The sun was beaming through the blinds as the morning approached them, and Laurent was the first one to wake up. He felt like something was off, and at first he didn't know where he was. He sat up slowly and he looked around the room for a minute before it hit him. They were in Georgia now, and the events from last night flooded through his mind. The first thing he thought about was his argument with Alana. He wondered if she still remembered.

Of course she did, he thought.

He looked to his left so see that she was sound asleep, with light snores coming from her parted lips. He smiled and he pushed a strand of hair out of her face, making her stir in her sleep a little bit. He could see her eyes open a little bit, then they shut again.

"You awake baby?" He asked softly.

"No," she mumbled. Laurent laughed and he leaned down, pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek.

"Wake up," he said, poking her a little. She groaned in response and she grabbed the blankets, covering herself with them in a child like manner.

"Please? I want to talk to you," he whined, lying back down on his side. "Please?"

"Fine," she said, opening her eyes fully. She scooted over to him and she rested her head on his chest, yawning quietly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to say I'm sorry for not listen to you yesterday," he sighed. "Is it okay of you tell me what you was going to say?"

Alana nodded slowly and she rubbed her face a little, sighing. "I said yes and no because of two reasons. I said yes because what if one day you just get mad enough to the point where you snap? Then I said no because you've come this far, and you've been pretty good at handling it. Although me slapping you was uncalled for, I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay," he chuckled, playing with her hair. "I will stop talking about things like that, though. I feel like the more I think or say it, it just keep me down. I know I won't make no more progress if I keep dwell on it. And I will listen to you more. I don't know, yesterday I just shut down. I'm sorry for that."

"It's alright, baby," she smiled, rolling over so that she was lying on top of him. "Both of us were in the wrong, but from here at least we can grow, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "Can I get a kiss?"

"No, you have morning breath."

"You do, too," he grinned as she sat up on top of him. "Please?"

"Mmm, after we brush our teeth okay?" She said, climbing off of the bed.

"Okay," he said, following her.

They both stretched a little before leaving the room, going straight into the bathroom that was on the right. They closed themselves inside and Alana looked through the small cabinets, trying to find any spare toothbrushes. At their old house, they always kept extra toothbrushes and whatnot just in case they had guests, and she hoped the habit stayed with them.

Fortunately, it did and Laurent watched as Alana ripped open a pack of toothbrushes, handing one to Laurent.

"What is this?" He asked, twisting the small thing in his hand.

"A toothbrush," Alana chuckled, taking one out for herself. "You don't like it?"

"It's pink and it have a bear on it," he mumbled. "I don't like it at all."

Alana laughed as she turned on the faucet, making sure the water was lukewarm. She grabbed a tube of toothpaste and she squirted some on the brush she had. Hers looked more "manly" than Laurent's and he attempted to grab it, but she snatched it away, looking up at him playfully.

"Nope," she laughed. "Use the pink one."

"But -"

"No."

"Alana, I don't -"

"Nope."

"Please -"

"No."

Laurent sighed in defeat and he snatched the toothpaste from her, Alana chuckling as he smeared it on the brush. They began to brush their teeth after that and throughout the whole thing, Laurent had the biggest frown on his face. The mirror in front of them was too low for him as well and he couldn't see anything above his chin, which made him even more annoyed. He hated being as tall as he was, but then again, his girl was smaller than him, and she looked like a little munchkin compared to him.

He loved moments like these, where they were just playing around with each other, but in a subtle way. He was smiling hard as he watched Alana dance a little while she brushed her teeth. It was clear that she had no rhythm, but she still tried, dancing on him in the process.

"What are you doing?" He asked, holding the toothbrush in his mouth.

"Danfing," she said. Laurent laughed at her poor speech and he patted her head lightly.

"So cute," he grinned.

She giggled and brushed her teeth a little more before leaning over the sink and examining them. Again, Laurent let out a laugh at her cute behavior. She was like a big toddler.

Alana hummed once she was satisfied and she spat the toothpaste into the sink, as did Laurent. They wiped their mouths with paper towel before they left the bathroom.

The moment they stepped out into the hallway, the smelled pancakes, bacon, and coffee. Paula made breakfast for them while they were sleeping, and the thought alone made Alana smile wide.

"That smells good," Laurent commented, his mouth watering as they walked down the hallway to the living room. The smell was coming from their left, and they both turned their heads to see the small kitchen where Paula was.

"Good morning, you two," Paula smiled, her eyes flicking between Alana and Laurent. "Did you two sleep okay?"

