Chapter Thirteen: All I Want For Christmas Is You
Marie awoke the following morning to a loud shrill ring of her blackberry that was charging on the night stand next to her. She looked at it seeing that it was from Becca and answered it groaning at the red digital numbers on the clock. "Did you forget the 3 hour time difference Bec?" She grumbled into the phone making Becca laugh on the other end.
"Well a very Merry Christmas to you too hon." She replied cheerily on the other end, the mere happy tone to her voice made her cringe with sleepiness. She hadn't gotten to sleep much more than maybe an hour before Becca's phone call she'd been up the entire night really thinking about everything that had occurred in the last week. For one she had flown across the country, something she hadn't done really ever. She'd been around the world but never west of the Mississippi. She'd done something for herself for once in her life and look at what fate brought her. A guy, a great one at that, just one minor snag; he was a widower with children. She didn't see the kids really as being a problem at all really. She even enjoyed their company immensely and could possibly even see a relationship with Nick and them happen in the future.
However, the title of widower was the main issue. There were so many things that could be the reason as to why he's moved on with his life now after just two years of a separation like that. Was he looking for a replacement companion? A fill-in for a mother for his daughters? She knew on some level she was being ridiculous with all these questions plaguing her mind. But at the same time it was important to know these things. "Bah humbug." She said for good measure. Normally she loved this time of year. Back in New York there were so many things to do. Ice skating at Rockefeller, the Nutcracker at the Met, snow.
"What's eating you? Everything okay? Did something happen with Nick? I just now had the time to return your calls it sounded pretty important. I'm sorry about not getting back to you sooner, just business picked up and yeah, you know how crazy it gets here around the holidays." Becca rattled off in her caffeine induced rant.
"Well I met the paparazzi and got a little freaked out, but really that's not even an issue anymore there was something looming that I didn't even see coming and I was completely blindsided." She replied honestly. It was very true that this turn of events had completely caught her off guard. The paparazzi incident didn't even faze her anymore at this point when there were much more poignant and important issues on the table.
"Like what?" Becca asked wondering what exactly she could be getting at. She knew that Marie had her suspicions about Nick possibly being some big player type of guy who used women at his own disposal and pleasure. Somehow though by Marie's voice she knew there was something quite unexpected about to be giving to her.
"Well you remember how he was getting calls from females?" She asked and Becca replied affirmatively letting her continue on to her point. "Well after the incident with the photographers I felt bad for my reaction and I went over to his place to apologize and cook for him and everything. So I get there and he's evasive and nervous and then out pops a little girl...and she asks ‘Daddy who's at the door?'"
Becca gasped and held her hand to her mouth not quite believing the shock that set off inside of her. He was a father? Did that mean he was married? Of course in this day and age being a father and unmarried was rather commonplace but from the descriptions Marie had given her of their conversations Nick didn't seem like the type to just impregnate a woman and then not accept his responsibilities in a more old fashioned way. "He's a parent?"
"Oh it gets better..." Marie added before continuing. "Then out pops another little girl, one that looks a lot like him and she's the youngest of his two children. Joanna and Livie are their names and they're absolutely fantastic wonderful and beautiful little girls. But here's the kicker..." She paused for dramatic effect and heard Becca almost stop breathing in anticipation. "He's widowed..."
"What?" Becca asked astonished at her statement. She'd expected, married, divorced or maybe even still sleeping with the mother or possibly mothers of the two girls. But a widower now that was something she wasn't expecting at all. This brought a whole new set of questions to her mind. "When?"
"Two years ago. That was his last relationship. Do you realize how much pressure that is now? To live up to someone I've never met and never will meet? What if she was the embodiment of perfection and that's why he married her? I can't compete with that."
"I hardly think she was perfect Mar. Seriously she was human hence she had to have some flaws. Talk to him about it and find out if you can compete with that as you say." Becca countered. She was right though, she was human and had to have some flaw in her design somewhere. After all everyone did didn't they?
"Even still, what if things get serious between us. I don't think I want to apply for the step-mom position." It was true really she didn't want to have that title at all in the least. She also didn't want to be one of those types of women who loved the man and despised the children. But at least she knew that she already liked the girls, they were funny and smart and a lot like their father more so than Nick probably even knew. Most importantly they adored their father, he was a good parent from the minimal time she'd spent with them the previous night. He was firm when he needed to be and loving for everything else, and those two loved him for it.
