Nick sat in the dark for what seemed like an eternity. Many thoughts were running through his head. He could still care for her, but did he? He was protective over her, out on the beach showed him that. But a marriage couldn't be based entirely on that aspect. It took commitment, love, understanding, respect, and many more other qualities that seemed to have disappeared.
He sighed, turned over and started at the moon dwindling on the horizon. The morning light would soon be shining through the window. Another sleepless night. Him and Alyssa had decided that later during the day, he would reveal himself to Tyler. The idea thrilled Alyssa when he had told her he wanted to see their son. He rolled over and sighed. He needed some rest. He knew the kid would be with him all day, playing with him, talking, and just carching up on all that they both had missed.
Later that morning, after only a few hours of sleep, three to be exact, Nick woke up and looked at the clock. It read a little after nine. Time to go see his kid. He sat up, dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a simple blue shirt. He threw some Nike's on and combed his hair, brushed his teeth and went out the bedroom door. He first went to his son's room, but he wasn't there. He ventured downstairs, and still no Tyler. He sighed, where in the world could the boy be. Then he heard giggling coming from upstairs. He went back up the flight of stairs and followed the laughter coming from two sources. Alyssa's room.
He stuck his head in the door. Tyler's back was to him and he was talking to Alyssa and both were laughing. Alyssa caught his eye and smiled.
"Tyler, someone's here to see you." She smiled pointing at Nick.
Tyler's head whipped his body around and just looked at Nick until the lightbulb went off. "DADDY!" The young boy hollared, jumping off the bed bed and running to where Nick stood. Nick crouched down and picked the boy up just as he jumped through the air and landed in his arms. The two embraced, it had been too long.
"Hey big man, how are you doing?" Nick questioned, holding Tyler back, taking in how much he had grown. Alyssa was right, Tyler looks a lot like he did when he was younger. The same baby fat face, blue eyes, hair that was nearly white, and the same nose and eyes. Tyler had grown a lot.
"I alright, how you daddy?" Baby talk, one of the cutest things in the world.
"I'm alright. You've grown!"
"Mommy says dat too. She say if I eat vegedables I grow big and strong, jus like you."
"Really, well Mommy's right." Nick smiled at his son and then smiled at Alyssa who was watching the two with adoration.
"I missed you daddy!" Tyler said holding Nick's face in his hands.
"Me too buddy, me too." He didn't realize how much he had until that moment.
"Are you two hungry?" Alyssa asked finally coming into the conversation. She'd gotten out of bed and had put her robe on.
"Food! Me want pizza!" Tyler yelled out.
Nick laughed and Alyssa looked at Tyler seriously. "Ty, you know you can't have pizza for breakfast."
"Yes you can. Dylan from school eat pizza for breakfast." He nodded his head, just to try and make his point more clear.
"Tyler, listen to you mommy. We don't eat pizza for breakfast." Tyler threw the legendary pout on his face. He had definately gotten that from his father. "How about some bacon, eggs, and pancakes?" Tyler nodded enthusiastically. "Well, if that's okay with mommy, we'll have that." He looked at Alyssa, who still was smiling.
"Alright. Nick will you get him dressed while I go fix our breakfast?" He nodded and the two trampled off to Tyler's room.
What a tantalizing task dressing a toddler proved to be. No matter what Nick put on Tyler didn't seem to be happy with it. Finally, getting frustrated, Nick asked Tyler what it was that he wanted to wear, and the boy pulled out an outfit that clashed together. He tried to reason with the boy, but that didn't seem to work. And when he tried to put stuff on him, the child would run around the room, sending Nick chasing after him.
"Is everything okay up there?" He could hear Alyssa hollar.
"Yea, everything's fine." He lied. This was more challenging than he had ever expected. Finally when he had gotten a shirt on Tlyer and reached for the pants, the kid and taken the shirt off. Nick sighed and look at him. "Buddy, why are you giving me so much trouble?"
"I no trouble, I good boy. Mommy say so."
Nick laughed. "Why won't you put you clothes on?"
"I dun know." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Nick, are you guys coming down." She took a look around the room, clothes scattered all over the dressers and changing area. She couldn't help but laugh. "Do you need some help?"
He nodded and she walked in, grabbed a matching outfit. "Arms up." She commanded and Tyler obediently obeyed. She slipped the short on and then insturcted for each leg to be put in its proper hole in the pants. She made it look so simple. "That's my boy. Now let's go eat." She picked him up and sat him on the ground. He took off in search of the food with Alyssa and Nick on his heals.
"Thanks." Nick said with gratitude in his voice."
"No problem, he gets a little frustrating sometimes with me too. He does that every once in awhile."
The three of them sat down at the table and for the first time in two years had a meal together, as a family. It was lovely. There was no tension in the air. It was enjoyable by all three parties, especially Alyssa's. She'd wanted moments like those that morning for the longest time, and they'd finally happened. Her heart was bursting at the seams. She loved the two of them more than words could describe. But the reality of the situation was that one party didn't return her feelings.
Nick was happy. He'd finally seen his kid. It surprised him how much love he had for the four year old. He was so full of energy that it was intoxicating to be around him. But through all the love, he was still suffering from the loss of his one love, music.
