Chapter Two
The plane landed safely in sunny Florida two hours later, Gretchen
quickly gathered up her things and walked off the plane. As she walked into
the airport she looked around for Nick’s familiar face. After a few minutes
she spotted him leaning up against the wall directly in front of her giving
her one of his famous smiles. She had to look away to keep her legs
from giving way as she took a deep breath and began to walk towards Nick who
was already making his way over to her.
“Hey Brown Eyes...how ya doing?” He asked as he wrapped his arms around
her.
“Peachy, how are you???” she replied as she returned the hug.
“Oh Wonderful...at least now I have someone else to keep me sane here.
Bri is like off the wall ..every five minutes he starts singing ‘We’re having
a baby’ ..you know that song that was on that show with that red
head?”
“It’s ‘I Love Lucy’ sweets. Yeah, I know the song.”
“You bring clothes???” Nick asked.
“No, I’m gonna spend five days here and wear your clothes. You haven’t
happened to shrink into a women’s size in the past few months, have
you???”
“Ha-ha, what a comedian. Luggage???”
“Of course.” Gretchen finally said. Nick smiled and grabbed her hand to
escort her to baggage claim. “So, how is Leigh???” Gretchen asked as they
watched bag after bag pass them.
“Holding up, I guess.” he said, putting his arm around her. “Brian is
another story. God, that guy scares me.”
“Aw...poor baby, you don’t have to be afraid of Bri-Bri anymore. I’m
here to protect you.” Gretchen said smiling.
“What is this...did you buy a sense of humor since the last time I saw
you???”
“Guess so ..also, school is out for the summer...I am officially worry
free for the next three months!”
“Goody, now you can spend a ton of time down here. God I’ve missed you.”
He said tightening his arms around her waist and giving her a kiss on the
forehead.
“I’ve missed you too. OOOOO!!! There it is!!” Gretchen said pointing to
her bag.
“Which one?”
“The black one,” she said as Nick reached for a bag, “No, that’s blue
Hun, I said black...yeah sweets ..that’s it.” She said as Nick finally reached
for the right color bag. “Where are you parked??”
“Section E ..come on...” he said carrying her bag in one hand and
holding her hand with the other as they walked out of the airport.
“Nick...you brought the Prowler?! Well lets just say I am officially
speechless...I thought you had this thing under lock and key.” Gretchen
commented. Nick had bought his black and purple ‘Prowler’ as soon as it came
out on the market...it was his pride and joy. He brought it out from
underneath its cover in his garage once a week to wash and polish it. He
rarely drove it anywhere, which is why it was so surprising to Gretchen to see
it in the airport parking lot.
“Yeah, well, I decided to take it for a spin and ended up in Orlando, so
I decided to stop by and visit Bri and Leigh. But, as soon as I pulled into
the driveway they came running out yelling about water breaking and labor.
Before I could say anything they were in the back seat screaming at me to go.
What could I do?? Ask if we could make a pit stop back in Tampa for my
Durango?? I don’t think so.” Nick said as he unlocked the trunk and dropped
Gretchen’s bag in. He went around and opened the passenger side door for
Gretchen. “Just make sure that your feet are clean...and touch NOTHING!!! I
don’t want fingerprints all over the dash ..K?”
“Aye, Aye...” Gretchen said as she saluted Nick and climbed into the
car. Nick walked around to the driver side and got in. “Am I allowed to buckle
my seat belt or do you not want me to twist the belt???” Gretchen asked in a
sarcastic tone.
“You can buckle it...as long as you make sure you keep it straight and
you don’t have anything on your hands. Food, grease, wet nailpolish
...anything?” He asked with a serious tone. Gretchen had to control herself
from cracking up.
“Wet nailpolish...Oh sure Nicky, I just painted my nails on the plane,
with all that turbulence and all those people sitting around me...I just had
to look good for you.” She said lightly blowing on her unpainted nails. Nick
just rolled his eyes at her. “Oh, and as for the food, I’m still alive which
in turn means that I did not touch the airplane food. I’m blond, not stupid.”
