Never Let Me Go (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 28: Because We'll Always Be Family

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten."

- Lilo and Stitch

***

Lucas undid his bowtie, letting it hand loose so he could unbutton the first few buttons on his shirt and let his neck breathe. It was a warm night, more so than he was used to despite being tucked away in a canopy of trees. Sofi was sitting on the arm of one of the couches as they waited for his parents to cross the bridge and come inside.

"What's going on here?" Lauren asked when she stepped through the doorway. "Connor, your mom told me you guys didn't tend to use this place very much anymore."

"We don't." Connor nodded. "But when Lucas and Dinah showed us what they wanted to do, my parents couldn't agree fast enough."

"Guys, I don't know if I can take any more of this." Camila sighed, falling back against the couch and running her fingers through her hair. "I don't know what the three of you have planning, but I know it's going to make me cry and I don't think I even have any tears left."

"Mom." Lucas made his way over, crawling up and kneeling next to her. "This is the last thing, I promise. It's really important." He undid another button of his shirt and reached down to pull his Uncle's key out from around his neck, holding the chain out. "It's about this."

Lucas was relieved when Camila sat forward, taking the key between her fingers. "Luke, what did you do?"

"I found out what it opens Mom." The boy smiled eagerly. "And it was really awesome."

Camila remained quiet, looking at the key for a moment as the rest of the room fell silent. Lauren was in the kitchen, looking around the dusty shelves clearly lost in the memories. She too stopped to turn and listen in on the conversation. "You did?"

"Yeah." Lucas nodded quickly. "And I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted all this to be a surprise, but this is the best one. I swear."

"No swearing." Lauren mumbled casually from the kitchen, turning over a mug in her hands.

"Okay, I didn't actually swear." The ten year old made a face over his shoulder at her.

"Luke."

His mother had leaned forward, taking him by the arms and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. "Yeah?" The boy's voice was small.

"What you did for us, I don't think you quite understand how important that really was. What it really meant." She smiled softly. "I know you've had to grow up a lot faster than I've wanted you to over the last few months, but the one good thing that's truly come out of this is just how much you've changed over that time. I'm so proud of you buddy, I need you to know that."

"Thanks Mom." Lucas felt a content spark in his chest, crawling forward and tucking himself in her arms. "I just wanted to keep the family together, that's all. I didn't want anything to happen."

"You're an angel." Camila hugged him as tight as she could. "And I love this ring so much, I see you remembered our little talk when we were up north in the fall."

"Yeah." Lucas nestled against her, the comfort from his mother's embrace was a completely familiar type of safe, one that couldn't be replicated or replaced by anything in the world. "Auntie Mani drew a whole bunch of designs, and I picked the one I liked the best."

Suddenly a frightening crash from the kitchen sliced through the conversation, and all eyes turned to Lauren. "Oops." She looked down at the mess. "I dropped one of those blue mugs."