Chasing our Fate

“…I now pronounce you man and wife.”

Joe smiled widely and dipped his new wife into a dramatic kiss. Their crowd stood and clapped for the brand new couple. The cool breeze from the Pacific ocean fanned the rather large group of nicely dressed people. Both being free spirits, Joe and Jessica decided the beach would be the perfect place for them to get married. It was the ideal beach wedding with Jessica adorned in a long, flowing, one shoulder, A-line Ivory chiffon wedding dress and Joseph wore a tan suit and a crisp blue v-neck to match their color scheme. The newlyweds glowed as they made their first walk down the flower petal aisle as a married couple, completely in love.

The rest of the wedding party followed them in their celebrations, heading to the cocktail hour. Nick rolled up his tan blazer sleeves as he searched for his girlfriend. He peaked around the aisles to look for her short, light purple halter dress. Finally, he recognized her signature giggle coming from behind him. A toothy smile appeared in his face when he laid eyes on Stevvie. Her hair was in a simple, pulled-back elegant chignon hairstyle, and her make up was soft and girlie. Stevie caught his eye and blew a quick kiss to him. She stood in a group of girls that included Chelsea Staub, Nicole Anderson, Demi Lovato, and a friend of Jess. Nick jogged over to them and greeted each girl before giving Stevvie and quick peck on the lips. Their hands stayed intertwined until Nick and Chelsea were called away for pictures with the rest of the bridal party. Stevvie stayed behind to watch five and a half month old Baby Maddie while Kevin and Dani posed with the party also.

As Hoffman snapped photos, the last remaining guests staggered out of the enclosed ceremony to the air-conditioned tent where the reception was held. Stevvie rocked the little baby gently, admiring her dark curly hair. She had Kevin’s nose, Dani’s long face and her dad’s gorgeous hazel eyes. Maddie was a total daddy’s girl and acted like him too. Unlike Danielle, who was a shy, quiet baby, Maddie was very social and loved to talk. Kevin and Danielle were your average first time parents: paranoid and under rested but they were totally in love with their little angel. Every so often one of them would glance over to Stevvie, just to make sure everything was okay. Stevvie laughed at their anxiousness as she held a conversation with her.

“…your parents are adorable…you are going to be as bad as me. They’re going to spoil you to death and then you’re going to find guys that spoil you to death like your mommy and me. That’s if your daddy even let’s you out of the house.”

Maddie giggled and gave Stevvie and gummy grin. Her tiny fingers gripped on to Stevvie’s slime pointer finger tightly. She began to coo and talk in her baby talk, giggling at Stevvie’s silly faces. When a bird flew by, Maddie stopped and knitted her eyebrows together.

“Wow, if that wasn’t a Nick J face,” Stevvie commented. A smile instantly reappeared on the tiny baby’s face at the mention of her “favorite” uncle. From the beginning, she always responded to Nick for some reason. If he was around, she cried for him to hold her and she loved when he sang to her.

“Aww, you love your Nicky don’t you…don’t you baby?” Stevvie cooed, “I love him too, so I guess we can share okay? You see this key? He gave in to me last month. Just because he liked the way I looked that day. Look, it even has a message on it.”

The 2-inch silver Tiffany key instantly went to her mouth. On one end of the key there was a heart that opened like a locket and revealed the bible verse “Song of Solomon 4:7”, which read “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.”, one verse Nick would always recite to Stevvie. On the back he had put “To: My love, from: Nicholas.” Ever since then, Stevvie wore it and hardly ever took it off.

“Silly girl, this is my key, your mommy has your keys. But isn’t it such a pretty key? It even has a little diamond on the heart,” Stevvie continued, “Hopefully…just between us girls…that a bigger diamond is in the future for me, one for my left ring finger.”

“You’re taking a big risk telling Lil Maddie something as big as that don’t you think?” Nick interjected, “especially when it has to do with her favorite uncle.”

“Please tell me you didn’t hear what I just said…” Stevie groaned.

“…and if I did?” he mused as he sat down next to them, playing with Baby Maddie.

“You should pretend you never did,” she decided. Stevie bit her lip when Nick narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. His chocolate almond eyes sparkled in the sunlight as the breeze blew his hair around. Nick smiled at Stevvie sweetly.

“I don’t know if I want to though…I don’t think baby Maddie does either, because I think she likes the idea of you becoming Auntie Stevvie.” Nick stated.

She blushed, and secretly freaked out on the inside. Nick was actually hinting about marriage. This was a huge step in their relationship.

<->
“Thank you guys for joining Jess and I to celebrate the greatest day of our life, we can’t tell you how blessed we are to have such good people in our lives. Today, I’ll be leaving with not only my beautiful new wife, but a lifetime worth of unforgettable memories, and I hope you all do the same…that is…leave with the memories…not the wife part…” Everyone laughed at Joe, through teary eyes as he finished his closing speech, “Anyway, its unfortunate that we all can’t come together like this all the time so…Nicholas…you’re up next bro!”

Laughter filled the room for the thousandth time at Joe comments, including me. Nick just smiled shyly, blushed and shook his head. I gave his hand a quick squeeze under the table. All eyes were on us as people whooped and hollered.

“He would say that…” Nick muttered as he took a deep breath.

Everyone stood in two lines to make a path for the bride and groom, cheering them off with bubbles and cheers until they entered their motorcycle and sidecar getaway. It fit their quirky personalities perfectly.

“Joe and Jessica were made for each other,” I stated as I hopped over a pile of seaweed that had washed up on the shore, “I’m so happy for them.”

