The Leaves 03 (Nico) (21 page)

I dipped my needle into the blue ink. “To match your ego?”

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“Fuck you, man.” He looked out the window. “Frodo’s here, finally. I’m outta here, man.”

“Dude,” I said, wiping the skin one final time. “You can’t go past Lark’s shop. It’s Teensy’s final fitting, you know this, and my job is to keep you the fuck away from there.

When I get Lark’s text, we’ll go up and you can stuff your face, so I don’t have to hear you talk.”

“Is he always like this?” the customer asked.

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Hey Frodo,” I greeted and started to dress the tattoo.

“Hey.” He smiled. He wasn’t a big talker, which suited me just fine.

“You want to go grab some food from upstairs?” I offered.

“Nah. I don’t eat meat,” he said, throwing his bag into a corner.

“How can you not eat meat?” Zack asked, appalled.

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“Because I don’t like the taste of it. And this one time when I was traveling, I went off,
off
, the beaten path and stayed with these guys. They killed a man on our bus, and my buddies and I were kind of asked not to leave. Then there were some gunshots.

Then there was a barbeque. A plate of food was shoved in our faces, along with big fuckin’ guns to our heads while we were forced to eat whatever the fuck that mystery meat was while they laughed. Three days later, after we sat in our own piss and shit, some kind of government agency swooped in and rescued us. We asked where the rest of our group was and later they told us they found charred human remains with flesh removed… I don’t eat meat, man.” The studio was so fucking quiet.

The silence was broken when Zack asked,

“Does it really taste like chicken?” I punched him in gut. “What’s wrong with you?”

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“When will I ever get this opportunity again?” He laughed. Swear to God, Zack had no filter whatsoever.

Frodo slowly turned his body to Zack. He shook his head and told him, “Zack, man, it tastes like barbeque.”

Teensy walked in the door. “Thank fuck!” I said, thankful to see her pretty face. “Get him out of here!”

“Sweetie, have you been a naughty, naughty boy today?” she cooed while Zack started to turn red.

“Not in front of the guys, T!” He grabbed his backpack and roughly zipped it closed.

She laughed and pulled him through the door. “Thanks for putting up with him Nico,” she said.

“No problem.” When the customer was gone, I turned to Frodo and asked, “No shit?”

“Dude, Zack is the most gullible person I have ever met. Really cool guy though. We 363/510

went to different high schools, but our parents go to the same synagogue. We used to play Warhammer together.”

“Excuse me?” I grinned.

“You know, that game with the—”

“I know it.” Oh, I had so much ammuni-tion to sling at Zack with this new piece of his personal history.

“Don’t tell him I was lying; I want to keep embellishing the story for a while. Maybe ask a buddy to come in and pretend he’s a drug lord from Bolivia or something. Or even better, a DEA agent.” He threw his hands across his chest in laughter.

“You’re all right, Frodo.” I took the excess cash and filled out the deposit slip. “Thanks for closing on a holiday.”

“Have a good night, Nico.” He smiled.

“Oh, I will.” I hoped I was going to anyway.

The fireworks were going to start any minute. Lark was playing hostess and giving 364/510

everyone these cute little red, white, and blue Jello parfait things she made. She had a name for them, but I couldn’t tell you what it was, only that I could have eaten them all.

Then she brought around these brownies with this gooey center. This was followed by a seven-layer Mexican dip which everyone devoured.

She looked down at the empty dish. “I can’t believe that was more popular than the desserts.”

“Because people are drinking. Sweet and beer doesn’t match as well as salt and beer, babe.”

“I know that. I’m just saying, those brownie things are so good.” My pop appeared. “Lark, honey. Where are those brownies?” he whispered.

She whispered back, “There’s a Tupper-ware container in the cupboard above the fridge with a piece of tape that says, ‘rat, 365/510

mouse, and big ugly spider poison’. It’s all yours.” She winked.

“God bless you.” He smiled and started to walk away.

“Pop?” I asked, getting up from the lawn chair. “What time is it?” He looked at his watch. “A minute ‘till fireworks,” he answered. “Just enough time to eat a brownie without your mom finding out.”

