Chapter 45-50

In the station they have a little room set up, pillows all over the floor for the fans that are going to come watch his set after the interview. We walk into the studio and Bru says hi to the DJ, they talk for a minute while a song is playing and Bruno introduces me. When the song is over, they announce that Bruno is there. For a little while they talk about his new album, tour plans and stuff that he is working on with other artist. Then the interview turns personal. I can see Bruno starting to get nervous, I want to comfort him so bad, but I’m sitting on the other side of the room. After they play Bru’s new single the DJ says, “Bruno, let’s talk about your personal life for a minute, cause things have changed majorly in the past year.” Bruno looks at me and winks, “Yeah, things have changed a lot, but everything that is going on in my life, musically and personally is amazing.” “You actually brought this beautiful lady to the studio with you, she was your date to the VMA’s right? You introduced her to someone there as your fiancée, am I getting this story straight?” “Your right, that’s her,” he says laughing. They talked about this before we sat down, so I know where this is going but I still feel my hands start to sweat. I turn my face and lean into Ryan, “You okay?” “Yeah, just a little nervous,” I whisper back to him. 

“Let’s clear some rumors can we Bruno?” He says to me. “Oh God, okay let’s do it,” I rub my hands together and mentally race with myself, how am I going to answer these questions, that I know he’s getting ready to throw at me? “We’ve all seen the pictures of you two at the VMA’s and out and about in New York, but recent pictures are showing her a little curvier, the media has put you two on baby watch. That came out really wrong, her body is still banging, she just has a little extra curve going on up front.” Everyone is looking at him like he’s a moron. “Do you realize how hard it is to ask someone if they are expecting? I feel like a total Jackass right now.” We all start laughing, “You know, as much as I would like to keep this in the dark for a little longer, for her safety, there is really no way we can hide this much longer. I mean look at her, we haven’t reached the half way mark and there is really no hiding it unless she wears a coat or a big hoodie.” Phil breaks out into song, singing to the rhythm of the cops theme songs. “Big belly, big belly, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do, when they come for you?” “Philip Lawrence ladies and gentlemen,” I say clapping.  

We talk for a few more minutes and then we head to a little green room. Fans are starting to fill the room they have set up for the 5 song set I’m going to do. “You okay Lace?” She was looking like she was feeling sick in there. “Yeah, just feeling kinda nauseous, It’s coming and going so I think it’s just morning sickness, or nerves.” I wrap my arms around her, “You did good in there Bru,” She whispers against my shoulder. I laugh and kiss her forehead. It’s time for us to do this, we walk into the room, greeted by applause. “How are you guys?…. I’m gonna sing you a couple of my new songs, how does that sound?” They start clapping and when I start singing they sing along. It doesn’t matter how many times I hear this, it’s a beautiful sound. At the end I take pictures with everyone and we leave. Lacey is falling asleep in the van on the way back to the hotel.

The guys go out and find things to do and I take a nap. When I wake up it’s 5, I pick up my phone and call Bruno. “Hey Booty!” “What are you doing?” “Look out the window,” I look out the window and look down. They are just coming out of the Arch. “Isn’t that cool Bru?” “Cool? That was some scary shit! Are you dressed?” “Yeah,” “Well meet us downstairs, we’re all going to dinner in a few.” I get off the phone and go to the bathroom and check my hair, grab my bag and a jacket and head down to meet up with everyone. When the elevator doors open, I see the rest of the guys standing in a group, laughing and swaying back and forth. Bruno and Phil are in the middle, rapping and dancing. Phil is rapping something about a chicken, and Bruno is doing some chickenish dance. “What is going on here,” I ask as I slide up next to Jam. “Hey pretty lady,” he says wrapping his arm around me and pulls me into the circle, “They found this youtube video, someone rapping about chickens.” 

We head out to dinner and everyone drinks, well everyone except me. By the time we are done, and are on our way back to the hotel, Bruno is getting silly and touchy feely, “Bru! Stop we are in public and people are looking at you,” I say as he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me, squeezing my boobs. “You know you’re gonna get some of this when we get to our room.” He runs around me and starts dancing, “Bruno, you are crazy!” “Only for you big booty, only for you.” We get up to our room and as soon as the door is shut he pushes me down on the bed. 

