Forever Strong (Book 7 in Nemi Forever Series)

Chapter 29

Demi

I knew Nick was still upset with me after he brought Mercy home. He barely looked at me & hardly talked to me. His mom & him went out on the back porch after the kids were in bed, while I was on the phone with my mom. Denise came inside just as I was getting off the phone with my mom.

Denise hugged me as she was saying goodbye. "Go talk to your husband. He feels bad." She stuck her lower lip out.

He felt bad? Is that why he ignored me tonight? I smiled. "Okay, Mom. Thanks for the help today. Love you."

I found Nick outside staring up at the stars, his hands clasped behind his head while he sat in a chair. When he saw me, he sat up straight & cleared his throat. "We need to talk." He said.

I nodded as I sat in the chair next to him. "I know. I have to tell you again how sorry I am."

Nick reached for my hand. "You know what? I don't want to talk about that. I know you're sorry. I know you realize how bad that could have been..." His eyes met mine & I nodded as tears filled them. Nick squeezed my hand. "I want to apologize for snapping at you & saying all the things I said to you. I know you were upset because you thought I was cheating. I shouldn't have eaten off Olivia's fork & I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I was pretty upset that you would think that I could cheat if even for a little bit. And then when I found out that Mercy could think that I would do such a thing.... well... I lost it. I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you & I know I did, with the things I yelled at you. Can you forgive me?"

I nodded, wiping at my tears with my other hand. "I'm sorry I thought you cheated. I think a part of me is afraid you'll cheat on my one day just to get revenge."

Nick rolled his eyes & sighed in annoyance. "Demi, I would never do that. Anyway, I think we need to distance ourselves from Olivia. I'm pretty pissed at her right now." Nick told me what Mercy had told him & I had to say I was angry, too.

"I think you may be right. I will talk to Wilmer in the next few days."

"Olivia is supposed to come over to work on her album tomorrow & I will talk to her about it. After the album is done, I don't want to see her much. I don't want to take Gianna away from Mercy, so maybe we can work out something with Wilmer. Like he can drop her off without Olivia."

"Whatever you want, babe. Can we go to bed, now? I'm exhausted."

"Yea. Go on up to bed & I will be up in a few. I gotta call Joe back. He called earlier." Nick stood up & helped me stand. He kissed me, quickly, then I turned to head into the house & up to our bedroom. As I was getting ready for bed, I remembered the phrase from the letter Nick had written to Olivia, years earlier. "Forever Yours, Nick." It bothered me. It made me a little ill to be honest. I was crying in the bathroom, silently, when I heard Nick come in the bedroom. I looked out into the bedroom & saw him undressing. He climbed into bed, then started playing on his phone. I realized then, that my lower back was hurting really bad. It was a dull ache, but enough to annoy me. I had been on my feet a lot that whole day, so I was paying for it now. I couldn't wait to crawl into bed. Nick looked up at me when I came out of the bathroom. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

I took a deep breath, not realizing he could see I had been crying. I didn't want to get upset, but we made a promise a long time ago to always be open & honest with each other. I stood at the foot of the bed & stuck my lip out. "You said forever yours." I simply said, my voice cracking a little.

Nick looked confused. "What?" He shook his head.

"In the letter. You said forever yours, Nick. It breaks my heart that you said forever to someone else."