Love Menagerie: Chapter 17: Just To Be Here Tonight

*Note: I don't know much about Freddy's family, because the information simply isn't out there. Therefore, the characters set up to depict his family are fictional. If I learn more about them, I will come back and change it. And as noted in Chapter 16, my Spanish isn't perfect. If you see errors, feel free to e-mail me.*

Nick/Sarah

Nick smiled as he walked into the kitchen to find Sarah and Lucy cooking breakfast ... or trying to, at least. Somehow most of the food was either on the floor, the counters, or their clothes. Lucy was giggling hysterically, a big glob of pancake batter on her nose and another in her hair.

"It looks like a war zone in here," Nick snickered as he made his presence known, moving to stand next to Sarah and peering over her shoulder.

"Íbamos a sorprenderle con el desayuno," Lucy scrunched up her nose in distaste.

"English, Lucia Rose," Sarah smiled, gently reminding the little girl that Nick was one of the few in the house who didn't speak Spanish.

"I got 'breakfast' out of that sentence," Nick stated proudly, his face lighting up with excitement.

Lucy giggled, "Oh, Nick, you're silly. We were going to surprise you with breakfast."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nick frowned. "Did I blow it?"

"Just a little," the little girl nodded.

After eating breakfast, Lucy ran outside to find her uncle, leaving Nick and Sarah alone. Silence quickly enveloped the room and Nick was just glad that he and Sarah were at least getting along ... the moment would have been hell if she were still giving him the silent treatment.

"I'll help you clean up here," Nick said as he stood, taking his plate back into the kitchen and grabbing a sponge. He honestly had no idea how Sarah and Lucy had managed to make that big of a mess. He heard Sarah call his name a few minutes later. "Yeah?"

"Can you come back out here?"

Nick dropped the sponge back into the sink and rinsed his hands off, quickly drying them on a clean hand towel. He made his way back into the dining room and found Sarah still sitting in the same position, only now there were tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong, Sar?" Nick asked, his face clearly etched with worry. He sat down next to her and ran his hand through her hair, pulling her face closer to his. "Why are you gonna cry?"

"This morning," Sarah sniffed as a solitary tear made its way down her face, "you wanted to know what's going on between us."

"Yeah?" Nick nodded, hoping he'd finally be getting some answers.

"The truth is," Sarah sighed and wiped her eyes and nose on the sleeve of her shirt, "I don't know."

Not exactly what Nick had been wanting to hear. He seriously didn't understand what was so confusing or complicated about them. She either loved him or she didn't. What was so difficult? But he wasn't about to say that to her. And he still didn't fully comprehend why she'd suddenly freaked out on him and ended their relationship in the first place. One minute, she'd been okay with the fact that he had a girlfriend; and the next, there was nothing more inconceivable, in her eyes. But he wasn't about to say that to her either.

Sarah obviously had some things she needed to work through before giving Nick another chance. He just hoped she did it soon. He couldn't stay there at Brittany's and Derek's house forever. Sooner or later--and probably sooner--his career would come calling and leaving things up in the air with Sarah was one thing that he really didn't want to do. He'd rather she tell him to get the hell out of her life ... though he'd been praying day and night that she didn't.

"Oh," was Nick's only response. Honestly, what more could he say?

How the hell can you not know what you're feeling? No.

How much frickin' longer is it gonna take you to make up your d*mned mind? Uh, no.

I love you and da gonnit, you better love me too? Hell no.

"Well..." Nick prodded, hoping Sarah might open up a bit more and tell him what she was thinking. She was always so close-minded.

"Well what, Nick?" Sarah sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "I don't know what more to say. We're not like Freddy and Brittany, we can't just--"

"Why do you always compare us to them?" Nick gave her a look, one she had a hard time deciphering. "We're us, they're them; concentrate on us, Sarah."

Sarah sighed, "Fine, I'll concentrate on us. But we're not simple, Nick."

"And why the hell not?"

She sat silently, wondering that herself. Why weren't they simple?

"I don't know," Sarah finally whispered, standing up to take her dishes into the kitchen. "We're just not."

Freddy/Brittany

"I want to go snorkeling and hang-gliding and rock climbing," Brittany was rambling as she and Freddy made their way through Caracas' Simon Bolivar International airport around eleven o'clock in the morning. She'd bought a tourist book from the airport bookstore, while Freddy had been in the bathroom fifteen minutes ago, and was quickly reading about the city's attractions.

Freddy rolled his eyes with a laugh, "Not meaning to burst your bubble or anything, Ritt, but uh ... hang-gliding and rock climbing? Did you forget the small fact that you're pregnant?" He gave her a smile to ease the disappointment.

"You suck, Fred, you absolutely suck."

"You swallow."

