Lipstick | Nena/Neth Bellins |

Family Love

Tuesday morning, 5 a.m. (at the airport)

Nicole's flight is called to board, and she takes her luggage and heads down to the plane.  She gives her suit case to a man who packs it away and looks down at her boarding pass.  It reads "13 B".  She gets on the airplane and walks down the aisle, looking for 13 B.  After finding it, she sits down and waits quietly.  She checks a text from John and smiles.  That's my man, she thought.  She closed her eyes gently and dreamily smiled, thinking abut her lover.  Although it disappointed her that he would not agree to have marriage or kids, she loved him deeply anyway.  She started growing accustomed to the fact that he would never fully commit and seal the deal, because she believed that he didn't need a legal document to prove his love for her.  Instead, he told and showed her every night how sincere he was about her.  

Rudely interrupted of her thoughts, the person who had the assigned seat next to her sat down.  Ohhh boy, Nikki rolled her eyes, this is going to be a long flight.

She sucked her teeth and turned to face the music that her seating partner was none other than Danielle.

"Danny," Nicole scoffs.

"Don't call me that, Nicole,"  Danielle glares at her.

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you, Danny," she put emphasis on the word, 'Danny'.  

"Ugh, whatever,"  Danielle responded in a nasty tone.

"What are you even doing over in Arizona?  Stalking me?"  Nicole crosses her arms.

"No, loser, I am on my way to Texas to see my boyfriend.  I couldn't get a one-way flight,"  Danielle looks really annoyed.

"Yeah, okay.  I'm sure," Nicole laughs.  Danielle ignores her and put a set of Beats over her ears and closes her eyes.  Nicole thinks, much better.

.....

It's 5 a.m. and Jon, Joe, and Colby are all showered up and ready to start the day off right.  

"I think that it is HILARIOUS that John thought that he could get away with that, I mean, a sewing circle!  What an idiot,"  Joe laughs.  

"Of course.  I wonder what Nicole will think when she finds out!"  Jon says.

"You know, this 'sewing circle' thing seems to be too good to be true..." Colby starts, "I'm starting to wonder if he was just making that up to get us off his back.  I mean, why would he tell us that something as embarrassing as that."

"Hmm, you might be on to something," Joe puts a finger on his chin.

"Good thinking Colby," Jon nods.

"Well, enough of this so called, 'thinking', for now," Joe chuckles lightly.

"Let's hit the gym, boys," Jon says.  The others agree and grab their gym bags.  

Jon, Joe, and Colby head to the nearest gym and work out for several hours.

.....

John looks in the mirror, makes some slight adjustments, preparing to go out.  He combs his almost non-existent hair and winks at the mirror once satisfied.  He puts the comb away and sprays some cologne over his body.  He changes into a polo shirt and a nice pair of dark blue jeans.  He takes a room key, shoving it in his pocket and making sure that he had his phone with him.  He finally leaves the room and goes down to the lobby.  He calls a private cab, and waits for his driver to arrive.  

About 10 minutes later, the driver lets John know that his ride is ready.  John follows him to the taxi and gets in. 

"Where are we going today?"  the driver looks at John.

"Uh, take me to Orange County," John informs the driver.  The taxi driver nods and flips on the radio, heading to Orange County.  John sits back and relaxes.

......

(2 hours later) 7:13 a.m.  Scottsdale, Arizona

"Mooom!"  Nicole runs to her mother, Cathy, awaiting her in the airport.  Nicole throws her arms around her mom and tightly embraces her.  Cathy hugs back, but with less force.

"Hi, honey!"  Cathy smiles, "After you get your luggage, I have a huge surprise for you at home."

"Ooh, yay!  Can't wait," Nicole's brown eyes are gleaming.  She is really happy to get away from work for a little while, and take a break to visit her family.  She goes over to the luggage carousel and picks up her suit case.  Cathy and Nicole leave the airport and go to Cathy's car.  Nicole hops in the passanger seat and puts her suit case in the back.  Cathy puts the key in the ignition, and revs up the engine.  She takes off and heads to her home.  

"I'm so excited to be back home,"  Nicole exclaims.

"We're happy to have you back!  Even if it is only for two days," Cathy smiles.  Nicole nods and enjoys the rest of the ride to her mother's house.

Cathy pulls up into the driveway and parks.  She turns off the car and helps Nicole with her bags.  They go inside and Nicole puts her things away in the guest room.  Nicole walks down the stairs, heading to Cathy's kitchen.  Her brother, JJ, Brie, and her mom were awaiting her with a wrapped gift on the table.

"You guys,"  Nicole smiled.

"Welcome back!"  they all shouted at once, holding out the present.

"What is this for?!"  Nicole asked.

"We haven't seen you in forever,"  JJ explained.

"You guys are too nice,"  Nikki tells them.  They have a group hug and hand her the box.  She tears off the paper and sees a fancy shoe box that reads "LV" in nice cursive writing.  

"Louis Vuittons!  You know me so well!" she excitedly takes the top piece of the box off and takes out the stunning heels.  They are embroidered with black and gold sequins on a satin base.  The high-heeled pump shows off a timeless and glamorous look.  The shoes are drop dead gorgeous, and compliment Nicole perfectly.  She tries them on, and they fit perfectly.  

"You look flawless," Brianna beams.

"Thanks you, I feel flawless!"  Nicole spins around, twirling her dress.  JJ and Cathy smile.  Nikki slips off the heels and return them to the original box.  She hugs it and puts it back on the table.  

"Let's go out for sushi,"  JJ suggests, knowing about Nicole's love for sushi.  His family agrees and they go to the nearest sushi bar.  They are happy to geth back together like the old times, and celebrate their time together.

....

"Hey, Natalie,"  John winks.

"Come in, John," Natalie smiles, opening the door for him.  He walks in and sits on the couch.

"We almost got busted, you know," he tells her.

"Wait, what?!" she looks at him with big eyes.

"Jon Good, Dean, stole my phone and read through our text messages, and he showed his buddies."

Natalie gasps, "Oh, no!  What did you do after that?"

"I told them that we were in a sewing circle, and they bought it.  Morons,"  John shakes his head, laughing.

"Wow, they are really stupid,"  Natalie giggles.

"Yeah, but we are fine.  Now let's get to business," John says.  Natalie nods her head and responds,

"Absolutely!  I've been waiting all week for this,"  she grabs his hand and leads him to the other room.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

two updates in a day, wooo! 

 this chapter: Nicole visiting with her family, the Shield heading to the gym and growing suspisious of John's real intentions, and John going to Natalie's house in Orange County.

next chapter:  time skip to two days later...Nicole ending up in Las Vegas for some fun.  The Shield also end up in Sin City with her...what will happen there?   Chapter title: "Vegas, Baby!"