He didn’t hear the door open. “Oh my god. Nick, what’s wrong? Does something hurt?” She rushed over to him and wiped the tears off his face.
“Casey?” He pulled her as close to him as he could get her. “I was so afraid that something bad happened to you.” He looked at her. “Why are you in a hospital gown?”
“They had to admit me, so you have a roommate now.” She giggled.
“Casey, that’s not funny.”
“I’m sorry Nicky.”
“Why were you admitted?”
“I went into labor.”
“You did?” He became really sad.
“Yeah, but you don’t seem that happy about that.”
“I really wanted to be present for the birth.”
“I know.”
“Did we have a girl or a boy?”
“Both.”
“We had twins?”
“Yep.”
“What did you name them?”
“I didn’t yet. I wanted to name them with you.”
“Can we name our daughter Kathryn?”
“I was going to ask if we could name her Brianna.”
“Oh. How about whichever name we don’t choose as a first name, we choose as a middle name.”
“I like that.” Casey played with the names in her head. “Kathryn Brianna flows better.”
Nick nodded. “What should we name our son?”
“I was thinking Damian James.”
Nick rolled the name through his head. “Yeah, I like that.”
Casey climbed into Nick’s bed. The nurse from the maternity level entered the room. She was carrying the two birth certificates that needed names. “Have you two decided on names yet?”
“Yes. Kathryn Brianna Carter and Damian James Carter.” The nurse wrote the names down and left.
Later that day, Nick was sleeping and Casey was snuggled up to him when 4 nurses entered. 2 nurses each had a baby; the other 2 were pushing basinets.
Once the basinets were set up and the babies were gently placed in, the nurse walked over to Casey. “They are both healthy.”
“Thank god. I didn’t even tell him that there was a possibility of health complications.”
“Nope, no complications. They are two perfectly healthy babies. They are beautiful.”
“Thank you.” The nurse left.
Casey climbed off the bed and stood by the two basinets. She starred down at her two babies and tears came to her eyes. They were part of her and Nick, created by their love; she found that highly amazing.
Nick woke up and didn’t feel Casey besides him. “Casey.”
“Yeah.” He voice was shaky.
“Are you ok? What’s wrong?”
She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Nothing.”
“You’re crying.”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just can’t believe that something this perfect came from us.”
Nick looked at Casey. He could see she was looking at something. “What are you looking at?”
“Our children.”
“They’re in here?” Casey nodded. Nick became quiet.
“What’s wrong Nick?”
“I can’t even get out of bed to see my son and daughter.”
Casey picked up Katie and carried her to Nick. She placed the tiny infant in Nick’s arms. She then carried Damien to Nick’s bed. She climbed in and got as close to
Nick as possible. Nick had tears in his eyes from seeing his children for the first time.
Unbeknownst to Nick and Casey, Brent walked into Nick’s room and took a picture.
A couple weeks past and Nick was released from the hospital. Although he was home and walking around, his shoulders were still sore from the bullet so he couldn’t do much to help with the twins. That frustrated Nick so much. Nick was more frustrated with himself than Casey was with him. He couldn’t pick them up; He couldn’t hold them without sitting down. The feeling of helplessness was very depressing to him. He couldn’t wait until he was well enough to be able to help and be self-sufficient.
Brent and Abby were in their room. The TV was on some random channel, as they sat in the room talking quietly; Brent was holding Abby tightly. A few minutes later, Abby wiggled out of Brent’s grasp and opened the drawer on her beside table. She pulled out a velvet ring box. She took out the ring and placed it on her left ring finger. Brent wasn’t paying attention, but noticed the ring when she leaned back into him. “Hon, you shouldn’t be wearing that right now. They are both here.”
“So. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to wear it. I think we can tell them now.”
“Abby please, take it off. I’m not ready to tell them.”
“Fine.” Abby stood up and walked toward the door. She then turned around and threw the ring at Brent.
“Abby.”
“What Brent?”
“You’re being rash.”
“Why the hell did you ask me to marry you if I can’t tell my best friend?”
“I told you why you couldn’t tell.” Their voices were beginning to rise.
“Yes. First it was Nick being shot and in a coma. Then when Nick woke up, it was because he was still in the hospital. Then the twins were born. Then it was because Nick just got home. Now what is it? Huh? Nick is out of the hospital and well on his way to a full recovery. The novelty of the twins’ birth has since worn off. I think we can tell them now.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I told you. I’m not ready.”
“God damn it Brent. What the hell do you need to be ready for? It’s an engagement, not a crime. And before you say anything, yes I am aware that I just quoted a musical, but it’s true. Getting engaged is one of the best days in a girl’s life, and girls like to share their best days with their best friends. Now I understand why we couldn’t tell when we got engaged, but this is over 2 months later. I say we tell them.”
“Are you already gone into bridezilla mode? I’m just not friggin ready.”
“Bridezilla mode?
“Yes. You are freaking out over nothing.”
“Fine whatever. It’s nice to know you consider our engagement nothing.”
