The Missing Lyric (Nemi)

Chapter 22

Nick

I chuckled from the shock of hearing Demi agree, so quickly, to what I suggested. "Okay? Just like that? You don't want to hear the reasons or what else he said we'd have to do?" I asked leaning forward a little.

Demi was smiling as she shrugged her shoulders. "If it gets us Lyric then I'm in. I'll do whatever it takes." She lifted her nose a little to show her determination & I had to laugh.

"Demi... Are you sure? I mean this is a big step. No... it's a giant leap." I laughed out loud, feeling the nerves taking over my body.

Demi sighed, still smiling. "What do we need to do?" She asked as she folded her hands on her lap.

"Well, first off, he said the reason we had a better chance of adopting her, if we were married, is because they are more likely to put an adoption through when a couple is trying to adopt. If one of us tried to adopt her alone, we'd probably get turned down & it doesn't matter that we're her biological parents. He said we gave up our rights to her when we put her up for adoption, so now we have to legally get those rights back." I explained, keeping my eyes on her. I watched her expression & she just listened, never looking worried or surprised.

"That all makes sense." Demi nodded, sucking in her bottom lip.

"Yea. I mean it sounds crazy that we're even talking about this, but I agree it makes sense. He did tell me that we have to make this look real, though. To everyone. To our friends & family & to the public. He said they will interview people to find out if we're married for real." My eyebrows were up as I spoke, watching to see if she was having second thoughts.

Demi relaxed against the couch & ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, that shouldn't be too hard publicly since we've been spending a lot of time together lately. We can just make up a story that we decided to give a relationship a chance after New Year's & wanted to keep it quiet because we weren't sure it was going to work out." Demi leaned her head down to rest it on her wrist as she watched me with a sweet expression on her face. I felt myself being drawn to her, like I wanted to kiss her, but I shook my head & looked away.

"Yea." I cleared my throat, then smiled at her. "We can come up with a believable story." I inhaled & exhaled, slowly. "You really want to do this?" I asked in a whisper, not wanting her to change her expression or anything about the way she looked right now. Her face had been wiped clean of her makeup, so her freckles were prominent on her creamy skin. She still had the soft smile on her pale pink lips as she watched me with those gorgeous brown eyes that seemed to look right into my soul. Demi didn't open her mouth to answer me. Instead, she nodded, ever so slightly. "We're going to have to convince people we're really together. We'll have to hold hands...." I grinned at her when she made a look of disgust.

"We had sex, ya know?" She whispered, lifting her head off her arm. "I think I can hold your hand without it being awkward."

"We'll have to kiss in front of people." I said, looking at her with a side smirk. Demi giggled & shrugged her shoulders.

"Lyric made us kiss today. It wasn't so bad."

I felt my face get warm as I laughed, nervously. I cleared my throat & ran my hand through my hair. "When I told him that Lyric sometimes stayed with us, he said she is going to have to be convinced as well because they could interview her. So... we'll have to like both live in the same place & sleep in the same bed." I held my breath, watching her face, waiting for her to change her mind.

Demi laughed, then leaned to grab her water bottle that was on the table. "We can live at your house because it's huge & your bed is bigger than a small car." She smiled at me as she lifted the water bottle, to her lips, to take a drink.