Chapter 46
“You
know,” the young boy pulled back, looking up at the dancing blue eyes staring
at his dark brown ones. “I like your brother better.”
Nick
fell back on his bottom and grabbed at his heart in mock sadness. “My brother!?
You like Aaron better than me!?”
“Yep.
But you’ll be okay, I guess.”
“Nathanael! Be nice to Nick, now. He’s agreed to help Aunt Cici while Mommy and Daddy are gone.”
“I’m
nice, Mom…I just like his brother.” Pushing his way past Nick who was still
sitting on the floor, he looked up to his aunt wondering why she was giggling.
“So where’s my room?”
“Come
on, I’ll show you.” Nick stood up with a groan, took the boy’s hand and led him
upstairs to the guest room leaving the sisters alone in the room.
“He
has no problem getting what he wants, does he?” Ciara
hadn’t been the best of aunts, to be honest. Working non-stop, going through a
bit of a depression and now with Nick in her life, she just never took the
time. Sis was judgmental of her health and life at best, and ignorant of the
intricacies of it at worst. So, Ciara just avoided
dealing with her. Although seeing Nathanael now, she
was instantly regretting that choice. She’d missed him in avoiding her. Not
smart.
“Nope.
Not usually. Don’t let him push you around though. He just thinks he’s
the boss.”
“Got
it. Used to that with my patients. I wanted to ask you…and I’d understand if
you said ‘no’, but please consider it first…”
“What’s
that?” The older sibling slid deeper into Ciara’s
home dropping bags of toys and games onto her floor.
“Well,
especially since Nathan…”
“Nathanael.”
Alrighty
then. “Nathanael…mentioned Aaron…he has a show this
weekend in
“To
“Yeah…just
two nights. Concert, sight seeing…Aaron might join us the second day. Not sure
yet, but I think Nathanael would get a kick out of
it.”
“
“Yes,
“So,
you’re really doing Nick Carter, huh? The little twerpy
kid…thought you could do better, Ci.” No tact.
Nowhere in this woman’s body lived one ounce of it. Ciara
hated it. Made her wonder how she managed being a parent.
“This
has nothing to do with my relationship with Nick. If you don’t want us to take
him, we won’t.”
“How
responsible is he, Ciara? I mean, he’s been coddled
all his life. All whopping…what? 21? 22 years of it? How am I supposed to trust
him with my child that far away from me?”
“It’s
me you need to trust. I’m responsible for Nathanael
this week. Just stop preaching and tell me ‘no’ if that’s your answer. I don’t
need your approval of who I’m seeing.”
“How
much will this cost?”
“You?
Nothing. We’ve got it covered.”
“Of
course. He’s made of money.” Ciara’s sister heaved an
exhausted sigh, and rolled her eyes, leaning an ear upstairs to what the two
‘boys’ were doing. All she could hear was laughter.
“He’s
great with kids, he’s great for me and I’d like to go. If it’s a problem, Nick
and I will go another time. Your son, however, would have the time of his
life.”
“He
does like Aaron.” Without invitation, she walked upstairs to find her son to
bid him farewell. It was hard enough leaving him this long, then separating her
daughter from him since Ciara had been sick and now…
She
turned into the room and saw legs. A few arms. Suddenly a brown head popped up
from the fray and then disappeared. Laughter. Hard, wet-your-pants variety
laughter. From both of them. She hadn’t heard her son laugh like that in a long
time. Neither she nor her husband were particularly touchy people, never got
down and dirty with the kids to play and rough house. Maybe that had been a
mistake.
“I
got you Unka Nick! I got you!”
Nathanael finally jimmied his way out from
under the larger man and ‘flipped’ him on his back, straddling his stomach
bouncing heartily.
“Uh-uh-uh…Nath-an-ael-…please…stop.” Nick grabbed Nathanael
on an upwards bounce and quickly pulled himself up to sitting seeing Ciara’s sister in the doorway, arms folded and a…no, it
couldn’t be…a smile on her face? Settling the boy on his lap, he flashed his
best grin. “Oh, hi.”
“Hi.
Nathanael. Mommy’s gonna go. Be nice to Nick now…”
“UNKA
Nick, Mommy. He’s my UNKA Nick.”
