Not What I Expected

Part 11

Chad reached for her hand and slipped the beautiful solitaire diamond on her finger and his eyes shone with happiness. He cupped her face in his hands and he gently kissed her on the nose before he pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with everything she had. She was going to be Mrs. Sanders and couldn't think of anything better than that...

Present Day

Nicole kissed Hudson on the forehead and ruffled his hair before pulling the blankets up to his chin.

"Momma will be downstairs if you need anything baby," Nicole said quietly, "Sleep well little boy."

Hudson gave her a little smile and nodded his head in response before rolling over and cocooning himself in his blankets. Nicole smiled gave his shoulder a quick pat and then stood up, turned off the lights and closed the bedroom door, leaving it open just a crack.

Nicole slowly made her way down the stairs as she pondered the memory she just had a flashback of. What had happened in their eight years of marriage that had made Chad's feelings for her diminish so immensely? She couldn't wrap her head around it. Yeah, she knew that when people got married things changed. The love changes, the relationship changes, the feelings change, but it is usually for the better, not for the worse, or at least that's what Nicole thought anyways. Nicole gave her head a quick shake before she returned to the living room.

"I'm getting a wine refill," she said to Ryan with a smile as she reached for her glass, "Would you like anything?"

"I'll get another glass of wine as well if that's alright," Ryan replied.

"Absolutely," Nicole replied with smile, "I can grab it for you."

"I'll follow you," Ryan stated as he stood up and reached for his glass.

Nicole made her way down the hall to the kitchen with Ryan following behind. The hair on her arms and neck stood on end and she could tell that he was paying very close attention to her movements. She got the impression that he still very much desired her and it made her feel good.

She placed her glass on the counter and then turned to grab the bottle off the counter across from her, but Ryan stood in front of her. He blocked her way, not purposefully, and she could smell his cologne, he was standing so close. She watched as he lifted his glass, leaned in towards her and placed the glass on the counter behind her. He looked deeply into her eyes as his arm brushed against hers and she was captivated by his stare, his beautiful blue eyed stare.

After a moment she let out a deep sigh and stepped to the side to get out of his way. She couldn't lose control of the situation at this point. She had no idea where things stood with her and her husband and she couldn't give up on him, not yet.

"I'm sorry," Nicole whispered, "I can't give up on Chad yet. I don't know where he stands, but I need to at least give him an opportunity to be honest and tell me where he's at and what he wants."

Ryan stepped away from her and smiled at her. He ran a hand through his hair before leaning against the counter and staring at her with a look of concern on his face.

"I understand Nicky," Ryan said quietly, "I don't want to pry, but can I ask...what's going on?"

"Of course, you aren't prying Ryan," Nicole stated, "I just...we had a moment about a month ago and I thought that was the first step to getting our marriage back on track. But then Chad started standing me up on dates that he had promised to take me on and he bailed on Hudson several times. Trevor, Chad's best friend, knows something more than he is letting on, but he won't tell me anything."