“Nicki, come in our car,” Jackie begged. “Send your father with the boys, we can have some girl time.”
“I’d love to,” she laughed, “But we have some serious errands to run.” She slipped her arm behind Tyler’s back and smirked when she felt him flinch at her touch.
“That’s why we’re here sweetie, to help! We can do the fun stuff and make them do everything else.” Jackie nodded towards the boys and giggled with her daughters as all of the men pouted. “We can do some shopping for Liam, I doubt they’d be very good at it.”
Nicki took a moment to eye the fashion-impaired individuals that stood in front of her. She knew that Tyler would want him to have the best of everything, but she also had the feeling that if she let him pick out clothes, their son would be donning stripes on a near daily basis.
“Go with them,” Tyler urged, placing a hand in the center of her back and giving her a small push towards his mother. “We can take care of the stuff for the party.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and momentarily buried his face in her hair, leaving a few quick kisses that, for some reason, turned her cheeks crimson. “I’ll see you at home,” he whispered, before sneaking in a real kiss.
“Alright love. Have fun bonding.”
A deep chuckled penetrated her ears, one that ensured she would miss him while they were apart. “You too, don’t talk too much shit about me.”
“I’ll try to hold back,” she promised, grinning before she turned to walk away from him. His hand brushed against her stomach, and the look in his eyes told her that it hadn’t been an accident. “Love you,” she mouthed, waiting for his response before she finally left him and climbed into the passenger seat of Jackie’s SUV.
In seconds the car was full and brimming with estrogen. If anything said female bonding, it was shopping.
“Where to first?” Jackie asked as she pulled out of the restaurant parking lot.
“I’ll tell you where to go,” Diane said from the backseat. “Take a left onto this street, then a right at the next light.”
** * * * *
“Be honest with me son, how are you holding up?”
Tyler grimaced and clutched the wheel of his Maserati just a bit tighter. He watched as his mother clumsily swerved across the street in front of them, and found himself praying for Nicki’s safety. Candace should have driven, or he should have instructed her to sit in the backseat. His mother’s driving record was longer than the list of girls he’d slept with. Scarier, too. He took a sharp right, in the opposite direction of the girls.
“I’m fine, dad, seriously.”
“Yeah, you sound it,” he muttered sarcastically. “If you don’t want to talk about it while Bill’s here – “
“What’s Bill got to do with it?” he shouted, kicking himself in the ass for sending Nicki off. Sometimes, she was the only thing that kept him from going ten rounds with his father. During his outburst he’d failed to notice that he was pushing eighty miles per hour and he hastily let his foot fall to the brake.
“I get it, Ty. I would never have said anything bad about your mother in front of grampa, either.”
“Bad?” His voice seemed to be rising with his temper. Trying desperately to calm down before he lost control, he took a series of deep breaths. He hated feeling so aggressive, especially towards someone who was simply trying to help him. It had been a long time since he’d been without Nicki around his father, and he was just now noticing the impact she had on him. “I don’t have anything bad to say.”
“You don’t have anything bad to say about your wife? Who’s pregnant? With twins? I find that a little hard to believe. You’re my son, I know you. You’ve always got something bad to say about everyone.”
“Okay, you want me to complain?” he asked, sensing the tension that had formed in the backseat. Jim and Bill were quieter than night, and Tyler imagined Bill was bracing himself to lose respect for his daughter’s husband. “Fine, I’ll complain. You know what the worst part about all of this is?”
“Is she moody?” Bill inquired timidly, as if he didn’t really want to know the answer.
“She farts in her sleep.”
His father-in-law’s bellowing laugh ricocheted off of the small interior of the car, sending both his own father and Jim into hysterics. “I’m going to tell her you said that,” Bill teased. “And I’m never going to let her live it down.”
“Please don’t,” he groaned. “She doesn’t even know she does it. You know it’ll just embarrass her.”
“Oh, but she doesn’t get embarrassed when she gets caught saying she’s going to fuck you at the dinner table,” his father quipped, causing the blood to rush to his face.
