Love Is Your Color
Chapter 7: The Key to His Heart
It had been such a great night until the morning. Roxie sat alone at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She just smiled to herself thinking of how she got to spend the night in Nick's arms. It had been so great until he was called into work early in the morning. She hated that he had to leave her, but she understood. She had the same job and sometimes things were just not convenient. It has been a few weeks since the bombing and things were getting back to normal. Her leg was healing up nicely and she had already headed back to work and was once again solving cases left and right. With work and everything they hadn't gotten a chance to have a re-do on their first date. She'd planned an entire date for them starting with a unique dinner and a movie. That night was going to be perfect. She needed it to be perfect.
The evening had come much quicker than planned. Roxie felt amazing and looked amazing. She'd decided to dress simple and comfortably. She wore a pair of jeans with a simple grey crop top. She also had re-dyed her hair. The tips of her hair were now a pastel shade of pink. She curled her hair into large curls. She really hoped Nick liked it. She knew he wasn't a biggest fan of the green that she'd worn for the past month. There was a knock at the door and she knew it was him. Answering the door she smiled at her boyfriend who stood there in a pair of jeans and a plain grey tight t-shirt. She loved when he wore tight shirts that showed off his amazing body.
"Hey there." Roxie said happily as she saw him. He quickly pulled her into a kiss. Their morning had been interrupted by work, but now they had all the time in the world for one another.
Nick had been waiting all day to see Roxie. He knew she had something planned and he was looking forward to it. He thought she looked beautiful and he was happy that the green hair was no more. The pink looked much better on her. He placed his hands on her waist and kept her close. She smelled like fresh flowers. Everyday she amazed him. He had only dreamed of finding someone who could be the way she was with him. He had given up that this girl of his dreams existed until the day she walked into his office.
"Hey beautiful." He said as he touched her mahogany cheek.
"Everything is ready if you're ready." Roxie said cheerfully. "I'm driving."
"Lead the way." Nick said. Roxie closed her apartment door behind them and they walked down to her car. Nick spotted a basket in the backseat. He wasn't quite sure if that had anything to do with what they were doing.
"I hope you like it. I mean it will be kind of corny, but I think fun." Roxie said as she drove.
"I'm so intrigued right now." Nick said looking in her direction. For a split second Roxie turned and gave him a smile.
They had arrived at a local park. For the evening there were a lot of cars around in the parking lot. Roxie got out of the car and went into the backseat for the basket that had been sitting there. She also grabbed a folded up blanket. Coming around the car she handed the blanket to Nick.
"We are having a picnic… at night?" Nick questioned.
"Yes and more." Roxie said as she started to walk. She let Nick follow her. They then walked down into a large open space where there were plenty of people with their blankets set out and there was a screen at the end of the meadow. Roxie walked over near a tree on the edge of the meadow. "Set the blanket here." She said.
Nick followed instructions and spread the blanket out on the grass. Roxie then sat the basket down and kicked off her shoes. She sat on the blanket and Nick followed her lead.
"So what is this?" Nick asked.
"Well once a week there is a viewing of an old movie down here in the evenings. Everyone comes early to have a picnic dinner." She explained as she opened the basket. The first thing she did was toss Nick a beer. "I know it's your favorite." She said sweetly.
"Very right." Nick said giving her a smile. Roxie then pulled out a beer for herself along with some Tupperware containers.
"It's all food you could have cold. I made a chicken pasta salad and a couple mini sandwiches." Roxie said.
"What no take-out?" Nick questioned playfully. He thought he was bad, but Roxie was the queen of take-out.
"Amazingly no and shockingly yes I can actually cook. I'm just too lazy to do so." Roxie said as she handed Nick a fork.
"Come here." Nick said as she sat down his container of food. Roxie smiled at him and scooted next to him. His arms went around her and he held her close. "You're amazing my Rainbow."
"You are." Roxie then said to him. If anyone could help her survive what was going on with her mom it was him. He'd been her rock through it all so far. She didn't know how she was surviving this, but she know he was a large part of it.
The two of them enjoyed their dinner and lied on the blanket watching the movie. It was a beautiful film. Roxie thought about how the characters were very similar to them and how two people who seemingly wouldn't even be one another's type found love in each other. Nick held Roxie tight. He loved the feeling of having her in his arms. He placed a kiss on her forehead. She looked up at him and smiled. He placed a kiss on her lips. It felt absolutely perfect. He wanted to scream his love to her from the mountaintops.
