"What do you think?" Lauren asked, walking out of the bathroom in her dress. It was triangle cut at the top, showing off her cleavage, and flowed all the way down to her heels.

"You look great," Dinah said, giving Lauren a quick kiss.

"You look pretty, Mama," Camila said from the bed, watching as Lauren applied some perfume.

"So do you, angel," Lauren smiled, sitting down next to Camila. She was already second guessing her decision to bring Camila to the party; it was only 7 but Lauren was already worried she would get cranky and tired despite having had an extra long nap.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Dinah asked Camila with a sigh.

"It's important for her to socialise with other kids her age," Lauren said before Camila could reply. "Baby, are you wearing a diaper or a pull-up?"

"Diaper," Camila said, quickly lifting her skirt to check.

"Okay, it'll only be a few hours so I'm not bringing your diaper bag, do you want to sit on the potty before we go?"

"No," Camila blushed, curling into Lauren's side.

"Okay, munchkin," Lauren said, patting Camila's bottom. "What're we thinking fo comfort objects?" she asked, glancing up at Dinah. The two were slightly worried about Camila's childish tendencies and had decided that it was important to help her develop her social skills.

"Wan' all," Camila said around her thumb which had slipped into her mouth.

"You don't need Mr. Bunny and your paci and your blankie," DInah said animatedy, walking over. "Should we go to your room and choose one?"

"Two?" Camila asked hopefully, taking Dinah's hand and standing up.

"One, please," Lauren warned.

"Paci and bunny," Camila told Dinah adamantly.

"Hmm, maybe your pacifier can stay here until bedtime and we can just take Mr Bunny," she suggested, handing Camila the soft toy.

"Okay," Camila said, pulling her bunny to her chest.

Soon enough, they were pulling up to a large house with a number of cars parked outside of it. The party was being hosted by a colleague of Lauren whose daughter was in Camila's year at school.

"Should bunny stay here?" Camila asked hesitantly as Lauren unbuckled her car seat.

"That's a great idea, doll," Lauren said gently, giving Camila a moment to comfortably position Mr Bunny in her car seat before closing the car door.

"Right, let's go in," Dinah smiled, holding the bottle of wine they had brought with them in one hand.

"Mama?" Camila asked quietly, tugging on Lauren's hand.

"What is it, angel?" Lauren asked, bending down.

"I'm scared," Camila whispered.

"Tell you what, why don't I come with you to find your friends?" Lauren suggested. "I'm sure they'll be really happy to see you!"

"They won't," Camila whined, tightening her grip on Lauren's hand and starting to regret leaving her beloved bunny in the car.

"It'll be okay," Lauren reassured her, leading her in.

"Lauren!" Olivia, the host, exclaimed, walking over to greet them. "Hi, Camila, Emily and the others are in her bedroom upstairs," she said warmly after having given Lauren a hug.

"Is it okay if I take her up?" Lauren asked, sensing Camila's anxiety.

"Of course, it's the first door on the left."

"Mama's going to be downstairs, you can come find me at anytime if you need me and I'll come back to check on you," Lauren promised as she led Camila up the stairs.

"Okay," Camila whispered.

"Hi, girls," Lauren smiled, walking into Emily's room where four girls, Emily, Sophie, Ava and Sara were sat on the floor.

"Hi, Camila," Emily said, not warmly but not in a mean way either.

"Go on," Lauren said, gently pushing Camila towards them. "I'll be back."

The moment Lauren had left, Camila felt her anxiety kicking in. She just wanted her Mama.

"Hi," Camila whispered shyly, sitting down.

"We're playing truth or dare," Sara said with a smile. "Truth or dare, Camila?"

"Um, dare," Camila said decisively, trying to appear confident.

"I dare you to go show Thomas your underwear," Sara laughed, eliciting squeals from the other girls. Thomas was Emily's twin brother.

"No," Camila blushed, tugging at the hem of her skirt self-consciously.

"It's a dare, you have to," Emily giggled.

"Nuh-uh," Camila shook her head. "I don't have to, I'm telling," she said, standing up. No sooner than she did, she felt a sharp tug at her skirt and the material fell to the floor.

"Is that a diaper?" Sophie laughed, throwing her head back dramatically.

"N-no," Camila stuttered, her bottom lip quivering as tears prickled her eyes.

"You're a big baby," Emily gasped between hysterical laughs.

"It's not funny," Camila pouted, quickly brushing away a tear rolling down her cheek. "I don't need them."

"Remember that time you wet yourself at school?" Sara teased.

That was all it took to push Camila over the edge, she burst into tears and uncontrollable sobs. She picked up her skirt, looking at the buttons on the side that had come undone. She couldn't put it on herself but she also couldn't go find Lauren in just her top and diaper.

"Guys, it's not that funny," Ava spoke up, feeling bad for Camila.

"We don't want to see your stinky diaper, put your skirt back on," Sophie shrieked, amused by the situation.

