Jackie's Birthday
"Nick these views are amazing." Jackie said as she looked out the window of a hotel restaurant that overlooked the Vegas strip.
"They are pretty." He agreed with a smile.
The views were the reason he had chosen this restaurant. It was her birthday and he had a big surprise for her. He had told her that his gift to her was going to be a night out with just the two of them. He'd said that they were going to go to dinner and then to a movie, which was the truth, she just didn't know that he had something else for her. After they had finished their dinner Jackie got up to put her coat on.
"We better go or we'll miss the beginning of the movie." She said.
Nick looked at his watch
"We've got time, sit down a minute." He said with a smile.
She looked at him curiously and then sat back down.
"I have something for you." He said as he dug in his jacket pocket.
He pulled out a white envelope and then handed it to her.
"You're giving me divorce papers for my birthday?" she joked.
He laughed
"I thought about it, but I thought that would be mean to do to you on your birthday so those will be coming next week." He said with a grin.
She laughed.
"Open it." Nick said as he nodded towards the envelope in her hands.
"Oh, right." She said as she ripped it open.
Inside there were three strips of blank paper. She looked at him curiously. He grinned, his plan had worked, she had no idea what it was.
"Flip the papers over." He said.
She did
"Oh my God Nick." She said happily.
"Surprise" he said as his smile spread from ear to ear.
The three strips of paper were actually 3 tickets to watch their favorite basketball team play. It would actually be like a mini-vacation because the team played several hours away.
"Thank you so much, I am so excited. But why are there 3 tickets?" she asked.
"I got three so your dad can come with us, I figured you'd like that." Nick replied.
"That's awesome, thanks so much." She said and then she thought of something
"Wait what about the kids, what are we going to do with them?" she asked.
"Not to worry I have everything all figured out. I got your Aunt Kathy in on the surprise, she's going to watch Jazz and Houston while we are gone."
"Boy you really do have it all figured out, don't you?" Jackie said with a chuckle.
"Of course I do, I'm a crime scene investigator." Nick said with a grin.
Jackie laughed.
"Alright, let's go see our movie." He said as he stood up and then helped her into her coat.
The rest of the night was a lot of fun.
A few days later they were on the road. Jackie was excited about getting to go to the game but she felt bad that she had to leave her kids, but she knew they were in good hands with her aunt and uncle.
Nick, Jackie, Jackie's dad Rich, Jackie's mom Aubrey, and Jackie's grandmother Ellen were all going. Although Aubrey and Ellen were not going to the game they wanted to go so they could visit some family that lived near the arena.
After what seemed like an eternity they reached their destination. It was only mid afternoon when they arrived and since the game didn't start until later in the evening they got checked into their hotel and then went to lunch. After lunch they went to a couple malls to shop and look around and then they did some sightseeing activities. After that they went back to the hotel and changed their clothes.
Before they headed to the arena Jackie said "I want to call the kids and tell them goodnight, since they will probably be in bed already when we get back to the hotel."
She got out her cell phone and dialed her Aunt Kathy's number.
"Hi Aunt Kathy, can I talk to Jasmine?" she asked when her aunt had answered the phone.
"Here Jazz, talk to mommy." Kathy said as she handed Jasmine the phone.
"Mama?" Jasmine said into the phone.
A smile immediately spread across Jackie's face.
"Hi baby girl." Jackie said.
"Mama, Houden seepin." Jasmine informed her.
"Houston's sleeping?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah." Jasmine said.
Jackie chuckled, Jasmine had learned the word yeah about a month ago and so now that is almost all she said when anyone asked her a question.
"Are you being a good girl?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah." Jasmine replied.
"That's good. Did you eat?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah, i ceem."
"Ice cream, you had ice cream for dinner?" Jackie asked with a laugh.
"Jasmine, you weren't supposed to tell your mommy that." Jackie heard Kathy say.
Jackie laughed
"You are busted Aunt Kathy." Jackie said.
After that Jackie told her little girl she loved her and then she told her goodnight. Then Jackie handed the phone to Nick so he could talk to her too.
After he had hung up, Nick, Jackie, and Rich walked to the arena since it was only a couple blocks away from their hotel. When they got near the door of the arena Nick turned, grinned, and said "Alright, you two have fun, I'll see you later."
"Wait what? Where are you going?" Jackie asked confused.
"Back to the hotel." Nick said.
"Why?" Jackie asked.
"I didn't really buy myself a ticket, one was fake, that was part of the surprise."
"I'm confused, why did you do that?"
"This is you and your dad's thing, it has been since you were about Jasmine's age so I figured you two should go alone, have fun." He explained, and then he turned around and started walking back to the hotel.
"Did you know he was going to do this?" Jackie asked her dad.
"No, I thought he really had a ticket."