The
smile left her face and she glared at Nick. No, not yet he’s not.
“His
idea…we’ll put a stop to it if it bothers you.”
Her
face softened, although she was still frustrated. She couldn’t believe her
sister would bop this guy who she’d known since he was a kid. Gave her the
creeps. But, dammit, he did seem awful nice. He was a
handsome thing now too, wasn’t he? But, he was a pop star. A cocky,
pre-packaged slice of meat for her sister. Probably a druggie or a boozer like
that other one. Hadn’t she had enough of that crap in her past? No way could he
take care of her whenever she got sick. He probably couldn’t’ even pronounce
‘diabetes’. But, she couldn’t deny how comfortable Nathanael
was already. And Ciara seemed, for the first time in
years, genuinely happy.
“I
guess it’s okay. Just don’t…just…” She sighed in resolve when Nathanael pulled Nick back up and dragged him to his
suitcase.
“Come
on, Unka Nick. I’ve got some toys I want to show
you.”
“Nathanael, hang on. Let me talk to your Mommy here and then
we’ll look at everything.”
And
the boy happily obliged. No argument. No pout. No fuss. Shoot. Another sigh.
“Just
be good to my family, okay?”
“That’ll
be easy.”
“You
know she’s sick.”
His
eyes narrowed at hers. It was a test. He hated being tested like this. But, it
was probably for her son’s well being, at least in her mind, so he answered.
“Sick? Not typically. Has some problems? Yep.”
“Do
you know what to do when her blood sugar is low?”
“Feed
her.”
Smart
ass. “What are the symptoms of low blood sugar?”
Nick
tried to hide his frustration, afraid he was failing miserably, but answered
anyway. This was ridiculous. “Different things, sometimes she hides her
symptoms from me ‘til it’s too late. Um, weakness, shaking, sweatiness,
confusion…then she’ll check out.”
“And
when it’s high?”
“She’s
bitchy as hell, thirsty, high strung. Get insulin to her if she needs it, calm
her down and wait.”
“Glucagon?”
“Done
it.”
Impressive.
“And what if she hurts all the time…can’t move much.”
“Then
I sit with her. And love her.” He sat down on the bed, tired of the
interrogation, hoping that by physically backing down, she would back down
altogether. “Look, I just agreed to be here to help Ci
with Nathanael. He’s not in danger and neither is
she.”
“No,
no…I’m not implying…I’m sorry. I just worry about her. No one can take care of
her good enough, you know?”
“No,
I don’t know. She seems to have a lot of faith in me and I take that very
seriously.”
“I
guess that leaves my opinion out the equation then doesn’t it?”
“Unless
she asks for it, yeah. She’s a diabetic; she’s not ignorant.”
Okay,
so he did get it. Maybe even better than she did. She wanted to hate him.
Wanted to distrust him, just like every other man in Ciara’s
life. But he wouldn’t let her. Dammit. Against her
better judgment, she made a decision.
“Nathanael, how would you like to take a trip with Aunt Cici and,” she struggled, but got it out, “Uncle Nick?”
“Where
to?”
Nick
and the woman met eyes, him asking, her answering. He never imagined she’d
agree to it. “How’d you like to go see that other Carter guy…oh, what’s his
name???” Nick tapped his chin with his finger in mock concentration.
“AARON!?”
“Yeah!
That one. You wanna go see him?”
“YES!
Mommy, can I?”
She
couldn’t believe she was agreeing to it, either. Before she could second guess
herself, she nodded her head. “You’ll get to go on an airplane and everything,
Buddy. Is that okay?”
“Oh
yeah!!!!!!!! Wooohooo!” The boy jumped off his spot
on the bed and did a dance that only 5 yr. old boys could do. “I’m gonna see
AIR-on! I’m gonna see AIR-on!”
Hearing
the commotion upstairs, Ciara finally met up with
everyone in the guestroom. Leaning to her sisters shoulder, “I guess you
decided?”
“I’m
an idiot. If anything happens to him, Ci…”
“Stop.
I take care of kids for a living, Sis. He’ll be fine.”
One
more sigh for good measure. “Okay, Nathanael, come
here. Mommy’s going. Gimme kisses.”
One
quick kiss and he had latched onto Nick pulling him back to his suitcase to
share his treasures.
