Best of Both Worlds

Chapter Twenty-four

For the first time in the many months that I'd known Nicholas, I was visiting his place. It was funny because this was the father of my baby and we were now pursuing a romantic relationship, and yet there were so many aspects of him I didn't know about. There were so many aspects of him, I hadn't seen. It felt like things were moving so fast. Although, I guess our relationship dynamic had a part to play. We went from strangers to co-parents and now romantic partners.

We walked up to the front porch of his duplex. There was a small keypad inbuilt into the wall, beside the front door. As Nicholas typed in the pin, I looked away - it was a force of habit. Whenever someone typed in any form of security access code around me, I felt the need to turn away out of respect for their privacy. I noticed a tiny camera tucked in a crevice in the wall.

"You have a camera on your front porch?" I asked as we walked into his house.

"Yeah, for security purposes" he took off his coat and hung it on a coat rack nearby.

I raised a brow as I mirrored his actions. "Wow, in this neighbourhood?" I knew the saying don't judge a book by its cover but I'd gotten a glimpse at the fancy houses lined up on his street as we pulled up, I didn't think there was anything to be worried about.

He took my coat from my hands and hung it on the coat rack. "You can never be too careful"

"True" I nodded

We advanced further into the house. Pale yellow walls and off-white floorings welcomed me. One side of the house was the living room with dark truffle brown couches, a large flat-screen TV and console, and a glass centre table. On the other side was an open kitchen set-up, an island counter in the centre with three high stools lined up beside it, an array of overhead cupboards and counters lined by the wall, and a large refrigerator in the corner. It felt like a bright, warm bachelor pad.

"I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this is a nice set-up," I said as I moved towards the living room.

"Thank you?" he sounded unsure as he stuffed his hands into his pocket. "You know, I actually designed this house"

"Really? You did a great job" I gave the space a once over. "I mean I haven't seen the rest of the place but it's already looking up. You could totally do this for other people"

"Thank you," One side of his lips inched up as he looked away and made a line towards his kitchen. Nicholas was shy. Well, that was a first. He pulled open his refrigerator and looked back at me. "Which would you prefer? Water, fruit drink or ice cream?"

"I was thinking you show me around first" I pulled at the hem of my cashmere sweater and pinched up my leggings.

"Uh, okay" he shut the refrigerator and walked over to me. "Right this way" he gestured towards the doorway from where we just came in.

Past two flights of stairs were his bedroom - spacious with its own bathroom and walk-in closet, his home office, an indoor swimming room, a makeshift gym, an extra guest bedroom and lastly, the baby's room.

"This used to be another guestroom," Nicholas remarked as we ventured into the room.

My heart instantly warmed at the sight of the sunlit room. It had light green walls and a grey fuzzy carpet covered the floors. A white wood oak baby bed stood by the centre of one wall, with a changing station right next to it. A rocking chair and a little cute dresser were placed by a large window.

"Wow," I drew open the dresser and peered into it. It had baby onesies, baby blankets, and swaddling muslins folded up neatly within. "Awn" I held up a blue onesie that said 'Mummy's little baby' and turned around to show Nicholas by the doorway.