"I can't," Camila admitted quietly.

"I'll help you," Ava said, reaching out for the skirt which Camila hesitantly handed to her. She quietly helped Camila into it, fastening the buttons on the side while ignoring the comments and laughter from the other girls. "Let's go find Miss. Jauregui," she said, taking the crying girl's hand.

She led her out of the room and down the stairs.

"It's okay, don't cry," she said sweetly, tightening her grip on Camila's hand when they got to the bottom of the stairs where the adults were.

"Camila?" Lauren asked the moment the two walked into the living room. She handed Dinah her champagne glass before quickly hurrying over.

"Mama," Camila whimpered, relieved to see Lauren. She threw herself onto the older woman, sobbing hysterically.

"The other girls were being mean so I brought her downstairs to find you," Ava explained proudly.

"Thank you, Ava, that was really nice of you, wasn't it, Camila?" Lauren said, nudging the little girl who managed a small nod. She recognised Ava as being a shy girl in Camila's year at school. "Should we go outside and you can tell me what happened?"

"Up?" Camila asked, her sobs now dying down.

"When we're outside," Lauren promised, not wanting Camila to be embarrassed at being carried.

"I want to come," Ava perked up.

"Is that okay, Camz?" Lauren asked, smiling at the fact that Camila seemed to have made a friend. The little girl nodded.

Once they were outside on the porch, Lauren waited patiently as Ava and Camila explained what had happened, both cutting each other off at times and stumbling over their words.

"I'm sorry, love," Lauren said sympathetically when Camila started crying again once they had finished telling Lauren what had happened. "What do you need?" she asked, lifting Camila into her arms.

Camila didn't reply for a moment, resting her head on Lauren's shoulder and breathing in her soothing scent. She tugged on the triangle of material covering Lauren's breast.

"I wan' your milk," Camila said quietly, her voice close to a whisper.

Lauren wasn't surprised, knowing it was a source of comfort for Camila.

"Ava, honey, do you want to go find your parents?" Lauren asked, conscious of respecting Camila's privacy.

"No, I want to stay with Camila," Ava shrugged obliviously.

"It's 'kay," Camila told Lauren, tugging at her dress again and this time successfully pulling it low enough for her to be able to latch on.

"Is that comfortable or do you want to be cradled?" Lauren asked gently, worried that holding Camila upright in her arms while feeding her wasn't the best thing for her.

"Comfy," Camila said quietly around Lauren's nipple.

"Okay, angel," she hummed, rubbing her back soothingly as she nursed. "Shh, I got you," Lauren whispered.

"What's she doing?" Ava asked curiously.

"She's just having some milk, honey," Lauren explained. 

"That's them," Ava whispered as a few girls came out of the house, giggling at the sight of Camila but keeping their distance because of Lauren's presence. 

"Uh, girls, could you come over here, please," Lauren said, using her teacher voice. "Babe, do you want to stop for a minute?" Lauren asked quietly. Camila shook her head, not ready to let go of the comfort. "Is something the matter?" Lauren asked once they were close enough.

"No," Emily shook her head, glancing at Camila.

"Right, can someone please explain to me why picking on Camila seemed like such a good idea?" Lauren asked, putting Camila down now that she was squirming and fixing her dress. "Who wants to tell me what happened?" she asked when she was met with nothing but silence.

"Sara took off Camila's skirt," Sophie blurted out.

"Only because she wouldn't!" Sara argued, glaring at Sophie.

"I didn't laugh, they did," Emily added. "Because she was wearing a dia-,"

"Right," Lauren cut her off sharply. "I'm going to be talking to your mum about this," she said to Emily who was now close to tears. "Do we have anything to say to Camila?"

"Sorry," the three girls muttered in unison.

"I wanna go home," Camila said quietly.

"Okay, let's go find Dinah," Lauren said, leading Camila and Ava away from the other girls.

"Camz, do you want to say bye to Ava?" Lauren asked.

"Bye bye," Camila said, reciprocating when Ava hugged her.

"Is everything okay?" Dinah asked, taking Camila's hand.

"We need to go," Lauren explained.

She was surprised at how well Camila was handling the situation. Or at least, she was until they got home and Camila threw a massive tantrum. It was only a few hours later when Lauren had finally managed to contain the situation.

"What happened?" Dinah asked quietly, walking into Camila's room where Lauren was sat on the floor with a very tired Camila lying in her lap. Thankfully she had managed to change her into her baby snapsuit and a fresh diaper by this point.

"Some kids were picking on her," Lauren sighed.

"Little bitches," Dinah hissed.

"Shh," Lauren said, nodding towards Camila who was still awake. "I think we made a friend though, didn't we, Camz?"

"Let's go to bed," Dinah yawned. "Why don't you bring the baby to sleep with us, you can feed her in bed, that'll probably put her to sleep."

"Okay," Lauren agreed, standing up with Camila in her arms. 

How was she supposed to protect such a soft, delicate soul from the world?

***