“Nicky…” I heard softly beside me. Was it all a dream? My eyes fluttered open and I glanced around the room. My eyes finally fell next to me. Shelby was lying there smiling as she watched me sleep. I smiled. Just seeing her smile made me happy. She hadn’t smiled in so long. We hadn’t gone through with where it seemed we were going and had sex. We ended up talking about starting slow, like I had hoped we would. “It’s already noon. We should probably head back…” Noon seemed late, however, we had only gotten to the hotel around 7 and watched a movie, giving us a few hours to catch up on rest.
“You’re right,” I mumbled and rolled out of bed with a heave. “Maybe we can head over to my place sometime this week…” I didn’t want to push it. I knew Shelby wasn’t looking forward to leaving Lanie any time soon. It was understandable.
“I don’t know, Nick,” she sighed as she smoothed out her clothing from the nap we had taken. “I mean, it would probably be a lot more comfortable than this hotel…and a lot cheaper, but I’m not sure I want to just leave Lanie at a hospital.”
“Understandable,” I nodded and ran my fingers through my hair. “Don’t worry about the money, Shell.” I touched her arm gently. She smiled up at me. “I have it under control, okay?”
“I don’t want to ask you to do that, Nick,” she sighed again and looked down at the carpet below our feet. “I mean, money’s tight but Lanie’s my daughter too.”
“I understand that but money’s not a problem, okay? Don’t worry about it,” I said sincerely causing another smile to turn up from her lips. “We’ll just take this day by day, alright? Just keep my offer in mind. My place is only about twenty minutes away from here.”
“Thanks,” she smiled and headed for the door. What was going on between us? Shelby had already asked me that once before, but I honestly didn’t have an answer for her. I wanted to know, but there was so much on our minds already, and even though our relationship (if we could even call it that) was really important, Lanie’s illness was definitely top priority right now.
“I was thinking…maybe in a few days if Lanie’s feeling better, we can see if the doctor will release her from the hospital for an hour or so and let us take her to the beach or something…” I suggested and shoved my hands in my pockets. It was September in California – it wasn’t necessarily cold, but it was beginning to get windy and a bit chilly. Shelby nodded.
“I’d really like that and I know Lanie would love it,” she grinned. “I hope she starts feeling better. Or at least getting used to the chemotherapy.” She sighed and looked down at the ground. I bit my bottom lip trying to decide what to do. I took my hand out of my pocket and picked hers up, squeezing it gently. Afterwards, I brought it to my lips and kissed it gently. Before either of us could say anything, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I watched Shelby’s eyes bulge.
“It’s Brian…” I mumbled, a lump forming in my throat. She sucked in a deep breath as I answered it. “Is everything okay?”
“Hey Nick, everything’s fine…sorry for freaking you out,” he quickly informed me so I wouldn’t worry.
“Everything’s fine,” I reassured Shelby and took her hand up in mine once more with my free hand as we crossed the street to the hospital. “What’s up?” I asked him, wondering why he was calling.
“Well…Lanie’s up and she just asked me to call you guys and ask you to bring her dress?” He sounded almost as confused as I was. A dress? “She said Shelby would know what she was talking about…”
“Uh, let me ask Shell, hold on a second,” I frowned over at Shelby. “Um, Brian said that Lanie’s awake and asked him to call us and tell us to bring her dress?” I repeated. She frowned, but she looked as if she might know what she was talking about. I handed her the phone so she could talk to Brian herself.
“Hey Brian, it’s Shelby,” she said into the phone. “Tell Lanie we’ll be up in one minute and I’ll figure out what dress she wants then, okay? We’re walking into the hospital.” She explained. “Okay, thanks Brian.” She smiled and hung up. She shrugged as she handed me the phone. “Lanie loves playing dress up, so I guess it’s one of those dresses? I’m not really sure.”
“Well, we’ll find out,” I shrugged as we stepped on the elevator and headed upstairs. Every time I had a spare moment to contemplate what was going on between Shelby and I, something interrupted my thoughts. I knew I had to devote all my time right now to my daughter and I understood that. I just hoped one of these times I’d get to sit down with Shelby and talk to her about what was going on.
“Hey guys,” BJ smiled as the elevator opened. “I was just stopping by to say hi to Lanie.” She smiled.
“Thanks, Beej,” I couldn’t get over how dedicated most of my family had been so far to spending time with Lanie and really stepping up – especially BJ. Shelby’s family hadn’t hung around after they came by to see her a few days ago. But so far, BJ had been there almost every day. She had gotten Shelby and I clean clothes and stuck around to make sure Lanie was okay. Part of me believed it was because she was afraid we were going to turn into our parents. My parents got divorced and had a horrible relationship. I was pretty sure BJ was putting herself in Lanie’s position and sticking around to make sure Shelby and I focused on Lanie instead of ourselves.
“No problem,” she smiled. “Real quick, I just wanted to say how proud I am of both of you…you guys have put your issues to the side and really stuck by Lanie to make sure she’s okay. That’s awesome.” She smiled and took our place on the elevator.
“Thanks,” I smiled and hugged her quickly before the elevator doors began to close. “See you tomorrow?” I asked and she nodded. We said goodbye and headed towards Lanie’s room.
“Hey baby,” Shelby smiled at the sight in the room. I felt a grin forming over my lips, too. Lanie was sitting up in bed with Baylee playing with her Barbie and his G.I Joes. “What’cha up to?”
“Playin’ toys with Baylee,” Lanie grinned.
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” I leaned down and placed a kiss on top of her head. She grinned up at me. Those blue eyes pulled me in every time.
“Baby, what dress were you telling Uncle Brian about?” Shelby frowned and knelt down next to the bed so she was at eye level with Lanie. “Your dress-up dress back at home?”
Lanie nodded and looked around at all the other faces in the room as if it was some big secret. She leaned over and got close to Shelby’s ear. We all grinned, including Shelby. As Lanie pulled away, after sharing her big secret, Shelby’s smile faded.
“That dress is back at home, honey,” Shelby explained. “Besides…that’s not a dress-up dress.” She frowned, confused as to why Lanie mentioned whatever it was she did. I was confused, and by the looks of it, so was Brian and Leighanne.
“But mommy…” Lanie mumbled and looked over at me again. “I want you to wear it.” She played with the sheet that was draped over her legs so they wouldn’t get cold. “I want you and daddy to get married again.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter. I'm free this weekend, so hopefully I'll get another one out shortly. PLEASE review!
Chapter End Notes:
How will Nick and Shelby handle their current situation? Read on to find out!
