“Exotic… I love that… I guess that was the nicest way they could think of to say ‘she looks nothing like we expected her to.’” India laughed. She’d been entirely amused with the afternoon- Chasity had come over for a dish-and-giggle session with her while Nick had gone out of town for a couple days to make some final adjustments and decisions on the record. Chasity had brought over a stack of magazines that included articles on Nick and they’d begun reading over them, searching for mentions of ‘Nick’s unnamed girlfriend’, or ‘the mystery woman from Nick’s birthday bash’.
“Oh… here’s another one!” Chasity said, folding back the pages of the magazine. “Nick has asserted in the past that he’s very much a fan of “normal” girls. We were impressed that he stood by his word when meeting the girlfriend he brought with him to our interview, a pretty girl that wasn’t supermodel stick-thin.”
“’Girlfriend he brought with him to our interview’?” India asked. “They make it sound like they expected us to have broken up by the time the article came out.”
“Maybe they did.” Chasity shrugged.
“Well at least they got the not stick-thin part right… hell yeah I’ve got curves… I’ve got an ass and Nick loves it!” she said, getting up and doing a little booty dance around the living room.
Chasity shook her head, somewhat in disbelief. Sometimes she couldn’t quite believe her sister was still the same person. Falling in love – so deeply in love- had changed her in so many little ways… when taken all together, they almost seemed like an overwhelming difference. But she knew India was happy – probably happier than she’d ever been, really- and there was nothing more she could want for her little sister. “Not to change the subject, but you’re going to move in with him, you think?”
India sat back down, “Yeah… I mean, why not? We’re always together, when we can be, so I might as well just take my stuff over… rather than having him come running over in the middle of the night, or me buying a toothbrush to keep over there.”
“You know… you’re going to turn out just like mom and dad.” Chasity said.
“How so?” India asked. A comparison to her parents wasn’t exactly a leap she could make without some reservations.
“Falling crazy in love, can’t get enough of each other… pretty soon you’re going to have a couple kids and then be like, well, hell, we may as well get married.”
India considered her statement for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It doesn’t matter if we get married or not… I’ll stay with him forever.”
“I still can’t believe the things you say now.” Chasity said, smiling.
“I said whenever the time was right… I’d let it happen. It’s happening… the time is right, I guess.” India told her.
~~~~
India sat curled up in a chair by the window, scanning over the files she’d saved since she’d left school. All the things she’d written, the e-mails from the kids- nearly all of whom were still keeping in touch with her…there was so much material there. More than she’d have guessed she could have compiled. Probably enough… for a doctoral thesis. She smiled at the thought… she could still get a PhD before she was 30.
She made a mental note to check out her options- since she had plenty of time these days, why shouldn’t she work on it?
~~~
“Hooold ittt… riiiight… there!” the photographer called as Nick trying to cautiously arrange himself into just the right position.
India had to fight to keep from laughing- the whole day had been absurd. First watching Nick get covered in make-up which she firmly believed he did not need, then seeing normally hyper-active Nick try to sit still in crazy positions for this insane photographer… she was exceptionally glad just to be a voyeur on the whole fiasco and not actually involved.
She was also glad she’d decided to join Nick on the short trip to work on the aesthetics of the album, the pictures and cover. It was an interesting process and she’d never been to LA before- she was glad she hadn’t missed the trip because of the way she’d been feeling lately- totally not up for traveling. However, her excitement at joining Nick had not been enough to prevent her from having to make use of the air-sick bag so conveniently provided in the pocket of the seat in front of her.
She couldn’t help but giggle when every time the photographer would turn his back to Nick, Nick would give her a “help me!” look- and she’d shrug. What was she going to do, really? She knew Nick had no problems mugging for the camera- it was the nonsensical directives of the photographer that were making him crazy. She knew the photographer had been hired because he took awesome pictures, apparently his less-than-traditional methods of practice were supposed to be overlooked because of the end result.
When Nick was finally dismissed from the latest round of photos to go change clothes, he took a moment and dropped onto the floor next to India, “I want to get you in some of these.”
