I turned around to see just a light shining and I just got even more confused. “Ok so look, Mel and Roger were engaged. He’s a little punk bitch and got pissed at her one day and did this.” He gestured to the light and a picture of my face from when he hit me came up. The reporters went crazy at that and started screaming out questions. “Please wait a few before asking anything. Anyway he did it because he thought she was sleeping with me when she was barely even tolerating me and so she moved in with me and eventually she let me get the goodies. A man should never have to work that hard.” He said almost wistfully and I punched his arm. “Now, I wondered why he was so mad. So I did my own digging and, well, Mel was his meal ticket and his cover. The dude was broke, hence why he’s resorted to becoming her own personal stalker. He’s conned you people into believing his stories from his photo shopped images that you bought and printed. Then I found out he does actually have a life occasionally and look what he does in his spare time…” he gestured up again and the image changed to a photo of Roger in what looked like a hotel room opening the door for room service in his boxers. The picture switched and in the next image there was a guy who appeared naked standing behind him. The last picture was of them kissing as the door was closing. I gasped and my hands flew to my mouth.
“No fucking way!” I spat. “No wonder I could never get into the relationship, I can see why he was more like my brother than anything else.”
Nick leaned in and his breath fanned my face. “You ok baby?” he asked.
I nodded. “It just makes so much more sense now.” I confessed and he only nodded and placed a soft kiss to my temple. “That day when everything went down I hinted that he might’ve wanted to get in your pants too… it was just supposed to be a low blow but I guess I really struck a nerve.”
He stood and motioned for Phil to cut the pictures. He walked around to the front of the table and just looked at all of the reporters stunned faces at everything he just revealed. “Now to ensure that there is no further confusion on the matters of Mel and I, I decided to wait until now to do this.” He turned to me and waved me over. “Come here babe.”
My eyebrows flew up. “You want me to get up to walk to the other side of the table?” I asked trying to figure out what he was up to now.
He put his hands on his hips and gave me a look that clearly said ‘duh’. I groaned and he rolled his eyes. I got up from my seat with a frown and sighed. I started to make my way around the table when Nick said, “you could use the exercise anyway.”
I growled at him as I came to a stop in front of him. “ha, ha, ha you’re just so funny. I’m not fat Nick I’m pregnant.” I said dryly.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around me. “You don’t have to be grouchy you can laugh a little Melanie.” He sing songed.
“Yes Nick, I’m here what do you want?” I asked.
“Well…” he began before releasing me and taking a step back. He looked at Chris and he stood out of his seat and walked to stand behind Nick. He dropped down on one knee and I felt my heart rate pick up. I mean technically we were already engaged but this was different him asking. My hand flew to my heart and I teared up. His hands were suddenly on my feet and I looked down in confusion. “Babe your shoes weren’t tied.”
Oh My God, how embarrassing. Why did I think he was going to propose? And to make it even worse I know that they all captured snapshots of my reaction I’m sure thinking that he was going to propose too. “Thanks.” I croaked out.
He winked at me and didn’t move. “I have a poem for you.” In his own smug way he says, “you’ve tried the rest now try the best… will you marry me?”
I scoffed, “are you serious? Is that the best you got?”
His head reared back in offense. “I slammed you once and we have a beautiful daughter, I slammed you twice and we have one on the way. Let’s go for the slam dunk now will you marry me?”
“Really, basketball?”
He sighed in annoyance. “This is ain’t about basketball. I’m tired of playing with your ass say yes or else Mel.” He growled.
My eyebrows flew up, why am I even remotely surprised by his idea of a proposal. “Or what Nick?” I asked planting my hands on his hips.
He shrugged. “Or else I’m just going to drag your ass to Vegas and force you to marry me, simple as that.”
I fought my smile. “So you’re basically telling me that I don’t really have a choice here?”
He smiled. “Basically.”
I sighed like I was put out. “Fine, I guess I’ll marry you then since you asked so nicely.”
His arms wrapped around my waist and he placed a kiss to my huge belly. “Damn right.”
He let me go and turned around and Chris stepped forward and handed him something. When he turned back to me I could see a princess cut engagement ring sitting between his thumb and index finger. He picked up my left hand and slid the ring onto my finger then stood up. There were cheers behind me and I remembered we had an audience. He kissed me hard and bent down putting an arm behind my knees and lifted me clear off my feet. I squealed in surprise and clung to his neck. Fine, I’ll admit I was just a tad bit afraid I was too heavy and he was going to drop me… why was I worried again? The man had me in his arms and didn’t break a sweat, he carried me all the way to the car and loaded me in.
When Nick got into the car he turned to me and pinned me with a glare. “Mel, next time I propose to your ass you don’t give me a hard damn time. You’re just going to say yes and shut the hell up.”
I frowned and watched him to see if he was serious. When his expression didn’t change I burst out laughing. “Do you realize what you just said?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I said it right?”
“Nick, why would you ever propose to me again?” I asked through my laughter.
He scoffed. “That’s beside the point and I can propose as many damn times as I want to.”
