(((August 8, 2016)))
Nicole's POV
"I can't believe we didn't get here till after midnight." I said to Parker as I was putting on a pair of sweatpants.
"I know. Everybody was asleep when we got back." Parker said as he was putting on his boots.
"I think I'll make French toast for breakfast." I said as I took down my hair to brush.
"That sounds good." Parker smiled as he grabbed his hat off the dresser I was standing in front of.
"I'm going to go check on everything before breakfast. I should be done before you get through cooking." Parker said before kissing my cheek.
"Okay, see you in a little while." I smiled.
***
It was almost 7:30, almost time for the men to be coming in for breakfast. Rick was the first one to come in at 7:24.
"Hey, Nick!" Rick smiled.
I turned around and smiled. "Hey, Richard."
"How you doing?" He asked me as he sat down at his usual seat at the table.
I sighed as I put a piece of freshly cooked French toast on a plate along with the other ones. "I'm doing alright, I guess."
"Parker said you've been really tore up." Rick said.
"Yeah, I have." I admitted. "Cried everyday since it happened. I haven't cried today yet, though. But it's still early."
"I'm sorry, Nick." Rick said.
"Shit happens." I shrugged as I sprinkled cinnamon on the pieces of toast. "Can't do anything about it."
"That's true." Rick said as he walked towards the refrigerator. "We called off all the bets."
"How nice of y'all." I smirked as I saw him pour himself a cup of coffee. "It was a boy, though."
"Yeah, I know. Parker told me." Rick smiled sympathetically.
"He was a really pretty baby." I said as I put two slices of toast on a plate for Parker.
"I bet he was." Rick said as he got his own plate and food.
"He was." I said to myself as I wiped a tear from my eye. "Well, there goes not crying today." I chuckled slightly as I let out a sob.
"You'll get through it, Nick." Rick said as he walked by me and patted my back. "You're a tough chick."
I chuckled, wiping the tears off my face with my oversized tee shirt. "Thanks. Good lord, where's everybody at?"
"I don't know but they need to hurry their asses up. I need to get sluicing up at Indian River." Rick said as he sat down.
Parker walked in the door and the first thing he said was, "Well, where the hell is everybody?"
"I don't know." I chuckled. "I just said that."
"Well, I'm eating." Parker said as he set down at the table where I had set his plate. "Nick, where's the syrup?"
"Right here." I smirked as I set the syrup in front of his as I sat down with my food.
"It's good to have you guys back." Rick said.
"Good to be back." Parker said as he poured syrup over his plate. "Maybe now we can get through the rest of the season without anything else going wrong."
"I sure hope so." I said.
"Sorry about not being able to help you move Big Red, Rick." Parker said.
"Ah, it's cool. You guys were going through a lot." Rick said.
"Yeah, we were." Parker agreed. "I wouldn't wish that shit on anybody."
"Not even Todd?" Rick smirked.
Parker shook his head as he chewed. "Nah, that's a whole nother level of bad. You won't ever understand how it feels until it happens to you."
"Which I hope it won't." I added, and Parker nodded in agreement.
"Well, I gotta have a girlfriend and get her knocked up before I gotta worry about that." Rick joked.
The three of us chuckled, and I realized that Parker really was right, if I had been having doubts about it before. Working, being outside and around people that care about you, and being with him every night, that's the best thing to get through something like this.
***
"I think going on that trail would be good for him." Chris said as we were jigging and picking out the nuggets from the concentrate. "Might help him clear his mind and deal with everything that's happened."
"He'd be gone for like, two months. And he could die, and Rick too for goodness sake." I said as I caught a nugget with my hand.
"Well, it's what he wants to do. And it's obviously important to him because he wants to do something like his grandpa." Chris said.
"Yeah, I know." I sighed as I picked out another nugget and put in the pan. "I guess I'm just selfish. I don't want him to go because I don't want to be away from him."
"You could always go with him." Chris suggested.
I laughed. "That's funny, Chris. Little ol' me going hiking and canoeing in the freezing cold and snow."
Chris chuckled. "I'm just suggesting."
"I wouldn't last doing that." I chuckled.
"Me either."
"Rick doesn't either. I mean, he smokes and drinks like nobody's business. He'll probably have some problems up there." I said.
"Maybe." Chris said.
"I'm the only one he's told about it though except for Rick. So don't tell him I said anything." I said.
"No problem." Chris smiled.
"I guess if he wants to go I'll support him. Just like I do all the other times." I sighed as I picked out another small nugget.
"He's lucky to have you." Chris said.
"Yeah, he really is." I chuckled. "I'm lucky to have him too. I hope he has a good total today. He's really been wanting a good week."
"It's looking good so far." Chris said.
"Good." I smiled.
We were grilling the gold in a pan when Parker came walking up.
