by Cookie Jones
“He’s such an idiot,” Buddy snickered and I laughed as I got up and walked over to Nick.
“Hey! This place smells like heaven,” Nick said when he saw me and gave me a very sound kiss on the mouth.
“I knew you’d like it, come on,” I told him.
When he saw our parents, he was genuinely happy and surprised to see them.
“What are you guys doing here?” he asked as he went around the table, greeting everyone.
“Of course we’d come to congratulate you on your new job,” Marge said and gave Nick a long hug. I actually teared up a little watching them together.
“You okay there?” Gina asked me as I sat down and I nodded.
“Yeah, these hormones just make me…overly emotional,” I said and she laughed.
“So…Clary, Nick, I didn’t know that the two of you were together.” My mom was the first to say anything, of course. But my dad and Marge looked at us, also curious.
“Ah yeah, we love each other, I have proof all on tape,” Nick said and my eyes popped as my gaze cut to him and he cracked up.
“You’re such an idiot,” I laughed and punched him playfully in the arm.
“I’m kidding, but I do have the exact time and date saved that Clary finally admitted she loved me,” Nick nudged me with his shoulder and gave me a sly grin and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“That’s fantastic! When’s the wedding then?”
I almost froze, but then groaned instead.
“Mom, one step at a time,” I complained and she completely ignored me.
“We had Clary’s wedding fund set up at the same time we started her college fund,” she said and I groaned again.
“That’s wonderful news I’m so happy for you two!” Marge said exuberantly and kissed Nick on the cheek.
My dad simply smiled, but looked a little melancholy.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” I asked and he shrugged.
“Oh you know, it's just…you’re all grown up is all,” he said and I laughed.
“I’ll always love you, Daddy, don’t worry,” I said and he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Good, never forget that I was the first man in your life,” he said and I cracked up.
After that we all went to load up on food and dinner was fun. By the time everyone called it a night, I was pretty tired and wondered if that would be something to get used to as the baby grew.
“So this is the gift basket, huh?” Nick said when we got home and he unwrapped it. “Look little baby clothes,” he said in a soft voice and I looked at him in amusement. Then he gasped and pulled out the breast pump. “The pump,” he said and I cracked up.
“Nicholas Price, if I catch you playing with that you will be going into time out,” I said and he looked at me with a smile.
“Nice, have you been practicing your mom voice?” he asked and I shrugged.
“I don’t know, I think once you become pregnant you get it automatically,” I said and Nick put the pump back in the basket.
“You better get in that room, young lady, we have some cuddling to do,” he said in a completely non convincing voice.
I shook my head and laughed. “You need some practice.” I chuckled and he shrugged.
“I thought it was okay,” he said optimistically as we made our way to the bedroom.
We actually did just cuddle; I was sure Nick was aware of my exhaustion.
“So…earlier when your mom brought up marriage…” Nick brought that up just as I was about to drift off.
“Yeah?” I said curiously and glanced up at him.
“Do you want to get married…? Like, you know, one day,” he asked me slowly and I nodded.
“Of course, I just said what I said because I didn’t want her to, like, put pressure on you or anything like that,” I said and Nick nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Nick, seriously, I’m not expecting a proposal tomorrow or whatever…” I said and he nodded.
“I know, it’s just nice to know that you’re open to marriage,” he said and I tilted my head a little.
“I’m actually a little surprised you seem to be open to it,” I said and Nick nodded.
“Only with you,” he said and emotion swelled into my chest so fiercely that I couldn’t really speak and I thought I’d cry again. So I just gave him a big wet kiss and fell asleep against his chest feeling extremely loved.
Come morning I was woken up with a giant wave of morning sickness. Just when I thought I had it beat or something, the baby definitely didn’t like the Chinese food. Maybe it was all the soy. I ran to the bathroom just in time and I even managed to lock the door so Nick wouldn’t insist on holding my hair and watching me throw up.
“I can break in you know,” Nick said through the door and I groaned.
“You better not!” I yelled and then another round of heaving started.
I seriously needed to start factoring morning sickness into my day. When it was over and I had my mouth thoroughly washed out, I unlocked the door and Nick came barreling in as if he had been leaning against it.
“Are you okay?” he asked in concern and I nodded.
“I’m fine, this is normal for pregnancy,” I reminded him and he shrugged.
“I don’t know, I just feel bad you have to go through all the bad parts of having a baby too,” he said and came over to wrap his arms around me.
“It’ll be worth it in the long run,” I said and he kissed my temple then let me start up the shower. “So when do you have to be into the office?” I asked him and then smirked. He was leaning against the sink counter and blatantly watching me undress.
“An hour and a half,” he said and I nodded.
“We leave for work at the same time,” I said and he nodded, though I was sure his thoughts weren’t on work by the time I stepped into the shower stall. His eyes were a bit darkened and traveling down from my face.
“How long do you think it’ll take us if I get in there with you?” he asked and I smirked.
