I Built This Home For Me, For You

Chapter 34

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Some of you guys already know this but I just wanted to say it. The next chapter is the end of this book😬

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The week passed by quickly and Daisy accepted her place at MIT and Camila called Austin. On Thursday morning, they made frittatas together for breakfast, the radio staticky as it played the jazz station that Clara preferred, the spring air blowing in through the window as the smell of eggs cooking mixed with the rich smell of coffee. They both had work off that day - an agreement had been made between Camila and Austin that they would bring Lauren and Imra - and they'd both stayed in bed longer than usual, the TV playing the morning news while Lauren did the crossword from the newspaper she'd gone downstairs to fetch when she made them their first cup of coffee. Dressed casually for the day, Camila had the sleeves of her pale blue shirt rolled up, exposing her wrists as she made lunch for the girls. When Lily bounded into the room a little while later, her tie clutched in her hand and her shirt buttoned unevenly, Lauren shook her head, rounding the counters and beckoning for the tie, before she gestured towards the buttons.

"You're going to get sent to the office if you don't wear your uniform properly," Lauren warned her, looping the tie around her own neck as she frowned slightly, tying it for her daughter before taking it off and holding it out to her.

Rolling her eyes, Lily looped it around her own neck and tightened it, letting Lauren fix her collar for her. "Isn't Miss Ardeen not going to be at school today? Mom said that you were getting coffee."

"Doesn't mean you can't get detention," Camila told her, giving her a stern look.

"Please," Daisy drawled as she walked into the kitchen, her favorite black denim jacket pulled over her white shirt, her socks rolled down and her hair a mess of wild curls, "She's the teacher's pet. I doubt she'd ever do anything wrong in her life."

"She beat a girl up not too long ago, in case you forgot," Lauren curtly replied.

"Grandma said you used to get into fights all the time," Daisy said, jumping up onto the counter and stealing a piece of toast off Camila's plate, dodging the swat that her mother sent her way.

Kissing Lily on the top of her head, Lauren gave her a gentle push towards the kitchen to go and eat breakfast, giving Daisy and exasperated look as she walked over to the counter and picked up her coffee. "And that's why I got into trouble all the time."

Rolling her eyes, Daisy shoved the rest of the toast into her mouth and jumped down off the counter, pulling her socks up properly and running a hand through her unruly hair. Shaking her head, Lauren kissed her on the cheek and helped Camila finish packing their lunches. Clara came in towards the end, looking tired with the dark circles under her eyes, but all business as she rifled through her briefcase, making sure she had everything while Lauren told her where to drop the girls off to school, while Clara sighed, insisting that she didn't need Lauren to tell her how to drop her granddaughters off at school. By the time the three of them had left, with kisses on cheeks and the assurances that they'd all stay out of trouble, the house was considerably quieter, leaving Lauren alone with her wife and an overzealous puppy who was itching to go outside. Lauren thought the fresh air might do Camila some good before meeting with her old teammate, and she was quick to suggest a walk through the gardens, slipping through the opening of the maze with Camila in tow, her hand brushing the neatly trimmed hedges as they wound their way through the twisting pathways. She knew the place like the back of her hand, and they soon came out the other side, facing a large statue set in the middle of a fountain, and rows of bushes, just flowering with the first roses of the new year, and Lauren picked a particularly lovely peach one for Camila, handing it over to her with an accompanying kiss.