Ness as Parents- New Girl Fanfiction

Late Night Talks

"You are the human equivalent of the crack between two couch cushions!" Cece yells into the phone, and then slumps in her chair and sighs.
   "What was that about babe?" Schmidt asks, having come into the room when he heard Cece yelling.
   "Ugh, Vogue just cancelled a photo shoot with one of my boys last minute, because they 'didn't know he was 5'7 even thought it said so in his file," Cece groans, air quoting with sass what was supposedly said.
   "Well they are imbeciles, they need to learn how to read!" Schmidt declares, rubbing Cece's shoulders.
   "Thanks babe, it's just been really stressful these past weeks. Eric quit to pursue a career as a food blogger, so now Donavan needs to cover for him." Cece gets out of her chair and gives Schmidt a quick kiss, before heading to the kitchen.
   "I know what would relieve some of your stress!" Schmidt claims, and follows Cece into the kitchen.
   "What?" Cece asks, making a sandwich.
   "We should invite everyone over! All the kids can hang out too," Schmidt explains, already starting to plan the details.
   "I guess we haven't seen them in a few weeks, I've been so busy with Cece's Boys. Are you sure everyone's free?"
   "I'll ask them now," Schmidt says, and gets his phone. "Call, Best Friend 1," he speaks into it. Cece goes into Ruth's room to alert her of the call. 
   "Wouldn't you agree, baby you and me, got a groovy kind of love..."
   "Jess, can you grab my phone?" Nick asks when he hears it ring. Jess sets down her chicken wings, wipes her fingers, and grabs Nick's phone from the table.
   "It's Schmidt," she informs Nick, and answers the call. "You're on with Jess and Nick!" Jess says into the phone, and sits back on the couch.
   "And Reggie!" Reginald butts in.
   "And Fran-thes!" Frances adds, running into the room.
   "Hi, you're on with Schmidt, Cece, Ruth, and Jacob. I'm patching in Winston, Aly, Dan Bill, Charles, Malachi, Ava, and Lucas."
   Muzak plays softly, and then Winston says, "Hellooooo?"
   "It's Schmidt, Cece, Ruth, and Jacob, I'm patching in Nick, Jess, Reginald, and Frances." A beeps sounds, and then Schmidt continues. "Jess, Nick, Reginald, and Frances, you're on with Schmidt, Cece, Ruth, Jacob, Winston, Aly, Dan Bill, Charles, Malachi, Ava, and Lucas." He lets out a loud exhale.
   "Why do you guys need to say everyone's names, we know who they are." Cece rolls her eyes at Schmidt.
   "Hey, Schmidt, Cece, Ruth, Jacob, Winston... this is too much." Jess attempts, but then quickly gives up. "Hi, everyone on this call." She improvises with a laugh.
   "Hi Schmidt, Cece, Ruth, Jacob, Jess, Nick, Reggie, and Frances." Winston rattles off. "What's up?"
   "Well I've been feeling pretty stressed lately because of work, so Schmidt thought it would be fun to invite everyone over," Cece relays to the group.
   "Sure, sounds fun! We were just eating chicken wings to celebrate Reggie making the rec football team," Jess explains, and Schmidt groans.
   "Reginald, you should have gone with figure skating! I had lessons up until I was 13, but then my mom sobered up and realized I was a boy. I was good though, I could skate circles around all y'all. And, let me guess, Nick told you to because of the dumb 'Chicago Brown Bears'." Schmidt rants.
   "It's just Chicago Bears, there's no 'brown'." Nick scoffs. "And for the record, Reggie is getting really good."
   "Guys!" Jess exclaims, glaring at Nick. "We'd love to come over, how about you Winston, can you guys come?"
   "I think we can, Charles' has a painting lesson, but it's not until 6." Winston replies.
   "Actually, that got moved to next week," Aly refutes, checking her calendar.
   "Ok coooool, can we bring Nafta?"
   "No, Winston, you can not bring your cat to Jaipur Aviv," Schmidt says incredulously.
   "Ok guys just get here when you can, and don't bring the cat," Cece says.
   "See you soon!" Jess exclaims, and hangs up, handing Nick his phone. "Well, Reggie, I guess we'll have to save the rest of these wings for later." She gathers the remaining food and starts to help Frances get ready.
                                    ***
Once everyone gets to Jaipur Aviv, they settle on the couch or the floor, and Schmidt goes to play some music.
   "Oh no you don't, mister!" Cece stops him. "This is not the right vibe for you to play electronica. I mean, nowhere is the right vibe to play that trash, but especially not right now."
   "It's not electronica, it's EDM. Electronic dance music... or as I like to refer to as just "M", because it's the only music." Schmidt smirks.
   "Whatever you call it, that doesn't change the fact that it sounds like a robot having a seizure." Cece responds, smirking right back at him.
   "Noice," Winston snaps his fingers in Cece's direction.
   "Wait, Schmidt is that a picture of the Prince party??" Jess exclaims, glancing at a picture on the wall of Schmidt, Cece, Winston, and Coach playing lemon mouth.
