The Hook-up

Chapter 232

After Bruno returned from Europe and Lauren returned to her apartment the two of them avoided each other for about a week until Bruno started to realize that this would be one of the last times he would be able to see his children before he started to get ready for his recently announced tour. After thinking and pacing and trying to figure out how he was going to get Lauren to let him see his kids he dialed her phone number. "Lauren?" he asked right as she picked up the phone.

"Oh. Hi." she answered not quite sure how to respond.

"How are you?" he asked feeling the tension in her voice.

"I'm getting ready for a meeting. What do you need?"

"I wanted to see if you'd let me have the babies until I leave for Houston." he asked almost in a friendly tone.

"Is she there?" Lauren asked.

"She's in town." he said without flinching.

"No." Lauren said without even a hint of compromise in her voice. "No." she repeated. "I don't want my children around her."

"I really don't want them around Wes but I didn't say anything." he said almost about to get upset.

"I wasn't sleeping with him before you decided to leave me, either." Lauren answered.

"I still didn't want them around him." he stated.

"Then why didn't you say anything?" she asked a bit confused. "I told you right away I didn't want her around them. It never changed. Not now nor will it ever."

"Laur, come on. She's not horrible. She has cousins and nieces and nephews. She's fine with kids." he tried to compromise.

"Not yet, Bruno. You know how they are with people they don't know. They get fussy and cry and won't seep if they don't know the person they're with. There's a reason why only my mom, sister and your sisters baby-sit." she explained.

"Ugh. Lauren. Come on." he groaned.

"She can't be around them. If she has something to do then you can have them. But if she's going to be there, like spend the night then no." Lauren told him. "Like have them for the day instead of daycare. But I'm coming to get them that night."

"Fine. Bring them tomorrow, Elle." Bruno told her hanging up the phone throwing his bottle of water into the other room out of frustration."Quit being a bitch, Lauren!"

**

Lauren dropped the babies off at Bruno's house early in the morning still not quite sure if he would follow the only ground rule she had set, no Damaris. "Call me if she's going to come over. I don't want them around her."

"God, Lauren. Get over it." he moaned with Everlee in his arms pulling on his hair like she always did.

"You don't even want to know, Bruno. I swear." she answer kissing her daughter's head handing him Ezra turning around to leave the house.

Throughout the day Lauren sat at her desk constantly checking her phone knowing that something would happen with the babies and that Damaris would somehow interfere with her ability to even remotely trust Bruno with their children."I need to go..." she told her boss at 3:30. Ezra wasn't feeling well this morning so I left him with Bruno and I don't want him to get overwhelmed." she told Estee.

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. That's fine. Just make sure you have your stuff queued for the next few days." Estee said without looking up from her desk.

"They will be." she answered running out of the door.

A few minutes later Lauren punched in the code to open the gate to her former home seeing a trail of toys and an extra unknown car in the driveway. "No. Fuck that." she said taking a deep breath trying to figure out what she was going to do when she saw Damaris. "Brunnnooo!" she yelled coming into the house hearing both her children crying.

"Let me see him. Maybe he'll stop crying." she heard Bruno say with Damaris's voice lingering behind him.

"I don't know hat to do Bruno .Are you sure they aren't sick?" she asked walking almost right into Lauren holding Everlee in her arms.

"They aren't sick, but they are allergic to homewrecking bitches." Lauren said through her teeth pulling Everlee from Damaris bouncing her extactly the right way saying sweet things to her as Damaris watched in awe. "Sometimes they need their mothers." she said sarcastically pushing past Damaris to get to Bruno. "Get their stuff. They're coming home with me." she said trying to keep her calm.

Like a five year old who was caught getting into something they weren't supposed to, Bruno walked to get the babies' things without saying a word. He handed her a well placked bag of toys, clothes and diapers still silent. "I'm sorry." he said to her watching her turn around.

"You've been saying that a lot lately." she said to herself holding her 6 month old babies in her arms struggling to get the door. Bruno, trying not to get caught up in how attracted to her anger he was, followed her out the door. "They were fighting their nap, Bruno. You just needed to lay them down." she said turning around showing her that Ezra had fallen asleep laying his head on her shoulder and Everlee holding a stuffed animal trying to keep her eyes open.

"I didn't know." he said. "And please don't be mean and tell me that I should have known." he said in a calm tone.

"I'm not mad at you, Bruno. I'm bad at myself for thinking that you could spend a day without her. Is she going to go on tour with you? Is she going to be there to wipe your ass when you go to the bathroom on the bus?"

"Lauren. Come on." he said rolling his eyes. "I said I was sorry. That's all I have for you. I know how you feel and you know how I feel. Nothing is going to be resolved this way. I think that Sean need to talk to Kat once I get the papers. We'll figure it out then." he said talking about her lawyer and his lawyer.

"Bruno! Come on!" they heard Damaris coming behind them talking loudly about what they were going to do that night.

"Shhh!" Bruno and Lauren turned to snapat Damaris.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't see they were asleep." she said in a perky sweet voice that Lauren couldn't stand.

"Then I guess we'll see each other in court." Lauren said turning around to put the babies in their car seats.

"Come on, Bruno. Let's go eat. It will take your mind off of Lauren's bitchy attitude." she said just loud enough and purposely so Lauren would hear her. Lauren closed the car door turning around to Damaris clenching her fists knowing that she was capable of hitting Damaris.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to worry about me, Damaris? He picked you, not me. You have him. You won. No amount of bitchiness from either of us is going to get us anywhere. Maybe one day I'll trust you around my kids. But today is not the day. Have fun doing whatever it is you're going to do tonight." she said with a forced smile through tears that were coming down her cheek. No. Don't do it Don't go to her to tell her not to cry. Don't do it. Bruno thought seeing her tears.

"Elle..." Bruno said almost as sweetly as he did in New York.

"And I don't trust you one bit. Every little piece of trust that I held on to for you is gone, Peter. Every single piece. It's over. It's done. Kat and Sean will have to figure it out from here. Good night." she replied getting into the car.