“That’s, how, she didn’t – “ he stuttered, nailing the coffin shut on Nicki’s humility. His ability to lie had decreased greatly over the years, and he never regretted it more than he did just now.
“I didn’t need to hear that,” Bill mumbled.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Bill. That was out of line.”
Few times in his life had Tyler felt more uncomfortable than he did just then. Nicki’s father had already had the misfortune of walking in on them in the middle of their kitchen, and he was sure the last thing Bill wanted to hear about was his daughter making naughty promises at a dinner celebrating their road to parenthood.
“You must be pretty excited to be a dad,” Jim said, trying to lighten the atmosphere and take the attention away from the awkwardness that had manifested.
“You really have no idea.” In the rearview mirror, Tyler made eye contact first with Jim and then with Bill, earning a smile from each of them. “I don’t even know when I decided I wanted it. But I feel like this entire thing has been a constant struggle.”
“Not everyone has it easy, son.” Bill’s reassuring hand clenched around his shoulder for a moment. “At least you have the boy now. It sounds like he’s already a part of the family.”
As he took the entrance ramp onto the highway, something clicked inside of Tyler’s head. He spent the past ten minutes wanting to pull over and run as far as he could from everyone in his car, when he should have been counting his blessings. To have a family at all was hallowing, as Nicki’s past made evident. She had to build her family from the ground up, while he’d been taking his for granted. Thinking forward, he would never want his son to feel what he did towards his own father. He silently vowed, then and there, to make the best effort he could to enjoy his father’s presence.
“Tyler?”
Shaken from his deep thoughts, he turned quickly to see what his dad wanted. “Yeah?”
“Bill asked you a question, kiddo.”
“Sorry, I guess I zoned out. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to know how Nicki acts around Liam,” Bill clarified, leaning forward to make conversation easier. “She was always a little awkward with kids… That’s why I’m so surprised she was okay with adopting.”
Trying to keep his focus on the road, he blinked a few times and straightened himself out in his seat, all while wondering what in the world his father-in-law could be talking about.
“She’s always been great around kids, you’ve seen her with Bella.”
“Bella is like a daughter to her, that’s different. Her whole life she avoided kids, like she wasn’t sure how she should treat them. I thought you would’ve known.”
“Well, Liam is a son to her,” he challenged, unable to picture Nicki as anything but the nurturing, caring mother she was already proving to be. “She’s brilliant with him, it seems like it comes so naturally. The kid’s absolutely in love with her.”
In response, Bill grunted and sat back in his seat. “Maybe coming so close to motherhood changed her.”
Although he would never say it, Tyler was slowly beginning to think that Bill didn’t actually know his daughter at all. He thought back to all of the times they’d been around children, how incredibly she’d handled them, and how badly they’d begged her not to leave when the time came. His mind even travelled back to two of the very first weeks of their relationship, when she’d taken care of him better than his own mother ever could have.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” he murmured, knowing that she would prove her father wrong.
** * * *
“Last time I checked they don’t sell clothes here,” Nicki pointed out as Jackie pulled into a parking spot in front of a spa.
“Sweetie, I think you’re doing too much,” Diane said with nothing but concern in her voice.
“She’s right, Nicki. When I was pregnant with Ty, I would have been damned if I got off my lazy ass to pee. I’m sure you know how much those babies mean to him, but I’m not sure you realize how much you do. It’s killing him to watch you struggle and deal with all of the pain.”
“Did he tell you that?” she asked Jackie skeptically. It certainly didn’t sound like something that Tyler would tell his mother, or anyone at all for that matter.
“Honey, he didn’t have to. I can see it when he looks at you.”
“I hate to agree with this sissy,” Candace said quietly in the backseat, “But they’ve got a point. None of you were around to see what he was like that night…” Her voice trailed off, but Nicki knew precisely which occasion she was referring to. It was the only night that she had ever abandoned her one real responsibility: taking care of her husband. Every memory of those horrible three days made her cringe and stung her eyes with tears. It was a time in her life that she would have loved to forget, but for the sake of learning from her mistakes, she couldn’t. “I’m just saying,” she continued, “I think it’s in [i]all[/i] of our best interests right now to go in there and get a massage and maybe a pedicure or two.”