“Um…not sure, depends on if you’ll let me shower or not,” I said and he chuckled as he undressed and hopped into the shower with me.
Needless to say, we were both nearly late for work that morning. My dad had stayed in the city because Jayce was signing everything that morning and, of course, all current partners had to be present since it was just the two of us thus far. As I walked past my office, Stacy practically leaped out of hers to catch me.
“What’s up, Stacy?” I said curiously and glanced to the left to see that Jayce’s office was already being set up.
“The paperwork is ready for Jayce and also your afternoon is clear,” she said.
“Really? Wow, that never happens, are you sure I have nothing scheduled?” I asked and she nodded, her eyes were a little wide though and I wondered if she had too much coffee that morning. “Well I guess I’ll have time to do some busy work myself then,” I said.
“Oh, you should relax a little, I’m sure with Jayce’s help, your work load with the Raven and Co case will be cut in half,” she said and I shrugged.
“Well, I guess you’re right, but still sometimes I can’t help myself,” I said and then made to go into my office, but Stacy kept talking.
“You stay late in the office all the time, maybe working at home would be a nice change of pace,” she said and I slowly nodded.
“Yeah…sure,” I said slowly and contemplated her strange behavior. “Uh, can you have Jayce come up here and the notary?” I asked and she nodded.
“Sure thing, the documents are on your desk,” she said and then I felt her actually watch me walk into my office.
“Weird…” I mumbled to myself.
Then I wondered if I was just kicked out of my job early by my assistant…I shrugged and quickly reviewed the documents Jayce had to sign before he and the notary came into the office. My dad came in just as I was going over the last page.
“Hey just in time,” I said and he smiled.
“Th
e traffic in this city is no joke,” he said and came over to kiss me on the cheek.
“I just finished going through the paperwork, everything’s legit,” I said and my dad gave me a slightly annoyed look. He hated that word.
“A senior level lawyer does not use the word, ‘legit’, Clary,” he said in a bored tone and I hid my smirk.
Jayce walked in with the notary then and we got things signed pretty quickly. Jayce was clearly still very happy about his promotion, honestly who wouldn’t be? But he was a lot more professional and didn’t give any impulse hugs or anything. After that it was official. My dad and I made the announcement to the rest of the firm in the lower floor and Jayce got warm congratulations. He hadn’t been working for the firm very long and already the entire office seemed to love him.
“Alright, so I should get back to New Haven, I’ll talk to you soon,” my dad said as I walked him out to the building’s lobby. I gave him a tight hug goodbye and then went back up to the office. As soon as one o’clock came around, Stacy popped her head into my office, an oddly bright smile was on her face.
“Hey, Stacy…do you have something for me?” I asked and she shook her head.
“Oh no, I was just checking to see if you were still in is all,” she said pleasantly and I nodded.
“Okay then,” I said and she quickly popped her head back out of the office. I stared at the door in confusion for a few minutes and then it dawned on me. I got up and went to her office and saw she was on the phone. I tapped on her open door and she quickly said something into the receiver before hanging up.
“Hey, Stacy, is the office doing another surprise thing? Because if they are and it’s for me tell them to stop, already. The gift basket was beautiful…but if it's for Jayce, I want in,” I said and Stacy laughed.
“We…wanted to pull a little office prank on him actually,” she said and my eyes widened.
“That goes on in the office?”
I had to take more trips outside of my office and the conference rooms. That sort of thing could always get out of hand.
“No, no, it’s just something innocent, I promise. The rest of the office just didn’t want you to find out, because we didn’t want anyone getting in trouble,” Stacy said and I figured, if the prank was bad enough, Jayce had the ability to fire people as he saw fit.
“Okay then…well, nothing too serious, and try not to encourage that sort of thing in the future. Birthday cakes and congratulations stuff is fine, but no pranks,” I said and Stacy nodded vigorously.
“I’ll be vigilant after this and try to stop any pranks I see,” she said and I nodded.
“Alright then…well, the less I know, the better. I’ll head out now,” I told her and she brightened a bit.
“Okay, have a good rest of the day,” Stacy beamed at me and I really wondered what kind of prank was being planned that would have her acting so weird.
I packed up my desk then headed home. Nick called me while I was on the way and I smiled as I pictured him in his new office at his new desk.
“Hey, working man, how is your first official day?” I asked him and the warm sound of his chuckle seemed to seep into my chest.
“It’s amazing, but I forgot about lunch earlier and was hoping you’d be free right now?”
“Yeah, I’m actually off for the rest of the day. Where do you want to meet up?” I asked and Nick took some time to think about it.
“How about…near the park on Madison and Seventy-Third? Then we can take a little walk,” he said.
“Sure, that sounds great, I’ll meet you there,” I said and we ended the call.
Nick stood outside the little eatery, waiting, when I walked up. He looked so GQ in his button up and blazer over a pair of jeans and regular loafers. He smiled and made to come towards me when he saw me but I held my hand up.
