Chapter 86
Nick growled as the phone rang incessantly.
"Answer it!" Fi laughed. "It might be important!"
Giving in, he rolled over and reached for the noisy interruption, sending the Tiffany lamp spiraling from the night stand where it shattered on the hardwood floor below. "Son of a Bitch!"
"No, Howie" laughed the voice on the other end of the line.
"What?"
"What?"
"Who is this?"
"Howie" he stated loudly. "You alright, bro?"
"NO! You interrupted Fi and ........."
"Too much information" Howie replied, cutting Nick off in mid sentence.
"Like you and Kristina don’t do it" Nick shot back, the frustration evident in his voice.
"Well, we try but most of the time we get interrupted by some dork."
Nick laughed. "Okay, you got me on that one. Now, what’s so important that you call me this late and interrupt me getting’ my groove on?"
Howie went on to explain his message from Kevin and how he, AJ and the girls were going to fly out the next day. To say that Nick was blown away was an understatement, considering he knew nothing of Lynne’s pregnancy. It took Howie another fifteen minutes to explain that portion of the triangle as well.
"So, are you gonna come out to LA?" Howie asked.
After pondering the situation, Nick finally answered with a bit of sadness in his voice. "I don’t think so, ‘D’. I’ll send some flowers but I think those two need to straighten things out and get settled before Fiona and I show up and stir up Kev’s emotions. He has enough on his plate right now without me adding to it."
"Damn, Nicky!" Howie replied, a proud smile on his face, although no one was around to see it. "You really have grown up. I didn’t even stop to think that seeing Fiona right now might add to Kev’s stress level. I’m proud of you little brother."
"Thanks, ‘D’. Tell Kev that I am thinking about him and I hope things go well for all of them. I’ll say a prayer for them too."
"Will do. Talk to you soon" Howie said as he hung up.
As Nick hung up the phone, Fiona surprised him by walking into the room with a dustpan and a broom. He hadn’t even noticed that she had gotten out of the bed during his conversation.
"What did Howie want?" she asked casually, leaning over to begin cleaning up the mess that Nick had created.
Nick looked at her quietly, loving the innocence she wore. He calmly took the broom and dustpan from her hands and tossed them onto the floor as he took her in his arms and laid her upon the bed. "That can wait til later. Right now, I want to talk to you."
"Is everything okay?" she asked, worried that something might have happened when Howie and Sarah set out to find Kristina.
"Everything’s fine. I just need to explain a little history regarding Kevin and his ex-girlfriend, Lynne."
"I know about Lynne" she replied flatly. "Kevin was about to propose to her when she took off without so much as an explanation. It really broke his heart."
Nick was surprised, once again. "He told you about her?"
Fiona laughed lightheartedly. "Yeah. Why? Was he supposed to keep it a secret?"
"Well, no, but I didn’t expect him to tell you since you guys only dated for a short period of time."
"We slept together Nick and he’s a very open guy. He thought I should know about her and the fact that he wasn’t completely over her yet. She really broke his heart."
"Yeah, I know."
"So" she said as she rested on her elbow, her baby blue eyes staring into his. "Why did you feel the need to tell me about them? Why now?"
"That’s why Howie called. Apparently Kevin found out the real reason Lynne left him. It was because she was pregnant and didn’t think he would want the baby."
"What? Are you serious?" she asked, not being able to understand why anyone would think that Kevin wouldn’t want a child he had created.
"Yeah. Well, his sister told Kevin and he flew home. Not long after he got there, Lynne called and she had gone into labor. She and the baby aren’t doing too well and Kevin asked that all of us come out. He needs some support."
"What time are you leaving?"
"I’m not."
"Why not? He needs you and you should go."
"I think he needs to get things straight with Lynne before you and I show up and stir up his emotions" Nick said, pulling her into his arms.
"Nick, you should go. I have my job here and I can look after myself. He’s your friend, your big brother almost. Go, be with him."
"Fi..." he started.
"NO! You should go. I promise baby, I’ll be fine here."
"I can’t win this argument, can I?" he asked, knowing the answer to his own question.
"No, you can’t" she smiled, leaning in to kiss him softly. "Besides, what is it they say? Absence makes the heart grown fonder?"
"And the balls turn blue ‘er" Nick smirked.
Fiona burst into laughter. "Blue ‘er? I don’t think that’s a word, Nick!"
"It is now!" he laughed, cupping her face gently and kissing her deeply. "Now, where were we?"