“You wanna want?”
“If the dude’s gonna torture me all day with this ridiculous shit… the least he can do is take a few shots of me and my girl.” Nick told her, leaning over to kiss India’s cheek.
“Nick, I look terrible… “ she argued, gesturing to her hair pulled back into a high, messy bun and then her jeans-and-t-shirt attire. “I didn’t even put on any make-up!”
Nick reached over and pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, sending it tumbling over her shoulders in loose waves. “You’re beautiful… don’t worry about it. We just don’t have many pictures of us and I want to have him take some, okay?”
She couldn’t help but smile at him, something about the way he spoke to her never failed to convince her he was telling the truth. “Okay.”
“Thanks.” He kissed her again and jumped off, disappearing behind a partition to make his zillionth wardrobe change of the day.
India got up off the floor and wandered over to the grooming area where Nick had been over-sufficiently primped earlier in the day to see if there was anything laying around she might be able to use to make herself feel a little better about the way she looked. She swished some powder over her face and dabbed on a little blush and lip gloss; she figured her eyes were just fine the way they were.
“India!”
She turned around to see Nick motioning for her to join him over by the “dressing room” and crossed the huge, open room to see what he wanted.
“Take your shirt off.” he told her.
“Excuse me?”
“To put this one on.” he said, laughing at the expression on her face.
“Oh…” She pulled off the t-shirt she was wearing, immediately aware of Nick’s eyes zeroing in on her chest.
“Wow… now that’s a Wonderbra…” Nick said, carefully investigating her slightly-more-ample-than-usual cleavage.
“It’s not a Wonderbra.” India told him, snatching the other shirt from him to cover up as she saw the photographer starting to amble towards them.
“Whatever it is, I like it.” Nick said, grabbing her hands before she could start on the buttons of the red oxford-type shirt he’d given her from the massive collection of clothes he had to choose from. “Just… this one.” he said, buttoning the one button that would just barely conceal the front hook of her bra.
“What is going on?” the photographer asked, eyeing Nick and India.
“I want to get her in some shots.” Nick told him.
The photographer looked India up and down, an unreadable expression on his face. After a few moments, his expression changed, lighting up his face. “I like it!”
India watched bewilderedly as the photographer ran off, shouting directions she couldn’t understand to his assistant. “’I like IT?’ What is IT? Your idea? or am I ‘IT’?”
Nick shook his head, “Don’t ask questions… it’s easier that way.”
“Whatever…” India followed him back over to where the obnoxiously bright lights were set up in front of a white canvas.
~~
Thirty-five minutes later, India was still giggling as she changed back into her original t-shirt from the fun that their impromptu photo session had turned out to be. She couldn’t wait to see how the pictures turned out. A few kissy shots, a few serious, some flirty, and a couple of borderline naughty ones should turn out to be a great personal collection for the two of them. At least one of the pictures- if it turned out as well as she thought it would- had already been mentally hung near Nick’s bed… a fairly frisky picture of them holding each other, with devious smiles and Nick’s hands squeezing her ass.
*****
India closed the door after she’d taken the package from the delivery guy and went into the kitchen, tearing the box open. It felt like it had taken forever for it to get to her- she’d had to stop herself several times from calling the NFL shop and asking what the hold up was.
When she finally got it open, and got a look at what she’d ordered, she giggled – totally pleased with how perfect it was. She set it down on the table and then dialed Nick. When he picked up and said ‘hello?’ she asked, “When can you come over? I’ve got a surprise for you…”
“Uhh.. now I guess… whaddya got?”
“If I told you now, it wouldn’t be a surprise… just come over, okay?”
“Alright… I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
After she hung up the phone- knowing that Nick was completely curious as to what she was up to- she went to find a different box and some wrapping paper, to properly present Nick’s gift to him.
~~
“Okay… what’s going on?” Nick asked, as soon as he’d walked in the door at India’s house, just after he’d paused to give her a kiss.
“You’re so impatient.” India scolded, pointing him to the couch.
“You said you had a surprise for me and I want to know what it is!” he said, his face transforming into his infamous pout.