I was laughing so hard tears were escaping. He’s such a fucking moron that he doesn’t even think about the shit he’s going to say sometimes. “Sure babe, I will just agree.”
He shook his head and put the car into drive. “That’s all I wanted woman.” I didn’t answer, I figured I’d let him have this one.
That night when we were in bed I leaned over to Nick. “So you wanted me to serenade you right?”
His head reared back and he actually looked a little… scared. “When the hell do you think I said that?” he asked.
I smiled. “You remember earlier in the car when I was singing Taylor Swift. You complimented me on how amazing I sounded and you couldn’t wait for an encore.”
He laughed. “Babe I think the pregnancy is messing with your hearing because I absolutely said nothing of the sorts.”
I cleared my throat and started singing the first verse. His hand flew up and clamped down to cover my mouth and I let out a laugh. “You’re not even singing Mel, what you do is more like screaming or screeching… probably a little of both. If that’s what you want to do I can find a way more productive way to get you to make those noises.” He lifted his hand from my mouth and I continued singing where I left off. He groaned and slammed his mouth down on mine. Well, I’m pretty sure you can imagine where that led and boy was I singing.
As I was drifting off to sleep I heard Nick say my name softly. “Mel.”
I yawned and stretched out across him, “hmm.” I responded. My body was Jell-O, and I was completely and totally sated.
“We’re getting married before the baby.” He stated.
“Hmmmmm.”
“Does that mean yes?”
“Hmmm.”
“You sleepy?”
“Hmmmmm.”
“Fine, but it’s still happening. You better call Lucy in the morning to start planning. You have a month Mel.” I nodded to his words as sleep claimed me. I’m not sure if he continued talking to me because I was dreaming before I knew it.
Nick
When I walked i
nto the gym for practice the room erupted in cheers. I smiled and shook my head, I guess they caught our little show from yesterday. Coach came over to me and patted me on the back. “Congrats man, I like her. Good choice.”
I nodded. “Thank you, I’m lucky.”
I spent the whole practice enduring jabs about balls and chains and being tied down. I just shrugged I was fine with all that shit. I mean come on if it were ever going to happen to me it would’ve only been with her. She was it for me. She knew it, I knew it, and hopefully now did the rest of the goddamn world. I realized that once everything was said and done she seemed happier, lighter. She wasn’t looking around for paparazzi to be swarming us nor did she seem the least bit disturbed by the few people hanging around the house waiting for our arrival after the press conference. She only took my hand and kept walking and talking as if they didn’t exist.
Everything inside of me lifted at seeing that. That was the reason why I did what I did. I wanted to put her at ease and to get them off her damn back. Last night I told her she had a few weeks until we’re getting married. I don’t know if she was agreeing because she was delirious or if she comprehended what I said and thought it was a good idea. At the end of the day it didn’t matter at all, and I was going to get her to do it one way or another. Even if I had to bring the priest into our bedroom and perform the ceremony as soon as she wakes up in the morning it was going to happen. I just hope that she realizes this and doesn’t give me a hard damn time about it like she’s bound to do just to be a pain in my ass.
On my way to pick her up, I stopped and skimmed a few magazines and papers. We were news and the news was Roger was the dickhead in the whole thing and Mel was clean as a whistle. They may have mentioned a few things about our relationship and her being able to tame me. That made me scoff even though it was fucking true. That is probably one of the only people that could bring me to heel, besides the other girls in my family. She’s got me by the balls and I’m man enough to admit that to myself even if I would never say that shit out loud. The fact of the matter is that I knew and that’s all that counts.
Mel
I realized the following day just how serious Nick had been about getting married before we had the baby when I got a call from Lucy.
“When the hell were you planning on telling me about the wedding? And I haven’t even gotten a formal invite to participate in performing any maid of honor duties, oh you know such as helping pick out a dress.” She said in an accusing voice.
I smiled. “Well, hello to you too Lucy. I’m doing absolutely great although I’ve lost sight of my feet. Work is great and I have a ton of agents looking to bring me on as a specialist to their clients if any of them get injured. How’s things going over there? How are the kids? How’s Landon?”
“Don’t get cute with me Mel. When am I flying out there?” she asked excitedly.
“I didn’t even agree to that, he asked me when I was half dead last night.”
She scoffed. “Have you met Nick? When he asked he did it as a courtesy Mel he wasn’t exactly giving you a choice.” She informed me.
I laughed. “Yea, I know. I guess as soon as possible. If I remember correctly we might have about four or five weeks to get everything together. “
She squealed and I had to move the phone away from my ear. “I’m going to try to get out there tomorrow!”
We chatted for a few more minutes before we clicked off. If she were coming she’s going to have to make arrangements with the kids. She still had her nanny Maggie there that was helping with the kids and she was sure between her and Landon she’d be able to escape for a week. Within that time we need to get dresses and anything I’ll need her here for in person done. To make sure that we would be able to succeed I had to pull out the big guns and I called Erica. She went ballistic over the phone and promised to be here as well. If there was one thing she loved it was planning a party especially when it was to celebrate her brothers or nieces and nephews. With that taken care of I heaved a sigh of relief. I was confident that we would be able to get things done. I decided to call my parents next to give them a heads up and surprise, surprise they already knew. Why you ask? Because Nick called them already to tell them.
