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Author's Chapter Notes:
Woo! another chapter, this one has a pretty big cliffie at the end hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Eleven: Evergreen

    Marie messed up...she knew that. More than knew that...she'd spent the better half of the morning replaying the events in her head over and over. Just as she was beginning to really behind to fall for him the whole bit with the paparazzi happens and throws a huge chink in her chain. She freaked out, she knew that she shouldn't have but she couldn't help it. He swooped into her life, just as she was trying to make  a change and he makes her feel all these amazing things, passion, desire, and maybe even the beginnings of love. No, she didn't want to consider that she might be falling head over heels for someone she barely knew.

    Handling the paparazzi was going to be a big issue for them. Especially if she followed her thoughts through to conclusion. It scared the living hell out of her how much potential he had. She loved talking with him, a big plus, he made her laugh which was an even bigger one. Add to it the fact that the chemistry between them was undeniable and you had almost a Malakoff cocktail brewing that was just waiting to explode with them left in the aftermath, together or separated that she couldn't see far enough to determine. But she didn't care, either he made her feel like...well he just made her feel and that was the most unnerving part of their whirlwind... Could she really say relationship? Were they even to a point where this thing that was happening between them could be justified as a relationship? They had all the elements there, great times together, great conversation... fantastic sex which was mind blowing to connect with someone on just so many levels. But then again did she even really know him? Intimately yes, she could describe every second of their physical encounter and also she discerned his personality very quickly but there was something he was keeping from her. Something he wanted to tell her but somehow couldn't bring himself to just yet.

    He said it himself, there were so many things he needed to tell her, needed to explain to her and not just about the photographers and things like that. She wondered what those things really could be. It was times like these she really needed her best friend more than anything. She'd called Becca three times leaving her messages and hadn't gotten a reply back yet. She figured that Becca was probably busy running things and just didn't have time to answer.

    She sighed and picked up her blackberry dialing Angel's number. Maybe she could give her some insight into her brother's head. She listened to it ring and then pick up. "Hey Ang it's Marie." She announced stating the obvious of course Angel would know it was Marie calling since she had caller id.

    "Hey Mar...what's up? How's LA treating you?" She asked happily as she sat in front of the large mirror her Bluetooth earpiece in place so that her stylist could do her makeup easily without the physical interruption of the phone. She hadn't heard from Nick or Marie lately and wondered what had happened on their day out together. She hoped that Nick had been cordial to her friend if anything but to make a good impression on her of the city she called home.

    "LA is interesting for sure. But that's not why I called..." She said figuring cutting to the chase would be the best thing she could do in this situation. It was maddening to think she was indeed going to her friend for advice on Nick, who just happened to be her big brother. When Angel had suggested she come out to LA in the first place, did she intend on the two of them to meet? Did she think they'd be good together? Or was it just a simple coincidence of fate?

    "Okay..." Angel replied slowly waving off her stylist for the time being. "So talk to me about it...what's on your mind?" She asked completely intrigued now. Maybe something had indeed happened for them. She had to admit her original intention was not to set them up at all. However, if it happened that they hit it off and something came of it wouldn't that be a cause for celebration? She adored Marie, knew she was definitely more than worthy for her older brother, to whom she was extremely protective of.

    Marie swallowed and leaned back against the headboard. "Well...you know how I met your brother right?" She began continuing when she heard Angel's affirmative reply. "Okay so...we've hung out every day since...it's been fantastic and he's amazing...but we went out to dinner last night and we kind of got bombarded by photographers. He was really apologetic about the entire thing but at the same time I'm freaked...I don't think I could handle that type of scrutiny...and then he tells me that he's got so many things he still needs to tell me about himself and his past with relationships and...."

    "And you're maxi-wiggin' out. It's okay really...I think he probably gets that. He's pretty perceptive more than he lets on. But okay what has he said about his past? Like give me specifics here..." She asked not wanting to overstep her bounds as a sister and tattle tell on her brother.

    "His last relationship was two years ago, ended with him completely broken and sad and he's only now gotten back into the dating scene. He explained that the last time he had sex was also two years before, and we umm...sort of did it twice." She explained back to Angel practically hearing her jaw drop at her admission.

    "Okay it is completely true that he's not had sex for a long time and his last relationship did end two years ago. All of that is the truth he just hasn't gone into direct detail of what happened has he? Like how it ended? How serious it was and such?" Angel asked wanting to know exactly how much information he had disclosed that way she wouldn't end up spilling the beans before he was comfortable enough to do things himself.