Sighing, Nicki became well aware that she would have to accept defeat. They certainly were not about to give up, not until she walked out of that spa after being unnecessarily pampered. With a roll of her eyes she opened her door and stepped carefully out of the car, keeping in mind that Tyler wasn’t there to save her if she stumbled. Although his family did a fantastic job supporting her, she couldn’t trust them to take care of her the way he did. Maybe it had been a mistake to separate.
As if he could hear her thoughts, her phone lit up with his name.
Tyler 14:37:02: Please tell me you’re still alive
She tried to giggle quietly, hoping not to alert everyone she was with that she was already exchanging text messages with him. It would never behoove her to let them know just how much she needed him.
Still alive. They tricked me, took me to a spa. Looks like you’re off massage duty for the day.
“You coming or what?!” Candace shouted. She was impatiently holding the door open, hand on her hip and foot tapping quickly against the ground. Apparently everyone had already made it inside without her noticing.
Nicki began to speed walk, sending her sister-in-law into a giggle fit.
“You’re starting to waddle!” she shrieked, using the hand that once laid on her hip to grasp her side while she laughed.
“Shut! Up!” Nicki called back between breaths, which were becoming alarmingly labored. By the time she reached Candace, she was completely winded.
“Hey,” she muttered, becoming instantly serious. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She heaved a bit more before she could speak again. “Not really used to being fifteen pounds heavier yet.”
“Well take it easy you. I don’t want psycho dad jumping down my throat if you end up in the hospital again.”
“Psycho dad?” she chuckled, following Candace into the luxurious lobby, complete with sparkling granite floors, clouded glass accents, and dim chandelier lighting. It became clear quite fast that this was no neighborhood spa; she expected that they would be receiving the celebrity treatment in a place as exquisite as the one they were in. She briefly wondered who would be footing the bill, as it was sure as the sunrise that she wouldn’t be allowed to.
“Oh, you haven’t heard that one yet? We’ve been calling him that since Thanksgiving.”
She shook her head, acknowledging the hostility that sometimes existed between Tyler and his sisters. “I’ll be sure to never tell him that.”
“Do what you want, I’m pulling it out the next time he pisses me off,” Candace snickered.
“What’s the evil look for?” Cassidy asked, coming up by Nicki’s side.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Girls,” Nicki warned, preparing to break up what could have turned into a very ugly dispute. Her attention was captured by buzzing in her hand, however, and the only thing on her mind were the tiny words lit up on her phone screen.
Tyler 14:41:23: That’s too bad… I was looking forward to it
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still
She only got through half of her text before receiving another from him.
Tyler 14:41:56: BTW if any guy lays his hands on you I’m coming down there to kick his ass
Erasing what she’d typed before, she started fresh.
I’ll make sure I get a woman, don’t be flirting with any of the Home Depot employees now.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” someone whispered in Nicki’s ear, making her jump. She looked up from her phone and placed a hand over her racing heart. Cassidy stood in front of her, with an ear-to-ear grin stretched across her face. “I think it’s adorable. Please don’t stop doing adorable things just because I’m around now.”
“Somehow I get the feeling Ty’s gonna be acting differently, with you and Liam around now. You know how he is.”
“Not really,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve never been close with him like Candace is.”
Nicki could sense the disappointment in Cassidy’s voice. It had always been obvious that she looked up to him, especially when it came to hockey. She figured that they’d at least been close when they were younger, before Tyler moved away. Suddenly she found herself feeling sympathetic; she would have given anything to have her brother back. Losing him made her realize just how precious siblings were, and she was determined to make Tyler see that.
Slinging her arm around Cassidy’s tiny shoulders, she pulled her close for a nonchalant hug. “We’re gonna change that, okay?”
“Seriously?”
“We’re all set girls!” Jackie called from across the lobby.
