Camila said, lifting her hips so that Lauren could slide on a new pull-up.

"Right, off you go," Lauren said, watching as Camila ran out of the classroom the moment she was allowed to leave. "Her energy amazes me," Lauren laughed.

"So, you're babysitting her while her parents are out of town?" Nancy asked, leaning on the desk.

"Yeah, I know she's a bit of a handful but I have a feeling we're going to get along really well," Lauren smiled as she started packing up her papers.

"You're good with her," Nancy nodded, standing up straight.

Lauren watched her leaving before letting her thoughts overtake her. It really was a big commitment she had made, looking after a child like Camila so intensively for such a long period of time. It was still weighing on her mind a few days later as she walked down the colourful corridor to Camila's classroom, however, she quickly pushed her worry aside, knowing she needed to be at her best to manage Camila effectively.

"Camila, stop it," she heard a voice instructing as she approached the corridor.

"Hello," Lauren smiled, walking in. "Camz, do you want to grab your backpack and get going?" she asked, noticing that Camila hadn't responded to her arrival at all.

"Yup," Camila nodded, standing up and letting Miss. Epseley help her put on her backpack.

"Good afternoon, Camila," Mrs. Williams said from her desk the way that all teachers had to say goodbye to their students at the end of the day until they reached year 12.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Williams," Camila echoed, not paying much attention.

"Thanks," Lauren smiled at her two colleagues before following Camila out. "Did you have a good day, love?"

"Mm, can I have chocolate milk when we get home?" Camila asked, skipping slightly.

"If you're good, then I don't' see why not, but I think you need to eat something else with that chocolate milk," Lauren said.

"Okay," Camila hummed.

"And we're going to start potty-training, aren't we?" Lauren said, glancing at Camila.

"Shh," the younger girl hissed.

"Okay, okay," Lauren put her hands up. "Can you hold my hand?" Lauren asked as they neared a crossing.

"Can we watch more Sofia tonight?" Camila asked hopefully, skipping across the road.

"Let's see how much homework you have first," Lauren bargained.

"Can we make cookies?"

"Maybe," Lauren laughed, shaking her head. "Where do you get this much energy from, hmm?"

"Inside of me," Camila shrugged.

"What did you eat for lunch?" Lauren asked as they neared the house.

"Chips," Camila said, running up the stairs. (A/N: if you're American...I mean fries lol)

"Camila, chips aren't a very good lunch," Lauren said skeptically.

"Tasted good," Camila said nonchalantly.

"Fair enough, but I think we need to talk about your lunch choices at some point," Lauren said, unlocking the door and letting them both in.

"Milk?" Camila asked, bouncing up and down.

"No, not yet, let's get you changed out of your uniform first," she said, leading Camila up the stairs. "Is your pull-up wet?"

Camila didn't reply, busying herself fidgeting with her fingers.

"That's okay," Lauren said, guessing she wasn't dry. "I'm going to undress you and then can you go sit on the potty for me?"

"Why?" Camila asked, looking up at Lauren.

"Because that's how we're going to potty-train you," Lauren said, unrolling the changing mat. "Lie down, bubs."

"Okay," Camila said, audibly nervous.

"You don't need to go if you don't have to, I just want to get you used to it and into the habit," Lauren explained, unbuttoning Camila's shirt and taking it off.

"Can you stay with me?" Camila asked quietly.

"Of course," Lauren reassured her. "This is a big step, potty-training can seem really daunting at first, it's completely normal to feel a bit nervous."

"Okay," Camila nodded, feeling calmer.

"Right, let's go," Lauren said, standing up. "We could make you a sticker chart," Lauren suggested as Camila sat down on the toilet, swinging her legs impatiently.

"Done?" Camila asked, squirming uncomfortably.

"Can you try one more minute?" Lauren encouraged.

"And then chocolate milk?"

"Yes, doll, and then chocolate milk," Lauren promised.

"Done," Camila decided, standing up.

"Great job," Lauren praised, even though it had only been a minute an a half. "Let's get you changed."

"No pull-up," Camila whined when Lauren tried to lie her down on the changing mat.

"But you're being such a big girl, Milz," Lauren urged. "I told you it's not a big deal, didn't I?"

Almost fifteen minutes later Lauren had finally managed to get Camila into her pull-up and was looking through her wardrobe.

"How about this?" Lauren suggested, showing Camila a flowery dress she was holding.

"Okay," Camila agreed.