“Wait, let me just look at you,” I said and he grinned, then struck a pose with his foot pointed out and one hand in his front pocket. He had a little bit of a five o’clock scruff going on and, of course, his hair was silky as ever. Not to mention his near sinfully beautiful face. “Okay I’m done.”
He laughed then bounded over and gave me a sound kiss on the lips.
“I heard they have good food here for lunch,” Nick said and he laced his fingers with mine.
We had a nice, quick lunch and I told him about Stacy acting weird and whatever ‘prank’ was going on in the office. After we left the restaurant we took a walk to the park and actually found a quiet bench just for us. It was picturesque, really, it was a beautiful day out and most parts of the well manicured park were picturesque.
“So when do you have to get back to work?” I asked Nick and he sat forward on the bench, seeming nervous all of a sudden.
“I have the rest of the day to work on an individual project so I don’t really have to be in the office,” he said and I nodded.
“That’s cool, what do they have you working on this time?” I asked and he wiped his hands down his lap.
“Just fixing a tiny kink in the design I worked on…” he said and I tilted my head at him.
“Are you okay?” I asked and he nodded.
“Yeah…yeah,” he said.
“Are you sure? You look like you’re about to pass out or something,” I said and he chuckled.
“This is crazy, I’ve never choked before…” he said and I only became even more confused. “I have to ask you something, Clary,” Nick said and stopped him.
“Just take a deep breath, Nick, it’s me you can talk to me,” I said and he nodded.
“I think…we should get a dog,” he said and I smiled.
“Okay…as long as you help train it, having a dog in an apartment can be rough, I’ve heard,” I said and Nick smiled at me and seemed to relax.
“Okay, now for the real question…” Nick slid off of the bench and got down on one knee.
My heart did weird things in my chest, like flutter, skip and stop all at once. I’m pretty sure that was like a mini heart attack.
“Nick…” I said on a whisper and he nodded, his eyes were full of love, though I still saw some lingering nerves.
“Clary, you know how I feel about you. You’re everything I never knew I wanted in a woman and I just fall in love with you more and more everyday…so—if you’ll have me, I’d very much like to be your husband. Will you marry me?” he asked and I simply stared at him, a little stunned for a moment.
“You’re really proposing right now?” I whispered and he laughed.
“Yeah, I am…oh crap, I almost forgot,” he slid his hand into his pocket and then pulled out a ring.
I gasped as it dawned on me that he couldn’t have been doing that because of what my mom said.
“When did you get that?” I asked and only registered the glittering light reflecting off of the three prominent diamonds.
“After I realized that I loved you and never wanted to be without you…” he said with an almost sheepish smile and I knew that was way before what my mom said the night before. “So uh…will you? Marry me?” he asked again and I nodded as a huge wave of emotion flooded my chest and my eyes seemed to drown in tears.
“Of course I’ll m—marry you. I love you,” I practically sobbed and Nick looked like he won the lottery and also as if he was worried about my sobbing.
“Are you happy?” he asked me and I nodded and laughed.
“It’s these damn hormones,” I squeaked and he laughed, then slid the ring onto my finger and picked me up into a warm hug that lasted forever, just long enough for the tears to stop of course.
“I love you,” I told him again, once I could speak normally.
“I love you, too,” he said and then wiped my cheeks before he kissed my deeply.
It was like we were in our own little wonder world. When he broke the kiss, I was a little light headed, but also really hot and needy; once the hormones got going they really didn’t settle for a while.
“Hey let’s go home,” I said
huskily and Nick grinned wide.
“I have the best wife ever!” he said and I laughed at the outburst.
We walked hand in hand back to Madison and I couldn’t stop admiring the ring. It was perfect, not too gaudy, but definitely no slouch. The band was simple sterling and there was a trio of diamonds at the center.
“When did you even get this?” I asked him. “Like…how…” Nick shrugged.
“It was an impulse sort of thing. While you were at work, I often took walks in the city just to get to know the area and I walked into a jewelry shop. Next thing I knew I saw this and thought it would be perfect for you. But it’s one of a kind made from some craftsman in Italy that was visiting his son in the city. Something about the specific cut of the diamonds being rare and hard to set in jewelry…so I bought it. I figured I’d have it for when I was ready to ask you,” he said and I beamed at him.
“You’re full of surprises you know that,” I said and he nodded.
“I know…you make me a different person—a better person,” he said and I shook my head.
“That’s all you, Nick,” I said and he didn’t argue, but I saw in his eyes he didn’t agree.
Then he gave me that look that melted my insides and turned them into butterfly valley.
“You know you’re, like…my everything,” he said and I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help the huge grin on my face. “Also you have killer sexy legs,” he said and I cracked up. Yep, he was the love of my life too, that was for sure.
THE END
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Cookie Jones here and I hope you really enjoyed my novel (don't forget to rate me!).
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BABY SHOWER
1 - Tasha Blue – The Best Man's Baby
