Chapter 25
Nick stood by the window watching the
planes take off. The past week had been both amazing and heartbreaking for him.
Brian and Leighanne had stayed with them for Christmas and while he'd really
enjoyed having a child in the house for the holidays, it had made him think
about all the things he'd be missing out on knowing they wouldn't be able to
having children of their own. December 20th would have been the due date for
the baby Grace had miscarried and though he hadn't mentioned it to her it was
something he thought of often.
He often wondered whether their child
would have been a boy or a girl, he wondered what he or she would have looked
like and what it would have been like to have a new baby in the house. He had
tried his best not to think about it but it had proven a difficult task. Now he
had so much more on his mind and these were good things. He and Grace were
getting married in two days.
They had flown out of Louisville the
day before and arrived in California late that night. They'd enjoyed a pleasant
evening with Howie and Leigh and had gone to bed early so that they would be
ready for their flight today. Howie, AJ, and Leigh were flying out with them to
Hawaii that day, Kelly and Joey were already there getting things together and
the rest of the family; Brian, Leighanne and Bailey, Kevin, Kristin and Mason,
Harold, her parents, his parents, Aaron, Angel, BJ and Leslie were all meeting
them there that night and the next day.
Nick stared out the window again. It
was hard not to think about the last time they'd been in this airport. Grace
had been so sick and they were preparing to fly back to Kentucky with her. They
hadn't known it at the time but their lives were about to be drastically
changed. He looked over at Grace who was standing next to him staring out the
same window and wondered if she was thinking about the same thing. He squeezed
her hand gently and she squeezed his back. She turned and winked at him and he
leaned over to kiss her cheek.
At that moment AJ, who had just
arrived at the airport, walked up and hugged Nick from behind. Nick turned
around quickly, shaken from his thoughts and hugged him back.
"Hey Aje!"
"Hey dude, dudette!" AJ said
excitedly, "You two ready for your big day?"
Nick smiled and nodded anxiously a
goofy grin planted firmly on his face. Grace gave him the thumbs up and
announced rather dramatically, "I've BEEN ready!"
Just then the attendant came over the
loudspeaker and announced that it was time for them to board their flight. Nick
took Grace's hand in his and together they walked off in the direction of the
plane. AJ turned towards where Howie and Leigh stood a few feet away and smiled
as he watched them walk hand in hand towards their destination.
"Damn those two sure are meant
for each other."
Leigh and Howie nodded and smiled.
"They definitely are." Leigh
agreed.
***