“What? Stop putting words in my mouth. I don’t consider our engagement nothing. I’m just not ready to tell.”
“If we scream any louder we won’t have to worry about telling.” Abby turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.
Brent watched Abby leave and sighed. He knew going after her wouldn’t be wise. He turned on his music as loud as he could stand it and shut out everyone in the house.
Abby stormed back into the room and unplugged his CD player. “What the fuck Abby?”
“There are two infants in this house. You will not shut out our fight with loud music that will wake them up. Find another way to shut out the world.” Abby left the room again.
Nick sat at his desk in his office. He came up with the intent to draw but now he was starring at a blank piece of paper with no inspiration. With a sigh of defeat, he stood up and headed to his room. He was more upset now than when he came upstairs. He turned on his PS2 that Casey allowed to be plugged back in when he was bedridden. He tried to take his frustration on the digital characters on his screen, but it wasn’t working. He turned the game off and went to the basement. A punching bag was down there and he felt that punching something should make him feel better.
He couldn’t tell you how long he was down there. But Casey could. She watched him go downstairs thinking that he was going to his studio. But then, instead of hearing the sounds associated with his studio, she began to hear the sounds associated with the punching bag that was hanging in the unfinished part of the basement. This worried Casey to no end, so she made her way downstairs. Once downstairs, she watched him for a few minutes wondering what put him in such a bad mood.
She approached him and placed a gentle hand on his arm to stop his movements. “Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.” When he stopped, she gently pulled him from where he was standing. She led him back to the finished part of the basement and unlocked the studio door. Once inside she pushed him on the couch. She sat down next to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Nicky, don’t. I can tell that something has upset you. Please tell me what it is.” She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Brent and Abby are engaged.”
Casey interrupted him before he could explain everything. “What? That’s what got you so upset. God Nick. That’s great news and all you can be is upset about it. What kind of best friend are you?” She stood up abruptly and fled the studio. Leaving Nick even more upset.
A few minutes later, he came upstairs with the intent of talking to Casey to explain what about the engagement upset him. When he saw her talking to Abby, he decided against it and headed up to his office. He entered locking the door behind him.
Downstairs, Casey and Abby were sitting on the couch watching Meet the Fockers. They were giggling and shrieking through out the movie. When it was over, they looked at the clock and realized it was nearly dinner time. Since neither of them were in the mood to cook, the ordered pizza.
The doorbell rang. Casey answered the door and Abby went upstairs. She entered her room and shut the door quietly behind her. Brent looked up but didn’t say anything. “Hey.” Abby broke the silence.
“Hi.”
After a few more minutes of awkward silence, Abby said. “Um, dinner’s here. We ordered pizza.”
Brent nodded and Abby turned to leave. “Abby wait.”
She stopped. He approached her and hugged her from the side. “I’m sorry.”
“I am too. Let’s just go downstairs and eat.”
They left the room and passed Casey on her way upstairs. She wasn’t sure where Nick was. She just looked in the basement and didn’t find him so she figured that he was upstairs. She checked their room first. That room was empty so she went to his office.
When she tried the door and found it locked, she knew Nick was behind the locked door. She knocked softly. “Nick?”
Behind the door, he contemplated not answering. “What?” He figured not answering wouldn’t do any good.
“Come on. Dinner’s here.”
He opened the door and pulled Casey into an unsuspected hug. Casey pulled away from his embrace without returning his hug. She turned away from him and headed to the kitchen, leaving him standing outside his office feeling rejected.
He took a shaky breath and walked downstairs. He entered the kitchen, grabbed his plate and grabbed a slice from the box. He sat down at his spot at the table. He kept his head down as he slowly picked at his food. The conversation flowed around him. Even though he was surrounded by his 3 closest friends, he felt like he was alone.
He tried to look at Casey but every time he did, she would glare at him so only he could see. He looked back into his plate at his half eaten pizza. What little appetite he had was now gone. He stood up and threw his paper plate and half eaten pizza away. Then he left the room.
Brent watched him leave. “Casey, is he feeling ok?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s just being a jerk.”
“What? Casey what are you talking about. I was asking about the fact that he barely ate anything and that he was unusually quiet.”
“Yeah. So was I.”
“Casey what are you talking about?”
“He overheard you two talking.”
“About what?”
“You’re engagement.”
“How the fuck does he know ABBY?” Brent glared at Abby.
“This is not my fault. You were screaming just as loudly as I was. I’m actually surprised that he’s the only person who overheard it.”
“You were the one who started it by putting the ring on.”
“I’m not having this argument with you again.”
Brent roughly pushed his chair back and stood up. He stalked out of the room, leaving his chair overturned. Abby ran from the room after him.
Brent reached Nick and Casey’s room and barged in. Nick was sitting on the bed starring at the blank TV. He jumped and looked at the door at Brent’s entrance.
“How dare you.”
“What did I do?”
“You were eavesdropping on a private conversation.”
“I was not eavesdropping.”
“Then how the hell did you hear about the engagement.”
