The next morning I wake up to find the bed empty and immediately start to panic. Her spot isn't warm which means she's been gone for a while, fuck!
I hurry to get up, dressed and run out the doors and down the stairs. The minute I hit the bottom step I can smell bacon and eggs cooking and stop in my tracks. I turn my head and can see the kitchen from where I am.
Nicky stands in a dress shirt of mine she must have found in my closest, turning bacon. Oh thank fuck!
I grab ahold of the railing on the stair case and wait for my heart to stop racing enough to walk in there and greet her.
I'm finally able to walk in and kiss her neck from behind.
"Good morning, baby." I say.
"Good morning, daddy. Hungry?" She asks sweetly.
"Mmmhmm.. certainly am." I say looking her over.
"For food, caveman." She laughs.
"Of course, what did you think I was talking about?" I say.
She raises her brow at Me and shakes her head.
I take a seat at the kitchen table as she places a plate down infront of me.
"Thank you, babygirl." I say and dig in.
"How did you sleep?" She asks me
"Really good with you in my arms." I say, smiling.
"Yeah, me too." She says with a smile.
"I did panic when I woke up and found you not in them though." I say.
"Aww, I'm sorry, daddy. I wanted to make you breakfast." She says.
"It's ok, don't even worry about it baby." I say.
After we finish breakfast we get ready and wait for the driver to come back. He takes us to my parents house which isn't far away.
Nicky keeps squeezing my hand periodically through out the trip, from nerves I'm guessing. I squeeze her hand back and tell her it'll be fine.
We finally pull up and hop out knocking on the door.
"Oh my God, son." My father croaks, tears filling his eyes.
"Dad." I croak out too and give him a tight hug.
"I thought you died, son." He says.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I alive and I'm here, dad." I say.
"Thank God for that. Come, come. Get in here. And I see you have a beautiful woman here with you." He says looking at Nicky.
"Hi, I'm Nicky." She says holding out her hand.
My dad brings her in for a big hug.
"It's so good to meet you, Nicky. Welcome!" He says ushering her inside.
He brings us to the sitting area and gets the maid to bring us drinks.
I notice dads aged alot these last 10 years. My disappearance must have taken a toll on my parents and I start to feel that guilt again.
"Wheres mom?" I ask, noticing she isn't here. My stomach starts to flip. She would have greeted us, hell She would have beat dad to the door.
Dads face falls and even more tears are forming now. That's when I know.
"I'm sorry, son. But your mm.mother, she.. well she passed away 3 years ago." He says.
I feel like everything is spinning and blurry... no... she can't be dead.
"No, no, no. She's not. I wasn't here." I whisper.
"I am so sorry, son." Dads says, hugging me again.
"What.. what happened?" I ask.
My father gestures towards the couch and we all take a seat.
"She wasn't well for a really long time and when she finally agreed to go to the doctor they found she had breast cancer. She went through all the chemo and radiation... but..but it was too much for her. She passed away a year and half after her diagnosis." Dad says with silent tears running down his face.
I grab on to Nicky's hand, I need to feel grounded.
"I am so, so sorry to you both. Drew told me so many great stories about her, I wish I could have met her." Nicky says while squeezing my hand.
"Oh she was an astounding woman. At first glance I was a a goner, she looked at me with her big brown eyes and I was hooked. She had a laugh that made you laugh and could make you feel better whenever you were sad, angry or upset." My dad says.
"Do you remember when you were probably, I don't know, 9 or 10 and a huge storm came, taking out the power for a few hours so your mother decided we would all camp in the living room, make forts, tell spooky stories?" My dad asks.
"Ha, yeah I do. I was scared at first but by the end of it we were having so much fun I forgot about the storm." I say.
"I miss her." My dad whispers.
We talk some more and look at photos, Nicky asked to see my baby photos and dad couldn't run fast enough to get them.
I can tell my dad likes Nicky, he's also given me the approval nod when she wasn't looking. I knew she had nothing to worry about but I understand meeting the parents can be scary.
We ended up staying the whole day and even had dinner before coming back home. I just needed to process loosing mom. I felt so bad that I wasn't here for her.
"You ok, baby?" Nicky asks while were sitting in bed.
"Yeah, I'm just.. I'm just sad, I can't believe I wasn't here for her when she needed me." I say and dam breaks, I cry like I'm a child again.
Sobbing wracks my body as Nicky holds me.
"Shhh..... its alright. Don't blame yourself Drew, she wouldn't want that." Nickh says soothingly.
She's right, mom wouldn't want me to blame myself.
"I just can't believe I missed it, I wasn't here. Dad had to suffer alone." I cry.
Nicky runs her hand through my hair, calming me. I don't know what i would do without her, I don't know how i would be without her.
"Thank you for being here with me, babygirl. It means the world to me." I say in-between sobs.
"There's no place I'd rather be, Drew. I'm here, with you." She whispers in my ear.
We lay in bed snuggling, the weather has since changed almost as If it can sense my despair and it's raining outside. Nicky put a movie on but I don't pay attention, I focus on her hands running up and down my back as I lay in her arms.
I eventually fall asleep to the sound of Nicky's voice telling me she loves me.