It's packing day, Imogen is causing chaos, and Abby has a few admissions to make, this chapter is better than the last one I think, (I hope) so here you go, there's a possibility I'm back on track with this! Whoop de woo, hoo, hoo! And …. There are review responses at the end! Cherrs and I hope u enjoy, XxX kay
Ch 51
"Ok, I'll ferry stuff over there, if you pack." Nick said surveying his half packed apartment. Abby had just headed back over having packed her apartment up.
"How is that even remotely fair?" She laughed looking over at him as he stood with his hands on his hips surveying the chaos. Imogen had clearly decided that the most effective way of packing was to bring all of the things which had been in her room out into the living room and leave them there, as they watched she emerged with a pile of clothes in her arms which she dumped just outside her door, promptly tripping over them as she attempted to head back for more. "What's she doing?" Abby chuckled watching Imogen clamber back to her feet and head back into her room.
"I'm not entirely sure, can we lay it down to excitement?" Nick asked his voice low and quiet, as he looked at Imogen's rapidly accumulating pile a bemused expression on his face.
"What did you tell her to do?" Abby asked laughing lightly still as Imogen emerged with an armful of paper and colouring pens which she dropped on the pile.
"Empty her room, I think it may have been an error on my part." Nick admitted as he watched felt tips scatter across the floor.
"Yeah." Abby nodded at him as she pouted slightly.
"Ok, so if I sort this d'you want to take your stuff over there?" He offered holding out the keys to the house.
"No, y'know, why don't you take the stuff from my apartment and I'll help Imm." She said looking over at him.
"Can you actually just tie her to a chair so she doesn't cause any more chaos?" He asked quietly, his face completely serious as he crossed his arms and leaned in towards her, watching as Imogen emerged again and dumped a pile of books on top of the other stuff, they instantly slid off and she began to pick them up, trying to put them back, she could no longer actually get out of her room and huffed slightly as the books continued to slide off the pile.
"Just go." Abby said laughing again pushing him towards the door. She smiled at him quickly, subtly before heading for what was left visible of Imogen's doorframe. "Immo, what's going on?" Abby asked as she stood on the outside of the pile.
"Daddy told me to pack." Imogen said appearing across from Abby.
"Ok, well stand back because I'm going to throw some boxes in there and I don't want them to hit you." She told Imogen, grabbing some empty boxes from behind her and indicating for Imogen to move out of the way with her spare hand. Imogen took a couple of steps back, and looked at Abby sceptically as she hurled two boxes over the pile. She surveyed the heap in front of her for a second, assessing the best way around it, eventually she opted for the side route and climbed over into the room and a giggling Imogen.
"I've got lots of stuff hunh?" Imogen told her with a grin on her face.
"It looks like you do." Abby nodded at her before surveying the possessions mountain in front of her. "Ok, I tell you what, why don't you get the rest of your clothes out of your closet and put them on the bed." Abby said trying to figure out the best way to tackle this. God, if someone robbed Nick's apartment now, she's be unable to do anything, she was pretty much trapped inside the room, and the apartment door was wide open.
"Why not on the pile?" Imogen asked looking up at Abby.
"Umm…" Abby started looking from the task ahead and back to Imogen, "Because we have to pack all this stuff into boxes, so we should probably do that before we put anymore on top of it." Abby explained to her, pulling the visible clothes from near the bottom of the pile as Imogen pulled draws open and grabbed armfuls of clothes scattering things on route as she carried them to bed. "You excited?" She asked as she dumped a bunch of the retrieved clothes on the bed, picking up what Imogen had dropped as she went. She looked over at Imogen who was nodding exaggeratedly at her, beaming. "Did you decide what colour you want your room?" Abby asked as she headed back to the pile.
"What colour can I have it?" Imogen asked looking over at her.
"Any colour you want I guess." Abby told her as she scattered the pile slightly managing to retrieve an armful of clothes.
"Lo's room's yellow and pink." Imogen told her.
"D'you want the same as Lo?" Abby asked keeping the conversation up as she tried to achieve some semblance of organisation.
"Can I have fairy lights?" Imogen asked looking up excitedly as Abby headed back over. Abby paused looking down at her; she looked so cute and excited, bubbling with energy, a huge grin on her face, her eyes wide, honest and happy. Abby ran her and over Imogen's hair for a second as she smiled at her.
"You want fairy light's?" She asked turning back to the pile.
"Yeah, they're awesome." Imogen nodded enthusiastically.
"We'll see what we can do then." Abby smiled conspiratorially meeting Imogen's eyes as she turned back towards her, satisfied she'd managed to get all the clothes from the pile, picking up the last remaining strewn garments from the floor. She grabbed one of the boxes from the floor and began to fold Imogen's clothes into it.
