So lost in the moment was he that he did not notice Claire coming up behind him until she was right there. The silence of the dawn was shattered when she spread her legs wide, planted a foot on each of the bottom rails, and rose up, shouting at the top of her lungs, “I’m the king of the world!” She let out a few whoops as Nick got over his startle and started laughing.
“Jesus, Claire, I think you just gave everyone in Florida their wake up call!” he exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief.
She giggled. “Florida and Texas, probably. Sorry, you standing at the front of this big ol’ boat just made me think of Titanic.”
He snickered and stretched his arms out at his sides. “I’m flying!” he cried in a high-pitched, girly voice.
He felt her arms wrap around his waist from behind and her breath on the back of his neck as she leaned in close. And then... “Damn it, you’re too tall!” she exclaimed suddenly. He smirked over his shoulder at her, and she said, “I was gonna kiss you from behind, like Jack and Rose! But you’re too tall; I can’t reach!”
He laughed. “Maybe that’s cause we’ve got the roles reversed. I think I’m supposed to kiss you. Like this.” He turned around to face her and pulled her into his arms, lowering his face to meet hers. Her arms circled around his neck, and the railing dug into his back as he kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her. “That better?” he asked, when they broke the kiss.
“Much,” she smiled. “Almost makes up for you making me get up at 5:30 in the morning on my birthday.”
“Hey, quit your bitching, woman. I promised I’d take you out on my boat sometime, and here we are. Just wait till you see the sunrise – that will more than make up for it,” he said, turning so that he was standing beside her at the bow of the boat, facing east.
“I know,” she said, her arm encircling his waist. “I was just kidding. I’m glad you brought me out here. It’s beautiful already, and the sun’s not even up yet.”
“Hey, I owe you, birthday girl. I missed your birthday last year, so I had to do something nice for you this year.”
“Nah, I already told you, we were even for last year. I missed yours too. And I didn’t do anything that special for your birthday this year either.”
His twenty-fifth birthday had been quiet and low-key – breakfast in bed in the morning, a movie in the afternoon, pizza – Nick’s favorite food – at Leonardi’s – their favorite restaurant – that evening, and cake and ice cream at home that night. Howie had met him for lunch the day before, and the other guys had all called to wish him happy birthday – or in Brian’s case, sing him happy birthday – but on his special day, it had just been him and Claire. And it was perfect.
“My birthday was great,” he told her emphatically. “And you cooked – that’s special, right?”
She snorted and grinned sheepishly. “Got that right.” Cooking was not Claire’s forte, but he had to admit, she’d come through that day, fixing him a breakfast that had actually been pretty appetizing and baking his birthday cake herself. Okay, so the cake had been a bit lopsided and sort of sunken in the middle... and maybe the frosting did run a little... but it had tasted good, and that was all that really mattered. She’d even written his name on top in green frosting. He’d teased her, asking if she’d been drunk when she wrote it, for the lines of frosting were incredibly shaky.
“Ugh, I should have just bought a cake from the bakery at the grocery store and had them put a giant picture of me on the top,” she’d said with a grin. “God, how tacky would that have been?”
He laughed. “I would have liked it.”
“Of course you would.”
“But I would have liked it even better if you would’ve hopped out of the cake in something festive... you know, like your birthday suit.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and received a light punch on the shoulder from Claire.
“Happy birthday,” she said, holding up her fist. “Want twenty-four more?”
“Oww,” he moaned exaggeratedly, grabbing his shoulder. “You hit the left one!”
“Oh, you’re fine, you big baby,” she’d teased him, planting a kiss right on top of the shark tattoo on his left shoulder. For a few weeks after the surgery, that shoulder, along with his whole left side, had been painful to move. But by the end of January, he had recovered almost fully, and the only lasting effects of the operation were the scars on his side.
It was mid-March now, and his life was back to normal... or as normal as it was ever going to get. He’d had a doctor’s appointment just the other day that Claire had driven him to personally (“so that you can’t jip again, Mr. Carter,” she’d scolded him impishly), and all the tests showed that he was still in remission. He knew that the longer he stayed that way, the less likely it was for the cancer cells to spring up somewhere else in his body. Once it seemed certain that they were all gone and not coming back, he would be considered cured. He couldn’t wait for that day, for the moment when he would walk out of the oncology clinic and away from cancer and all the horrors that went with it.