    "No he didn't go into any of that. I didn't really expect him to either I mean if he's just now moving on then I figured I'd let him opening up in his own time. But what about the other women? I mean he's got to be seeing other people right? I've seen the names on the caller-id on his phone. What other explanation is there?" She replied making Angel chuckle at her. She was really clueless to the real reason behind those calls. Angel automatically knew it was her adorable nieces with their oh so impeccable timing that were to blame for the suspicion.

    Angel wished she could tell Marie that really she had nothing to worry about but at the chance of making her brother very angry with her she decided to hint at the obvious reasons to why Nick had other females calling him often. "Believe me you will feel completely stupid for thinking like that when he sits you down and tells you. I suggest you go over there, today, tonight, whenever and talk to him. His address is in my desktop computer and get him to open up to you. The only other women he's seen in the past few months has been a string of blind dates that have all turned out to be completely horrible." Angel replied.

    Marie gasped, but that still didn't explain the calls...She knew she had to give him the benefit of the doubt now more than ever. "You really think I should go over there?" She asked knowing that it was probably going to be quite a bold move but at the same time, she wanted to see him. Needed to, after all it was Christmas Eve and he was probably spending the holiday alone.

    "Yes, go over there and talk it out...I mean seriously honey I won't tell him your coming but you like him right?" Angel asked reminding her that there was indeed an intense connection that couldn't be denied and she needed to follow it no matter what.

    "Yeah...I think I might be falling for him..." She admitted cringing at the own cliché in her words. Angel gasped a little then smiled. It was definitely a good thing she sent Marie out to LA after all. Maybe they both were on the way to finding some measure of happiness that she'd hoped for even though was turning out completely different than she had expected.

---

    Nick sighed as he made his way out of the house that morning on his way to pick up his daughters from their stay at their grandparents. He thought about them for much of the night but kept finding his thoughts drifting back to Marie, then to Anna and then Marie again. He couldn't help it...he knew for a fact he was really falling hard. He finally admitted it to himself when he'd gotten home the night before. The fact that she'd freaked out about the paparazzi scared him to the core and hurt him. He loathed himself and what he was at times. And that was when Anna had come to his mind. She'd taught him to be okay with himself...to find some measure of comfort in who he was and what he did finding the balance between the man and the musician.

    He tried comparing the two women. Thinking about the differences and similarities between their personalities. They were alike in that they were smart, beautiful, funny and good people but at the same time he realized he couldn't compare them at all. And that realization came to him as he thought of the morning before the night Anna had died.

    "Come on baby...stay home..." He said his big blue eyes wide and pleading. He didn't want her to go to her classes that day...or really any day at all. He hated spending time away from her and the time she had to spend away from the girls. She rolled her eyes at him smirking as she buttoned her shirt looking over her shoulder at how he was laying on the bed, shirtless in only a pair of boxers. He was really trying to get her to stay home wasn't he?
    
"Nick come on... I have to go to school I'm in the last semester...you know what that means." Anna shot back making Nick roll his eyes and sigh. "I know you hate that I have to spend all this time in class and studying and you're left to take care of everything here at home but seriously babe, just think about how great it's going to be when it's over?" She reminded as she left a knee on the bed.

    Nick took the opportunity and grabbed it pulling her over to him laying her on ‘.
top of him making her squeal at him. "Still I'd rather spend the day in bed. I mean the girls are at Aaron's for the day and I really want to spend the day in bed with my wife... Is that really so much to ask?" He replied making her grin, kiss him quickly and get up.

    "It is when I have midterms coming up. I promise after the girls go to bed tonight you can have me any way you want...but I have to go to school okay?" She retorted making him sigh and she smirked bidding him farewell telling him that she loved him. He mirrored the sentiment and sighed laying on the bed.

    He smiled at the memory, she was always so determined to do the right thing. To not only be the dutiful wife and mother but also a student who never missed a class. He had loved Anna that was certain...but he realized more than anything now that the feelings he was developing for Marie were cutting him much, much deeper than anything he ever felt for Anna. He supposed that the deep love and respect he'd had for his late wife had grown, really out of obligation. Sure he'd married her and loved her before hand but he'd only truly committed himself fully to being a husband when Joanna was born. Seeing her for the first time, then seeing Anna holding her, beaming with love and pride had made him realize his feelings and made him that much more committed to his family.

    Marie on the other hand, after just a week of knowing each other he was already falling hard, fast and couldn't possibly stop it, nor did he want to. Something about her had him completely hooked and he just couldn't place his finger on it just yet. It irked him to not really know how to compare Anna and Marie. Superficially they were similar, but on a deeper level as far as the connection he had with Anna and the one he was developing with Marie. Sure how he felt had similarities to both of them on the surface but overall they were so starkly different.