Jackie grinned
"My husband is pretty cool huh?" she said.
"Yeah, he's alright." Her dad said with a grin and then he added "Come on, let's go watch shoot around."
Jackie nodded eagerly.
When they had found their seats Jackie looked around at all the people. She also looked up at the rafters at all the banners and the retired jerseys of the players she grew up idolizing. She was so shocked and happy that she was there, but more importantly she was so grateful that her dad was sitting next to her. The last time they had went to a game was a few years earlier. They didn't know it then but just a few short months after attending the game her dad would be diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer that doctors did not expect him to beat. The fact that he had survived was a miracle, one that she was grateful for everyday. Every time she saw him, whether he was playing with Jasmine, holding Houston, or simply watching a movie with the family she was so very happy he was here. Nick was right, Jackie was incredibly close to her dad, she always had been, and watching their favorite basketball team play was their favorite thing to do together. Most teenagers enjoyed hanging out with their friends on Friday nights, but not Jackie, while growing up she preferred to stay home and watch basketball with her dad. She took a lot of good natured teasing from her friends about that over the years but it didn't bother her. She had never regretted missing out on party's to spend quality time with her dad, and when he got so sick she was so happy that she had spent all that quality time with him. As she sat in her seat waiting for the game to start, her eyes filled with happy tears because a few years ago she didn't think this moment was ever going to happen again.
Nick understood the significance of this basketball team to Jackie and her dad's relationship. He knew that Jackie would be so grateful that her dad was here to go with her and Jackie guessed that is why Nick didn't buy himself a ticket, this was her and her dad's special moment, it had nothing to do with him
"Hey, there is still 20 minutes before the game starts, I'm going to go buy something to drink, do you want anything?" Her dad asked as he tapped her on the shoulder, snapping her out of her trance.
"Um, get me a diet soda please." She said.
The game finally started. They had a blast, their team won by nearly twenty. Jackie loved blowout games because she didn't have to get nervous and although her dad preferred a closer game he still had a ton of fun. He enjoyed getting to spend quality time with his daughter.
After the game was over they stayed for the interviews like they always did and after those were over he turned to her and said "Hey, I'm kind of hungry, what do you say we go get Nick and your mom, and grandma, and then go get something to eat?"
"Sounds good to me." She said.
On their way back to the hotel she called Nick to tell them to start getting ready because they were going to go eat.
"So did you have fun?" Nick asked as he wrapped his arms around her when she and her dad had arrived back at the hotel.
"A blast, thank you so much." She said.
He didn't say anything in return, he didn't have to, the warm smile on his face said it all.
"So what did you and my mom and my grandma do tonight?" Jackie asked.
"We went to the bar down the street so we could watch the game on the big screen." He said.
"Nicholas, you took my grandmother to a bar?" Jackie asked, in a very surprised voice.
"Relax, it was a sports bar, and she loved it." He said with a smile after seeing the shocked look on her face.
"Oh ok." She said as she relaxed.
He then gave her a devilish smirk and said "We did have about three beers apiece though."
"Oh you did not." She said as she lightly smacked his arm.
He burst out laughing.
The family then went out to dinner.
While waiting for their food Jackie's dad said "You know Jackie, I just realized that I never gave you the present I got you."
"You didn't have to get me anything, this trip was more then I could ask for." She said.
"Still, here." he said as he handed her a small rectangular wrapped box.
When Jackie opened it she was astonished at what she saw, inside the box there were 3 tickets to their favorite team's next game, two nights later.
"And this time Nick, you do get to come, I got you a ticket too." Rich said.
"Thank you, you certainly didn't need to do that." Nick said.
"Sure I did, you got me one after all."
"Thanks" Nick said again.
Rich nodded with a smile.
"Dad, I don't even know what to say, thank you so much." Jackie said, then she realized something "What about the kids, Aunt Kathy thinks we are coming home tomorrow."
"No she doesn't, you are the only one who thought we were going home tomorrow, the rest of the family knew all about this." Her dad assured her with a smile.
Jackie looked at Nick surprised "You knew we were going to the next game too?" she asked.
"Yeah, I didn't know he was getting me a ticket, but I knew you guys were going." He said.
Jackie smiled, she was so blessed to have such a wonderful family.
The next day the family again went shopping and then they went and visited family members that lived there.
The day after that was the game. Their team won again, but this time only by three, which didn't bother Rich or Nick, it didn't really bother Jackie either, although she was pretty sure that if the game would have went into overtime she would have had a heart attack.
The next day the family had to go home, Jackie was happy that she was going to get to see her children in just a few short hours. Even though she had enjoyed the vacation immensely she missed her kids greatly, as did Nick.
"Thank you all so much for everything, this has been the best birthday I have ever had." Jackie said as the family drove home.
"You're welcome." They all said with warm smiles on their faces.
The End!