CHAPTER 46- Laugh

Demi's POV

Over the next few weeks, I was a kid in a candy store. I was redecorating the entire house from top to bottom, new paint, curtains, furniture. Nicko was a trooper, going with me to every single home and gardens store within fifty miles. We even managed to find a nanny for Mia. Finally, we closed, and all the renovations were finished, and we could begin our lives together. Mia was growing fast, now she'd moved on to different facial expressions, and would focus on workers, starring wide-eyed at them. Nicko was always trying to coach her into saying words now that she could sit up on her own and crawl around, and was making sounds. That's what he was doing now, making faces at Mia on the couch as we watched a movie.

"Babe watch this." I leaned over to watch Mia as he made a funny face and she smiled hugely. "She definitely has your smile." He said, kissing my cheek.

"Looks like she'll have a gap too then." I smiled, and leaned my head on his shoulder.

Nicko made another funny face at Mia and all of a sudden she threw her head back and erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Did she just laugh?" I gasped, jumping up and smiling hugely at Nicko.

"I think so!" He chuckled.

Mia looked so confused at the sound that just came out of her that she burst into tears, screaming loudly.

"Aww baby come here." I cooed, and sat back down, taking her from Nicko and cradling her in my arms against my chest. It was her favorite place to be, with her head in mine or Nicko's neck, so she calmed down quickly. "She scared the shit out of herself." I giggled, and Nicko chuckled.

"Hopefully she's not tramautized by it and will do it again."

I shrugged, "You're pretty funny lookin', so I'm sure she'll be fully stocked with amusement."

He frowned, "You love my funny faces."

I leaned over and kissed him, and he slid his hand up to my neck to keep my mouth on his. All of a sudden I felt a tiny hand worm inbetween Nicko and I's lips, another tiny giggle sounding from my daughter's mouth.

"You think you're funny." Nicko said, smiling down at Mia who squealed with laughter again, making use of the new sound she learned.

"Babahana." Mia said back, and we both laughed.

Soon, Mia was difting off in my arms, and Nicko was getting impatient, placing kisses on my neck as I leaned into his chest, watching the movie.

"Babe." I half whispered, half moaned, as he yet again sucked on my sweetspot.

"Mmm?" He hummed, his hands rubbing my arms.

"I think Mia's ready for bed, are you?" I whispered, giving him a sexy smile.

"Absolutely."

~*~

The next morning, I woke up and immediately let out a gasp of panic, slapping Nicko's arm to wake up him as I rushed to get a robe over my naked body.

"What happened?" He said, pulling on his boxers.

"Mia didn't wake me up!" I cried, sprinting to her room with Nicko right behind me.

We bust into the room and I went to her crip, surprised to see her still sleeping. I held a mirror under her nose and made sure she was breathing, and then leaned back into Nicko's chest.

"Holy shit." I breathed, "That was so scary."

He kissed my temple, "She's okay now. It's okay. Let her sleep until we hear her in the monitors."

He took my hand and I let him lead me back to the bed. Once we got under the covers Nicko intertwined our hands and let them rest on his chest, "You know, we're pretty good at the whole parenting thing."

I nodded, "Yeah, we're a good team baby."

He smiled, "Maybe one day we'll go for round two."

I rolled my eyes, "Once we're-" I cut off abruptly. Me mentioning marriage usually ends up in us fighting.

"Once we're what?"

I shook my head, "Nothing."

He lifted his head to look at me, "What is it?"

I looked down, "Nothing Nik, It's nothing."

He leaned down to touch my face, "You can tell me."

I sighed, "Once we're married we'll have more."

Nicko's head leaned back against the pillows, "We've talked about this."

"I know. That's why I didn't want to tell you. It just slipped out."

He sighed, "Can't you just be satisfied with the life we live? We love each other, we are healthy, and we have a beautiful baby girl. Why can't you just be happy with that?"

