The Hook-Up (Part Two)

Chapter 243

 "Hey boo, how are you?" Bruno called Lauren the next morning asking her how she was feeling.

"Umm...I have a headache and the babies are being babies..." she told him.

"Do you need help?" he asked her.

"Umm. I don't know. I do need to go to the grocery store and it's really hard to have both of them...." she thought out loud.

"Then let me come with, Elle." he suggested.

"I think that would be okay." she said shrugging her shoulders over the phone.

**

"Take them inside, I'll get the bags..." Bruno instructed her sweetly as they pulled up to her apartment.

"It's a good thing I am on the bottom this time..." she paused. "Bottom floor of the apartment."

"Oh damn!" he laughed. "You caught it before I could respond." he laughed at the accidental innuendo she made. She opened the door placing the twins' car seats on the ground. "I need to get them down for a nap. Will you put away the frozen things? There's not hat much.."

"Yeah. I can do that." he said reaching for a bag that she hadn't noticed. As she turned around to walk into the babies' room he pulled out a bouquet of store bought flowers fixing them exactly the way that she liked them, with the bright large flowers in the middle and the small ones in the front. In the middle of fixing the flowers he heard Ezra burst into tears. He heard Lauren try to console him telling him to be quiet and that Everlee was already asleep.

"Ezraaa..." she half cried with him. Bruno could sense the desperation in her reaction deciding to get up to help her.

"Laur, let me try..." he said holding his hands out. She reluctantly handed the baby to him watching Bruno look into Ezra's eyes starting to sing to him. "He's going to be gone in a few seconds..." he told her seeing her watch him intently as he held onto Ezra touching his hair and nose lightly. After a few minutes Lauren walked out of the room to leave them alone. Walking out of the room she stepped out of the room to see the bouquet of flowers in the middle of her pile of papers. Aww. They're perfect. She thought to herself reaching over to move them to the place where they would fit better. "Do you like them?" she heard him ask walking behind her. She felt his arms around her waist and head on her shoulder. "I thought you would."

"I like them." she responded turning around to look into his eyes. They looked into each others eyes not exactly sure what they were doing.

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I'm so sorry..." he said moving a piece of hair out of her face watching her close her eyes trying not to cry.

"I just want it to be the way it was before...." she said softly. "It's like there's a hole in me and you always fill it up...." she said still looking down avoiding his eyes as she felt his arms around her waist holding her tightly.

"I can't live without you, it takes me all the way. I want you to stay..." he said trying not to laugh at the lyrics he quoted.

"Did they like write that about us?" Lauren looked up almost laughing the way he was.

"I don't know. But it sounds like it, doesn't it?" he said looking at her smile seeing how genuine it was. He hadn't seen her crack a real smile since Thanksgiving. "I love your smile, Laur..." she said touching her nose watching her smile even more. "It's just what I need when I'm having a bad day..."

"Wow. You're being really cheesy.." she laughed letting go of him. "Help me with laundry..." she suggested to him walking toward the back of the apartment where the laundry was. They sat on the couch folding the large stack of baby clothes and items. "Bruno, I miss just being with you like this."

"I miss it too. I've been around too many dicks lately." he said not flinching from his statement.

She looked at him rolling her neyes at the statement. "When do you leave again?"

"Not until late April. And that's just for a few days. And then I think I have European things in May and then the first part of June until I leave..." he thought reaching for his phone. "Do you have it in your phone?" he asked.

"No. I didn't bother." she said to him. "But I think I should know.." she replied holding onto his phone. Typing in the dates he had added. "Oh, so you'll be here for Easter?"

"Yeah. I think so. Do you want to do something special?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't really care. I think I just want to be with you." she shrugged. "If it's with everyone else that's fine too." He listened to her plan the day at his house with both sides of the family at their house. "If you're comfortable with it..."

"Elle, I would be comfortable with you coming home." he answered. "You were right, the house is big with no one in it.."

"I'm not ready yet." she replied. "I'm really not. Just one day isn't enough. We need to make sure it's right. I want it all to be right."

"I know, babe..." he replied setting down the clothes. "Come over here..." he said to her patting the empty spot next to him. She smiled at him moving onto the couch to sit next to him. He pulled her close to his body, softly and gently the way she always remembered it. His arm fell right on her shoulder and clutched her sweetly. She closed her eyes taking in the fresh yet musky scent of his shirt. She heard the TV and the channels changing quickly landing on a random college basketball game. "Lauren?" he asked feeling her body rest on his not getting an answer. "Oh. Alright. That's okay." he said to himself moving her head onto an accent pillow grabbing a blanket that laid on the floor to cover her. "You just sleep. I'll clean up." he said half joking picking up a pile of clothes they had just folded.