Nick swung my hand in his absentmindedly. We walked along the beach, enjoying the breezy California air. It was late, but the moon and the stars lit our path. I squished my toes in the sand, waiting for the tide to strip them of the grains once again. The smell of sea salt filled my nose as I leaned my head against Nick’s arm. He was quiet, which wasn’t unusual for Nick. He had his moods where he would prefer to sit back and just listen. I could tell he had been pondering something from the creases on his forehead and the tension in his eyebrows. Every so often, he would crack a closed mouthed smile and hypnotize me with soft, moist kisses. It mesmerized me the way he could make my knees give out without even trying. The feel of his tongue against mine was like butter melting, and my heart just turned to mush. How I felt didn’t surprise me though, I knew if he got to me it wasn’t just going to be another crush, I was going to fall hard. The good news: he happily was there to catch me.

I didn’t bother asking what was on Nick’s mind, I knew if he wanted me to know, he would tell me. I think he preferred it that way. I let go of Nick’s hand and ran ahead to find a seashell that I saw wash up. Soon, Nick joined me as we picked seashells, he kept physical contact with me, placing a hand on the small of my back, intertwining our fingers, and kissing me. He was anxious about something when he was this clingy, and I didn’t know why. Every time something worried him, he would just want to cuddle (which I didn’t mind). He wrapped his hands around my waist and swayed us back and forth. He held me contently, stroking my arms with his calloused fingers. They way his coarse fingers brazed over my skin was comforting to me. I felt his warm lips rest on my bare shoulder, sending chills from the contrast of my naturally cold skin. He nuzzled into my neck and hummed soothingly. I loved when he was clingy. Taking in the moment, I closed my eyes to enjoy the closeness he permitted me. I would soon miss the chance to do this. It sucked that he was going on tour.

“Nicholas…can you tell me what’s wrong baby?” I murmured.

He sighed, closing his eyes, causing his eyelashes to tickle my face. A moan slipped out of his mouth as he nibbled on my neck. His hands caressed my hips and thighs, distracting me.

“Nick…” I said more assertively.

“I don’t want to talk about it babe, just cuddle with me please,” he murmured.

“You can’t distract yourself from the elephant in the room baby, I know something’s wrong,”

With a sigh, Nick finally let up. He grumbled incoherently before looking me in the eyes. “I’m just worried about tour, that’s it.”

“Are you nervous?” I teased. Nick replied with a smug facial expression. “Oh wait, you don’t get nervous anymore do you?”

“I love your sarcasm,” he laughed, “no, actually I don’t. but, it not performing I’m worried about. It’s just being on the road…”

“…you’re worried about us?” I finished.

Nick nodded his head, looking away. “It’s not so much that if we can stay together, it’s just...I’ve gotten so used to being with you everyday. It’s going to be rough when I wake up that first day and realize that I won’t be seeing you that day…or the next day. I’m going to miss you baby.”

I caressed his cheek, pulling his face to look at me. “Don’t think that way okay? Look, we’re a strong couple. We’ve both dealt with long distances away from loved ones and we’re not going to let something like this bring us down. Let’s be optimistic! Come on, think about how happy you are when you’re on stage and with your brothers. Think about the Roaddogs games and how many home runs you’re going to get. Think about when I’m there with you, cheering for you guys on stage. There’s so much we both can be thankful for.”

Nick smiled a toothy smile at me. “I’m thankful for having the most optimistic girlfriend ever. You just made me feel ten times better , I swear. You’re so right, you know I’m not so worried anymore, we are a strong couple. Now, I just can’t wait until you make your first TV appearances because I know you’re going to get all nervous and I’ll have to calm you down and tell you you’re beautiful.”

I smirked at him, laughing. “So, I’m supposed act like a damsel in distress to feed that ego of yours.”

“absolutely,” he replied as he threw a rock into the sea, “but you don’t mind. At all.”

“Whatever,” I scoffed, trying not to laugh, “When I didn’t know you I always thought you’d be the type of guy with the huge ego…you know a polo-clad all American athletic manly type. But, at the same type you’re some hybrid species of a male and a moody romantic guitar strumming musician. It defies all I’ve ever defined as Male, which is why I’m convinced you’re an alien.”

“Then you’re in love with an alien. Hey, superman is an alien. We could be related, you never know.”

“Okay, Mr. Ego trip. Just kiss me before I have to bruise it,” I warned him flirtatiously.
Before I could even look up, his pink, baby soft lips were on mine. He pulled my body closer to his and slipped his tongue past my lips. I let out a tiny “unf” as he teased me on end once again.

Nick sat quiet on the large rocks we had chosen as resting places. We had been on the beach for almost all night and the sun was just peaking over the sea. I lay quietly, sleeping on Nick’s chest and he caressed my back. The sound of Nick’s heartbeat rocked me into giving into the slumber I was fighting, but I wouldn’t let go of Nick’s hand.

“Stevvie…will you think I’m hot even if I have grey hair and arthritis?” Nick murmured. Opened one eyed and chuckled at his randomness.

“Yes Nicholas, I will think you’re hot no matter what.”

“Will you still love me if I become so old that you have to feed me and bathe me?”

“Yes…but I’ll hire someone to bathe you if that’s okay. I’ll be old too remember?”

“But, what if I forget your name?”

“Then, I’ll remind you everyday. But, you’re an alien so you’re going to live forever anyway.”

“Will you live forever too? Will you be with me forever?”

“If you want me too,” I sighed, falling back asleep, “And if it’s our fate.”

“Then let’s do that,” he sighed.

I looked up at him, confused. “How?”

“We will….chase it,” he decided.

“Our fate?”

“Yep…let’s chase our fate.”

With a smile and a kiss, I agreed. We had always waited for fate to make something happen, but something you just have to do it yourself. Instead of waiting for it, we were chasing our fate.

“Whatever you want baby,” I replied.