“Well, we better get everyone together.

Hang back a minute,” I said and got up, shoving my hands in my pockets.

We all stood on the rooftop: Mom and Pop, Hank and Ramona, Teensy and Zack, Moira and her boyfriend, Tonka—he was built like a truck—and Becca and her boyfriend, Flapjack. All eyes were looking toward the sky. Lark stood next to Ramona, and I kneeled down in front of the crowd and waited for them to notice me. The first fireworks went up with a loud, explosive bang, 366/510

and while I watched Lark’s face smile up at the sky, illuminated with bright white and red hues, she glanced down at me for a second then looked back up. Then it hit her.

She looked down at me, her smile replaced by shock while I smiled right back at her. She had on a red tank top, her necklace hung beautifully, her long hair in two braids at her back. She threw a hand over her mouth and her loud hiccup got everyone’s attention.

“Babe.” I smiled up at her. “Come over here a minute, will ya?” She moved closer, as she tried so hard to contain her happy tears.

“I keep trying to take you away to do this, but I can’t wait anymore. I was looking for something… for a long time… I found it. Will you be my wife?” I held the ring up, and she offered me her shaking hand. Not once did she look at the ring. Her eyes stayed on mine the entire time. She got down to my level and threw her arms around me, making me lose my balance as she hugged me and laughed.

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Our friends and family clapped behind us. I finally saw her face and wiped her tears away. “So that’s a yes?”

“You bet your ass it’s a yes.” She laughed.

I heard the pop of a champagne cork behind us. Pop filled red plastic cups when Lark said, “You know, I have glasses for this occasion… just sayin’.”

“Next time, babe.” I smiled and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

“I’m glad you finally asked me, Nico.” I stood up and pulled her to her feet, the fireworks forgotten behind us as Pop handed me a cup and started to pour.

“A toast to my son and the beautiful Lark.

Always wanted a daughter, honey.” Everyone held their cups, waiting for Lark and I to have ours filled.

“None for me,” she said to Pop.

“You need to drink something; it’s bad luck if you don’t,” he said.

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“Sprite then,” she requested and looked at me.

“You want a beer? We can open a bottle of wine…” my pop offered.

“No, no alcohol,” she said softly and squeezed my hand.

Ramona dropped her cup, champagne splashing everywhere.

“Okay, I guess Sprite will have to do—”

“Tom!” My mom smacked my pop.

“What?” He looked at her, then looked at me and Lark.

“Babe?” I said as she pulled my hand to her belly.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. Her face softened in a beautiful smile along with her voice as she said, “I love you, Nico. Good timing.” The fireworks boomed around us as our families howled with screams and catcalls.

Me, on the other hand, I just stared at the face of the woman who I knew I could not live without.

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“Damn,” I said and shook my head.

“What is it?” she asked, confused.

“You took the breath right out of me, babe… again.”

***

The rest of the night was spent with Ramona and Mom treating Lark like she was made of fine China. They didn’t let her lift a finger. At one point she turned to me and said, “I could get used to this, you know.” We laughed about it, laughed with our families, and laughed with our friends while everyone made us feel like we were the Queen and King of all we surveyed. While Lark was in the shower, I took out my journal to write to Dish.

Dear Dish –

Tonight, I asked Lark to be my wife.

She said yes.

She also told me I’m gonna be a daddy.

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I wonder how other men feel when this
happens to them. Weirdest thing, I’m happy
about potentially becoming a dad. I can’t
wait actually, but what makes me happiest
is seeing the change in Lark. It’s like I gave
her the things she was missing and she did
the same for me. I can’t even think straight
now.

Mom and Pop are beside themselves. Pop
never stopped smiling the entire night.

Hank kept trying to comfort Ramona who
was happy beyond belief, but very emotional. Zack and Teensy left with everyone else,
all giving us their congratulations as they
went.

I wanted to take her to the cabin, but
maybe it’s better this way. It was spur of the
moment. Something told me the time was
right and I’m glad I listened.

