Chapter 25: Weathering the Storm
The thunder came crashing down surrounding the apartment that he lived in. Of course curiosity got the best of him, he couldn't help it when his brown eyes wandered out the window. For the first time since he could remember, it was torrentially down pouring outside. The sound of the heavy rain and thunder were beaten by his daughters screams in the other room. He stopped looking out the window, and hurried to his daughters' aid.
Maddie was sitting up in her crib crying as hard as she could. Even when her father picked her up, she still continued to cry. The sound of the thunder was new to her, and frankly she didn't like it.
The teenager tried to make sure that there wasn't anything that he and to worry about wrong with her. He checked her diaper, then her forehead, and then he thought about the last time he had fed her. "Its okay, it's just thunder." He said over her screams as he continued to bounce her up and down. "You are alright." He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Still holding her protectively in his arms. "Why don't you watch some sport center with your dad, huh?" He kissed her on her chubby cheek. By this time she had began to settle down.
After about a half an hour of being caught up on everything that was going on in the sports world. He looked down in his arms and noticed that his daughter was finally sound asleep again. He decided to hold her a little while longer, just in case the thunder frightened her again. He was about to look back up at the television, when the doorbell rang. His brown eyes looked over to the door than to his sleeping child. "Please, don't wake up." He kind of hoped and whispered to her at the same time. He got up as slowly as he could, as to not wake her up, and then opened the door.
A soaked Miley was standing at the doorway almost shaking. "Nice weather we are having, huh?" She asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
"Miles…you are shaking. Come in." He said moving out the way to let her in.
"I'm fine really." She said as she looked down at herself.
"No, you aren't. There is no way that you can go back out there in this type of weather." He nodded his head no.
"Nick, don't you think you're over reacting just a bit? It is just rain after all." She said looking at him. Her face was still wet.
"You and I both know that people can't drive in the rain." He said as he looked back at her with every serious being that he had in his body. "And I can't afford for you or Maddie to get hurt. She's safe and comfortable now, anyway."
"Nick-"
"Go get in the shower before you catch lokimia." He told her as he started walking toward Maddie's room. "I'm just going to put her down, and I think I might still have some of your old clothes that you left here when you left."
"I didn't say that I would stay." She began to protest some more.
He went inside the room for a second, than came back out without Maddie in his arms. "This isn't a fight Miley. Now go and get in the shower."
She could tell that he wasn't going to budge on this issue. And somewhere deep down inside she knew that he was right, but staying here just seemed like it wasn't a good idea. She could feel the wetness of her face drying up, but the rain from her hair was still dripping on the floor.
"Go! I'll go get the towel and wash cloth for you." He said as he stood in this stance as if to say that he wasn't giving up.
She looked at him with a look as if to say that she wasn't pleased. "Fine, but no funny business."
A smile crept on his face and he placed both of his hands up, as if he was about to get searched by the police. "I promise that this is innocent. I am truly worried about you and Maddie being stuck in that rain."
Without another word she walked into the familiar bathroom and she couldn't help but be somewhat freaked out. In her mind she thought she would never be in this bathroom again, especially after she had found Nick with one of his hoes in here that day.
He knocked on the door. "Are you decent?"
She kind of chuckled by that statement. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her in her most revealing. "Yeah."
"Here." He opened the door and placed the washcloth and towel on the toilet. "Do you need anything else?"
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"Okay, your old tooth brush is in the cabinet. Where you left it." He said as he pointed to the cabinet above the sink. "Just yell if you need anything."
She nodded her head yes. Then watched as he exited the bathroom. It was weird. Her last memories of the place were of him being a complete ass hole. And as much as she hated to admit it to herself, maybe the "old" Nick had resurfaced. Maybe just maybe he was really here for good this time, and this wasn't all just an act to get her back. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't wearing any make-up. Her brown hair was darker than usual, it was beginning to curl, and it was longer than usual. She began to touch it lightly, then looked around the bathroom. This was going to be a long night.
About an hour later Nick was sitting in the living room watching television, when Miley walked into the room with her old pajamas on. Out of habit he turned around and his breath was taken away.
"Where's Maddie?" She said looking over to her nursery. Trying to ignore his lingering eyes on her body. "Isn't it about time that we wake her up for dinner?"
He glanced at the clock and then said, "yes."
She walked into the nursery and picked up her daughter who was sound asleep. Of course she was fussy, but she soon settled down as soon as she noticed that her mother was holding her she calmed down. "So, what do we have to eat?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen with her daughter in her arms.
"We have cereal." He laughed as he said it because he knew that was going to make her mad.
"If that's all you have, I swear. I will take my daughter and we will leave here. With me and my pajamas and everything." She opened up the refrigerator and surprisingly there was more food than she would have thought. Most of it was leftovers' though.
