The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

Out of everything Elsa said, the one thing that jumped out was when she said she doubted he would want her back. He'd wanted her back since the moment she walked out his door, and the fact she was pregnant didn't change that an ounce. She reminded him now of the dejected, broken girl she'd once been at the Center, and he couldn't bear to see her like that again. "Of course I'd want you back," he said forcefully, turning and daring to place a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently. "I'd love you and your baby. Because it would be part you, and if it's a part of you, I don't know how I could not love it. Or him or her, I guess I should say," he said, correcting himself with a smile.

As he got to wrapping his mind around this revelation, it made him indignant that Carlos was keeping tabs on her. "What if I help you get away from Carlos? I've helped you with him before. Maybe we can shut him out of your life for good." Now that he was back in Elsa's presence, he was already starting to resent the fact that another man was exercising control over her. He turned and started walking slowly towards her apartment again.
 
She folded her hands together in front of her nervously, her staple habit when she was thinking or anxious about something. She shook her head again and heaved another tired sigh, "He's a gang leader. I didn't tell anyone where I was going to live. I didn't even register my phone number, but they found it. His lackeys. I...I don't think I can get away."

She reached out and took his hand gently, without even looking at him. They were close to her apartment now, they just had to turn left and go up the stairs to the building and then up two flights to her apartment. "But maybe if you're with me...then he won't be able to make me do anything." she hoped he would get what she meant. That he wouldn't be able to try to take her away, to make her live with him in the Spanish ghetto, to beat her, to rape her.
 
Brendan took her hand and squeezed back when she reached out to him. He felt closer to her in that moment than any time before. Even more than when she'd been given her freedom, more than their first night in bed together, and more than all the times they'd made sweet love. He needed her, and she needed him. It seemed so perfect. He nodded in understanding when she explained the predicament with Carlos. It actually scared him, since if Carlos had that much at his disposal, who knew what he might order to be done to some guy who was in the way.

"I will be with you if you'll have me," he said softly. "I won't let him hurt you," he added as he squeezed her hand a little tighter. He knew that Elsa was emotional and might let him in her apartment, but he didn't want to take advantage of that weakness. Once she realized what was happening, it could easily upset her to find herself alone with him so soon. He pulled out the envelope he had in his pocket. It seemed insignificant after the news he'd just heard, but he still thought it might take her mind off things. He'd remembered that while in the Center, one of the books he'd snuck her was a new novel by an up and coming writer about a girl who was unjustly convicted and imprisoned. He remembered Elsa liked it, not only because it was a touching story, but because she could identify with it somewhat. So when he saw that it had just been adapted into a stage production downtown by a small theater company, he couldn't help buying the tickets.

Opening the envelope, he handed her one ticket. "I thought of you when I saw this," he said. "I'll be there tonight at eight. If you don't want to come with me after thinking about it, I'll understand." He stopped at the door to Elsa's building, letting go of her hand. "I'll understand because I never knew the side of me existed that you saw, Elsa. And I hope that it never shows itself again. But it scares me to know it's inside me, and I won't blame you if it scares you, too. But if you want to take your mind off things, it would make me the happiest guy in the world to see you there." With that, he turned and left her at the door of her building.
 
Elsa's eyes widened in surprise when Brendan handed her the envelope. She opened it and pulled out a theatre ticket. She looked up at him when he began explaining, staring at him the whole time. When he started to walk away she looked back down at the ticket and realized that it was an adaptation of one of the books he'd given her. She felt a lump rise in her throat and her eyes teared up. She turned towards him again, but he was already gone. A smile slowly came to her lips and she opened the door to her building. She walked up the stairs and then into her apartment. She collapsed down on the couch and squealed with happiness. She knew Brendan wasn't horrible. He couldn't be. He...he had his faults, but so did she. So did everyone.

She made herself a quick dinner and ate it, cleaning up the dishes hastily. Then she got dressed in the green dress that he bought her on her first day out of prison. She did her hair simply and then set off to the theater to meet him. She arrived there at 7:50pm and waited anxiously for him. All she wanted was to hold his hand again and completely forget about Carlos'.
 
