To You, Graceless (CAMREN)

20 - Mother, Mother, Oh, Brother

***This is a mess. I didn't proofread as per usual and the last bits didn't even get one read. I just wrote the words and then here we are. Thank you for all the reads and comments and votes. You are amazeballs!!! Also, thanks for 2.64k followers!!!!!

Lauren wondered if Camila felt like she was on a cooking show in Clara's kitchen as she expertly chopped and diced. A cooking show wouldn't be complete without spectators and they were on the other side of the kitchen island, which doubled as a breakfast bar, watching her like a hawk. Said spectators were slowly but very surely on their way to inebriation as comments flowed more freely and carelessly with every wine glass they refilled.

Not that Nicolette needed the push.

She was always outspoken but she wasn't as tactless until Camila.

A voice in Lauren's head was coming up with some cheesy introduction like say, 'Welcome to 'Clara's Kitchen!' Tonight, we are surprising our surprise guest chef by putting her on the surprise spotlight.'

Cue an exaggerated ass prerecorded gasp.

And then, applause.

Nicolette might even throw in a howl.

Camila didn't seem to mind, Lauren noted. She seemed at home in that section of the house, exchanging recipes and cooking tips with her mother-in-law. The kitchen was filled with conversation and the delicious aroma of spices and flavors fused into mouthwatering dishes.

Lauren could not wait to eat her wife.

She meant her wife's food.

Finally facing away from the crowd, Camila was maneuvering her spatula around the wild mushroom and asparagus risotto she was making after adding Fontina cheese, her favorite and Clara helped by tossing the mixed vegetables in another pan. Camila had eight pan-seared cod, one side sprinkled with paprika baking in the oven - eight, in case anyone wanted seconds. What was left of the chicken stock she used to cook the rice and to add flavor to the vegetables was in a pot on low heat to keep warm. She apologized for using bouillon cubes. She wanted to make the stock from scratch but said she didn't store enough chicken bones for it.

'Adorable,' Nicolette cooed.

Because who apologizes for those things?!

Camila decided to start cooking as soon as greeted her sisters-in-law, and congratulated Clara on her engagement coupled by a subsequent apology for her absence. She reasoned that she didn't want to intrude and that she was feeling guilty over the altercation between her and Michael, and practically took all the blame.

By her solemn expression and the tinge of guilt in her eyes, Lauren couldn't detect any lies. And for a brief moment, she was unsettled by her discovery.

If they were lies and everyone, including Lauren believed her, then Camila would be the greatest deceiver there is. Her heart dropped when a quick recap of all the times Camila interacted with her family played in her head. Camila was calm and quick-witted, ready to spit sarcasm or coo a reassurance. And if she was taken by surprise, her expressions were microscopic, too subtle and too quick to disappear, leaving no time for anyone to notice them.

Meanwhile, Lauren was absolutely terrible at lying, often lashing out on a defensive stance. Perhaps, it was one of the reasons why Katherine had been so critical.

It was beginning to frustrate her how she couldn't read Camila as well as her wife could read her. She was unaware that Camila was not just instinctual. She did hone her skills at the academy, and then her years working as a police officer, and further sharpened it in the months she spent training with the Bureau.