Family Forever (Book 5 in Nemi Forever series)

Chapter 23

Demi

When Nick turned his back on me, I slipped our wedding DVD into the bottom of his bag that he was packing for New York. I hoped he would come across it & he would watch it & he would change his mind about a divorce. He just had to. He was my best friend. He was my soul mate. He was my everything. He was my forever. 

I was trying to hide my tears when I went downstairs, but then I saw Denise & the dam was broken again. The sobbing started as Denise wrapped her arms around me. Thank God, the twins were napping. I told Denise what Nick said & she listened, then gave me her advice. Give him time. You aren't divorced yet. He's hurt & he's proud & he's scared. She gave me all the same statements as she had been saying since this started. I hadn't even told Nick about my legal problems. Denise told me I needed to. I was in the kitchen making something to eat, when Nick came in. 

"Mom said I needed to talk to you. What's up?" Nick asked. 

"I just forgot to tell you about firing Rafe. And now I may have some legal issues because of it. We signed a contract & I am trying to get him to let me buy out his contract & let me have my music, but he could fight it." I sat at the counter. 

"If he knows what's good for him he won't fight you." Nick stood on the other side of the counter.  

I let out a chuckle, rolling my eyes. "It would serve me right if I lost everything because of this one little moment of stupidity. My family. My husband. My music. Karma." I didn't think I could cry anymore, but tears were in my eyes once again. 

Nick leaned on the counter & rubbed his chin with his other hand. "I'll do whatever I can to help you get your music." He said. 

I saw his hand. His left hand. No ring. I swallowed hard. "Your ring." I whispered, the tears spilling over. 

Nick glanced at his hand, looking guilty. "I can't wear it for the movie, so I figured it would be safer if I left it here. It's in my box upstairs on my dresser." 

I looked down at my own ring. "You'll help me save my music, but our marriage you'll just let go of like it's not worth saving." I was choking on my tears. I looked up at Nick's face, trying to see him clearly through tears. I wiped the tears from my eyes. He stood there with his beautiful eyes looking into mine, his sexy pout more pronounced with concentration. "I meant what I said about putting up a fight....unless... " I took a deep breath. "Unless you go to one session with me. Just one, Nick. If you go to one session with me, I will give you a divorce with no fight whatsoever." I was desperate now. I was confident that if he talked to my therapist one time, he would understand a little more about why I was so quick to give in to my impulses with Rafe. 

Nick sighed. "I'm not making any promises, but I will think about it." He said, quietly. 

I let out a sigh of relief, closing my eyes for a moment. That was all I wanted. It gave me hope. That was all I needed, was a little hope. I stood up. "Thank you." 

Nick nodded. "I gotta go. I said goodbye to the twins before they laid down for their nap."  

"Can I get a hug?" I asked. 

Nick was reluctant, but he put one arm around me quickly & hugged me like he would hug a stranger. It felt good for a minute to be in his arm & feel his body against me. I tried to hang on to him, but he was letting go as I was holding on. "I'll see ya." He said then turned & left.  
Any hope I had about our marriage started to disappear over the five weeks that Nick was gone. The rumors that we were splitting up weren't really rumors anymore. Now it was a top news story, without us confirming or denying. The news programs would show footage from the Weday concert & then came the photos. Photos of Nick in New York without his wedding ring. That could be contradicted because Nick was shooting the movie, but then there were photos of him & Joe out on the town with no ring. Then came the photos of Nick & Skye together on the streets of New York or at a restaurant or in the park on a bench or coming out of the apartment together & meeting fans. Of course fans would say they were seen holding hands & kissing, but there weren't photos of that. They looked friendly in the paparazzi photos, but they never looked cozy, like they were dating.