White Orchids

“Bella!”

Bella got a running start and pounced onto Nicki, squealing with excitement.

“Auntie I missed you! Where’s Uncle Tyler?”

Nicki hoisted her up so that she could hold her comfortably. She’d gotten heavier since they’d seen her last. Taller, too.

“He’s outside, talking to your dad. How did you grow so fast Bells? It’s only been two months!”

She giggled and squirmed in Nicki’s arms, eager to see her favorite “uncle”.

“I dunno! Let’s go see him!”

If she didn’t love Tyler so much, she might be a little jealous of Bella’s favoritism. Instead, she found it sweet that someone else saw how amazing he was, even if she couldn’t tie her own shoes yet. Nicki called into the house to let Lisa know they’d be outside and took Bella to see the boys. Before she had a seizure, Nicki let Bella down and watched her sprint over to Tyler, clinging to his leg like a koala bear.

A hand on her shoulder drew her attention away from them. She turned to give Lisa a tender hug, keeping the growing baby in mind. When Lisa pulled away, she glanced down at her stomach.

“You are such a bitch. I’m not a whale yet,” she said, smirking. “I won’t show for a few more weeks.”

Nicki shook her head and continued to stare at her stomach, lost in thought. She tried to picture herself pregnant, but couldn’t. A part of her had always been terrified by it. The morning sickness, the swollen ankles, the sore back; none of it sounded very appealing to her. Forget about the pain of childbirth. Nearly everything about pregnancies frightened her. Why she was so ready to face it, she didn’t know.

“Someone’s being a little sketchy today,” she joked, jolting Nicki back to reality.

“Sorry, Lis. I’ve been zoning out a lot lately.”

Lisa’s hand found its way to her arm, comforting her. “Babies on the brain?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she admitted. “It’s all I can think about. That, and making them.”

A laugh burst from Lisa’s lips, so loud that it startled Nicki.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I don’t know why I found that so funny. Blame the hormones. I take it neither of you is enjoying protected sex very much?”

“We wouldn’t know.”

“You haven’t…?!”

Nicki shook her head. “Not since before I came out here. We’ve found other ways to keep ourselves entertained. Don’t get me wrong, it’s agonizing. We just haven’t had it in us to try.”

“Are you two doing okay?” she asked. The concern was plain in her voice.

“That’s the funny thing, Lis. We’re better than we ever were. We’ve spent most of our free time just talking. It’s weird how you can be with someone for four years and still not completely know them. God, he is just incredible,” she said, almost in disbelief. The last part was supposed to stay in her head.

“I can’t believe you’re still so in love with him. That’s supposed to wear off, you know.”

She smiled at Lisa. She knew that they had something that most people didn’t understand. They had something that, until she met Tyler, she didn’t even know was possible. There was a point in her life where she’d begun to think there was no such thing as real love, that it was just the decision to stay with someone who made you happy enough. Nicki never imagined that the sweaty palms, nervous laugh, butterflies every time you see them kind of love existed. But she’d found it.

“Well I hope it never does.”

Lisa returned her smile and pulled her into another hug.

“Me too, girl. Me too.” When she let Nicki go she asked, “So you’re absolutely positive that you’re up to this? You understand she’s going to want to sleep in your bed, right? You’re going to have zero time to yourselves. Please don’t send my daughter back here corrupted.”

“Yes, I’m sure we want to,” she responded, chuckling. “I think it will be a good test to see if we’re really ready for this. Tyler is sure we are, but – “

Lisa interrupted her. “But you’re not. It’s okay, hon. You don’t have to be. I wasn’t sure by any means when I was pregnant with Bells. Zach kept convincing me that it would be fine, and now look. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Besides,” she added, “If it works right away, we can be preggo buddies. Didn’t we always say we’d do that?”