Brendan had seen the look in Elsa's eyes before he'd turned around. It was a look of glee, of adoration. Obviously, it was the first time he'd seen such a look in Elsa's eyes since before their incident. It was the memory of that look that Brendan took home with him. Once she'd given him such a glimmer of hope, it was incredibly hard to wait the mere pair of hours to see her again. He passed the time by cleaning the day's grime off himself with a shower. He combed his hair so it was respectable, and dressed neatly in a black pair of pants and blue button-up shirt. With a little time remaining, he fried up two scrambled eggs, and ate them with some bread.

Once he'd hopped off the train and walked the two blocks to the theater, he looked all around for Elsa. When he'd bought the tickets, he didn't know if she'd show, but he knew now that she would. He was about to go inside when he spotted her. His heart almost melted when he saw her. She looked wonderful of course, but she was wearing his dress. The statement she made by doing so was unmistakably wonderful. He grinned from ear to ear when he saw her, dashing over to her, and forgetting all restraint, gave her a big hug, grasping both hands in his own afterward. Everything felt new and fresh, as if by coming here, by wearing that dress, she'd given him the invaluable gift of a clean slate. He wanted nothing more than to stand by her side always. He'd go to the birthing classes with her, whatever she needed. But now wasn't the time to talk about that. "So I see you decided to show," he teased, brushing a piece of hair off her forehead. "And I have to say, I'm kind of partial to your choice of outfit. So you ready to go inside?"
 
She squealed in delight (for the second time because of Brendan that day!) when he ran over to her and caught her in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed as best she could, though he was much stronger than she so he was the one doing most of the squeezing. When he clasped her hands afterwards her heart soared and all of her love for him came flooding into her mind at that very moment. She remembered every single thing she had ever liked about him and forgot everything she had ever disliked. She clung to his hand as they walked into the theater, her heart thudding with excitement.

She laughed lightly when he teased her and swung their hands back and forth lightly. "There was never a doubt in my mind. And I have to say, I'm pretty partial to this out too." she giggled her old giggle then and glanced down at the ticket to see where their seats were. "Yes, I'm excited." and with that they went inside and found their seats, which were absolutely amazing with a prime view.
 
Brendan could barely contain all the emotions going through him as they walked inside. A couple of hours ago, he would have been happy if Elsa had just begrudgingly showed up and let him talk with her a little. But now, she was doing all the wonderful things that he loved about her, seemingly having forgiven him. Her wonderful, cute giggles were one of the things he'd missed the most about her, and here he was being treated to and endless supply of them. And what was more, everything seemed exciting and anxious, as if he were wooing her all over again.

He led her to their seats, and sat down once she'd done the same, the production starting a few moments later. He sat in rapt attention, enjoying the excellent performance, letting his hand wander over and rub Elsa's knee now and again. By the end, when he tried to applaud, he found that his arm had somehow made its way around Elsa shoulder. He looked over at her with a contented smile, leaning in closer to her and taking in a whiff of her scent that he'd missed so dearly. "I hope you don't mind if I escort you home, dear," he whispered. "I'd love to talk with you some more. Besides, what kind of date would I be if I didn't make sure you got home safely?"
 
Elsa loved the production. It was just as amazing as the book had been, if not more. It touched her in a way that only art could. Whether it was the art of wordsmith, actor, painter, or musician, art had an effect on Elsa that most people from the ghetto never felt. They cared about money and guns, and while Elsa had gotten caught up in that world, her true passion had always been for the arts. When it was over and she realized his arm was around her she turned to look at him, her heart fluttering when he leaned in to her. She smiled broadly and leaned towards him as well, pecking his lips extremely lightly. She lingered there for a moment but then pulled away and stood up so that he couldn't go any further.

"I'd love for you to escort me home, Brendan." she said softly. She took his hand again and allowed him to lead her out of the row and then up the aisle to the lobby of the theater. She breathed in the cool fresh air once they were inside and began to walk towards her apartment, swinging their hands together again.
 
