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“Oh, Nikki. I’m sorry,” she whispered forlornly.
I shrugged.
It was what it was.
I’d deal with everything else once it happened.
Tonight, though, I’d tell him. I didn’t want him finding out from a friend when it should be coming from his woman. At least I could give him that.Chapter 15Nobody cares about your problems. We’ve got enough shit of our own to deal with.
-Michael to a suspect
Michael
“Surprise!” I said, throwing the door to the restaurant that I’d rented for the night open, revealing all of our family and friends.
Nikki’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
“What…why…what…” she stuttered, flabbergasted.
I smiled.
“Congratulations on your certification, best friend,” Georgia said, wrapping her arms around Nikki and hugging her tightly.
“Oh, my God!” Nikki jumped up and down, then turned and barreled into me, knocking me off balance. “You are the best man ever.”
I huffed out a laugh and let her go when her parents made their way over to us.
“Mom, dad!” She cried in happiness.
And that’s when I knew.
I did all this just to get that very smile on her face.
“You did good, suck up,” Nico said, slapping me on the back.
I snorted and turned, offering him my hand.
He took it and narrowed his eyes on me.
“I can see now that you’ll try to worm your way into my parents’ hearts. But it won’t work. I’m the favorite,” he deadpanned.
I blinked.
He was serious as far as I could tell.
Or maybe he was just that good at holding onto his composure.
“No you’re not!” A young woman that looked a lot like Nikki, but had yet to develop all the luscious curves said. “I am!”
Nico glared at her. “What the fuck are you wearing, Nila?”
She looked down at the short skirt that clung to her toned thighs. “A skirt. What’s wrong with it?”
“Uh,” Nico said, slapping his head and looking to me for direction. “I know you have a sister. Does she dress like a harlot?”
I shook my head. “No. Not anymore, at least. She had a baby at sixteen, though.”
Nico’s eyes turned murderous. “You will not have a baby! And ruin your life! Pull your skirt down.”
“Our babies ruined your life?” Georgia asked with laughter filling her voice.
Nico’s ‘babies’ were now one year old’s, but Nico still acted like they were born yesterday.
“Yeah, when was the last time we had se…” Georgia slapped her hand over Nico’s mouth before he could finish your sentence.
“…you will watch your mouth around our friends, you randy bastard,” Georgia hissed at her husband.
I cracked up and turned to Nila. “It’s nice to meet you, finally, Nila. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Nila smiled. “And I you. Although all that Nikki and I have spoken about is the fact that you can give it to her…”
“Not you, too!” Georgia kept right on hissing. “What is wrong with you Pena’s? Obviously, Nikki has the right way of it, finding a man to get her the hell out of this fucked up family.”
Nico laughed, as did Nila.
I, though, froze. Was she talking to Georgia about getting married?
I hadn’t actually thought much past the summer, but the thought of being with Nikki forever really made me happy.
Like, manic happy.
Which also worried me.
I didn’t want to marry her yet.
We needed time to get to know each other.
She’d never even witnessed any of my manic/depressive episodes.
I, at least, needed to get through this winter with her, then I could think about marriage.
Right now, I was just happy having her in my arms, knowing she’d be there when I woke up.
“Michael?” Nikki called to me.
I looked over to see her parents and her studying me.
I turned and walked away from the arguing siblings, offering my hand to Sol, once again.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
He smiled.
“You did a good job, keeping this from her. I was just telling her that you were the one to organize all of this,” Sol said.
Nikki looked from her father to me.
“You’re good at keeping secrets,” she teased. “I’m usually the first one to talk my family into opening the presents. Next time I’ll have to pay attention for the signs of you hiding something.”
I snorted. “You’d never figure out if I was hiding something from you. You, on the other hand, are an open book.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
I nodded.
Then her eyes narrowed. “I’m good at keeping secrets, though.”
Then Memphis and Downy walked up, effectively ending our conversation.
“Lolita! Did you bring me some tamales?” Downy asked loudly.
Lolita blushed. “No, my Downy, I didn’t. But I’m making some tomorrow, so I’ll be sure to bring you some by the station.”
Downy grinned.
“Score!” he said, pulling his arm down quickly from head height. “Make ‘em hot! You know how I like ‘em!”
Lolita rolled her eyes, and I turned to Memphis, only to see her looking at Nikki oddly.
She was staring at the glass of champagne in Nikki’s hand like it was a viper.
“What?” I asked her.
Memphis turned and looked at me with wild eyes.
The first thing I noticed she saw was my bare arms, causing her eyes to widen further.
“Holy shit!” She announced loudly. “You got a new one!”
I looked down at my bare arms and grimaced.
I’d gone without the long sleeves tonight for Nikki.
I knew she liked when I showed them off.
And, although I did it for her, I wasn’t comfortable with it.
I didn’t like explaining why I had so many tattoos. Because with that explanation came the explanation of the fact that I suffered from depression and I was bi polar.
Which only launched into more conversations that I didn’t want to have.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nikki turn to place her champagne glass down on a nearby table and turn to me.
I raised a brow at the move, but she only winked and walked away, talking to even more of her friends and family, leaving me to explain to Memphis something that I didn’t even want to get into.***Two hours later, the champagne dilemma was brought up again.
“Nikki, why aren’t you drinking any champagne? I bought it specifically for you!” Georgia asked, thrusting yet another glass at her.
