Not What I Expected

Part 4

Nicole giggled and then winced as the pain shot through her whole head. She leaned her head against the side of her car and closed her eyes praying desperately that the pain would subside quickly.

"Please don't fire me before I even start," Nicole mumbled, "I need a job for the summer and part time once I start school in the fall."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," Ryan replied with a smile, "I'm sure they will understand."

Present Day

Nicole smiled at the memory of when she first met Ryan as she helped Hudson out of the bathtub and dried him off later that evening. She had remembered that day like it was only yesterday. Ryan had called the office and explained the situation before he took her to the hospital. She had a broken nose and a fairly significant concussion and for that reason the emergency doctor had thought it would be best to keep her there overnight for observation. Ryan had stayed with her the whole day and did a little work while he was with her, but for the most part he just sat with her and they talked about everything.

"Momma," Hudson squealed bringing her back to the present, "Cold!"

"Of course baby," Nicole replied as she wrapped him up in his towel and carried him to his bedroom, "Let's get your pyjamas on."

She sat her little boy on his big boy race car bed and rummaged through his drawer for his favorite NASCAR pyjamas. When she found them she turned around and smiled at Hudson who was struggling to put on his pull-ups.

"Do you want mommy's help?" she asked him with a small smile on her face amazed at how fast time flew.

"No...I do it," he replied as he finally got both legs in the holes and pulled up his pants, "I big boy!"

"Yes you are sweetheart!" Nicole exclaimed happily, "I'm so proud of you. Now come here, let mommy put your pj's on."

Hudson ran over to Nicole with a cute little smile on his face and lifted his hands up in the air. She smiled down at him as she slipped the shirt over his head and then ruffled his dark blond hair and looked into his sparkling blue eyes. He had such an innocent soul and she was glad that he was young enough to not understand what was going on with his mommy and daddy. It was because of him and what her and Chad used to have that made her marriage worth fighting for. But seeing Ryan this afternoon struck a chord inside her which made this all the more confusing for her.

Once she was finished dressing Hudson for bed she pulled the covers back and Hudson crawled into bed. He pulled the covers up to his neck and Nicole handed him his favorite teddy bear named Charlie and he gave her a big appreciative smile. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door.

"Daddy!" Hudson cheered happily.

Nicole turned and saw her husband standing in the doorway in a pair of jeans and a black tight fitting t-shirt. His dark blond hair was damp which meant that he had just gotten home from the gym and he greeted them both with a smile. He did his very best to hide the fact that their situation was a serious one.

"Hi," she said quietly to him, "I'll let you say goodnight. I'll meet you downstairs."

He nodded in response as she walked past him and into their room to get changed. She slipped out of her blue "doctor" dress as her son called it and put on her favorite pair of yoga pants and a tank top, pulled her long brown hair into a messy pony tail and made her way downstairs to get dinner ready.

When she walked into the kitchen she was astonished. The kitchen has been cleaned, there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the table, there was a bottle of her favorite red wine sitting on the counter, and dinner had already been started and was in the oven cooking.