Serendipity // Camren

Chapter 33

Leroy Cabello smiled as he looked down the dinner table. To his left were Camila and Lauren, to his right was Zayn Mailk, and sitting opposite him, at the other end of the table, was Hiram. His eyes flicked back to the two women and he couldn't help but bask in the joy about having Camila home. The last few whirlwind visits that the brunette had managed to squeeze into her busy stage schedule had been markedly different from this one, his daughter's new lover notwithstanding.

When Camila had come home in the past, she was always alone and she never went out. It had been impossible for him and his husband, as the fiery brunette's parents, to miss the fact that Camila had seemed distinctly lonely and, as much as they had hated to admit it, unhappy. It killed them to see her living her dream and yet not enjoying it. The spark in her eye was gone, and it was almost as if her dream had simply become her job. Something she did. Not something she loved.

But now she was glowing, literally glowing with love and life and happiness, and she once again looked like that indestructible teenager he had helped move to New York City seven years ago. She had spent the day outside of the house which, granted, was because of Lauren's daughter's party, but still, it was something; and now the two girls and Zayn were talking about possible plans for the evening.

It was perfect.

Lauren had given them their daughter back.

"You girls don't have to stay around here tonight; you know that, right?" Leroy said, as he stood from the table and began to gather the plates. Hiram waved Lauren and Zayn off as they tried to stand to take care of their own dinnerware, so the two guests just sat back in their chairs and allowed the Cabello men to clear the table.

Ignoring Zayn, Lauren shrugged and looked to Camila. Even though the brunette had said that she was okay with a distant relationship with her birth mother, it still pained Lauren to watch it happen. Camila was such a beautiful woman, so loving and forgiving, that she deserved to have everything her heart desired – even if she claimed to not want it. "Whatever Camila wants to do is fine with me," Lauren said, smiling at her lover.

Camila licked her lips and pressed a lingering kiss to Lauren's cheek. "I'm good with whatever you want, baby."

"Too cute," Leroy cooed in a hushed whisper as he finished piling the dinner plates.

Zayn rolled his eyes and kicked his right foot out under the table, landing a solid kick to Lauren's shin, trying to draw her attention to him. He knew and respected the fact that Camila was now Lauren's primary focus, but that didn't mean he was going to let her get away with abandoning her friends. Well, him, anyways.

Lauren gasped and pulled her leg back under her chair as she glared across the table at Zayn, who was staring pointedly at her. "Damn. What was that for, man?"

"Its bromance night," Zayn said, almost sounding a little whiny, which drew small laughs from Leroy and Hiram as they disappeared into the kitchen with the plates and silverware. "You guys have to come out with me. Besides the fact that it's a tradition, I had to bribe Gabriel with a case of beer and my tickets to the first home game of the season for the Panthers to get him to switch shifts with me so I had tonight off."

Lauren sighed. The beer wasn't a big deal, but she knew Zayn was really looking forward to spending time with her and Camila if he gave his buddy his opening night hockey tickets. "Why the hell would you give up those tickets to spend the night with us?"

Zayn grinned and shrugged. "Guess I just really missed you, baby mama."

Camila giggled. "Zayn, we would love to spend the evening with you, doing whatever it is that you and Lauren do during your bromance nights."