For Nicky (23 page)

I’m not sure I’ve come down from Cloud 9 yet. We won the tournament which was awesome for the kids, but the only thing that mattered to me was that Libby came back to me. I called her first thing the next morning and convinced her to take the next week off. That meant she was spending the entire day at the center getting everything set up for the week, but we’d be leaving bright and early tomorrow and I couldn’t wait.

The drive to Gatlinburg took about 8 hours. It was the greatest 8 hour drive of my life. Eight hours confined with Libby just listening to her talk. Restroom breaks, breaks to stretch our legs and a few stolen kisses, a stop to eat, and then we were driving up through the mountains to our cabin. The mountains were barely starting to turn green and higher up you could still see some snow. Our cabin was gorgeous. It was like a studio apartment only much larger. It was a totally open floor plan with a living area, kitchen, and bedroom area. The bathroom was hidden behind a partition. It was the biggest bathroom I’d ever seen. It had a Jacuzzi tub and double rain shower heads. I had a feeling that the bathroom was going to be my second favorite part of this cabin. The bed was going to be the first. I had tried to explain to Libby that this vacation wasn’t about us having sex, it was to spend time together and reconnect and relax. “Silly boy, I just came back to you. This vacation is most definitely about sex! I plan on both of us being totally worn out by the end of this week. We may need a vacation from our vacation!”

That’s my girl. I like her plan.

Once we got settled in, we took a trip down the mountain to do some site seeing and shopping. Libby wanted to get one of those old-fashioned photos so we now have a souvenir photo of me as a gun slinger and Libby as a dancing girl. She looked hot in that costume. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back up the mountain. I think both of us were filled with anticipation of what might come next.

I started the shower as Libby put away our purchases. Libby started to undress, but I came up behind her and put my hands on hers to stop her. “Let me, please.” I kissed Libby’s neck and unbuttoned her shirt. My hands skimmed down her sides and it made me chuckle when she shivered.  With her jeans successfully unbuttoned, she let me slide them down her legs. I spun her around and stood back to just admire her. Libby hadn’t changed her preference for matching sexy undergarments. Today they were a bright pink. I walked back up close and pulled her close to me, my hands traveling down to cup her ass. God, whoever created the thong was a freaking genius.

I figured our shower was warm enough by now so we headed into the bathroom. I stripped down to nothing and then watched, dry-mouthed, with hooded eyes as Libby unclasped her bra and slipped her thong down to her ankles. God, this woman was breathtaking. Libby leaned in close to me and kissed me as her hands wrapped around my neck and her torso pressed into me. She moved against me and we both groaned. The scent of soap filled the room and the steam made our skin damp so that we stuck together slightly. I leaned down to taste her breasts and Libby threw her head back with a moan. I came back up to kiss the neck she had exposed to me. As I laved kisses along her neck, my hand traveled down and found her wet center. Knowing that I made her wet with just a few kisses was heady stuff. I walked her backwards into the shower, and we spent several more minutes just kissing and touchi
ng. Her moans told me that she was ready, and Maverick was about ready to cause a mutiny, so I backed Libby up against the tile and lifted her up. Her legs automatically wrapped around my waist and within seconds I was inside her. “Oh, God, Libby….you feel so good, I’ve missed you so much…..shit, baby, I’ve got to move, are you ok?” Libby panted a quick yes and then no words were needed.

By the time we were done, the water had grown cool. We wrapped up in big fluffy towels and headed toward the bed. We grabbed food and drink and the TV remote, but once we satisfied our hunger and thirst neither of us were interested in the TV. Libby and I made the most of our king size bed and had every right to sleep in until noon the next day.

The week we spent on vacation brought Libby and I closer than we’d ever been, both physically and emotionally. I memorized and worshipped every single inch of Libby’s body, and I think she got most of mine committed to memory as well. We did make it a point to leave the cabin every day so that we could see all that Gatlinburg had to offer. We had so much fun, just walking through stores, holding hands and talking.