She finished by fluffing her light brown almost blond hair as Nick started the
car.
“Listen to that baby purr.” he said.
“Uh, yeah, purring is, uh good. Drive.” She said
“You know. I’m starting to like this sarcastic attitude you got, it’s a
lot more entertaining.”
“Totally, can we maybe go a little faster than 20 mph, the entire point
of me flying down here was to get here BEFORE the baby was born.” She said as
she looked at the speedometer, 22 mph and gaining. She began to bounce in her
seat with excitement as they pulled out of the airport parking lot. Nick
accelerated as Gretchen sighed, ‘Just going slow through the parking lot’ she
thought. But, as soon as the thought crossed her mind Nick hit the breaks.
Gretchen looked around curiously but didn’t see any threats to Nick’s ‘Purrin
Baby’. “Why we slowing?” She asked.
“That car is pulling out, I was just being careful.” he said. Gretchen
looked around, but saw no car.
“What car?”
“That one...the blue one up ahead.” Gretchen squinted and finally she
saw a tiny blue car, big enough to squeeze two people into pulling into
traffic about a mile up the road. She had to cover her mouth to contain a
giggle.
“Um, Nick? That car is like a mile away.”
“What’s your point?!” He said as he glanced at her but quickly looked
back at the road nervously. Gretchen just rolled her eyes. She glanced at the
speedometer again.
“Wow! We hit thirty!!-no wait. Sorry, 29 mph, got a little excited there
for a minute.” She said sarcastically as they slowly passed a speed limit sign
that stated the maximum speed was 65. Nick just nodded his head and smiled,
probably not paying attention to a word she said. She sighed and looked at her
watch ..almost 1pm.
“Sheesh.”
“Huh?” Nick asked.
“It’s almost 1.”
“Oh.” he said not taking his eyes off the road. Gretchen began to tap
her fingers on the arm rest next to her. She glanced at her watch again, it
was five after one.
“Nick?”
“What?!” He said a little to loudly.
“Jeez, take a chill pill will you! I just wanted to know how many miles
it is before we get to the hospital.”
“Thirty-five.” ‘THIRTY-FIVE!?!?! We’re not going to get there for an
hour and a half at this speed!’ She thought. She began to rock back and forth
in her seat in attempt to get the car rolling a little faster.
“What are you doing?!” Nick asked giving her an odd look.
“Um, trying to get us to go faster, I’d like to get there before the
baby is born. And, we are going,” she began leaning over to look at the
speedometer again, “31 in a 65 mile an hour zone. Don’t you find that just a
tad bit ridiculous?! I mean, isn’t there a law about going TOO slow?!”
“I’m not going that slow.”
“Oh Puh-lease, Nick two old folks, probably in their eighties just
passed us and flipped us off!!”
“No they did not.”
“You wanna bet?! Let’s see if we can catch them and we can ask them, oh
wait, Nick won’t go over thirty-five, sorry Granny!!” Gretchen screamed out
the window. Nick just rolled his eyes. “Look Nick, I know that you don’t want
your ‘BABY’ to get hurt, but lets be realistic...Leighanne is at the hospital
possibly having her baby right now and we are thirty-five miles away, crawling
along at he velocity of a small snail! Please hit the gas...it’s on the right
if you were confused.” She finished.
“Me, be realistic??? This is an extremely expensive car. Do you have any
idea how much money this car cost me?! I had to give up most of what I made on
‘MILLENNIUM’ to pay for this!!”
“But Nick, isn’t this car supposed to specialize in speed? Let’s see how
fast it can really go.”
“Gretchen!” He said loudly.
“NICK!!” She said louder.
“Fine, you wanna see how fast this car can go?? Hold on.” He said as he
slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. Gretchen flew back into her seat. She
watched the speedometer reach and pass forty, then fifty, and finally
sixty.
“That’s it ..Good boy Nicky.” She said as she patted his shoulder. “See,
now this isn’t that bad, and at this rate we’ll get to the hospital in fifteen
minutes instead of an hour.”