Brendan closed his eyes and allowed Elsa's lips to touch his for that short moment. It was probably fortunate that she did stand up, because he was about as hot for Elsa as he'd ever been. He would have made out with her right on the theater seats if she'd let him. But obviously, restraint was something he was going to have to learn. He never let go of Elsa's hand the whole way out, smiling and breathing in some cool, fresh air as they made their way onto the street, heading towards her place on foot.

"I've been thinking about everything. What you told me earlier," he clarified. "You know, a pregnant woman is going to need a lot of help. Being pregnant isn't something to go at alone. So I'd like to help you, with whatever you need. Before and after, you know... the birth," he said, still finding it a little off that Elsa had a living, breathing being inside her, an offspring of the dreaded Carlos, no less. "Even if we're not staying together. I'll do whatever. Whatever I can, at least. I mean I can't breastfeed for you, but you know," he said with a chuckle as they approached Elsa's building. He stopped, and let his hand run down both sides of the cotton dress to her hips, picking her up, and letting her legs straddle him as he lifted her off the ground, rubbing his nose into hers in the light of a streetlamp. "So, I guess this is goodnight, sweetheart."
 
He wanted to stay with her. He wanted to help her through this pregnancy, a pregnancy that wasn't even the result of him. After all of the times he'd pulled out and been safe so that she wouldn't get pregnant, she was anyway. And by another man. But he still cared, a lot, enough that he would stay with her and help her since the one who did the deed obviously wasn't going to help her. Carlos wanted Elsa to be his brood mare and his toy, he didn't want to be a father of any kind. He just wanted to be able to say he had children with her, it was an ownership thing.

She shivered lightly when he ran his hands down her sides and squealed when he lifted her up. Her legs wrapped around him naturally, the dress hiking up around her. She squeezed him gently with her legs, her arms going around his neck. She pulled herself close to him, rubbing her nose back against his. She closed her eyes and smelled his delicious scent and she didn't want to leave him. "You...you don't have to go," she whispered.
 
Brendan closed his eyes and tilted back his head a bit, his nose now whiffing Elsa's perfect hair. His heart raced when Elsa told him he could come up. He gently set her down (he realized that he'd have to be gentle with her all the time, now that she was expecting) and moved towards the building, before hesitating. He almost didn't trust himself to be alone with her again. But, he thought, Elsa trusted him. She wouldn't have told him that he didn't have to go unless she trusted him. And if the woman he loved trusted him, he could trust himself. He was not the man who forced himself on her at his place.

Taking her hand back in his, he put his chin on her shoulder. "Well, I haven't seen your place yet," he whispered, leading her up the steps and into the main door. The one thing Brendan wasn't sure about was how he was going to leave once he went inside. He'd craved her touch every night during the month they were apart. Countless times, he'd reached over in bed, expecting to feel Elsa's soft body there, and only came up with a handful of sheet. He'd thought it was too soon to spend the night together now, but he also knew that if Elsa let him, he'd do it.
 
She smiled at him softly when he said he would come in. Well, he didn't actually say that, but she knew that was what he meant. That was the way with Brendan. He would say one thing but very obviously mean another. She always knew what he was saying even if others didn't. She took his hand again and walked up the short set of stairs to the building door. She opened it, stepped inside, and then began up the two flights of stairs to her floor. Once there she walked down the hall for a few steps and unlocked her door. She took a deep breath and then pushed it open, waiting to shut the door until he was inside.

She set her purse down on the coffee table and turned on the lights for the living room/kitchen. She kicked her shoes off and padded over to the kitchen area where she set some coffee on. She rung her hands together in her nervous habit and smiled at him again, "Well, this is it. Not fancy, but it works."
 