Today was our last day, we planned on leaving around noon, but it was early so we had some time. I rolled over and pulled Libby to me. Her bottom wiggled against me and I felt Maverick wake up. Moving her hair away from her neck, I kissed that sweet spot that she loved. Libby had been sleeping naked most of the week and I took advantage of that now and reached up to cup her breast. She arched her back, pushing her bottom against me harder. My other hand slowly traced down her stomach and stopped right where I knew she wanted me to touch the most.

“What do you say, Libby-girl?” I whispered in her ear.

“Please, Nate, please touch me.” Libby whimpered when I let my fingers travel farther until I reached her heat. My fingers didn’t stop until I felt Libby’s body quiver and clench on my hand. Once Libby had ridden out her release, I reached for a condom, and pulled her top leg up and over mine. “I want to try it this way, baby, if it doesn’t feel good, we can roll over.” My voice shook as I slid into her from behind. Dear Lord, would I ever get tired of this feeling? Maybe when I’m dead, but until then, the feeling of being inside her will probably always turn me to mush. Libby rolled a little toward her stomach, and I rolled a bit more on top of her, pulling her leg up slightly more. This angle was new and different and so very good. Libby seemed to think so too. I loved when she moaned my name. I think I need to make sure she does that every single day. I hadn’t moved out of her yet, we both lay panting, whispering
our I love you’s.

My phone rang, but I ignored it. Within seconds I got a text. Then Libby’s phone rang. By the time Libby got a text, we both realized that something was wrong. We both grabbed our phones.
“Oh my God! Nate! We need to leave now!” My world tilted a bit on its axis, and I saw nothing but blackness for a moment.

“Libby, get dressed. We have to get there.
For Nicky. He needs us.” We loaded the Jeep in record time and checked out. The best 8 hour drive on the way down was now the longest, scariest 8 hour drive on the way back to Torey Hope. We had to get home. For Nicky.

Driving back to Torey Hope knowing nothing other than Nicky was sick and in the hospital was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Nate was a mess, never once letting go of my hand. We got occasional texts from Audrey or Nate’s parents. My dad even texted once. From what I could gather, Nicky had come down with a bad cold which turned out to be RSV, and he ended up in the hospital on the vent. By the time we got home, he was doing slightly better and they talked about removing the vent the next day. Walking into the hospital to find the Morgan family and Audrey and Nicky was like walking in a dream. I was so afraid of what awaited us. Luckily, Nick was sedated and resting. John and Cindy were resting in the waiting room and Audrey was in the room with Nicky. Nate wanted to see Nick, so we went in and relieved Audrey. She headed home for a while since she knew we were there.

Unfortunately, overnight, Nicky took a turn for the worst. His fever spiked and his breathing was being done almost 100% by the ventilator. The doctors were optimistic about him getting better
, but they said his RSV had led to pneumonia. The biggest fear right now was secondary infections. We could only wait and let Nicky’s body rest while the ventilator breathed for him.

Two days after we returned from our trip, I wandered down to the hospital chapel. I found Nate kneeling at the front. I lit a candle and said a prayer for Nicky then knelt next to Nate.

“Libby, I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose him. Aside from you, I’ve never loved anyone the way I love Nicky. My entire life, everything has been for him. The threats, the fists, the busted knuckles and lips, the video games, the endless games of hide-and-seek. From the time I was old enough to know what it meant to protect someone, I’ve been loving and protecting Nicky. And now I can’t protect him. I can’t fix this. I have always felt guilty that Nicky has the challenges that he has; I’ve always wondered why him and not me. I wish I could take his place in that bed. I’m stronger than he is; my body could fight the infection better. What will I do if he doesn’t make it?” Nate finished on a shuddering sob and hung his head in his hands.