"Don't guys like when girls swallow? What kind of insult is that?" it was Brittany's turn to roll her eyes, yet she managed to also add a hair flip as she walked ahead of him. Ahhh, the power of being a woman.

"I'm not having this conversation with you," Freddy laughed and walked faster to catch up with her. "Wait up, bozo. I'm sorry I had to be the one to put a stop to your fun; I'm just looking out for your safety. But look, I think that snorkeling sounds great. We can fish too. We'll still have fun, babe," he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him, trying to get back on her good side. "During the day we'll check out the tourist sites and at night I'll take you out on the town. How's that sound?"

Brittany looked up at him with a scowl on her face, but she just couldn't keep it up very long at all. Pretty soon she had a grin on her face and was leaning into his shoulder in an attempt to hide it. "That sounds good ... I guess the daring sh*t'll have to wait."

"There's one thing I need to tell ya ... you can't just go walkin' around by yourself, okay? It's not ... the safest place."

"Hmm," Brittany looked up at him and ran her fingers across his jaw, "I guess I'll just have to keep you by my side."

Twenty minutes later they had their bags and were heading outside to the Carmack to wait for someone from Freddy's family to pick them up.

"My gosh," Brittany groaned as they got outside. "I don't even feel like we've left Florida. I hate the weather there. Can't I ever have a break?! How hot is it out here?"

"Eh," Freddy stood silent for a minute or so and Brittany had begun to think he wasn't going to answer her. "Eighty-six degrees, seventy-nine percent humidity."

"What? Where'd you see that?" she turned in circles, looking for his source of information.

"I didn't," he grinned down at her.

A car horn interrupted them and they looked up to see Freddy's cousin, Alejandro, behind the wheel. Freddy grabbed her hand quickly and slung his bags over his shoulder, heading for the car. The trunk popped open as they got closer and they tossed their luggage in, before getting into the back seat, where Freddy made the awkward introductions.

This is Brittany, my... friend.

They drove to Freddy's parents' house, having decided earlier that they would stay with them for the night since they'd be celebrating Independence Day into the early morning. The car ride was filled with conversation, Alejandro getting to know Brittany, even though he didn't speak very good English. Freddy had begun to help by translating when things got confusing by Brittany's slang, but eventually she just resorted to speaking Spanish to make it easier on all of them.

Alejandro admitted sheepishly that the family had been surprised to hear of Brittany being pregnant. She blushed lightly at his words but quickly shrugged it off, knowing it was only natural for Freddy's family to be concerned. But when she met his parents a few minutes later, she hadn't been prepared for what his father would say.

"So when are you two getting married?" was one of the first things Antonio Garcia said after meeting his son's girlfrie-... er... friend.

Freddy nearly choked on his own saliva. His family was Catholic, naturally, and he knew his parents were very traditional ... but gosh, he hadn't been expecting that one. Leave it to Mom to stick up for her son.

"¡Antonio, déjelos solos!" Cecilia Garcia scolded, taking Brittany by the arm and guiding her into a warm hug. "You poor thing, don't listen to him."

Freddy couldn't help but smile. His two favorite women.

Freddy and Brittany spent the evening and night with his parents and numerous cousins, uncles, aunts, and other distant relatives. He had a huge extended family and though Brittany often found herself overwhelmed with trying to remember names, she loved it. She enjoyed their traditions, their language, and their culture in general. At two in the morning, Cecilia led them upstairs and opened a door at the end of the hall, turning the light on.

"I set you two up in here-" Cecilia didn't finished her sentence, seeing their faces. She'd figured her son was used to sleeping with the girl ... she was pregnant, after all. So what was so shocking about the situation? She just hoped she hadn't offended Brittany.

Though Brittany was thoroughly enjoying the thought of sleeping with Freddy in the same room ... same bed ... she was surprised and even nervous. She had definitely not been expecting this ... and neither had Freddy. What had happened to his traditional parents?

"Oh, come on, you two," Cecilia smiled warmly and patted Freddy on the shoulder, "it's the new Millennium. Get over it."

Freddy just stood there as his mother clasped his face between her hands and gave him a kiss on his forehead and cheeks, before doing the same to Brittany and leaving the room. He laughed as he walked farther into the room and placed their bags on the floor at the end of the bed.

The bedroom was modest, as was the rest of the house, but was decorated with a beautiful style and Brittany couldn't help wondering how much that had to do with what Freddy did for a living ... but she, of course, didn't ask.

"Trust me," Freddy was saying as he plopped himself down onto the bed with a tired smile, "you've definitely been welcomed into this family."

Brittany laughed and walked to him, placing her arms around his neck and leaning down. She kissed him long and slow. She'd been wanting to do a lot of that lately ... she just couldn't help it. Gosh, she was happy.