A Little Too Late

Chapter 9

"Are you sure you don't want me to call the guys?" Jessica asked as she and Nicole taped up some more boxes. "It would be a lot easier, you know?"

"I don't want to deal with them," Nicole shook her head. "I don't want..." She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I can't handle their judgement right now."

"Girl, they have no right to say anything," Jessica shook her head. "They left us for how long?"

"Years," Nicole whispered.

"Exactly," Jessica said as she put the tape down. "So they can't say shit about you being a single mother. Well, if you think about it," She chuckled, "You aren't a single mother. You have me, your straight best friend and partner and you have Momma. You and I are Thelma and Louise but with a happy ending, and Lucy and Ethel. You got me forever."

"Thank you," Nicole sniffled and hugged her tightly.

"Now," Jessica sighed, "Let me call the guys, order them to do all this, and you and I go shopping."

"Without them? Even Gabriel?" Nicole asked.

"Yep," Jessica nodded.

"Okay, that does sound better than doing this," Nicole sniffled. "Ugh morning sickness," She mumbled as she rushed to the bathroom.

Jessica chuckled and grabbed her phone. "Hey, can you help me move Nikki? Well, how about I just take her out shopping and let you do all the moving for us? Awesome thanks, see you soon." She put up the phone and chuckled, "As soon as you are done, we can hit the road. The guys are going to take care of everything for us."

"I don't want to talk to them," She mumbled as she opened the door. "I can't."

"That's fine," Jessica nodded, "Get your stuff and go wait in the car, I'll handle everything."

"Thanks," Nicole smiled and went to put on different clothes. Shortly after getting in the passenger seat she saw multiple trucks and a moving van pull up.

She closed her eyes and tried to breathe in and out of her nose while fighting back the nausea that was coursing through her. She heard the door open and opened her eyes to see Sean crouching down to her level. "Here, this will help," he said softly as he held out some flavored water with electrolytes and some green peppermints.

"Thank you," She murmured as she took one of the peppermints and opened it.

"Have you set up an appointment yet?" He asked gently. "Speaking strictly professionally. Full doctor mode, Nicole."

"No," She admitted. "I quit going to her because I didn't want to deal with her pity looks."

"Will you please come see me tomorrow?" He asked. "I understand that we hurt you, so you don't want to be around us anymore, but I promise I will treat you professionally and not try to earn your forgiveness back during your visits. I want to make sure everything goes well during your pregnancy."

"I guess it will be better than having some stranger seeing me," She sighed. "Fine but only professionally."

"Okay," he nodded. "Just come see me anytime tomorrow." She nodded and he smiled softly. "Try and take it easy with all your shopping today. Rest when you need to, okay?"

"Alright, see you later," Jessica said as she headed over to the car. "Sean, what are you doing?"

"Just giving her some peppermints to help with her nausea," Sean said standing. "I also offered to treat her if she wanted someone she knew instead of a stranger."

"Okay," She nodded. "Well, we have places to go." He nodded and stepped back while Jess got in the car. "Ready?" Nicole nodded and Jess drove away.

"Gabriel is going to completely redo the new house, isn't he?" Nicole asked after a few minutes of silence. "I should probably go ahead and try to accept it, huh?"

"He did ask if he could decorate," Jessica nodded. "But I told him that I didn't think it would be okay for him to do that without asking your permission first."

"Okay, can I use your phone?" She asked and Jess nodded.

"Hey Jess," Gabe said out of breath, "What's up?"

"Actually, it's Nicole," she said softly.

"Hey Nikki," Gabe said switching it to speaker. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to decorate the new place you can," She said as she closed her eyes. "I don't even want to think of all the...just everything, it's just too much."

"Okay Nikki," He said trying to remain calm. He was shocked but excited at the same time. "I can do that for you, thank you for letting me."

"No cussing?" She asked confused. "Is this really Gabriel?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, it's me. I just am working on getting back into your good graces and I know you don't like my cussing. Plus I know you won't want me to cuss around the baby."

"Oh," She said softly. "Okay, thank you."

"Thank you for letting us take care of the moving for you," He said, "I'll make sure it's just like you ever wanted in your dream house."

"It's not my dream house but thank you for trying," She said softly.

"Hey we're here," Jess said as she pulled up to the mall.

"Go enjoy shopping," Gabe said. "I'll make the house nice and ready for you."