I didn’t have answers for Nate. So I just wrapped my arms around him and we sat like that for over an hour. Nate refused to leave the hospital, so we sat in Nicky’s room and talked to him during the daytime hours. At night, Nate would take the first shift while I slept on the tiny cot in the little room reserved for family of patients. I’d head in to Nicky’s room in the early, early morning so Nate could go rest. John and Cindy came to the hospital every day and relieved me so that I could go to the center. Nicky had many visitors, but due to his RSV and his fragile condition, most visitors didn’t get to enter his room. Luckily, the nurses let Nate, Audrey, the
Morgans, and me come in as long as we wore masks and gloves. Nate and I spent most of our time talking to Nicky even though he was totally sedated. The doctors said that he could probably hear a lot of what we were saying.

“Nicky, you need to get better, buddy. We’ve got a lot of video games to play.” Nate’s whispers practically begged Nicky to beat this.

“Nicky, I can’t wait until you’re better so we can go to another movie and get some pizza! I’ll even let you beat me at Mario Kart again!” Audrey held Nicky’s hand as her eyes filled with tears.

Nate whispered something in Nicky’s ear at least once a day. He always made eye contact with me and smiled as he whispered his secret to Nicky.

After a week, I started pulling out the big guns. “Nicky, you’ve just got to wake up so that we can talk about those babies for Nate!” I smiled through tears as I whispered this to Nicky while Nate was in the restroom.

The next day, Nicky began breathing over the ventilator and the doctors said his blood work showed the infection was clearing up. The nurses explained that they would
slowly decrease his sedation medication and that he’d begin waking up, but it wouldn’t be a quick process.

It was really hard to watch Nicky fight the vent and to see him so confused and scared.
Nate and I were right there with him through it all, holding his hand and talking to him, trying to explain what was going on. I was grateful that the nurses were able to keep him fairly comfortable until it was time to take the vent out.

The next day, they took Nicky off the vent and he was awake and alert. His scratchy and hoarse voice didn’t stop him from talking a mile a minute about the ride in the ambulance. It was so good to see him feeling better. The doctors said that if made progress today he could possibly
be heading home in a day or two. Leave it to Nicky to have enough gumption to progress well enough to leave first thing the next day.

As Nicky was wheeled out of the hospital
toward Nate’s Jeep, it was refreshing to see that he was back to being Nicky. “Nate, I heard you say that you were going to ask Miss Elizabeth to marry you if I got better. Miss Elizabeth you told me you’d have babies for Nate if I got better. I got better so when are you getting married and having babies?”

Nate and I looked at each other over Nick’s head and laughed. “You know, I think Miss Elizabeth and I may be talking about that a little later.
Just for you Nicky!”

“REALLY!?
REALLY, Nate!? Miss Elizabeth, are you going to marry Nate and be my sister and have babies for him??!” I couldn’t help but giggle at his excitement. Maybe Nate and I did need to talk about that later. For Nicky.

Obviously Libby and I didn’t get married. At least not just for Nicky. We got married for ourselves. About a year after Nicky got out of the hospital. Nicky wasn’t very patient about having to wait, but he would have done anything for his Miss Elizabeth.

The wedding was beautiful. Well, it was beautiful according to Audrey and Libby and my mom and the other women in town. All I can remember of it is seeing Libby walking toward me in her white dress. I smiled to myself as she walked toward me. A long ago memory flitted through my head; right after our first kiss I imagined Libby in a white dress and then later with her belly swollen with our baby. At the time, that thought scared the shit out of me, but with the image of Libby walking towards me, I was excited for those thoughts to come true.

After the wedding, Libby and I bought a little home about halfway between her dad and my parents. Libby has had a grand old time decorating it and making it ours. And, of course, ours means that Nicky is there at least once or twice a week to sleep over. There have been some surprising changes in Nicky’s life. Changes that I would never have predicted, but Libby shared with me that she had once had an inkling of something like this happening. I’ll leave that story for another time; I’m not 100% sure that I’m okay with the changes. It’s almost like a father trying to get used to his child growing up.