I wake up to Bruno jumping on the bed, “Wake up Laaaaacccceeeeyyyyyy! It’s show day, and I’m so excited that you’re going to be there!” I roll over, groaning, “I don’t want to get up.” He pulls the blanket back and rubs his face on my stomach. “Bruuuu! Stop, that is so irritating.” “Baby I want to feel her kick,” he says looking up to me making a sad face. “You might be able to feel little movement, but I can’t promise anything. Let me go pee first though.” I get up and go to the bathroom. After I have peed and brushed my teeth I crawl back into bed. He pulls me down and kisses me as he rolls me over. “Be nice Bru, I’m sore from last night.” “I’m sorry baby, I shouldn’t have been so rough with you,” he says kissing me again. I snuggle down into the bed and he puts his head on my belly. 

“Little baby, I’m your Daddy,” he sings. I feel a little flutter, “Bru, the baby is moving! I feel her moving! Oh My God!” “Well hold still,” he says and he starts singing again, I feel the baby move again stronger, and he jumps up. “Was that it? Did I just feel her? Holy Shit!” His face is light up, and he’s jumping on the bed. “Yesssss! I just felt my baby move!” He tries to get her to move again, and I can feel little flutters, but nothing like it was before. So he gives up and gets his computer out. We spend the next couple hours curled up watching retarted Youtube videos. 

Bruno’s phone rings while he’s in the shower, it’s Dre. “Hey sugar,” I say answering the phone. “Do you have to be so sweet all the time?” “Oh excuse me, let me try that again, ring ring, oh look it’s Dre, Hey asshole.” “You are nuts woman, anyways, it’s time to head out for sound check.” “Okay, Bruno is getting out of the shower, we’ll be over in 5 minutes or so.” He hangs up without saying anything else. “Jerk!” “What are you going on about out there?” Bruno says walking out of the bathroom, tightening his towel. “Dre, you have sound check.” He throws some clothes on and pushing me into the bed, “Bruno, did you just hear me?” “Mmmmhhmmm, but I want to love on you more.” I push him off of me and grab my coat. He skips out of the room, “Someone is in a good mood,” Kenji says as we walk out of the room. “Kenji! I felt the littlest kick a little bit ago! Greatest thing in the world!” “Your right, greatest thing!” Everyone is already out in the hallway waiting for us. 

When we get to the arena, there is still 6 hours before the show starts, yet there are tons of fans there waiting already! I mean, I know that’s how it works, and I’ve done it before, but it just blows me away that they are here waiting for my husband! We go in through the back and Bruno pulls me onto stage, “Isn’t this awesome babe?” “Bru, I’m so proud of you, for everything you have dreamed of and for working so hard to get it. I love that you followed your dreams, not a lot of people have the strength to do that.” “Get off my stage with all that sentimental talk, we gotsta get in the mood to slay these people,” Phil says walking by me. Ryan helps me down the stairs and we walk up the aisle to see better and sit down. 

We do a run through of a song, and then we huddle together and talk about what song we want to cover, then an idea hits me, “Hold on guys, I know what I want to do.” I turn and walk to the mic, “Ryan, take Lacey to dinner, bring some pizza back for all of us. They get up and she looks at me, I put my guitar down and run to her. “I just had an idea, and I don’t want you to know about it till later. So I need you to leave for a bit,” I say kissing her, “I love you.” “I love you too Bru.” “I’ll call you when we are ready for you to come back.” I look over to Ryan, “Take care of her, if anything happens…” “Man, stop with all that noise, you know I got her.” I kiss Lacey one more time and they head out. 

“Okay guys, let’s do something different,” I say when they leave. “I know usually we rock out on our cover, but let’s do some Al Green.” They all start jumping up and down, “Yeah Brunz, I’m loving that idea,” Phil says. We work on it for the next hour and I’m so excited about the way it’s sounding. “Alright guys, they should be back any minute, let’s take a break!” The smell of pizza hits me as we walk off stage, knowing they are in the same building as me makes my heart rate increase. As I round the corner Dre comes up to me, “There is an older lady outside saying that she is your Mother-in-law.” “Well let’s go see,” I say smiling, Lacey is gonna love this! When we get to the door, I peek out and see her standing next to our bus, talking to one of the security guys that the venue provided. “That’s her!” I say walking out the door. 

