The Hook-up

Chapter 151

"She's so beautiful, my Everlee...." Bruno said to himself pushing a bit of the baby's hair out of her face.

"I know." Lauren said to him looking up at him with a red face and smeared make-up on her cheek.

"She's so small...." Larissa said to them. "She has to be smaller than the boys...and they were like 6 pounds...."

"She's 5 pounds 9 ounces...." Bruno said still staring at Everlee. For the next few minutes both sides of the family just stood and watched the three of them. A few awws and "how cute" escaped but for the most part everyone was quiet. What is going on? Is this it? What do I do now? What happens next? What about the other baby? What do I do? Oh my god.

"Bruno?" Lauren asked looking over at him sitting in the chair next to her bed with his head in his hands after everyone left. "Bruno....." she reached her closest arm to him to his head. "What's wrong?" He shook his head in his hands not responding to his wife. "I'm ...we're not going anywhere. So whenever you're ready...." She said half caring and half frustrated by his lack of communication.

"I'll be back..." he said suddenly standing up reaching for his sunglasses and hat visibly emotional. He had been crying and she could tell. But, she wasn't going to ask to help because she knew it was too much to handle at the moment. Not to mention she was still not able to fully comprehend what just happened to the two of them.

"Will you check on the baby? Please?" she asked him.

"Uh Huh." He said leaning down to kiss her lightly with his sunglasses on.

"Please don't cry, Bruno." She whispered to him as he started to walk away.

"I'll try not to." He said as he walked out of the room.

**

By late afternoon the doctor had cleared their baby boy to be with Lauren and the family. She called and texted Bruno to let him know that the baby was okay, but she didn't get a response from him. Rose was worried and so was Larissa, but everyone else knew that he would eventually come around. He was the type of person that needed a break after a long string of excitement. Even though he loved his family and being around them and the happiness and laughs, he was a quiet person on the inside. That quiet nature was what attracted Lauren to Bruno. She never questioned his need to recharge and to get away. She had learned to take his absence with a grain of salt. And, with his current schedule he would disappear at any given time. Even though that very moment was inconvenient and a part of both their lives they would never get back, she shrugged off his exit from the hospital as typical. By 4:45 he had texted her telling her that he was going to come to see her. When he came back in the room Lauren was sitting in the bed holding each baby in either of her arms rocking them slowly.

"Bruno...come see them..." she said holding her hand out seeing his changed expression. He smiled his signature smile but she could feel a sense of hesitation that they had talked about just days before. He was scared. "Bruno...you're not going to hurt them. They're yours..." she said to him as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Where did everyone else go?" he asked.

"Well, your sisters went back to the house, my mom went home to eat and Larissa had to go get the kids. They're going to come by after they eat." She told him.

"Oh." He said leaning down to kiss both babies on the head. "And who is this?" he asked with a smile running his fingers along their baby boy's face.

"That's Ezra Gael." She told him. "Isn't he just perfect?" she asked moving her hand to Bruno's over Ezra's face.

"He's just so much smaller...." He said a bit concerned.

"He'll get bigger. He's four pounds 11 ounces...." She told Bruno. "He might need a little help for the next few days so they might keep him an extra day or two...but that's just to be safe..."

"Oh...." He said reaching for Ezra to hold him. "Hi...." Bruno said to Ezra whose eyes were still closed. "Laur...he has better facial hair than I do..." he smiled touching his son's lips and the bit of fuzz in his upper lip.

"She has it too, Brunz. It's called lanugo. I asked the nurse...." She said with a smile. "I was worried too..."

"So my son wasn't blessed with a mustache?" he asked rocking Ezra the same way Lauren was.

"No. It's just because they were born a little early. It'll be gone in a few weeks." Lauren explained.

"Oh...." He said still confused and nervous suddenly jumping to hear Ezra's cry for the first time.

"Trade me...." Lauren told him in a very maternal tone. "He's hungry. It's been a few hours..."

"You're already doing that?" he asked her.

"This is new to both of us...." She told him. "I'm scared too, Bruno." She said moving herself around to move the baby to the right position. "It's like the most uncomfortable but most rewarding position ever...." She said cringing as the baby moved around a little mispositioned. Bruno watched Lauren touch his face just right to get him to latch onto her. "We tried like four times while you were gone. He's got it though." She smiled at Bruno.

"That's just so weird...." He said sitting down clutching Everlee watching Lauren.

"You better get used to it, dad." She said with a smile moving her shirt around to cover her body.