Libby and I have been married about a year. I’m proud to say that Libby’s belly is VERY swollen with our baby. It never ceases to amaze me that I put that baby in her belly. Libby isn’t all that happy with me and my “putting a baby in your belly skills” right now. In fact, she’s pretty uncomfortable, but I know she’s excited to meet our baby. We decided to wait until the baby arrives to find out the sex. Speaking of sex, pregnant sex is awesome. I’m just saying.

Libby continues loving her job and being awesome at it. She’ll be taking a leave when the baby arrives. She’s taken a semester leave for now, but she’s not completely sure if she’s going back or not. I don’t know how it will all work. I know she wants nothing more than to be home raising the baby like her mom and my mom were, but I also know that her job at the center is her dream come true, and I don’t know how she’ll feel if she leaves it for good. Right now she’s feeling very comfortable with her sub, a sweet girl named Carly, taking over for her.

Nicky recovered completely from his illness. He was, of course, my best man at our wedding. He was super excited about his role in the wedding. He was asking about the babies and when they would arrive before we had even cut the cake. He had worked really hard on his speech for the reception. Nicky was a microphone hog and would have done anything to keep talking into that thing. His speech was totally perfect and completely
Nicky. I’m pretty sure Mom and Dad helped him a little bit, but he delivered it as only Nicky could. “Miss Elizabeth, I love you. Probably not as much as Nate loves you. Maybe. You were my teacher then my friend and now you’re my sister. Nate has always taken care of me and protected me, but he has you to take care of and protect now. And he has to take care of your babies. Nate is the best brother ever and you’re just the best ever. Nate, you don’t have to protect me anymore. Just love Miss Elizabeth as much as I love her. And give her babies!” I had tears in my eyes and a laugh on my lips, as did everyone else, when Nicky finished his speech.

We waited until Libby was well into her second trimester before we told him. We did this for two reasons. We wanted to be sure everything was ok with the baby because it would be too hard to explain to Nicky if something bad happened. The other reason was because we knew he’d drive us insane about the baby’s arrival so waiting that long gave us a bit of a reprieve. Nicky still attends the center. He’s made two new friends. Both of these are strange friendships, but they work. One of his friends has to do with those changes Nicky is experiencing. The other has Nicky, a grown man, being best buds with a little boy at the center named Beckett Jordan. Beckett’s dad, Jeremiah, brings him to our home sometimes to play video games with Nicky. Jeremiah is a great guy and Beckett is an adorable child. I think Nicky connects with Beckett because Beck has a lot of the same difficulties and challenges as Nicky has lived with all of his life.

I finally decided make use of my degree and look for a counseling job. I lucked out and got a job right away.  It may have been helpful that my dad is such a well-respected and influential staff member at the middle school and the counselor there was retiring. So, at the start of this school year, I started the first day of what I hoped to be a long, successful, fulfilling career in school counseling.  I dream of being admired and respected by the students like my dad always has been.  I have my work cut out for me; those are big shoes to fill.  I feel blessed that I’ll have my dad around the place for at least 5-10 years before he looks into retirement.  So far, I’ve met some awesome 6
th
, 7
th
, and 8
th
graders.  I’ve met some rotten ones, too.  I’ve heard some stories that made me laugh, some that made me cry, and some that made me feel like that protective big brother itching to fight a bully all over again. My goal as a school counselor is to help kids that are bullied and to help the bullies, too. I do this for the victims, the bullies, and for Nicky.

In the end, I owe it all to Nicky. I’m grateful that I finally gave in to him and met his dear Miss Elizabeth. Many people think that I take care of Nicky and protect him, and I do. But, Nicky has done just as much, if not more, for me. This life has thrown some curve balls, and I’m sure the curves will keep coming, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’d do it all over again.
For Nicky.

THE END