Letting Go 🤎

Eleven

Nick felt Isabelle gripping onto his hand as they entered the funeral for Beth. She walked up to Beth's parent's first. He watched her hug them as she released his hand. He opened and closed it a few times, it cramping from her squeezing. He offered his condolences to them before feeling Eddie colliding into him with a grunt. He picked him up, "hey bud." He smiled as Stephen came up to take him from him as he walked with Isabelle around, looking at pictures. She pointed to a picture of her and Stephen with Beth and another boy. "Who's that?"

She sighed, "that's Oscar."

"Here I am, Izzie."

Nick turned around with Isabelle to come face to face with an attractive man with brown hair and big brown eyes.

"Oscar." Isabelle hugged him as Nick watched the interaction. It was obvious to him they had been more than friends as he tensed up a little. She finally sighed, pulling away as she grabbed Nick's hand. "This is my.. Nick." She groaned, "my boyfriend Nick."

Nick smiled, shaking Oscar's hand. "I see you've been friends for a while."

Oscar smiled, "oh yeah. The four of us were inseparable until..."

Nick watched Isabelle hang her head down, shaking it as he squeezed her hand.

"Sorry Izzie."

She shook her head, looking up at Nick, "don't be. Come on Nick."

He followed her to sit down to watch a slideshow they had put together of them all and Beth's life. He felt Isabelle get up when a photo of her pregnant with Eddie flashed across the screen. "Where you going?"

"To go to the bathroom. I'll be back."

He sighed, nodding as he let her go. He looked to see Stephen sit next to him, "hey. I'm really sorry Steve."

"It's not your fault. And we knew it was coming."

"I know." He sighed, looking back at the screen to see a picture of Stephen with Beth and Isabelle as kids with their parents. "What happened to your dad?"

"Izzie never told you?"

Nick shrugged, "only that he died not long after she graduated high school."

Stephen groaned, "yeah. Oscar and Isabelle found him. Our father killed himself Nick. Couldn't live without our mother. He waited until Isabelle was an adult."

"God. I had no idea." Nick hung his head down, staring at the floor. He looked up to see Oscar stop Isabelle, talking to her outside the bathroom.

Isabelle sighed, seeing Oscar in front of her, "you look good."

He smiled, "I was going to say the same about you. Love looks good on you."

Isabelle blushed, looking at the ground until she felt Oscar grab her chin, making her look up at him. "Thank you."

He dropped his hand, "you're welcome. I'm sorry about my comment before. I realize you probably haven't told the boyfriend everything yet."

"Not yet, no." She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked away from him at the wall.

Oscar sighed, grabbing her arm to make her drop them as he wrapped his arms around her. "I miss him too." He held her for a moment before breaking the silence, "I have to tell you something."

She pulled away to look at him as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Go on then."

"I um... I'm engaged. And we're having a baby." He watched her only nod as she tried to process what he told her, "it was going to happen eventually love."

"Yeah. Of course. I know."

Nick watched Isabelle rush away from Oscar out the back door. He got up and followed her to find her crying with her arm up on the wall, staring at the ground. "Sweetheart?" She didn't say anything as she buried her head in his chest and he held her. "Okay. It's okay."

She finally pulled away, turning away from him.

"Izzie, let's go back inside. It's cold and you aren't wearing a coat. I don't want you to get sick."

She shook her head before turning back around to face him. "You were right.."

He sighed, "right about what?"

"About having to have a baby before you're allowed to be a surrogate. They need to ensure that you've been able to carry a viable pregnancy."

Nick groaned, "yeah. Look, we don't have to talk about this now Isabelle."

"No. We do." She grabbed his hands in hers as she looked up at him. "Oscar was the father of my baby... our baby. Um..." She cleared her throat, biting nervously on the corner of her mouth. "It was a boy. And he was beautiful and perfect and we lost him. I went to check on him and I couldn't wake him! He was only 4 months old."

Nick heard her sobbing again as he wrapped his coat around her, pulling her back to his chest. "It isn't your fault Isabelle. None of it is." He sighed, "Steve told me about your dad. How it was you and Oscar that found him."

She groaned, pulling away, "well, I guess now you know everything then. I'm a broken mess."

"A beautiful, broken mess." He smiled as she chuckled softly, "I love you Isabelle. Nothing is going to change that. Just need you to not push me away and we'll be fine. Okay?"

Isabelle nodded, "okay. I don't know what I did to deserve you Nicky."

He laughed, "I was thinking the same. Come on, let's go back inside?"

"Yeah."