"Marie Katherine De Luca...You wouldn't be the step mother or replacement mother or whatever. And I'm pretty certain that's not why Nick is dating again. Yeah he might be looking for a positive female influence in their lives but hello he has Angel to be that too. Really if you think about it this way, you'd be just one more positive female presence in their lives. I mean look at you 25 years old, own your own business in New York for Christ's sake. That is empowering for a little girl to see. You could be an amazing role model for them by just being kind to them. You don't need to be a parent; they have one that does everything for them just try to be their friend. You know how to do that. You make friends with the kids in your classes all the time."
"But it's different Becca...What if Nick and I get serious and then it doesn't work out? Where does that leave them?" She asked of course going into a possible future that shouldn't be of any concern to her in the present. But then again Marie was always like that. It didn't matter to her if she got hurt in this process now, but Nick and the girls were far becoming important to her and it frightened her to no end that she was concerned so much for those two little girls just after spending mere hours with them.
"You really like him and them don't you?" She asked figuring out that Marie's feelings for Nick were growing and deepening by the minute. The fact that he had children complicated things for sure but the thought that Marie liked them too, gave Becca hope that maybe this wouldn't just be a fling for her. Maybe, just maybe this would be something more, something that would sweep her up and give her the happiness she'd been longing for, for so long.
"Yes I like them. He's wonderful and seeing him interact with them is priceless. They're amazingly perfect. Jo, the oldest she's too smart for her own good and has this smile that lights up a room. Her sister Livie, she's going to be such a ball buster when she's older. Her rampant curiosity is disarming. And he's an amazing father from what I saw, he adores them so much and I almost want to be that person he chooses. Is that crazy? I mean I've known him a week and I feel all these dizzy heady feelings for him already."
Becca smiled and sighed, "Well then you know what you need to do. You need to follow your heart honey. If it's telling you that you want to be with him, no matter the complications and you can't let your mind get in the way. Let him in...you might be surprised at the outcome." She reasoned and something inside of her snapped. Becca was right, she needed to follow her feelings, to live and feel in the moment. And right now she realized that's really all she wanted to do.
---
Much later on in the day, across town Nick smiled as he watched Jo set up her toy kitchen complete with plastic food and utensils to use. He knew that it was a great present to get her since she loved cooking and playing pretend. So really why not combine the two? She looked rather content with the life size toy for her and it made him feel good to see both his daughters so happy. Livie at the moment was perched in front of the television playing with her V-smile and learning letters and numbers with the help of Dora and Diego.
Watching them like this, happy and growing made him feel a slight pang in his chest that he didn't exactly have anyone to share it with. Sure he had his family and all of his friends that had come by earlier in the day, but it wasn't familial companionship he was referring to.
Not having a female to share his joy and abject anxiety to his daughters' growing minds made him think of Marie. That alone startled him a bit that he didn't automatically think of Anna when he was lonely. As much as it startled him though he felt oddly at ease with it. Like this weight he'd been carrying for so long was lifting from his shoulders. He had gotten so used to carrying it that felt weird to be without it now. He supposed that it was Marie's fault for it. Coming into his life and turning everything he thought or felt right over on its head. She was different than what most women he met were like. She could be silly, sweet, sexy or pensive. It was definitely not what he was used to with a woman. Anna had been like that to some extent but this was a new thing for him. Even at their best times he and Anna didn't have the connection that he and Marie were developing, even after a week of knowing each other.
Aaron walked over and plopped down on the couch next to his brother and sighed grinning at his nieces. "You've done really good man..." Aaron said marveling at how his nieces were growing up into two of the coolest people he knew.
"Yeah who would have thought I could be a father, let alone raise two little girls on my own right?" He replied giving his brother a snarky glance in return. He knew that it shocked most people whenever fans happened to meet his girls. What shocked them was how fun they were yet pretty well behaved in public. If they only they knew how out of control they could get if he didn't keep such a close eye on them after all they were two rambunctious girls but he also knew how to calm them down, playing music, having their toys at their disposal or really just getting down onto the floor with them and playing for hours on end made all three of them happy.
"No seriously, they're amazing and it's all you. Do you ever get tired of doing it all by yourself?" He asked and Nick shrugged. He did get frustrated a lot being the single father. Times like when Jo thought it was cool to stamp all over her bedroom wall and the six coats of paint it took to cover up the Cinderella embossed markings on the walls. Or other times when he was in bed alone missing the feel of someone he loved in his arms. As his grief over losing Anna had subsided it wasn't really that she was the one he was missing but the feeling of being in love again, to hold that person and know that you could keep them safe from the world if only for a few hours at a time.
