Again, sorry if anything pregnancy-related is wrong. There is a very high chance I don't know what I'm talking about.
Also, I recently posted a chapter on Nonsense about my predictions if Julie and the Phantoms get a season two. It's not the newest chapter, but it's relatively recent
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Nini
I'm going on eight-ish months now. My birthday is coming up, and Kourtney said she wanted to do something special. I was fine with it, as long as I don't have to move much; my back hurts a lot more now along with my feet.
About a month after the first gender reveal appointment, we found out the other baby was a boy. I couldn't believe it, a mini Ricky running around.
I cried probably the most in a while last month. My fingers were swelling, which meant I was forced to take off my promise ring. As much as I didn't want to, it wasn't my choice. It felt weird to not have it on anymore. I put it in the ring box along with the skateboarding ring.
We've already changed the guest room into a nursery. After finding out I was having twins, everything doubled. Two cribs, two car seats, two high chairs, and many sets of clothes. The house filling up with all the baby stuff reminded me that Ricky wasn't here to experience this alongside me.
I cried a lot when I was going through my box of Ricky stuff. Pictures from forever ago, rings, flash drives, and letters were in there.
I also threw in the pick he gave me the night of our opening production of High School Musical. It's hard to believe that was six years ago.
*February 20, 2026 | Nini's Birthday*
I slowly get out of bed and quickly get dressed. I make my way downstairs and see my moms are already up.
"Hey," I yawn out. "Why are you guys awake? I'm normally the first one up." It's not that I like waking up early, but the children inside of me have other plans.
"Well, we wanted to give you breakfast in bed, but since you're down here..." They turn around with a stack of chocolate chip pancakes and a couple of candles.
"Aww, you guys didn't have to do this," I say.
"We wanted to do this. You've been so strong through these months."
These last eight months have been rough. But I've made it. We're nearing the due date, and I couldn't be happier. I'll finally get to meet the two lights of my life. Knowing they're there has helped me through a lot. As weird as it sounds, they help me feel closer to Ricky in a sense.
"Hey, how's the future mother and birthday girl?!" I turn around and see everyone file in.
"Better now that you guys are here." I go over and hug them all one by one.
We all talk for a little while before the front door opens again.
"Hey, Mr. Bowen," I say, hugging him.
"Nini, for the billionth time, call me Mike," he chuckles.
"Right."
"Anyway, I quickly stopped by to give you this." He holds up a small red box with a gold ribbon.
"Thank you. You didn't have to get me anything though."
"It's not from me," he says while smiling.
I raise my eyebrow, but then almost start crying when I see the name. Underneath the ribbon is a little piece of paper that says 'From Ricky'.
"What? How?"
"He prepared this little thing before he left. Ricky also set about a thousand reminders on my phone without me knowing to give it to you," he chuckles. "Also, open it alone. Happy birthday, kiddo." I hug him again while fighting back tears.
"Thank you for bringing this," I mumble.
"No problem. I have to head to work now." He leaves, and I continue to stare at the box.
"Hey, what'd you get?" Seb asks.
"I don't know yet. I'll find out later," I say with a smile.
I quickly go up to my room and put the box on the nightstand. I've been looking at a certain house down the street from my moms, but they were afraid of me living by myself, so they wanted me to stay with them until after the birth. That was an argument I knew I wasn't going to win.
I told Miss Jenn I was pregnant about two months ago. She was excited for me and immediately wanted me to take a break from working, which I was grateful for.
We don't do much, per my request. It was mostly just eating and talking. The entire time the little box from Ricky was in the back of my mind, wondering what was in it.
"Nini, it's time for cake. Nini?" I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Big Red.
"What? Yeah, let's go."
We're those annoying kids who harmonize even when it's as simple as Happy Birthday. I've been more emotional lately, so I was trying so hard not to cry during this.
"Have I said thank you yet?" I ask rhetorically.
"Yes, now it's time to eat," EJ said. He's always loved food.
"So, Nini, we were thinking of a kind of spa day type of thing tomorrow. No, you don't have to move around. We'll come by later with a bunch of stuff," Kourtney says.
"Sounds great, I could use it."
*Two Hours Later*
After many rounds of Carlos's High School Musical board game (I can't believe he's kept up with it for this long), everyone leaves. No, it wasn't the most eventful birthday, but that's what I wanted. A calm day without having to do much.
I go up to my room, and my body feels exhausted. Just as I'm about to fall asleep, I remember Ricky's gift. I slowly turn over and pick up the box. I take the ribbon and lid off to find a flash drive and a card. The flash drive has the number 1 and the card says 2.
I guess I'm supposed to look at them in order. I get my computer and put the drive in. There are two video files labeled 1 and 2.
After five minutes of waiting for 1 to load, Ricky's face appears on the screen. I see he's in his room with a keyboard and guitar off to the side.
[ The Video ]
"Hey, Angel." Just to hear his voice is amazing. "If you're watching this, two things have happened. One: you didn't kill me, and I've actually gone off to join the military. Two: my dad successfully gave you the box," he laughs. I could feel tears forming just from hearing and seeing him with the goofy smile on his face.