Nicki giggled and thought back to the day they’d made a pinky promise that they’d get pregnant together and be neighbors and raise their kids to be best friends. So, the neighbor thing hadn’t worked out. The fact that Lisa’s daughter called her “Auntie” told her they hadn’t been too far off from their promise.

“Yeah, we did say that. Evaline, too. She’s almost halfway through already. You should see her. She. Is. Huge,” she said, breaking up her last sentence for emphasis.

“I miss that little Canadian rascal.”

“Yeah, so do I. Are you going to come to her baby shower? I think it’s in October or November.”

Lisa’s face dropped. “I wish I could, but I can’t leave Zach here alone with the kids. He doesn’t have the time to take care of them by himself.”

She wasn’t about to take no for an answer, she knew Evaline would be ecstatic if Lisa made it.

“Bring the kids. Ty can watch them while we’re there, and you guys can stay with us for the night, or however long you want. We can turn the office back into a bedroom. Please, Lisa?”

A grin crossed her face, and Nicki knew she’d won her over.

“I can’t say no to that. Hope Tyler doesn’t mind you volunteered him to be Mr. Mom for a day.”

“What did you do?”

The voice behind Nicki rushed through her ears, flooding her with comfort and security and familiarity. She would never get tired of hearing it, and would never get used to the penetrating deepness and the perfect, subtle mix of Boston and Canadian accents that flowed from him.

Tyler’s arms snaked around her waist as he left a kiss on the side of her face. It had only been minutes since they’d seen each other last, yet she missed him like he’d been gone for months.

“I’ll fill you in later,” she said, snuggling into him.

“You really are something marvelous,” Lisa said quietly. “If I didn’t love the both of you so much, you would make me nauseous.”

Anxious fingers tugged at Nicki’s hand. She looked down at Bella, whose legs were moving back and forth in place.

“What is it Bells?”

“Let’s goo!” she whined. “I wanna see Marshall!”

She laughed, remembering Bella’s last encounter with Marshall. She’d been two at the time, and fell in love with that brown lump of fur the second she laid eyes on him. Bella spent the duration of the trip curled up by his belly. The most intriguing part was that Marshall seemed to like it, and by the time they left, had grown protective of her, as if she was one of his puppies.

“We should probably get going, anyways,” Tyler said, leaving another kiss on Nicki’s cheek before releasing his hold on her. “Do you have her stuff packed?” he asked Lisa.

“Yup. Zach hon, could you get Bella’s things?” she called across the yard at Zach, who was inspecting something on the lawn.

He gave her a gruff, unintelligible answer and walked by them towards the house. Nicki gave Lisa a skeptical glance. She’d thought Zach had gotten better.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “He just had a bad week. I swear, he’s been better. I think this new baby was just what we needed, I think it really opened his eyes. We never thought we’d have three kids to take care of.”

“You’d tell us if he went back to the way he was though, right?” Tyler asked.

It warmed Nicki’s heart to see how much he cared about Lisa. When they’d first started dating, he barely even knew her. Even since, they really hadn’t seen each other much. But Tyler always tried to reach out to her, he always made an effort to be close with the people she loved.

“Of course I would.”

Zach returned and their conversation had to cease. Tyler took Bella’s suitcase from him, earning a few giggles from Bella.

“Uncle has a pink suitcase!” she teased. “That means you’re a girl!”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, picking her up with his free arm and throwing her over his shoulder, evoking more squeals.

Lisa and Zach both laughed, and Nicki saw from the corner of her eye Zach place a kiss on Lisa’s cheek. Maybe he had straightened out, after all.

“I’ll drive them to the airport,” Lisa said to him.

He nodded, and she leaned in to kiss him. Nicki admired it for a moment before turning around to give them some privacy. She caught Tyler’s gaze and exchanged a smile with him.

I love you, he mouthed.

I love you, too.

** * * * *

“MARSHALL!”

