Jordan frowned at the clock when her doorbell rang. "Don't move Eve" She said to her daughter when the little girl showed signs of moving for the door to see who it was. "You stay here. I'm gonna go see who it is." She moved out of the kitchen where she was cleaning up the plates from dinner and towards the door and flipped on the porch light. She looked through the window and smiled. It was Nigel. She pulled open the door, "Hi Nige. What's up?"
"Does a guy need a reason to see his special girls, love? I stopped by the bar first but your father told me you were at home. So here I am." Nigel gazed at Jordan with a mixture of amusement and love.
"Ya, I just wanted to stay home tonight and relax. Ever since Eve's birthday party, people are constantly inviting us to do things. It's wearing me out." She then smiled sheepishly having forgot to invite him in. "Come on in, Nige." She gave him a quick peak in the lips and moved aside to let him in. "Eve, Uncle Nige is here." She called out as soon as she shut the door.
Four year old Eve ran in a few seconds later. "Unca Nige!" Eve shrieked throwing herself at him. Eve worshiped Nigel. He was funny and always played with her. Sometimes he even reminded her of her daddy but she would never tell anyone that. She missed her daddy and Nigel seemed to make the ache go away.
Jordan smiled as she went back to the kitchen and left Nigel and Eve play. He was good influence on Eve and loved the little girl as if she was his own daughter. He's been around more the last few months since Eve's birthday party. So had Garrett and Bug for that matter. She put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the counter. She was about to turn off the light and go into the living room when Nigel entered.
"I sent the little nipper off to bed," Nigel said as he sat down at the kitchen table.
"Thanks," Jordan smiled. She was amazed at how easily Nigel handed Eve. It took her hours to get her little girl into bed but with Nigel, it only took a few minutes. She shook her head and poured two cups of coffee and carried them to the table. She sat one in front of Nigel and took the other cup for herself. She held it in her hands as she sat down and sipped it.
"You doing anything after work tomorrow?" Nigel gave her a grateful smile and sipped his own coffee, made just how he liked it. Black.
"Sadly, yes.," Jordan nodded. Then there was silence. It grew till Jordan couldn't take it anymore. "Garrett asked me to dinner and I accepted." She frowned.
Nigel raised an eyebrow in question. "I see. Should I be worried about you two, love?" His question was spoke in an amused tone.
She rolled her eyes and smirked. "Oh, I don't know Nige. Maybe I have a thing for my ex- husband." Jordan emphasized ex to make her point.
"Don't play coy with me." Nigel protested with a grin. He took another sip of coffee.
"Coy?" Jordan teased with a smirk. "I'm not being coy. If I was...you'd know it."
"You're right, love." Nigel admitted. "So how did Mr. Moody get the honor of spending Friday night with you?" He questioned.
"Long story, Nige." Jordan murmured as they abandoned their coffee and went into the living room. They sat on the couch, making themselves comfy. Jordan snuggled against Nigel's side and grinned when his arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer.
"I have time, love." Nigel mumbled as he pulled her closer to him. He could truly say that he was happy now. After Jordan left, he kinda deflated. His chipper personality faded into one that people could barely stand to be around. But now he was back to his old self and loving it.
"Garret called me yesterday, at work, to ask if I wanted to have dinner. When I said no, he showed up at work and insisted on taking me to lunch. I couldn't say no since the entire clinic heard his offer. So we to Mel's Café down the street and I had lunch with him. When he dropped me off at the clinic afterwards..." Jordan took a deep breath and frowned. "He said that we needed to talk and invited me to dinner. I relented and said yes."
Nigel smiled. "The fearless leader of the Boston M.E.'s worries for you." He stated and tightened his arms around her slightly. "But I agree with him, Jordan. You two do need to talk."
"I know but that doesn't mean that I gotta like it." Jordan smiled. "But I was looking forward to spending the entire weekend with Eve." She took his hand on hers and intertwined their fingers. "I have to find a sitter now. Who am I going to find on such short notice?"
Nigel smiled too. I had been a rough year for Jordan. With her dealing with her husbands death, moving back and getting into the swing of things again. But he was beginning to see some of that Cavanaugh spark return to Jordan's eyes and for that he was glad. "Well, since my girlfriend has other plans for tomorrow night, I'm free. I'll watch Eve for you." He kissed her hair.
She slapped his arm, playfully, with the hand that wasn't intertwined with his. "I would rather spend Friday night with you, Nige. Trust me when I say that. We'll spend the weekend together, ok?" Jordan looked at him slyly. "Come on then. Enough talk about Garrett." She slide out of his arms and stood, tugging on his hand. "I'm tired and I want to go to bed."
"Then I should be going, love." Nigel eyed her, suspiciously since she didn't let go of his hand as she walked towards the bedroom.
"Nope. You're not getting off that easily. We're going to bed. You and me. I'm not sleeping alone." Jordan's voice was firm and left no room to argue. She knew that he was taking it slow on her behalf but she loved him. They had only slept together once in their four month relationship. But Nigel spent so much time with her and Eve that he practically lived at her house so they shared a bed more often than not. And when he wasn't there, Jordan had nightmares. Eve had gotten over them but now Jordan was having them. She'd wake up in a cold sweat and then not be able to go back to sleep. Her work suffered then and she couldn't risk losing her job. So tonight she wasn't sleeping alone. "Just sleep, Nige. I don't want to be alone...please." Her voice was just above a whisper and pleading.
"Alright, love. I'll stay." Nigel gave her a quick kiss and then slipped into the adjoining bathroom to change into a pair of sweat pants and plain white t-shirt that he kept there to sleep in. When he emerged from the bathroom, Jordan was already dressed for bed, a pair of blue shorts and one of his faded band t-shirts that he had left there one night made up the outfit, and already in bed. He climbed under the covers beside her after taking off his many spiked bracelets so they didn't scratch her during the night He pulled her into his arms and left her get comfortable beside him before reaching over and turning off the bedside lamp that sat on his side. "Night Jordan." He kissed her forehead and let the darkness of sleep claim him.
"Night Nige." Jordan mumbled as she snuggled against his warm body and joined him in slumber. No nightmares would plague her as long as Nigel was with her, that she was sure of. Now all she had to do was get it through Garrett's head that she did care for him but could never trust him enough to be in a romantic relationship with him. She shifted beside Nigel and smiled in her sleep as she felt his arm snake around her waist and felt his body spooning against hers. She loved Nigel but she needed a little more time before she was ready to take that step. The step of committing herself fully to someone other than Mark. This step terrified her. That's why she was taking her time. She didn't want to mess things up with Nigel.