Nice to Meet You

Chapter 29

Monica watched as Bruce paced the floor of the pub. They were waiting for Sonia and Helena to show up. She hadn't said what time she was going to show up, so Bruce had been waiting since early in the morning. It was already 2 PM. "Paul, please sit down. I'm sure they'll be here soon." He stopped and looked at her, as if he just noticed that she was there. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm just anxious. I'm ready to see Helena and get Sonia out of our lives once and for all." He sat next to Monica, putting his arm around her and giving her a kiss. Monica smiled at him, "I'm so happy that we're finally getting Helena to stay with us." Bruce smiled back, "Me too. We're finally going to be able to give her the life she deserves, at least I hope we do." "I have no doubt we will give her a better life than what she had." Bruce pulled Monica closer, rubbing his free hand on her belly, at that moment, he felt the baby kick. His eyes widened as he looked at Monica. "Was that you? Did you make your belly move?" Monica smiled at him, "No. That was the baby." He looked down at her belly, pulling her shirt up and rubbing it again, slightly adding some pressure to it. Again, he felt the baby kick. "Fuck..." Bruce looked at Monica again, his eyes full of tears, a huge smile on his face, "That's my baby in there. That's my baby saying hi to me." He brought his face down to her belly and gave it a kiss, "Hello Darling. I felt you saying Hi. Your Auntie is coming soon. You'll get to meet her soon." He poked Monica's belly again, getting another kick, Bruce giggled, pulling Monica into a bear hug, "Holy shit Monica. We're going to be parents. I love you so fucking much." he pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes, "When Helena gets settled in, let's go to the courthouse and get married, I can't wait any longer. I want you to be my wife." Monica nodded, her eyes filling with tears over the love she felt for Bruce, "I'll marry you right now if you want." Bruce kissed her, "Don't tempt me..." he kissed her again, this time deeper, moaning as he felt her tongue exploring his mouth. Bruce grabbed one of her breasts, they were full and voluptuous, he couldn't get over how fucking sexy she was. He pulled away from her, "I'm going to make love to you right here on this table." Monica groaned, "Yes, please." She laid herself down and spread herself out, pulling Bruce onto her, kissing him, grinding her hips onto his. At that moment, they heard a knock at the door of the pub. Bruce ignored it, he stuck his hand into Monica's underwear and inserted his fingers into her, "Fuck you feel so good." he moaned into her ear. The knock on the door became louder, "Paul? Are you going to open the door?" a voice called from the outside. "Fuck....." Bruce got off Monica and pulled her up. They straightened themselves as good as they could, Bruce had a raging hard on but there wasn't much he could do about it. He went to the door and opened it. "Paul!!" Helena jumped into his arms, "Hey!" he wrapped his arms around her and swung her around. "My God, you've gotten big! You'll be taller than me in no time." Helena laughed, "What happened to your hair?" she asked as she ran her hand through it, "Oh nothing, it was getting hot, thought it was time for a change. Anyway, you can see my handsome face better, can't you." he gave her a goofy smile, his dimples carved deep in his cheeks. Monica noticed that Helena had the same dimples. They looked a lot of like, Helena, being a girl, had much softer features, but you could definitely tell they were siblings. Bruce grabbed Helena's hand and walked her to Monica, "Hey, why don't you two hang out. I have to talk to Mum for a bit. Monica and I are having a baby soon. You're going to be an Auntie. Maybe you can help her buy some clothes and help with the baby's room. What do you think?" Helena looked at Monica and smiled, "Really? You would let me help you? I never get to help on important decisions like that." Monica grabbed her hand, "Don't worry love, from now on, you are going to help out on all kinds of important decisions.