Bella dashed through the hallways in search of her furry friend. Within seconds, the recognizable thunder of his paws against the hardwood ricocheted off the walls. He ran so fast, Nicki was afraid that he was going to hit Bella and knock her over. Instead, he stopped short when he got to her and gave her a long, sloppy lick on the face.

She giggled and shrieked. “Ew puppy! That’s gross!”

Marshall very clearly remembered Bella. His tail was wagging ferociously, but his demeanor was gentle and sweet. It was as if he could sense that she was fragile. Nicki joined them on the floor and rubbed Marshall’s neck underneath his collar, the way he’d grown to love. His body slumped to the floor and loud groans came from his mouth, sending Bella into hysterics.

“You ready for lunch Bells?” Tyler asked once the laughter subsided. “We have to leave soon, and I don’t think you’ll like the food where we’re going.”

Milan and Brittany were hosting a belated Fourth of July barbeque at their house that night. It was a last minute affair, inspired by the teams’ desire to see each other after spending two months out of contact. Most of them were strewn across the four hemispheres of the earth for the first half of the summer, and training camp was only months away. It was approaching the time of year when team bonding was in full swing.

“Okay. Can I have grilled cheese?!”

Nicki knew that she would want grilled cheese her first day there. She wouldn’t be all too surprised if Bella asked for grilled cheese every day she was there. As she attempted to push herself up from the floor, a pair of hands gripped her waist and pulled her up.

“Ty, that was so sweet,” she said quietly so that Bella wouldn’t hear. “What made you do that?”

He shrugged. “It looked like you needed help.”

In that moment, she would have liked nothing more than to shove him onto the couch and kiss him until the sun rose the next morning. Unfortunately, if she wanted to do that, it would have to wait. Two weeks.

Nicki left Tyler to play with Bella as she prepared her lunch. It was two o’clock, and they were supposed to be at Milan’s by four thirty. She hoped it would be enough time to get ready. She’d decided to spend some quality time on her appearance, figuring if Tyler couldn’t have what he wanted, the least she could do was give him something nice to look at.

She sandwiched some cheese between two slices of bread and slapped it onto the hot pan, waiting for it to brown. To occupy herself while she waited, Nicki tried to come up with things for them to do with Bella while she stayed with them. Tomorrow they were taking her to the beach, which should be interesting considering that Bella had never come into contact with the ocean in her short life. The duck tours were a must, but other than that, she was having trouble figuring out what a child would like to do in Boston.

“Oh no!”

Nicki turned off the stove and set the sandwich aside, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she sped to the living room to see what Bella was upset about. She stopped holding her breath when she realized nothing was wrong, except for the fact that all of Bella’s belongings were spewed across the living room.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Mommy didn’t pack my dress! I don’t have anything pretty to wear,” Bella said, nearly in tears.

Tyler came out of their bedroom as soon as Nicki noticed his absence. He scooped Bella off of the floor and held her up so that her face was in front of his.

“Want me to take you shopping Bells? We’ll find you something,” he assured her.

She instantly perked up and nodded her head, making Nicki laugh. Tyler always knew exactly what to say to her.

“Thanks Uncle,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He flashed Nicki a grin over Bella’s shoulder, as if to say ‘I told you so’. Tyler wouldn’t stop until Nicki was entirely convinced that they were ready to be parents. She had no problem believing that he was; it was herself that she was unsure about. Was she ready to be a mother?

“Your grilled cheese is ready, honey. You should eat before you go.”

Bella pulled her head back so that it was inches from Tyler’s. “Okay Uncle Tyler I eat then we go!” she shrieked.

He chuckled as he brought her into the kitchen. Nicki watched in admiration, wondering when exactly he’d become so amazing with children. She had always known he was good with his young fans, but with Bella he acted like a father.

When she joined them in the kitchen, her sandwich was already half gone.

“Geez, someone was hungry, huh?”

Bella shook her head. “No, just excited to go out with Uncle Tyler!”