"Can I get a bean bag?" Imogen asked looking up, frowning slightly, she had an inclination that now was a time to push her luck, but she wasn't quite sure how far she should push.
"I think that you can almost definitely get a bean bag." Abby smiled over at her laughing slightly as Imogen swelled with excitement, she stood up fully as she folded the little sweater in her hands.
"I like that you're coming with us." Imogen said, quiet all of a sudden, she looked almost shy as she looked up at Abby, one side of her mouth curled up slightly, chewing on her lip as her eyes stared out from under her long lashes. Abby allowed a smile to curl the edges of her mouth as well; she placed the sweater into the box and reached out for Imogen, picking her up under her arms and standing her on the bed in front of her, so her eyes were pretty much level with Imogen's. Her hands remained high up on Imogen's sides, as Imogen placed her arms over Abby's, holding onto her almost.
"I like that I'm coming with you too." Abby smiled at her, she tried to control her twitching lips as her smile reached her eyes. Imogen studied her for a second longer, she was obviously thinking whether or not she should ask her next question. Abby watched Imogen's little mind ticking over, she had absolutely no idea what she was thinking about but she liked that she could see Imogen considering her question.
"You love my Daddy don't you?" Imogen asked seriously studying Abby as she did, Abby paused, looking away for a second, a smile still on her lips.
"I do love your Daddy yes." Abby said nodding once, looking back into Imogen's eyes, she was almost embarrassed by the perceptiveness of this five year old.
"My Daddy loves you too." She said quietly, staring earnestly at Abby.
"Oh, yeah?" Abby asked, smiling at Imogen, she could almost see where this was going now. On the one hand this kid was completely unpredictable, but on the other you could see exactly where she was going with things.
"He asked if he was 'lowed to." Imogen told her still seriously.
"He did?" Abby started still looking at Imogen, her hands still on her sides as she nodded. "And what did you say?" She asked her eyes still smiling.
"I said he was 'lowed." Imogen nodded at her seriously still.
"Is it ok if I love your Daddy too?" Abby asked her earnestly, she watched as Imogen nodded at her, and her lips began to twitch towards a smile again, partly at the fact Imogen was being so serious about all this. "Can I ask you something else?" she questioned, still holding Imogen's eyes, leaning in towards her a little more.
"Yeah." Imogen almost whispered biting her lip.
"Is it ok if I love you too?" Abby asked quietly, smiling now at Imogen who was beginning to crack a smile as well as she began to nod enthusiastically.
"Yeah." She beamed fully at Abby as her own forehead met Abby's.
"Yeah?" Abby repeated in a question as Imogen laced her arms around her neck, her forehead still touching Abby's, she smiled into the little girls eyes, placing a kiss on her cheek before Imogen laid her head on Abby's shoulder, her hair pressed into Abby's neck. Abby pulled Imogen's little body towards her as Imogen hugged her lightly. Abby looked upwards, laughing slightly as she did, she had absolutely no idea why she was here but she wouldn't have been anywhere else at this particular moment. Jesus this was her family. She smiled at the thought, her family.
"Imm, y'know we've still got a lot of packing to do." Abby said into Imogen's hair, pulling away from her slightly, surveying the haphazard room.
"Is Daddy going to be mad if we don't do it?" Imogen asked pulling her head away and up.
"No, probably not, but I think that we should do it, otherwise we're never going to get to the new house." Abby smiled at her momentarily before picking her off the bed, standing her back on the floor.
"There's lots of stuff." Imogen observed looking around, holding Abby's hand as she did.
"Yeah, there is." Abby agreed looking around, "I tell you what, you see how many books you can fit in that box and I'll do some of this other stuff." She said pointing Imogen towards an empty box and the book shelves as she made her way to the other side of the bed, heaving the window open, tuning Imogen's kiddie beat box into a decent radio station and setting too on her clothes again.
Two and a half hours later Nick reappeared, looking quite hot and sweaty, Abby had finished on Imogen's clothes some time ago and moved on to removing and packing all of the artwork adorning her walls, followed by her toy cupboard. Imogen herself was still concentrating on the task of trying to figure out how many books she could fit into one box, but that was fine in Abby's book, trying to pack with a five year olds help actually made the task a hell of a lot harder and more long winded than necessary. Nick stepped across the now significantly smaller pile outside Imogen's door and entered the room.
"Hello." He smiled looking down at his daughter, who jumped up immediately.