"Why don't you cook some tacos? I always loved when you made that. And you can feed the soft ones to Maddie." He said as she turned around on the couch to face her.
She looked at him then looked around the kitchen. "I guess I can." Considering that she had no clue what else he had in his kitchen. She walked over to the couch and handed him their daughter.
"You don't have to if you don't want too. It was just an idea." He said as he lay back on the couch and placed her on his lap.
"No, it's a good idea. I'm just not very familiar with this kitchen anymore. So I can't promise you that my tacos are going to be as good as they usually are." She told him as she tried to look for all of the ingredients to make it.
Although, he knew that this was only temporary, he couldn't help but loving this. It was the piece of his life that had been missing for the past couple of months. No amount of beautiful girls in and out of his apartment could ever trade the feeling that he was having now. He looked down at their daughter and then watched as Miley began cooking the tacos. There was so much to be thankful for at this moment.
It only took fifteen minutes for Miley to prepare the tacos. They were all sitting around eating, while thunder and heavy rain continued to crash around them. It was more evident now that there wasn't any sound other than them eating.
"They taste great." He said as he looked up after taking a huge bite out of one of the soft tacos.
"Thanks." She said as she looked to see if Maddie was okay with her food.
There was another loud thunder, this one sounded way closer than the other. He looked across the table, and saw Miley jump a bit. Maddie was so into her food that she barely noticed the sound anymore.
"Maybe we should cut off some of the lights." He said as he looked around the very lit apartment.
She regained herself and cleared her throat. "That sounds like a good idea." Her eyes continued to look down; in a weird way she was kind of afraid to look up at him.
He stood up from the table and began to shut off almost all the lights, besides the light they needed to eat dinner. Then he sat back down at the table and continued to eat.
After about five minutes he had devoured three soft tacos. When he looked at her plate, she had barely touched her second one. "Are you okay?" He finally asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine." She said as she stopped playing with her food. "I think I'm not that hungry."
He nodded his head yes and then stood back up. "I'm going to just clean up then." Nick started to take all of the plates off of the table.
"I'm just going to put Maddie to bed. She seems to be tired." She stated as she stood up and took her daughter out of her high chair. Still not looking at Nick at all.
He watched as she left and continued to clean off the table. He walked over to the sink and started to wash them. Halfway into one of the dishes, he began to get a bit dizzy. He placed his hand on the counter to keep balance and stood there until he was able to see again.
At that moment Miley had come out with a smile on her face. "She went right to sleep. I guess she was really exhausted." The brunette looked over to where he was standing and then scrunched her eyebrow. "Are you alright?"
He turned around and gave her a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." At that moment they had had finally caught a glance. It had been the first one since she had walked into the door almost three hours ago. It was so intense that even he had to look away.
Thunder crashed through the apartment again. This time somewhat shaking the ground. Miley quickly looked at the room where her daughter was sleeping to make sure it hadn't woken her. Once she didn't hear screams she knew that everything was okay.
The teenage boy threw the dishes into the sink and began to search through the draws. "Can you put away the food?" He called over to her as he continued to search frantically.
Without any response she walked over to the table. "What are you doing?" She asked curiously.
He started to mumble something, than he pulled out some candles. "I have some of these just in case the electricity goes out." He closed the draws and began to run over to where his bedroom was. "I know that I have a flashlight somewhere around here too."
In her mind she knew that there was no point to put the food in the refrigerator if the electricity did go out, but she didn't want to argue with him. She placed the food inside of the refrigerator, and as soon as she closed the doors, he came out with a big smile on his face.
"Here it is!" In his hands were a flashlight, some matches, and a lighter. "I think we will be pretty good just in case."
Another sound of thunder began to screech through the apartment. This time it woke Maddie up.
"I'll get that." The young lady screamed over their crying child as she walked over toward her room.
"I'm going to go look for that battery charged radio." He said as he went into the opposite direction of their old room.
Just as the two departed to go look there was another strike of lightening and the sound of thunder and just like that, the lights went out.
"Miley! Are you okay?" Nick screamed into the other room as he lit the lighter so he could see while he was searching.
"I'm fine. I have Maddie in my arms." She said back as she looked around the dark nursery. She waited a couple of seconds while her eyes adjusted to the dark, and then she slowly walked out of the room with her daughter in her hands.
Just then Nick walked into the living room and met up with them with the lighter still lit. "I'm going to place these candles around here and put the radio on the counter." He explained while he placed two candles on the wood floor. "Here take this." He handed her the flashlight.
She took it nicely, than she closed her eyes and held on to her daughter tightly.
Nick set everything up along the apartment and looked around at what he had done. "This should at least hold us through the night." He said as he looked over to the couch where his daughter was clutching on to her mother.