“Hey Ann!” I say walking up to her. “Hey Bruno!” We talk for a minute and then head back in, “I’m going to talk to Lace for a second, then you come in and surprise her!” We walk back in and she stays outside the room when I walk in. “Hey Babe,” She says wrapping her arms around me, “How did rehearsal go since you kicked me out?” “MMM, it was good,” I say kissing her. I let go of her long enough to get a slice of pizza. “Hey booty, can you run to the bus and get a jacket? I’m cold.” When she turns around, her mom is standing in the doorway. “Oh my God Mom!” She screams and runs to her, wrapping her arms around her. 

“What are you doing here?” I ask her after we let go of each other. “I came to see my son in laws show, can’t let him be this close and not see what he does for a living.” She pulls my coat away and gasps, “Look at that! How far along are you again?” “15 weeks.” “You were that big at 20 weeks with Kenny. Your gonna get huge baby!” I look down and rub my belly a little. “That’s okay, bellies are supposed to get big when they are carrying a baby,” Bruno says coming up next to me, putting his hand on my stomach. 

“Where you at Booty?” He calls from the stage. The spot light searches the crowd and stops on me in front of the stage. I give a little wave and he laughs and says, “This one’s for you baby girl,” Phil, Phred and Jamareo are all standing next to Bruno, microphones in hand, and then the horns start playing and a huge smile spreads across my face. They break out into a little two step. 

I, I’m so in love with you,

Whatever you want to do, is alright with me, 

Cause you make me feel so brand new,

And I want to spend my life with you. 

I throw my hands up in the air and start dancing. Bru’s voice is like butter singing this song. I don’t know if you’ve ever had someone dedicate a song to you, no matter how many songs Bruno has sung to me, my heart was still overflowing with love right now. “God, Lace. He is so talented,” My Mom says to me, she’s swaying back and forth, a huge smile across her face. The guys are playing their asses off tonight, this is the first real show I’ve been to, and I love watching Bruno do his thing up there. 

The concert goes by way to fast. During the middle of the last song, Ryan pulls us back stage. We have to leave tonight to head to the next show, which means I have maybe an hour left with my mom. Bruno thanks the crowd and runs off stage. “What did you think?” “That was amazing Bru,” I say kissing him, then I realize he’s covered in sweat. “Okay, I don’t want to hug on you right now, you’re nasty.” Then he rubs his face all over me, “God, Bruuuuu! Stop! That’s nasty!” He laughs and holds me tighter, rubbing his sweaty face all over my neck and face. Finally I decide that it’s not even worth fighting him, so when I give up, he decides it’s no fun being mean, when I’m not fighting back. 

My mom comes back to the room and hangs out with me while Bruno showers, and then she talks to Bru for a few minutes while I jump in the shower. When I get out mom comes and hugs me. “You’re leaving already?” “I have to work in the morning.” “Awe Mom, thanks for coming all the way here for my show,” Bruno says. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” She says hugging him. Bruno’s phone goes off and he says, “Bus call.” UGH. “What does that mean,” Mom asks. “We have to be down on the bus in like 20 minutes.” “Well I guess I can wait for you guys to leave if you’re going that fast.” She helps us get our stuff together, and then walks out of the room with us. When we get to the lobby, we sit down. “I thought you guys had to get on the bus?” “They do, but we’re gonna load bags first,” Ryan says. Mom just looks at him curiously, “That way as soon as Brunz is on we can go, look out the window at all the fans. It would be crazy if we loaded the bus afterwards.”

When everything is loaded Lace and I hug Ann and we walk outside. Everyone is screaming at me, and honestly I would love to stop and take pictures and sign stuff, but I’m exhausted, I put my heart on the stage tonight, and Lace is looking tired too. When Lace climbs up on the bus, I turn around and look at the girls waiting for me, “I’m sorry girls, I’m really tired tonight. I love every single one of you though, thank you for coming.” I blow them a kiss and climb on the bus. All the guys are curled up all over the bus, we all gave everything tonight. I think this was the first time in a long time we played that hard. “Brunz, man I’m calling it a night,” Phil says hitting my shoulder. “I was just thinking the same thing man,” I say. I kick my shoes off and grab a pair of shorts and change really fast, then come back and help Lace climb into our bunk. 

“You were great tonight Bru,” She says snuggling into me. “Thanks baby. What did you think of my cover?” “I loved it! Is that what you kicked me out for?” “Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise.” “Well, it was great.” I’m too tired to even try to do anything tonight, and apparently she is too, cause her eyes are starting to close. “Good night love,” I say kissing her lips softly. She mumbles something back but she’s already slipping off to sleep, so it doesn’t make much sense. 

