Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NICK
Opening night of the Nutcracker was completely different for him.
Instead of finding himself sitting between a bunch of dads who weren't volunteering behind the scenes like their wives, he was sitting beside Ruth in the theater.
Every year Katie told him the best places to sit given where she was on stage. Sightlines and spotlights weren't something he really paid much attention to, but Katie knew everything like the back of her hands and the bottoms of her pointe shoes.
On his legs he had a bouquet of flowers that he'd gone to pick up with Ruth.
And on the floor, where Ruth had tucked her legs up against the front of her chair, there was a basket with mixed flowers in it. Sprigs of holly. White and red roses. And Ivy.
When he'd gone with her to the florist, he'd asked her about the unique arrangement and Ruth had talked about how she'd looked up flowers and greenery connected to the season. She'd even asked the florist to bring in the holly branches especially for the basket arrangement.
The florist had gone on to gush about the choices and how special the arrangement was.
Ruth had put a lot of thought, time, and effort into it and it showed.
Nick was already looking forward to greeting Katie after the show.
The lights in the audience area of the theater went to half and then a few minutes later, they went out.
The lights focused on the curtains, the only light in the room except for the safety lights near the floor.
The music coming through the speakers was festive and he barely avoided humming along to the medley of songs from the ballet.
Ruth reached out and grabbed his hand when she heard the music from one of the variations that Katie was dancing that night.
She gave him a squeeze and leaned in against his arm, and he could tell she was excited.
He was too.
This was new ground for him.
Being a part of the audience as a pair and a parent.
Before he'd been focused on when Katie would come out, but he'd seen the ballet numerous times before, so he didn't really focus in all that much on the other numbers.
This was different.
This time, he had a whole new perspective on the ballet.
He was enjoying the performance but also Ruth's reaction to the scenes.
It felt like he was watching it for the first time.
The lights changed and the dark red curtains parted to show backdrop with a Victorian Street Scene behind it.
Families of brightly costumed party goers passed from one side to the other.
Children playing in the 'snow.' A forgetful father who disappeared back the way he'd come from, only to return a few seconds later with a large red gift box wrapped with a shiny gold bow.
Ruth, who had popped in to see part of the dress rehearsal brightened when she saw the box held aloft in the man's hands.
Nick turned to see her wide-eyed smile of recognition.
That was box that would later pop open to spill out a whole company of toy soldiers.
From there, the ballet progressed with Ruth falling more and more in love with the ballet and Nick falling deeper in love with Ruth.
By the end of the first half of the ballet, when the first 'snowflakes' dashed onto stage, he heard Ruth's indrawn gasp of air.
He felt her fingers dig into his arm and he turned to look at her he saw a moment of fear on her face.
It hit him a second later.
This is when Katie fell during rehearsal.
The night when he'd found Ruth and Katie asleep in the Emergency Room, exhausted.
Reaching over, he put both of his hands around Ruth's and held her gently.
He was trying to reassure her, and he hoped he'd succeeded when she relaxed against his shoulder.
When he felt her exhale and her hand relaxed between his he smiled.
KATIE
There was a saying in theater and dance. If you could see the audience from the wings, they could see you in the wings.
Katie hadn't 'peeked' out in years, but this night, this performance was different.
She knew where her dad and Ruth were sitting.
She'd helped her dad pick out the tickets.
So, while the Snow Prince and Snow Princess were dancing their pas de deux on the stage, Katie craned her neck to see into the audience.
When she saw her dad, she grinned.
And when she saw Ruth, her whole heart lit up inside of her.
"Hey..."
Eun touched her shoulder and the two girls stepped deeper into the wings to get in line for their next entrance.
"Katie? Did you see your dad?"
Katie nodded, a bright smile on her face. "And my soon-to-be mom."
Eun gave her a thumbs up and when the music shifted, they both changed like a switch had been flipped.
They'd gone from giddy girls to elegant snowflakes.
Katie couldn't wait to show Ruth just how awesome she was.
She wanted Ruth to see it. To see her.
And to be proud of her.
Just like Katie was proud of Ruth.
RUTH
Her heart was singing.
Not only was she proud as punch of what Katie did in the Snow dance, after the intermission, the second act set in the Land of Sweets was so much fun!
The adorable little angels, the Spanish Chocolates, Arabian Coffee and so many adorable dances.
