(written by Lacy) Jade's face fell and her arms quivered with the weight of her son. "Jade, what are we gonna do?!?" Jess whispered to her, her voice quivering. Jade's eyes never left the front door, but somehow she walked down the stairs and crouched down beside Jess without tripping. Jess looked at Jade and knew immediantely what she was thinking. Nick couldn't see Jade, otherwise he would know about Scott. "Go," Jess said, and Jade gave her a grateful look and fled to the sanctuary of the livingroom. Another ring of the doorbell filled the house before Jess took a deep breath, stood straight up, and yanked the front door wide open.
"Hello, Nick," she said calmly as she watched the look of shock cover his face. "J-Jess?" he stuttered, reaching out to touch her as if he didn't believe that she was actually there. "It's me," she said, smiling. She couldn't believe she was acting so calm. Especially when Jade and Scott were just around the corner in the living room. "What-why-where...," he trailed off, still in shock. "Nick, are you okay?" she asked, noticing his considerably white face. He looked at her for a moment before responding. "Yeah," he mumbled, shaking his head. "Look, it's really late. Maybe you could come back tomorrow and--," she started, but he cut her off. "Where's Jade?"
Jess let her arms drop to her sides. "She's not here," she lied, hoping he wouldn't see the guilt in her eyes. "Where is she?" he asked. Jess sighed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. What was she supposed to say to him? Was she supposed to tell him that Jade was back in Philly, or that she was working and would be home later? Would he even believe her, anyway?
"Jess, you don't have to lie for me," Jade said, coming up behind her. Jess jumped in surprise and covered her hand with her mouth. "Hi, Nicky," Jade said. The look on Nick's face made Jess want to break down and cry. She watched as, with tears rolling down her face, Jade walked up to Nick and threw her arms around him. It didn't take Nick more than a second to wrap his arms around her and start crying too. "Oh, God, Jade, did I ever miss you," Nick mumbled into her shoulder.
Jess quietly turned around and walked into the living room to give them some time to gather themselves together. It hurt to see how close Nick and Jade were. She had betrayed him and he didn't even seem to care. It just made her miss Brian even more. Sitting down on the couch next to the sleeping Scott, she sighed and closed her eyes, listening to the steady hum of mumbled words coming from the kitchen.
"Jade, you have no idea how much I've missed you," Nick said as he closed the refridgerator door, handing her a Pepsi and opening one for himself. "I've missed you too, Nick," she said quietly as he sat down on the stool next to her. "Why did you leave like you did, Jade? You hurt a lot of people... especially Kevin," he said, whispering the last part. Her throat started to tighted when he mentioned Kevin's name and tears again started forming at the corners of her eyes. "I had to, Nick. I didn't mean to hurt you... or anyone else," she said, never looking up from the floor.
"Why, Jade? Why did you HAVE to just up and leave like you did?" he asked, grabbing her chin and lifting her head until her bright green eyes met his dark blue ones. Just then a loud cry of "Mommy!" was heard from the living room. Jumping off from her stool, she avoided Nick's befounded stare and headed into the living room. "I'm sorry, Jade, I tried to keep him quiet," Jess said to Jade as she picked up her crying son from her best friend's arms. "It's okay, Jess. He had to find out sometime," she said, patting Scott's back and trying to get him to calm down.
Sighing, she turned around and walked back into the kitchen, Scott still in her arms. "This, Nick, is the reason I left like I did," she said, sitting back down on the stool and setting Scott on her lap. Nick had a completely blank expression on his face as he looked at the little boy sitting on her lap. "Nick," she said, "this is my son."
Back to "All That Heaven Has Allowed" Index