When I wake up the next morning we are in Nashville. No hotel for us tonight, we are parked out behind the arena. We spend a few hours on the bus and then we venture out and explore the city for a while. When we get back on the bus, Dani and I call a cab and head to walmart. We grab 2 crockpots and a couple roast and some veggies and seasoning. When we get back to the arena, I sneak to the dressing room and plug it in and put everything together. After I’m done I climb back on the bus and curl up with Bru in the back room and watch a movie. 

When sound check rolls around, I go in with them, to make sure that they don’t dig in the food, it will still be a couple hours before it’s done. “What is that amazing smell?” Eric says as we walk in the back door. “It’s a surprise, so don’t even think about going to look for it,” I tell him. I make sure the guys don’t go into the room, and when I’m sure they are on stage I go back to the bus. I curl up on a couch up front and read for an hour and then go back inside to make sure they don’t peek again. It smells even more amazing than it did an hour ago. When the guys come off the stage I have to stand in front of the door to keep them out. “Don’t even try it Bru,” I say when he tries to move me out of the way, “Get back on the bus and watch this movie I just got, this will be ready in a little bit.” 

After the movie is over it’s time to go inside and start getting around for the show. Dani shoves all the guys into a different room so I can check the roast and get all the plates together. “Okay guys, come here I have a surprise for you!” They all dash out of the room and into the other room. “Oh Booty! This smells amazing,” Bru says looking at the layout of Roast, with carrots and potatoes. The guys pig out, and there is nothing left, when everyone is done. “Thanks Lace,” They all call out, “All we ever eat on the road is fast food, unless we stop at an actual restaurant,” Jam says. “Well that’s why I did this, you guys did my favorite song last night, so I wanted to give you guys a treat.” They goof around for another hour, and then head towards the stage. “Thanks Booty, that was the best dinner I’ve had in a long time!”

The next few days fly by, it’s the same thing, long bus rides at night, exploring cities, radio interviews and shows during the day. It’s my last night on tour and we are in Florida! Bruno and Phil are at an interview right now, and I’m laying on the beach soaking up some sun with Eric. The rest of the guys are shopping of something. “I don’t know how you guys do this all the time E, I’m exhausted!” “The first time is tiring for a few weeks but you get used to it,” he says. “I’m really glad we all get along, I mean your family, Greg’s family hated me.” “I don’t see how anyone can hate you, you are the easiest person to get along with.” “His family was broke, and we went away and made a life for ourselves, and I didn’t work, jealously I guess.” “Well I promise you, my sisters and I, we all love you. Bruno couldn’t have picked a better match than you. You keep his ass in line and he’s happier than he has ever been,” he says. 

We lay in silence for a little bit and then my phone rings, “Hello?” “Hey girl, watchu doin hot stuff?” “I’m laying on the beach, with my boyfriend,” I say trying to hold a laugh in. Eric looks at me, “It’s Bruno,” I say holding the phone away from my mouth. “Oh you work fast huh?” “You know how I am, I don’t waste time.” He walks up behind me, leaning over my chair and kisses my neck, “Is that so?” I let out a little giggle, as his facial stubble tickles my neck. “You really need to shave that Bru.” “Naw, I think I’ll grow a beard for the rest of the tour,” he says rubbing his chin. “Who are you fooling? You can’t grow anything more than stubble!” Eric says laughing, he gets up and puts his sandals on. “Hey where are you going?” Bruno yells at him. “I’m getting crispy, I’m going to take a nap, see you at dinner,” He yells back as he’s walking away. Bruno pulls his beach chair up next to mine and lays down on his side. “You ran off my new man! I was just getting ready to seduce him!” 

He laughs at me and rolls over onto his back. “I don’t want you to leave tonight Booty.” I turn and look at him, his bottom lip is poking out. “Awe Bru, we have babies at home that miss me!” “I know, I just got so used to you being here, I’m gonna be lonely now.” “You could sit out in lines with all your fan girls, they would happily keep you company.” He gives me a shocked look, “Yeah if by company you meant, raping me and stealing my clothes and then leaving me in a dark alley.” “Oh come on, you know they wouldn’t leave that hot piece of ass in an alley, they would take you home with them, and feed you cookies.” “Yeah while I’m tied up in their closet. That sounds like a grand time.” We joke back and forth about what his fans would like to do to him for a few minutes while we’re heading back to our room. “Well one thing is for sure, you would never have to want for sex again,” I say to him. “Speaking of wanting sex,” he says biting his lip as we walk into our room. 

