The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

Carlos smiled when Elsa went sprinting down the hall to see Gui. He didn't sprint after her, but he liked that she was so devoted. He knew that he never had to fear for his son's safety when Gui was under the care of his mother. Elsa would never let any harm befall the boy. A few moments later, he followed her inside the room, and touched his son's hand from the other side of the crib. "He lookin' better," Carlos observed hopefully.

They stayed there for what seemed like forever to Carlos, until sometime in the early afternoon, when Brendan strolled in with a big smile on his face, which quickly disappeared when he saw Carlos. He hadn't expected this. He'd hoped to spend a couple hours at Gui's side with Elsa, and then take her home. But before he knew it, Carlos had his arm around his shoulder, and was pushing him back out into the hall. "Don't worry, she says she just gonna stay home with me one more night," Carlos told Brendan with a grin. "You take her tomorrow," he added with a condescending pat on the shoulder, before walking back toward the room. "So you can go 'head home," he offered in dismissal. Brendan stood in the hall for a moment when Carlos left him, looking longingly into the room, trying to meet Elsa's eyes for some sign that everything was okay.
 
Elsa felt like she never wanted to leave Gui's side. She heard Brendan walk in though, and lifted her head with a big smile. But then she saw Carlos too, and he pushed Brendan out into the hallway. She felt her heart turn cold a little and she sighed, squeezing Gui's little hand. When Carlos came back in she looked passed him to Brendan and tried to tell him how sorry she was through her eyes, but she was unsure if he would understand.

Just then Gui yawned and opened his eyes. Elsa looked down and a huge smile crossed her face. She leaned down and gave him a little kiss on his forehead, "I love you, little man." she whispered to him, knowing that soon he was going to be better.
 
Brendan only needed to see Elsa's eyes for a moment to understand what she was trying to convey. In his mind, they were soulmates, and could communicate on a deeper level than simply the spoken word. As soon as he caught her eye, he quickly left the doorway, the floor, and then the hospital. The look told him that she was sorry, but she was simply doing what she needed to for her son. Although it made him sad that she wasn't coming with him, he knew it was noble on Elsa's part, and it was what she needed to do, was the only thing she could do.

Carlos decided to leave for a bit now that he'd fended off his nemesis. A couple hours later, he was back, and tugged at Elsa's elbow. "We should bounce," he insisted. "People's comin'. I'll bring you back early tomorrow to see him more."
 
Elsa frowned when Carlos tried to get her to leave. She looked up at him and pulled her elbow away, leaning down closer to Gui. "No," she said and shook her head. "I...I have to stay with him. Visiting hours aren't over until 5. It's only 3." Elsa knew that Carlos would make her leave, but she had to put up a fight for Gui.
 
Carlos frowned when Elsa tried to wheedle some more time out of him. "Yeah, but we been here all day," he objected. "He don't know if you here for six hours or eight," he insisted, nodding down at the crib. "I'm goin' to take a piss. When I get back, we got to go," he stated firmly. "People comin' over at seven, and we still got to make some food," he reminded her, using the term 'we' broadly when referring to the cooking that needed to be done. He slipped out of the room, giving Elsa a little parting stare, and returned five minutes later, jingling his keys on the way into the room.
 
Elsa huffed when Carlos gave her that ultimatum. She snuggled down to Gui and closed her eyes, listening to his little heart beat and his breath. She heard Carlos jingling the keys five minutes later and huffed again. She reluctantly pulled herself away and walked over to Carlos, taking his hand gently. She was feeling weak right now, very maternal, and being with the father of her baby just made her feel it even more.
 
Carlos squeezed her hand reassuringly. He knew he was taking Elsa from her baby, so he did what he could to help her along. "He gonna be fine," he said softly as they got in the elevator. "Just fine." When they were inside, he leaned over and gave her a long kiss on the forehead, before taking her hand again for the walk to the car once the doors opened up. "I know you up to some cookin' tonight," he remarked. "It'll take your mind off all this shit. Besides, everyone gonna go crazy that a white girl can make what you make," he promised.
 