“I’ll
give Mom the details of the flights and stuff. Thanks for agreeing to this.”
The
sisters made their way back downstairs for final instructions and lectures. Ciara’s sister was always a control freak and it rubbed off
on her raising of the kids. Strict schedules, dietary rules, TV times, etc.
Made Ciara sick. So, she listened obediently, made
note of the truly important ones and decided that this week, Nathanael was going to learn how to have fun. Nick and Ciara style.
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“Cici…Unka Nick’s not here!”
“Mmm???”
Ciara rolled out of her deep sleep to see two brown
eyes one inch from her green. Damn, this kid liked mornings.
“Unka Nick…where is he?” Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.
“Nate…ugh…baby…stop…please.” Landing a hand firmly on his
shoulder, the boy finally sat still…sorta. “Uncle Nick slept at his house last
night. We’ll see him later.”
“Are
you guys getting’ a diborce?” Nathanael
straddled Ciara’s body, facing her feet and laid
down, putting his butt square in her face. Good morning, Aunt Cici. “Tommy’s Mommy and Daddy don’t sleep in the same
house anymore cuz they’re getting’ a diborce.”
Nothing
like a butt in your face to lighten a deep conversation. And wouldn’t sis just
love this one? “Oh, well, no…Uncle Nick and Aunt Cici
aren’t married. We just um…”
“You
have slumber parties?” He popped up and turned around, folding his arms on her
chest dazzling her with his deep, bedroom eyes.
“Yeah!
That’s it. Slumber parties. He went out to play with some different friends
last night so he stayed at his house.”
“Did
he have a slumber party with them?”
“Probably
not…he only has those with me.”
“You
think Aaron will have a slumber party with us in Shitago?”
“I
have no idea, Buddy. Depends on a bunch of things.”
“Mmmkay. I’m hungry.”
“Then
hop up and…” her stomach decided to chime into the conversation. “Fooooooooooooooooooddddddddddd!!!!!!”
“Aunt
Cici!!!!!! What was THAT!?”
She
had to laugh. His eyes were naturally overly animated. Now they were virtually
popping out of his head. “THAT was my tummy. It’s noisy if I wait too long to
eat in the morning, huh?”
“It
TALKS!” He climbed off of her and the bed, grabbing a hand to help her up.
“You’d better feed it a pop tart or sumthin’.”
The
week had gone remarkably well. For being such a tight ass, Ciara
couldn’t deny that her sister had done a fabulous job in raising him. Maybe
hubby had some influence too because he wasn’t high strung like she assumed
he’d be from being around Sis all his life. He and Nick were almost
inseparable. Ciara finally demanded Nick go out with
his buddies so she could have some time alone with Nathanael.
Besides, in
But
today was the day. Breakfast, finish packing, pick up Nick and off to the
airport for their little weekend jaunt. They hadn’t mentioned the trip much
yesterday in hopes that Nathanael would sleep in a
bit and not get all worked up. It had worked. If you could count a
“Whatcha
doin’ Ci?”
“Taking
my shot, sweetie. Aunt Cici told you about it,
remember?”
“Yeah.
I don’t like shots.” He opened the pantry door and bent down selecting his
favorite cereal. “Fwosted Fwakes
today, Cici.”
“Want
me to make you some eggs instead?”
“Nope,
Fwakes. Mommy says you can’t cook.”
Bitch.
“Well, Mommy only remembers my cooking when I was a little girl. I can cook
some things. You ate the burgers last night.” She took the box and poured him a
bowl, wondering what other little tidbits Sweet Sissy told her nephew.
“Unka Nick cooked the burgers. He can cook.”
Of
course. “I made the fries. You ate those.”
“Fwakes, Aunt Cici. I want fwakes.”
“Got
it…here’s your flakes.” Her sister was a flake. It was official. “Bath after
breakfast and then we’ll go get Uncle Nick, okay?”
“We’re
flying on a plane today, huh?”
“Yep…you
nervous?”
“Nope.”
He chewed his cereal thoughtfully…as thoughtfully as an “almost 5” year old
could. “Um, yeah…a little.”
“It’s
okay. Wanna know a secret?”
“What!?”
He loved secrets. Couldn’t keep one to save his life.
