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Chapter 19
~One Month Later~
I was driving
home from the studio when I decided to stop off at the
supermarket and pick up some groceries. I picked up bread, milk, frosted
flakes for Nick, pretzels for me, and the latest edition of People
Magazine. Waiting in the checkout line, I saw a headline on the cover of
Star (one of those tabloid mags). ‘Backstreeter keeps marriage a secret!'
Curious, I opened the magazine and searched for the article. There I was
walking out of a hotel with Nick. Our hands were entwined and we were
both wearing hats and sunglasses. Not even bothering to read the article,
I threw it onto the conveyer belt and into one of the bags and waited
till the cashier gave me the receipt. I put the few groceries into the
passenger seat and got into the car. I drove pretty quickly to my house
and when I pulled into the driveway, I spotted a few extra cars. I pulled
the groceries out of the car and walked briskly to the front door. I
couldn't get to my keys, so I rang the doorbell. To my surprise, a very
out of breath Kevin answered the door.
"Hey Linds." He said taking the bags out of my hands. He walked them
into the kitchen before I could say anything. AJ strolled down the stairs
as I dropped my keys on the kitchen counter. AJ and Kevin exchanged
glances before they said a word to me.
"I'm gonna lay down for a little while." I said walking into the
living room. I didn't bother asking why they were there. I took a deep
breath and closed my eyes.
About ten minutes later, I felt something wet on my cheek. I hope
I'm not drooling on the couch or something. I opened my eyes and felt wet
tongue on my nose. Looking at the creature in front of me, I was
overjoyed. This was the dog I had seen a week ago at a pet store. "Hey
baby." I said picking the Rottweiler puppy up. I sat him on my lap and
the guys walked into the living room. They were all smiling, happy to see
me smiling.
"You like him?" Nick asked sitting down next to me on the couch.
"Yes. Thank you so much!" I said kissing him.
"We got him this morning and he already met the pugs. They're
getting along pretty well." Kevin said taking a seat.
"It took three guys to take care of a puppy for a day?" I asked.
"Well, I left to buy special food for him while Nick and Kevin
stayed here to introduce him to the other dogs." AJ said.
"Right." I said in my Dr. Evil voice.
"Well, we gotta get home to our women." Kevin said standing up as
AJ
followed him out the door. I placed the puppy back on the floor and
walked the guys out. We said goodbye and I walked to the kitchen when I
heard scratching on the patio door. There were Nick's dogs sitting
patiently outside the door.
"Nickolas, you forgot about your dogs!" I yelled to him as I opened
the door. They immediately ran into the living room and began playing
with the puppy.
"Sorry." He said as I resumed my seat next to him on the couch.
"What are you gonna name him?" He asked as I watched Mikey try to
knock
the new puppy over. Instead Mikey fell over. I laughed.
"I don't know." I sat there and thought for a moment. "How about
Roddy?" Nick smiled.
"Sounds good to me." He said as he wrapped his arm around my
shoulders and kissed me. "You tired?" He asked. I nodded. "Let's
go." He
said pulling me off the couch. I lifted Roddy into my arms as the pugs
followed Nick up the stairs. I immediately fell in love with this dog.
Rottweiler's are usually very tough looking dogs, but when they're
puppies they're very innocent and you can teach them from the beginning
to be friendly dogs. That's what I intended to do. Walking up the stairs,
I heard Nick reprimanding Houston. Then Houston ran past me with a pair
of boxers in her mouth. I laughed as Nick chased her down the stairs and
I continued the short walk to the bedroom. Placing Roddy down on the
floor next to Willie, I searched my drawers for my boxers and t-shirt.
Nick walked back in the room with his boxers and Houston walking slowly
behind him. I laughed at the pissed off look on Nick's face. I walked
into the bathroom, changed, and brushed my teeth. Walking back into the
bedroom, Nick was already changed and sitting on the bed with Roddy. At
the other end of the bed, Mikey was trying desperately to get to Nick. I
laughed and decided it wasn't a good idea Roddy stay in the bedroom with
both of us and the pugs.
"Nick, I think I'm gonna sleep in one of the other rooms tonight
with Roddy." Before he could reply I was walking out of the room with
Roddy in my hands. Before I knew it, I was asleep with Roddy laying near
my feet.
The next morning I woke up in Nick's arms. All the dogs were in
there asleep and Nick had a tight grip on my waist. I was beginning to
get uncomfortable, so I tried to move around. To no avail, Nick woke up.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Go back to sleep." I said touching his cheek.
I was making breakfast when the phone rang. I didn't want it to wake
Nick up, so I ran to the phone and answered it.
"Linds?" A voice asked.
"Steph?!" I yelled into the phone. "Oh my god, how are you?"
I asked
taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"Good. I called your house and your mom said you moved out...with
Nick, nonetheless." She said sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up."
"Well, I'm calling to ask you a favor." She began.
"Yeah?"
"I've decided to move down there. Find a job, start a new life, all
that good stuff." She paused. "I want to know if you have any room
in
your house to take me in for a little while. Just until I find a place
and figure out what I'm gonna do." Did I have room? Of course I had room!
I have about 20 extra rooms!
"It's fine with me, but I'm gonna have to ask Nick." Speaking of the
devil, he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and
kissed my neck lightly.
"Ask Nick what?" He asked sweetly. I explained the situation to Nick
and he agreed it would be all right. By the end of the week, we had made
arrangements for Steph to move in with us. I was so excited to be able to
see her!
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