"Do you think this is going to last all the way through the night?" She asked still kissing her daughter on her hair.
He nodded his head yes. "Unfortunately, considering that the electricity hasn't started up yet. I bet the whole building is out right now."
They stood there in silence for a moment, than he walked over to the radio and began to play with it to turn it on.
"What are you doing?"
"We need something to keep us entertained. What do you think the people back in the 1900's did before there wasn't any television?" He asked as he continued to play with the dials to get the right station.
The brunette truly smiled as she watched her, 'whatever he was to her, play with the radio. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, he was pretty cute.
"I got it!" It made him feel good to know that he was prepared enough to handle this situation. It made him feel mature and ready enough to actually provide for this family. And that is what he had been missing this whole time. He turned up the dial, and as if it was fate, the song began to play around the apartment.
I've got sunshine
On a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside,
I've got the month of May.
Nick smiled and went over to the two of his favorite ladies. "Get up." He pulled her off of the couch with their daughter still in her arms.
Well, I guess you'll say
What can make me feel this way?
The teenage boy sang over the music. "Maddie, Maddie, Maddie" He looked at their daughter. "Talking about Maddie." He took her out of her mothers' hands and began to twirl her around.
Maddie found her father to be quite comical. She giggled as she was turned around by her dad.
I've got so much honey
The bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song Than the birds in the trees.
Nick sang over the music again as he walked over to Miley. "Well, I guess you'll say. What can make me feel this way? "Miley, Miley, Miley". He swept his finger along her cheek. "Talkin' bout' by Miley."
They all began to dance to the music for about a half an hour straight until Miley stopped them.
"I think Maddie is ready to go back to sleep." She said as she looked at their sleeping daughter.
"Do you want to put her in her crib? Or keep her out here?" He asked as he held his sleeping daughter on his shoulder.
"In her crib. As long as the thunder is gone, she should definitely sleep through the night." She said as she went over to Maddie and started rubbing her back.
"Would you like to do the honors?" He asked knowing that she loved laying Maddie down. There was this thing bond that Miley instantly had with their daughter that made him kind of jealous. He thought for sure that it was because she had carried her. But it was still weird that, he had to bond with her through interacting with her, rather than just having one.
"Of course." She picked her daughter up and walked over to where her crib was.
Nick waited for Miley to come back out the room, and when she did, it was as if she was a whole new person. The young woman wasn't as secluded as she had been when she first entered the apartment.
She walked into the hallway and then looked around the dark apartment. "So, how are we going to figure out this bed arrangement?"
"You can have the bed. I'll just sleep on the couch." He told her as he looked at her.
She placed her hand on her arm softly. Inside she was too scared to tell him that she had a fear of sleeping alone. When she was younger she used to make her mom stay with her until she fell asleep or pretend to be saving Noel and sleep in her room with her, when she became a teenager she was always on the road on a tour bus with other people, then she had him to sleep with, and now she had Maddie. Instead she just walked over to the couch and began to clean up a little of the mess that had been made by them.
Without even a word, he also began to clean. It wasn't something he felt as if he had to explain. They both reached for the same toy, and then they looked up at each other.
Miley pulled away and then looked away. Trying to pretend as if that moment didn't happen. Trying to pretend like her heart wasn't racing a million miles per hour and every part of her just wanted to give into the temptation that was him.
"Miles…"
"Don't call me that." She told him roughly as she continued to clean.
"Come on. On Valentines Day you wanted to have sex with me. Then tonight you are giving me the cold shoulder? What is going on?"
"I forgot on Valentine's Day. I forgot about everything because we were visiting new places. But being here in this apartment where everything in our relationship went wrong, brings back painful memories. And it reminds me of who you really are." She told him truthfully as she got up to place some of the things she had gotten in the trash can.
He grabbed her arm gently and looked at her. "Put the garbage down. It's too dark to be trying to clean."
She placed it down on the ground.
"I will admit to you something. When we first started this family. I was too young and immature to grasp the whole concept. It happens when you have kids young. I wasn't ready to give up my youth for a baby. I thought I was when you first announced you were pregnant, but when it happened. It just all became to real for me."
Tears began to form in her eyes as he said this. Getting annoyed with how emotional she was being, she wiped them away quickly. "Are you done?"
"No, I was stupid back then. I didn't treat you the way you deserved to be treated, I didn't take care of Maddie the way that I should have, and I definitely didn't appreciate everything that you did for me. But that was back then and this is now. And I don't know how many ways I can show you and how many times I can tell you this, but I'm a new person. I don't want to party everyday anymore, I don't want to hang out with my friends all of the time, and I sure as hell don't want to be a dead beat father. I want you and most importantly, I want our family back."