When the movie was over Roxie drove them back to her place. He came up to her apartment with her. Roxie took their empty food containers into the kitchen. She felt hands move her hair and suddenly she felt something cold against her chest and neck. She realized Nick had put a necklace on her. She touched it and turned to him.
"Go check it out." Nick said. Roxie walked into her bedroom and turned on the light. She looked in the mirror to see he had given her a beautiful rose gold necklace. The pendant was a skeleton key, but the top of the key was in the shape of a heart and right in the middle was a heart shaped diamond. In the mirror she saw him come behind her. He used one hand to move her hair out of the way on one side. He slowly started to place kisses on her neck towards her ear. "Do you like it?" he whispered.
"I love it." Roxie said as she continued to admire the necklace. She'd never received anything like this before.
"Though you've already broken in I wanted to give you the key to my heart." He said. Roxie couldn't help, but smile. He didn't need to give her something like this, but she knew she would cherish it and hold onto it forever. It was truly a token of his love.
He then kissed her neck again. Roxie closed her eyes feeling his lips against the delicate skin of her neck. She felt his hands slip under her shirt. She bit her lip in anticipation. His hands moved up slowly. He then quickly turned Roxie to face him. He pulled her shirt over her head in one movement. He took her by the waist and pulled her in close. Roxie just looked him in the eyes. She would do anything for him no questions asked. They'd only been together for such a short time. Over the years Roxie had been in a couple long-term relationships, but she hadn't felt the way she felt with him with either of her ex-boyfriends. What she had with Nick was very real and she knew she couldn't lose it. Losing it was not an option.
Nick pulled her to her bed. They quickly found themselves in a battle with one another's clothes. Once they were finally free Nick just caressed her body. She wasn't the skinniest girl, but she was perfect in his eyes. He then looked into her eyes. Her honey colored eyes looked back into his.
"Nick…" she whispered. He just looked at her waiting for what came next. "Will you do something for me?"
"Anything for you." He said softly as he ran a finger over her collarbone.
"Make love to me." She then said in barely a whisper. He quickly took her lips into a passionate kiss. He pulled himself over her. Her hands settled on his shoulders as he slowly entered her. She moaned in his mouth. He held her close to him and he moved. He felt her legs wrap around him. He kissed her more. He didn't want his lips to leave hers. Though Roxie broke the kiss. She needed a breath. She felt his head move to her neck placing delicate kisses. Her breaths were shallow and her eyes were closed. There was nothing more perfect than this for her. She could feel his love for her radiating from his body.
"I…love… you." He whispered in between kisses. All Roxie could do was moan in response. She didn't have many words in the moment. She felt one of his hands move up her side and settle on the side of her breast. She placed a kiss on his shoulder as she felt him grip at her waist. She couldn't help, but to hold him also a tighter as she reached the summit.
Roxie groaned as she awoke. She could feel a hand on her bare waist. She smiled to herself. She turned to find Nick fast asleep next to her. He was beautiful when he was asleep. She then felt something and touched her chest grabbing the necklace he had given her. The memories of the night before flooded back into her mind. She slipped from the bed and found her panties on the floor. She slipped them on along with his t-shirt that she found next. She walked into the kitchen as quietly as possible. She figured she would make him breakfast. She'd just found the pan she was looking for when her cell phone started to ring. She rushed to it quickly so it wouldn't wake Nick up.
"Roxie Jones." She said answering her phone.
"Hello Roxie this is your mother's Doctor. Dr. Fishman." Came a female voice. Roxie recognized the voice.
"Hello Dr. Fishman." Roxie said. Normally her mother's doctor didn't make any calls to her unless it was urgent.
"Well as of this morning it seems your mother has taken a large turn for the worst. I wanted to warn you that at the most she will only have a couple more weeks at this point. I'm so sorry to have to inform you of this Roxie." The doctor said. Roxie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She did her best to scream though she found herself on the floor just sitting there, tears falling form her eyes.
