A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! They're much appreciated. :) See the first chapter for the disclaimer. I hope you all enjoy this one, and please review. :)
Chapter Thirty Six
"Thanks for letting me hang out here tonight, Uncle Jamie," Nicki said as she put her bag down on Jamie's coffee table.
"No problem," Jamie replied.
"Mom said her meeting gets over around ten."
Jamie nodded. "So, then. Friday night. No school or work tomorrow. I say we go down to the street, get pizza and ice cream, and come back for a Netflix night."
Nicki smiled. "You're my favorite uncle."
Jamie smiled back.
Nicki settled on the couch next to Jamie, grabbing a plate and a napkin. He turned on a movie as the two of them began eating. Halfway through the movie, one that neither one was particularly enjoying too much, she asked him, "how are you doing? I mean, really doing?"
Jamie looked over at her. "I'm okay," he told her.
"Like, really okay, or like you would tell the boys you're okay?"
Jamie smiled. "I'm being interrogated by my own niece."
Nicki smiled slightly.
"I'm really okay," he told her honestly. "I wouldn't say I'm great just yet, but I'm okay."
"When do you think you'll be feeling great again?"
Jamie shrugged. "A start will be getting back on the street and back to full duty. But for now, I'll take desk work. At least I'm working."
Nicki nodded.
Jamie draped his arm on the back of the couch behind her. "And how about you?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she replied.
"How are you doing? I mean, really doing?"
She shrugged. "I'm okay."
He arched his eyebrows.
"What?" she asked.
"With school, college in the future, your friends…" he said.
"Well, there are a few things going on at school," she told him.
"Like what?"
"Well, Sarah thinks she might be pregnant."
Jamie choked on his soda. "Come again?"
Nicki smirked.
Jamie simply shook his head. "Kids these days."
"Come on, Uncle Jamie. It's Catholic school. What do you expect?"
"Didn't stop your Uncle Danny from getting into trouble," he told her.
"Really?" she asked.
"Or your mom, for that matter. In fact, I'm pretty sure my parents considered them double trouble."
"No way."
"Why do you think your mom told you that Uncle Danny used to get her out of trouble all the time? Because he usually helped her get into it in the first place."
"What about you?"
Jamie shook his head. "I was too young to be allowed to get into mischief with them."
"But you wanted to," Nicki pointed out.
He shrugged. "Of course. When I was younger, they were the cooler older siblings. I wanted to do everything they did."
"That must have sucked."
"It did. But, Uncle Joe and I would hang out a lot. Uncle Joe didn't do a lot of the stuff they did."
"Is that why you were always closer to Uncle Joe than Uncle Danny?"
Jamie nodded. "Though, whenever I was sick as a kid, it was always your mom who would sit by me and make sure I did everything my mom told me to do."
Nicki snorted slightly. "Really?" she asked.
"Yep," Jamie replied. "Right up until she went to college. That was when Uncle Joe and Uncle Danny used to get into trouble was when your mom was taking care of me. I got sick a lot as a kid." He laughed softly. "I remember one time, as a kid, when I got sick after school. I threw up all over the living room."
Nicki made a face. "Eww."
"Your mom made Uncle Joe carry me upstairs, made Uncle Danny clean up the living room, and then she made me chicken soup and crackers. And she sat with me all night."
Nicki smiled. "That's nice."
Jamie nodded again. "I remember telling her that she'd make someone a great mom someday."
Nicki arched her eyebrows.
"So, what exactly are you two fighting about?" he asked. "Because I know she doesn't have a meeting tonight."
She sighed. "Colleges, mostly," she confessed. "I want to go away, and she wants to hold me here."
Jamie shrugged slightly. "She's just worried about you. Not every college is as safe as they tell you. And even if the campus itself is good, the area around it might not be."
"You went away to school."
"That was different."
"How so?"
He inhaled slowly. "I still came home all the time. You're looking to go too far to do that."
"Yeah, but still. It's not fair. I should be able to do what I want."
"She just wants to make sure you think it through." He chuckled. "She did the same thing when I told her I was going to Harvard."
Nicki looked at him. "No way."
"Yep," Jamie said. "She was worried her baby brother could get hurt and no one would be around to help me. But she knew I'd end up okay, that it was the best thing for me. And I'm sure she'll feel the same way about you when you make up your mind about where you wanna go."
Nicki nodded.
Jamie squeezed her shoulder lightly. "Sucks to be so loved, doesn't it?" he teased.
"Totally," Nicki deadpanned, resting her head against Jamie's arm.
He laughed softly.
"So, who chose this movie?" she asked.
"You did," he told her.
"Okay, then. You pick."
Jamie nodded. "How about…"