Brendan followed her inside hand in hand, glancing around her simple, neat apartment. He felt better knowing that Elsa at least had a decent, if not somewhat utilitarian place to live. He’d been concerned while they were apart about what she might have been able to afford. His eyes never left Elsa as she got the coffee started. Waiting patiently until she did what she needed to, he approached her and facing her, placed his hands on her hips, looking her in her soft eyes. It was impossible to remove the smile from his face, knowing things were headed in the right direction between them. He leaned backwards and felt the refrigerator press against his back, and slowly pulled Elsa towards him, planting a kiss on her lips and then pulling away.

“Your place is nice, babe,” he said softly. “Although, I have to say, I selfishly hope you don’t stay here forever.” He leaned back in, and pulled her close to him, giving her another, longer kiss, opening his lips and letting his tongue gently feel the ridges of her lips. The refrigerator supported both of them as he leaned her back into his body. A tingle went through him as if he were kissing Elsa passionately for the first time. Part of him felt the way that he did their last night in his place; he missed the warmth of her body, and wanted her badly. But the feeling was completely different also. Everything was moving in slow motion, as if he were in control of every fiber, every muscle in his body. Part of him wanted to continue along the path of passion with her, but the other part wanted Elsa to put up a little resistance, so that he could stop on a dime, and prove to her that he did have self-control, after all.
 
Her heart began to beat a little faster when he took her hips and pulled her towards him. He wasn't even doing anything to her and she was already becoming aroused. Brendan did that to her so quickly, and all of the time. His touch was like magic, he could turn her on just with a brush of his fingers against her hand or shoulder. Anything more than that and she was practically begging him to do her. When he kissed her she felt like she was on fire. She closed her eyes and leaned in, lingering at his lips until he pulled away. Then she opened her eyes and looked up at him, the usual awe and admiration there again. She had missed him so much.

She smiled when he said that he hoped she wouldn't stay in her apartment forever. There he went again, saying one thing and meaning another. He meant that he wanted her to live with him again. She wanted that too. But...she would have to tell Carlos. And Carlos wouldn't like that. But why did she care? She wasn't with Carlos, he shouldn't mean anything to her. And yet he did. She pushed those thoughts out of her head and concentrated on Brendan. When he kissed her again she let herself melt into him, her body pressing up against him as he pulled her in, one arm sliding up to be around his neck as she opened her mouth too.

Ding. The coffee was done. She sighed and pulled away from him reluctantly, going over to the machine and pouring two cups. She smiled at him apologetically and went to the table, setting both cups down and taking one of the two chairs there. "Come sit with me," she said softly, a little seductively.
 
There was no question that Elsa knew how to push his buttons. In the span of no more than a minute, she'd pressed her body tightly against his, leaving him neck deep in desire, pulled away, and then reeled him back in again. The way she sat down and called him over was tantalizingly sexy, yet subdued. He quickly followed the call of her low, alluring voice, pulling up a chair so that when he sat in it, he faced her from the side. He gripped her knee between his two knees and locked it in, squeezing playfully.

Right then, all thoughts of Carlos, babies, and living apart from his one true love had vanished. At the moment, there was just the two of them. Elsa was the singular object of his attentions. As much as he wanted to throw her onto the kitchen table and make love to her, he knew this wasn't the time to be rough. In fact, he remembered, as much as she liked to play rough, that was out of the question for the next six months. That didn't mean they couldn't still explore their sexuality, though. "You know, I can tell already that you're going to be really bad now that I have be gentle with you," he teased, taking his first sip of coffee and setting the mug back down. He put his hand on her knee and worked it up her leg, giving her a squeeze under her dress halfway up her wonderfully soft thigh. "You're planning to really take advantage of me, aren't you?"
 
She giggled her sweet giggle at him when he squeezed her thigh. Her face was a little flushed and she was ridiculously horny. She'd gone just as long as him without sex, and just like it had gotten to him, it had gotten to her. When he squeezed her thigh she had to control herself and stay in her seat. What she wanted more than anything was to jump in his lap and feel his deliciously thick cock deep inside of her...but that would be inappropriate. She knew that the correct course of action for tonight would be to drink their coffee and then have him leave, to not have any kind of real sexual contact at all. But would she be able to live without it?

