ForeverLasting (Book 10 in Nemi Forever Series)

Chapter 3

Demi

I was excited to be doing Dancing with the Stars, but I tried to hold back my enthusiasm since Nick seemed to be jealous every time I brought it up. Sometimes, he was such a typical, knuckles dragging on the ground, type of guy. I wasn't sure if it was me dancing with another man that bothered him or if he was upset because he felt like I should be at home with the kids while he was working. I didn't even ask, because I knew either reason would start an argument. I knew I had to pick my battles. Lord knows I wasn't thrilled he was even doing this stupid movie that would take him away from home for a while. I was not looking forward to him being gone but I was especially not thrilled at the hours he'd be spending with two gorgeous women who were both still single. Sophia hadn't had a serious relationship in a long time & Emma had gotten divorced the year before.

I was pretty sure that being two years from turning 40 was also getting to my husband. He would shoot me a look when I would mention it & when his brothers teased him about being almost 40, he'd look like he wanted to punch them. On his actual birthday, he barely made it about him. It was all about Reid. I never thought Nick, Mr. Confident, would ever be insecure about his age, but men are big babies, we all know that. He still looked good for his age. Most people guessed him to be around 30, so it was really all in his head.

Our anniversary was coming up & I was almost afraid to bring it up to Nick since he was so sensitive about growing old. I wasn't sure I should remind him of the fact that we had been married for thirteen years. Or that we had known each other for 23 years. I had to laugh when I came into our bedroom one evening the week before our anniversary & I spotted Nick in the bathroom, looking at his hair, closely. I knew exactly what he was doing, but I pretended to be clueless as I leaned on the door frame.

I caught his eye & he sighed as he looked at me. "What are you looking at?" He asked with a tiny smile.

I wanted to say, 'My old ass husband," but I knew that would upset his sensitive self, so I smiled at him, sweetly, before I answered. "My sexy ass husband." It wasn't a lie, but I knew he needed to hear that right now. He let out a breathy laugh as he looked back at his reflection & started to look through his hair again. "What exactly are you doing?" I asked, with a head tilt, to show him I was confused, even though I wasn't.

"Plucking out my gray hairs." He mumbled.

I covered my mouth as I snickered. "You don't have gray hairs, Nick. You're being ridiculous. You & your brothers are all taking after your dad's side & he didn't get gray until a few years ago & you & Joe both have a full head of hair like your Grandpa Jerry. Why are you stressing about your hair?"

"I saw a gray hair."

I gasped as I went to stand behind him & looked in the mirror. "One gray hair? Oh my God. You can probably play Santa this year without a wig, at this rate." I crossed my arms as I gave him a sly smile. He rolled his eyes & smirked at me as he put his hands down.

"You think you're so cute with your young looking self, don't you?"

"I know I'm cute." I gave him a toothy grin as he leaned to kiss my mouth, quickly.

"Well, it's a good thing you're cute."

"You need to learn to love yourself the way I love myself. I have accepted my body & it's flaws & I will accept growing older because I am thankful to be alive & healthy."

"Yes, Mom." He mumbled as he headed into the bedroom. I did my nightly ritual, then joined Nick in bed, where I found him fast asleep. He sure couldn't stay up too late as much as he used to be able to. I snuggled up against him, then fell asleep myself.