Avery ran through the front door of the apartment with her Bob costume from the party store. “Hello?” I called out to Nick.
“Hey, I’m in the living room!” He yelled back. Avery ran in that way and jumped up onto his lap. Nick grunted and began tickling her. I smiled at the sound of her giggles. “What’d you buy, Munchkin?” He smiled and watched as she proudly presented her bright red tomato costume. “Ah! Bob from Veggie Tales? That’s pretty amazing.” He smiled.
“See,” Avery stuck her tongue out in my direction. “I told you it was a good choice.” She went and put the costume neatly on the love seat next to the couch where Nick was sitting. “We went to lunch, too!” My heart nearly froze. I knew she was going to mention Chad. “We met this man at the party store and he asked us to lunch and Megan said ‘yes’ so we all went to McDonalds.” Avery rambled on and on.
“Hey Ave, how about you go try on your costume quickly so I can see if we need to hem it, okay?” I cut her off before she could say anything more complicated. At the mention of her Halloween costume, she was off the couch and in the bathroom nearly tearing her clothes off on the way.
“A guy, hmm?” Nick frowned and stood from the couch to join me in the kitchen. I continued washing dishes in the sink as he picked up a rag to dry. I tried not to make much eye contact.
“Yeah, his name was Chad and he had a daughter Avery’s age, so we went to lunch to introduce the girls,” I explained rationally. “I figured it would be a great chance for Avery to make a new friend. God knows she needs one other than you and I.”
“And we might go trick-or-treating with them!” Avery chimed in from the bathroom. I closed my eyes momentarily and a smile cracked across my dry lips. She was trying, desperately, to get Nick fired up.
“Might being the key word, Avery,” I called back. Why was I so worried about Nick getting upset over this?
“So, how did you meet this guy?” Nick frowned as he dried a cup that I handed him.
“We ran into him in the party store,” I shrugged. “He seems like a nice guy and he asked us to lunch. No big deal.” I tried to play the situation down.
“That’s cool,” Nick shrugged. I handed him another plate and he began to dry it. “I was hoping I could go trick-or-treating with you guys, too. I wasn’t really planning on doing anything else…” he trailed off.
“Of course,” I smiled. “I just didn’t want you to feel obligated into coming or anything. Avery would love it if you came, too.”
“I don’t feel obligated into anything, Megan,” Nick sounded offended. I knew that would happen. As soon as Avery mentioned Chad I knew it would be awkward with Nick, but why?
“Nick! Nick!” Avery called loudly from the living room. Nick followed her voice in a hurry, hoping that nothing was seriously wrong. As both Nick and I entered the room, I saw Avery cuddled up on the couch with the blanket. “It’s a scary part.” She whined and held her arms out to Nick. Nick went over and lifted her up with a sigh.
“What are you watching, anyway?” He glanced at the TV and saw it was some horror film in the spirit of Halloween. “Aw, come on, Ave. You shouldn’t be watching this stuff. Let’s go watch some Veggie Tales, okay?” He carried her into his bedroom and plopped down on the bed. I watched as she nearly suffocated the pillow and waited for him to come back. I watched how great Nick was with her. I watched as my heart nearly crashed just wishing he would hold me like that.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Again, I find myself apologizing because it's been a while, lol. Here's this chapter. The next one should be out tonight -- I'm on a roll ;] Read and Review!