"Hey, guys." He said. "Gold ready yet?"
"Almost. Just a couple more minutes in the grill." I said.
"Good. I'm going to go tell everybody to come by the trailer and I need to make a call. Nick, you going to join us this time?" Parker smirked as he put an arm around my shoulder and checked the gold in the grill.
"Wish I could, babe. But I really have to go cook dinner." I said. "Like, now." I looked at my phone. "Yeah, if I don't go now it won't be done by eight."
"Next time, huh?" Parker smiled.
"Yeah." I smiled. "I'll see you at dinner, darling."
"See ya, baby." Parker said as he moved his arm from around me.
***
"So how'd it go? And where's Rick?" I asked Parker as I sat down beside him at the table.
"I think he went to Indian River." Parker said before taking a swig of his beer.
"What's he doing that for?" I asked after I had taken a sip of my beer.
"Guess he didn't want to wait until tomorrow to get the plant on the pad." Parker shrugged as he took a bite of his food. "I didn't tell him he had to do it tonight."
"Hm." I said before taking a bite of my food.
"We did about the same as last week. A few more ounces, but still." Parker said. "Told Rick we needed Big Red up and sluicing as soon as possible."
"And he took that as skip dinner and do it now?" I said.
"Apparently." Parker shrugged.
"Well, that's his decision, I guess." I said before taking another bite.
"Yeah." Parker mumbled as he ate. "I see you got a beer in that Emerald Isle koozie." He smirked.
I chuckled as I picked up my purple koozie with my beer in it. "Yup."
"Hey, cheers." Parker smiled as he picked up his.
"Cheers." I laughed as I clinked my can with his before we both drank out of our beers.
"We should drink some of that wine Ed got me for my birthday tonight." Parker said as he set his beer back down.
"Maybe Friday. I'm not really feeling it tonight." I said as I picked at my food.
"Well, what do you want to watch tonight?" Parker asked me after he had swallowed a bite of his food.
"I don't know." I shrugged. "I'm kinda tired."
"Yeah, it was a long day, huh?" Parker said as he put his hand over mine on the table.
"Yeah." I said. "I got all the dishes washed so all I gotta do when we get through eating is just put up the leftovers."
"Well, that's good, babe. We might be in bed before nine." Parker said as he leaned over to me. He whispered in my ear, "and we can have a little fun, huh?"
He smirked as he leaned back in his seat before eating his food again.
"I told you I was tired, Parker." I said flatly as I took a small bite of my food.
"Maybe you need to drink a little bit more of that beer." Parker said.
I scoffed as I stood up and picked up my plate. "Is that all you ever think about, Parker?"
"Yeah, mostly." Parker shrugged, smirking as I felt him looking at my backside.
***
I was washing my hair in the shower when I heard the door open and Parker came in, shutting the door behind him.
"No you can't get in the shower with me." I said.
"What's wrong with you, Nick?" Parker said as he sat on the toilet where my towels and clothes were sitting.
"Nothing, Parker." I said as I rinsed my hair out.
"There has to be something wrong. You don't want to drink any wine, you don't want to have sex, what's the problem?"
"Sorry if I don't feel up to everything after I've just lost my baby a week ago." I said while I was shaving my legs. "Not all of us deal with grief like you do."
"Don't give me that shit. The night after Grandpa died we had sex. The night Grandma died we had sex. Hell, what night that we've been alone haven't we had sex?" Parker ranted.
"Okay, first of all, the night after Grandpa died we hadn't seen each other for almost a month. What am I supposed to do, Parker? I have never denied you anything before." I said.
"Exactly. So why the hell are you doing it now?"
"Because I don't feel like having fuckin sex, Parker! Why is that so hard to understand? And no, I'm not on my period because that's what you were about to ask."
"Then tell me what's wrong so I can fix it!" Parker stated.
"You can't fix it Parker, just leave me alone." I said.
"Why can't I fix it, Nicole?" Parker asked, annoyed.
"Just leave me the fuck alone, Parker!" I ordered. "That might fix something."
"Fine, fuck it." Parker grumbled as he walked out and slammed the door behind him.
When I walked out of the bathroom, I was wearing one of Parker's old tee shirts and a pair of sweats that Parker had gotten me from Australia. My hair was up in a bun. I saw Parker sitting against the headboard of the bed drinking a beer and his eyes on the television.
I grabbed my phone from the dresser and replied to Hannah's text message while walking to the bed. I set the phone on the bedside table and crawled under the covers.
"I don't know why you can't tell me what's wrong." Parker said as he kept his eyes on the television.
"Just leave it alone, Parker. Good lord." I said as I turned on my side facing away from him.
"Fine, I'll leave you the fuck alone." Parker said as he turned off the television and turned to face away from me.