“We’ll talk about it later,” she promised.
** * * *
Too late I already asked one out. I just couldn’t help myself, the way her bingo wings jiggled when she mixed the paint for us drove me crazy
Tyler smirked to himself as he hit send. Today was turning into one of the days when he didn’t want to spend a single second without Nicki. They weren’t a rare occurrence, but when they did happen, he couldn’t get her off of his mind. All he could think about was later that night when everyone else was asleep and they were in bed, finally able to enjoy each other before the day ended. Thinking of it only made him miss her more, and he began to feel the separation from his babies as well. What he would give to fast-forward to the moment when he would finally be able to feel them moving. There was a strong possibility that he would refuse to leave Nicki’s side until he was forced to start training camp.
When her name flashed across his phone, he unlocked it as quickly as his large fingers allowed him to, anxious to see what her response was to his teasing.
Nicki 14:45:12: :’(
To keep from showing everyone around him the smile on his face, he had to cover it with his hand.
You know I’m just kidding babe. There are only 3 girls for me :)
Texting her brought him back to the days when they would stay up until the crack of dawn exchanging message after message, each one more exciting the last. It reminded him of everything innocent, before life became so dark and complicated.
Nicki 14:46:31: I hope you still love them when you find out they’re boys ;)
Funny. I’ll love them no matter what. Not as much as I love their mother though
“Tyler! There you are! Jesus Christ son, we thought we were gonna have to walk home. What are you doing?”
Glancing around, Tyler saw his father standing about fifty feet away, with Bill on his left and Jim on his right. None of them looked very happy, and it dawned on him that he’d been lost in his own little world for much longer than he’d thought.
“Did you get the paint?” Bill asked, raising an eyebrow. His face was currently the spitting image of his daughter’s, and it took Tyler a moment to get over the unbelievable resemblance. That expression was one he’d grown to adore, one that always appeared when Nicki found something questionable and was at her cutest. It seemed so out of place on such a large, hardened man, and distracted him from the question he’d been asked.
Shaking his head, he tried to clear his brain. The text he received made it nearly impossible.
Nicki 14:48:59: You just earned yourself a goodnight blowjob
He looked back up at them, and was sure his thoughts were written all over his face.
“Is everything okay, Tyler?”
Remembering the uncomfortable conversation that had taken place in the car earlier, he did his best to push away the distractions.
“Uh, yeah I got the paint.” He turned to the counter where he recalled placing it. Earning a suspicious stare from the woman behind the counter, he grabbed the two heavy cans and walked briskly to where his father stood. “Did you find a swing set?”
“We did, they’re bringing it to the house now, we gotta go.” His father reached for the paint cans, freeing up his hands to send one last text before their labor-filled afternoon began.
Counting the seconds
After sending it, he decided to add one last detail.
<3
** * * * *
“So did you text through your whole massage, or just part of it?” Candace asked loudly, shooting her a skeptical look over the woman filling her acrylic nails.
“None of it, actually.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed, turning her attention to the TV across the room.
“Forget her,” Cassidy whispered from the pedicure chair next to hers. “She’s fighting with Brad, she’s just jealous that they don’t get along as well as you and Ty.”
“Oh yeah, cuz we’re so perfect,” she said sarcastically. “If she wants to feel good about her relationship, all she has to do is look at the scar on my stomach. We all remember that week.”
“But that was so horrible, no one would have reacted well to that. They fight over… well, nothing. She’s afraid he thinks she’s in it for the money.”
Nicki looked quickly over at Candace, feeling more than sorry for her. There had been a point in her life when she had feared the same thing, and it had lowered her self-esteem to dangerous levels.
“Maybe I’ll talk to her about it tonight,” she murmured. Her eyes drifted down to the tiny woman scrubbing her feet, before travelling back to Cassidy. “Speaking of, we still need to finish our chat.”
“Nicki, I really, really appreciate it, but I don’t see how you can change Ty’s opinion of me. I’m pretty sure he’s felt the same way about me since I was born. I’ll always just be his annoying little sister.”