Nicki smiled, and noted that Bella had improved her speech. She had grown up so much in only two months, and it made her feel a little sad. She was familiar with the cliché that your children grow up too fast. But until then, she’d never seen how fast.

“Where are you gonna take her?” she asked Tyler.

Normally, he’d probably go to the mall. But it was a bit of a drive, and they were slightly pressed for time.

“Just downtown, I guess. I’m pretty sure they had a GAP kids or something like that.”

She scoffed. “Good luck. I can’t wait to see the articles that come out this time.”

Tyler slipped an arm around her back and pressed his lips to the side of her head. He left his lips there a little longer than he normally did, and she sensed that he was already feeling the restrictions of having Bella there.

“It’ll be fine. You’ve accepted my illegitimate child with open arms, and she’s living with us now. I’m sure everyone will be very happy for us,” he joked, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

She had to keep herself from letting out a moan. He knew when he did that, it was the ultimate form of comfort for her. It led her to wonder why he’d done it just then. Nicki looked at him inquisitively, attempting to understand the expression on his face. He lifted the corners of his mouth just enough to make her heart skip a beat. That smile was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him in the first place.

“I’m all done!” Bella shouted, trying to get herself down off of the stool.

Tyler left Nicki’s side to grab her before she fell to the floor. He knelt down by her and placed his hand on her back.

“Why don’t you go say goodbye to Marshall? Then we can go,” he said, giving her a small push towards the living room.

She took off, and Tyler stood quickly and cupped Nicki’s face in his hands. His eyes darted a few times back and forth between hers before he closed them and brought his face down to hers, his lips parting slightly when they met. Tyler pulled away slowly and pressed his forehead against hers, still holding her face in his hands.

“We’ll be back soon, okay?” he whispered.

His warm breath bounced off of her face, leaving her speechless for a moment. All she could muster was a nod and half of a smile. He made sure that she was going to miss him while he was gone. Bella came back into the room and Tyler let his hands fall.

“Ready to go, Bells?”

** * * * *

“But I wanna sit in the front with you,” Bella complained as Tyler strapped her into the car seat.

They’d bought it last week in preparation for her arrival. Tyler figured they would need to invest in one sometime, anyways, and got the best one he could find.

“Sorry, Bella. The front is only for grownups. You could get hurt if you sat up front,” he said, planting a kiss on her forehead once he’d gotten her settled.

“I wanna be grown up. I’m tired of being little.”

Tyler closed the door and got in the driver’s seat before he answered her.

“I know it seems hard to believe, but I used to say the same thing. And now I wish I was a little kid again,” he admitted.

“Really?”

“Uh huh.”

For the first time since she’d learned to talk, Bella was utterly silent. Tyler checked in the mirror constantly to check if she’d fallen asleep. She stared out the window the entire ride.

“You okay Bells?” he asked, growing concerned.

“Yup.”

Tyler pulled into a parking garage and paid the fee. Once he’d found a spot, he turned around to face her.

“You know you can tell me if something’s wrong, right?”

“I know,” she answered flatly.

He got out of the car to unbuckle her, looking up at her face every few seconds. She looked sad, and for the life of him he couldn’t think of a reason why. Had he said something? In an attempt to make her smile, he tickled her sides. The giggles started immediately.

“Uncle Tyler!” she screamed, “Stop it!”

“Not until you cheer up!”

“Okay,” she said, heaving to try to catch her breath, “Okay I cheer up!”

Tyler stopped and grinned at her. She grinned back, showing off her three missing front teeth. He reached into the car and grabbed her, closing the door with his hip once he’d gotten her out.

“You ready to go find a dress?” he asked her, trying to sound more excited than he actually was.

She nodded eagerly and he put her on the ground, leaving his hand out for her to hold. Bella had to reach to grasp it, but she never seemed to mind. He started to walk away from the car, but Bella stayed put. Tyler looked down at her, about to ask what was wrong.

“Uncle Tyler?”

“Yeah?”