"Umm… thank you… Dr. Fishman." She managed to say before quickly ending the call. Her breathing had become quick. Just as one part of her life was building up another part was falling down. She then hadn't realized it, but she was crying quite hysterically. She felt arms wrap around her. She knew she had awoken Nick. She pressed her face against his bare chest as she continued to cry.
"Sweetie." He whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair. "What happened?" Nick knew it had to be something with her mom. He could only hope that her mother had not passed away. He knew it was coming, but he could only hope that this was not the time.
"My mom's doctor called." Roxie managed to say. She looked at Nick in his eyes. "She only has a couple more weeks at most. I could lose my best friend any day now." Roxie fell back into hysterics as she realized that single fact. Her mother had been her everything since birth and now she would no longer have that single person who pushed her to be her best and who supported her through everything.
"I'm sorry." Nick said as he just held her. There was nothing he could do to change things and he knew it. The only thing he could do was to allow her to cry. She'd done that for him already and he appreciated it so much that he knew it was the only way to repay her.
The air was thick here. Nick personally had never been to the Cancer Ward at Dessert Palm. He had been to this hospital many times, but never to this part. You could feel that many of these people were facing their final days. In his job he dealt with death every single day, but this was entirely different. He normally dealt with the already dead and not the dying. He held on tightly to the vase of Skygazer Lilies, Roxie had told him one day that those were her mom's favorite. He walked passed the nurses station and down to room 435. He knocked on the door before entering. There in the bed was a middle-aged black woman with her head tied in a pink silk scarf. She looked in his direction.
"I know who you are." She said weakly. Nick walked more into the room and set the flowers down. "Thank you for the flowers Nick."
"Hi Mrs. Jones." He said to Sophia.
"Does my Roxie-Girl know you are here?" she asked.
"No she has no idea. I didn't tell her as you suggested over the phone." Nick said as she sat down in the chair next to her bed.
"Thank you." Sophia said as she looked at him. "How is my Roxie-girl? Whenever she comes in here I see that she is trying her best to be strong, but I know she's broken up about this."
"She is a wreck, but like you said she tries to be strong." Nick said. He could tell that Roxie got it from Sophia. For a woman who was dying she remained on the outside to appear very strong and very resilient.
"I know it's hard for her, but I'm glad she has you." Sophia said with a cough. "I told her one day that it was destiny that she met you. I can't explain it any other way. You've become her rock. When she comes in here all she can talk about is you and I can see how she just glows. I've never seen her light up in such a way. I can see how much she loves you and with you here I can see that you love her too."
"I do love her very much. I promise to take care of her." Nick said truthfully.
"Please do. She is my only baby. I just want her to have all the happiness. Roxie never really fit in anywhere. My baby struggled so much and even when she became a CSI she felt like an outsider. I don't think she ever felt like she belonged anywhere until she was with you. Her attitude totally changed. She'd found where she belonged. She belongs with you." Sophia said happily. Nick could tell that Sophia was content.
"I'd like your permission for something?" Nick then asked.
"Anything." Sophia said.
"When the time comes. I would like to ask Roxanne for her hand in marriage. I don't know when, but I know when the timing is right I will ask her. I want to spend my life with her. I can't imagine my life with anyone else." Nick said. He'd been thinking about it over and over. The only conclusion he had was that he would marry Roxie one day. She was everything he could ask for in a woman. He didn't care that she was much younger or a little quirky. She was an amazing woman and he wanted her by his side. He wanted to give her a ring and he wanted to make her his wife.
"You have my permission and my blessing. I know my Roxie will have a wonderful life with you. Thank you so much for caring for her. My dying wish was that Roxie would have a happy life. Now I know she will and it will be with you." Sophia gave him a smile and reached out her hand. Nick took her hand into his.
Roxie and Nick sat on her couch watching a movie on TV. Luckily it was a pretty slow night and Nick was able to get off early. Roxie had taken the night off. She needed some rest. Roxie lied with Nick's arms wrapped around her. She just saying in and having a quiet evening with him. She had glanced at the clock. It was nearly 1am. She then heard her cell phone ringing from the bedroom. She pulled herself up and walked into her bedroom picking up the phone. She couldn't believe the words she heard on the other end. The phone just dropped to the floor.
"Oh God!" she screamed out. Nick rushed into the bedroom to find Roxie sitting on her bed. Roxie turned and looked at him. "My mom died." She said simply.