“There’s nothing cute about wearing this big black….BAG thing and this silly cardboard hat!” Jourdin wailed, unable to get the cap to stay on her head and the tassel to stop swinging in her face.
Nick put the camera down and helped her adjust the cap and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You look adorable… but does it really matter how you look? You’re DONE!”
Jourdin couldn’t help but giggle excitedly- she’d passed all her finals with A’s and B’s and in less than two hours receive her degree. She jumped up into Nick’s outstretched arms, hugging him tightly and kissing him. “I’m so glad you’re with me today, babyboy.”
Nick smiled and kissed her back, “I am, too… I swear it felt like this day was never going to come sometimes though.”
Jourdin gave him an odd look, “What do you mean? I’m the one that had to sit through all those damn classes!”
“But I’m the one who had to go around pretending to be single and happy about it all the while dying because I’m missing the love of my life and lying about it!” Nick said, making his infamous pouty face.
Jourdin kissed him again, “Starting right this second, you can tell everyone in the world that you are totally unavailable.”
“I can’t wait… I want everybody to see how completely and hopelessly in love I am.” He said, hugging her tightly and setting her back down. “We need to get going, or we’re gonna be late.”
“I know.. I know… do I have everything? Is the dog in her kennel?” Jourdin asked, rushing around the kitchen trying to grab her purse and mentally check to see if there was anything she might be forgetting.
“Yes, she’s in there… she will not be tearing up the bedroom again today.” Nick replied, ushering Jourdin out the door.
~~~~
Nick shifted in his seat for at least the millionth time, trying desperately to stay awake so he wouldn’t miss Jourdin’s name being called. The ceremony was going into it’s second hour and they were only barely in the middle of the alphabet, making Nick wish Jourdin’s last name wasn’t Spencer. He also wished they’d have been able to find Jourdin’s family before the ceremony started, so at least he and Cobi could have talked through the boring parts.
Nearly 45 minutes later, Nick heard “Jonathan Matthew Simons” receiving his degree and knew Jourdin couldn’t be much longer. He glanced down the rows of graduates, spotting her as her row was summoned to begin walking to the stage. He watched her as she stood in line, waiting for her turn.
Jourdin couldn’t help fidgeting as she climbed the few stairs to get onto the stage. She was nervous- hoping she wouldn’t trip in the heels she was wearing- and excited, but not nearly as much as she thought she would have been, at least not about graduating. All those years of school had come down to this one moment… receiving that piece of paper… but the thing she was most eager for- was now there would be nothing to keep her and Nick apart. He wouldn’t have to lie about not having a girlfriend, and she wouldn’t have to stay somewhere while he was gone anymore. Jourdin’s thoughts stopped abruptly as she heard the dean calling her name and she put on her best smile, walking quickly across the stage to get her diploma and shake the dean’s hand.
Nick jumped out of his seat, hollering and applauding loudly, as soon as he heard Jourdin’s name. He didn’t care who was watching him- that was his girl up there and he was proud of her. Jourdin heard Nick and stopped just before she walked off the stage, locating him and blowing him a kiss, causing him to holler even louder.
Cobi sighed as she watched her sister blow Nick a kiss, hoping one of these days she’d be as in love as they were. She’d spent most of the ceremony trying to locate Nick in the crowd, it had given her something to do while waiting for Jourdin to be called. She hadn’t been able to find him until he’d jumped up, and she’d giggled, she wanted a guy who’d be willing to make himself look silly for her, too.
At the end of the commencement, Jourdin went running through the mass of people, headed in the direction she’d seen Nick. She’d find her family later, all she wanted right then was to grab Nick and kiss him like she’d never kissed him before. She saw him standing at the end of a row, near the bottom of the sections of seats he’d been sitting in, talking to a little girl. She waited for her to finish talking to him, smiling at the little girl’s look of absolute delight when Nick gave her a hug.
Nick saw Jourdin waiting for him and went bounding down the steps, picking her up and swinging her around as soon as he got to her. He was surprised when she grabbed his face, kissing him with a fierce intensity, but responding with just as much as she was giving him. He totally forgot that there were other people around until he heard someone clearing their throat loudly and Jourdin pulled away from him. Nick turned to see Jourdin’s parents, Cobi, and a guy who looked eerily similar to Jourdin standing around them, watching them.
“OHMYGOD! JAXON!!” Jourdin quickly let go of Nick and nearly tackled her brother. She squeezed him hard, “How the hell did you manage to get here?”
Jaxon hugged her, smiling, “Oh come on, like I’d really miss you graduating?”
Jourdin shook her head in disbelief, he’d actually taken a leave to come sit through this terribly boring ceremony just for her. “I’m so glad you’re here… I want you to meet…” She turned to grab Nick to introduce him to Jaxon, and had to laugh when she saw Nick and Cobi comparing paper airplanes they’d made out of the commencement programs.
“I’m guessing the blonde guy you were sucking face with is Nick, huh?” Jaxon asked.
Jourdin laughed, “No, Nick couldn’t make it today and he was just cute so I thought he’d do for the moment.”
“Yes, that’s Nick.” Jourdin’s mother cut in. “He’s a lovely young man.. Cobi obviously adores him.”
“I think Jourdin kind of likes him, too, Mom.” Jaxon said.
Jourdin went over to Nick and Cobi, interrupting their survey of the damage done to Cobi’s airplane as it had taken a nosedive. “C’mere Nick, I want you to meet Jax.”
Nick followed Jourdin back to her brother and parents, amazed at how much Jourdin and Jaxon looked alike. He’d seen pictures of them together, but in person, he was a little shocked. He held his hand out to Jaxon as Jourdin introduced them, “It’s awesome to finally meet you, man.”
“Same here.” Jaxon replied, shaking Nick’s hand and trying to size him up. As Jourdin turned to hug her parents he said, “Don’t you dare hurt her.”
Nick stared at Jaxon, taken aback by what he’d said. “I would never do that…”
Jaxon let his expression ease a little. “Good. I know how much she loves you.”
Nick breathed an inward sigh of relief when Jaxon visibly softened. “I love her, too… I swear I’m always gonna be good to her.”
~~~~
Later in the evening, Jourdin, Nick, Cobi, Jaxon, and her parents were all sitting around Jourdin and Nick’s kitchen table, eating steaks that her dad had grilled on the barbecue she and Nick had never quite managed to figure out and watching Lyric gnaw on a t-bone Nick had thrown her.
“So what are you going to do now, Jourdin?” Jaxon asked, spearing another steak and bringing it over to his plate.
“I’m gonna tell you to stop taking the food I want!” Jourdin laughed. “Don’t they feed you in the Air Force?”
“Not like this!” Jaxon shot back, taking a huge bite of the steak.
Jourdin rolled her eyes and looked at her mom, “Look at that! Didn’t you teach him any manners??”
Her mother sighed, “I tried.. I tried…”
They all laughed at her woeful expression. Jourdin was so happy to have everyone around her today, celebrating. She was glad that Jaxon had been able to make it, and that he and Nick seemed to be getting along fairly well, including the humorous argument they’d been having over which beer was superior while her dad was grilling the steaks.
“So, anyway, what are you going to do?” Jaxon asked again, after swallowing.
Jourdin shrugged, “I’ve gotten a couple job offers… I told them I wasn’t even going to consider them until after graduation.. and they all told me they’d wait… I’m not sure what I want to do, though.”
Nick glanced at her, that was new information to him. She hadn’t said anything about any job offers… She returned his glance a second later, but he couldn’t tell exactly what it was she seemed to be trying to say to him.