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Chapter Thirty Seven

-- Olivia --

The limo pulled up to the house at two thirty in the morning. Leigh was asleep, her head on Rochelle’s shoulder. BJ was snoring softly, her head resting against the back of the seat.

“Thank you guys so much for everything,” I whispered as I opened the door. Leighanne and Angel smiled.

“No problem. We’re just glad you had fun.”

“Oh trust me. I did.”

I got out of the car. I had six pairs of underwear in my purse and tons of candy. I disarmed the alarm, unlocked the door, and headed inside.

I was slightly surprised that Nick wasn’t home yet. The house felt eerily quiet. I headed upstairs and changed into one of Nick’s t-shirts. It came to my knees and was the best pseudo-nightgown I could ever imagine sleeping in. I crawled into bed but I was too wired to sleep. I clicked on the TV, but of course at three o’clock in the morning almost everything on TV is infomercials. I ended up watching a half hour ad for the Slap Chop with that Vince guy that tries to sell everybody the Sham-Wow.

Finally at three thirty I heard the sound of the front door opening and the beeping of the alarm. Loud voices drifted from downstairs. I hopped out of bed and leaned over the landing. I gasped.

Nick was slumped into Kevin. His long legs didn’t seem able to support him. His face was screwed up in frustration as he climbed up Kevin’s shirt like it was a wall and stared at the security panel.

“What’s the code?” Kevin asked.

“Code?”

“For the alarm system!”

“Ohhhhhhhh.”

“Nick you better remember the number or Liv’s going to wake up,” Kevin said with what I thought was a controlled patience.

“Liv? I love her!”

“I know you do, but she isn’t going to love you if you don’t give me the damn code!”

I walked back to our bedroom and disarmed the alarm from our upstairs code box.

“You’ve done it now,” I heard Kevin say as I headed back to the landing. “She’s awake.”

“Good!” Nick said. I had a feeling he couldn’t control the volume of his voice. Poor Kevin; he was practically getting shouted at. “I want to make love to her all night long!”

I heard what sounded like our foyer table being knocked over.

“Nick just go lay down on the couch!” Kevin hissed.

“Dun…Dun…Dun’t tell me what to do,” Nick said, sliding back down. He lost the grip on Kevin’s shirt and fell onto the floor. He began to laugh.

I headed down the stairs slowly. I had never seen Nick drunk, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that’s exactly what he was. Kevin looked over at me as I hit the bottom step.

“What’s going on?” I said. Nick’s eyes looked puffy and heavy; they struggled to focus on me. He grinned.

“Kev! Kev! It’s Liv! Hey beautiful!”

I looked down at Nick. His ass was an inch above the floor and he was tugging on the bottom of Kevin’s shirt and pointing at me. I looked back up at Kevin.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Nick had way too much to drink.”

“Nu-uh. I only had thisssss much,” Nick said. He held his fingers at varying distances.

“We kept him at the hotel to sober up but he got in a fight with Matt and gave him a black eye.”

Nick glared at Kevin. “S’was an accident.”

“It was,” Kevin agreed. “They decided to have a pillow fight but Nick dropped his pillow and ended up just smacking Matt in the side of the head with his fist.”

“I went to Hooters!” Nick blurted out. I didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned.

“I know, Nick,” I said.

“I didn’t like any of ‘em. Yours are much better. Aren’t they Kev?”

Nick began to make squeezing motions in my direction.

Kevin sighed. “Why did I agree to rejoin the group again?”

“Because they’re not always like this,” I said gently. “Why didn’t Brian come with you?”

Kevin sighed again. “Because he’s drunk. He didn’t have as much as this doofus, but then he’s so damn skinny that it doesn’t take many beers. They were lying on their backs on the paintball field laughing like hyenas.”

“Hakuna matata!” Nick shouted out.

Nick began to sing off-key. Kevin hoisted Nick back up and began to half-drag him to the couch. Nick seemed to be fighting him, determined to perform the soundtrack from The Lion King instead.

“Do you need any help?” I asked. Kevin shook his head and momentarily clamped his hand over Nick’s mouth.

“No. As long as the dummy doesn’t move and sleeps this off everything should be fine.” He tossed Nick down on the couch. He bounced on the cushions and fell back.

“Were he and Brian the only ones that got plastered?”

Kevin shook his head.

“Andrew and Matt were totally gone. And like I said, Brian was feeling pretty good. I think he’s getting a lecture from Leighanne right about now.”

“I love Bri!” Nick shouted out. He started to sit up but Kevin pushed him back down.

“Drove the chevy to the levy but the levy was Briiiiiii,” Nick said. He began to giggle. I had to agree with Kevin; he sounded like a hyena.

I cracked a little smile.

“Well, leave him with me. I think you have a girlfriend to go back to.”

Kevin smiled. “I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

“Tomorrow…” I glanced at the clock. “Today, I will.”

Nick began to sit up a second time. Kevin pushed him back down.

“I swear to god Nick if you get up one more time, you’re going to regret it.”

I was waiting for Nick to start arguing, but he settled back. I could see by the set of his jaw that he was angry, but he seemed to know better.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Kevin asked. I nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then turned back to look at Nick. Nick gave him the finger. The corners of Kevin’s mouth lifted into a smile.

“Love you too.”

I walked with Kevin to the door and made sure to lock it and set the alarm. When I returned to the living room Nick was still lying on the couch. He opened his arms wide.

“C’mere Livvy!”

“Nick it’s almost four o’clock in the morning. I’m exhausted.”

“C’mon. You know you want a piece of…a piece of me.”

Nick started to fumble for his pants but he wasn’t making much progress. I walked over to the couch and tossed a blanket over him.

Not tonight,” I said. I leaned over and kissed his forehead. He smelled like Budweiser and Crown Royal.

Nick’s hand wrapped around my wrist.

“Livvy, do you still love me?”

I smiled. “Of course. Just get some sleep.”

I turned to go but he tugged my hand back again.

“What?”

He placed a hand over my stomach.

“Imma bee…Imma bee…Imma Imma bee a dad again!”

“Yes, you are.” At the moment it was a scary thought. A drunken Nick couldn’t take care of himself let alone a baby. Or two.

"I have super sperm!" he declared. "They wear capes. I'm sure of it. Red capes. With lightning bolts."

It was a mental picture that was hard to get out of your mind once it was in there. I fought hard not to laugh and failed. Nick grinned up at me.

He kissed my fingertips as I tucked the blanket up under his chin. I was halfway up the stairs when he shouted my name.

“Liv!”

I turned. “What?”

“I’mma bee…Imma bee…”

I sighed. Kevin had much more patience than I did.

“Nick, what?!”

“I’mma gonna throw up.”

He sounded about three years old when he said it. I moved fast, but not fast enough. By the time I got from the kitchen to the living room with a mop bucket, Nick was puking in the vase that was holding a big bunch of artificial flowers. His bottom lip rested on the top of the vase.

“I’mma…I’mma feeling better now,” he said weakly.

Then he passed out.

Twenty minutes later the vase was bagged up and in the garbage. Nick was snoring on the couch. I headed upstairs, finally realizing how truly exhausted I was.

The sun was almost up and we had another big day ahead.

Something told me Nick wasn’t going to be worth a damn.

But I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be much better.