"Hey Vicky," Olivia said in her usual tired tone.
"Hey mama, how are you?"
"I'm okay. Am I disrupting you from anything?"
"No, you're not. I'm just packing our clothes," Veronica said, as she kicked another box out of her way. Nic had told her about selling his home and buying a new one in California. He had said it while they were lying in bed, so matter-of-factly. That was Nic, though. There hadn't really been any discussion about it, and she wanted to be mad, but she couldn't. She really wanted to go. So instead of blessing him out, she went down on him. So much for feminism.
"So when do you officially leave?"
"In two days," Veronica said, still not really believing how quickly this all happened. Her mother got quiet.
Over the course of a week, they finally got several things up and running and Veronica had been picking out little household appliances here and there. She still wasn't quite ready to take on the task of fully decorating.Nic had driven her to the site where his new office would be. She could tell he was excited although he tried to play Mr. Cool about it. He was finally going to be an architect, something he had wanted to do since college. But they still had a little while to wait before all of the plans were finalized.When Nic wasn't there, Veronica spent most of her time on her cell phone answering calls from her mom, Marianna and Isabelle. Those three checked up on her so much, that she highly doubted another kidnapping plot would ever happen.But it was on a random Tuesday when her whole life changed. Oh, boy
Nic was pulling into their neighborhood, when he noticed a rental car parked awkwardly on their street. He had been involved in his old lifestyle too long to look at things like that as coincidence. He pulled up beside the car, and noticed it was empty. He got out and peeked inside. He saw a blue file sitting on the seat and at the bottom of the file written in ink was Nicolas Andretti IV.Goddamn that asshole. What the fuck did Marsh want?!Nic got back into his car and pulled into his driveway. He got out and entered the house, trying to calm his temper. He walked into the kitchen to find Marsh staring at Veronica. When Marsh finally noticed him, he took a noticeable step back from Veronica."Nic!" Veronica yelled, as she ran over to hug him. He returned her hug tightly while keeping his eyes on Marsh. After a few
Veronica sat up in the bed. "Nic, you're doing it again. You're shutting me out. Don't do that!" she warned."It's because I don't want you being worried with all of the shit I have going on in my head, Veronica. You don't need to deal with that.""But I want to help you."Nic was getting aggravated. "I don't need any help, now just let it go, okay?""Nic, I--""End of discussion," he snapped.Oh, he had to say that phrase. His 'shut up, don't say another word, none of your business' phrase that drove her crazy. She had always thought to herself that if he ever said that one more time, she would scream. In fact..."Aaaahhhhhh!!!" Veron
"I'm going for a jog," he stated, standing up."This is so unfair, Nic," Veronica said softly."I can't believe you did that in front of my mother," Nic said, heatedly. "This was our business and--""No! Not ours...yours, because you won't let me in," Veronica huffed."Fine, then it's my business and I don't appreciate you dragging other people into it.""Don't you realize you're treating me like you did when I didn't mean anything to you?! When I was just your living blow-up doll!"Nic's mouth dropped open. He quickly glanced toward their open door, knowing his mother could probably hear everything. It's not like she didn't know how they met, but still, hearing Veronica speak tha
Veronica nodded and grabbed his hand to lead him over to the bed.Nic exhaled. He didn't really know where to start, but he had to open up."Remember when we were in Bali, and I kept having that feeling that something bad was going to happen?"Veronica nodded again."Well, that feeling came back. And I can't shake it. And now...fuck, this is really hard to say to you, but I keep having this recurring dream..." Nic really didn't want to finish that sentence. He didn't want to let Veronica into that dark place."Baby, it's okay. You can tell me anything," Veronica encouraged, as she lightly squeezed his hand."In the dream, someone, um...someone is holding a gun to our baby's head a
Veronica smiled back and surveyed the group. They were all staring at her. It was times like these that she wished she paid more attention to what her husband did. So she'd at least have some talking points. Well, she did have a mission tonight, and she needed to get started, so she could get the hell out of there.As Nic stood there speaking with the men, Veronica slowly slid her hand from his waist to his ass and pinched. She heard Nic pause just briefly before she looked up and saw a slight grin from the corner of his mouth. One down, two more to go.After a few more minutes, Veronica finally excused herself from the group and went to look at some interesting paintings on the wall. Anything to take her mind off this dull party, until she could think of another distracting trick. But as she was looking over the artwork, she was really drawn in by a painting o
Veronica was still trying to deal with the changes in her body, mentally and physically. She would never admit this to Nic or Marianna, but it felt as though some tiny little creature was inside her, and at any moment, it would pull an Alien, and she'd be Sigourney Weaver, trying to fight it off. She wondered how much weight she would gain. At first, when she stepped on the scale, it was fine. The next few times after that, she cringed. The last time she stepped on the scale, she burst into tears.And although Nic continued to assure her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world, she still felt so awkward. And when Veronica got to the point where she could no longer touch her toes or even tie her shoes, she felt completely useless.But there were perks of being pregnant, which she later figured out, much to Nic's displeasure.
"Hey, hey," Nic said, grabbing the bar from her. "Stop, okay. Just stop. Talk to me."Veronica snatched the piece back. "I'm fine. I wasn't even close to him." She started pushing the metal bar into the wood again. "Shit, why won't this fit?!""Because it's the wrong piece. Now put the fucking bar down and look at me," Nic commanded. He knew she was hurting. His wife was extremely sensitive, especially in her condition.Veronica threw the bar down and stared at her husband. She knew it was coming. Those tears that were bubbling underneath the surface. Her bottom lip started to shake and she erupted into tears.Nic immediately reached out to grab his wife. "It's okay, baby," Nic whispered, wrapping her in his arms. He could feel her tears soaking the collar of his shirt.