Trials & Tribulations

Chapter 36. "Merry Christmas!"

"Ooo...k," Camila said, sitting back on her heels in the bed again, her left hand still wrapped up in Lauren's and a wide smile on her face which was partially obscured from sight due to the facemask she wore. "I...ggg...ggg...gooo..." she tried, growling in frustration at her inability to vocalize even the simplest thought.

"It's ok," Lauren said, sensing Camila's irritation and rubbing her girlfriend's right arm with her free hand reassuringly. "Just take your time Camz," Lauren instructed. "Don't try to force it."

"I...goooot....yy...yyy...yyoou..." Camila managed before stopping once again and shaking her head from side to side evidently annoyed. "Pprree...sseent." She finished, turning her head to look at Dinah expectantly.

"I really don't need anything," Lauren replied genuinely, her hand still rubbing Camila's arm as her girlfriend rested back against the head of the bed. "I just told you that you've already given me the best Christmas present I could ask for..." Camila lifted the palm of her hand up to stop Lauren in her tracks, keeping one finger up as she bent the others, silently informing her to wait for one minute. She twisted her torso in the bed to face Dinah who was rummaging through the sack she still had in her hands, evidently in search of something.

"Ddd..." Camila started when Dinah still hadn't found Lauren's gift and she sat forward slightly, trying to have a look in the sack herself as Sofi clambered back onto the bed and crawled beside her. "Wwwhhee...."

"They're in here," Dinah replied in understanding. "I promise. I definitely picked them up..." Camila watched Dinah as she continued to search through the sack and Sofi reached up to try and take the hard hat from her sisters' head, eager to try it on for size.

Camila smiled at Sofi's attempts, her small arms not quite long enough to reach her intended target and she lifted her own hand to retrieve the blue helmet herself, placing it on top the younger girls' head and patting it lightly once it was in place. The hat slipped down over Sofi's eyes almost instantly, apparently much too large for her child-sized head and Camila laughed as her sister struggled to move it back up and out of her eyes, reaching her hand out to aid the younger Cabello with her task helpfully.

"Oooh here they are," Dinah said relieved, pulling out two presents from the sack and handing them to Camila so that she could share them with Lauren. Camila smiled as she turned to her girlfriend, gifts in hand for Lauren to take.

"Foo...oor....yy....yyy...ooouu..." Camila said, making a face in response to the way her voice sounded.

"Thank you," Lauren replied gratefully, leaning forward to kiss Camila just above her
left eyebrow softly in gratitude. Lauren went to place the gifts on the floor by her chair and Camila looked at her surprised, reaching out a hand to stop her.

"Nnnooo," Camila protested shaking her head for emphasis and releasing Lauren's wrist from her grasp so that she could mime opening presents with her hands.

"You want me to open them now?" Lauren asked, observing her girlfriend's charade. Camila nodded her head.

"Yes," she said, the word leaving her mouth smoothly, a shocked expression on her face at the ease with which it had happened, probably as a result of some kind of reflex or automatic response. The corner of Lauren's mouth turned up into a smile on hearing her girlfriend's speech sounding so much like her normal self and she was amused by the puzzled look Camila wore as a result of hearing the word spoken so fluidly. "Huh," Camila said, her eyebrow rising up thoughtfully. "Sss...sstt....ssssstttt..." she tried, but once again, her speech failed her. Camila rolled her eyes, throwing her hand up in front of her exasperated.

"Mija," her mom said, leaning forward in her chair a little. "Do you remember what the speech and language therapist told you?" She asked. "Even when your speech is really bad you'll sometimes be able to automatically answer questions without thinking about it. It has something to do with words that are so ingrained in your memory that you don't need to consciously think of them in order to say them out loud."