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Before: Checking On You


Nick

Ashley was in the kitchen when I went inside. She was putting the stuff for the pork chops we'd gotten at the grocery store for dinner together, slamming the cupboards behind herself. I stood awkwardly in the doorway of the kitchen for a moment, holding the plastic suitcase, the Glock tucked safely away. Ashley put the pan on the stove and poured some oil into it, being careful not to make eye contact with me. I put the case down on a chair. It made a heavy thunk of a sound. Ashley glanced over, then looked back at the heating pan.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" I asked her.

She pursed her lips.

"Ashley?"

"One of the foster families I lived with growing up," she said. She looked up at me finally, "He was in the military, and we actually lived on a base." Ashley shrugged. "He taught me how to shoot."

"I don't remember you living on a base."

"I was only there a month. You were probably overseas with the band or something. We were like fifteen or sixteen at the time."

I leaned against the counter beside the stove. She swished the hot oil around, then dropped the two pork chops onto the pan. They sizzled the moment they touched the tephlon-coated surface. I wondered how much else I didn't know about Ashley.

A memory flashed through my mind. I don't know what brought it on, but I asked, "Ashley... remember that night... that night at the bar, before the plane crash, when you came in and said you had a bad day and I was a prick because the Buccs were on TV and I didn't ask you what was wrong?"

Ashley looked up at me. "Game fourteen," she said, nodding.

"What was wrong that day?"

Ashley laughed. "I don't remember, Nick."

I sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't ask."

Ashley looked back down at the chops again. "I don't know why I let it bother me that night," she said quietly. "It wasn't the first time you didn't give a shit about me." She shrugged, "And it wasn't the last."

"I'm not gonna ever treat you like that again," I said. Ashley bit her lip. "What?" I asked.

"You kind of treated me like that today," she said.

"What? How?"

She sighed. "You bought a gun. I told you very specifically why I didn't want you buying a gun and you bought one anyways."

"Because I want to protect you."

"I told you, I'm safer without the second gun, Nick. I told you that. You don't care what I have to say on the subject, you just wanna have it your way and that's that." Ashley shrugged, "That's what it was like back then. You didn't give a damn what I had to say, you just..." She sighed. "I know you don't mean to do it but you do it. You're so strong headed and it drives me insane sometimes..." Ashley's eyes met mine. "You drive me insane sometimes."

"I'm sorry," I said.

She flipped the pork chops over in the pan, the sizzling doubled for a moment, then quieted again. She sprinkled some pepper and salt over the meat.

"I'm gonna work on being better about doing that," I said, "Okay?"

Ashley nodded.

"Tell me when I'm like that, okay? So I can fix it?"

"Okay."

"Ashley?"

"Yes?"

I reached for her hand. "Even when I am being an asshole, please... please know that even then I still love you more than anything."

"I know," she said.

"And even when I'm driving you insane," I asked, "Do you still love me? Even then?"

Ashley laughed, "Well..."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding. Of course I do."

"Good," I said. Instead of arguing back, Ashley leaned into me, wrapping her arms around my waist and laying her head against my chest. She pressed her nose against me, breathed in deeply.

I rubbed her back 'til she pulled away to turn off the heat on the pork chops and cover them. She opened the cupboard and got out potatos and stuffing. "We forgot apple sauce," she said after a moment of staring into the cupboard.

"Dude, we can't have pork chops without applesauce," I said, "It's like a requirement."

"Well, looks like we are..."

Ashley moved away from the cupboard door and stuck the potatoes in the microwave. I looked in the fridge to see if we'd put the applesauce there. When I turned up applesauceless, I turned to her, "I'm gonna run up to the store real fast and get the applesauce."

"Okay."

"I'll be right back." I stuck a kiss on her cheek, then turned to leave the room. My eyes flickered to the plastic suitcase that carried the Glock. I hesitated, I wondered if she'd get pissed off again if I brought it with me. A small part of me wanted to just feel the power of packing heat. I wanted to be like James fuckin' Bond again. But I knew if I stopped to grab that gun Ashley was gonna go off again, so I left it there on the chair, and headed out the door.




Ashley

When Nick got back, we had dinner, and Zoey woke up and we sat in the living room together. Nick sat on the couch staring down at his computer, and I sat on the floor playing with Zozo. His cell phone rang and he absently picked it up. "Hey Jason," he said, getting up. He wandered out of the room.

I turned to Zoey, who was waving her arms in his direction as he left whimpering, "Daddy's comin' back, he'll be right back, yes he will..."

She whimpered more.

"Daddy loves his Zozo, shhh, he just went to answer the phone."

There was a knock at the door and I turned and stared at it. Who the hell would be knocking on the door at eight-o-clock at night? I didn't move. I wanted to call for Nick, but I didn't dare make the noise. I saw a shadow lean around the door frame, a silhouette on the curtain by the narrow window. I picked Zoey up, pulled her to my chest, and crouched low. My heart pounded.

