“So, what do you wanna get for dinner?” I asked Shelby. We had been relaxing on the beach for a few hours now, just watching the waves roll in.
“Hmm…” she smirked. “Chinese is sounding really good right about now. I could go for some sweet and sour chicken with that yummy sauce or whatever…oh! And fried rice.” She grinned. I laughed and kissed her cheek softly. “I think I’m gonna call and check on Lanie really quickly…” she fidgeted in her beach bag for her cell phone.
“Baby, you just called twenty minutes ago,” I sighed. I knew she was having a hard time being away from Lanie. She hadn’t been away from her, really, ever. The only times they were separated was when Lanie would come and spend time with me. “I’m sure she’s fine.” I kissed her forehead sweetly. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna run to the Chinese place down the street.”
“Okay, be safe,” she grinned and flipped the page to her magazine. The thought of checking up on Lanie seemed to quickly fade from her mind. I pulled my Tampa Bay Bucs t-shirt on quickly and grabbed my wallet out of the beach bag with my cell phone and keys, then hurried up the beach to the boardwalk that led me to my car.
Granted, even though I knew Shelby and I had just checked up on Lanie, I was really getting worried. It was weird for me because I was never a worrier. Whenever Lanie would come and stay with me, it’d be like having Baylee around. She’d only be there for one or two days, so I didn’t feel much responsibility at all. Now it wasn’t just responsibility that was causing me to worry, it was the fact that I loved her and she was my daughter. I fiddled with my cell phone and after a bit of contemplation, I dialed the house. I climbed into the Cadillac and headed down the street as the phone rang.
“Hello?” I heard Brian’s southern twang.
“Hey Brian, its Nick,” I licked my lips as I turned the corner. “Uh, how’s everything?” I tried to make it seem like small talk. He chuckled, completely on to what I was saying.
“Everything’s fine, Nick,” he chuckled. “Here, you know what? You wanna talk to Lanie yourself so we can prove to you that the house isn’t burnt down and she’s feeling fine?” He joked. “Lanie…” he said in the background. “Your daddy’s on the phone.” He passed the phone on.
“Daddy!” Lanie squealed excitedly in the phone.
“Hey baby girl,” I grinned. She sounded so happy. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Guess what? Miss Amy came this morning and gave me medicine and I didn’t get sick as bad! Then Uncle Brian went out and got us a movie! And now I’m playing with Brian,” she sounded so happy. I laughed at the rundown of her schedule.
“That’s awesome, baby,” I grinned. “I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were feeling okay.”
“Okay daddy,” she said. “When are you coming home?”
“Tomorrow. Your mommy and I are having a fun time, too. So we’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, okay?” I smiled as I stopped at a stoplight. “Be good for Uncle Brian.”
“I will, daddy,” she said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I grinned. I was so excited to have her in my house again. This time, with Shelby. So many times before when Lanie would come I would almost be upset; Lanie resembled me so much in looks, but she resembled Shelby so much in personality. It was funny. Everything the child did or said somehow reminded me of Shelby – even when she was first starting to talk.
“Nick?” I heard Brian’s voice.
“Hey, thanks for putting up with me,” I laughed. “I just…got weird. I don’t know. I guess I’m becoming a protective parent.” I smiled. Yeah, being overprotective wasn’t really the greatest thing in the world. But I was proud to be one. I was proud to care so much about my kid.
“I completely understand. I just never expected you to be that kind of dad,” he chuckled. “I’m proud of you, Nick.” His tone became more serious. I beamed. Hearing Brian say he was proud of me was such a huge kick and it made me happy.
“Thanks, Brian.” I pulled into the Chinese restaurant.
“I mean it. You’re a great dad, Nick. I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to see that before,” he apologized. “Oh, and just for the record…Lanie’s thrilled to be living with you again. All she talks about is you and Shelby…together.” He said softly. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
“I’m glad,” I parked the car and shut off the engine. “Well, I’m gonna go pick up some Chinese for Shell and I for dinner. So, I’ll talk to you later. Oh, and Brian?” I bit my bottom lip.
“Yeah?”