"Yeah, we did," Alana replied, smiling.

Paula nodded and she looked at Laurent, who was eyeing all of the food and the table. He wasn't used to having that much food on the table, especially food that's he's welcome to eat. Paula noticed his state, and she frowned. He seemed to be in shock from seeing so much food.

"Are you alright, Laurent?" She asked him.

Laurent looked over at her and he nodded slowly, plastering a smile on his face.

"I'm okay," he said softly. "I'm just not use to see so much food on the table like this."

Paula felt her heart ache at his words and she looked at Alana, who was already looking at her. Paula could sense that Laurent had a lot of baggage on his shoulders just by how he was acting yesterday, and how he was acting now. He seemed to be uncomfortable when he was welcomed so easily, and she planned on talking to him about it later.

"You guys can sit," she finally said. "Natasha is coming down in a few minutes."

"Alright," Alana said, turning to Laurent. "Come on."

Laurent followed her to the other side of the kitchen and he sat a the shorter side of the table while Alana sat in the middle, the both of them picking out what they wanted to eat first.

"Holaaaa," Natasha sang as she waltzed into the kitchen. "Oh dear lord this looks amazing mom."

"Natasha, I fix this every morning," Paula chuckled. "Take a seat."

"You make this every morning?" Laurent asked, raising his eyebrows in shock. "How you get the energy for that?"

"Well," Paula sighed. "My girls keep me going all the time, even though Alana and I weren't on the best of terms. A good night's sleep helps as well."

Laurent laughed a little and he nodded. Alana reached under the table and she tapped him, averting his attention from the food to her.

"You can eat now," she whispered playfully.

"Oh," he replied. It was then did he notice that everyone had already started piling food onto their plates. Laurent started to as well, and the first thing he went for was the pancakes, eggs, and bacon. It was quiet as everyone started to eat, the sound of their silverware touching the ceramic plates echoing through the small kitchen. Alana loved how the food tasted. When they left the old house, she stopped eating breakfasts like that. The ones that fill you up to the point where you want more but you can't eat anymore. She missed it so much, and she didn't even hesitate to devour the fluffy buttermilk pancakes, the crispy but soft bacon, and the flavor filled sausages.

Laurent had three pancakes on his plate, four slices of bacon, two sausages, and two eggs. He hadn't had a good meal in a long time and he was going to savour every second of it. Especially the pancakes. He loved pancakes.

Halfway through breakfast, Paula looked up from her plate, seeing if everyone was almost done. Her eyes landed on Laurent and they stayed there, curiosity washing over her.

"Laurent?" She said, causing everyone's eyes to move from their plates to her.

"Yes?" He replied, swallowing the food he had in his mouth.

"You didn't really say much about your family," she said. Laurent could already feel the uneasiness build up inside him and he did his best to keep the same expression on his face, his heart began to speed up in his chest. "Do you speak to them?"

"No," he said quietly. "I don't have a family."

"Why do you say that?"

"Mom," Alana said, her eyes begging for her to be quiet.

"No, baby, it's fine," Laurent said, looking over at her briefly. He looked back at Paula and he sighed, trying to think of something to say.

I killed them because I was sick and tired of their torment.

"Uh, they never treat me like I was family," he said. "So I don't have a family."

"Well, don't say that," Paula said, waving her hand as if she was dismissing his statement. "There's nothing they could've done that was that bad. I'm sure they loved you."

Laurent's eyes left her face and he looked down at his plate, suddenly losing his appetite. He stayed quiet for a few seconds and Alana was praying that he wasn't getting mad.

"I'm sure if they love me, they would show it. But they did not, so they don't," his eyes never left his plate as he spoke and he sighed, looking over at Alana. "Can you come with me to the bathroom?"

Alana nodded quickly and they both stood up. She let Laurent go first and she when she passed her mother she shot her a glare, shaking her head in disappointment. It was their first day there, and she was already making her want to leave go back to Virginia

Laurent opened the door to the bathroom once they reached it and he let Alana in before shutting the door. He locked it behind her and he leaned against the sink, running a hand over his face stressfully.

"Alana, I can't," he said. "I can't be here if she will ask me about my family all the time. Please talk to her soon."

"I will, baby," Alana said, stepping in front of him. "I don't know why she decided to pester you like that, but I'm definitely going to talk to her. Okay?"

