“Ha-ha. All right, get back to work. We’re burning daylight.”
Chapter 29
NICK
Nick stood on Noel’s couch in his bare feet, slipping the landscape onto the command hooks. “How does it look?”
He glanced over his shoulder at Pike and Anthony, both stuffing their faces with pizza at the kitchen table. Noel’s apartment looked like his, chaotic and messy. Between the three of them they’d managed to put the furniture she’d wanted to keep where it belonged, but large black totes made a maze around her place.
Pike licked his thumb and pointed to the left. “Lopsided. Who taught you how to use a level?”
Nick hopped off the couch and eyeballed the painting. “The fuck you talking about. It’s perfect.”
“I was just messing with you. Looks good.”
He shook his head, pretending to lunge at Pike as he passed.
“Oh, bring it on. I’ll throw hands, boy, and believe me, you don’t want none of this!”
“I’m going to check on Noel. Do not eat all the pizza.”
“No promises,” Anthony said with a mouthful.
Nick padded down the hall and knocked on her bedroom door.
“Come in.”
He poked his head in to find her sitting in the middle of her bed with a giant white box in her hands. Scattered across her comforter were hundreds of photographs in separate piles.
Noel looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks and he sat on the edge of the bed.
“What’s up?”
“It’s just…a lot. Overwhelming.”
He put his hand on her knee and squeezed. “I know, babe. You don’t have to do this all right now. Why don’t we order some photo boxes online and we can go through them a section at a time.”
“Probably a good idea,” she sniffled.
“What’s that box?”
“My mother’s wedding dress.”
Nick stilled. “Oh.”
“Yeah. It’s really beautiful.” Noel picked up a stack of photos and handed them to him. “And she looked beautiful in it.”
Nick thumbed through Noel’s parents’ wedding pictures, the joy on their faces. The cake cutting. Nick laughed and held up a picture of her dad shoving cake into her mom’s face.
“I would have called this before seeing it. Your dad was such a funny guy. Always playing ball with my dad and me when you came over.”
“Yeah, they probably would have liked to have a boy.”
“Why didn’t they?”
“My mom got really sick with me and they didn’t try again. I always envied you Merry and Holly.”
“Take ’em, they’re yours.”
Noel laughed.
“I wanted four,” Nick said softly.
“Four?”
“Four children.”
Nick watched her face, waiting for her to freak out.
“You just want to one-up your parents or something,” she said lightly.
“No, I wanted more than two, but with three, there is always the third wheel.”
Noel nodded. “Okay.”
“The thing is…” he cleared his throat, searching for the right thing to say. The words from his heart that would reassure her that he loved her. That even if she never wanted marriage or kids, she’d be enough for him. Noel was his other half.
“Yes?”
“I don’t need to have kids to be happy. I don’t even need a piece of paper.” Nick took her hand. “You and me? That’s all I need. The way I feel for you, Noel, is something I can’t control and I don’t want to live without you. You are it for me.”
Nick didn’t want overload the tenuousness of their reunion, but she surprised him when she squeezed his hand, tears in her eyes.
“Thank you for saying that. I really needed to hear it.”
Nick brought her hand to his mouth. “I meant every word.”
Moments slipped by as they sat there, holding hands, his thumb rubbing over her knuckles.
Finally, she broke the silence, surprising him. “If I had kids, I think I’d like at least two. If I hadn’t had you, I would have been lonely. At least with two, they could play together, right?”
Nick stilled, studying her earnest expression. His voice came out hushed, afraid to hope. “Are you being serious? I know you said you never wanted kids or marriage and I respect that. I wasn’t lying when I said you were enough for me.”
“I know you weren’t. I’m still unsure, but I’m opening up to the idea again.”