Haven't Forgotten My Way Home (Camren)

Chapter Twenty-One

Camila liked the freedom of living on her own. She liked being able to leave her clothes lying around if she wanted to. She liked being able to have dessert first sometimes – which she did, frequently. And she liked being able to decorate her house the way she wanted to, stay up as late as she wanted, play her music as loud as she wanted and sing along with anything and everything, even the television commercials.

Which she didn't do.

Not often, anyway.

But every now and then... sometimes it was nice for Camila just to go home. To the place she was born, where she was raised. The place where Camila Cabello first discovered just who, exactly, she was.

Alejandro Cabello threw open the door and immediately wrapped his arms around Camila, pulling the girl inside. "I'm not letting you go," he said, hugging her tightly. "I haven't seen you in forever."

Camila rolled her eyes and carefully disengaged herself from her dad, returning the hug nonetheless. "Thanksgiving was just three days ago," she said happily. "I don't think that constitutes forever."

"It does in Dad-time," he said, then looked past Camila, above her head. "And who's this?"

Camila half-turned, extending her hand with a smile to the raven-haired, nervous submissive hovering just behind her. Lauren took it and offered her own, albeit smaller, smile. "This is Lauren. She's... my friend. I told you, remember?"

Lauren looked at Camila's dad shyly, but didn't say anything, and Camila squeezed her hand...

"That you did, that you did," Alejandro said, stepping over to study Lauren, looking warmly at her. "But you failed to mention that she's beautiful, Camila. It almost hurts to look at her; it's like staring at the sun with no sunglasses."

"Dad, stop, you're embarrassing her," Camila said, lightly punching him in the arm. "And you're going to make Mom jealous."

"Yes, stop, my boy," Sinuhe said, coming into the living room and standing beside her husband. "You're giving me a complex."

"She forgets I only have eyes for her," Alejandro said to Lauren, who rewarded him with a grin and a blush. "This is Camila's friend, Lauren, Ma'am."

It was only now that Camila was grown and out of the house that her parents were more comfortable with their dynamic in front of her. As a child she'd known it existed, because it was the way things were. But her parents were intensely private, and so their dynamic was often revealed in more subtle ways to their daughter. It was through her parents that Camila learned a dynamic could be established with just a single word. The raise of an eyebrow. The fact that her Dad was always the one who made dinner and that Mom was the one she had to ask about a raise in her allowance.

Sinuhe regarded Lauren seriously before smiling just as warmly at her, even as her eyebrow rose at Camila. She felt herself flush and shrugged slightly; her mother was always able to see right through her.

"Welcome to our home, Lauren," Sinuhe said, stepping back and leading the girls more fully into the house. "Do you want anything to drink, something to eat?"

Camila watched Lauren carefully, then practically beamed as Lauren said, "I wouldn't mind a drink if it's not too much trouble, Mrs. Cabello."

Lauren's eyes were wide and inquisitive, almost like a child's, as she took in her surroundings. The Cabello house was small, smaller than Camila's even, but it was comfortable and it was clear that, unlike Lauren's childhood home, Camila was sure, that people lived and loved there. Everywhere in the house was evidence of a happy family: from the pictures of Camila and her parents on the wall, to Camila's numerous singing awards as a child, and both Sinuhe and Alejandro's work accomplishments. Alejandro was chief of staff at a hospital outside of the city, and Sinuhe's skill as an accountant kept her in high demand at tax season. Camila was proud of her parents, and proud to be their daughter.