The Perfect Gift

Ch. 21

"What else is going on?" Nini asked.

"I called my dad on the way home to ask him when the best time to visit would be and he was just acting really weird. He went silent every time I mentioned my mom and I don't know why. He said they had to talk to me about something." Ricky told her.

Nini had a bad feeling there was something else going on, and that was the reason he needed to go back home, but she wasn't gonna tell him that.

She cleared her throat. "So did he say when the best time to visit would be?" She asked.

"My mom is out of town this weekend, but how does next weekend sound? It's the only weekend she has available this month before she has to go out of town again." Ricky told her, hesitantly.

Nini smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. I'll just have Casey cover for me at the store." She told him.

Nini noticed Ricky was just playing with his food and sighed, getting up from the table and pulling him up with her, dragging him to the couch. "Take your shirt off and lay down." She told him, gently. He did as he was told and she began massaging his back. She could tell he was worried about the conversation he had with his dad. "Baby, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. We're gonna go home and see your family and you're gonna show me all around Chicago and we're gonna have fun. Okay?" Ricky nodded, rolling over so his girlfriend was straddling him before leaning up and kissing her deeply.

"I love you" he murmured against her lips.

She bit her lip and smiled. "I love you too." She said before kissing him again.

*****

A week later

Ever since the phone call Ricky had with his dad, he'd been acting paranoid, and Nini had to keep assuring him that nothing was wrong.

Ricky, of course, saw right through her but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, hoping that whatever it was his parents wanted to talk about was gonna be something good. As far as he knew, everything back home was fine and he never got any calls complaining about something.

Regardless, Nini had been exceptional in keeping his mind off of going home. They were currently in Nini's apartment, packing for the trip they were taking in two days.

"Are you excited to be going home? I know you haven't been back in a while..." Nini asked her boyfriend as she exited her bathroom, carrying all her toiletries over to the bed.

Ricky looked up at her from his spot on her bed and smiled, nodding. "I miss seeing my parents, obviously, and I'm excited you get to meet them, but I think I'm most excited to show you the city and where I grew up, you know? It's so different than Salt Lake."

Nini walked over to him, and leant down to peck his lips.

"I'm excited to see where you grew up too. You know, I've never really been outside SLC." She chuckled.

Ricky pulled her down onto the bed with him and she settled into his lap as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Really? Didn't you tell me you visited the Philippines with your grandma when you were in high school?" He furrowed his eyebrows as he was trying to think back to that conversation.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, but that was really it. And my moms took me to Disneyland once when I was a kid, but other than that... I've never really left. It's kind of embarrassing, but when I was in middle school, I made a bucket list and my number one thing was to visit all 50 states." She told her curly haired boyfriend, honestly.

He smiled and laid down, bringing her down on top of him. "Oh yeah?" He asked surprised. Nini bit her lip and smiled. "Mhmm, do you think you can help me fulfill my list?"