He pulled in front of the house seeing that Jo was playing with Livie, teaching her how to dribble a basketball. It made him laugh at how Jo really tried to be like Anna, always teaching someone something. He pulled his truck to a stop and came out both girls smiling at him as he came toward them. "What's this? Are you two too old enough to hug your old man?"

Both girls ran to him as he knelt down hugging them both tightly to him. He broke away for a moment seeing Meredith had come out with the girls' two small bags and was walking them over to the truck he took them over getting them situated in their booster seats. He gave Meredith a hug thanking for taking care of the girls for him and to give his affections to Ted as well. "Are we going home daddy?" Livie asked as he buckled her in and watched as Jo did her own.

He marveled at how independent his eldest child was becoming. It scared him that maybe she was trying to grow up too fast and he definitely didn't want that. He wanted his children to remain as innocent and carefree as long as possible. He knew the dangers of the world all too well himself and longed all the time for the days when life was so simple and easy instead of complicated, and difficult. "Yeah baby we're going home..." He said with a grin as he climbed into the driver's side and began on the drive home.

---

    Nick sighed as he clicked away on his laptop finalizing some documents before sending them back to Juliette his publicist. Now that his documents were done and he had the girls watching a movie since they'd finished their place and bake Christmas cookies he'd gotten for them he found himself bored. He looked down on the floor seeing his daughters splayed out on their stomachs watching their movie intently. Getting an idea he opened his web browser to a search engine and typed:

Marie De Luca, NYC

    He hovered the cursor over the search button and sighed looking up and around the room. Did he really want to do this? It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong but at the same time what if he realized that she wasn't all that good for him it would shatter the image he was desperately trying to keep going. Whatever it was, he pressed the button figuring he needed to know about her. His eyes widened as the first hit came upon her bakery's home page. He clicked on the link and grinned seeing the website pop up, Marie in her chef coat, poised to draw intricate detail with her piping bag. He looked around the site reading the mission statement, hours of operation and then something caught his eye...an order form. He could have some of the goodies made at the shop sent anywhere in the world. Hmmm interesting...He thought as he bookmarked the page.

    Meanwhile outside Marie walked up the walkway to Nick's house. She liked the house, it was a two-story Mediterranean style home with Ivy sprawled along much of the front wall. She held her large brown bag with her, filled with everything to make him some Christmas fettuccini. She straightened her outfit, a simple pale yellow cotton sundress and a short sleeve unbuttoned cream-colored sweater over it. Her hair hung down in soft waves and she wore low-heeled sandals to match her dress.

    It was slightly chilly outside in the late evening air but she felt fine having had lived through some terrible blizzards that had hit the east coast in her life time, this was almost like summer weather to her. She took a breath feeling confident to apologize for the freak out she'd had that both defied her heart and all rational logic. She had cursed herself over and over for not being able to anticipate the reaction of the paparazzi or at least guard herself against what had occurred. Her initial dismay about having to walk alone was silly really, she hated her subconscious to tell her that having to walk alone should hurt her. It was stupid really when she thought about it and fully intended on explaining her actions and hopefully they could move past her brief bout of insecurity.

     Lightly she rapped on the door straightening herself out as she heard someone coming to the door. Nick opened it a surprised look on his face as he saw her standing there, looking stunning in just a simple sundress and sweater. "Hi..." She said simply biting her bottom lip, and it was really almost his undoing.

     He swallowed hard and looked over his shoulder seeing that his daughters were still watching their movie. He glanced to her again and grinned. "Hi...umm not that I'm not glad to see you but how did you get my address?"

     "Angel told me where to find you...I wanted to come over and apologize for my behavior. I don't understand why I acted the way I did and I hoped I could give you a peace offering and make you some dinner. After all it is Christmas Eve and no one should be alone on a holiday." She said hearing a crash behind him then he looked over his shoulder nervously holding the door to his body to shield her from seeing anything into the house. Suddenly the realization dawned on her, he wasn't alone after all. "Oh...you're not alone are you?" She said feeling embarrassed and stupid for coming over at all.

    "No you're right I'm not alone..." He said admittedly, then suddenly the door moved from his grip and a small light brown haired girl with hazel eyes appeared next to him tugging on his shirttail.

    "Daddy who's at the door?" She asked looking up at him with a curious glance then over to Marie and she smiled nervously almost a little shy to see a girl on her father's doorstep when she hadn't really been around a female that wasn't a teacher or a relative in quite some time.

    Marie's eyes widened as she glanced between the two of them. Nick looked nervous almost fearful of her reaction. Marie's face took on a look of pure shock. He was a father? That was the big secret he was keeping from her? "Daddy?" She mouthed almost unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed in front of her.
 

Chapter End Notes:
hope you enjoyed! as always read and review!