“That’s so untrue Cass. So, maybe you annoy him sometimes. Everyone does. You’ve grown up so much since we’ve met, he’ll see how lucky he is to have a sister like you.”
“I hope you’re right,” she sighed, leaning back into the comfortable leather chair she was sitting in. “I feel like I’m totally invading your privacy though. I mean, we all know how… busy the two of you are. He’s gonna hate me for getting in the way.”
Unable to hold back a cackle, Nicki had to quickly apologize for moving her feet and screwing up the nail polish being carefully applied to her toes.
“Don’t even worry about that. Your bedroom is the furthest away from ours for a reason.” She took a moment to let Cassidy fake a cringe before carrying on. “And as of tomorrow, Liam’s in our custody. If we have to worry about anyone, it’s gonna be him.”
“Oh, that would be bad.” Cassidy joined her in a laugh, earning them both an unhappy glare from Candace.
“I’ll have to talk to her later,” Nicki whispered.
“Don’t you ever get sick of dealing with all of our problems?”
“How could you even think that?” she asked, almost feeling a bit hurt. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s almost unreal how lucky I got.”
A small laugh came from beside her. “Lucky? Candace and I never shut up, my brother’s an asshole, my mom is insane, and everyone is always fighting. How you put up with it, I’ll never know.”
“Someday you’ll understand.” Noting the dwindling of their conversation, Nicki took the time to check her phone. It had been hours since she looked at it. As silly as she felt to do so, she held her breath hoping that she would have a message. After lighting up her phone screen, she nearly jumped for joy. She had not one message, but four.
Tyler 14:52:36: Counting the seconds
Tyler 14:52:41: <3
Tyler 15:41:12: What do you think? (Picture)
Tyler 16:34:34: First coats done. Should be finished by the time you get back
She enlarged the picture he sent her and stared at it for what felt like an hour before responding.
You did a great job, babe. Looks kinda weird, though, it’ll take some getting used to. Wish I was there.
Before she could even put her phone down, it buzzed twice in her hand.
Tyler 17:19:28: Me too. PS I’m starving
Pizza?
Nicki stared at their conversation, which had grown pathetically long over the short span of time that they’d been apart. She was feeling relaxed and, for the first time in weeks, comfortable. There was no lingering back pain or throbbing headache; even her stomach felt less finicky. After being rejuvenated in such an extreme way, she felt like her old self. And her old self desperately wanted to go home and care for her husband. It felt like it had been an eternity since the last time she felt energized enough to pamper him, and although he would never admit it, she knew he missed it.
Tyler 17:22:01: :)
Thought so. See you soon baby.
While she waited for her nails to dry, she reclined further into the plush pedicure chair and let her thoughts wander. This would be their very last night without a child in the house, and she wanted to make it memorable.
** * * *
“We’re back!” Jackie called into the empty foyer.
Nicki stepped through the doorway after her, carrying the bags filled with unnecessary spa products purchased for Candace after the breakdown she had before they left. Talking to her about Brad slowly creeping to the top of her excruciatingly long list of things to do.
“We’re upstairs!”
Having to hold in a squeal of excitement, she dropped the bags carefully to the floor and bolted up the stairs, taking no mind to her slightly disabled physical state.
“Nicki be careful!” Diane called after her. “No wonder your back hurts!”
When she hit the landing, she took a sharp left towards the room designated for Liam, where she expected the men to be hard at work. Before she could find out, however, a large form stepped out and directly into her line of movement. She tried to slow down, but couldn’t stop herself from ramming into it.
The second she felt her body against his, her arms shot around his torso, locking tightly. Lips graced the top of her head, causing her to let out a long, relieved sigh.
“It’s pretty gross how much I missed you.”
Tyler’s laugh made his chest heave, shaking her head along with it. “I know.” He left another kiss, longer this time. All she could do was bury her face deeper into his tee shirt. The smell of paint and sweat had never been so sweet. “It’s also kinda gross how hungry I am.”
