Whatever It Takes

By Dottie

Copyright 2012

Chapter 33

            After everyone left for the night, Nick hugs me close to his body. I say, "You were pretty sure I'd say yes."

            He says, "No, I was scared to death you'd say it was too soon.  Brian and Carrie convinced me to go ahead with wedding plans."

            I smile and say, "I'm glad they did. I've wanted to be your wife for a long time, Nick."

            He says, "OH really?"

            I say, "Yeah. I thought I was going to have to propose to you."

            He chuckles and says, "Would you have given me a ring?"

            I giggle and say, "Possibly."

            He groans and says, "And I missed out on it?  DAMN!"

            She laughs loudly and says, "Crap, now I gotta pee again."

            He kisses her neck and says, "I'm sorry Baby."

            She takes his hand so he can help her stand and says, "Talk to your daughter...she must be sleeping on my bladder."

            After my trip to the bathroom, I come back to find the lights turned low, candles burning, and Nick staring into the fire. I smile and say, "What's all this for?"

            He says, "You. Come here." When I sit beside him, he says, "Tessa, I love you."

            I say, "I love you too, Nick."

            He says, "I know the last 7 months have been very difficult for you.  For us both. I want you to know that no matter what happens I'm always going to be here for you and for Arianne."

            I lay my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. I feel the tears welling up, but I don't want to cry anymore.  I whisper, "Nick, I don't think you'll ever know what you mean to me and how much I love knowing you want to be with me. Even if you hadn't proposed...Nick, I'd be happy just living here and loving you the rest of my life."

            He snuggles me closer and whispers, "I know you would. But you deserve so much more than that, mon amour."

            I smile against his chest.  We sit in silence, staring into the fire.  After what seems like an eternity, I whisper, "Nick, will Gilly be ok?"

            He squeezes me and says, "I hope so Tessa.  I'm gonna make sure she gets the best help possible...but she did assault you.  I can't just imagine it didn't happen."

            I sigh and whisper, "I know Nick. I'm not going to ask you to.  She just means so much to me."

            He says, "I know that, Tessa. Which is why I want to help her. But believe me, your safety comes first. You and Arianne."

            I turn and kiss his cheek before saying, "Let's go to bed, Nick."

            When we get up the next morning, there are lots to do. First things first, we have to go get the marriage license.  When I question Nick about the clerk's office being open the day after Christmas, all he will say is we must be lucky.  Lucky my ass. He probably paid them to open just for him.

            Once the paperwork is done, we go back to the house to find it's been transformed.  Carrie, Tracy, Natasha and Jackie have transformed the living room. There is flowers everywhere, white tulle wrapping the banister, a white carpet runner leading from the bottom of the steps to the fire place.  As we look around, I'm simply amazed.  Jackie says, "Come on, time for hair and nails."

            I look at Nick and say, "Today?"

            He nods and says, "Yep. The best day of my life. I love you Arian."

            I smile and say, "I love you too.  See you at the altar."

            He kisses me and says, "I'll be waiting."

            While I'm having my nails done, Jackie, Carrie and Tracy run last minute errands.  Being alone with Natasha makes me kind of nervous.  After the girl doing my nails leaves, Natasha says, "Tessa, we really have to talk about this."

            I sigh and say, "No we don't.  It's in the past."

            She says, "It is, but I can tell you're uncomfortable around me. I don't want that.  Before...well, before I threw myself at you, I thought we had a pretty good friendship growing. I'd like for us to be friends, Tessa. I really would. Can we please just try?"

            I lower my eyes and think back to the cruise. She's right, we were getting along famously.  Even after the kiss, we got along.  Why couldn't we now?  I look back at her and say, "I'd like that Natasha.  I really would."

            She smiles and says, "Tessa, I'm glad you're willing to give me a chance."

            I ask her to sit beside me and I say, "Natasha, I really would like us to be friends."  Lowering my eyes, I whisper, "God knows I can use a few."

            She puts her arm gently around me and says, "Tessa, I'm so sorry about Gillian.  She's getting help...she's going to be ok."

            I sniffle and say, "I know. We've just been through so much together. She is supposed to be here for this. Supposed to be my maid of honor."  Feeling the tears spill over my lashes, I whisper, "I miss her so much."

            Natasha says, "Tessa, even though she's sick right now, she's still your best friend. I can't see that ever changing. And when she gets well, you can have her back in your life. You know that, don't you?

            I sigh loudly and say, "I know. I just wish she was here."

            Natasha says, "I know.  I wish she was too."