"Of course I get tired of it. But it's not like I really have a choice. Women aren't exactly beating down my door wanting to be with me so really I don't have a whole ton of options." He shot back. He did want a woman in his life that was for certain, but a woman who could not only handle being with a famous man but also a single parent wasn't something that was all that easy to find in LA. He supposed the few he'd been on dates with that had expressed knowledge of his daughters were really probably only in it to get famous themselves and figured being accepting of his kids would automatically get them an in with him. What those women hadn't counted on was that he wasn't attracted to them really at all aside from physical beauty.
"What about Marie? You seem happier since you first mentioned her. What's going on there?" He asked hoping that maybe the nice woman he'd met so long ago would be the exact right person for his brother. He had to admit there were vast similarities between the two of them. Both utterly passionate about their work, both single and yet both looking for the person that would balance them out.
Nick sighed and smiled for a moment then his face went dark. He'd almost forgotten that he was supposed to be giving her space right now. He'd wanted to call her and invite her over for Christmas dinner but he'd remembered that might not be a good idea since she wasn't all that ready to be involved with someone in his situation. He had to admit that hurt a lot but then again she was only 25 years old, he had to give her the benefit of the doubt that once she thought things over that they would be able to progress. What he certainly didn't want to happen was that she couldn't accept it and continue in this thing that was transpiring between them. He didn't want how he felt to end and more importantly he didn't want to not be able to enjoy her company even on a strictly platonic level. "She met the girls and freaked a little. Because I hadn't told her before she met them or even before we were..."
"You were what?" Aaron asked looking at his brother who was straining to word it yet mask it so that the girls wouldn't catch on to his meaning and start asking questions he was quite ready to answer just yet. "Oh...that... You two did it?" He asked making Nick nod and he grinned. "Good I'm assuming?"
"Fantastic actually. And I think that's why I'm nervous about all of this. I like her, like being with her and Aaron she was so good with them. She was an instant hit and hell Livie asked me if she was coming to dinner. Do you realize how hard it was to tell her no?" He replied. Aaron grinned at him just as Nick's phone rang and he watched his brother's face light up. "Speak of the devil..." He said smiling as he answered the phone. "Hey didn't think I'd be hearing from you so soon..."
"Yeah I didn't think so either...How was your Christmas day?" She asked smiling into the phone. It was so calming to his voice even more so to hear it with a happy tone to it. Almost like he was pleasantly surprised that she had called and hadn't been waiting by the phone to hear from her. She definitely didn't want to make him miss anything in his life because of her own little mental neuroses.
"Good, the girls have been ignoring me since they got their presents unwrapped. How was yours? Quiet I'm assuming since you were alone and all." He said feeling really bad for not extending the invitation to her. He'd wanted to, more than that even. But as much as he'd wanted to he didn't want to seem like he pressured her to answer him about anything or pressure her into acceptance of his children.
"It was refreshingly nice actually. I relaxed much of the day. Called my sister and my parents wished them a Merry Christmas and all that good stuff." She answered making small talk. "I know you might not be able to get away right now but can I see you? I need to talk to you." She asked into the phone hoping that she wasn't asking too much by asking him to come over.
His heart pounded into his chest at her words. Right then his entire consciousness was no longer located in his home in Malibu. At the moment he wanted to be wherever she wanted him to be. "No I don't think it'll be a problem can you hold on for a sec?" He asked then put the phone against his hand. He turned to his brother with an expectant look. "Can you watch them for a bit?" He asked his eyes almost pleading.
Aaron gave him a sideways look. "For a few hours yeah but I have a flight at 4 in the morning so you better be back early." He reminded. It was almost hilarious to him, his own older brother asking for his help to watch the girls while he presumably went and spent time with the girl he was obsessing over lately.
He grinned and put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah I can come over, give me twenty..." He replied and sighed hanging up the phone. "Thanks lil bro." He said as he put on his shoes and grabbed his wallet and keys kissing both girls telling them he would be back in a couple of hours. He ran out to his car almost nervous as to what she was going to have to say to him. He hoped it would be something good, something that would mean they could start getting closer and closer.
---
Marie chewed on her lip as she played with the blanket on the couch. She was nervous that was for certain, in the moments leading up to her phone call to Nick, she was making the right choice. But now she was second guess her decision; she had gone over the words she would say a thousand times since he had agreed to come to Angel's home to see her. She knew couldn't deny her feelings and didn't want to let the turn of events deter her from continuing things with Nick. But getting it all out to Nick was going to be a different story. How would she tell him? It wasn't an easy thing to just lay out your emotions to someone even when you weren't even sure of what they meant yourself. And, it had only been a week, she was pretty sure that her feelings were reciprocated by Nick, but she had a flicker of doubt in the back of her mind.
