Nick woke up the next morning with Rayna peacefully sleeping. He couldn’t help but put a smile on his face. He was glad to be here with her he wished he didn’t have to leave so soon. He wished he could stay there with her forever. He wanted to ask her to move in with him so bad but he didn’t want to move too fast and scare her off he wanted to make sure they were both ready to make a move in commitment considering Hunter & Olivia and they would be quite a ways from family. Nick rolled over and looked at the time on his phone it was only 7am and even the kids were still sleeping. Nick was just about to roll back over and cuddle with Rayna when his phone rang it was his mother.
“Why in the hell is she calling me this early for?” Nick thought. Nick got up and got dressed,” I’ll be back in a few minutes love you,” he whispered in her ear and got up and went downstairs and walked out the door,” Hey mom what’s up? Its kinda early over here.”
“Yeah and its 10am in Florida, a little birdie told me you are visiting that girl from the internet this weekend.” Nick sighed Aaron must have snitched.
“Yes you would be correct was there a point to waking me up so early?”
“Well I just figured you could use the wakeup call after all I am sure her kids are up by now.”
“No, mom they are still sleeping please tell me the real reason why you are calling.”
“I just want you to be careful is all honey. I am just trying to look out for you.”
“Don’t even try and pull that shit mother. If you were really watching out for me you would have known all the shit that was going on behind my back. Need I remind you about Aaron and Paris? Or what about Kara when she was cheating right under my nose? You didn’t seem to be looking out for me then so why all the sudden are you wanting to “look” out for me now?” Nick questioned his mom. He was angry she always pulled this when she didn’t like who he was seeing.
“Because she has kids’ Nickolas”
“And your point? You think she is just after money or something? Well you have it wrong mom I don’t know what Aaron or whomever is feeding you this bullshit but she is an amazing person and I don’t give a shit about what your opinion is because you don’t even know her. You always do this every time I get into a serious relationship with someone. I am a big boy now I think I can take care of myself now especially when it comes to dating. What if we all fly down there to Florida the next time I have some time off from recording and touring and you can meet her and the kids. I think you will really like her she isn’t like Paris or Kara she is different you’ll see.” Nick was just tired of the drama with his mother it wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t do this on a regular basis it’s like she didn’t want him to be happy or something,” Mom you still there?”
“Yeah, sorry I am still here I will meet her but I am not going to guarantee you anything Nickolas.”
“Don’t start again mom. I love her and I love the kids you can just get over it. If all you are going to do is say negative things about her before you even meet her than you can just forget it all. I have to go.” Nick hung up the phone. His first real day with Rayna and the kids and his mother just had to practically get him into a bad mood right from the start. She just knew how to get under his skin she had always been good at that. He always wondered why no one would ever stick around his mother had never approved of anyone he has ever dated other than Kara and that was just a bad situation altogether. Nick walked back into the house and saw Rayna and the kids in the kitchen eating breakfast.
“Good morning dear how did you sleep?”
“Pretty good it would have been better if I didn’t have to get up when my phone rang. I was hoping to cuddle with you before the kids got up.”
“Who is calling this early in the morning?”
“My mother.” Rayna could tell Nick was annoyed.
“Oh? Everything ok?”
“It will be eventually but I don’t want to get into that stuff right now all I want to do is have some fun today. How about we go and do something today. I am sure you know a few places to go around here”
“Well it’s a nice day outside so we can go to the big zoo in Seattle there is also an aquarium and the science center out that way too. It all depends on what you want to go. But I do have question though how in the world are you going to go unrecognizable?”
“I brought a hat”
“A hat?”
“Yes, a hat I do it all the time” he said,” You aren’t buying it are you?” Rayna shook her head,” Well that’s all I’ve got unless you have a better idea in mind.”
“I can’t say that I have anything better. I have never dated a super star before but if you think a hat will work go for it skippy”
“I am sure it will work,” Nick smirked,” So how about the zoo?” Rayna nodded,’ it’s a plan then I love you” Nick leaned in and gave Rayna a kiss.
“I love you too. If you want to finish giving the kids’ breakfast I will go upstairs and get ready and get their clothes ready.” Nick nodded his head the kids’ were done with their breakfast just a few minutes later and he took them upstairs to get dressed.
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After a tiring day at the zoo they went back home. Rayna’s parents were going to watch the kids so they could go out and see a movie. As Rayna was getting ready Nick’s phone rang. It was Brian.
“Hey bro what’s up?”
“What did you do today?”
“Went to the zoo in Seattle why?”
“Leighanne saw you all over TMZ tonight with Rayna and the kids apparently some fan recognized you.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“I wish I was dude. I thought you were going to lay low?”
“I was until my mother called me this morning feeding me her normal bullshit so I said fuck it I am going to go out and enjoy the day”
“I understand but dude her kids hell we didn’t even take Bay out in public until he was almost a year old. You just started this relationship everyone is curious now I suggest is talk to Rayna and tell her what happened because these are going to spread like wildfire if they haven’t already.” Nick heard the concern in his voice.
“I will talk to her I really didn’t think anyone would find out.”
“Dude your hat disguise never works you should know this by now,” Brian joked,” But I guess it was some fans that took the pictures with their phones or something Leighanne didn’t really give me any details other than she saw you, Rayna and the kids all over TMZ and she rambling on about it after I got out of the shower. Well I will let you go I will see you in a day or so”
“Alright see ya bro” Nick hung up the phone he didn’t know how to talk to Rayna about the photos but he knew he needed to before she found out herself.
“Who was on the phone?” Rayna asked as she walked in the room in a pair of capris pants and a white tank.
“Brian”
“Calling kinda late isn’t he?”
“Yeah apparently we were spotted today at the zoo by some fans and they sent everything they had into TMZ so the cat is out of the bag now I guess and now they are starting to ask questions and all of that fun jazz. I am sorry Ray I thought we could have a nice day without anyone knowing who I was for once I guess I just wanted to feel normal or something I don’t know but I certainly didn’t want to ruin the day.” Rayna walked over to kids and kissed him.
“You didn’t ruin the day we still had fun and who cares about the pictures. They probably would have seen us out in public at some point and I am perfectly prepared for all of this. I figured it came with the territory of dating a famous super star” Nick leaned in and kissed Rayna.
“You know I love you” he kissed her again
“And I love you too you still wanna go out?”
“How about we just stay in and watch a movie or something I would much rather cuddle up on the couch or the bed than in a movie theater anyway.”
“I think I like that idea.”
“You sure you aren’t afraid of this whole picture thing because if you are I completely understand”
“Nick I can honestly tell you it doesn’t bother me and I am not afraid of it I’d say bring it on. I love you and if they don’t like it they can kiss my ass we are happy and that is all that matters to me. Let me go tell my parents we decided to stay in for the night I will be back in a few” Nick was relived how could anyone be so calm? Hell the first time he saw himself all over a magazine he flipped and started paying closer attention to what he was doing out in public he just hoped she wouldn’t get sick of it one day and run off.
Author's Chapter Notes:
enjoy!!
