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Chapter Sixty Seven – August 22

“You’ll call as soon as you know?” Leighanne said, hugging me tightly.

Of course,” I said.

Leighanne held up my hand, the ring sparkled in the light. “Congratulations.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

Nick tugged on my arm. “We gotta go, last call.”

We waved goodbye to Brian, Leighanne, and Baylee. AJ and Rochelle were the first to leave; their flight to LA had taken off a half hour ago. Howie, Leigh, and James were taking the same flight we were.

Nick stuffed our bags into the overhead compartment. I buckled in.

“Need a barf bag?” Nick asked. I shook my head.

“I should be good.”

He sank down next to me, buckling in. I looked over at him; something had been on my mind since the night before.

“Hey Nick?”

“Yup?”

"Did you tell my mom you were doing this?” I asked, holding up the ring.

I saw Nick’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth; then closed it. I took that as a ‘No.’

“Dude,” Howie called from across the aisle. “You always ask the familia before proposing.”

Nick looked at me apologetically. “I wasn’t thinking about that. I was more worried about the ring; it didn’t show up until the last minute.”

I had to wait for the all clear before using any electronic device. When the seatbelt light went off, I took out my phone and dialed my mom.

“Hello?”

“Hey momma,” I said with a smile.

“Oh Liv! How are you feeling sweetie?”

“Not too bad,” I said. “Listen, I called to tell you something.”

“Oh?”

I licked my lips nervously. “Nick proposed to me last night.”

I was greeted by silence. “Mom?”

“What was your answer?”

I let out a little laugh. “I said yes.”

“Do you think that was a good idea?”

I arched an eyebrow. My ever peppy mom was not sounding so peppy.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re still married.”

“Not for much longer.”

“I just don’t want you to rush into another marriage, Liv. You were only ‘officially’ dating Hunter three months before he proposed. And now the same thing is happening with Nick.”

“Yeah, but I’m also a little pregnant this time,” I said lowering my voice to a whisper.

“That doesn’t mean you have to get married!”

I sighed. “Mom, it doesn’t mean we’re going to rush into it either. It will be at least a year.”

“Well I think the big test will be to see how things go when you’re not together every day. When are you coming back?”

I looked over at Nick. The idea of leaving him was sounding worse and worse.

“Liv? When are you coming back?”

“I’ll be back by September 1,” I said. Nick turned to me, frowning. I shrugged helplessly.

“Okay, well,” mom paused. “is the ring nice?”

I smiled. “The ring’s absolutely beautiful.” I spotted the stewardess coming down the aisle with drinks. “We’re on the plane so I’ll call you a little later, okay mom?”

“No problem. Love you sweetie.”

“Love you.”

I hung up; Nick was still looking at me.

“What?”

“You’re leaving me?”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Nick, I don’t know what else to do. Plus, I do have a commitment to be back at work on September 1.”

“What if I hold you hostage?”

I laughed. “As tempting as that sounds…”

“We’ve got to figure this out Livvy,” Nick said. I knew he was right.

“Okay, how about this? I go back September 1, but I’ll put in my two week’s notice by the end of the month. Then I’ll fly down here by mid-October.”

“To stay?”

I nodded. “To stay. I don’t think I’m going to be flying back and forth when I’m eight months pregnant.”

Nick smiled. “That sounds like a plan.”

“That will also give you time to work on your music without being distracted.”

“But you’re such a good distraction.”

I laughed. We got some drinks from the stewardess and I leaned my head against Nick’s shoulder. The plan did sound okay; the only one who definitely wasn’t going to like it was my mom. The benefit and problem of being an only child was that I was the center of my mom’s world. To make matters worse, I had a feeling I was taking the second center of her universe away from her too. I knew the idea of her living in Wisconsin while her grandchild and I lived in Florida would not go over well. I just figured I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

-------------------------

“The Casa de Carter,” Nick said as we walked into his house. Bitsy tore out of her cage, barking happily and chasing after Iggy and Lila. Sun streamed happily through the windows.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I kind of miss the bus interior.”

“Very funny,” Nick said with a laugh.

Nick went to unpack while I walked around the house. It seemed like such a huge place for just one person. Even with the sunshine and the beautiful beaches, I could easily see being lonely.

“Such a serious face on such a beautiful lady,” Nick said, coming up behind me. “What are you thinking about?”

I leaned against him. “I was just thinking how big this place is for one person.” Nick laughed.

“Well hopefully soon it will be a big place for three people.”

I tried to imagine a little one running around the house. I envisioned a little boy that looked just like Nick trying to crawl up the stairs. I practically “aww”ed out loud.

Nick took out me out for a late lunch / early dinner. My appointment was scheduled for early the next morning.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“A little,” I admitted. “But really I just want to get it over with. I think the worst part will be the shot of RH immunoglobulin. I hate shots.” I closed my eyes.

“Well, I’ll be there the whole time,” Nick said. I squeezed his hand and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“You’ve got my ring; you’re stuck with me,” Nick teased. I laughed.

“I’ll gladly stick with you.”