“I’m telling you Gretchen, if we crash or if my car gets dented in any
way you are paying for ALL the damages.”
“Yeah, yeah, wow this wind feels good.” she said as she stuck her head
further out the window and began to giggle. “We’re flying now-*cough cough*.”
She choked as she pulled back into the car. “Swallowed a bug-*cough cough*.”
She said as Nick began to laugh. “Not-* cough *-funny!”
“Yes it is, you deserved that for being a pest.” Nick said as Gretchen
began to pout. “Aw...don’t hate me.” he said but Gretchen ignored him.
“Gretchen?” he asked, but she turned the radio up louder so she couldn’t hear
him. “Gretchen?” still no answer. “Brown Eyes?” Nick tried in attempt to get
her to at least look at him. Still the cold shoulder. Next? Force.
“Gretchen!!!” He screamed.
“WHAT?!?!?!” She yelled back equally loud trying to seem like she was at
the end of her rope but when she looked at Nick she saw the pathetically hurt
face Nick wore. She turned the radio down and tried again. “What?” She asked
more calm. “Nick, I’m sorry, I was just playing.”
“Playing huh?! Just wait till we get to the hospital...you’re gonna pay,
baby. I know you’re weakness, tickling.” He finished giving her an evil
grin.
“Oh, no you won’t.”
“Oh yes I will!” He said reaching over to poke her in the side. She
jumped in her seat and let out a squeal. Nick laughed.
“Ugh!! I should have never told you about that.”
“I know.” Nick said smiling.
“Men...” she whispered under her breath.
“Yes, that would be the gender I belong to. Care to comment on us?” he
asked raising an eyebrow at her.
“Why of course not, Nicky.” She said giving him a smile, but rolled her
eyes as she looked away.
“I saw that!” he said poking her again. She jumped in her seat again,
before facing him.
“Nick, I also know your weakness is the same as mine,” she said wiggling
her fingers at him. “would you like me to make you pay on the road, driving
your ‘Baby’?” she asked him as she moved her hand towards his stomach to
tickle him.
“NO! Okay, I’m sorry Brown Eyes, no pay back. I promise, just don’t
tickle me.” He said.
“Suit yourself.” she said as she repositioned herself to look out the
window.
“Hey, there’s the hospital.” Nick said pointing to the road up ahead of
them. Gretchen looked to see a huge sign that said ‘ORLANDO GENERAL HOSPITAL’
with an arrow pointing to the left.
“See Blue, I told you that we’d be here in no time if you just went a
bit faster.”
“Yeah, you better hope my car is okay.” Nick said as he pulled into the
parking lot of the hospital and parked his car. He got out quickly and began
to inspect his car.
“Nick?” Gretchen asked as he leaned down and moved his eyes over the
hood. He just held a finger up to quiet her. She crossed her arms and looked
at him.
“HEY!!!!” He yelled as he point a finger at the hood and glared at
her.
“What?”
“Come look what you did.” he said. Gretchen walked over to him and
looked at the hood.
“Yeah? Nick, it’s a bug.”
“A DEAD bug that is stuck to the hood of my car, which would not be here
if we didn’t kill it with our speed.”
“Your point? Nick I have something similar in my stomach right now...you
didn’t seem this upset when I swallowed that.”
“It’s not the same...this bug is toasted and attached to-”
“Your Baby, I know.” Gretchen said interrupting him, “What do you want
me to do about it?” she asked.
“Get it off!” he said in a high pitched voice. Gretchen looked him in
the eye as she flicked the bug off the hood and on to the ground.
“Happy?”
“Very, come on...Leigh is probably having the baby and you’re standing
here flicking bugs!” Nick said as he took Gretchen’s hand and pulled her
towards the entrance.
“Me? I’m not the one who was inspecting his car for bugs!” Gretchen
mumbled as she let Nick drag her in the building.
Chapter Three
Confessions Table of Contents
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