Her eyes traveled from his face to her shoes. “I love you,” she mumbled.

That was the only time she’d ever said it to him first. He knew that this moment would be etched in his brain for as long as he lived.

“Aw, Bells, I love you too,” he said, bending down on a knee to hug her.

** * * * *

“That’s a lot of bags for one dress,” Nicki teased as Tyler and Bella walked through the door.

Tyler turned to face her. As he did, the smile on his face slowly faded and his grip on the bags loosened, causing them to fall to the floor. She giggled at his reaction, she’d been hoping for something like that.

“Woah, Auntie looks really pretty,” Bella said, staring at her.

“Thanks sweetie.”

“Bella, why don’t you go get dressed,” Tyler said, never breaking his gaze from Nicki.

She grabbed one of the bags from his feet and ran to their bedroom. Neither of them had the nerve to tell her that she would be sleeping in the office, on an air mattress, partially because they both knew she would ask to sleep in their room and they would both say yes.

Tyler stepped slowly towards her, shaking his head. Nicki gave him a small smile, the same smile that usually drove him crazy. His hands slid up her body, coming to a rest on the sides of her neck. He lowered his head as if he was going to kiss her, but passed her face and stopped when his lips were against her ear.

“Are you trying to kill me?” he whispered softly. There was agony in his voice, an agony that Nicki had become quite familiar with over the past couple of months.

Instead of moving away from her, he kept his lips against her skin, inching closer and closer to her neck.

“Ty,” she groaned, “You can’t.”

He continued until he reached her collarbone, then finally stopped himself. Tyler delicately picked up the diamond that rested against her skin and a smile formed on his face.

“You’re wearing the necklace,” he stated.

“I wear it every day, babe. You just never notice.”

“You still wear it every day?”

Nicki looked into his eyes, which had taken on a persona of their own. They spoke every word that Tyler never could, and told her things that he wouldn’t. At the moment, they were telling her that he loved her. The moistness gathering in the corners of them told her how much.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest, recalling the memory of the night he’d given her the necklace. The night he’d asked her to move in. The night she’d finally been able to tell him how she felt. To that day, it still remained the best night of her life. It was the night that her life finally and permanently changed.

Quick footsteps broke them apart.

“How do I look?!” Bella asked, spinning around in her new dress.

“You look beautiful, sweetie,” Nicki said. “You picked a very pretty dress.”

Tyler walked over to Bella and knelt down in front of her.

“Will you be my date tonight, Bella?”

She crossed her arms behind her back and smiled down at the ground. Nicki’s hand came up over her mouth as she marveled at the sight in front of her.

“I guess,” she said shyly. “What about Auntie?”

Tyler looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. “The way Auntie looks right now, she won’t have any trouble finding another date.”

Bella giggled and skipped away, most likely going to find Marshall. Nicki approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“That was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen,” she said.

He rested his hands on her hips and leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead. It made her feel powerless and weak, in the best way. Tyler always pointed out the power he thought she had over him. She never told him that, if he wanted to, he could completely crumble her. Turn her to nothing with the snap of a finger. Nicki decided it was something best kept to herself.

“I’m sorry I left you dateless.”

“That’s okay. Worst comes to worst, I can always bring Marshall,” she joked.

Tyler chuckled and let go of her hips. “You look so damn good I almost forgot… Look what we found downtown.”

He returned to the bags he’d dropped by the doorway and pulled out a heap of cloth. When he unfolded it, he explained.

“So, we ended up near the Garden. You know how they have those stands where they sell tee shirts and everything?” He paused, waiting for confirmation. When she nodded, he continued. “Well, there was this one selling Bruins and Red Sox stuff. Of course, Bella wants to stop and look at everything. Then the guy running the stand recognizes me and says ‘hey, I have something you might like’. And he pulls out these.”

At first, Nicki thought they were just plain Red Sox tee shirts. Then Tyler turned it around and showed her his last name and number on the back.

