Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Forty-Five

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of update yesterday, but it's only because I wasn't feeling that well. Also, happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans! Haha. Here's the next update, though! Hope you all like it! :)

Lauren sat in the Cabello family's driveway for a few minutes just to build up enough courage to go in and have dinner with them. From what she's dealt with from Sinu, she worried about having the same problems with Camila's father, Alejandro. Despite what Camila had said about him, Lauren was still worried about what she'd have to face. Not only was she worried about Alejandro; she was still fearful of Sinu. Lauren didn't know if she was the type to have faked everything that had occurred during their last encounter with each other. She also didn't know if her husband would actually hate her because of the things that Sinu had said about her. 

Finally, she gets confident enough to get out of her car and head towards the Cabello's front door. She knocks on the door a few times, then waits for someone to answer the door. Lauren hears Sinu's booming voice through the door, but she couldn't make out what she was saying. Soon enough, Sinu opens the door with a wide smile on her face. This nearly scared Lauren, since Sinu was never this happy to see her. 

"Lauren! It's good to see you again! Please, come in!" Sinu greeted her, motioning her hand in a way that told her to go inside.

Lauren simply nodded her head, then walked through the front door. She stood off to the side in the entryway so that she could wait for further instructions from Sinu. It was important to her that she didn't say or do the wrong thing, because if she did, all of her hard work would probably go down the drain. Sinu shuts the door behind her, then looks at the nervous girl in front of her. She can tell the Lauren is nervous, but she never points it out to her.

"Follow me," Sinu said. Lauren nodded, then followed her into the dining room. There, she saw the little girl that she came to know as Sofia, and an older man that she presumed was Alejandro.

The man stood up and walked over to where Lauren stood, then held his hand out for her to shake. Lauren took it, and he introduced himself. "Hello, Lauren. It's great to finally meet you. Camila has told me so much about you. Won't you take a seat?"

"I'd be honored to. It's nice to meet you too, sir." Lauren released his hand, then took a seat in her designated spot. 

Alejandro took a seat next to Lauren, which surprised her, then made a request that she didn't expect either. "Oh, please. Don't call me sir, call me Alejandro. I'm not that old yet, am I?"

Lauren giggled, now feeling a little less nervous because of how he was acting. Although he sat right beside her, she felt more at peace since he scared her a little less than Sinu did. Another wave of relief came over Lauren once Sofia took the other spot beside her. Even though she and Sinu made things right with each other, she still didn't want to feel pressured just by sitting next to her. Camila's mother still made her uncomfortable, and it would probably be a while before Lauren could start feeling okay around her.

The family immediately started to serve themselves up with dinner, and Lauren could already assume where Camila got her outrageous appetite from. Lauren helped herself to a medium-sized piece of chicken, a few spoonfuls of corn, and a nice clump of potatoes. The food that she placed on her plate didn't nearly match up to the amounts on Cabello family's plates. 

"So, Lauren. How did you meet my daughter, Camila?" Alejandro asked her.

Lauren swallowed the potatoes in her mouth before she answered. "I was hired as her nurse when she was blind so I could help her around the house. We ended up falling for each other in the process of things, and neither of us could be happier with how things are turning out."

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Also, I hear that Camila can actually see now? Is that thanks to that new operation that I've been hearing about over the news lately?"

"Yup!" Lauren replied with a smile. "She's doing very well with learning about colors and objects."

"That really is amazing, Lauren. How did she react when she saw herself?" he questioned.

Lauren paused for a moment. Camila never saw herself. What were they going to think when they learned that she had never shown Camila to herself? Because honestly, the thought had completely slipped everyone's mind when they were busy showing her other things like lightning and themselves. She didn't know how Camila's parents would react, but she knew that she could never lie to them if she wanted to earn their blessings. "We haven't exactly done that yet," she finally answered.

"You, what?!" Sinu and Alejandro asked in unison.

Sinu added, "That's like the first thing that you're supposed to do! What if she strolls by a mirror and reacts badly to it? She's a beautiful woman, but what if she doesn't think so? There are plenty of people on this earth who have gone their whole lives without liking their appearance. So what will we do if it all hits her at once and drives her mad? I really don't know much about this, and I assume no one really does, but I think we should really do something about this. Yeah?"

"You're not wrong," Lauren admitted. "We were all so caught up in the moment, that the thought completely escaped our minds. Even Camila didn't even think of looking at herself. Just the fact that she could finally see was overwhelming, so none of us even thought to have her look at herself. I'm going to call her later on tonight, so I'll ask her about this. Although, I don't even know if Camila knows what the concept of a mirror is."

"That's probably true. She's not alone, is she? Isn't she with the friends that you moved in with a while ago?" Sinu asked.

Lauren nodded. "Yeah, we all made it on the show together. But I, as you know, stayed behind to take care of the little girl with cancer. She was recently diagnosed as cancer free, so her family offered for me to move in with them in Los Angeles. We'll all be headed over there in a few days, which is why I'm glad that I got the chance to meet you, Alejandro."

He smiled at Lauren. "I'm glad that I got to meet you too. And I've gotta say, that was a bold decision that you made for staying here and giving up your dream of being a singer. But by doing it, you helped to save a little girl's life."

"Being a singer wasn't really my dream. Auditioning for the show was more of a let's-just-see-what-happens thing. My real dream is actually in the process of being fulfilled. I want to help more people in the world who have cases like Camila's. Starting really soon, I'll be taking classes to become a doctor like that one that allowed Camila to see," Lauren explained.

"That really is amazing, Lauren. I'm glad that my daughter has found someone like you. So many great things have happened to Camila ever since the two of you have been together, and I couldn't be happier to give you two my blessing. I don't think I'd want to walk my daughter down the isle to any other person than you," Alejandro said with a smile.

A wave of excitement came over Lauren at the sound of those words. She now had both of Camila's parent's blessings, and she couldn't be happier. Lauren thanked him, and held a smile on her face for the rest of the night. 

For the remaining part of their dinner, everyone pretty much just talked about small things. They talked about their days, and how dinner was until it was time for Lauren to make her way back to her mother's house for the night. Alejandro led Lauren to the door, where he said goodnight to her and sent her out. But before she left, he said one thing to her that she never would have expected.

"Thank you for coming tonight, Lauren. Also, I'd like to apologize for my wife's behavior lately. Sometimes she likes to drive people a little mad. But I'm glad that she's finally changed her mind about things. So, thank you for that too. Have a goodnight, Lauren." 

Lauren nodded and smiled at him, then made her way down to her car. Before leaving the house, she checked her phone to see that there were many missed calls from Ally, Dinah, and Normani. What could this have been about?