Mindful Beauty

22) Her Laughter

"Ella, flip that waffle, will you?" Erica asked from her seat at the breakfast bar. Since she had woken up with her stomach feeling heavier than ever, the poor woman could barely move. Now in her sixth month of pregnancy, things were getting a little bit smoother, yet complicated when things required her to move around. Of course, she pinned the blame on Fransisco since the baby was going to be a bigger baby girl that was already proving to have some similarity to her 6'2" bulk of muscle as her father.

"Sure," Ella stood up. Her mother and sister were busy making eggs and bacon as well as a couple of other sides for breakfast. They were expecting to feed the entire Cortesa family as well as Kim, but with the appetite that Erica, Fransisco, and Timotheo carried, they were making sure to put extra on the table.

"Um, Ellie," Stefanie bashfully called out as her older sister flipped the waffle.

"Yeah?" Ella focused her attention to cleaning up the pots and dishes her mother was leaving behind while cooking.

"So... have you not explained to Sam what happened?" Stefanie didn't want to be the one to remind Ella of the traumatizing experience, but she found herself forced to explain the situation to a very panicked and scared, blonde dude.

"No... why?" Ella trailed, looking at her sister despite her hands being busy washing the dishes. "What happened, Stef. You're scaring me."

"Well... he went over to your house this morning, and-"

"Ella?!" Sam stormed in abruptly. "Ella!"

Quite quickly, Fransisco was storming past the kitchen to the front entrance where Sam was causing a ruckus. Seconds later, Timotheo flew past.

"Honey!" Erica, very carefully and heavily, hopped off the stool, following her thunderous husband who had rushed down at the sounds of the intruder. "Fransisco!" Ella, finding herself responsible for confusion and situation, quickly turned off the water and rushed to the front, surpassing Erica's pregnant form in seconds. "I'll be there... in a few days." Erica panted, placing a hand on her lower back in an attempt to ease the ache.

"Ella," Sam almost gasped the word out, reaching to yank her into his arms. "Jesus, I thought... I just... the police had your house taped." Sam breathed into her hair, taking a deep breath now without the feeling of oppression chocking him.

The second he had seen her home, he panicked. Then, when she wasn't answering her phone, that sent Sam into a frenzy since he had no single clue as to what was happening to her. As his last resort, he ended up calling Stefanie who then explained, very vaguely, the situation to him.

"Sam, it's okay." Ella reached to hold onto the material of his tee shirt at his ribcage, patting him reassuringly. Sam only hugged her tighter, dropping his head onto her shoulder.

Everyone was staying quiet, not really knowing what to say until Kim and Damien arrived through the front door that had been left wide open by Sam. Then, everyone really didn't know what to say. They could only assume how awkward Damien must feel.

Kim cleared his throat, secretly trying to let Ella know that they were there. "Good morning everyone!" He chirped. Sam sighed, giving Ella one last squeeze before pulling away, leaving only one arm around Ella's shoulders.

Damien, meanwhile, didn't really know how to identify what he was feeling. It was a mixture of fear, worry, desperateness, and anger. He wanted Ella to receive the comfort she needed, to feel better, but he also felt selfish. He wanted to be Ella's comfort and pick-me-up.

Once Ella caught sight of the pair at the door, she quickly separated herself from Sam to go greet them with a hug. She also specifically went to go greet Damien. She didn't remember much from last night; everything was kind of fuzzy, so she didn't even recall when he left and if they had said goodnight to each other.