He nodded and she wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest. They stayed like that for a while, and no words for were said. Laurent didn't want to say anything at all, and Alana just didn't know what to say. She hated when he got like this, and the fact that her mother didn't even notice how upset he was getting pissed her off.

Her anger turned into confusion when she felt something wet hit her shoulder. She looked up quickly to see that Laurent's hand was covering his face completely, but his tears still managed to fall.

"Oh, don't cry baby," Alana said, her own tears forming in her eyes. "Fuck please don't cry."

Laurent shook his head and he stood straight, sliding against the sink until he was next to the toilet. He sat down and he pulled Alana with him, sitting her in his lap. Alana cradled his head against her chest as she felt more tears leave his eyes, but that was the least of her worries.

"It's okay, baby," she cooed, running her fingers through his twists. "It's okay."

"I just want to forget about them," he sniffed. "I want to focus on you, and anything else. Not them."

"I know," she sighed. She looked down at him and she lifted his chin, bringing his head up to look at her. She wiped his tears as his broken brown eyes looked back at her, his eyes running over her face over and over again.

"I love you so much," he said.

"I love you too, baby," she smiled. "You want a kiss?"

He nodded slowly and she leaned down, pressing her lips to his softly. It had been a while since they've shared a passionate kiss, but that changed as their lips molded together perfectly, moving at a steady pace. Laurent's hand rested in her thigh gently and his thumb drew invisible circles on it. His tears dried a little more as they kissed and Alana leaned into him a little, pressing her lips to his a little harder.

"Princess," he said against her lips. "Do you want to?"

"Want to what?" She asked. He detached his lips from hers and he started to pepper kisses along her neck, his tongue sticking out a little bit to lick it.

"You know what," he said lowly.

"Right now, baby?" She asked again.

"Mhm," he hummed. "I want to make love to you."

"Really?"

"Yes," he said. He removed his lips from her neck and he looked at her, his eyes flicking between her eyes and her lips.

"You so good to me," he whispered. "I want to show you how much I appreciate it. Please?"

"Okay," she said, nodding quickly. "We can make love, baby."

☯

"Alana?" Paula called from outside the guest room door. "Are you sleeping?"

"No," Alana called back tiredly. "You can come in."

Paula twisted the knob slowly and she walked inside, seeing Alana and Laurent lying on the bed next to each other.

"Do you have a minute?"

Alana looked over at Laurent to see he was sound asleep, his arm draped across her waist as he slept.

"Yeah," she replied, looking back at her mom. Paula walked over to the bed slowly, giving Alana a sad smile.

"I just wanted to apologize," Paula sighed, sitting in the chair beside the bed. "I didn't realize how upset I was making him this morning, and I tend to do that a lot. I wanted to apologize to him personally, but I see you guys have..."

Alana rolled her eyes playfully and she chuckled, running her fingers along his arm. "Yeah, he's knocked out right now."

"When he wakes up, can you tell him that I'm sorry and it won't happen again?"

"Yeah I can tell him," Alana said. "But after today, please don't bring up his family in anything. He had a really rough childhood, and he doesn't like to talk about it. Right now, he's on the road to forgetting about them and your questions didn't help at all."

"I know," Paula sighed, looking down at her hands. "I don't want us to be on bad terms again because of this."

"We're won't, mom. Just think of his feelings. He's going to be living with us for a while until he and I find a place to call our own, so please don't make him feel uncomfortable."

"I won't, sweetheart," she smiled. "Do you guys plan on starting a family?"

Alana nodded quickly and she smiled, playing with his index finger as she did. "We already have, mom."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm uh," she chuckled. "I'm pregnant."

Paula's face might as well have slid off at that point. She let out a squeal but she quickly covered her mouth, remembering that Laurent was sleeping.

"I'm going to be a grandmother?" She whispered, trying to contain her excitement.

Alana nodded and she held her finger to her lips to tell her to be quiet.

"Okay, okay," her mother giggled. "When he wakes up, I want details about everything, you hear me?"

"Yes, mom," Alana grinned.

Paula stood up quietly and she walked over to the door, opening it a little. Before she left, she turned back to Alana, raising her eyebrows.

"Don't forget to change the sheets."

Alana laughed and her mother shut the door quietly. Slowly, she began to fall asleep, oblivious to the fact that Laurent had the most sheepish smile on his face as she did.

"I love you," he whispered before shutting his eyes and going back to sleep with his baby.

☯

okay one more chapter after this before the last one. das it🙃 I hope you enjoyed this chapter ❤ x Rose