Moment in the Sun

39. One

Charlie POV

"Hey, Charlie!" Darcy opens the door of her flat with a smile.

"Hi."

"Where's Nick?" She asks, pulling away from a hug.

"Oh, he's coming a bit later. His students had a big test this week and he's been marking them all weekend. Took longer than he planned, so he's back at the hotel trying to finish up."

"Oh, okay."

"Mama!" We both turn and see little Greyson has crawled into the hallway, obviously looking for Darcy. She grins and moves over to him, picking him up as I close the door behind me.

"Grey, look. It's Uncle Charlie." Darcy points at me and I smile.

"Hey, birthday boy. You're so grown up now."

"Ah!" Greyson squeals and reaches a hand to me. I take him from Darcy and cuddle him tightly.

"Oh, I thought I heard someone else." Tara appears now, a towel in her hands. "Hey, Charlie. I see you've found our little terror."

"Terror? Oh, come on. My little buddy is an angel, aren't you Grey?" I say, tickling the toddler in my arms and he lets out a giggle.

"Ha, you clearly don't spend much time with him." Darcy laughs.

"I still find it hard to believe that this little angel is anything but perfect." I follow Darcy and Tara into the kitchen, still holding Greyson until he wriggles, wanting to be put down. "Anything I can help with?"

"Keeping the little one entertained?" Tara suggests. "He's been getting under our feet all morning."

"I can definitely do that."

**********

"Hey, babe. You look like you're having fun." I look up at the sound of Nick's voice. I'm sitting on the floor with Greyson, paper and markers surrounding us. Greyson currently has a blue marker and is scribbling intensely.

"I'm having so much fun." I say. Nick comes over and drops a kiss to the top of my head.

"I can't wait to see you like this with our kid one day." I smile up at him.

"One day soon, I hope." I'm just over two years away from graduating and I know that it will be a long process to have a baby. I've been thinking that maybe it's time for Nick and I to start thinking about it all. Not that I've said as much to him.

"Soon." He promises, squeezing my shoulder. "I'm going to help Darcy in the kitchen."

"Okay."

"Make sure you save one of those for our fridge door."

**********

The party is underway when I finally get to free myself and go sit with Nick. Or sit on him, more accurately. There are so many people crammed into the apartment that there are no seats left. Nick had managed to find one so when I find him, I settle on his lap and he wraps his arms around my waist to keep me stable.

"Hey, baby. You good?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, just missed you. I feel like I haven't seen you all day."

"I'm sorry. But I finished the assignments, so I'm all yours after this." I smile and lean into him as he turns back to his conversation with Tara's mum. I just listen to them talk, offering an answer here and there but just mostly stay quiet.

**********

Back at our hotel later that night, Nick takes his time packing up the mess of papers and things he'd left out before coming to Greyson's party. I lay in bed, waiting for him and scrolling on my phone.

"What're you looking at?" Nick crawls into bed beside me, kissing my shoulder.

"Nothing. Just reading some stuff." I turn off the phone and look at him, seeing the look on his face. "What?"

"I saw the site you had up. Are you thinking about us having a baby?" I bit my lip and nod, suddenly nervous for some reason.

"Yeah, I mean, it will take ages for anything to happen. I just wanted to start looking into it." Nick's face is unreadable for a moment and I start to panic, thinking that maybe I've rushed into this. But then a huge grin spreads across his face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course. Nick, I want a family with you."

"I want that too." He hugs me tightly. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"No. But I don't think anyone is ever ready for kids. Not really."

"I guess. Baby, I can't wait to start a family with you. But what about Uni? Don't you want to finish studying first?"

"I've got two years left to go. The whole baby process is going to take a long time, probably more than two years. It won't hurt to start dipping our toes in the water, right?" I look up at him hopefully.

"Okay. Let's do it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Charlie, let's make a baby." I let out a squeak and throw myself at him, causing him to fall back against the pillows.

"God, I can't believe how much I love you right now."

"I love you too." He says before flipping us over and pressing our lips together. "Let's start our family."