True to her word, Lucy was on my doorstep Monday morning. Chris being the understanding guy he is told me to just take the week off to prepare for the wedding, that and I think he was a little afraid to say otherwise. I’m starting to believe that the fear he says he has of me is real. I wasn’t looking to make a huge production of a wedding which I swear almost made Erica cry. It took us half a day to coordinate all the parties to be involved in the wedding and two days to find us all outfits. Two days right? No I didn’t walk into a store and find the perfect dress and just fall in love. We were sitting in the living room when there was a knock on the door and thanks to Erica we had a bunch of the most beautiful designer dresses wheeled into my house and a bunch of people ready to pin, shape, and cut. I just eyed Erica in disbelief. The girl was a psychologist, and a hell of a mechanic but I think she missed her calling in party planning. However, her tolerance for people she didn’t love would prove that she probably wouldn’t have done very well at all with bridezillas.
By the end of the week, we gotten so much accomplished and I was so drained. The hardest part was deciding where we wanted to do it. Ultimately it came up to me and when I made my suggestion to Nick he smiled wide and agreed. We’d be getting married at the Miles residence. The home where Nick and I first grew to love each other, back home in Lexington, west Virginia at the home he moved into with Landon, Lucy, Dean, and Max when his parents died and he transferred over.
The place was huge, we have a ton of happy memories there and I haven’t been back since Dean’s car accident and horrible death. I know no one ever goes home and I actually think it would be good for all of us to go back there, where it all began. Even to show our kids how we grew up. The last call I placed that week was to James and Sam. When that horrible incident happened and I was beat with a bat in a dark basement and ended up in a hospital all because Nick wanted me and no one else, they took care of me no questions asked. All of our families are so intertwined it’s insane.
I know for a fact that even after we all left for school and Nick and I broke up they became like the closest friends. When Dean died and he was passed all parental rights to James for Landon, Nick, Max, and Erica he accepted it no questions asked. Lucy was his actual daughter but for them Dean, James, and Sam were their parents and truth be told we were always together. Family events all five of them (including my parents) would come together. Now you know everyone’s personalities, there is no way to win anyone of us over. It tells you something that especially Nick and Landon actually respect and listen to James and Sam like they did Dean. He’s an awesome father and ever since he came into Lucy’s life he accepted every single person important in her life with no questions. I asked him for the ultimate favor, and as I knew before I even dialed his number he accepted with no questions asked – I couldn’t have asked for better people to be there for Nick after he lost his parents. They all stepped in and made sure that Nick was always taken care of and had proper guidance.
It would take me days to explain all of the things they’ve done for us. Shit, Nick even respects my parents. Yea I know my dad wanted to pull his shotgun out on him like any other father but I remember my dad expressing to me that he would never trust me with another man beside him other than Nick. Him attempting to help my mother cook in the kitchen, or playing cards or watching and talking sports with my dad… such good memories. When I was home Nick wanted to be there the stalker he was but it wasn’t just about him being with me, he spent time with my parents and even just did little random things around the house like taking out the garbage because they would let him stay over in the guest bedroom whenever. Little did they know we used to sneak into each other’s room when they went to sleep just to cuddle, but will I ever tell? Absolutely not.
We decided
to get married on August 27th. It was August 21st and we flew out to Virginia. How you ask? I would too considering I was eight months pregnant and it was totally against the rules. I wish I fucking knew because let me tell you I was concerned about it. I don’t know who Nick threatened or put in a choke hold to get his way but sure enough we were in the air without a question or hiccup. When we entered the house I was immediately swarmed with memories. We went inside and when we passed the breakfast bar I was reminded of the time when me, Nick, Lucy, Landon, and Dean were sitting here after Dean kicked Lucy’s bat shit crazy mother out. Nick got down on his knee and asked me out on a first date and to be his girlfriend. Naturally that was followed up with a request for some loving and I was completely embarrassed.
Thankfully, there were a ton of rooms here so all immediate family would be staying here… but Nick and I were definitely going to be sleeping in his old room. Kira will be sleeping in my old room across the hall from Lucy. I’m thinking about changing this because depending on where Landon and Lucy plan on sleeping I don’t want any noises to traumatize my daughter. Plus I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to bunk with Dean. They were already really close and it reminded me a lot of Erica and Nick, how they’re cousins and you would never know they weren’t actually siblings.
Lucy and Landon were expected to arrive tomorrow along with Erica. We wanted to have a night here with just us before all them madness began. I think it was mostly that Nick thought that he would be bored throughout the day without practices or anything and I would probably be so busy doing girly shit as he likes to put it that he won’t get any. With that all being said, we parked our asses in the living room to watch TV and I jumped on Hulu and found America’s Got Talent. That show was so damn good, that I ended up putting it back on picking up where we left off when we went to bed and fell asleep cracking up laughing to a thirteen year old comedian. In hindsight I can snicker about it… so much for him thinking he was getting laid.
Needing Her (The Lexington Series Book 3) Page 21