“How cool is that?” he asked. “I figured we could hit up a game this week. Bells would love it.”

She stepped forward and grabbed one of the shirts from him; he’d bought one for each of them. She loved that he was such a superstar around Boston, yet still got excited to see his last name on memorabilia.

“I think that’s a great idea, Ty. I’d love to go, too. I haven’t been since the last time you threw out the first pitch.”

Tyler stared at her for a moment before they both burst out laughing. The summer after they won the cup, he and the rest of the team each got to throw the first pitch at a game. On Tyler’s day, he’d made a poor choice in clothing, and his jeans split down the middle in front of the entirety of Fenway Park, and everyone watching on TV. He took it like a champion and laughed it off, even cracking a few jokes about himself to the interviewers. The Red Sox loved him for it, and Nicki vowed to never let him live it down.

She sighed, trying to ease the cramp in her sides from the laughter.

“I have so many good memories with you,” she said, hoping he knew just how much it meant to her.

He pulled her to him and held her close, leaving a lengthy kiss on the top of her head.

“I know. I wouldn’t give them up for anything.”

They stayed that way for a while, enjoying the comfort of each other’s arms, and reminiscing of their best days together.

“Is it August yet?” she asked. “I just want to marry you, already.”

Tyler laughed lightly, and Nicki stayed still, appreciating the way his chest moved against her head.

“I’m getting pretty impatient, myself. I’m tired of calling you my fiancé.”

The thought of referring to Tyler as her husband overwhelmed her.

“But wife sounds so old,” she whined.

“What do you want me to call you, then?” he asked, laughing again.

“Nicki’s fine. I like babe, too.”

His arms tightened around her and she made herself more comfortable, nuzzling her head into his chest.

“Okay, babe. We should probably get going,” he said, placing a last kiss on her head before letting go of her. “Bella?” he called down the hallway.

While they waited for her, Nicki asked, “Is that what you’re wearing?”

She watched as he looked down at himself and guessed he hadn’t even thought of it.

“Shit. No. I’ll be two seconds,” he said, running towards their room.

Bella waddled in with Marshall by her side. “Where’s Uncle going? He’s supposed to be my date,” she said, crossing her arms and pouting.

Nicki laughed and said, “He just went to change. He wants to look good for his lady.”

Bella’s cheeks turned crimson as a smile crossed her face. Maybe Lisa was right, Bella was certainly giving her a run for her money when it came to fighting for Tyler’s affection.

He turned the corner and Nicki scowled at him. Tyler had put on the khaki shorts. The ones that would be the death of her someday. He looked boyish in them and his button down shirt and white sneakers. As she scanned over him, she realized he’d dressed himself in all of her favorite articles of clothing. It wasn’t just coincidence, he was out for revenge.

“You ready to go?” he asked, smirking. He knew exactly what he was doing.

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Bella screamed. “I wanna meet LOOCH!”

Nicki silently followed them out of the apartment, giving Marshall a pat on the head before they left. She stood by and watched as Tyler buckled Bella into her car seat, admiring how quickly he’d mastered it. He was trying so hard to prove to her that he would be a good father; apparently he felt like it needed confirmation.

She slipped into the passenger seat and spaced out while Bella and Tyler went back and forth about something. Halfway to Milan’s, a hand reached across the car and rested on her bare thigh. The dress she was wearing exposed nearly all of her legs; she knew Tyler would have a hard time ignoring her. His large, warm palm on her leg was the most sensual thing she’d experienced the entire day, and it was eating away at her. Only three and a half weeks remained until the wedding, and the honeymoon. They would be the longest three and a half weeks she’d ever lived through.

“Woah! This is where Looch lives?” Bella asked as Tyler pulled up to the curb.

“Nice, isn’t it?”