~

Dre and I walk into the apartment, I tell him goodnight and I head to my room, opting for a hot bath before I climb into bed. I know once I get in bed, I won’t get back out for a while. I miss the kids so bad, I want to call them, but since it’s 10 and I know they are sleeping, I don’t. I get to pick them up from school tomorrow! I slip into the tub and think about the last week with Bru, his shows were amazing, and I got to meet a lot of fans. Some of them, Bruno knew, they have been there for him since the beginning. I talked to one girl about our age, she was there at one of his very first shows, showing me pictures telling me about how nervous he was. I took her back stage to see him, and he knew exactly who she was, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her into a tight hug. That really warmed my heart. 

After my bath I send Bru a goodnight text, knowing he was still probably still on stage and I fall straight to sleep. I wake up to my phone ringing an hour later, “hmmm,” I groan into the phone. “Hewo sweepy head,” he says in his baby voice. “Hey Bru.” “My bunk has so much room right now! It’s amazing!” “Oh yeah? Well I have this big ass bed, all to myself, so I win. Booyah!” “I would give up all this extra room to be laying in bed with you right now,” he whispers. “Me too Bru, but we don’t have much longer.” “I know something like 15 days right?” “Something like that, until we head to Hawaii, the kids are going to be so excited Bru.” “I know, I can’t wait to see them, I miss those puppies so bad! Okay go back to sleep love, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” We say goodbye about 40 times before we actually hang up and I pass back out.  

“Mom, why were you riding a bus?” Brayden asks as we’re walking home. “With Bruno?” “Yeah, I mean riding a city bus across states has to suck. Why didn’t you just drive a minivan or something?” Dre and I both start laughing, “We didn’t ride a city bus Bray, it was different, I’ll show you when we get home.” Kensley has other things on her mind like, when are we gonna “turn Dre’s room into the baby’s room”. I guess Greg didn’t tell them that he was moving, so we probably would be too. When we get home, Dre looks up tour busses and shows the kids, I leave it up to him, since he knows more about them than I do. They think it’s pretty much the coolest thing ever. 

~

The next 12 days fly by, my ultrasound to find out if we’re having a boy or girl is tomorrow! I get up and do my regular morning routine, showering and making breakfast. I get the kids off to school and then hang out with Dre for the rest of the day, Bruno has talked me into quitting my job, so until he gets home from tour, I’m still employed only now just as an on-call nurse. Only working when they are short staffed or over booked. Around noon I’m playing the piano when my phone rings, Dre picks it up and looks at it then answers it. “What’s going on man?….Oh shit that sucks….Okay, yeah here she is.” He passes the phone to me with a weird look on his face. “Bru, what’s wrong?” “Booty, I don’t know if I’m going to make it to the appointment in the morning,” he says. I get up and walk to my bedroom, and climb into bed without saying anything. “Are you there Lace?” “Yeah, I’m here.” “I’m sorry babe, I just don’t think that it’s going to work out, I would have to leave in the middle of tonight and then leave again right after the appointment.” We talk a few more minutes, and he talks me down from crying. We only have a few more days until we see him in LA, and then head to Hawaii, but this was so important to him. 

You know that state of sleep when you’re still dreaming, but you’re aware of what is going on around you? That’s where I’m at, when I feel a body press into mine. I breathe in through my nose and smell coconut. Immediately my eyes pop open, “Bruno!” “Good morning love bug.” “But, you said you couldn’t come! What are you doing in bed? Am I dreaming?” “I called you from the airport silly.” He runs his hand over my stomach and then rips the blanket back, “How is this possible? We have only been apart for 13 days! You’ve doubled in size!” “Well, baby had a growth spurt,” I say laughing, I look over at my clock and it is past the time I usually get up. “Bruno! I have to get up!” He helps me up and climbs in the shower with me.

