15. Nico
CHAPTER 15
NICO
L auren sat on the living room floor beside Louis. The two of them were assembling a da-Vinci-themed puzzle, which Nico thought might be a little advanced for a seven-year-old, but Louis had been so excited that he had gotten it for him anyway. It was a gorgeous rainy Sunday. There was a fire in the fireplace, the two people Nico cared about most were near him, and everything should have been perfect.
Something felt off, though. Nico couldn’t quite put into words what it was, but Lauren had seemed distant all week. And she’d decided to sleep at her own apartment last night, even though she’d been over for dinner last night and was here again today.
This morning, while Louis had been doing a little homework at the kitchen table, Nico had pulled Lauren aside to ask what was wrong. She’d shrugged and told him that everything was just fine, but it didn’t seem fine to Nico. Perhaps she was homesick. Maybe dating a single father was turning into a little too much work. Or she could be sick — Nico had noticed that she looked a little pale and tired, though she was still as lovely as ever.
Whatever it was, it bothered Nico a little that she didn’t want to talk to him. Although they hadn’t been dating long, and although they’d agreed to take things slowly, he and Lauren had always been able to talk to each other. It was worrying that she wasn’t talking to him now.
“Is it lunchtime?” Louis asked from the floor. Nico chuckled, distracted from his worries about Lauren.
“It’s almost lunchtime.”
“Can I have it here on the floor?” Louis made puppy eyes. “I want to finish the puzzle.”
“You can get right back to the puzzle after lunch,” Nico suggested.
“Ah, man.”
“Don’t worry, the puzzle will be waiting for you right here.” Lauren patted a pile of pieces. “It won’t run away.”
Louis chuckled and reached for another piece. “I think this is part of the Vesuvian Man,” he said.
“I think you’re right; that looks like the arm of the Vitruvian Man.”
Nico smiled at the way Lauren gently corrected Louis, and at the way his son fitted the piece easily into place. The fact that Lauren was still here, playing with Louis and spending time with the two of them, gave Nico hope that whatever she was sad or worried about would pass.
“Lauren, would you like to help with lunch?”
“Sure.” Lauren got to her feet, ruffled Louis’s hair, and followed Nico to the kitchen. “What do you need help with?”
“Nothing specific. I just wanted to kiss you.” Nico leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on Lauren’s mouth. When she leaned against him, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her another, deeper kiss. In that moment, with his lips on hers and her soft curves pressed against him, Nico felt that all would be well.
“You can tell me anything,” he said when the kiss ended. “You know that, right?”
“Of course.” Lauren rested her head against Nico’s chest. “I was wondering… you… you’re happy with how your life has gone, aren’t you?”
Nico pulled away so that he could look at her. Her expression was shuttered.
“Of course I am. I love Louis. I lo— I’m very glad I met you.” He’d almost slipped there. Even if he was ready to tell Lauren that he loved her, and perhaps he almost was, this wasn’t the time or place. The first time he said he loved her needed to be perfect and romantic, not in his kitchen on a random Sunday when she was clearly distracted.
“So, you’d do it all again? Meet Léa, and raise Louis, and everything?”
“I suppose — so that I could get to where I am now. This life is getting more and more perfect, especially the older Louis gets. But it was very hard when he was a baby and a toddler. It would be hard to start again at this point.”
“Yeah.” Lauren bit her lip. “Of course.”
Just like that, Nico realized what must be bothering her. If Lauren, like Nico, was considering a future together, she might be questioning what that future would look like. Since Nico was already a father, perhaps she was questioning whether he wanted more children down the road.
“If you’re worried about us,” Nico said, pulling Lauren closer, “don’t be. Just because I don’t want to dive back into the newborn days doesn’t mean that I won’t want another child eventually.”
“Right.” Lauren gave a slightly thin smile, and Nico kissed her quickly on the cheek.
“I’m looking forward to our future, whatever that might be, but you have to admit that right now is pretty great too. Louis is old enough to spend time with his grandmother and at school, so we get to enjoy dates and we have time to get to know each other slowly. We should enjoy this freedom while we have it, because someday it might be all diapers and spit-up and squalling babies in the middle of the night. And that doesn’t sound like fun, does it?”
“No.” Lauren still looked a little upset, but at least they’d talked about it, Nico thought to himself. He would keep showing her how much he valued her and their future together. It would all work out.
They made sandwiches side by side. After a little chatting, it was clear that Lauren was lost in thought, so Nico put on a playlist of his favorite classical music. A little later, Louis came into the kitchen to wash his hands and joined them for a small dance party. Although Lauren remained a little quiet throughout lunch, things seemed better.
Just as they were cleaning up the lunch, though, Nico’s phone began to ring. With an apologetic glance at Louis and Lauren, he answered it and stepped into the next room. He was a little surprised to hear his mother on the other end of the line.
“Nico?”
“Maman? What’s going on?”
“I had a bit of a tumble.” Rose’s voice was shaky. “I was up on a ladder changing out a lightbulb, and I lost my footing. I seem to have twisted my ankle.”
“ Maman ! I told you not to do home improvement by yourself. I would have been happy to help you.” Worry flooded Nico. Although his mother was young and fit, she was getting older, and he didn’t want to think of what he’d do if something more than a twisted ankle happened to her.
“I need your help.” She sounded annoyed and flustered. “Can you please take me to the hospital?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Stay right where you are, okay? Don’t try to move around.”
“Okay. Please… hurry.”
They hung up and Nico hurried back into the kitchen, where Louis was helping Lauren load the dishwasher. They both looked up at him with worried expressions.
“Is everything all right?” Lauren asked.
“Yes. But my mother twisted her ankle at home, and I need to take her to the hospital. Could you?—”
“Of course I’ll stay with Louis. Anything you need.”
“Thank you.” Nico gave Lauren a quick kiss then bent down to Louis’s level. “Lauren’s going to stay here with you, all right?”
“Yeah. Is Mémé okay?” Louis’s eyes were large with worry.
“She’ll be okay. It’s like when you tripped playing soccer and hurt your foot. You were better quickly, right?”
“Right.” Louis still looked worried, and Nico’s heart went out to his son. He couldn’t stay to comfort him, though. He gave Louis a quick, tight hug and hurried to the door. Louis and Lauren came with him.
“Keep us updated, okay?”
“Of course.” Nico flashed Lauren a reassuring smile. “I’m glad you could be here. I’ll text you as soon as we’re at the hospital and let you know how things are looking.”
As he hurried to his car, Nico mused over just how glad he was that Lauren was here. Without her, he would have had to drag Louis to the hospital and possibly delay the speed with which he could get to his mother’s house. It was very reassuring to have another trustworthy adult who could be here at times like this. And it was even better that it was Lauren. She was great with Louis and would surely be able to calm him down.
Even as Nico drove through the rainy streets of Paris, intent on reaching his mother as soon as possible, thoughts of Lauren and Louis were never far from his mind. They were starting to feel like a real family, one built on trust and respect and, yes, love.
Nico needed to tell Lauren how he felt. She was too important to him to waste another minute without telling her that he loved her. After all, today’s accident had shown Nico that the people he loved were fragile. He was going to make sure his mother was all right and tell her that he loved her. And then he was going to go home to Lauren and Louis and make sure they knew he loved them, too.