Trust In Forever (Book 12 in the Forever Series)

Chapter 10

Demi

I didn't want to think I was directly responsible for making Nick depressed, so when I heard him say, 'no wonder I get depressed' my heart broke into a million pieces. I never wanted to be the reason for his depression again, but I knew, from experience, it wasn't always something that could be controlled. I knew from experience, that Nick didn't really mean to insinuate that I was responsible for making him depressed. He was just trying to lash out, to hurt me, to feel the way he was feeling. I didn't blame him, which is why I just apologized & assured him I would do whatever I could to make it possible for us to have some time away, just the two of us.

A few days later, I was back on the set of Cuffing Season, with Nick, while the kids hung out with their aunt & uncle. I got a text from my agent saying she was able to change the dates of some of my scheduled appearances for the animated movie. I smiled at my phone when I saw the dates I would be free started on July 4th. Since Nick was leaving on the morning of July 10th, that gave us almost a week.

Nick was ecstatic when I told him the news, so immediately we started planning our romantic trip. It took most of an evening, cuddled on the couch together, but we found a beautiful private rental, in Palm Springs. We had a tough time deciding between the beach or the mountains, then we saw this place & decided to go with the desert. 

For the three weeks that were left to film the movie, Nick would take the kids to do fun stuff around L.A. when he wasn't filming. We also squeezed in the birthday parties for Avery, Harper & Riley, since their birthdays were in June. We didn't film on the weekends, usually, so that gave us time to do things as a family & we packed as much fun into our schedules as we possibly could. Nick was completely done filming his scenes about a week and a half before me, so he had more time to do things with the kids. Joe & Blanda also came out, with their kids, so they got to hang out with Nick & the kids, while I was filming in Vegas for a few days.

Nick & I planned a Fourth of July party at our house, in L.A. & invited all our friends & family, even the ones who didn't live in L.A. Many of them traveled, just so they could go to our party. Then, when Nick & I went to the desert, Frankie & Maddie would stay at our house with the kids. We were all having a blast at our party, as we patiently waited for fireworks to start that evening, in our neighborhood. One of our neighbors had a nice display every year, since he moved in several years ago & whenever we were in L.A. for the Fourth, the kids looked forward to it. 

It was close to dark, when I looked around the yard to see if the kids were all ready for the fireworks to start. I saw Jerry sitting with Joel, the twins sitting with Reid, while Nick was smoking cigars with his brothers, on the other side of the yard. I rolled my eyes & laughed when he looked over at me, smiling, pretending he wasn't smoking. Since I didn't see Avery or Mercy anywhere in the yard, I turned around to go into the house to find them.

Once I stepped inside the house, Mercy & Karleigh came into view, breathing heavy. "Mom! Avery is sick. I heard him moaning & throwing up, in the bathroom upstairs, but he has the door locked." Mercy said, sounding panicked. "It could be food poisoning. Remember, last night, at the restaurant, he said his chicken tasted funny & he was the only one who ate the chicken."

Instantly, my heart started beating fast, hearing my baby was sick. I didn't say anything or ask any questions as I took off toward the stairs to head up to where Avery was. I knocked on the bathroom door as Mercy & Karleigh watched. "Girls, I got this. Go out to the backyard so you don't miss the fireworks." I said to them, then knocked, again, on the bathroom door when they walked off. "Avery? It's Mom. Can you unlock the door?"

I heard the lock click, then the door opened & Avery peeked his head around it, his eyes darting around. "Are you alone?"

He opened the door further, when I pushed on it, a little. "Yes." I replied, in a shaky voice worried because of how bad Avery looked.