Part 2 ... eighteen years later
"Gotta run!"
"Not without breakfast-"
"No time, I'm late."
"Nikki, you have to-"
"Gotta go! Oh, and I'll be late tonight. We have a stupid lab thing after school today."
"Don't forget, we're getting together over at your Uncle Nick's tomorrow."
"Coolness! Will he let me take out the boat like last time?"
"Probably, you know he never could say no to you." Becca Richardson smiled at her only child. Already a beauty at seventeen, Nikki had the gift of wrapping all of her 'uncles' right around her petite little finger. "So what's this 'lab thing' you have to stay late for?"
"Dunno, mom, guess we'll find out today." A shrill beep sounded from the driveway, and she snatched her backpack up off the floor, running for the door. "Bye mom!"
"Bye sweetheart, and don't-" SLAM "slam the door." Becca sighed, smiling. Her whirling dervish of a daughter was something else. She and Kevin had been blessed with only one child during their marriage, and they'd spoiled Sarah Nicole rotten. She'd had the best of everything, from schools to sports to the dance lessons that were the current focus of her young life. In just another month she'd be finishing her junior year in high school, and heading off for the summer to a dance camp in upstate New York.
Looking aimlessly out the kitchen window, Becca released the sigh that had been building as her thoughts wandered.
"Hey, you okay?" A soft deep voice whispered against her neck as a soft kiss was pressed to the pale skin.
"Yeah, I suppose," she smiled wistfully. "Just thinking about Nikki."
"She's going to be fine, Bec. The time away will be good for her. And for us, think of all the time we'll have together alone." He bit her neck for emphasis and she giggled, turning in his arms.
"And just what will we do with all this 'alone time' Mr. Richardson?"
"Well, Mrs. Richardson, I can think of several rooms in this big old house that haven't been christened in a very long time "
Becca giggled again, but her laughter turned into sighs as Kevin's mouth found hers. Even after all these years he could still make her knees weak with just a kiss.
"Mmmm don't you have a meeting this morning?" Becca moaned as his hands crept beneath her t-shirt, rubbing her bare back.
"Nope. We postponed it till this afternoon. I'm all yours until 2:00." His lips trailed up her neck to nibble on her ear, chuckling as she shivered.
"I'm feeling the need to go back to bed, what about you?"
"Bec, I'm not tired," he grinned.
"You will be," she laughed, taking his hand and pulling him toward the stairs.
* * * * * * * *
"I have to WHAT?" Nikki Richardson was horrified, and had turned a deathly shade of pale.
"What a baby," Joanie laughed. "It's only a little blood."
"But, it's blood! I hate blood! And stop laughing, I thought you were my best friend?"
"I am, but c'mon! This is so cool, Nikki, we get to test our own blood type!"
"It's disgusting, I don't care what my blood type is. I don't need to know my blood type to be a dancer."
Joanie rolled her eyes. "What if you're in the middle of this big number on a stage in some sleazy foreign country and you fall. No, you get a huge splinter and you start to bleed, everywhere! That's why you need to know your blood type doofus, for the transfusion."
"No," Nikki rolled her eyes, "that's why my body guards would call the best specialist in the country, because I'm a star and I only deserve the best." She lifted her nose, affecting an air of superiority, before looking sideways at Joanie and getting the giggles.
"Oh yes, I forgot all the Uncles Backstreet will have sent their hired apes along to keep you company. Such a rough life you've had," she tsked, shaking her head in amusement.
"Its had its weird moments, that's for sure. And I still get the creeps when I think about your mom having the hots for my dad all those years ago." Nikki shuddered dramatically as Joanie laughed.
"It's just gross. I caught her looking at an old album of concert pictures a couple of weeks ago, and she blushed."
"Eww!"
The girls were giggling as their science teacher began to pass out the materials for their project.
"Make sure you have everything you need before we begin," he droned. "Take the alcohol wipe and thoroughly sanitize your finger ."
Nikki winced as Joanie pricked her finger and barely held back a yelp as she squeezed a drop of blood onto the glass slide. The strange buzzing in her ears was a familiar feeling, and without waiting to be told, tucked her head between her knees to keep from fainting. It wasn't the first time she'd passed out at the sight of blood, but when she'd found out her Uncle Nick used to have the same problem, she'd felt somewhat better. Once, out on his boat, she'd stepped on a fishhook and had promptly passed out, right on the deck. That very day he'd taught her the 'head between your knees' trick and so far she'd managed to save herself from any more embarrassing moments.
Damn, would this class never end?