"Daddy, Abby says I can have fairy lights and a bean bag in my new room." Imogen told him excitedly as she leapt for his legs. Abby looked over grimacing apologetically at him as she shrugged slightly. It was better than 'Daddy, Abby says she loves you and she loves me too' but it wasn't great. She should have known though, Nick laughed at her, picking her up, turning her upside down as he did, holding her above his head, his face opposite hers as she hung above his head.
"Well if Abby says you can then I guess you can." He grinned at her, pulling a face, shaking her light body slightly as she shrieked and giggled. He sent her back to the book-packing puzzle having set her on her feet, and headed for Abby as she sat on the floor.
"You tell me my music is shit and then you have her listening to…what the hell is this?" He pointed over his shoulder to the mini hi-fi, talking quietly, laughing slightly.
"This is actually the crash test dummies, and you played me Dolly Parton." She smiled leaning up to give him a quick kiss, smiling having proved her point in her mind anyway.
"Abby the books don't fit." Imogen said frustrated, sighing as her forehead creased, and she turned around standing up from her crouched position over the box. Abby tore her eyes from Nick and looked over.
"They wont all fit in one box Immo." Abby shook her head standing up, heading out of the room.
"But you said to see how many did." Imogen frowned up at her as she reappeared with another box.
"I think you've probably got as many in there as are going to go, see if you can fit the rest in this one." She said offering the next box to Imogen, trying to stop herself from laughing at Imogen's frustration, it wasn't funny that she was pissed off with the books in box situation, but the way it wound her up, the faces she pulled, were a little bit funny, partly because she looked so sadly adorable when she pulled them. Abby bent down and placed a little, completely unnecessary, kiss on the top of her head as she put the box on the floor. Picking the full one up and carrying it out over the remnants of the pile still in front of Imogen's bedroom door, to the rest of the packed boxes by the front door. Nick followed her out smiling at Imogen as she concentrated on packing books again.
"Are you two ok if I take the rest of your stuff and some of this over and then I'll come back and help with all this lot." He asked indicating his still only half packed living room and kitchen.
"Yeah." Abby nodded at him, "Is all your stuff done?" She asked looking up at him, her hands on her hips as she blew some hair out of her face, it was almost eighty degrees and packing up apartments was not helping with the heat situation.
"Yeah, all my boxes are out here already, I've not done the bathroom yet, but I'll do it when I get back, if you guys just get her stuff done then we stand a chance of getting out of here today." He smiled, pulling at his tee shirt, trying to increase the airflow as he stood in front of her.
"Nick." She said looking up at him almost dubiously, he looked back, he scanned her face, he was envisioning 'I broke all your plates' or 'I smashed all your CD's' she looked as though she was about to make an admission.
"Yes." He said warily, dragging out the word as he said it, a smile playing on his lips, his eyes narrowed comedically as they scanned her face still.
"I just told Imogen that I loved her." She said still looking apologetic, her eyes diverting from his. He frowned slightly and scanned her face, he wasn't entirely sure why she was looking so doubtful about it, he'd known she loved his daughter a while ago; he dug his hands in his pockets as he looked at her.
"Why is that a bad thing?" He asked nudging her shoulder with his, smiling slightly still. She looked back up at him.
"It's not, it's not, I just, I probably should have said something to you before." She shook her head slightly, looking up at his face as she shrugged.
"The only thing I'd be worried about is if you'd said it and not meant it, and I don't think you would so..." Nick half frowned, breathing out looking at her, the muscles in his brow flexing momentarily.
"I meant it." She said rolling her eyes, pouting for a second, breathing in, shaking her head, looking down.
"Abby, you don't have to tell me everything you tell her or she tells you." He said as his face shrugged and he shook his head, "You know who she wants you to be, she's been more than clear on that, and you know that I want to be with you, and I want you with me." He paused biting his jaw. "If it helps I love that you love her, and I'm fairly sure that she'll be in seventh heaven with this around about now." He said, looking at her honestly, they were so close and he was more than sure about this but she needed to be sure as well, and he was pretty sure she was.
"When you told me, you said it scared the shit out of you." She said as he nodded at her, he remembered it well. "I really don't want to screw this up." She shook her head an empathetic laugh in her voice as it remained quiet and she met his eyes, he figured that this was as close as it would get to her telling him she loved him, but it was more than close enough.
"We won't screw it up, and even if we do, we won't screw her up." He smiled slightly at her, honestly, bringing his hands from his pockets, resting them on her waist.
"Promise me that." She said looking at him a trace of a smile remaining; she needed confirmation, as her eyes stayed fixed on his, bringing her hands from her hips to his forearms, she knew that he would, that he could, that he wanted to, that he knew she wanted him to, and he did.
"I do, I promise you that…" He smiled bending to meet her lips bringing her body closer to his as she did. They broke apart as a shuffling, cracking, noise interrupted them.
