The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

"You better get me something better," she called out to him playfully. She directed him to the room key and then kissed him goodbye, glad that he was going to get her things so that they wouldn't have to part again. Carlos couldn't even object to it because he'd said it was okay for her to move in with him. She decided that she wasn't going to say anything to Brendan about her conversation with Carlos and how she'd gotten him to agree to it.
 
“Maaaaybe I will,” Brendan teased as she kissed him goodbye. “You do really do know how to take care of me,” he glowed, rubbing at her cheek in the bed. He picked up the key card next and darted out to the hotel. It took a few trips to get everything, but he moved as fast as he could, eager to get back to Elsa. He drove back home, and made the same few trips up to his apartment. Finally, he brought the crib into their bedroom, lifted up Gui and placed him inside, so Elsa didn’t have to get out of bed. He slipped out of his clothes and back in next to Elsa. “You’re checked out of there, baby,” he said as he intertwined his leg with hers and slid his hand up and down her side. “And checked into the hotel of loooove,” he teased, pressing his lips against hers.
 
Elsa was so thrilled when Brendan came back with all of her stuff. She held her arms out to him when he stripped and got back into the bed with her. "Mmmm," she murmured and snuggled up right close to him, the front of her body pressed into his side as their legs mingled. "I never want to check out of this one," she giggled and pressed her lips to his, giving him one of their signature long and slow kisses.
 
Brendan slid right up to Elsa and pulled her body as close to his as was possible, feeling every one of her soft curves pressing up against his skin. He kissed her more passionately than he thought he would, considering they'd already had sex. It just seemed like once he touched her pink lips with his own, he couldn't stop himself. "Mmm, that's right, baby," he said, continuing to slide his tongue inside her mouth. "You're mine for good," he teased, sliding his foot up and down her leg. "I can't wait to wake up next to your sweet face tomorrow. And every other day."
 
She smiled and heaved a big sigh as she nuzzled him after their kiss. She pressed her head into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes, rubbing her nose against his neck gently. "Me either," she sighed, imagining what their life could be like together. What would their life be like if they were free of Carlos? But technically being free of Carlos meant being free of Gui. Elsa could never be free of Gui. Gui held a piece of her soul. So did Brendan. More and more she wanted to have a child with Brendan, a child that held both their souls and bound them together in a way that nothing else could.
 
Brendan stirred around a tiny bit and held Elsa tight. He had a feeling that things would never be perfectly smooth in their lives. Things were too complicated to expect that to happen. But he knew that he'd be happy with Elsa, and he was going to marry her. He was going to marry his one soulmate. That was reassuring to know. He glanced over at Gui’s crib when Elsa started to drift off, wondering if the three of them would ever consider each other a real family. Maybe tonight would be the first day in that direction, he thought. It was the first time all three of them had slept in one place together. "Mmm, good night, baby," he whispered, rubbing his cheek against her head. When the sun rose seven hours later, he stirred awake, still with Elsa's body twisted wonderfully around his.
 
"Night honey," she murmured to him, already slipping into the tresses of sleep. She slept peacefully and without waking once for the first time in a long time. Even when she'd been with Carlos she would wake up in the middle of the night and just lay there, pretending to be asleep as to not wake Carlos. But now she slept the whole night through and woke up feeling rested and refreshed. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned, stretching and slowly prying herself away from Brendan. She slid out of the bed and scooped Gui out of his crib, sashaying him around and cooing at him.
 
Brendan was stirred awake when Elsa got up. He was completely refreshed, and not feeling shitty in the morning, like many of the times he woke up along during their time apart. "Hey, baby," he greeted Elsa as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. He slowly got out of bed and approached Elsa, brushing her dark hair aside and kissing the back of her neck, as he grasped her bare waist from behind. "I'm going to take a shower, my engaged, sexy woman, and then we'll eat."
 
"Hi honey," she cooed to him as he approached her and kissed her neck. Elsa pressed her butt back into him gently as she tended to the baby, watching Brendan's butt as he left the room. Elsa got dressed and took Gui to the kitchen. She fed him and bathed him in the sink and then set him to rocking in his little rocking seat. She dug around in Brendan's fridge, laughing a little at the sparcity. She ended up grabbing two bowls and filling them with cereal.
 
Brendan walked naked into the bathroom and took a warm, relaxing shower for ten minutes, before wrapping a towel around his waist, and heading back out. He sauntered into the kitchen, slicking his hair back with both hands and bent over the table, taking a spoonful of cereal. “Hope you don’t mind my casual breakfast outfit, honey,” he said. “I was just kind of hungry,” he told her, rubbing her shoulders while he chewed.
 
