Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Forty-Four

A/N: I know I've said this like a gazillion times, but you guys just keep on surprising me! Because of you guys, we're at #159 on the Fanfiction charts! I love you all so much, and please don't stop being amazing! Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

"I thought we talked about this already, Lauren?" Sinuhe questioned her as they sat together on Lauren's couch. "I seemed to think that I got the point across to you when we last saw each other when you came to my house. Apparently, I was wrong. So what's going through your mind? Why did you go against what I've already told you? Wasn't I clear enough that you're to not marry my daughter?"

Lauren gulped, feeling frightened of her fiance's mother. "I... I don't think you have a say in what Camila and I do in our relationship. We're both deeply in love with each other, and not even you, her mother, can change that. She's not blind anymore, Mrs. Cabello. So there's literally nothing you can do that can possibly step in our way."

"Really, Lauren? I'm her mother, and if there is anyone who will stand in your way, it's me. I don't approve of you two together, and there you go, disobeying me as always. This is why I can't stand you; you never listen to a word that I say," she explained with a voice that was fueled entirely by anger.

"Have you ever once questioned why Camila never bothers to visit you? You always think of what you want and never of what she wants. She went through so many years of Hell with you, and now that she's finally standing up against you, it's finally coming back as a ghost to haunt you. Camila isn't a little girl anymore, and she does what she wants now. I honestly think that you're having a rough time with letting go of your baby, and that's okay. But what isn't okay are the things that you're doing now. Coming to your daughter's fiance's house just to insult her isn't what a good mother would do. What a good mother would do is quite the opposite. You should be happy for your little Camila, rather than being angry. Yes, we went against what you wanted, but her life isn't yours. You created it, but it doesn't belong to you. What is yours however, is a decision. You can either be happy for her as a good mother and attend the wedding, or you can be a bad mother and get out of her life. Those are your only options. There's no other choice. Take your pick, Sinu."

Lauren finally released every thought from her mind through her mouth, and she felt great about herself. At that point, she didn't care anymore about how Camila or her mother reacted to what she had said. Those were Lauren's thoughts for the whole time since she first met Sinu, and there was no greater release than finally getting it all off of her chest. Now that everything had been said, Lauren felt the greatest that she had ever felt.

She expected Camila's mother to scream, to holler, or even to punch her straight in the face. But what happened next came as a shock to Lauren; something that she would never have expected Sinu to do in a million years. She cried.

This made Lauren begin to feel like trash, even though Sinu clearly deserved it for all that she's said and done over the past few months. It was never in Lauren's best intentions to ever make someone cry, or to bring them pain. She was a nurse, and her goal was rather to bring happiness and good health to people. But she wondered why Sinu was crying. Did she hit a nerve? Or did she finally understand what she was doing wrong? It bewildered Lauren. But everything came together shortly.

Lauren sat without bearing a single word as Sinu continued to sob into her hands uncontrollably, until Sinu finally decided to speak. "You're right, you know." She looked up at Lauren. "I've been way too controlling over her, and I just can't seem to figure out why. This is how it is and how it has always been. Ever since Camila was a little girl, I've been so used to taking care of her, raising her, and choosing what was best for her. But now that she's much older, I guess I just haven't realized that she was ready to make her own decisions. Things are different now, and you've finally made me realize it. I know that this might now mean anything to you, but I truly am sorry. And I'm not tricking you either, if that's what you think.

The bewildered Lauren stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "And how do I know that you're not lying? How do I know that you're not just saying this? Sorry if I don't trust you, it's just that you're seeming kind of bipolar right now. Everything seems... well, off. If you will. What can you possibly say that will make me trust that you're not just putting on an act?" Lauren questioned her.

"That I'm giving you two my blessing. To get married, I mean. I know that you two are just going to get married no matter what I say, so I guess I may as well just make things run smoother for you. That's not the only reason why I'm giving you my blessing, you know. You've made me realize that I need to start acting like Camila's mother and less like her boss. She's twenty five years old, and I think that she'll be able to do her own thing. Although I'll always see her as my little baby girl, I think that I'll finally be able to see her as one whose ready to break free. Again, I'm sorry for causing you two so much pain and drama. I guess that I'm just too overprotective of my children," Sinu explained.

Lauren let out a sigh of relief, hoping that the drama between the three of them had gone away for good. Sinu seemed very convincing with her words, even though she wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person in the world. After all, she did just ball her eyes out in front of someone that she barely even knew. It was hard for Lauren to cry in front of people she really knew, let alone the opposite. "I suppose you've won me over now," Lauren finally said to Sinu. "But don't think that I'm going to trust you just yet. The only way that you can truly earn my trust is with actions rather than words. So to actually prove that you're giving us your blessing, you have to actually show us."

Sinu nodded her head. "I understand. Although I must say, the way that you're handling this is very mature. I'm sorry that I didn't actually try to get to know you. It's hard to trust a lot of the youth in this world nowadays."

"Likewise with some adults. I wouldn't place all of the blame on the youth. That's so stereotypical, you know," Lauren retorted. She hated when others just assumed things about a particular group of people. Especially when she fell into the group that was being insulted.

"Sorry, you're right. I've really got to stop assuming things about people. I should get to know them first," she apologized.

Lauren just nodded her head to acknowledge Sinu's apology. "So, setting all of the drama aside, I still haven't met Camila's father. In order to make me feel completely at ease, I would like to get his blessing too. If that's possible of course," Lauren requested.

"Yes, of course Lauren. Why don't you stop by for dinner tomorrow night around six o'clock? He's been wanting to meet the girl who has stolen his daughter's heart. Will you join us?"

"Of course. I've been dying to meet him too. Camila has told me so much about him. But won't it be a little awkward for me to be having dinner with you guys without her being there with us?" Lauren asked.

Sinu simply shook her head. "No, no. It'll only be awkward if you make it that way. So? What do you think about it? Will you join us? We'd love your company. Things have gotten a little lonely for us ever since Camila moved away. We could use a change."

Lauren thought about it for a minute, but the fact that she wanted to meet Camila's father had won her over. "Sure, I'll come over for dinner. I won't be in Miami much longer, so I suppose tomorrow night would be the only opportunity I have to meet your husband."

She had no idea what would come out of dinner the following night, but she knew that it was something that she was going to have to do!