——————————————————————————————
Monica and Helena left the pub, leaving Bruce and Sonia by themselves. "Hello Paul." she said, as she sat at the bar, looking around, "I see this place hasn't changed. Still the same dump it was when Tom and Dad first got into it." Bruce knew she was trying to get to him. "Have you brought the paperwork?" he asked, getting straight to the point. "Oh yeah, here." she opened up her bag and pulled out a folder, handing it to Bruce. He opened it up and was happy to see that it was what he wanted, she had signed over her parental rights. Since Bruce Sr. had passed, she was the only one that was legally binded to Helena. "Monica and I will sign it and have our lawyer file it." Sonia chuckled at that, "What? You don't trust I'll file it?" Bruce looked at her, surprised that she would say something so daft, "No, I don't trust you." He put the folder away behind the counter and pulled a stool up in front of Sonia. Bruce looked her in the eye, he was confused as to what he felt, he felt pity, anger, confusion....he sighed, "Sonia...Mum....Can we please talk as two adults. Please? No angry words, no cursing, no raising our voices. Please?" he looked up at her, feeling angry at himself as tears began to fill his eyes, "Paul, what is there to talk about? You wanted custody of your sister, you got it. What more is there to say?" Bruce knew it was going to be difficult, "Mum, please. Just listen to me, I need to talk to you. There are some things I..." Sonia interrupted him, "If we're going to talk, can you at least pour me a glass of gin? It'll make everything so much more interesting." Bruce closed his eyes and counted to 10, allowing himself to control his anger, "No Mum, we are not drinking. Things tend to get out of hand when alcohol is involved. Now please listen to me." Sonia rolled her eyes, "Fine, what is it you want to tell me." Bruce took a deep breath, "Not too long ago, I went to a psychiatrist and he diagnosed me as manic depressive. Do you know what that means? That means I'm bipolar. I'm fucking Bipolar Mum. I'm on medication to treat my mood swings." Bruce felt himself getting emotional, but was trying to maintain calm, "Before that I fucking hurt the one person I love more than life itself, she forgave me, why? I don't know, but I"m glad she did. I tried killing myself Mum." he pulled his sleeves up, the scars still evident on his wrists, "That wouldn't be the first time. When I was a kid, I tried killing myself as well. Because you didn't love me Mum. You didn't want me. I blamed myself. It was something I did that made you hate me." Bruce was openly crying now, "I was fucking 8 years old Mum. Grandad caught me with a makeshift noose around my neck, at fucking 8 years old Mum." Bruce stopped, he was beginning to have a panic attack, he needed to calm himself down before he continued. Sonia sat and listened, he could see a little emotion on her face, but not much, "That wasn't it though, 14, when Grandad died, you asked me to go home with you. I told you no and went home with Tom. I cried all the way home, wondering what I had done wrong for you guys to hate me. I wanted to join Grandad. Tom found me in my room with a half empty bottle of vodka and a half empty bottle of pain killers. At 14. He had to take me to the emergency room to get my stomach pumped, I was in there for a couple of days on observation. I should have been sent to a psych ward, but I've always had a way of convincing people I was alright." Bruce got up and started pacing the pub. "I finally met the love of my life. She made me happy. Made me genuinely smile for the first time in my life, made me forget who I was and where I came from. Made me love myself. Tom even mentioned how happy he was to have his Son back. It was amazing." Bruce stopped in front of Sonia, "She got hurt one day, really bad, I couldn't live without her. I tried drinking myself to death. But now she's having my baby. I'm the happiest man alive. I have my sister. I'm getting married." he sat back down in front of her, "The only thing I have to ask you, is why? Why do you hate me? What have I done for you to hate me so much that you had to get rid of me? Why do you hate Helena? Why did you let that piece of shit boyfriend of yours touch her?" Bruce could feel his anger rising, he was trying really hard to keep it in check, "I'm not going to let you have the hold on me that you had for the past 20 years. I've finally come to realize that I wasn't at fault. You were. I was a kid. But why Mum, why do you hate me?"
Sonia looked at Bruce, shocked at everything he had just told her, "Paul, I had no idea...I thought you were happy with Grandad. I didn't know all of that was going on. I don't hate you. Never have. You're my Son. I was jealous of you Son. Jealous of the relationship you had with my father. He was never like that with me. He was never that attentive with me. I felt like I was replaced." Bruce chuckled, "Of course he was attentive with me, because you weren't! And I was extremely happy with Grandad. Now that I know I'm bipolar I realize the suicide attempt are all a part of my illness. But I love how you made it all about you, how you were jealous of me, a baby, a kid." Bruce stood up, walking to the door and opening it, "Anyway, I think I've said enough, and heard enough. Thank you for the paperwork. If I have any questions, I'm sure my lawyer will give you a call. You will more than likely never hear from me or Helena again, or see your Grandchild." Sonia stood up, she walked to the door. She stopped when she reached Bruce, pulling her hand up to his cheek, she looked him in the eyes and smiled, "I do love you Paul. I love you dearly. I'm so sorry things never worked out between us. I will always think of you, as I always have. Good by Son." she leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Bruce closed the door behind her, sliding down against it, sobbing once again over the loss of his mother.