As if on cue, his stomach growled so loudly she would have been able to hear it ten feet away.
“There’s pizza on the island,” she informed him, picturing the smile that was surely forming on his face. “I got you a meat lover’s.”
She finally backed away from him, knowing that he was about to make a dash for the kitchen.
“You coming?” he asked. In his voice she could hear the desire to be with her, and it made her gut twist.
“In a minute, I wanna see the room.”
He nodded slowly, and in one swift motion planted a soft kiss on her cheek and dragged his fingers along the length of her stomach. “I hope you like it.”
“I’m sure I will,” she muttered as he brushed by her and she began to make her way towards the only light that filled the darkening hallway.
Upon entering, it became evident instantly that she picked the right color paint. She was so focused on how it changed the feel of the room, she almost didn’t even realize that it was occupied with children’s furniture, all of which she’d never seen before.
“Where did all of this come from?”
All three men looked at her, and her father was the first one to answer. “Tyler picked it out. What do you think? He was nervous you wouldn’t like it.”
In shock, Nicki sat slowly on the racecar bed pushed up against the wall. The entire room was finished, even complete with a huge Batman poster and a small TV, XBOX already set up and games stacked in a basket underneath it.
“Tyler did this?” They all nodded, and Paul wore a grin that told them just how proud he was of his son. “All of it?” More nods. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered, trying to memorize every detail. “This kid is gonna be so spoiled.”
“With parents like the two of you, I wouldn’t doubt that,” Paul said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t know how I felt about Ty being a father. But I saw a different side of him today.”
“I told you,” she reminded him, wearing a grin to match his. “There are parts to him that I don’t think you’ll ever get to see. Liam, though… he’s going to be just as lucky as I am.”
** * * *
“So are you excited for tomorrow?”
Tyler eyed his mother. Had he not made it obvious how anxious he was?
“I can’t wait,” he stated flatly. “It still seems kinda surreal.”
Helping her put away the last of the dishes, all he could think about was how badly he wanted to run up the stairs and into his bedroom. Spending all day and night with everyone had exhausted him, and unfortunately he’d barely seen the one person he truly wanted to be with.
“What does, honey?”
He shrugged and picked up the final dish from the drying rack. “We’re finally going to be a real family, you know? It took so long, but for some reason it feels like it all happened so fast. It’s like it was yesterday when I asked her to marry me.”
“I always warned you,” his mother said in her ‘I told you so’ tone, “Life goes by too fast. You better enjoy it, Ty.”
He carefully placed the plate in the cabinet that it belonged in. Before turning off the lights, he took one last scan of the kitchen. Tomorrow was going to be a hectic day, and the least he could do was make sure everything was in order while it still could be. He followed his mother into the living room, where his entire family was sprawled across his couch, watching one of the Harry Potter movies.
“Speaking of enjoying life,” he said quietly to his mother, hoping she would get the hint. “I’m going upstairs.”
“I’ll make sure no one bothers you sweetie.” She turned to give him a hug and added, “You be careful with her, we just got her all fixed up.”
“I will,” he chuckled, leaving a kiss on the top of her head before sneaking out of the room and up the stairs.
Taking the steps two at a time, there were several occasions where he almost lost his balance and fell. He tripped over the final stair, but caught himself by hanging onto the railing. If he was going to make it to his room alive, he needed to take a minute and calm down.
He spared a glance into Liam’s finished room, which he’d received so much praise for from Nicki. Something told him that she’d never quite been so proud of him, not even when he lifted the Stanley Cup above his head. Long ago he’d proved to her that he was a suitable father, but he didn’t see the need to stop just because she believed him. Besides, the way it felt to have her incessantly compliment him was incomparable; it was something he constantly strived to achieve.
When he reached the door to their bedroom, he nearly knocked. Then he figured he’d much rather catch Nicki in whatever she was in the middle of doing. It didn’t matter if she was changing or singing or sleeping, any and all of those things made him smile. Pushing lightly, he let the door open itself. Nicki stood by their bed, with her back turned to him. If he hadn’t been so distracted by the nearly nonexistent black lace nightgown she wore, which covered just enough to make saliva pool in his mouth, he would have noticed her lighting dozens of candles all across the room.