Elsa snuggled a little with Carlos in the elevator, enjoying the feel of his soft lips on her forehead. When they got into the car she laughed and rubbed his thigh a little. She didn't mean it to be suggestive, but Carlos probably thought it was anyway. "Oh yeah? Did you go shopping for me, or am I gonna have to make it out of dust?" she teased playfully.
 
Carlos' blood began to flow a little when she rubbed his thigh, and he looked over and gave her a smirk. "Yeah. I went shoppin' for you," he chided. "Me and my friends, with our shoppin' carts and coupons," he went on, before playfully reaching over and pinching her knee. "You need to shut up," he said. "I had one of my boys go get everythin'. I know what you need. It's all there for you. You just gotta work your magic, mama," he explained as they pulled up to the house and Carlos led the way back in, to find the groceries there just like he'd promised.
 
She laughed heartily when he made his joke about coupons and shopping carts. She leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek as he drove, feeling more playful than she thought she would. "You want me to shut up?" she murmured to him, giving his ear a little lick, "Okay," she cooed and was silent for the rest of the drive. When they got back to his house she got straight to work in the kitchen, taking everything out of the bags and starting the water.
 
Carlos laughed at Elsa'a playfulness when she licked his ear. After being so somber during her vigil at the hospital, he didn't suspect she had it in her. After he took off his shoes and got a drink, Carlos helped Elsa take a few things out of the bags, partly to make sure his requests were followed carefully enough by his young crew member. "So you just gonna give me the silent treatment?" he teased, edging up behind Elsa at the stove and squeezing her hips before kissing the back of her neck. "It's all good. As long at the food taste like you usually make it," he said with a grin.
 
"You're the one who told me to shut up," she teased back to him when he pressed her against the counter. She turned her head and looked up at him, sticking her tongue out at him lewdly. Then she swiveled her hips and tried to get him to let go of her, "Let me work," she chided as she sliced up the chorizzo and dropped them into a pot next to the pot of rice. She also had a bevy of vegetables in a pan sizzling.
 
Carlos laughed and released her hips when she bucked his hands off, giving her a playful pat on the butt before he turned around. "Fine," he growled, sauntering off as he enjoyed the aroma already starting to fill the house. He picked up a few things that he didn't want around the living room when his guests arrived, and took those items up to the bedroom. After completing his survey, he changed quickly into a designer track suit, and came back downstairs, where he cracked open a beer and watched television with his feet up for a while. An hour later or so, the doorbell rang, and the first guests arrived. A captain of another crew happened to be in town on a visit, and Carlos had invited him and his associates to his home, to mingle with some of Carlos' own crew. But the first to arrive was Pedro, a young associate of Carlos' from in town. On his arm was his young, pretty companion, a dark-skinned Latina girl who he introduced to Carlos and Elsa as Elena.
 
Elsa became a little irritated when Carlos changed into his designed track suit. She asked him if she should change too, but he repeatedly said no and just brushed it off. That bugged her since she was still in her regular jeans and baggy t-shirt from the hospital. But she tried to let it go. She was glad to see that there was another woman that was going to be at the dinner that night, being with just Carlos and a bunch of Latino guys made her uncomfortable. She smiled and greeted Elena warmly, feeling a tiny bit of kinship with her despite their physical differences because of their similarity in name.
 
Elena was equally happy to meet Elsa, and gave her a bubbly kiss on the cheek as they embraced in greeting. Elena was a full-figured girl, with a pretty smile, and smooth olive skin. She had long, straight hair extensions, long eyelashes, and big gold hoop earrings. She'd been with Pedro since they were in high school, and was fiercely loyal to him, but this was one of her first forays into Pedro's work life, at least beyond meeting some of his friends from the crew at his apartment. No sooner then Elsa had given out drinks to the first guests, more started to show up. Luis and Alex were among the familiar faces, but soon the guest of honor found his way in also. He was warmly greeted by all, and before long, colorful conversations and exclamations in Spanish filled up the house. Finally, Carlos broke away and slid up behind Elsa in the kitchen. "Dinner ready?" he asked her quietly.
 