“So I was thinking, yesterday after you called, I came up with this idea,” I say as I’m washing my hair out. “Will you just spit it out already, you’re rambling.” “Okay, so I thought you weren’t going to be able to be there, so I came up with this idea, I was going to have the DR just write the sex of the baby on paper and put it in an envelope and then when we got to Hawaii, I was going to go to the florist and have them box up either pink or blue balloons, and then us all go on the beach and open the box together, to find out the sex of the baby.” “I love that idea! What if we still do that, that way my sisters and Mom can all find out together with us?” I start smiling big, “Yeah, Bru lets do that!” 

We get out of the shower and get around, and Bruno’s sitting at the bar when the kids come stumbling out of their rooms, it takes them a second to realize that he is sitting there but all at once they come barreling towards him. “Daddy!” Kensley screams as she jumps into his arms. Bruno looks up at me with a shocked look on his face, “What did you just say?” “I called you Daddy, you’re the babies Dad, so that means you’re my Daddy too,” She says looking up at him. “But Kensley, Greg is your Dad.” “Well you can be my Dad too okay?” “Whatever you want princess. I love that idea.” I walk over to them and notice tears rolling down Bruno’s face. “Say it again Kenny,” he whispers to her. “What?” she says looking up at him, “Daddy?” “I love you baby girl.” “I love you too Daddy.” They eat breakfast and then we head out to school. 

In the cab on the way to Julie’s office, Bruno says, “Man that girl knows how to pull my heart strings.” “She loves you Bru.” “Well I love her too, more than she will ever know, that was the greatest sound I have ever heard, ‘Daddy’.” We get out of the cab and walk into the office, heading right into the exam room. “Hey guys, how are things going?” Julie asks walking into our room. “Great, Lace was away from me for less than 2 weeks, and she doubled in size!” Julie laughs and says, “That’s great! Let’s see how baby is doing.” We fill her in on our plan, so the whole time she’s doing the ultrasound she calls the baby a, “little peanut”. “Well I know exactly what the little peanut is. Are you sure you don’t want to know right now?” “Nope,” we both answer at the same time. “Alright, well, baby looks amazing! And I’ll call in your surprise for you!” We talk for a few more minutes and then we leave. 

When we pull up to the apartment Bruno says, “Dre, you need to find something to do for the next few hours, I’m about to make this lady remember my name.” “Do your thing Brunz,” he says walking the opposite direction than us. We get upstairs and I drop my purse on the table next to the door and walk back to the bedroom, “Hey, where are you going?” “I’m going to get naked, make things easier for you, I have a big ol’ belly that you’re gonna have to work around, at least I can make something easy.” “Nah, I don’t mind, doing all the work,” he says coming up behind me, helping me pull my shirt off, “Man, I think that it’s grown even since we took a shower this morning.” He runs his hands around me, turns me around and wraps his arms around my waist, kissing my neck. “I’m gonna have to grow longer arms or else I’m not gonna be able to wrap them around you before soon.” “You’re crazy Bruno,” I say turning around. “You’re right, I’m crazy about you. Now let me show you how crazy I am,” he says helping me into the bed, crawling on top of me. And let me tell you, that man is crazy!

This morning we got up, and headed to the airport. After a million hour flight we are finally landing in L.A. Getting off the plane proves to be a little difficult this time. Brayden wants to run, Kensley is passed out, and Lacey is feeling sick. We tried waking Kensley, but she refuses to stay awake, I guess this flight has zapped her, so I’m stuck carrying her. “Come on Mom!” Bray yells excited. Lacey grabs his hand and pulls him over to a chair. “Bray look at me! You have to be good for a little bit, you know how the people with the cameras are at home?” “Yes,” he responds looking at her upset. “Well they are 10 times worse here, so I need you to be good okay? I have a huge surprise for you if you can just be good until we get to Bruno’s.” He jumps up and runs over to me. “Buno, I’m gonna stand by you, Mom is having one of those hormone things.” 

I smile a little and walk back to Bruno, “You okay Booty?” “I just feel kinda dizzy, I’ll be okay.” Bray grabs Dre’s hand, and they walk a few feet ahead of us. “We’re not waiting for luggage today, I’ll have it sent over.” “Bruno, you know how I feel about you doing that.” “I know Lace, but since it’s the kids first time here, I want to make sure it isn’t a huge disaster.” We make it out of the airport and into the car with hardly any problems, just the normal yelling and pictures. Bray got a little nervous, and Kensley slept through the whole thing. 