Wondering whether or not she’d heard him come in, he cleared his throat. Instead of turning her body towards him she simply glanced over her shoulder, looked him over, and went right back to what she’d been doing before. For a moment longer he stood in the doorway, frozen in place by the mesmerizing mix of her beauty and sex appeal. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to bring her to the bed and make love to her, or slam her against the wall and take her that way.
She seemed to sense his indecision, as she finished her work preparing the perfect ambience and placed the lighter down slowly on her bedside table. Finally he saw her from the front, and found himself trying to recreate the way her body looked without the thin material covering it. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, to explain exactly why she had left him utterly speechless. All he could do, however, was watch as she glided towards him, her footsteps so light that he couldn’t even hear the pads of her feet as they hit the hardwood floor.
Once she was close enough, Tyler instinctively reached out, trying to rid her of the tiny dress. She caught his hand and clicked her tongue, as if he was being scolded.
“I’m the only one that gets to touch.”
Every ounce of him wanted to challenge her, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do so. He nodded once and balled his fists, keeping them tightly clenched by his sides. His eyes were another story. They absorbed every inch of her smooth skin, they traced longingly up her body, until they landed on her shapely lips, tinted the most delicious shade of pink. He leaned in slowly and let his eyelids begin to fall, only to be surprised by a little finger pressed against his mouth.
It almost physically hurt to open his eyes and watch her deny him everything he wanted. As difficult as it was, nothing was going to stop him from observing her every move as she reached first for his shirt, lifting it over his head with ease. Her hands explored the vast expanse of his torso, with voraciousness like that of an explorer on uncharted territory. Against his best interests, his breathing picked up and deepened.
Catching him off guard, Nicki stood on her tiptoes and cautiously touched her lips to his. His eyes flickered shut and it took all of his concentration to have his hands remain by his sides. Her closeness allowed him to pick up on the scent of her perfume, which was as soft and inviting as her kiss.
She backed away, letting her hands slide down his body on their way to the button of his jeans. Tyler sucked in a breath from the sensation of her soft touch, and laughed when he saw the first break in Nicki’s composure as she became wide-eyed at the sight of his abs flexing. She began to laugh too, and for the first time in a long time, he got butterflies in his stomach.
Testing the waters, he unclenched his fist and raised his hand to her face. She didn’t push him away, and when his palm found her cheek she leaned into it and sighed.
“I can’t keep up this sexy act forever,” she mumbled. The smile remained on her face, captivating him.
“I thought you were doing a great job.”
He looked straight into her eyes, which had turned to molten chocolate in the incandescent light of the flickering candles. Tyler briefly tried to remember a time when those eyes weren’t so familiar, back before he had ever plummeted over the edge and gazed into them. It was a time that he both couldn’t remember and chose to forget.
“I’m too awkward to be sexy.”
Her giggles filled the room around them. It was a sound he would surely never tire of. Tyler shook his head, in disagreement and disbelief.
“You are sexy every second of every day,” he whispered, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, much like he did the very first time they kissed.
Tyler half expected some kind of sarcastic rebuff, and was about to make one himself when he realized he’d stumbled upon a perfect moment, and his window was closing fast. Before she could rip her puppy dog eyes away from his face, he scooped her up and placed her gently on the bed. Her body barely hit the mattress before he was over her, shaking off his loosened pants as his lips dropped to hers.
At one point he had to come up for breath, as Nicki had stolen all of it. He leaned back on his knees and slid his hands up the length of her legs, until he reached the lace hem of her dress. She was nodding before he could even get a question out, and in seconds the fabric was on the floor and she was completely bare in front of him. Tonight it was clear that they needed no preparation; spending a day apart had been all the foreplay they required.
There was only one thing he felt was necessary to do. He bent forward and left a single kiss in the center of her stomach. All of the things he wanted to say to her were not nearly important enough to be brought up and ruin what they had going. Tyler inched the rest of the way up her body, until they were groin against groin.