It had not all been horrible though. Ironic as it was, the worst thing that had ever happened to him had led to one of the best things – had he not gotten bone cancer, he would not have met Claire, who, in just under two years, had become his confidant, one of his best friends, and now, his girlfriend. His love.
He did believe in fate... he did believe that everything happened for a reason. And now he was confident that they had both been put through as much as they had for one reason – so that they would find each other. And they had. And though things had been far from perfect, it had all worked out, and now they were together. For the first time in years, Nick was with a woman who truly loved him for who he was on the inside... not for how he looked, or how famous he was, or how much money he had. And he, in turn, had finally fallen for a woman based on who she was on the inside.
“Nick, look,” Claire gasped beside him, interrupting his thoughts. “There it is...”
The sun had shown its face, just barely peeking above the horizon. It was gorgeous as it rose slowly, its golden rays making the water sparkle and streaking the sky with rich, warm hues. They stood silently watching it for a long time, side by side, their arms around each other. From a distance, their bodies seemed to meld into one, as if they were made to stand so close, as if they were each just one half of a whole that could only be made when they were together.
And that was how Nick felt when he was with Claire – whole. Complete.
“That was beautiful, Nick,” Claire sighed, once the sun had fully left its shadowy hideaway, just beyond the horizon. “Thank you.”
“Hey, it’s not over yet,” said Nick. “The day’s just beginning. And now that the sun’s up... breakfast time!”
While she looked on in curiosity, he retrieved a picnic basket from under one of the seats. Opening its flaps, he pulled out a blanket and spread it out on the deck of the boat, motioning for Claire to sit down. She did, and he eased himself down beside her, once again digging into the basket to remove the rest of its contents – fresh muffins and bagels, cream cheese, fruit, and bottles of orange juice. And when he had unpacked all of this and spread it out on the blanket, he reached behind his back and scooped up the last item from the basket, which he’d quickly hidden when she was not looking.
“This is incredible, Nick,” Claire was saying, as she surveyed the spread of food in front of her. She grinned at him. “I had no idea you were this sweet. This is very... romantic of you. The boat and the sunrise and breakfast and all...” She looked impressed, and he didn’t blame her. He knew he wasn’t the most romantic guy in the world; in fact, contrary to what the teenyboppers might want to believe, he sucked at romance. But he’d really made an effort to do something nice for her birthday, and apparently it was working. He was proud of himself.
“Ah, there’s more,” he said with a wink and presented her with the bouquet of flowers he’d been holding behind his back. There were a dozen yellow roses there... and a single red one.
She gasped and accepted the bouquet with delight. “I love the yellow ones!” she exclaimed, burying her nose in the dozen golden blossoms. “These are better than plain old red – red’s so... overdone.”
Glad he’d not bought her all red roses instead, he fervently explained, “I looked this up – yellow means friendship, so I got you yellow. And red means... red means ‘I love you.’ So, yeah... a red one too.”
She fingered the soft, scarlet petals of the single red rose in the center of the bouquet and smiled up at him. “It’s perfect,” she said.
“Good,” he smiled back in relief. “I’m glad you like it. Are you hungry? Want me to peel you an orange?”
“Sure,” she said, “but first I want a birthday kiss.”
Leaning in, he kissed her tenderly on the lips. “Happy birthday,” he said and flashed her his famous Carter half-smile. “Want twenty-four more?”
She smirked and bit into a muffin. “After breakfast. I’m starving.”
He nodded and set to work on peeling that orange. He could wait, no problem. They had the rest of the day. And possibly – dare he even think it? – the rest of their lives.
He didn’t know what the future would hold. He didn’t know how long they would be together, or even how long they would be friends. But he did know one thing - whether they went on as lovers or went back to just being friends, he wanted her by his side. Because with her by his side, he felt normal. He felt like himself. And after two long, painful years, he almost felt like he was back on top again.
Well, maybe that was a stretch. But even so, his life was finally looking up. And at that moment, if he could spend every day of the rest of it with her, he would. It seemed a life without Claire would be like a day without sunshine. But a life with her would be...
Complete.
“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.”
- Sophocles
The End