   "Of course, I wanted some memorabilia of the night that took me to the next level. That party was the party in every man's life that changes everything. My social status took a major leap, and I'll never forget it."
   "Of course, it was Prince!" Ruth agrees.
   "RIP." Nick adds in, pressing two fingers to his lips and then in the air in respect.
   "See, she gets it." Schmidt fist bumps Ruth.
   "Schmidt, you climbed into a hedge, and then fell out of it, to sneak into a party that only Cece and I were invited to. How did that improve your social status?" Jess stares quizzically at him.
   "You don't understand," Schmidt rolls his eyes at Jess.
   "Well, I beat Prince at ping pong, so boom!" Cece makes an exploding bomb motion with her hands.
   "Prince fed me a pancake, dressed me, told me the secrets of love, and then I sang with him." Jess silently stares everyone down.
   "Ok fine, you win," Schmidt admits with a laugh.
   "Hah! In your face," Jess gives him a cocky smile.
   "Well not to make all your achievements seem less extravagant, but Dan Bill made up a really cute song with Nafta, which he could have shown you, if you let us bring him." Winston gives Schmidt an evil eye.
   "Wow, how could you say that, now the Prince party seems as lame as a middle school dance!" Schmidt says sarcastically and throws up his hands.
   "Wait! I have such a good idea!" Nick announces.
   "Oh no," Aly groans.
   "No, it's actually good." Nick assures her. "We should go the The Griffin!"
   "What's The Griffin?" Schmidt asks, confused.
   "The Griffin is the name of the bar that we used to own together, you buffoon!" Nick yells at him, punching him in the arm.
   "Ouchy!" Schmidt yells, and punches Nick back.
   "Nick, you can't take kids into a bar..." Jess informs him, tilting her head in the direction of the couch, where Ruth, Dan Bill, Jacob, Reggie, Charles, Malachi, Ava, Lucas, and Frances are playing or watching Mario Kart.
   "Oh, oops," Nick shrugs, and Jess rolls her eyes.
                                    ***
Nick sits in a wooden chair beside Reggie and Frances' beds. They are snuggled under their soft blue covers, and he is reading a bedtime story to them.
   "... Pepperwood stood victorious, shielding the small cubs from the sight of the carcasses strewn across the ashy ground. He takes them into his arms, and walks away from the burning wreckage that was once a town." Nick closes the book, and softly kisses Reggie and Frances on their foreheads. "Goodnight, sleep tight, I love you." He gently closes their door on his way out, and heads over to his and Jess' room. He pulls on his longshirt, and climbs into bed, where Jess is reading.
   "Hey Miller," Jess smiles at Nick, and leans in for a kiss."Thanks for putting the kids to bed, but what were you doing in there for so long?"
   "They wanted a bedtime story, so I read them some of the Pepperwood Chronicles."
   "Is it really appropriate for their age?" Jess teases him, and he smiles back guiltily.
   "Don't worry, there's no shed scenes in the most recent one," Nick assures Jess.
   "I've been so busy with the kids and work, I just realized I haven't gotten around to read that one! I'll make sure to read it soon, but what is it about?"
   "Oh you know; race, the sexualization of the American handgun, and Pepperwood's ambiguous relationship with justice," Nick laughs, and then continues, "But this specific one... it's about love, family, and being brave even when you don't know how." Jess leans her head on Nick's chest, listening to his heartbeat.
   "Hey, this is kinda weird to bring up, but do you remember after we were broken up when I put the sex mug out?" Jess asks, gnawing on her bottom lip.
   "Ya, of course I do," Nick looks down at Jess, confusion crinkling his eyes.
   "I don't know how to say this, but... after we threw it away, did you go back and get it?" Jess asks shyly.
   "Wait what?" Nick asks, surprised.
   "What?" Jess looks up at Nick.
   "I thought you went back and took it! I looked and it wasn't there." Nick looks at Jess, puzzled.
   "But when I went back, it wasn't there either! I thought you took it!" Jess exclaims. Nick shrugs, but then smiles adoringly at Jess.
   She looks up at him with a similar smile, and they stay like that in silence, until Nick clears his throat, and begins, "Jess, I'm so sorry I never told you how I felt. I was afraid. When I met you, I was afraid to let myself know you. When I knew you I was afraid to kiss you, I was afraid to ruin what we had. When I kissed you, I was afraid to let myself love you. And then when I loved you, I was afraid to lose you. And when I lost you... I was afraid I would never get you back. But now I have you, and I am not afraid."
   "Nick..." Jess looks into his eyes, at a loss for words. "You never lost me."
   "But back then I thought I blew it, I thought we had our chance and we screwed it up. And I also thought I was fine with it, but I couldn't stand not being with you." Nick confesses to Jess, holding her small hand in his.
   "But I thought I lost you. I mean, I was about to move out..." Nick cuts Jess off by softly pressing kiss lips to hers. "Jess, I love you and I always have. Nothing ever changed or will change that."
   "Nick, I never stopped loving you, and I will continue to until the end of days." Jess assured him, and they look into each others eyes, love radiating from their smiles. Nick leans in to kiss Jess once more, and they snuggle under the covers.
   "Goodnight Day."
   "Goodnight Miller."