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We built sandcastles that washed away." ~Beyoncé, Sandcastles
*Another month skip*
LAUREN
I sit on the edge of the tub and smile as I watch the twins play with the bubbles. Elijah puts a mountain of bubbles on top of Amaiyah's head and grins.
"I gave you a crown," He says.
She rubs some on his jawline, "I gave you a beard like Santa."
"Ho, ho, ho," Eli jokes.
She laughs and scoops more bubbles, turning to me, "And you rudolf mamá."
She tried to make antlers on my head and dabs bubbles on my nose. They start giggling and I laugh while shaking my head. Rudolf, it is.
"Mamá when are you coming back home?" She asks.
"I'm always there," I say.
"But you not live there," Eli pouts.
I wipe the bubbles off of us and sigh while standing up. I grab the towels and open them, "Come on, It's time for bed."
"But Mamá-"
"Soon, Okay?"
They nod and I wrap the towels around them, we go to my room and I get them dressed in their onesies. I lay down on the bed and Elijah lays the top of his body on my stomach, while Amaiyah lays hers on my chest.
I turn to Nicktoons and put the volume at a decent level. Elijah's quick to fall asleep and I wait for Amaiyah to follow, but she was holding up.
"Mamá?"
"Yes Maiyah," I say.
"I miss you at home," She mumbles.
"I know baby, I miss it too," I say with a small smile.
"Then come back," She yawns.
I run my fingers through her hair and kiss her forehead, "I'm trying princess. It's time to go to sleep now."
She yawns again while nodding and wraps her arms around my neck. Smh, she trapped me. I rub her back in small circles and stay here till I hear both of their light snoring.
I slowly get up without waking them and pack their bags since Normani was gonna be here for them soon. I haven't been bringing up the state of our relationship since last month, but ima try again tonight.
Soon as I finish putting their coats on the doorbell rings, I go to answer it and there stands Normani in all her glory.
I smile at her and move out the way to let her in.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey."
We go to the room and she takes Amaiyah while I take Elijah.
"What you do today?" I ask.
"Went out with my cousin," She says.
I nod and follow her to the car, I sit him in the seat and strap him into the seatbelt. I sit on the porch and wait for her to come over here.
When she's done with Amaiyah she slowly walks over here and stands in front of me. I place my hands on her belly, over her coat and carefully rub it.
"Are you happy that you're pregnant?" I ask.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She confusingly asks.
"You know, our current situation."
I move a little closer to her to her and keep my focus on her stomach. She's four months now, so she's starting to show some.
She says, "It's still a piece of me, I'm gonna be happy regardless of what's happening."
I nod and continue rubbing her belly.
"Do you think that...one day we can just fix everything?" I ask.
She sighs and tilts her head, "I don't know Lauren."
I pull her in closer and stare into her eyes, "Why?"
"I love you, I don't know what it is about you that I can't erase. But the things you did, the build ups, the amount of arguing and how it went, everything. Promise after promise was broken, we don't need to go through that again Lo."
I lean my forehead on hers and try not to close the gap between our lips, "I miss you."
"We built something babe but you tore it down," She says.
"I know I'm the one who messed up our marriage. I broke your heart and the result in that is breaking mine. You know that if I could go back and do things differently from the start I would."
"Lauren-"
"Mani. I'm serious baby."
She slips her hands out of mine, "Show me."
I raise a brow, "Show you?"
She nods, "Mhm, and I won't walk away."
She gives me one last look then begins walking down the steps. I genuinely smile since all of this and watch her as she moves.
"I love you."
She looks back and gives me a small, awkward smile. She gets in the car and waves to me before driving off. I close the door and slap my hands together.
