Everything I Need

60

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you okay? Why are you crying?" I softly ramble but get no response.

Lauren shifts her position on the bed and as she moves her arm, she accidentally bumps my hand which causes me to winch in pain and quickly move my hand away from her. She sniffles as she sits up and turns the bedside lamp on. I look at my wife to see she has an unreadable look on her face and she doesn't look directly at me. "Let me see your..."

I quickly sat up and cut her off "are you mad at me? Why won't you look at me? Baby, do you honestly think I would..."

"I'm not mad at you Kyler, I'm... I'm mad at myself." She softly says with her voice sounding so vulnerable as she finally glances at me. Her eyes are red and puffy from crying and it breaks my heart to see her upset like this. "Let me see your hand since there's obviously something wrong with it." I keep my eyes on my wife's face as I lift my hand for her to look. "Kyler, what did you do?" Lauren asks.

"Baby, it's nothing." I mumble as I keep my eyes on Lauren's face and the troubled look I see.

"This is not nothing, Kyler. You have dried blood on your knuckles for crying out loud." I glance down at my hand and sure enough there's dried blood on my knuckles. Damn, I didn't realize I punched that bitch that hard.

Lauren gets up and goes to our en-suite, grabs the first aid kit and comes back to our bed. Within the two and a half weeks I've been gone, her belly has definitely gotten bigger to the point she has a slight waddle to her walk which is so damn adorable. She is still so beautiful and nothing will ever change that. She sits back down on the bed with a huff, takes my hand and quietly cleans my knuckles with peroxide, which burns like hell, then wraps a bandage around my hand. She lays the first aid kit to the side with a sigh. "Now what happened, Kyler?" She asks again, breaking the silence.

"How about first you tell me why you're mad at me, then I will tell you about my hand?" I try to negotiate.

Lauren shakes her head as she looks down at her lap. I frown as I lower my head slightly to see her eyes that are starting to water. I cup her cheek and lift her head back up. "Is this about you calling me and Ms. Parker answering...."

Lauren starts shaking her head. "Don't." She says in a shaky voice. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at myself" she says as she looks at me with watery eyes. Why would she be mad at herself? "I completely trust you Kyler and I know you wouldn't cheat on me. I know that and I promise I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry if it seems like I am." Lauren shakes her head then continues. "I'm honestly mad at myself. I'm mad at myself for pushing and convincing you to take the internship. I want the best for you and I feel like me pushing you to take the internship is the only reason you took it."

"Lauren, you didn't push or convince me to take the internship. It was something I really wanted and you know that. You voiced your opinion on it and you were just supporting me. Do not blame yourself, I'm the one that decided to take it."

Lauren shakes her head, "I'm mad at myself for suggesting we would make it work with you being in Houston. I'm mad at myself for being so attached to you that I feel like I can't function properly when you're away. I'm mad at that... that bitch answering your phone saying you were in the shower after the moment you two had. She knew who was calling, I'm literally listed as wifey in your contacts and she had no problem insinuating y'all had sex. I'm so stupid because I... I basically pushed you right to another woman."

I was speechless for a second. I can't believe Lauren is blaming herself so much. She did nothing wrong but support me. Before I say anything, Lauren says "I just... I just feel incompetent sometimes when other gorgeous, more experienced women flirt with you and make it known they want you. Your boss... I looked her up on Instagram and... she is pretty and based on her posts, way more experienced than me. Plus closer to your age. Here I am, eight years older than you, in my only lesbian relationship, six months pregnant and looking like a beached whale compared to her. Yet somehow... somehow you still love me."

"I never pictured my life like this or that I would be married to a woman." Lauren says as she grabs my hands and slowly laces her fingers with mine. "You are everything to me Kyler including what I didn't even know I wanted or needed and now that I have you, I never want to let you go. I-I never want you to let me go. Not being able to talk to you, see you, touch you or... feel you just made me feel like a huge part of me was missing. It's stupid I feel like that when I should be use to being alone for periods at a time but it's so different with you."

I feel tingles all over and butterflies in my stomach from Lauren's admission. "Lauren, your not stupid and you didn't push me towards another woman so please don't blame yourself. I don't like being away from you either and you will always be the only woman for me. I love you like crazy and in case you haven't realized, I'm kind of obsessed with you."

Lauren laughs "oh I know, you make it very well known." She pulls her hands away from mine and gently cups my face between both of her hands and captures my lips in a slow, tender kiss. When she pulls away from the kiss, she rests her forehead against mine then she looks back down at my hands. "Now, tell me what happened to your hand baby."

I sigh deeply as I glance down at my hand. "Imayhavepunchedmybossinthemouth." I mumble quickly.

"What did you say?" Lauren asks with a slight chuckle.

"I punched my boss in the mouth. She was disrespecting our marriage and made remarks about you. She made remarks about you and her step-sister Stephanie basically screwing around which I knew was a lie. It all pissed me off, especially when she called you a whore so I punched her. I knew that the new fill-in teacher was trouble. That has to be the Stephanie she was talking about."

Lauren's eyes go wide, "her what? That bitch. She will not have a job at the school when I'm done. She made me so mad earlier today with the remarks she made about me being with you." Lauren sighs as she shakes her head. "The nerve of some people. Why do some people feel the need to try and ruin someone's relationship? You were right about Stephanie liking me even though I didn't see it at first. I realized she was flirting today and shut it down quickly."

I'm glad my wifey shut that bitch down. I knew she wanted Lauren, she made it too obvious even if Lauren didn't see it. I just didn't expect my boss to be her step-sister and try to help Stephanie get my wife by trying to flirt with me.

"I quit the internship." I blurt out and Lauren looks at me with a shocked expression. Before she can ask why I go ahead and explain why I quit. "I was tired of Ms. Parker keeping me from coming home on the weekends, the whole internship wasn't what it seemed and I was tired of her constant flirting. It really pissed me off when I finished my shower and found her in my hotel room. I guess she had got a card from the front desk because I know the door was locked. I couldn't stand being away from you either, it kills me that I missed your doctor's appointment. I want to be here for everything, every step of the way for you and our babies."

I bring my left hand up and rest it on Lauren's cheek. This woman is my everything and I am so lucky to have her. I look into her beautiful blue eyes and see nothing but love and the power and sincerity of it just shakes me to my core. I see nothing but love so rich and pure that it sends shivers down my spine. Never in a million years would I have imagined being so head over heels in love with someone.

Lauren gives me a watery smile and whispers "I have missed you so much." Like a magnet we are drawn to each other until our lips are inches apart. "I love you." She whispers and closes the distance between our lips as she captures mine again in another slow, tender kiss. She breaks the kiss first and looks deep into my eyes and it's like she is looking into my soul. She smiles as she brings a hand to my face and caresses my cheek. "Can you just hold me?" Lauren questions as she lays back down on our bed.

"Always," I say with a smile as Lauren turns over on her side to be the smaller spoon. I laugh as I try to wrap my arm around her belly as far as I can. "Don't laugh," she says with a chuckle. She tangles our legs together and snuggles into me. I press my cheek into the back of her neck and we both sigh in contentment. We both say "I love you" at the same time and I close my eyes as I soak in the comfort of being home.