We turn onto Bruno’s street and both kids perk up. “Holy Crap Mom! Look at these houses!” Brayden says, his face glued to the window. “Bray, don’t say that word, it’s not nice.” “Well it’s better than saying shit,” he replies. “Brayden! Seriously, stop, you know better than that.” Bruno leans over to him and whispers something to him, which I’m sure is a joke but after a minute Bray apologizes. When we pull into the driveway, we get more of the same response, except time its, “Holy Toledo!” As we are climbing out of the car, Tahiti and Jamie walk out the front door. “Aunt TT,” Kensley screams running at her. “Hey Baby!” She says swooping her up and spinning her around. “Bruno, is this really your house?” Brayden says looking up at him. “No, little dude, this is YOUR house,” he says poking him in the chest, Brayden’s face lights up and then Bruno empties his pocket, throwing his phone and wallet at me and throws Bray over his shoulder and takes off running around the side of the house through the gate. 

I hug my sister in laws and follow them around the back to find out what happened to my child. Bruno has jumped in the pool with Bray, it’s December 22. Yes were in L.A. and it’s pretty warm out but still, I’m a mom and that freaks me out. “Bruno! Come on, you’re going to drown my child.” I yell at him. They get out and then I realize that we have no clothes. “Bru, we didn’t get our luggage and you just threw Bray in the pool. What is he supposed to do?” Tahiti comes out with two big towels, handing one to me and throwing one at Bru. “Get out of them clothes and then come in, I have something to show you,” She says looking at me. I peel Bray’s clothes off and we walk into the house, Kensley is jumping from couch to couch, “Look mom! This place is so cool.” Dre snatches her up and spins her around, body slamming her back on the couch, making me cringe. Bruno comes walking back down the stairs, “Booty, kids, come look up here!” We all follow up the stairs and stop at a door. “Lace, I had TT and Jamie working their butts off on this the past two months,” he says and then he squats down to Kenny’s level and says, “Open the door Ken.” 

When she opens the door, we are greeted by bright yellow walls, one wall has a huge tree painted on it, with a swing hanging down from the ceiling, little birds painted onto the branches. A beautiful antique four-post bed, with beautiful throw pillows. In one corner is a book shelf made out picket fence, with big pillows on the floor. “Oh My God! You guys, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” I say from behind my hands, tears rolling down my face. The girls wrap their arms around me, tears in their eyes. “Thank you so much,” I whisper unable to get my words to come out any louder. “We had so much fun doing this, you have no idea, look in the closet,” Jamie says. I walk over to the closet and open it, inside is filled with beautiful dresses, shirts, jackets, and a little area for dress up stuff. I can’t even form words right now, I just shake my head back and forth and look from the closet to them. “Can I have a minute please?” Bruno says.

The girls walk out and I wrap my arms around Lace’s waist. “Are you okay Lace?” She nods and puts her face in my chest. I rub my hands up her back and my fingers find that spot right at the bottom of her hairline and start scratching. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She asks. “Cause I wanted to surprise you, I thought if I set the kids up with awesome rooms, they would have an easier time coming here.” “Bruno, the kids love you, they would be happy anywhere as long as you are there. Just like their Momma.” “So does this mean we are moving back here?” I say starting to get excited. “Well, I was planning on it, I can’t let them be that far away from Greg, and I know that you miss this place. Like I said, I’ll follow you wherever Bru.” I lean down and kiss her, and when I pull away, I grab her hands and pull her to the door, “Come on you have to see Bray’s room! We might have to give him ours.” She looks at me confused. 

“Are you ready little man?” Brayden jumps up and down, his face is priceless and he hasn’t even opened the door. “Okay, open the door!” I yell. He throws open the door and screams “Oh my god!” Then goes tearing through his room. My sisters hated me, the whole time they worked on this room. The bed looks like a transformer car, well it’s an actual car hood and grill with working lights, and the other end is the trunk, with the bed in the middle. The dresser is made out of a tool box, the desk out of sheet metal. “Wow Bruno, this is pretty cool,” Lace says looking around. Brayden loves transformers. “Do you like it Bubba,” Lace asks. “I love it!” He comes running over to her and wraps her in a hug. “You need to tell Bruno, this is a surprise to me too,” She says looking over his shoulder at me. He releases her and runs to me, wrapping his little body around me, “Thanks Dad!” His words bring tears to my eyes, I’m the luckiest man in the world. “You’re welcome son,” I whisper back, trying to keep myself from breaking down.