He established a rhythm in their kiss, and refused to take the next step until he found exactly what he was looking for. A groan travelled through their entwined lips as he finally slipped in. He wanted so badly to stay attached to her, to feel her lips through the entire thing. When he began to rock his hips he realized just how impossible that was going to be. Pleasure and warmth and security took over his body, flowing through his blood and seeping into his brain.
Nicki’s fidgeting beneath him indicated that the same was happening to her. Tyler gave in and dropped his head to her shoulder, burying his face in the familiar crevice created by her neck and shoulder. He could feel her in every limb, in a way he never had before. Moving slowly, he tried to drag things out as long as he possibly could. They were both very aware of what that night meant, for their lives and for their relationship.
As if she could read his mind, Nicki wrapped her arms around his back and her legs around his waist, letting out a desperate whine when he plunged all the way in. Her fingertips dug into his shoulders, like she wasn’t able to get him as close to her as she wanted. The love that radiated from her could be felt throughout the entire room, and filled him to the brim. Every tiny noise and every subtle movement exuded passion and affection.
The act itself overwhelmed him, and he knew that he wouldn’t be lasting as long as he planned. He attempted to stop for a moment to gather his bearings, a plan that was thwarted almost immediately.
“Tyler, keep going,” she panted, squeezing the air out of his lungs with her lustful pleas. “Don’t stop baby, please don’t stop.”
It only took him seconds to gain his momentum back. At a loss for what else to do, he left soft kisses all over her neck, hoping to prolong the impending end of what was surely one of the best experiences of his life. When his tongue lashed at her old favorite spot, he both heard and felt her reach her breaking point. Bringing her there brought him as well, and in a few short moments he was lying on top of her, attempting to keep his weight off of her stomach.
Nicki’s lips pecked the side of his head over and over again, only stopping to whisper in his ear.
“You haven’t made me feel like that in years.”
Rolling off of her, he wasted no time pulling her body against his. She curled up in his protective arms, getting comfortable like he’d never seen anyone else be capable of.
“That felt like our first time,” she admitted quietly, bringing both of them back to the fond memory of their first time together.
Tyler nodded and pressed his lips to her temple. “That’s what I was thinking the whole time.” He paused, pondering over whether it was a good idea to start a serious conversation, or to just lie and cuddle and enjoy their last few hours of freedom. He didn’t see the harm in trying to talk. “I know this might not be happening much after tonight… But promise me we’ll never change this.”
“Change what?” she murmured, sounding as though she was already halfway unconscious.
“This,” he repeated. “The way this feels right now. I never want to lose this.”
“I promise baby.”
He couldn’t do anything but accept her promise, and trust her not to break it. There was no guarantee that it would be easy, in fact if anything, it was going to be trying. But as long as he wore a ring on his finger and slept with a wife by his side, he would refuse to let anything ruin what they had, to let any situation cloud his perpetual love for her.
“I love you Ty,” Nicki said softly, followed by a long and definitive yawn.
“Yeah,” he whispered, momentarily dropping his hand to her stomach, feeling for the newly discovered bump. He found it instantly, and Nicki’s hand covered his, bringing their family as close as they could possibly get. “I love you too.”
She shifted a bit more, making it clear that she was settling in for the night. Sometimes he had no idea how she could be comfortable, never mind spend an entire night with her face pressed against his chest or stuck between his neck and a pillow, but she seemed to enjoy it.
When he was sure she was too far in to respond, he added a, “Sleep tight, babe.” A tiny, tired noise came from her throat, making him chuckle and pull her a little closer. Her hand eventually became limp, leaving his all alone on her belly. Being careful not to disturb her, he lifted it out of the covers and let it land on the side of her head, where his fingertips grazed gently across her silky hair. He traced the same path time after time, using the rhythmic motions to lull himself to sleep.
The last thought that crossed his mind before he slipped under was one that would ensure he would wake the next morning with a smile on his face.