"Abby I got all the others books in the other box." Imogen announced proudly standing up as she finished clambering over the remaining pile. Nick smiled as Imogen headed towards them, Abby looked down on her more of a sympathetic smile on her face, more of a 'you don't know what the hell you're getting into with me and your Dad doesn't either' smile on her face, but she couldn't help herself as Imogen stood around their legs looking up expectantly. Almost automatically Abby ran her fingers through the hair of the little person whose head didn't quite skim her hip and the little person shuffled towards her makeshift mother.
"What d'you say to us finishing packing while Dad takes more stuff over?" Abby asked bending slightly to talk to Imogen as Nick's hand rested on her hip.
"I'm a good helper, right?" She smiled up at Abby.
"You are yeah." Abby smiled nodding down at her, planting another unnecessary kiss on the top of her head, she felt Nick's fingers tighten reassuringly on her body as she voiced her words, and carried out her actions.
"Where next?" Imogen asked enjoying her new Abby appointed tasks.
"Movie cupboard, grab that box right there." Abby smiled at her pointing to an empty box, Imogen instantly hauled it over to the cupboard and plopped down on her knees flinging the cupboard open with relish as they'd both seen her do so many times before.
"Tell her again, tell her a hundred times, let her tell you a hundred times, this is her for you and you for her it's almost regardless of us, its something for the two of you, if you want it, let it be." Nick whispered to Abby before releasing his grasp on her hip as they both watched Imogen. She turned and watched him watching his daughter for a second, this was the kind of trust she'd never had with a guy before, the kind of trust that told her he didn't think she'd run and even if she did, she had something that belonged to him but was attached to he unconditionally, she knew she'd never lose Imogen and in his eyes, she'd never loose him either, the power, the security, that gave her was almost unfathomable.
"I'm going to pack stuff up now, instead of later." Nick said heading towards the kitchen.
"No look, really we're all good, if you want to take more stuff over then go." She nodded at him, a slight smile on her face although she was slightly defensive, she didn't want him to think she'd been having a 'moment' as Maggie would undoubtedly call it.
"No, I know you're all good, but you look hot when your all hot and bothered so I don't want to leave, and I can tell you that you don't have to tell me what Immo says to you but if I'm here then I don't have wonder about it and also…" He continued as Abby cut in.
"Yeah I get it." She smiled over at him, retrieving a pile of plates from one of his cupboards; he took them off her placing them on the worktop.
"How's it coming Imm?" Nick called out into the living room, Abby laughed at him slightly as he took hold of her waist and listened obviously for Imogen's answer as his palm held Abby's arching back firmly.
"There's lots of movies Daddy." She called back.
"Well grab another box and see how many you can fit in two boxes." He yelled back at her meeting Abby's lips with a vengeance as he finished talking to Imogen. She opened her mouth to him and he took advantage as she wrapped her arms up to the back of his head, pulling him closer to her as he held her up, her back arching further into his palm as their mouths remained locked.
"Daddy, there's no more boxes." Imogen's voice appeared half a second before her body, allowing Abby time to readjust her top, just, and Nick time to turn to fasten his pants.
"There's another box right there." Abby told her pointing at the clearly empty box in the middle of the floor having composed herself like an expert.
"Can you help?" Imogen asked looking innocently up at Abby.
"Yeah, come on." She laughed, glancing back at Nick as Imogen grabbed her hand.
Ok, here are the review responses, I've not done any since like ch 46 so there's a lot, and I hope I got you all, I think I did, and I'm very sorry if I missed you!
A few people asked what they'd forgotten in the speeches chapter and they'd forgotten to get Amelia the next day off work, I obviously didn't make that very clear, sorry!
As ever give me a shout and let me know what you think XxX Kay. (and I'm very sorry about the last really bollox chapter, it should have been a land mark at 50!)
Review responses….
Blah- your last review was the longest I've ever gotten I think! I'm glad you liked the Abby/Maggie/Susan bit, that was my favorite bit too, thanks for the ideas as well.
Tracey – He does have weird music taste yes! Thanks so much for your reviews, I feel I should give all you guys a little glory because I'm thrilled that you like! I'm back on track with the ideas stuff, but thank you.
Lillian – Woo hoo, I've taken over as your favorite fic, thanks so much, I hope the last chapter didn't put you off too much!
Hibbs – More Abby and Nick stuff for you!
Teertornado – Cheers for the ideas, I'm probably going to go with one or two of them if you don't mind too much.
LoopyLou1- I think Imogen might be taking over as my favorite character, Don't worry about the ideas, I'm back on track…I think, but thank you.
Fran – Cheers.