The Hook-up

Chapter 196

Later in the evening Lauren sat at the kitchen table with the babies getting them ready to go to bed when Bruno walked into the kitchen sighing as he sat down next to her. "What?" she asked him

"Nothing." he said taking the spoon from Ezra's high chair to start feeding him.

"I don't know what your deal is..." she said not looking at him as she continued to feed her daughter.

"Nothing." he said as they continued to feed the babies together.

They finished feeding the babies and got them into bed by 8 in the evening. After taking a quick shower with little fan fair, Lauren sat down on the couch next to Bruno to see him watching old episodes of Lost. "You know this show has been over for ages..." she said with a smile.

"I know. But we started watching it on the plane and now I'm intrigued..." he said turning to her after pausing the show.

"Lauren are you okay?" he asked her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him giving him a confused look.

"Last night, this morning...it wasn't normal..." he said taking her hand holding her ring finger playing with her ring.

"Nothing." she answered. "I want to hear all about New York..." she said trying to avoid the feeling that she knew he had about her recent change in behavior. "I just...while you were gone it just felt like I really missed you..." she said moving her hands to his side trying to avoid his eye contact.

"Laur....I've known you for a while...." he said to her lifting her head up looking into her eyes trying not to blurt out what they both already knew, that he was with Damaris that past weekend. "And I think I can tell when you don't want to talk about something..."

"I want to talk about New York...you were so good..." she said to him. "And I'm worried about your voice..."

"I'm going to be okay. I made it through that stomach thing and my sinus thing I think I can make it through an overworked voice..." he said to her trying to be tougher than he was letting out a cough.

"Are you going to see someone or do I need to call someone for you?" she asked.

"I'm going to see Brandon tomorrow so we'll talk about it then..." he told her.

"But how was it? Was it amazing? Like so great and all that you wanted?" she asked.

"'ll tell you all about it after you tell me what you thought about it." he answered.

"I cried when you sang Young Girls." she admitted. "Please don't make that your single. I want it to be ours. " she said to him. "Well me and you and everyone else who will buy it..."

"Is that what you want?" he asked her.

"I think so..." she replied moving her eyes away from his.

"That's not what you wanted to talk to me about..."he responded moving her hair from her face as she glanced over at his phone. She reached for it watching him tense up a bit. She opened his phone entering his code to see a text message from Maria Elena. She read over it cracking a smile.

"She thinks you have ojo from Damaris?" Lauren tried not to start to laugh. "Because it's a good thing that's the only thing she's given you.." she said standing up throwing his phone toward him. He quickly jumped up from the couch reaching for her hand knowing that he would probably pull her too tightly. She stopped feeling him behind her. She turned around into his arms staring right into his eyes.

"I don't want to fight about her anymore. You were with her. It's never going to change, Bruno. It's never going to change..." she said trying to get away from his light grasp not sure if she wanted to cry with him or cry because of him.

"Lauren..." he moved his head down to hers looking into her eyes. "We didn't do anything. Come sit down..." he led her back to where they were watching him as he sat down. "She was there. I didn't know she was going to be there. And we walked out together. She got on the list for the after party somehow. I think she slept with one of the writers or something. I don't know. But I was just so caught up with everyone that was there that we didn't see each other. She did get me some tea for my throat before I went to bed. But that's it. And it didn't taste nearly as good as your tea last night." he told her the whole truth.

"What did you talk about?" she asked him.

"We talked about you. And the babies. And how I mess everything up every time. Even right now. You're going to yell at me and I'm going to get mad and then you'll leave." he said expressing the same concerns she had.

"I am mad." she said not moving from her position on the couch.

"What do we do now?" he asked her avoiding her eye contact.

"I don't know." she answered. "You really hurt my feelings. And my trust. You're slowly chipping away at any hope I had of trusting you."

"I don't want you to lose that, baby...." he said with real concern.

"Do you still love me, Bruno?" she asked suddenly overcome by the insecurities that Damaris created. Instead of answering he pulled her toward his body pressing his lips against hers lightly yet passionately mimicking the kiss they exchanged their wedding day. It was soft, caring and passionate all at the same time. She returned the kiss leaning in to hi just enough to cause him to fall on top of her as he continued to kiss her. He moved his fingers through her soft damp her as they continued to kiss each other. Her hands moved to his neck holding him close enough to smell the lingering smoke he had on his shirt from the cigarette he had smoked outside while the babies were asleep. He moved his lips to her neck as she moved her hands through his hair. "Bruno?" she asked him causing him to move away from her neck looking up at her. "Do you still love me?"

"You frustrate me so much sometimes." he said sitting up. "I never stopped loving you, Elle." he said starting to walk away from the conversation.

"I frustrate you?" she asked him in an angry tone. "Are you fucking serious?" she asked walking in front of him. She stopped him from walking outside keeping him from going outside to smoke.

"What do you want, Lauren?" he asked in a soft non-confrontational tone taking her outside with him.

"There were vows, Bruno. There were rings. And there was a 'till death do us part.' And I don't know but I could have sworn that you said those words too. It wasn't just me promising to be with in good times and bad and sickness and health and all that crap. Because that's not what I signed up for. I signed up for a husband who can't stand to wake up in the morning without thinking about his wife the same way she wakes up in the morning thinking about him, even if he's 26 hours away from her. I signed up for a husband who sees other girls and thinks they're other girls, not girls that he can have sex with because his wife is 26 hours away from him. I don't know what you signed up for, but it's not seeing a picture of her husband with the girl that he slept with, most likely in her bed when she was at work...." she continued to ramble and he let her. He listened to everything she had to say until she crumbled to the ground sitting on one of the chairs near the pool. "It's not what I wanted...." as she continued to repeat herself she felt his arms around her holding her tightly trying to make everything better.

"Lauren, I love you so much." he whispered in her ear hearing a cry from a distant bedroom.

"I have to go get her..." Lauren responded standing up pushing his arms away from her