Nick let the tears that he was fighting all day slide down his cheeks. First Casey was pissed at him and now Brent. He was about to say something when Abby ran into the room. “Shut the fuck up Brent. Don’t you know it’s better to question stuff like this calmly instead of angrily. Now you either calm down and stay quiet or leave.” She climbed on the bed and sat next to Nick. “Now Nick. You were about to say something.” She said to him softly.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping.”
“You were downstairs when we had the fight. So you must have heard the fight and come up. That’s eavesdropping.”
“Brent, I said shut up.”
“I wasn’t downstairs. I was up here.”
“When we came upstairs you were downstairs Nick.”
He turned to Abby. “When you went upstairs, yeah. But shortly after, Katie started to cry and I went to get her to give Casey a break, but my shoulders were still stiff from when I woke up, and I couldn’t pick her up. So Casey had to come over and get her. I felt helpless. And everyday that something happens to make me feel helpless, that feeling is always stronger. So I came upstairs to try and not feel so helpless. I went into my office and I had the door open. That’s when I heard you start fighting. I then closed the door. And you got louder. So I kept trying to tune you out, but then I heard my name and I couldn’t tune it out, and that’s how I heard your fight. I wasn’t standing outside the door with a cup to the door so I could hear. I wasn’t eavesdropping.”
Brent sat on the bed on the other side of Nick. “I’m sorry I accused you. Why is Casey mad at you?”
“I over heard everything you said about how the reason you initially didn’t tell was because of me. And that upset me more, because now not only was I feeling helpless. I was also feeling like a burden. Casey wanted to know what was bothering me, so I started to tell her. I told her you were engaged and she took that as though I was upset you two were engaged. She didn’t let me finish telling her that it was because of why you didn’t tell. She even called me a horrible best friend because I was upset. But I’m not upset about that. I’m really happy for you two. I couldn’t ask for a better girl to be marrying my best friend.”
Abby sighed. “She’s really mad at you.”
“I know. Before dinner, when she came to get me I hugged her, but she refused to return it. She broke out of my grasp and walked away from me.”
“I’m sorry Nick. I’ll talk to her for you.”
“It’s ok. It won’t help. She needs to come to me on her own.” He congratulated them again and they left. Nick stayed where he was.
A few hours later, Casey entered the room to get ready for bed. She refused to look at him. Nick felt his heart break knowing that Casey was still mad at him. He stood up and left the room carrying his pillows from the bed. He went to the linen closet and grabbed a blanket. He made his bed on the couch in the living room that night. Casey climbed into bed not caring that Nick wasn’t coming to bed tonight. In fact she was almost happy about it. After a couple minutes of getting comfortable, she fell asleep. Meanwhile, on the couch, Nick was tossing and turning and making a conscience effort not to fall off. He eventually fell asleep around 4 in the morning.
Abby woke up the next morning in a very happy mood. She went downstairs to make herself breakfast when she stopped short in the living room. She marched back upstairs and flung the door to the master bedroom open. The door hit the wall and woke up Casey, as Abby hoped it would.
“What was that for Abby?” Casey yawned and started to drift back to sleep. Abby marched into the room and dragged Casey out of bed. “What the hell Abby. I want to sleep, it’s still early.”
“I don’t care.” She continued dragging Abby until she stopped in the living room, where Nick was sleeping uncomfortably. “How could you?”
“How could I what?”
“Don’t tell me that you are that blind that you don’t seem him.”
“No I know he’s there. But I didn’t send him there. He did it on his own.”
“Yes, because you are being such a cold hearted bitch to him. He told us about how you refused to hug him yesterday.”
“He’s not happy for you and Brent.”
“He is. You didn’t let him finish explaining what was bothering him.”
“And that is?”
“That his coma is why we didn’t say anything when we first got engaged.”
“Oh.”
“Wake him up and bring him upstairs. Give him a massage because you know he’ll be stiff.” Abby left Casey standing in the living room.
Casey took a deep breath and walked over to Nick. She knelt down in front of him. “Nick, wake up.”
Nick opened his eyes. His vision cloudy with sleep. “Casey?”
“Yeah.”
“What time is it?”
“5:30.”
“I just fell asleep like an hour ago. What do you want?”
“I want you to come up to bed.” Nick looked at her not believing what he heard. “Come on. You’ll feel better sleeping in your own bed.”
“After yesterday, I didn’t think you wanted me up there.”
“I was being a moody bitch yesterday. I’m sorry. Come upstairs.”
Nick finally agreed, and Casey helped him stand up. She carried his pillows and left the blanket where it was. When they got upstairs, Nick climbed into bed, and was almost asleep when Casey told him to roll onto his stomach. He complied and she began massaging his shoulders and back, paying extra attention to his shoulders. When Nick was relaxed, Casey rolled off of him to face him. He kissed her softly. The soft kiss turned passionate.
About an hour later, Brent entered the kitchen smiling. He kissed Abby. “Nick and Casey made up.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Well, I don’t know what they are doing, but I do know that when I walked past their room, one of them was moaning. I think it was Nick.”
