Family Affairs

Chapter Two

Lauren was sitting in the middle of her bed, drawing in her notebook and listening to music.

"Hey, baby sis." Normani plopped down onto the bed beside Lauren. "What are you drawing?" She asked nosely.

Lauren doesn't respond, her music up too loud for her to hear.

Normani rolled her eyes. She spotted the little box on Lauren's bedside table and picked it up, opening it to reveal the bracelet from her father.

Looking up, Lauren frowns and removes her headphones. "Mani?"

"What?" Normani asked, looking up at the younger girl.

"When did you come in?" The younger girl asks softly.

"Not that long ago." Normani shrugged. She showed Lauren the bracelet in her hand. "Where did this come from?"

Lauren shrugged.

"It was on your table." the dark skinned girl says softly.

Lauren shrugged again, she hesitated before reaching out to take the bracelet from Normani's hands. She pushed her glasses up her nose and inspected the bracelet closely, moving it around in her thin fingers.

"There's a note." Normani says, holding out the note.

Lauren lifted her head and looked at Normani. Her eyes flashed down to the note. She hesitated again before taking it and opening up the piece of paper.

"What's it say?" Normani asks softly..

"Um..." Lauren handed the note back to Normani so she could read it herself. She didn't want to admit to Normani that she couldn't actually read what was written on the paper.

"Hey Pumpkin, I know me moving out will be extremely difficult. But, I'll just be across the street and you can come over whenever you want. No questions asked." Normani reads out loud.

Lauren bit her lower lip, looking down at the bracelet in her hands. She forced her tears away.

"That was really sweet." Normani says softly.

Lauren stayed quiet, moving the bracelet around with her slender fingers.

"I wonder if I got one." Normani mumbles to herself.

"You should have a look." Lauren whispered, sniffing.

Nodding, Normani gets up and leaves the room.

Lauren sighed. She leaned back against her pillow and wiped away a tear that slipped out of her eye. She didn't know how well she would do without her dad.

"Don't cry." Lauren whispered to herself. "He's not leaving forever, he's just going across the street. Besides, Camila needs him more than you do." She was annoyed with herself for getting upset.

"Hey Princess." Marcus says softly, making his way into her room.

Lauren glanced up at her father briefly before turning her head and staring out of the window. She sniffed and wiped her eyes quickly.

"Come here." Marcus says softly, holding his arms open for Lauren.

Lauren hesitated, still staring out of the window.

"Laur, I have to go." He tells her, moving over to the bed.

Lauren turned her head to look at her father.
"I love you." Marcus tells her softly.

Lauren swallowed. She moved her sketchbook and pen onto the bedside table and pushed herself into her father's arms, wrapping her own arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. She didn't let her tears fall though.