Nicki had a similar reaction the first time she’d been to their house. It was the same night that she and Tyler kissed for the first time. She squeezed his hand before he removed it from her leg to turn off the car. Every time they visited, something sparked up between them. The memory of their first kiss was still as vivid as the day it had happened, and Nicki found herself constantly thinking of it. Back then, they’d been nothing short of strangers.

They walked together up to the house, and were greeted at the front door by Brittany.

“Hey Britt. This is Bella, my date. I hope you don’t mind that I have a plus one,” he said, winking at her.

Brittany knelt down to talk to her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bella. I’m Brittany. That’s an awfully pretty dress you have on.”

“Thanks,” she said, suddenly bashful.

Brittany smiled at her and stood up. “Everyone’s out back,” she said, gesturing for them to follow.

When they reached the sliding doors that led out to the yard, Bella let out a gasp before bolting across the lawn. Milan and Brittany had taken it upon themselves to rent a moon bounce for the kids. Judging by the dozens of pairs of shoes sprayed across the grass, Nicki guessed that everyone had brought their children. It felt strange coming with a kid, since they were nearly the only couple without them, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“So are you guys practicing or something?” Milan asked, giving Nicki and hug and Tyler a handshake.

Their silence clued him in to what was going on.

“Oh,” he said, glancing between the two of them. “I was kidding. Are you finally adding some more Seggys to this world? Like we don’t have enough already.”

Tyler slid an arm around Nicki’s waist and pulled her against his hip.

“Lisa just wanted her to spend some more time with us, so she’s staying for a couple of weeks.”

Milan nodded and left the issue alone. They hadn’t exactly discussed guidelines for telling people, and so far, the only ones who knew were Lisa and Zach. Nicki felt that telling their families too soon might be catastrophic. And the last thing she wanted was for one of their family members to find out from someone else.

“Well enjoy yourselves, it’s good to see you again. It’s been way too long since we’ve all gotten together.”

“Thanks man,” Tyler said, “It has been a while. I’m glad you decided to do this.”

“Yeah, me too. Just wait until later. We’ve got quite the surprise for everyone.”

** * * * *

“Ooh, look at that one!” Bella screamed, pointing towards the sky at the fireworks. “That one’s my favorite!”

She was reclined, half on Nicki, half on Tyler. Nicki turned her head to the left and pressed her lips to Tyler’s cheek. Without warning, his head turned, sneaking in a kiss behind Bella. Somehow, Nicki managed to forget how much he liked to kiss under the fireworks. Their first Fourth of July together, they barely saw any of the show. In fact, they barely say anything at all. It would have been fine with her anyways, but later that night Tyler explained that as a boy, it was something he always wanted to do, but never had the guts to ask.

“Hey! I thought you were my date, Uncle.”

Nicki snapped her head forward, mortified that Bella had seen. They’d promised each other that they wouldn’t do anything like that in front of her. It hadn’t even been a day yet and they already screwed up.

“Bells – “

For the first time, Tyler didn’t have anything to say to her. To Nicki’s surprise, she leaned back and kissed his cheek.

“It’s okay! I like someone else anyway.”

They glanced at each other, not sure if she was being serious.

“Who?” Nicki asked.

Bella scrambled over to her other side and whispered in her ear. “Henri.”

Henri was Tuukka’s little boy, who was a year older than Bella. Nicki looked behind her to where they were sitting, catching Tuukka’s attention. She tried her best to relay the situation without words by looking back and forth between Bella and Henri. He seemed to understand, and gave her a nod.

“Why don’t you go sit with him, sweetheart? I’m sure Uncle Tyler won’t mind.”

Her face lit up underneath the glow of the fireworks. “Really?”

“Yeah, Bells! Get over there!” she said, laughing as Bella jumped off of her and ran towards Tuukka and his family.

“What the hell?” Tyler asked, following Bella with his eyes.

“She said she has a crush on Henri, so I told her to go over there and sit with him.”

He smiled and put his arm around Nicki. “Don’t you think she’s a little young to be dating? I hear that Henri kid is nothing but trouble.”

