kid krow | rini

fourteen

Nini won best actress for their competition which, based on her performance at the school before the competition, was no surprise to Ricky. He, on the other hand, didn't perform very well in his basketball sectionals. For these reasons, both halves of the couple considered themselves to be lucky to have time to celebrate Valentine's Day together.

While Nini got ready, Ricky set up their dinner from a great Italian restaurant nearby. He dimmed the dining room lights and plated their respective dinners, covering them and setting them in the oven just minutes before he left to pick the young girl up from her home.

When he got there, he walked up to the door and rang the bell. As usual, Carol opened the door with a bright smile. She looked down at his outfit, navy blue dress pants paired with a patterned button-up. "You look quite handsome! Where are you guys going tonight?" she asked curiously.

"We're staying in, actually," Ricky said. "We've got dinner at my house and just felt like dressing up. I think we're gonna watch a rom-com."

She nodded as Nini approached the door behind her. "Sounds like Nini's thing. Have fun guys."

Nini hugged and kissed her mother goodbye and then clasped hands with Ricky as they walked out to the car. With his free hand, he pointed to a small gift bag she was holding. "What's that?" asked as he pulled open her door.

"Mm... I don't think that's your business right now," she teased back.

He jogged around to his side of the car and got in. "I mean, I guess not," he joked. "But it could be."

In the car ride, Ricky asked about Mama C's plans. Nini explained that somehow, Mama D managed to forget to balance out her time in Denver enough to be able to be home for the holiday. She also told him that Mama C didn't seem too upset about it anyway with the promise that they would make up for it on a week when Dana was in town.

When they pulled up to Ricky's house, Nini hopped out and smoothed her soft blue dress down on her legs. Rick smiled at her, admiring the wavy hair that fell down her back. "You look beautiful," he told her.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she told him with a blushing smile.

He led her into the dining room and pulled out a chair for her. "I'll be back," he said. Quickly, he pulled their plates from the oven that he set very low to keep them warm and ushered them back to the table. "Eggplant parm, chicken alfredo," he mumbled as he set their plates down. Then, Ricky took his seat.

They sat on adjacent ends of the dining table, their hands clasped right over the corner of it. Nini thought it looked silly, the two of them nestled on the corner of a 12-person dining table. "Richard Bowen, did you order my favorite meal ever?" she cooed. "You're the best, do you know that?"

"I didn't," he chuckled. "But... maybe I'm not? I don't know. We'll see what Seb and Carlos did tonight."

Nini laughed and nodded as she took a sip of her water. "If I know Carlos, he's gonna pull out all the stops possible."

"Well, I wanted to do something outside originally, but it's just too cold," Ricky explained. He feigned a pout and said, "I didn't want you to freeze, so tonight I thought maybe we could watch something."

"Yeah," she agreed, wiping her mouth on her napkin. "Like... Love Actually maybe?"

Ricky hummed, his head tilting to the side skeptically. "Maybe The Notebook? Anything you want, love. I promise to stay awake."

"We could try Crazy, Stupid, Love," she suggested. "I know that you wouldn't fall asleep to anything Steve Carell is in."

The pair finished their food and worked together to load the dishes into the dishwasher. When they finished, Nini stopped in front of Ricky, her eyes on the gift bag she left on the kitchen island. He glanced at her and then back at the bag.