Nobody knew we were here in Nashville. There was no reason for anybody to be there.

Whoever it was knocked a second time. Harder this time, the knock louder, echoing through the entry way. A lump rose in my throat.

Suddenly Nick came out of the kitchen on the far side of the entry. The Glock in his hands. My heart raced as he neared the door, carefully, quietly. He peered through the peek hole. "Shit." He clicked the safety, and shoved the gun into the back of his pants waistband and unlocked the doors. "Good evening Officer," Nick's voice rang from the hallway, "What can I do for you?"

I struggled to get up while holding Zoey and made my way out to the doorway.

A cop stood on the stoop.

"Good evening, Mr. Carter," he said. "I just was checking on you. You've been away awhile and a couple of your neighbors just wanted to make sure it was you over here, as your house hasn't been occupied in some time..."

"Yeah we're good," Nick answered.

"Got some reports of gunfire this afternoon in the area," he said.

"Just hitting some targets in the backyard," Nick replied.

"You got a permit?"

"Yes sir." Nick pulled out his wallet and fished for the permit. The cop looked over at me and Zoey. He smiled at Zoey, waved the tips of his fingers at her. She gurgled and struggled, reaching for Nick. He produced the permit and handed it to the cop. "You patrol this area frequently?" Nick asked as the cop glanced at the permit, then handed it back.

"Everyday; it's my beat."

Nick waved at the driveway, "That's the only car that's gonna be parked in this driveway for the next couple weeks," he said, nodding toward the vehicle. "If you see any other, look in on us. Please."

The cop gave Nick a funny look.

"We're in the middle of a situation," Nick said by way of explanation.

The cop nodded, "I'll see to it."

"Thank you."

The cop nodded to Zoey and I, then said, "You have a good night, Mr. Carter."

"You too, sir," Nick answered, closing the door. He turned to me, "At least we know they're vigilant," he said.

I nodded. He started toward me, and Zoey held out her arms and he lifted her up. She grabbed onto his nose with her little fingers and he carried her into the living room. As he passed by, I grabbed the gun out of his pants. "Zoey and guns don't happen at the same time," I said. I put the thing down on a high shelf on top of some books he had.

Nick sat down on the couch with Zoey on his chest and I joined them. Nick crossed his legs and put his feet up on the coffee table next to his computer, yawning.

"So what did Jason want?" I asked.

"He just confirmed that we do have a restraining order in place on Chris," Nick replied. "He said, too, that he swung by the court and got paperwork about the annullment. He said he knew the judge pretty well and managed to get your hearing expedited. He's gonna be going to that as your legal representitive. He said it should go easy and you should be done with Chris by the end of the week." Nick smiled.

"Thank God," I muttered.

Nick kissed Zoey's forehead and she reached up and grabbed his lip, tugging on it with her chubby fingers. Nick laughed and so did she. He shook his head, making his lips and cheeks flap and made a weird noise and Zoey's laughter doubled.

"We're almost on to the rest of our lives, Zoey," he said, "Almost there."

"Do you think Chris will go back to LA for the hearing?" I asked.

Nick shrugged. "Maybe we could see where he is with the app."

"But then he'll know where we are."

"He might already," Nick pointed out. He nodded at the computer. "I was looking up how to turn off that service, and it looks like if we go into the app we can disable the location services." He said, "So we can kill two birds with one stone."

I nodded.

"Where is your phone?" he asked.

"Off. In my purse. I'll go get it." I got up and got the phone. When I came back, I handed it to Nick and lifted Zoey off him. He sat up and pulled up the app. I leaned over to watch as it loaded. The map came up and the blue circle indicating us landed on Nashville. It blinked, locating Chris, then a green circle dropped and landed on Chicago. "Chicago?" I said, surprised, "What the fluff would he be in Chicago for?"

Nick clicked on the green circle. The map went into more detail. "Looks like he's at O'Hare," he said. "He probbly is on a layover. Maybe he's going back to LA."

"Or here?"

"Nawh, most flights Boston to Nashville would either be direct or layover in Baltimore. Not Chicago. Midway is more cross-country."

"Oh."

Nick went to settings and scrolled down to the disable location services button and clicked it. The phone asked for a passcode. He stared at it for a long moment. "What do you think he would've used as a passcode?" he asked.

"Try his birthday."

Nick clicked in Chris's birthday. Incorrect passcode. Retry. He hummed, thinking.

"How about the day we got married?"

Nick clicked in the date.

Disable Family Locator Services? Confirm. Deny.

Nick clicked confirm.

Family Locator Services have been disabled on this handset.

Nick exited the app, then handed the phone back to me. "There we go," he said.

I turned the phone off anyways. Just in case.