Marie still couldn't get over how kismet this whole scenario really was; after all, it was meant to be a vacation from her life in New York, a much needed escape. Yep, a simple vacation that's all this was supposed to be and now she found this wonderful man before her. A man with children. She had been hoping for someone like him to walk into her life, and he had, and now she found herself wanting something she been longing for. She ran over her thoughts, how she was going to spit out all of that. That she wanted him, needed to find out exactly where this sensation building inside of her would lead them. She liked the girls that was for certain and wanted to get to know them. Dating a man with children was something that had never crossed her mind. It was a lot...almost too much, especially in combination with the intensity of the feelings she was developing for a man she had known for a week.
Her earlier conversation with Becca had proven to her that she was definitely okay with becoming a part of their lives and wanted to be a positive influence as Becca suggested that she should become. It wasn't something she could jump into easily. If anything this was going to be a slow process for all of them. She needed time to develop a friendship with the girls, get them comfortable with her being around. Even though she would be leaving in four weeks she almost didn't care about the shortened time frame. It would make the moments she'd spend with them all the more precious. Maybe it wouldn't go beyond the time she would spend in LA, maybe it would but she couldn't deny that she wanted to be a part of their lives even if it ended up only being for a brief period of time.
There were still so many questions she had to ask him, wanted to ask him. Some of them she wasn't sure she even really wanted to know. She needed to ask him about Anna, she needed to know about her, what she was like, what made him fall for her. But still in her mind she knew that she'd always compare herself to Anna. It would be a hard thing not to do. She'd been the one who had tamed him in the first place. Changed him into the man he was today and for that she was almost grateful for her. But at the same time it plagued her that he could just be looking for a replacement. A companion to keep his bed warm and his children happy and would never compare to what he lost. God what am I doing? I shouldn't have...
Just at that moment as she was cursing herself for inviting him over there was a light rapping at the door. She bolted from her seated position and straightened her cotton jersey dress and running a hand through her hair as she reached the door. She paused gathering her thoughts before opening it smiling at him on the other side. Almost immediately her entire speech she'd been preparing for the last few hours was suddenly gone from her mind. Just being back in his presence made her not care about words or anything of the sort. She knew, however that she needed to get out what she needed to say. "Hi..." She said standing aside letting him in.
He walked into the condo sighing at smelling her faint perfume as he passed her. He watched as she closed the door quietly behind him and he stood his forearm leaning against the bar countertop as she went into the kitchen offering him something to drink. "So about last night..." He began and she shook her head. He silenced himself quickly and let her talk.
"I asked you over here, because I wanted to apologize for the whole thing with the paparazzi. I freaked out and I'm sorry. I didn't want to walk alone in the first place, I didn't know how to react with them and I was scared. But then after dinner, when we walked out together I understand why you wanted me to walk alone up there. I see that now. I was going to tell you that last night before..."
He nodded and sighed, "I'm so sorry for not telling you about them. They're a big part of my life and with women especially here in LA." He said trying to begin to explain why he had done what he had. She watched his lips move her mind not really even focusing on his words. She wondered slightly if his kisses would feel different now that she knew the truth about him. "I've had to compartmentalize my life to keep them away from the blind dates that went wrong, to protect them and myself...I should have told you before we were ever intimate at all and I owe you an..." He trailed off when her lips crashed against his.
Her nerves were on fire, curiosity getting the better of her. She had thought she was ready to have this conversation, to find out where they stood but really she couldn't just yet. Her mind was too cluttered to even think of getting out all the things she wanted to say, his mere presence alone was enough to completely cloud her judgment with her own selfish needs. She pushed him backwards walking him to the wall pushing him roughly against it as her hands grabbed the hem of his shirt lifting it up breaking their kiss only long enough to rip the shirt from him and toss it to the floor.
He looked at her as she leaned up meeting his mouth again with hers. The both of them closed their eyes losing themselves to the feelings stirring inside. He wrapped his hands around her waist and backed her up slamming her hips into the side of the counter pinning them between it and his hips letting his belt buckle dig into her waist. He backed away a fraction of an inch and gathered the material of her dress in his hands and rid her body of the offending material he looked down seeing her in her bra and panties and breathed in sharply.
