Chapter Twelve

Nick opened his eyes as soon as he heard his little baby cousin’s wails at three in
the morning.  He moaned and peered at the door, wishing she’d shut up or his aunt
would hurrry up and shut her up.  He needed sleep.  His head was pounding from the
lack of it over the past couple of days; all he could think about was her.  The look on her
face when he went ahead and took out his frustration.  He rolled over, wondering it was
taking his aunt so long to wake up to feed her kid.  It was friday- well, really early friday
anyways.  He felt himself blush with embarrassment again, incredibly furious with
himself.  Hell, he had managed to make himself believe that heh really didn’t like her
and it drove him up the wall that AJ could see through it and he was sitting back and
just watching it all.  Casey’s cries diminished a few minutes later and Nick turned in for
yet another restless night...

				  ***MEANWHILE***
	Across the country, the sun had just come out and AJ was happily asleep when
his phone rang shrilly, jolting him awake of whatever dream he had been absorbed in. 
Cursing whoever was on the line, he let it ring a few more times before picking it up.
“ Hello?” He spat rather than ask.
“ You were’nt asleep were you?” Natalie asked in a meek voice, just now realizing the
time.
“ Of course not, Nat.  It’s already sunrise, what would I be doing asleep?” He asked, his
voice muffled as he rested his head back on his pillow.
“ I’m sorry...Well you gotta wake up, now.  You have to help me.  The caterer I had
booked canceled last minute saying something about someone going in labor or
something and I’m seriously considering a lawsuit cause it’s just-”
“ Natalie, continue with the scenario, I’m falling asleep again,” 
“ Right...So I need to go find someone to cook,” 
“ And you called me because...?” 
“ Because I need you to come along, you know about this kinda stuff, you throw enough
dinner parties,” AJ chuckled to himself, remembering all too well that it was only a few
hours ago that he had gotten into bed.
“ Okay, okay, I guess I’ll come...I can’t squeeze in a few more hours of sleep?” She
paused and finally agreed.
“ My maid has to clean anyways and I haven’t had breakfast yet so I’ll give you a call at
nine?” 
“ Okay, hun.  Goodnight...”...


					*****
	AJ looked down at his cell phone to check the caller ID as him and Natalie sat in
his dining room, eating lunch after they got back from their little expedition.  
“ It’s my mom.  Hang on,” He hit the talk button and greeted his mom but his smile
quickly disappeared and he set down his glass of water.
“ Uh-huh...Okay, don’t worry-...Mom, don’t worry about it, he’ll be fine...Yeah, I’ll be on
the next flight out, okay?...Allright, I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” He didn’t bother
awknowledging Natalie after he hung up with his mom, he just dialed the airport and
quickly scheduled a flight.
“ What’s wrong?” Nat asked when he finally put down his phone.  AJ jumped up and
began clearing the table.
“ My Grandfather had a heartattack, he’s in the hospital,” He said quickly, taking the
food to the kitchen.  
“ But what about the dinner?”  
“ I’m sorry, Nat, I gotta go to Florida,” He called back, not really paying attention to
what she was saying until she walked into the kitchen.
“ AJ, you promised-”
“ Natalie, I’m sorry.   I think this is a little more important than your fucking dinner,”
He finally said, incredolous at how selfish she was being.  She glared at him for raising
his voice and walked out of the kitchen.  The front door slammed shut a few seconds
later and he sighed, not knowing what he should do first, clean or pack...






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