Then, when it was time for the Waltz of the Flowers, Katie was easy to spot.
The costumes were separated into four different flowers and colors.
Katie was in a dress with layers of yellow and orange.
When she danced and twirled with the others, her skirts fluttered around her like a wind was stirring the petals.
By the time the dance was over, Ruth had her heart in her throat, and she was clapping as hard as she could.
It was all so inspiring!
They waited outside the stage door and Ruth clutched the twisted wicker handle of the basket. Lifting it again, she looked at the basket with an eye that had never been good with flowers or anything like it.
The only thing she had an affinity for was flour.
And that wasn't pretty.
She felt Nick at her shoulder, leaning in to whisper into her ear.
"Relax. She's going to love the flowers."
Ruth looked up at him, surprised.
"How did you know I was worried about that?"
His smile melted her like her favorite icing when she just couldn't wait for her cinnamon rolls to cool down.
"When I see you worried like this. It's about Katie."
Her heart clenched in her chest.
It was true.
Katie had a special place in her heart.
Katie and her father.
They'd both found all of the nooks and crannies in her heart and filled it up so much that she'd never felt so full.
The stage door opened and a cheer went up.
So did arms and hands, making it nearly impossible for her to see who was coming out of the stage door.
Ruth leaned in against Nick's side. "Can you see?"
The crowd moved, some stepping one way and some stepping in the other.
Jostled by the crowd movement, Ruth felt Nick's arm wrap around her shoulders.
"I've got you."
She looked up at him and felt her cheeks heat with a blush.
Yeah.
Nick had her.
He had her back.
And he had her heart.
Swallowing down the rising tide of emotion, she rose up almost to the toes of her shoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Nick turned his head and his lips met hers and Ruth felt warm, truly warm inside and out.
Ruth wanted to hold onto him forever.
"Nick?"
He looked down into her eyes and pulled her closer. "Honey?"
Her eyes teared up a little. "Careful. People will hear."
"Hear?"
Nick leaned back and Ruth could hear the near roar of all of the people surrounding the stage door.
Okay, so maybe the idea of 'hearing' someone in the throng of people was some kind of wishful thinking, but she did hear something over the din of people talking and laughing.
"Dad?"
Ruth's heart squeezed in her chest.
"Dad? Where are you?!"
"Katie?"
Ruth took a step back so that Nick and Katie could have the first moment together.
She was just happy to be there and share in the moment with father and daughter, but when Katie squeezed through the crowd between them, Nick's beautiful daughter took one look at 'both' of them and rushed forward for a hug.
Ruth felt Katie's arm around her from the front and Nick's arm around her from the back and suddenly they were all hugging each other.
It felt... like home.
"Oh. My. Gawd!" Katie cheered. "That was amazing! Opening night and you're both here!"
Nick leaned in and gave Katie a kiss on her head and Ruth copied the gesture.
Ruth felt a little off kilter with the rush of emotions flooding through her. "Katie! You were amazing up there on stage!"
Katie blushed and turned her head slightly away. "Thanks..."
"I've seen you during some of your rehearsals and you were amazing then, but on stage with the lights and the costumes and it was like a dream being in the audience and seeing you on stage.
I've never thought of going to a ballet performance like this, but seeing someone I know on stage? That... that was incredible."
Ruth could see that Katie's eyes were tearing up like her own.
It was hard to imagine how she could see Katie from day to day and love her more each time she saw her.
"I'm so proud of you, Katie! So proud."
Ruth lifted the handle of the basket and held it out to Katie. "I see everyone else with bouquets here and I think I might have missed the assignment, but..."
Katie looked up at her. "Is this... for me?"
Ruth nodded. "I thought it might be fun for something festive like the season. I just don't know if I completely missed the mark."
Ruth felt her insides tremble a little.
She wasn't sure if she'd made the right decision, even if the florist gave her their stamp of approval, but the most important thing for Ruth was that Katie liked it and wasn't embarrassed by her.
"It's so cool!" Katie turned in one direction and then the other. She waved at someone in the crowd. "Come here! Look at this!"
Not one.
Or two.
But a bunch of girls that had their hair up in near identical buns rushed over to Katie's side.
Katie held up the basket to show her friends. "Look at this!"
The girls crowded around to take a look, leaning in to smell the roses.