"Does your chest hurt, love?" Lauren asked, noticing that Camila was scratching her upper body.

The small girl only shrugged in response.

"It might be time to get you a training bra, hmm?" Lauren suggested. "Did Mummy ever bring that up?"

"No," Camila said, putting her arms up so that Lauren could put her dress on.

"We can go after school tomorrow if you like," she said.

"Okay," Camila said, bouncing up and down.

"Do you want to go play in the garden before your milk?" Lauren asked, noticing that Camila had quite a bit of energy.

"Trampoline?" Camila asked excitedly.

"Sure, love, but can we walk down the stairs?" Lauren said, not wanting Camila to fall and get upset.

"Okay, walking," Camila echoed.

"Thanks, angel," Lauren said, following Camila outside to the garden where the little girl immediately climbed onto the trampoline.

"Look!" Camila exclaimed, jumping up as high as she could.

"Wow, you're basically flying, aren't you?" Lauren commented.

"Come jump with me!" Camila shouted.

"I'm good over here, doll," Lauren reassured her. "Can you show me a starfish jump?"

"Starfish!" Camila exclaimed, spreading her body out into a star in the air.

"And...a tuck jump?"

"Good?" Camila asked, finishing the tuck jump proudly.

"Excellent, you're headed to the Olympics," Lauren joked, smiling as Camila burst into giggles.

Half an hour later, Camila only seemed to be getting more and more excited rather than using up her energy, and Lauren decided if she didn't stop Camila she would exhaust herself and be cranky all evening.

"Right, five more jumps," Lauren said, getting Camila's attention.

"Nooo," Camila argued playfully, paying no mind to Lauren.

"We need to get started on homework," Lauren sighed, having already anticipated this problem arising.

"I'm not done bouncing!" Camila shouted excitedly.

"Camila, I'm not playing any games with you, we're getting off right now," Lauren said firmly.

"But I wanna play," Camila whined, becoming tearful when she lost her footing and fell onto her knees.

"Come here," Lauren said, softening her tone. Camila crawled over to the edge of the trampoline, her bottom lip wobbling slightly as tears threatened to escape her eyes.

"I like bouncing," Camila whispered.

"I know, and you're really good at it, but playtime is over and we need to head in," Lauren explained calmly. "Did you get hurt?"

"My foot hurts," Camila pouted.

"Oh no!" Lauren exclaimed animatedly, taking a good look at Camila's right ankle despite the fact that she knew that Camila was just tired and not really hurt.

"More bouncing," Camila said quietly, trying to crawl back to the centre of the trampoline.

"Uh-uh," Lauren said, quickly slipping her hands around Camila's waist and pulling her back. "Come on," she hummed, lifting Camila onto her hip having realised it was the only way to get her back inside. Much to her surprise, Camila didn't protest and instead buried her face in the older girl's shoulder.

"Chocolate milk," Camila murmured, busying her fingers playing with a strand of Lauren's hair.

"Warm milk for the princess," Lauren said, closing the garden door behind her. She moved to the table, trying to put Camila down but finding that the little girl simply clung on to her tightly, not wanting to be put down. "Okay, let's find your cup," Lauren said, taking the yellow sippy cup out of the cupboard and then proceeding to take the chocolate milk out of the fridge.

"Chocolate, not normal," Camila instructed.

"I know, love," Lauren said, putting it in the microwave.

"I don't wanna do my homework," Camila mumbled.

"Why not?" Lauren asked, peeling her off of her chest so she could see her face.

"Because I hate school," Camila whined.

"We need to do it though, don't we," Lauren said, putting Camila down despite the act that she was still clinging onto her tightly.

"NO!" Camila shouted before running out of the kitchen and back out to the garden.

"Camila," Lauren sighed, taking the cup from the microwave before walking outside again. "Can we go back inside and do some homework, please?"

"Go away," Camila snapped before continuing to crawl around on her knees, inspecting the tiny blades of grass excitedly.

"It's not playtime, Mila," Lauren explained, nearing her slowly. "We need to go inside and have some chocolate milk and then get on with homework and dinner."

"No, no, NO!" Camila shouted.

"Camila, stand up, please," Lauren said strictly.

Camila didn't even acknowledge her, simply continuing to play on her own.

"Camila, NOW!" Lauren snapped, starting to lose her temper.

Camila once again ignored her, seemingly lost in her own world at this point.