“Tell me you aren’t going to be one of those fathers who makes their daughter wear a chastity belt,” she said, resting her head beneath his.

“What’s wrong with chastity belts?”

Nicki gave him a smack on the chest and looked up at him. “You’re not serious.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

She shook her head. “Here I am, about to tell you what an amazing father I think you’d be. Good thing I didn’t get too far into that,” she scoffed.

“If I told you I think chastity belts are horrible, would you tell me what you were going to say?” he asked as softly as he could over the bangs of the explosions.

Nicki tried to hide her smile from him. She lifted her head so that her lips were by his ear and spoke in a hushed voice.

“You don’t have to keep trying to show me that you’re ready to be a parent. Tyler, I know you are. And I know that you’re going to be an incredible, loving father. I can almost picture it now, you teaching them how to play hockey, the way their faces will light up when you come home from a road trip. The more I think about it, the more ready I feel. I’m almost there Ty, really I am. Honestly, if it wasn’t for you being so excited about it, I would still be terrified. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty scared about being pregnant. But, then I think of how great I know you’ll be the whole time… and I kind of look forward to it.”

She felt Tyler’s eyes on her and turned her head to look at him.

“You know I’d do anything for you.”

“I know. That’s exactly why I know you’re going to be a remarkable father,” she said, ending the conversation with a kiss.

** * * * *

“Is there anything else you need, Bells?” Tyler asked as he tucked her in.

She shook her head, but didn’t respond. He knew that she wanted to ask.

“Do you wanna sleep in our room?”

“Could I?!”

He laughed and threw down the sheets that he’d just meticulously placed around her.

“Of course you can.”

Tyler picked her up and carried her into their room, where Nicki was waiting expectantly in bed. They’d even placed an extra pillow in the middle of the bed for her. It would have been ludicrous to assume that she wouldn’t be spending every night in their bed. Strangely, Tyler didn’t mind in the least.

He waited for Bella to get settled before he got in. This time, he’d prepared himself and worn clothes to bed. Once she curled up against him, Nicki reached for to turn off the light.

“Wait!” Bella said, sitting up. “I not ready for bed yet. Can you tell me a bed time story?”

Tyler looked over at Nicki for help. He didn’t know any bed time stories. By the look on her face, neither did she.

“Once upon a time,” he started, praying that Nicki would catch on.

“There was a handsome prince,” she continued. He knew there was a reason why he loved her so much.

“Who lived in a castle.”

Fuck.

“What was his name?” Bella asked sleepily. She obviously didn’t have high standards for bed time stories.

“Leo,” Nicki said slowly, morphing a few names together as she spoke. Tyler tried to hold in his laughter. “And all of the girls in the kingdom had a big crush on Leo.”

As Bella’s eyes began to shut, Tyler lowered his voice. “But Leo liked the only girl who he didn’t think liked him back.”

“And it turned out, she liked him more than all of the other girls, she was just too afraid to tell him.”

Tyler glanced down at Bella. “Is she asleep?” he whispered.

“I think so.”

He finally let a grin burst onto his face. “We suck at telling bed time stories.”

Nicki’s shoulders shook as she tried to hold in her laughter. “I’m surprised she didn’t just tell us to shut up.”

“I liked where you were going with it, though,” he said. “What happens next?”

She glared at him, knowing full well that he was trying to be cheesy.

“Leo got his shit together and swept the girl off of her feet. And they fell madly in love and lived happily ever after. Night, Ty,” she said, rolling on her side to shut the lamp next to her.

Tyler laughed at her sarcasm. Nicki could fight it all she wanted, he knew that she loved all things sappy and cliché. She lived for it. To confirm his suspicions, her hand reached through the darkness to caress the side of his face. Tyler grabbed it and left a kiss in the center of her palm, before placing it on his stomach.

“Sweet dreams, babe.”

“You too, love.”