Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Hello!" Lauren's mother, Clara shouted at both of them when they came through the door.

They were both startled by the sudden greeting. It had almost seemed like she had been waiting for them to return all day to pick up Cameron and Laurie. 

"Mom?" Lauren began. "This is my girlfriend, Camila Cabello."

Clara smiled, then said, "So this is the famous Camila that you've been telling me about lately. It's very nice to meet you, Camila."

Camila held out a hand, expecting a handshake, but instead, Clara embraced her in a tight hug. This left both Lauren and Camila baffled at Lauren's mother's actions. They were very unexpected.

"Mom?" Lauren questioned her.

She finally released Camila and replied, "Well she makes you happy, doesn't she? Any woman or man that makes my daughter happy is a friend of mine too."

Lauren and Camila both smiled at the kind gesture, then followed Clara into the living room where the twins were resting. Laurie was cuddled up with her blanket, while Cameron kept tossing and turning restlessly. Lauren walked over to the crib, then stroked the side of Cameron's face, causing him to stop flailing about. 

"I can tell that the two of you are going to be amazing mothers to these twins," Clara complimented. "You've already got that mother's touch."

"Well I am a nurse, and I do know how to care for people in the best way that I can," Lauren explained with a smile.

"How is that going, Lauren? Your nursing career? From what I've been hearing from you, I'd think that you'd be taking some time off from work because of the singing competition there."

Lauren sighed, then finally answered, "I was technically fired because Camila's mom doesn't like me. But caring for this one and the twins is a full-time job all in itself."

The three of them laughed quietly, trying not to wake up the sleeping children that were perfectly sound asleep. There was no waking them.

"What do you plan on doing if the singing competition doesn't work out? What will you do then? Just wondering, it's not like I don't have faith in you, I do. I'm just curious to see what your plans are from there," Clara asked.

Lauren thought about that for a while now, and luckily, she knew exactly what her plan of action was going to be. "I'm going back to school for a while if this doesn't work out."

Clara raised an eyebrow in interest with her daughters plans, then asked, "Oh, really? For what?"

"I want to learn how to do the new optic nerve surgery. Camila is lucky to be getting it soon, but I want to help others. There are so many blind people in the world who truly deserve the gift of vision, and I want them all to experience it," Lauren explained, causing both Camila and Clara to be shocked at her plan.

Without a word, Camila threw her arms around her girlfriend and said, "That's beautiful, Lauren. It's so good what you want to do for the unfortunate in the world."

"What about you, Camila?" Clara asked with continuing interest in the girls's future. "What'll you do once you have the ability to see?"

Camila pulled apart from Lauren and replied, "Well there are so many things. I want to get my license, I want to go traveling, and most importantly, I want to share my story with the world. I want to become a speaker for the blind people in the world who appear to have lost hope in ever being able to live that way. By visiting those people, I want to inspire them and tell them that anything is possible. I'd be living proof that they'd be able to gain their right to see things like I'm about to. Whether I win 'The Voice' or not, I want to speak out to them. That is the one plan that I have set."