N-

With the news that Lark was pregnant and engaged, Dee decided it was time for a visit. I 371/510

had mixed feelings about Dee. For whatever reason, I got the distinct impression she hated my fuckin’ guts. I had to say, so far, the feeling was mutual. But for Lark’s sake, I was happy to keep the peace.

The beginning of August meant Lark was about six weeks along. She kept telling me it was early days yet. She didn’t have any morning sickness but said she was tired, exhausted in fact. My reply to this was, “Growing a person must be hard work,” and encouraged her to rest whenever she could.

Other than that, life went on as normal.

We started to make wedding plans for after the baby was born. Since Lark had already made a dress—one I wanted to see her in—she said we should wait and have kiddo be a flower girl or ring-bearer. Although, kiddo wouldn’t be doing much of anything but sleeping or eating, because neither one of us wanted to wait long. “As soon as I can fit in that dress,” she said. “Brace yourself, 372/510

lover, because I am going to be all over that bride shit!”

I laughed at her enthusiasm.

August the sixth, the bell sounded above the door in the studio, and Cole appeared with a huge pink balloon filled with baby crap.

“It’s a girl!” he happily stated.

I got up from the laptop, shook his hand, and asked with a smile, “Name?”

“Ava Amelia.” His eyes had gone all dreamy when he said it.

“Jesus, man, look at you!” I laughed.

“Anyway, she’s perfect, and Anika was great. Only took fifteen hours of hard work, but she said it was worth it. She can’t wait to do it all over again.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. I’d been looking up pregnancy websites when he walked in. I was actually terrified.

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“And I thought you’d get a kick out of this; they put Ava on Anika’s chest and she started to suckle, and damn if Anika isn’t a natural.

She latched on, no problems at all. A natural.

Both of them. My parents are there now.

They made me leave, and I only did because Anika said she wants Thai food from our favorite place. Thought I’d stop and give you the news since I was close by.”

“Thanks, Cole. That is really great news.” A few hours later and I was still smiling.

It was great news.

Frodo came in, and I went home to my fiancé. “Babe?” I called out. “You won’t believe who came in today. Do you want to go to that diner? I know you’ve been wanting fries from there. Maybe we should—”

“Nico,” she sobbed. She was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, her grey yoga pants in a bloody heap along with a few towels. “I think I lost the baby.”

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“Fuck.” I scooped her into my arms. I didn’t give a fuck about the blood or the mess. “We need to take you to the hospital, babe.”

“I’m so sorry,” she cried into my chest.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Babe.” I held her sobbing body to me and told her, “Don’t be sorry, please, Lark. This happens. It happens all the time. It isn’t anything you did or didn’t do. It’s just Mother Nature’s way of saying something wasn’t right.”

I let her calm down for a while before I stripped both of us and got her in the shower. The reality of what had happened hadn’t really hit me until I began to clean her body. I’d bathed her before, knew every inch of her, but when I moved the washcloth between her legs and saw the source of the blood, something in me began to ache. I’d never felt that before and I hoped never to 375/510

feel it again. It was a moment I would carry with me to the grave.

I called my mom and asked her to come and clean up. “Oh, baby,” she said, “don’t worry about anything. Just take care of your girl.”

I knew she wouldn’t hesitate. I didn’t want to leave Lark’s side, and the last thing I wanted was for us to come home and be confronted

with

the

aftermath

of

her

miscarriage.

They scheduled her for something called a D and C, told her to wear these huge maternity pads and to come back tomorrow. It was fucking horrible. Probably the worst part of the entire experience was taking her to the appointment at the clinic and watching these heavily pregnant women, all glowing and shit, walk past us.

In the meantime, Teensy had been planning her wedding. Lark was, of course, involved, but she wasn’t in any frame of mind 376/510

to celebrate. She wanted to and would have stepped up, but I called Zack, Teensy called me and said, “Oh Nico, I’m sorry. Zack told me what happened and I re-arranged everything.” I started to argue with her, but she stopped me with, “There are only thirty people coming. A few phone calls and a flash of my platinum card makes everything possible.” Then her tone changed to that sweet way she reserved for the people close to her.

“You tell her to call whenever she needs me, Nico. I mean it.”