"Hopefully you're watching this one first. It doesn't matter too much, just make sure to look at the card last. So..." He turns around and picks up his phone. "I don't know if you can see the screen, but it's currently June 3 as I'm recording this for... I don't know... maybe the ninth-ish time. Anyway, surely I'm not stupid enough to get this wrong, but happy birthday Nini. I can't believe you're 23. I still vividly remember meeting you for the first time when we were in kindergarten. I've always known since that day that we'd been in each other's lives forever. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you in person." I had many tears rolling down my face at this point.
"Shit, I'm crying again. Ok..." After I wiped my eyes, I can see better now that his eyes are red. "I'm hoping my cheesiness hasn't scared you off yet. Here's the real present. I hope you like it." He picks up the keyboard and looks back at the camera before starting to play.
Lovely
If you could see what we see,
You'd know you're like a movie
The ones that make-believe
Cause you're lovely
I know you don't believe me
Just hear the words I'm singing in this song I wrote for you
You're lovely
If you could see what we see,
You'd know you're like a movie
The ones that make-believe
Cause you're lovely
And I know you don't believe me
Just hear the words I'm singing in this song I wrote for you
I'm crying so hard right now. I can't believe he did this. I wonder what the other video is.
"I hope you like it. I hope you're doing fine wherever you are. I hope I'm doing fine," he chuckles. "I love you, Angel. No matter where I am right now or where you are." He then walks up to the camera and the screen goes black.
I would blame these tears on the twins, but I can't. I haven't cried out of happiness for a long time. Just the fact that he planned that far in advance.
I close out of the video and pull up the second one. It's the same setup, so I'm assuming this is the same day.
"Ok, so there's no cheesy speech or anything this time. This is just a recording of Common Sense, the song I sang a few hours before leaving. Well, plan on singing. I don't know how it will go. Hopefully, you don't hate me for waking you up early," he says with a bright smile.
He starts strumming, and I couldn't be happier. Seeing him smile, hearing him sing. Just hearing his voice in general is more than enough. As he sings, his own tears begin forming, and he's stuttering a little more towards the end. When it's over, his eyes are red along with his cheeks.
"I love you, Nini. Nothing will ever change that. No situation, no distance. Wherever we are, wherever we end up. I hope you know that."
Then the same thing happens with this video. He goes up to the camera and the screen goes black. I stare at the screen for another ten seconds while what I've watched sinks in.
It takes about fifteen seconds before I remember there was a card. I carefully open it and pull out a picture. It's of him and me when it was time to take pictures for our production.
I flip the picture over and see it has something written on it. The terrible handwriting I miss so much.
Can you believe this was five years ago? FIVE! Well, six when you're reading this.
I look back inside the card and find a folded piece of paper.
June 3, 2025
Dear Nini, Angel, Love of my Life, and finally Nina,
If someone had told me a musical would be the reason I would get the love of my life back, I wouldn't have believed them. Honestly, if someone had told me you would've forgiven me, I wouldn't have believed them. Auditioning for that musical was the second best decision of my life. The first being I finally had the guts to say 'I love you'. Well, the first wouldn't be possible without the second, but that's beside the point.
I've loved you since before I understood what love was. I've loved you since before I could properly pronounce your name let alone my own name. I've loved you for as long as I can remember. I don't know where either of us is while writing this. All I know is that our paths will cross again. I'll make sure of it. I hope you enjoyed the songs, assuming you watched them before reading this. I know I can't be there in person, which I am sorry for, but I hope this makes up for it. I can't even comprehend you being 23. 20 fucking 3.
It feels like yesterday when we met in kindergarten, and I called you 'Nini'. It feels like yesterday when you called me 'Ricky' for microwaving your barbie. Just yesterday I ate your moldy bread science project and crashed into your lemonade stand. It feels like only yesterday when I finally confessed my real feelings to you in that dressing room in high school. If someone asked, I would 1000% do it all again. I'd go through every up and down with you all over again because you're worth it. I'd go through hell and back for you. Shit, I'm crying again.
I don't know what I'm going to do for your next birthdays yet, but you can expect something. It probably won't be as much as this year, but I wanted to try and make your first birthday without me special. Fuck, I'm still crying. I'm gonna stop before I start sobbing.
P.S. This is like the 15th-ish time I've tried writing this.
~Love Ricky, Bubba, (hopefully) the Love of your Life, and finally Richard
I read his letter about ten more times while crying through all of it. I'm very tempted to cross out the 'hopefully' at the end because he is. He is the love of my life, and he always will be. But I want to keep it in its original state, so the 'hopefully' is gonna end up staying. And he wondered why I'd never be able to move on. This... this only adds to why it's impossible to find someone who could come close to a quarter of Ricky's greatness.
I look at my stomach and say, "I wish you could meet him; I know he'd love to meet you two."
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Y'all... that love note alone was 374 words. That's about as long as some chapters I have in my other books😅
If you don't know what the song is (what's wrong with you?), here it is
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Also, just curious, how many times have you guys cried? Reminder: we're on chapter five; there's still a lot that's going to happen