Nick Doesn't Know

Chapter Three: Nick's Lucky Night

• Get Lucky by Daft Punk is up above. If you've never heard this song before then I'll be damned •

•••

Chapter Three|Nick's Lucky Night:

Most children would have probably came home from school, dumped their bag on the floor, shouted something like; 'Mum, I'm home' and then go up to their room and stay there.

But Nick didn't do that. He would never do that.

That sort of behaviour was unacceptable in the Babbage's household.

Shouting was not aloud. On the rare times Nick's parents did argue, they never went above their sensible and collected inside voices.

Leaving his things, such as his shoes and rucksack wasn't aloud either. Nick's mum hated clutter and he'd get a lecture about it if he ever left his things around the house.

And his parents—especially his mother—always got upset and took great offence if he didn't go say hello to them after he'd put his bag away.

So instead, he jogged up the stairs on light feet and hung his rucksack up on the inside of his bedroom door and took his shoes off. And then he jogged back down and entered the kitchen where his mother usually was.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Nick walk in. He was her little angel; always doing the right thing and on his best behaviour at all times.

"Good afternoon, Nicklaus."

Nick had to stop himself from cringing at the use of his full name.

Originally, Nick's name was going to be Nickolas—which was much better then Nicklaus if you asked him—but they changed it at the last minuet, preferring the old Greek name.

"Did you have a good day at school?" His mother asked.

Nick's eyes lit up. "Yes, I did. My team won at dodge ball. I was the last man standing." He made sure to emphasise the word man, just to make sure his mother got it.

If possible, his mothers smile widened. "Your father will be so proud of you!" She grabbed Nick by the head and placed to gentle kisses on both his cheeks.

And she was right. He would be.

His father may not of been the best at sports but he enjoyed them and wanted Nick to enjoy them as much as he did, and be as good as he had wanted to be at a young age.

Although Nick didn't enjoy sports, he always tried to pretend he did when he was around his parents. However, Nick had a hunch that his mother knew his dislike for them but she'd never brang it up.

Nick and his mum talked for a bit in the kitchen as his mother occasionally stirred the door. They were having beef stew tonight. One of his fathers favourites. It had been cooking on the slow cooker since morning so it would be nice and tender.

"Can I be excused?" Nick asked. He didn't say why he wanted to be excused. Truth was he wanted to play a new game on his phone, but his mother might of been disappointed if he did that, and he didn't want to lie.

"Of course." Was his mothers reply as she showed her pearly white teeth at her son.

Nick went after that and spent at least an hour playing games on his phone, till he heard the delicate footsteps of his mother and quickly opened a geography revision book.

A knock came soon on Nick's door.

"Come in."

His mothers head popped through the door. "Dinners ready."

Nick nodded at his mother and followed after her.

When he arrived downstairs, his father was already seated at his usual seat at the head of the table. His father nodded politely at Nick and he nodded back, sitting down at the dinning table as well.

Soon later, his mother came in, a steaming pot of beef stew in her oven mitt-ed hands. She placed it in the middle of the table before sitting down herself.

"Now lets say prayer." His father didn't even need to say anything—it was a routine; they always said prayer before eating at dinner time.

"Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen."  All three of them knew the prayer off by heart. Nick knew this prayer before he even learnt how to use a knife and fork properly.

Just as Nick's fathers hand reached out to lift the lid up off the pot of stew, his mothers hand grabbed his wrist.

"Wait," His mother smiled, "Something happened at Nicklaus' school today." His father looked at his wife puzzled. "How about we let our son explain."

All eyes were on Nick and he felt his cheeks redden. "Well, erm, we had P.E today and we played dodge ball. The red team won—which was my team—and I was the last man standing." Again, he emphasised man, making sure that his father knew how much he had grown from the last time he had saw him. Even though the last time Nick had saw his father had been at breakfast.

A proud look washed over his fathers face. "Well done, son. I knew you could do it." He grinned.

His father hit Nick on the shoulder in a fatherly way and then ruffled his hair.

"I think, Nicklaus should do the honours."

His mother nodded in approval and Nick's eyes widened. This only ever happened when his dad was extremely prod at Nick; he'd let him get the first serving out of whatever they were eating.

Usually, his father always did it, as the man of the house, so letting Nick do it showed that he had done something great which made him a little bit more man-of-the-house-material he supposed.

After that dinner went by smoothly. They talked and laughed while eating, which a lot of the time they didn't do—usually only if they had guests.

"Tomorrow, I think we'll have pork steak, mash and broccoli." His mother said once the fall finished they're meal.

All three of those things were Nick's favourites. His favourite meat, his favourite way to have his potatoes, and his favourite vegetable.

Good things always came when Nick's parents were proud of him—especially his father since he was so hard to impress.

"I'm going to excuse myself and go do the dishes." Nicks mother stood up and whipped the imaginary dust off her skirt and he got up to follow her. It was Nick's day to help his mother and dry the dishes.

"Oh no, son." His father stood as well, "How about you go up to your room. I'll take your job for tonight."

Nick nodded happily and said thank you to his father, before kissing his mother and saying goodnight.

Looks like tonight truly was Nick's lucky night.

•••

What do you think of Nick's parents?

Wattpad just recommended one of my own books to me. A round of applause to wattpad.