Sealed With A Vow

Chapter 44- Family First

"Oh, Nick what on earth are you up to now?", I groaned, heading in the direction of my son's cry while picking up all the toys he'd thrown on the ground.

When I reached the living room, my eyes lit up in amusement at the comical sight before me. Buttercup, our beloved golden retriever, had dozed off and unfortunately, Nick's baby blanket lay beneath her. I watched as he struggled to pull it out, falling several times on his butt.

"Mommy!", he cried, running towards me as I took him into my arms.

"You want your blanket?"

He nodded his head then pointed a chubby finger at Buttercup.

"Bad dog!"

I couldn't help but laugh at my adorable son and scooping him up, we both approached Buttercup. Gently, I tugged the blanket from her. She stirred slightly but remained sleeping.

"Here you go, dear." I handed Nick his blanket.

A huge grin split his face, and my heart warmed as he gave me a peck on the cheek.

"I wuv you, mommy."

"I love you, too, Nick." I smiled, ruffling his hair.

In a lot of ways, he reminded me of my late best friend, Nick Schneider. Their joyful attitudes were contagious and both loved watching hockey. As soon as he was old enough, I'd let him play.

It only felt like yesterday when Derek and I laid eyes on our son for the very first time, but in just four months, he'd already be turning two. Like we'd originally hoped, Nick had been an excellent baby and hardly ever cried during his first months.

He'd learned to talk pretty early, too, and "dada", was the first word that had left his mouth. Derek almost cried that day when he heard it. Unlike me, he still went to work, but since Nick's birth, he'd cut back on his hours at the office in order to spend as much time with us as possible. As a result, Keith had begun to gain more responsibility.

There was no denying how amazing a father Derek was. He always put our son's needs before his own, and on the rare occasions that Nick had woken up crying in the middle of the night as a baby, Derek had been the one to cradle him back to sleep.

I always told him to leave the job to me since he was the one that had to work early in the morning, but he refused, saying that I needed to preserve my strength to "make more babies." Between the both of us, I did have a harder time falling back asleep. Nonetheless, I adored his selflessness.

As the months passed, Nick had grown to look so much like his father. Their blue eyes and smile were pretty much identical. The only features he'd inherited from me were his hair and face shape.

He was the sunshine of my life, and every day, I soaked in the rays of happiness he brought to me.

My mom absolutely fell in love with Nick when she came to visit us during his first Christmas. We had a huge reunion that included both my side of the family and Derek's.

The whole time, I'd wished my father were still alive to meet his grandson. Although I couldn't physically see him anymore, I always felt his presence in my heart, and that was what mattered most.

I had plenty of stories about my dad that I'd spend the rest of my life telling Nick. He'd live on forever that way.

"You wanna bake cookies?", I asked my son.

"Yes!", he exclaimed, scrambling out of my arms to run towards the kitchen.

I followed him and together, we gathered the necessary ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. Nick and his dad were huge fans of cookie dough, so I set aside a separate bowl for them.