“You’re speaking to me again?” India asked, when Chasity turned around to face her.
“Yeah…” Chasity picked up the bag she’d set beside her while waiting for India to open the door and walked inside, headed to the couch.
“I was beginning to wonder… I think that was actually the longest period of time we’d ever gone without speaking. “ India said, referring to the three-week span of time since they last spoken when India had announced she was pregnant.
“I know…” Chasity said, sighing and sinking back into the cushy couch. “I was just so… I don’t even know what it was… irritated, upset, annoyed, disappointed, shocked…jealous…”
“All that from the person who is ALWAYS telling me that this is just what I needed?” India asked, sitting down at the opposite end of the couch, looking at her older sister.
“I do want you to have it… I want you to be happy, and I know you are… I just… thought I’d have it first.” Chasity explained.
“I’m not going to apologize for falling in love, Chas.” India told her. “I wasn’t planning on getting pregnant, I wasn’t intentionally trying to take the… privilege or whatever of being first… it just happened… I fell so hard for him and I love him so much… and now we’re going to have a family, and I love that. Every second of the day now… I’m just so aware of it… that this is where I was supposed to be… with him, having this baby… it just happened because the time was right, I guess.”
“I know it is… and that’s why I came over here. I wanted to apologize to you… say I’m sorry for the way I acted. I’m happy for you and I want you to know that. You’re my little sister and I love you… and I’m going to be the best aunt ever.” She said, smiling at India and reaching for the bag she’d been carrying. “Starting now.”
India took the bag from her and reached into it, pulling out a handmade sign for the baby’s room that read “My Aunt Chasity loves me!” decorated in various baby-type symbols and pictures. “That is so cute!!” India exclaimed, and practically jumped across the space between them on the couch to hug them.
“Forgive me?” Chasity asked, returning India’s hug.
“Of course.”
~~~~
“Uhhh… are you alright??” Nick called through the closed bathroom door at the sound of India being very sick.
“Hold….on…”
He could hear her throwing up again and cringed, feeling bad because he knew it was partly his fault. He opened the door and stepped into the bathroom, holding his hand out to her to help her up from her kneeling position, leaned over the toilet. He pulled her up and slipped his arm around her as she grabbed the mouthwash to rinse her mouth out with. “Sorry” he told her, after she’d spit it back out.
She leaned against him, hating the way she felt just then. Within the past few days, she’d just begun to feel nasty- getting sick more than just in the mornings, not wanting to eat anything knowing it was just going to come right back up, and not having the energy to do anything. “It’s okay… I’ll get revenge later… embarrassing photos shown to girlfriends or boyfriends… that sort of thing..” she said, giving a weak laugh.
Nick smiled at her, glad she never quite lost her sense of humor. He gently scooped her up and carried her into his bedroom, laying her down on the bed and curling up beside her, his head resting lightly on her stomach. “I wish you felt better.”
“So do I… it should get better soon, though.” She said, trying to stay optimistic. She slipped her fingers through his hair, thinking it was sweet the way he was always so concerned about her.
“I hope so… ‘cause things are going to get pretty crazy here shortly…” Nick said, quietly. He hadn’t really wanted to start the conversation, but knew it had to be done sometime… things were going to get really busy pretty soon and he wanted to know what she was feeling about all of it before they suddenly found themselves in the middle of it.
“I know.”
He’d been hoping for more of a response than that, but guessed he was just going to have to start asking questions to get specific answers. “I want you with me… are you going to want to… or be able to travel with me?”
“I don’t know. Right now, at this particular moment, the idea of being on an airplane makes me want to puke again. But I may feel better tomorrow… or I may feel worse. I don’t know.” she said. “I’ll ask the doctor when I go in next week … if it’d be okay or not.”
“Alright.” He paused for a second, “What about when I’m not traveling?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you want to move in here? I mean… we’re always together, either at your place or here… so I don’t see why we shouldn’t actually be living together… and I just think… it’s make more sense to move your stuff here… we can use the bedroom at the end of the hall… turn it into a nursery…”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing… about moving… I’ll probably ask if Chasity wants to move into my house.” India said. “You want to turn that room into a nursery, huh? I guess we do need someplace to put this kid, huh?”
“I was actually thinking… I’d really like to do it myself… paint the walls, maybe draw some pictures for in there… what do you think?” he asked, turning to look up at her.
“I think that would be perfect.” she replied, sitting up and leaning over to kiss his forehead.
~~~~
Two weeks later, India was laying on the couch, still feeling icky, and watching Nick and Chris haul her hope chest through the front door as David tried his best to yell directions for them to navigate with.
“I said left!!” he yelped as they narrowly missed colliding with a wall.
India laughed a little, amused yet again. She felt bad she wasn’t doing much to help, but at the same time, was glad she could just sit back and watch the entertainment. Nick had claimed that India could contribute to the effort by ordering pizza and making sure there was beer in the fridge for when they were finished.
The night before, David and Chris had showed up, wanting to tell him they were sorry for not being more supportive right off, and that they were glad he and India were happy. And somehow, they’d gotten roped into helping move India’s things out of her house and into Nick’s, and then Chasity’s stuff into India’s house.
India was enjoying watching the guys work together- and really, Nick being all strong and macho was pretty fucking hot- plus it was good to see James… and the four of them together were just…hysterical.
~~~~
Nick pulled the chair over closer to the bed where India was sleeping peacefully- naked and still a little glowy from making love earlier. He grabbed the notebook from the nightstand and began softly tapping his pen against the paper in rhythm to the song stuck in his head. He knew he should have started working on the thank-yous for his album before now, but he hadn’t been to settle in his mind what he wanted to say. He’d been thinking about what he wanted to say to India since he’d started working on the album… but now, he couldn’t decide what to do. What about the baby? He wanted to mention something… he knew people would likely know by the time the album dropped anyway… He let out a long sigh and started writing, thanking the business people and musicians, the less personal ones and decided to leave India until last and see how he felt then.
~~~
“You’re good to go?” Nick asked again, over the phone, having been unable to go to India’s doctor’s appointment with her.
“Yep… I’m good… the baby is good… so I can follow you all over the world if need be.” she said. “I’m just supposed to pay attention to how I feel… don’t keep going if I don’t feel like it… sleep enough, eat well… and we should be fine.”
“Perfect.” he said, “I promise I’ll take good care of both of you.”