The Hook-Up (Part Two)

Chapter 278

"Bruno...sit down..." Lauren said looking up at him from her chair. "Pacing in circles is not going to make the time go any faster...."

"I know. But I just can't sit still." he said standing away from her.

"Go sit with the babies. It will help you take your mind off of all of this." she said pointing to a blanket in a corner where the twins were sitting on their own with their older cousins playing with small baby toys. Bruno lowered his head following the path of toys to sit down with them.

Lauren returned to the magazine she was flipping through seeing small stories about people she knew landing on a small blurb about the two of them.

Is the divorce final yet? We aren't quite sure yet. The couple was spotted at an LA area doctor's office this week. We're not sure what the appointment was about but we think it has something to do with a word that starts with B and ends in Y and has an AB in the middle.

"Ugh. No." she groaned touching her stomach catching Cindia look at her. "What?" she asked.

"You look like you're going to get sick again." Cindia smiled at her.

"I hope not." Lauren answered closing her eyes covering her face with her magazine for dramatic effect.

"Lauren, stop." Taihti laughed at her sister-in-law.

"I'm fine." she answered. "But I do have to pee." she answered jumping up to go to the restroom. When she returned about ten minutes later the family was standing in a close circle near several doctors. Lauren tried to decide if she should stand a bit back from all of it or join them. She stood back not sure about what any of the conversation was about seeing Bruno's hand start to clench around his daughter's waist the same way they did when he was angry. It wasn't a painful clutch from where she stood, but she knew that they were saying some serious stuff. Oh my god.She thought to herself sitting down in the chair she was in just ten minutes earlier. No. Nothing bad. She looked up at the large bright clock to see that it had been more than 5 hours since Bernie had entered the operating room.They said 3....she thought to herself feeling the anxieties that Bruno had the whole night. He didn't sleep at all. He tossed and turned and never really got any sleep.

"Oh my god...." she finally heard Presley get out.

"No...." Tiara said holding her younger sister. "No...."

Through all the emotional responses Lauren felt like she was sitting on the outside of a really horrible movie. She glanced up to see Bruno's eyes full of tears. No. She thought running to him to hug him. No. She continued to think to herself taking Everlee from him to hug him again. She just held him close not feeling the tears she was expecting from him. It wasn't the emotional response she was thinking he would have. But after laying her head on his shoulder and feeling the grip around her waist she knew that grip. It was an angry grip that would only lead to trouble. "Bruno...." she lifted her head up to look at him. "I'm here. You don't need to try to keep me...." He looked at her sensing that she was trying to help him. It was a comment that would usually get a smile from him. But instead he looked down at his feet not saying anything. Through their interaction she heard the conversations of his siblings. She's dead. She heard one of the girls say. With those words she felt tears come down her cheek. They were tears that could not be comforted by Bruno, because he was trying to find his own way to express the disbelief of what they had all just heard.

"I...." Bruno got out stuttering. "I...." he tried to get out.

"I don't know either..." Lauren answered knowing exactly what he was going to say. "I don't know..." she said seeing Ezra pick something up from the floor putting it in his mouth. "Ezra!" she yelled louder than expected watching him drop it and start to cry from her reaction. "Noooo...." she picked him up comforting him. "Nooo.....Ezra. I'm sorry..." she said holding her son crying with him. From the corner of her eye she saw Bruno sitting with his sisters all sitting without any tears or cries, just sitting. Bruno eventually laid his head into his hands. "Take him...." she told Marley who was trying to wrap his head around everything. She bent down reaching for his shoulders placing her head against his. "I'm not leaving. No matter what happens...."