"Maybe...you wouldn't deny a pregnant woman her cravings, would you?" she cooed at him, her hand resting on top of his under her dress. She wanted him so badly. She took a sip of her coffee and glanced over at the clock. It was ten thirty. She needed to be at work the next day at eight. She groaned under her breath and leaned over to him, kissing him gently. "Brendan...I have to be at work early tomorrow. But...will you come see me again soon?"
 
Brendan snickered at her last teasing comment. "Oh, no, I've always been taught to give a pregnant woman anything she wants. Anything," he emphasized with a devious smirk. He felt lightheaded when she kissed him, his body a moment away from springing into action, when he felt her hand restraining his from wandering to where it really wanted to go, towards her glorious womanhood. He wondered for a moment if she'd removed the piercing that he'd become accustomed to, in an effort to flush away the memories associated with it. But he wasn't going to find out tonight. Tonight was a time for restraint, difficult though it was. And it was he, more than Elsa, who needed to show that he could hold back. He knew that if he loved her, he'd leave. For them, love sometimes meant satisfying each other's filthiest desires, and sometimes it meant giving something up for the sake of the other.

"You know, there are some perks to you being pregnant, babe," he said once she'd kissed him. He took another draw of the coffee before continuing. "It's not like you can get pregnant again, you know," he said with a quick wink, figuring he may as well get some of his own teasing in, too before he left. He took one last sip of coffee, leaving the cup half full as he stood up, stretching his arms out. "You didn't think I'd go back on my promise to walk you home every day just because you're being nice to me, did you?" He took one of her hands and squeezed it tightly while he gave her one last soft kiss before heading for the door. The walking and talking had done wonders for them, both now and in the past, and he didn't have any intention of cutting it out of their lives again. "So I'll see you then. Goodnight, Elsa."
 
Once Brendan had left her apartment she collapsed down onto the couch. She was dizzy with exuberance. She loved him. And he loved her. And they could love each other and still have restraint. They'd both wanted to sleep together that night, but they'd both decided it wasn't going to happen. They exercised restraint because it was important, vitally important to their relationship. She was glad that he was going to walk her home every day, she would get to see him every day, and that was a beautiful thing.

The rest of the week passed by pretty uneventfully. She went to work, he walked her home, she went to work, he walked her home. He came over for dinner a couple of times and they went out on Saturday. The next week followed the same way, until it came to Friday. She woke up feeling sick and threw up until she forced herself to go to work. It seemed that the bad things about pregnancy only revealed themselves when she was going to speak to Carlos. She'd ignored the fact that she was pregnant for the most part, but now she couldn't. Her day went by agonizingly slowly and she knew Brendan would be waiting for her...but she didn't think he should walk her home that day. When she saw him standing outside of her building waiting like he always did she went out warily.

"Babe, I think I should walk home by myself today. I'll call you and maybe we can go out tomorrow, okay?" she hoped that he wasn't going to protest, that he would just listen to what she said, but she knew his nature and knew he wasn't going to be easy to get rid of.
 
Although the next two weeks had started to become a little routine, things were obviously healing wonderfully between the two of them. That's what made it all the more confounding when Elsa was upset Friday afternoon. His first thought was whether it was something he'd done, or forgotten to do. But Elsa wasn't one to play guilt games like other girls, and hold some mysterious offense against him. He knew, of course, that Carlos was keeping tabs on her, but she hadn't told him about the exact routine she was supposed to keep, so he had no idea about the significance of this particular Friday. And he'd just as soon forget Carlos, so he'd been 'out of sight, out of mind' for Brendan until now. "Come on, baby, just let me walk you home," he insisted, walking alongside Elsa as she tried to walk off herself. "We don't have to do anything special if you don't feel good. You can just go in and rest."