“Alright, alright…” India went to the kitchen to retrieve the box she’d wrapped, hoping the lighthearted presentation would work in her favor, though she wasn’t particularly concerned to begin with, she didn’t expect him to have any problems with this. “Here you go…”
Nick took the box from her, and looked at it all wrapped up and suddenly became worried. Had he missed some important date? “So, uh, what’s… the occasion?”
“Just open it.”
He tore the wrapping paper off and opened the box to reveal a tiny Buccaneers jersey with CARTER across the back of it. He picked it up out of the box and looked at it for a few moments and then glanced up at India, watching him expectantly, then back down at the jersey, wondering if there was any possibility that it meant what he thought it might mean. “So… uh…what is this…?”
“You remember at Christmas… when you said you wondered what it would be like if I got pregnant?” she asked, and when he nodded, she said, “I hope you’re ready to find out.”
Nick’s eyes widened, his surprise at her announcement very obvious. “You’re…we’re… Really???”
She nodded, “Apparently that’s why I taste different.”
“I told you!!!” he shouted, jumping up and pulling her up with him into an ecstatic hug. “So, how… not how.. I know HOW.. but, like, when?”
India had to laugh at him, apparently he WAS okay with this. “When what? When did this happen?”
Nick nodded, “Yeah, like, how long?”
“The doctor said seven weeks… which was the end of January…” India said, chuckling to herself.
“My birthday!”
India nodded, “Won’t that be a story to tell? ‘So, honey… you were conceived in the stall of a men’s bathroom at a club in New York City… on your dad’s birthday… and we have pictures… that the whole world saw…’”
Nick cracked up at the thought- it seemed somehow appropriate that for the two of them, the conception of their first child would be a little… risqué… no Wonders of the World or semi-trucks. Nick sat back down on the couch, pulling India into his lap and hugging her close to him. “Wow… what a birthday present…” he said, kissing her.
“You really want this?” she asking, laying her head back on his shoulder.
“I am totally, totally cool with this.” he said, slipping his hands around her waist and clasping them over her stomach. “I was afraid I said too much at Christmas when I brought it up, because it was like, too soon or something. But I know you’re the one I’ve been waiting for… you’re everything I could ever want or need.. and I’m ready to take that next step with you. I’ve just like, known from the beginning that this was something I wanted with you… to have a family… to have a whole new dimension to my life that I’ve never wanted with anyone else. But I do with you… and you’ve done it.”
“Actually WE did it.” India corrected him, then turned her head to kiss his cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He was silent for a few moments, then asked, “So when can we tell people?”
India shrugged, “I guess whenever… I’d probably suggest starting with my parents, though… I know they’ll be happy about it…just, uh, in case your parents aren’t exactly thrilled.”
“Good plan.” he kissed her neck and squeezed her a little tighter. “So is this why you puked on the plane?”
“Most likely.”
“And the it’s-not-a-wonderbra-boobs?”
“Apparently that part starts early.” she said, laughing.
“Hey, no complaints from me!” Nick chuckled, kissing her temple. “So, like, there really is a difference in the way you taste when you’re pregnant?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I told the doctor that you’d said I tasted different… then I missed my period… and I wondered if the two things were related and she said that couples that have been pregnant before and the man can recognize the difference in taste… the guy may be able to tell the woman is pregnant before she even knows.” India said.
“Huh… that’s pretty damn cool.” He picked up the jersey again, and laid it over India’s stomach. “So what if it’s a girl? Save the jersey for next time around?”
“Nah… she can wear it… she can play football if she wants. Or we’ll get her some pompons to go with it.”
“Girls do look pretty hot in jerseys.” Nick commented, then carefully moved India off of his lap. He knelt beside the couch and slipped his hand into India’s shorts, letting it rest just between her hipbones, flat against the natural curve of her stomach. He bowed his head and whispered, “Hey baby…it’s daddy… you know what? Your mom is the most beautiful woman ever…. and I love her so much…. and I love you, too, already…. I can’t wait to meet you…”