"You don't get it, Nick! This family isn't some fucking game, where you get to pick and choose when you want to have it and when you don't. This is real life." She took her arm away from his and glared at him.
"I do understand. I honestly do. If you give me this one last chance, I promise that this is the only chance you have to give me. I know that you have to feel it too. Tonight was perfect this is the way that it should always be. You, Maddie, and I we make a great team. If you give me this last chance, I promise that I will never ever make you think about mistrusting me again."
"How do I know?" She just wasn't ready to give him all of her yet. It hurt to much when he had just stopped.
"Your mind never knows for sure." He said as he inched closer to her. "But your heart will always lead you to that." He placed his hands right in between her chest.
She felt it again. That spark that they had that was so undeniable, and she couldn't help but give in to his very great advances.
"What does it tell you?" With every word he got closer and closer to her face.
"It tells me that you are truly sincere about every word that you say. Because if you weren't, you wouldn't be trying this hard to get me back." She smiled as she looked into his eyes, really looked into them, for the first time in a long while.
"I think your heart has the right idea." He smiled as well and without any hesitation, he kissed her.
She allowed it. For the first time in a long time, she allowed her mind to stop controlling her actions, and her heart to just take over. It was a risky move, but as of the moment, she felt as though it was the right thing to do. She deepened the kiss.
He spun her around and began to slowly lay her down on the wood floor, between on the lit candles. They continued to kiss passionately, Nick on top of Miley, as they lay on the hardwood floor. He stopped and looked at her. "Are you sure about this?"
She nodded her head yes slightly then watched as he took off the shirt that he had been wearing this whole time, and continued to kiss her.
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
An hour and a half later the two were on the ground lying on top of each other. Both were wearing nothing but their undergarments.
"So what does this mean for the two of us?" Nick said as he kissed her hand.
She looked up at the ceiling and then into the darkness. "I guess this means that we are officially back together."
He smiled at the thought again. "So, I can call you my girlfriend again?" He asked as he kissed her on the side of her head.
"Of course you can, boyfriend." It was going to take some getting used to. After everything that they had been through, it wasn't as if they were just on the boyfriend and girlfriend status.
"I really missed you calling me that." He said honestly. While still holding her hand he looked around the apartment. "What about this living situation?"
"I think it would be best for all of us, if Maddie and I just stayed at my moms for a little longer. I just think that's what went wrong with us the last time. We really didn't know each other as well as we thought we did. Especially to move in with one another."
"You're right. And it would be quite weird when Rachel gets back." He said as he thought about his friend who was still visiting her dying grandmother. "I should find a place for her to go before you come."
"I think that would be a fantastic idea." She said sarcastically. "And there is one more thing that you will have to do before Maddie and I even consider moving back in here."
"And what is that?" He asked trying to think of what it could be.
"You would have to burn that bathroom." She said it in a comical way, but somewhere deep inside it was the truth.
He laughed about the whole idea, and continued to kiss her on the side of her head. "Anything for you Miles."
As she lay there in his arms again like old times, she knew that what he was saying was true. He really would do anything for her. And even though trusting your heart isn't always best of ideas. She was pretty glad that she had done it, because it would have never ended up like this.
"I really don't want you to leave me, but I think I should go and turn everything off. We don't want the electricity to go back on and we blow everything out."
She nodded knowing that he was right. So she turned over and he walked over to the other side of the room with the flashlight in his hands to turn off the light switch.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom. Don't move." He told her looking at her as if to savor the picture in his mind forever.
She turned around. "Where am I going?"
"Point taken." With that he walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Although they had just had some really great passionate sex, his body was sweating in rather odd places. He took a napkin and began to wipe his shoulders and his back a bit. Then he went into the cabinet and took some pills to get rid of the headache that he had been getting. Once he had taken it he splashed himself with cold water. "You're okay. It's just in your mind. Don't mess this up." He talked himself up in the mirror, and then he walked back out on to the living room floor.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded his head yes. "I am now that you are my girlfriend." He said then kissed her on her lips again. "I don't want to move too fast, but I think that I have something that I want to give you."
She looked up at him. It had been so dark for so long, that she was kind of forgetting what he looked like in the light.
The teenage boy rushed back over to his room, and searched in the dark for a minute. Then he came back out and handed the young woman something that he hadn't given anybody. "Here."
Her brown eyes looked up at a key that he was presenting to her. "A key?"
"To the apartment. I guess we aren't mature enough to live together. But I feel like this can be a good thing. You can come over whenever you want too. And it might help you trust me again."
"It's a great idea. I love it." She took the key and turned it thrice in her hand. Maybe this whole following her heart decision, was the best choice that she had made in a while.