She shook her head at him as she chewed on her own spoonful of cereal. "It's okay," she told him. She tilted her head up and gave him a little smile. "Do you have to work today?" she asked and then focused back on her cereal. She glanced over at Gui, but he was occupied with a little twirly thing attached to his swinging chair.
 
Brendan grinned down at her, wiping a little drop of milk from his lips, and set the bowl back down. “I was supposed to work,” he told her. “But what kind of man would I be if we spent our first day of engagement away from you? We’re spending the day together, whether you like it or not,” he told her teasingly.
 
She frowned at him and shook her head again, more severely. "Brendan. That's not good. You should go to work. I'll be here when you get home. You can't just take off work whenever you feel like it, you know that." Elsa was actually a little peeved that he would consider that. That wasn't very adult of him and he was the one who was always the mature one out of the two.
 
Brendan frowned at her, unhappy she was against his idea. "Come on," he pleaded. "I worked a ton of overtime while you were... you know." He turned around and went back into the bedroom, exchanging his towel for a pair of underwear, and coming back with a t-shirt in hand. "Screw work today, we're getting married. My job will still be there. I'm friends with the owner,” he protested as he tugged on the shirt.
 
She still wasn't for him staying home. Them spending too much time together was what had gotten them into their huge fight the last time. "Whatever, Bren." she said as she finished up her cereal. She picked up the bowls and brought them to the sink, washing them and putting them away. Then she dried off her hands and turned around, giving Brendan a little bit of a look. She still wanted him to go to work. Getting into the habit of spending every second of the day together was just going to cause them trouble.
 
Brendan was determined not to get in a fight over this. For God's sake, they’d just got back together. "Okay, okay, baby," he said calmly. "It's early, I can still go to work," he offered. "I just thought you would like this idea better. I was really thinking of you and Gui. Promise you won't stay angry, baby?" he offered, coming in behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "That's the most important thing to me, honey."
 
"I promise baby," she said to him as she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "If you leave and go to work, it'll just make me even happier to see you when you come home." she said softly, giving him a couple of pecks on the mouth and stroking his neck. "I'll be eager to see you home. All of you," she promised with a little giggle.
 
Brendan smiled at Elsa, glad things seemed a little more smoothed over. Not as happy as I’ll be to see you,” he challenged her. Now a little bit late, he rushed around and got into a pair of jeans and a light long-sleeved shirt. “I’ll see you tonight baby. Don’t get too bored around here,” he ordered her, giving her a peck on the lips.

Carlos, meanwhile, had been waiting until he thought it was late enough in the morning to call Elsa. Although he’d said he might not be able to call, he had every intention of doing so. It happened to be only ten minutes after Brendan left that Elsa’s phone starting ringing.
 
Elsa kissed Brendan goodbye and then prepared to take an easy day, decompressing after all the stress of moving out of Carlos' house, into the hotel, out of the hotel, and then into Brendan's apartment. She was surprised to hear the phone ring and thought it was Brendan calling to check on her, but saw Carlos' name on the screen.

"Hey," she said to him in surprise, "Thought you had to lay low?"
 
“I said I might have to lay low,” he corrected her. “You know I would call you if I could, so that’s what I’m doin',” he pointed out. “So what’s goin' on with you and my son, anyway? How you two holdin’ out?”
 
She smiled when he corrected her. That was so Carlos. It almost made her feel better. "I know baby," she said gently, plopping down on the couch to talk to him, eerily similar to how she used to talk to him when he called from the Center. "We're good. At...um, at Brendan's. He's at work."
 
Carlos scratched his chin as he sat on the edge of the bed he used to share with Elsa, taking in this news. “You at Brendan’s?” he repeated, although he should have known that would happen, after the day before. “Did you run straight there yesterday after I dropped you off?” he prodded her.
 
She frowned at his accusation, "No, of course not. He called me and asked me what you'd said and I told him. And then he said he'd come get me in the morning so he did. And then he went to work. What, you don't trust me?" she asked him a little angrily, "I should be the angry one."
 
"No, no," Carlos retorted. "I trust you, baby. But I don't know why you should be the angry one. I'm just tryin' to stay on the right side of the law, and keep our family safe," he explained, still thinking of them in a sense as a 'family'. "But he gonna try and get with you," Carlos pointed out. "So I wanna come check out where you stayin'," he said. "Besides, I gotta make sure myself it's good for my son."
 
Elsa froze a little when Carlos said he was going to come to Brendan's place. "Carlos..." she said warily, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to think of a way out of this, "I don't know if you should do that. You got so angry when you found out he came to our house. You'd just be doing the same thing to him, that's not fair. I can meet you someplace."
 
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