Part 488

"Bec?"

"Hmmm?" She never opened her eyes, she simply lay still, her head on Nick’s shoulder.

"Baby, we need to get to bed. It’s been a long day."

"Okay," she mumbled, still not moving.

Nick giggled. "Bec, I’m serious." He nudged her, trying to make her move, but not succeeding.

"Niiick…" she whined, "I’m so comfy."

"Okay, baby, a little longer. How’s GT?"

"Better, I think. The Tylenol seems to be helping and even with all the ruckus earlier, he went back down pretty easily."

"How are you?"

"Me? I’m okay, Nick. I guess I got kinda freaked out earlier. I’ve never seen Sarah like that, Nick."

"She’s a mess, that’s for sure. But Howie seems to know how to handle her."

"Did you two have a nice time tonight?" Becca was curled on her side, her head still on Nick’s shoulder and her hand rubbing mindless circles on his tummy.

"Yeah," he smiled. "It was cool, yanno? Just to hang out, kinda like the old days."

"I’m glad you went. Sarah and I had a nice time too." She felt him pull away to look down at her and giggled. "Well, I meant before the meltdown or whatever the hell that was."

"I’m sayin’."

Becca sighed, and Nick sighed. The unaccustomed silence was almost overwhelming.

"Wanta watch a movie?" he asked.

"No, it would wake everyone up. It’s really nice to just sit here with you." Her hand had wandered beneath his shirt and was playing with the soft hair just above his waistband.

"Wanta neck?" he smirked.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun." Smiling, she tipped her face up, sighing as his lips brushed hers.

Nick’s smirk turned into a soft moan as he felt her mouth against his, and what he’d said to Howie earlier was just confirmed even more. Moments like this were perfect, and too damn few and far between. Pushing gently, he lay Becca down and stretched out beside her. He threw one of his legs over her to prevent her from falling off the edge, and they lay together for almost another hour, talking quietly, kissing, touching and enjoying the silence and each other.

At some point, Nick had turned on the digital radio channel and soft romantic music set a peaceful backdrop for their loving. A familiar tune, about a year old now, came on and Becca smiled against Nick’s chest and began to hum along. Her head bounced softly as Nick began to chuckle.

"Country music, Bec?"

"Never mind, I like this song. It’s on all the pop stations, and besides, the words are perfect." She sighed and held him closer as she began to sing to him. Nick held her tightly as her words began to sink in and it just seemed to make the night even more perfect.

"Sounds good, baby," he sighed, kissing her face as the song ended.

"It’s a great song, Nick. It says just what I feel about you." Reaching up to run her fingers through his hair she sighed. "I still can’t believe that you chose me, out of all the women you’ve met. It amazes me that we’re together and that I’m living this life with you."

"I love you so much, Bec, there’s no place else I’d rather be. I wouldn’t trade any of it, not one minute." He reached up a hand to brush the tears from her face; he loved that a simple declaration of his love could reduce her to tears. "Hey, here’s a thought. Wanta sing that in the show Wednesday night?"

"No way, Nick. It’s enough that I’m singing with Sarah, do NOT put me out there all alone."

"No! I meant I’d sing it with you. Maybe it would be a good time to say something to the folks in the crowd. You know, kind of a thank you for what they did for you last spring?"

"You want to sing with me? Nick, I love it. Will we have time to work on it? I’ll need to talk to Sarah about where to put it in her set-"

"Slow down!" he laughed. "I know just how to do it, and don’t tell Sarah anything about it. I want this one to be a surprise. Leave the music up to me. I can have Mook get the charts and we can work on it tomorrow. We’ll do it while Sarah and Howie are out sightseeing."

"I hope you know what you’re doing," she mumbled with a frown.

"I picked you, didn’t I?" he smiled, kissing her gently.

Part 489        Index