“Could we keep this call between you, me and Lanie? I told Shell it’d be ridiculous to call since we just got off the phone with you like, twenty minutes ago. So, uh…I don’t want her to think I’m so protective…” I said softly. He chuckled.
“Sure thing, buddy.”
“Thanks,” I grinned. We said goodbye and I hung up to go inside and get some food.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I gnawed on my fingernail. Nick had said not to call – everything was fine. But I just needed to. I had that motherly instinct inside of me where I needed to know what my daughter was doing and how she was feeling. I found my cell quickly and dialed the house number.
“Hello?” Brian asked.
“Bri, it’s Shelby,” I said quickly and glanced over my shoulder to make sure Nick wasn’t back on his way. I heard Brian start to chuckle and I rolled my eyes. “I know, I know. We just called like, twenty minutes ago. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. How’s Lanie?” I bit my bottom lip out of worry.
“She’s fine. In fact, I’ll let you talk to her yourself,” he passed on the phone. I heard him say, “Lanie, it’s your mommy.”
“Mommy?” I heard her almost question.
“Hey baby! How are you?” I beamed just hearing her voice.
“I’m good…” she sounded confused. I frowned, hoping she wasn’t angry with me for leaving her. “I’m watchin’ a movie with Uncle Brian and Baylee.” She said.
“Oh, that’s great! I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were feeling okay,” I said and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Your daddy and I are having a fun time. He went out to get dinner for us so I wanted to call and talk to you.”
“I know,” she said. I frowned and wondered how she knew that. “He called me to see if I was feeling—…” she was cut off by Brian.
“Okay, okay. That’s enough chit chat,” he sounded nervous. “Uh, how’s the vacation? How’s Nick? Are you guys having fun? Did he take you out on the boat?” All these questions started flying. A small grin curved up the corners of my lips.
“Let me say goodbye to my daughter, Brian,” I said slyly. He knew I had caught on.
“Oh, well, she’s already watching the movie…” he lied. “Um, you know what? How about we give you two a call before Lanie goes to bed tonight? That way you can say goodnight--…”
“He called, didn’t he?” I beamed. I was so happy. Nick was worried too. That gave it away for me. That told me he was truly caring about our family.
Brian sighed heavily. “Yeah, he did. But he told me not to tell you because he didn’t want you to think he was overprotective.” He explained.
“Aw! That is the cutest thing ever!” I felt happy tears welling up in my eyes. “Thanks, Brian.” I grinned.
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered playfully, disappointed the secret hadn’t been kept. “Here Lanie, you talk to her. She already figured us out. Way to go.” He joked.
“Hi mommy,” I heard her little voice on the phone. I laughed and glanced behind me to see Nick’s Cadillac pulling back into the parking lot.
“Hi baby. Well, I’ll let you get back to your movie. Daddy and I will try to call again before you go to bed, okay? Have fun with Baylee, Uncle Brian and Aunt Leighanne. Be good, okay?” I instructed. She giggled.
“Okay, mommy,” she said. We said goodbye and both hung up right as Nick was coming back up the beach.
Shelby was watching me intently. “What’d I do?” I chuckled as I plopped down on the beach towel next to her with the bag of food. She leaned over and kissed me passionately, pushing me down on the towel and crawling on top of me. As we both pulled away, she licked her lips. “Wow. Seriously, what’d I do?” I chuckled, this time wondering what I did to make her so happy to see me so I could do it again.
“You called home,” she said simply and kissed me again, this time a bit more gentle. I blushed.
“Dammit, Brian,” I sighed. She put her finger over my lips to silence me.
“Nick, with that simple gesture you have completely shown me that you’re in this for real. You’re not in because you should be or you have to be. You’re in because you want to be,” she started, sitting up on the towel so I could sit up as well and listen. “You love our daughter and you care about her. You really proved that to me whether you meant to or not. And that makes me so excited to have this baby with you. I was excited, nonetheless. But it’s much more exciting when we both want this…not just me.” She licked her lips and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “So, I know we haven’t really said this yet…but I want you to know that I love you.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews =] This is one of my favorite chapters thus far, so please let me know if you like it or not!! Thanks =]
