Forever Strong (Book 7 in Nemi Forever Series)

Chapter 7

Nick

The moment I saw the twins in the woods & knew they were okay, it was like running to Demi, as she clung to the side of the mountain, all over again. I felt the same sense of relief & gratification. It was the same feeling I got after I pulled Jerry from the ocean & he started breathing again. The same feeling I got when the doctors said Mercy would be okay, after her Diabetes diagnosis. Man, loving people was exasperating at times. I wouldn't trade it for anything, though. The million different emotions I experienced loving Demi & my kids was worth it.

The EMT guys wrapped Mercy's ankle & checked her sugar & since it wasn't too low, they didn't take her to the hospital. Jerry probably saved her that trip by giving her the cereal bar. We had to keep her hydrated the rest of the night & check her sugar often, but that was better than going to the hospital. Mercy really didn't want to leave the campsite. We all enjoyed a relaxing night of singing songs around the fire & playing games, before we all turned in early since we were about to collapse from exhaustion. Mercy wanted to sleep in bed with us & neither of us had objections. Cuddling with my two girls was heavenly, as I fell asleep that night.

The next day we woke up & there were no bears or missing children. We decided to spend the day doing something together. We decided to hike to a waterfall nearby that people would swim in. It was fun & no one almost drowned, surprisingly. Our last day camping was drama free. Well, there were a few toddler meltdowns, but other than that it was a nice way to end our trip. We tore down our tents, loaded up the car & were on the road back home just after dinner.

Back home, the kids got into a routine with school & both of them were doing really well. The teachers sent notes home about how smart they were. We knew that may be an issue, since we didn't start the kids in kindergarten when we should have. They actually started a year later, mostly because we wanted to give the twins time to get used to being away from each other & because Demi was scared. She felt like they needed another year at home. I think it was because they were only five & that scared the crap out of her. Being that they were six a year later, it sat better with Demi, even though she still freaked a little. Teachers suggested that if they did really well, they could always skip a grade later. We'd cross that bridge if we came to it

I worked on new music with my brothers or John & Greg, or all of them. We were going to write for a while, then start recording songs after the holidays. We weren't in a hurry. We knew we had time & we hadn't let too much time since our last album. Demi worked on rewrites for her book, trying to finish it up. I was a little nervous about it, to be honest, because she was detailed, at times, about our romantic life. Not like pornographic or anything, but she definitely let people know how amazing our love was in every way imaginable.

My birthday was a week after we got back from camping, so Demi made some fun plans the weekend before my birthday. I couldn't believe I was 33. Where the hell did the time go? It felt like just yesterday, I turned 21. Okay, maybe I shouldn't use that as an example, since Demi & I weren't together when I was 21, but it sure didn't seem like it had been 12 years.

Demi had to fly to L.A. the first few days of October, for a meeting with her editor, so I had the kids to myself for a few days. Thank goodness the twins had school, because Reid was a lot more crazy when his brother was around. Then the boys would pick on Mercy & she'd come running to me every fifteen minutes. It was enough to drive anyone crazy.

Demi was supposed to come home on Saturday, but she decided to stay a little longer to visit with her friends & family that were still in L.A. I didn't care since my mom was coming to help with the kids. Mom stayed with Reid at the house, when I went to the airport to pick Demi up on Wednesday. We hadn't seen each other in a week, so when I saw her in the airport, I took off in a sprint toward her. We ran into each other's arms, not caring that there were paparazzi all around us, recording or taking photographs of us. I grabbed her in my arms & spun her around a few times before I put her down & kissed her lips. Our foreheads were touching & I was breathing hard. "I missed you like crazy." I said in a breathy voice.