She smirked and moved her hands from his shoulders down the front of him and went in for his belt and pants undoing them and slipping her hand inside wrapping her fingers around him loving how his eyes closed and his chest heaved slightly with his laboring breaths. He went to speak to get her to stop for a moment but she silenced him with her lips on his again and he lost his minimal self-control. He lifted her up and turned her back to the wall slamming them against it. His hand slipped around from holding the back of one thigh and pushed her panties aside rubbing his thumb over her clit making her break the kiss and moan loudly. She pushed his boxers down low on his hips along with his jeans giving them each enough access that they needed. They stopped kissing for a moment as she guided him inside of her and they both gasped at the difference in sensation as compared to the last time they'd been like this.
Their lips hovered on each other's; yet not kissing both breathing heavily as he moved inside of her wildly. He broke their stare for a moment not wanting yet another quickie to happen in the foyer. He held her close and walked her into the living room her legs wrapped firmly around his waist. He positioned them on the couch and broke their intimate embrace both groaning as they pushed their bodies away from each other. He sat back on his heels bringing her to straddle his thighs. She sighed as his mouth latched onto her collarbone moving his mouth and hands down her body unhooking her bra and kissing along her chest. She smiled closing her eyes and tangled her fingers in his hair pushing her body into his. His hands slid down to her waist underneath her underwear and began pushing it off of her while he kissed down the valley between her breasts.
She moved down to sit on the couch and he moved to kneel on the floor next to it as he took off her underwear tossing them across the room. She moved toward him and he took her into his arms twisting them around and laid her on the floor between the couch and the coffee table pushing it as far out of his way as he could laying her gently on the cream color plush carpeting.
She sighed as he lay down with her, her hands pushing his jeans and boxers down his legs enough to where he could simply kick them off. He looked down at her feeling her bend her knees her feet dangling just above the backs of his thighs. They looked at each other for a long moment before he moved himself to enter her again both of them releasing the breaths they didn't even realize they'd been holding in. He dug his knees into the carpet as he reigned in his movements keeping them tortuously slow and purposeful. Every time he moved back against her she cried out softly, growing in intensity with each thrust.
Her hands dug into his back just behind his ribs as he moved down onto his elbows kissing her shoulder moving along her bone structure then up her neck to her jaw nipping at it. She growled gently and he met her eyes for a brief moment the intensity between them in just their stare alone made him crumble. He leaned against her kissing her fiercely as his movements became more and more erratic. He felt her walls clenching around him as she broke the kiss arching her back shivering violently while she rode out her orgasm. He thrusted harder against her, feeling his orgasm fast approaching. She held onto him feeling him begin to release himself inside of her before collapsing against her both of them deliciously numb and out of breath from the encounter.
He rolled off of her sighing contentedly then the realization had hit him, they hadn't used any protection. "I didn't..." He began as she rolled over leaning on his side. "We...didn't use anything..." He said his face sobering in concern.
She snickered a little and smiled, "There are other forms of birth control. I'm on the pill so breathe." She replied making him chuckle a little bit. He glanced at the clock and cursed himself. It felt like their encounter lasted merely minutes but really it had lasted two and a half hours not even including how long it took him to drive from his house over to the condo. "I'm sorry for this...it definitely didn't go as I had planned. There's so much that..." She began being interrupted by Nick's blackberry ringing. He closed his eyes and apologized answering it.
At that moment she felt extremely self-conscious her nakedness finally hitting her. She got up scrambling and wrapped the blanket that had been on the couch around herself like a strapless toga. "Yeah...I know I remember your flight Aaron....Yes I'm coming home...Are the girls in bed? Good thanks man seriously for watching them for me." He said into the phone as she pushed her hair behind her ears still holding the blanket around her. He rang off the phone and turned to her. "I'm sorry...I have to go." He said his face showing how much he really didn't want to go. She nodded and kept silent for a moment as he moved toward her having already put on his boxers and jeans trying to find his shirt and shoes. He pulled her to him cupping her face in his hands and kissed her firmly but passionately. "You are amazing..." He said simply making her smile.
"You should get going...we'll talk later..." She said before she began to feel her hormones creeping back up on her. He grinned and nodded before grabbing the rest of his clothes, stopping to kiss her once more before leaving the condo on his way back to his daughters. He felt calmer than he had in a long time and a lot happier about what had transpired, but he also knew that they had much to discuss, and now it was just finding the time to have that discussion.
Author's Chapter Notes:
So wow finally another chapter! I know it took me longer than I had hoped but I need to take a break every once in a while lol. Anyways without further hesitation here is chapter 13!
Chapter End Notes:
thanks so much for all the reviews so far! i'm going to work on responding ASAP! and a HUGE thank you to darby for kicking my butt into gear with the last scene! Thanks so much!