“Nick’s
nervous about flying too. Maybe you can help calm him down.”
“Hmmm…maybe.
Maybe he can help me instead.”
“Maybe
so.” She decided against the eggs and poured herself a bowl of cereal, taking a
seat next to her nephew. As much fun as she was having with him, it caused an
ache deep inside her she did not like. One she couldn’t express or even share.
Not yet anyway. Right now, her focus was on the weekend. Only the weekend.
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“Unka Niiiiiiiick!!!!! We’re heeeeeeerrrrreeeeeeeeee!!!!!” As soon as Ciara opened the door to Nick’s house, Nathanael
ran inside going anywhere his feet would take him looking for the long lost
Uncle Nick. It had only been 15 hours since they’d parted but to watch the boy,
you’d think it had been years.
“Nate…walk inside, please.” Ciara
closed the door and spent a moment or two with Nick’s dogs. Much smaller than
that damned thing from years ago. She couldn’t be happier.
“Hey,
buddy…what did you do this morning?” Nick hit the bottom step and scooped Nathanael up in his arms planting a kiss on his cheek.
“Boring
stuff. She made me take a bath.”
Oh,
so now it was a conspiratorial kind of relationship. Fine. “I’ll make Nick take
one later, Nate…will that help?”
“Yes.
Everyone has to take a bath today. You ready to fly, Unka
Nick?”
“Yep…are
you?” Putting the boy down, Nick put up a finger for him to ‘hold that thought’
as he ran upstairs to get a few bags.
“Where’s
he goin’, Ci?”
“Probably
to get his stuff. You want some water before we drive to the airport?”
“K…”
Nathanael started snooping around Nick’s house
peeking down hallways, sliding the vertical blinds off the patio door
uncovering the pool and ocean view. “Woah! Unka Nicky’s got a cool pool!”
“Yep.
Maybe you can come over when it’s warmer and swim, huh?”
“YEAH!
I’m a good swimmer!”
“Okay,
NOW I’m ready…got my bags and…I found this in my room. It must be yours.” Nick
handed a stuffed airplane to the child.
“What’s
this for?”
“That’s
for the plane ride. Just in case…well…I get scared sometimes. It’s nice to hang
on to something soft when you’re afraid.”
“Oh.”
He ‘flew’ the plane throughout the house, totally oblivious of his fear, the
impending new adventure or anything else for that matter. Oh to be young again.
“Thanks,
Nick.”
“Hey…haven’t
even said ‘hi’ to you.” He folded Ciara up in his
arms, softly kissing her neck.
“Have
fun last night?”
“Yeah…”
He ran a hand through his hair, hoping he was hiding his hang-over from her. As
usual, he went too far last night. Fortunately, alcohol was consistent. He was
paying for it this morning.
He
wasn’t hiding a thing from her. But again, she let it go. First time in awhile
that he’d been out. He deserved a night of fun and if he overdid it, then he
deserved how crappy he was feeling this morning. Maybe Nathanael
would be extra cooperative and be louder than usual too. Or there’d be
turbulence. Ciara chuckled to herself as she imagined
all the possible punishments he could endure. Serves him right, dumbass.
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“I’m
sittin’ by Unka Nick!”
“Yep.
You two are here, and Aunt Cici will be over here.”
Nick took Ciara’s bag and tossed it in the overhead,
stealing a kiss before he helped Nathanael buckle in.
“You
get a window seat, Nate. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah…I’ll
be able to see the clouds.”
Sure,
yeah. See the clouds. To this day it gave Nick the creeps. He managed. He flew.
He had no choice. And after Sept. 11, he was even more fearful than he used to
be. But, here he was, trying to be the ‘big boy’ for this young boy and not
show his fear. Sometimes being the adult sucked.
He
finally got settled in his own seat and looked over to Ciara
across the aisle. He was going on a weekend trip with Ciara
and her nephew. Whodathunk it? A year ago he was
convinced he’d lost her for good…or at least to the point where they’d never be
‘right’ again. And now…look at them now. Could it really be this good? Or would
he blow it and lose her again?
He
reached across the aisle and rubbed her arm on the rest.
“You
okay?”
“Yeah.
I just like to hang onto something soft when I’m afraid.”
***