            I dry my eyes and wash my face.  When the girls get back, we all have our hair and makeup done, then Carrie helps me into my gown.  Not surprising to me, it's too tight.  Carrie chuckles and says, "Never fear, I planned for such an emergency."

            I don't know how she managed it, but she had a seamstress on standby.  As the other girls disappear to set up the reception in the kitchen, Carrie stays to help me out of the dress once the seamstress figures out where to let it out.

            By the time I'm back IN the dress, I'm exhausted.  Carrie watches me, saying, "Tessa, do you feel ok?"

            I nod and say, "Fine, other than being exhausted from dressing, undressing, and re-dressing. Why?"

            She says, "You look pale. Maybe you should lie down?"

            I shake my head and say, "No way. Not after all I've been through."

            She chuckles and says, "OK, a compromise. Sit and let me go get you something to drink. Deal?"

            She helps me arrange my dress so it won't wrinkle before she leaves to get me some juice.  I close my eyes, fighting the urge to sleep.  I know lately I've been getting tired pretty easily, but today seems worse than others.  It's gotta be the stress of the wedding coupled with worrying about Gillian.

            OK, so I thought I'd be nervous. I thought I'd have butterflies in my stomach and something would go horribly wrong.  But it didn't.  When I heard the first notes of "Here Comes the Bride" as Kevin played it on the piano, I felt relaxed. Ready for anything. Jon gave me away, which...there are no words to describe how happy that made me. Carrie agreed to be my maid of honor, while Brian stood up for Nick. 

            Once we said our "I do's", the kids disappear again, along with the minister, and the reception ends up being just a small, intimate party of friends.  The serenity of it makes me want to cry. 

            As the boys are discussing the upcoming mega-tour they've decided to embark upon, I excuse myself yet again. Seems like the bathroom should be my new home. Afterward, I slip into mine and Nick's bedroom for a little quiet time. Honestly, I'm wiped out. I sit on the window seat, watching the kids play in the snow below.  I close my eyes and cover my stomach, anxious to hold my baby girl in my arms and watch her make her very first snowball.

            I must have dozed off because the next thing I know, my phone chirping wakes me up.  I struggle to reach it. When I do, I see I missed a call and have a voicemail.  When I listen to it, my heart plummets and I struggle not to scream. When I return the call, I hear, "Ms. Noel, this is Dr. Shapiro. I work with Ms. Collins at the hospital."

            I feel my stomach clench up and Arianne kicks me.  I say, "Is she ok?"

            He says, "I'm sorry, Ms. Noel. She attempted suicide again. She's in ICU now."

            I say, "Why? I thought you were watching her!"

            He says, "We were, Ma'am. We're unclear about how she managed to get out of her room, but..."

            I close my eyes and whisper, "Will she be ok? How did you get my number?"

            He says, "We tried calling Mr. Carter but couldn't reach him. Your number was in her phone.  From what she had told us, you were the only real friend she had. She talked about you a lot."

            I sniffle and say, "Is she ok?"

            He says, "We're not sure. She managed to find a pair of scissors...she's stable now, but it's touch and go. Do you know if she has family? Someone we can contact?" As if he can see me, I shake my head no. He says, "Ms. Noel, are you there?"

            I clear my throat and say, "I'm here. Umm, her Dad is in California. His name is Jason Davis. Gillian used her mom's maiden name. His number should be in her phone."

            He says, "OK, thank you."

            I say, "Dr. Shapiro...will you call me if anything happens? Please?"

            He says, "Mr. Carter wanted us to only contact him..."

            I say, "Well, since Mr. Carter and I just got married, I think it's safe to say you can contact his wife."

            Dr. Shapiro says, "Very well.  Right now, she's stable. If anything changes, I'll let you know. Congratulations, Mrs. Carter."

            After I hang up, I just let go and cry it out.  Just as I'm blowing my nose for the hundredth time, Nick comes into the room. "Tessa, you ok, Sweetie? You've been gone...Tessa? What's wrong?"

            I sniffle again and say, "Nick, I have to go see Gilly. Please."

            He says "Why? What happened?"

            I tell him about Dr. Shapiro calling and what he said.  I say, "Nick, please, I have to see her. I can't just ignore her. PLEASE!"

            He wipes the tears from under my eyes with a stroke of his thumb and says, "Of course we'll go. Baby, I'm so sorry."

            I hug him tightly and say, "Nick, she has to be ok."

            I feel him kiss my neck and he says, "I know Sweetheart. They'll take good care of her."