Realising that she wasn't helping the situation, Lauren let out a frustrated huff before walking back inside. She assumed it was safe to leave a 15-year-old out in the garden on her own, even though Camila was definitely quite a young 15. She made herself a hot mug of camomile tea before sitting down on the sofa right next to the window so she could keep a close eye on the stubborn child in the garden. She gave Camila another half an hour to play and run around the garden before going back outside.

"You're separating those leaves really well," she said softly, sitting down next to Camila. She had decided to draw on a play technique that she knew to work well with younger children with ADHD which involved stating what the child was doing rather than asking them questions as they found it confusing. "You're building a little fairy garden, aren't you?" Lauren smiled, watching Camila arranging the leaves in a particular older.

"Mmm," Camila mumbled, not looking up.

"Can you stop playing for a minute so that we can talk?" Lauren asked, waiting for Camila to look up at her before talking again. "Do you think you could explain to me why you don't want to do your homework?"

"Because I hate school," Camila said quietly, tearing up a leaf she was holding. "It's hard and I have to do lots of sitting still and I get shouted at for leaving my seat and I don't understand any of it and everyone else does," she blurted out.

"That sounds really hard," Lauren said sympathetically. "Tell you what, why don't we come up with a new plan for the afternoon?"

"No homework," Camila pouted, looking up from the grass.

"No, it sounds like you've already been working really hard all day at school, I think we can leave the homework and I'll write you a note in your diary," Lauren reassured her. She knew that insisting on the homework would get them nowhere if Camila didn't feel like doing it and, furthermore, she suspected there was something else causing Camila's struggle with her schoolwork. "Why don't we go do some reading together?" Lauren suggested.

"I'm bad at reading," Camila rebutted.

"That's okay, I'll read to you," Lauren promised, standing up and offering Camila a hand. She internally let out a sigh of relief when the brunette finally took her hand and stood up.

"What are we going to read?" Camila asked, skipping alongside Lauren.

"What's your favourite?" Lauren asked, shutting the garden door behind them.

"I like the Cat in the Hat," Camila said, pushing her thumb into her mouth. "And Charlie and Lola."

"Should we choose something a bit more age-appropriate, love?" Lauren asked carefully, wanting them to do something even vaguely educational as Camila wasn't doing any homework.

That was the last straw with Camila.

No sooner than Lauren could blink, the girl was on the floor crying again, kicking her feet and thrashing about. Lauren sighed, but she had been anticipating another tantrum anyway.

She went to the kitchen to reheat Camila's chocolate milk in hopes that it would calm her down. As she did, an object caught here eye. She took down the baby bottle, running her hand over the pink kitted fabric around it which looked slightly worn out but was still soft to the touch, all the same. At the sound of Camila's loud sobs, she quickly made a decision and poured the warm milk into the baby bottle before closing it tightly and walking back outside, shaking it in her hand.

"Darling, I've got your milk," Lauren said gently, sitting down next to Camila on the floor. "Here we go," she hummed, pushing the teat into Camila a mouth. Camila acted like a little child, and Lauren knew how to work with little children, so she figured she may as well treat her like one. She smiled slightly as her sobs died down until all that could be heard was the clicking sound of gentle suckles. "Good girl," she praised as Camila looked up at her with her big brown eyes.

"Where's my sippy?" Camila asked, spitting out the nipple of the bottle.

"We're not using your sippy cup right now," Lauren explained gently as she eased the mouth of the bottle back into her mouth. "Now, I know we were going to read, but I think a nap would be a really good idea," Lauren suggested.

"M not tired," Camila lisped in protest.

"Oh, but I am," Lauren said, faking a yawn and stretching her arms out. It wasn't a complete lie, seeing as Camila had really tired Lauren out at this point. "Maybe you can just keep me company while I lie down," Lauren said, walking over to the sofa and sitting down, waiting for Camila to join her before starting to feed her the bottle again.

In no time, Camila was fast asleep, cuddled into Lauren's side.

Not much later, Lauren was asleep too.

***

A/N: So, a reader brought this question to my attention...should Lauren date someone else rather than Camila? I feel like the age-gap is kinda big for Camila and Lauren to date and their relationship without being romantic is already so special...

Let me know whether you'd rather Lauren and Lucy dating, Lauren and Camila dating or Lauren and one of the other 5H girls dating (Lemme know which one of the girls if so).

If Lauren wasn't dating Camila, she'd still be looking after her and the main focus would still be on Camila and Lauren!

All my love! Xx