Elsa liked Elena a lot, but once the rest of the crew started showing up she began to feel more and more uncomfortable. Especially with Luis and Alex, they'd been there since nearly the beginning. They knew her and Carlos' entire past, they knew that he'd conquered her. They had to respect her, but they weren't oblivious to the fact that she'd lost her war against Carlos. She stayed in the kitchen for the most part, she needed to cook but also, she didn't know Spanish. When Carlos came in she jumped a little bit, not expecting him to slide up to her like that. "Yeah," she said a little awkwardly, trying to push him off of her. "It's ready."
 
"What's the matter?" Carlos asked with a little bit of a growl in his voice when she pushed him away. "You not gonna be a bitch so me in front of my friends, is you?" he continued a little warningly. Looking back at the small crowd milling around, he called out to them in Spanish, inviting them to take their seats at the table for dinner. As they kept talking and started towards the dining room, he turned his attention back to Elsa. "What you tryin' to do?" he grumbled under his breath.
 
She felt her face flush when Carlos started to yell at her. She shook her head and grabbed the giant platter of rice and chorizzo, placing it on the table and then walking back to Carlos. She looked up at him for a moment before she went to the vegetables. "I'm not trying to do anything, Carlos," she mumbled to him, "I just feel a little bit out of place."
 
Carlos stayed in the kitchen while Elsa ran the food onto the table. "What you talkin' about?" he contested. He couldn't help but take in some of the nice aroma, which was delicious as she started to present everything. "You been around my people before," he argued. "You not comfortable around them?"
 
"I know I've been around them before," Elsa spat back at him a little defensively. She didn't want to be a bitch to him, but she also felt like he wasn't caring about her at all. Like he just wanted her here to cook for him and his friends and then fuck her later. That was all she was ever good for, it seemed. "But I don't speak Spanish, and everyone seems to be having a great time speaking it."
 
Carlos furrowed his brow and grumbled when she took umbrage at his guests' speaking Spanish. "What? I talk English to you. If you was around all English people, you wouldn't speak no other language," he lectured her. "I can't tell them to speak English. Maybe I should introduce you to them all. You'd feel better then?" he half-sneered.
 
She didn't like it when Carlos sneered at her. She shook her head and grabbed the platter of vegetables. "No," she said and leaned in to kiss his cheek softly. She didn't want to fight with him about this and was going to willingly lose this battle. "I'll get over it. Just have a good time."
 
Carlos had been teetering on the edge of embarrassing Elsa in front of his friends right there, but she melted him a little with her soft, submissive kiss. "It looks good, sugar," he commented, nodding toward the vegetables. Soon everyone sat down and the plates were passed around, a number of lively Spanish conversations going on throughout dinner, accompanied by hearty laughing and gesturing. "This some good food," he finally commended Elsa in between conversations, noticing she wasn't doing much talking at the table. Hearing Carlos comment on this, a number of the other guests quickly agreed as they finished their meals.
 
"Thanks," she said to him a little dejectedly. She'd been poking at her food the entire time, staring off into space and either thinking about Gui or Brendan. How if she'd cooked this meal for Brendan he would've been babbling at her the entire time, playing with her foot under the table, and hinting at how much he loved her. Instead she was here, listening to conversations in a language she didn't understand. When it seemed that people were done she stood up and started to collect plates, hurrying off into the kitchen.
 
After Elsa moved to the kitchen, a number of the guests started excusing themselves and mingling in the living room. Carlos soon moved there too, but before long, called out to Elsa. "Come over here," he shouted in English, loud enough for the fifteen or so guests to all hear. When he got her attention, he continued speaking directly to her. "You and Elena ain't been initiated yet. We got a surprise for you," he revealed with a smirk. Looking back at his guests, he began explaining in Spanish exactly what he had in mind. The lewd gestures probably gave some of it away, and several of the guests gasped or chuckled when he finished explaining.
 
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