Part 479
It was barely ten minutes later that Becca wandered out barefoot, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She could see the back of Nick’s head and from the position he was in, he was obviously asleep. Smiling almost wickedly, she decided to wake him up. Padding softly across the room, she stopped in her tracks when she rounded the huge sofa, completely caught off guard by finding Sarah asleep with her head in his lap. She raised one eyebrow in speculation, and was looking forward to hearing the story behind this one, because there had to be story. Too bad the camera was still packed, because a picture of them like this could become a classic almost instantly.
She was caught in a dilemma: wake them up or try to find some way to occupy herself for a while? She was about to opt for the latter when she spotted something on the floor. Bending to retrieve it, her blood ran icy cold.
"My journal?" she whispered. "Where did this come from?"
"Mrs. Chambers gave it to me," Nick whispered reaching for her hand as she jumped. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you."
Becca silently fingered the letters on the cover, knowing without asking but needing to anyway.
"Nick, did you-"
"Yeah, baby, I read it." He held her hand tightly when she would have pulled away. "I know I shouldn’t have, but-"
Becca sighed and looked at Nick. She felt badly, because he really did look contrite and she knew he hadn’t meant any harm. In all actuality, maybe it was better that he had read it. "It’s okay, Nick. I guess … it’s good, I guess. Now you know everything."
Nick opened his mouth to answer, but the door to the suite opened as Howie returned.
"Hey! Where’s my beautiful wife?"
"In my husband’s lap," Becca replied with a wink, pointing down at Sarah.
"It’s not nice to talk about someone who’s unconscious, you know," Sarah mumbled, sitting up and stretching. "How long was I asleep?" she yawned.
Nick looked at the clock, "Not long. Maybe ten minutes."
Howie helped Sarah up. "I was thinking that we could all-"
"Maybe later, D," Sarah said looking at Becca and then back to Nick. To Becca she said, "I think you two need some time to talk. We’ll figure out dinner later."
Becca nodded her head in appreciation. "Thanks, Sarah."
"Nick, you okay?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, sis, I’m fine," he answered with a smile. "Thanks for everything."
"Any time, Nicky. Come on D, let’s map out a plan for tonight." Sarah pulled Howie off toward their bedroom, leaving an awkward silence behind.
Nick looked up at Becca, her eyes downcast, her thoughts a million miles away. "Come sit, Bec."
"Hmm?" She shook herself out of her reverie. "Oh. Okay, sure."
"Is GT feeling better?"
"I guess so," she shrugged. "He’s sleeping soundly."
"That’s good." Small talk. Damn it, small talk with your wife is never a good sign. He ran his hand through his hair and tried to think of something to say, but Becca saved him the effort.
"I guess you have questions," she said softly, picking at a piece of lint on her jeans.
"No, I don’t."
Her eyes shot up to meet his. "You don’t?"
"Not any more, Becca. Your journal explained everything."
"I guess I forgot to pack it when I left."
"No wonder, the way Sarah says you flew out of here."
"Nick, I-"
"Bec, it’s okay, really." He pulled her as closely as he could and rested his lips in her hair. "I just feel like now, now I understand everything. I mean, I thought I did before, but when I read this," he took the journal from her cold fingers, "I finally understood all of it."
Becca shivered, partly from the cold and partly from what she was being forced to relive.
"And you know what?" Nick continued. "I’m so proud of you."
"Are you insane?" she asked pulling away from him.
"No, I’m not. Just very much in love with my wife. Baby, when I read what you went through it opened my eyes. I knew some of it, but I only had what you shared with me, or what Sarah told me, to go on. I’ve spent months putting my own personal spin on things and thinking I knew it all, but in truth I didn’t know squat. When I read, in your own words, what it felt like to leave me, then in some strange way it made everything better."
"But you said you forgave me, Nick." Becca’s eyes filled with tears and now she suddenly was very unsure of herself.
"I did, Bec, I really did. But it was blind faith and love. Now I know not only what you did and why you did it, but more importantly, how you felt when you did it and it makes it even better. God, I sound like a pompous ass, and I’m sorry." Nick rubbed a hand over his eyes. He was making it worse.
Becca cupped his cheek in her hand and said softly, "I hurt too, Nick. Every day I was away from you was like a lifetime. I really didn’t think I’d ever see you again, but then suddenly I had my baby … your baby, and it made everything so different. I didn’t want our baby to grow up with one parent like I did. And I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I missed you so much, and I needed you. You read it, Nick, I called Sarah and I asked for help."
"It must have been hard to do." He kissed her forehead as she scooted closer.
"I hung up four times before her phone could even ring. And when she finally answered, all I could do was cry. I’m sure I scared her half to death." Becca giggled as more memories came flooding back. "Did she tell you I almost didn’t get on the plane in Miami?"
"Say what?"
"I didn’t know we were heading on to Key West to meet you, and I almost bailed out."
"Bec, why? You’d come so far."
"I was so afraid. I was afraid you wouldn’t want me back," she whispered. "And then later, on the beach, you said my name and I froze. I knew once you saw me, realized that I was-" she stopped to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Pregnant?"
"Uh huh. I was just so scared, and so unsure of it all."
"Baby, come here," he said, pulling her across his lap. He held her as closely as he could, rubbing her back and knowing that not much he could say would help at this point. They sat in silence for a good half hour, just listening to each other’s heartbeats and reconnecting. Finally, Becca leaned back to look up at Nick.
"Are we okay?" she asked softly.
"Okay? Baby, we’re perfect," he said, just seconds before his lips touched hers. He kissed her softly, loving the way she melted into his arms and then he sighed as her fingers tangled in his hair. This surely must be what heaven was like. Finally it was all out there. Nothing more kept quiet, no more surprises. God above, she was back, she was his and he was never going to let her go.