But then, he saw Elsa's face go white as a ghost. He looked up, and saw two Latino males who he didn't recognize. They hadn't bothered shadowing Elsa the last two weeks, but Carlos had ordered them to put some fear into her before the first time he was to call her alone. One of them, Alex, looked at Elsa and Brendan as they stopped in their tracks, and.stared right at Brendan. He simply shook his head 'no' and pulled up his shirt to reveal the handle of a gun protruding from the top of his jeans. Brendan instantly knew who they were with. His eyes darted to Elsa, and then back to the thugs. "Look," he growled in a whisper to Alex. I'll leave her go. But only if you let her leave alone. You don't want a scene on the busy street here, do you?" Alex didn't answer, but just lowered his shirt and kept staring at Brendan. "Did she tell you she got a half-spick growing inside her?" he taunted Brendan. Brendan glared right back. "I don't care what race it is, as long as the baby's nothing like his scumbag father," he shot back. Alex looked over at Elsa. "Go 'head," he said with a nod. But don't be screenin' your phone calls. We'll wait here with your friend to make sure he don't follow you."
 
Elsa opened her mouth to protest again when she saw them. She had had a feeling that they might show up and that was double the reason why she wanted Brendan to just let her go alone. Her face went white as a sheet and she stood frozen as the men had their little exchange. When Alex told her to go ahead she turned and looked at Brendan. "I'm sorry," she said quietly and reached out to touch his cheek but then stopped. She hesitated, her hand in the air and then turned away. She wouldn't make eye contact with the Latino men, instead she just hurried passed them and scurried the four blocks to her apartment.

She got in her door at 5:56pm. She knew the call would come at exactly 6pm. She sat on her couch, the cordless phone next to her and waited with her head in her hands. She felt like she wanted to cry. She really didn't want to talk to Carlos right now, but she also knew she didn't have a choice. Her heart thudded wildly as she waited.
 
Brendan now knew that Elsa was going to have to talk to Carlos. It killed him inside that he couldn't be there with her. If she had to do it, he wanted to hold her hand, reassure her. But then again, if he was there, he'd probably want to grab the phone and hurl angry profanities at the father of her unborn child, which wouldn't be good for either of them. So he just shared a last glance with her, and nodded to Elsa in the direction of home, reassuring her that it was okay to leave him.

Carlos, meanwhile, hadn't been able to get word yet that Elsa had been spotted with Brendan. He grinned to himself as he dialed Elsa's number from memory. "Hey, sugar," he said in his deep voice once Elsa picked up. "You takin' good care of my baby?"
 
Elsa picked up on the third ring. She didn't want him to know that she'd been herded in by his goons and was waiting anxiously for his phone call. That would only make him think that she wanted to talk to him. "Yeah," she said flatly when he asked her if she was taking care of his baby. Honestly, she hadn't done much of anything special for it. The only thing she'd done was make sure she consumed no alcohol, but she wasn't really one to do that anyway.
 
Carlos smiled a smug grin when Elsa begrudgingly answered him. He was controlling her from behind bars, and they both knew it. That's what made the prospect of these conversations so interesting for him. He knew full well the last thing she wanted to do was be on the phone with him right now, much less be carrying his bastard child. "Good," he answered. "It's nice of you to talk with me here. You know I get lonely here now, without your body to fuck with." He let a pause pass by for his words to sink in, enjoying the sound of her breathing on the other end. "So you getting all swoll' up yet?"
 
She gritted her teeth when he insulted her by commenting on her body being just a toy of his. It made her even more adamant that she would not visit him at the Center unless she absolutely had to, like she knew she did that one time. But that was the only time she was going unless he came up with something really good to make her go, which she wasn't sure he could. Her face flushed at his question. She actually looked down at herself and lifted her shirt. You could just barely see a tiny bit of swelling. "Only a little," she murmured, some resignation in her voice.
 
Carlos laughed at her resigned admission of beginning to show. "Hmm, maybe you oughta come visit me so I can see myself..." he said before trailing off with a chuckle. "So my boys tell me you living in some shithole," he said, exaggerating the truth. All they'd told him was that she was living in a small place, really. "What happened to that asshole guard of yours? I'm sittin' here checking on your well-being. Where he at?"
 
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