I sat up, "I am happy Nicko! I've dreamt since I was a little girl about getting married, I've been waiting for my prince to come and he finally has. I'm ready to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He rolled his eyes, "Demi does me saying I love you not mean that we're staying together for the rest of our lives? I don't want to be married right now. I want to live in this moment longer. Why do you have to keep pushing and pushing for something we don't need?"

I got out of bed as I heard Mia in the monitor, "Whatever Nicko. Don't worry about it. Forget I said anything." I threw the words as him and walked out of the room, tears cascading down my cheeks. I hated that Nicko didn't want to marry me. I knew it was his issue to commitment, not his love for me, so it wasn't a dividing factor, but it still hurt a lot. Hearing someone say they don't want to marry you is a huge confidence bust.

I picked Mia up out of her crib with a sigh, I didn't want to look at her eyes, that were mirrors of Nicko's. I pulled her into my chest and sat down, pulling my robe aside and letting her latch onto my breast as I wiped at my cheeks. Nicko walked in and I quickly turned my face so he couldn't see my tears, but it was too late.

"I don't know what you want from me." He said, and by the angry tone to his voice I knew this wasn't going to end good.

"I want you to leave me alone."

He snorted, "Wow, I thought you wanted me to marry you. You know, you're not really helping your case."

I glared at him, "It shouldn't be an argument. I'm not going to beg you to marry me. I shouldn't have to." I looked down, "At the end of the day we just have different views. If you really think that low of marriage, and don't think it's that important, then what are we doing? Where's the next chapter? We can't stay in this moment. Mia is going to grow up, this will always be a dividing wedge between us and she'll wonder why her parents aren't like the others, why they don't wear rings or call each other husband and wife. I know it's scary for you to think about committing to someone for the rest of your life, but I can't stay in the same spot Nicko. Sooner or later I'll have to turn the page, with or without you."

He glared back at me, "With or without me huh? So I need to marry you to keep you? Thats not the way it's supposed to work. We're supposed to be held together by love. You know what? Maybe it's a good idea, to turn a page. In my next chapter. Hopefully I'll see you at the end of the book."

He turned around and stalked out of the room. I gently put Mia down and ran after him, stopping short as I found him in the bedroom, packing.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" I exclaimed, standing in the doorway.

"Leaving. You wanna turn the page without me? Go ahead." He growled, and I shook my head, feeling tears coming to my eyes.

"You can't just leave! Mia needs a father! I need you."

He snorted, "You've got a funny way of showing it."

His chest was heaving and I could see sweat soaking his clothes. Something was wrong, he wasn't in the right state of mind. Just as I came to that conclusion Nicko shuddered and as he zippered the bag with force, it broke, and he let out a frustrated yell, launching the bag across the room against the wall with a huge bang, causing me to yelp.

"Fucking zipper. Fuck it. I'll buy new clothes." He went stalked towards the door and I put my hands on his chest.

"Don't leave Nicko."

He shook his head, pushing my hands off of him, "I don't want to look at you right now."

I flinched, not used to him speaking in such a harsh tone with me, "You don't mean that."

"Demi. Move." He snarled, beginning to shake, "I don't want to hurt you."

I shook my head, "If you leave right now, you'll hurt me more than you ever could physically."

He shook his head, breathing hard, "I can't breathe. I need to go."

He rushed past me and as he flung open the front door Mia's nanny, Andrea, stood there, her mouth hanging open as Nicko went past her, breathing hard and heading for the garage.

"Mia's in the bedroom, we'll be right back." I said, running after Nicko. "Baby, wait." I called, and I ran into the garage. He was pacing around, gripping his hair in his hands and breathing heavily. "Nik you need to calm down."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" He shouted, and I took a step back.

"I know, find a focal point baby. Find your peace."

He shook his head, speaking through clenched teeth, "Nothing's working!"

I ran forward as he went to turn around and wrapped my arms around his neck, forcing him to look at me, "Then focus on me, that's all. Hold me, hold onto me. It's all going to be okay."

Nicko's arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him tighter then he ever had before. He walked backwards until he hit the wall them slid down to the floor, having me sit on his lap.

"It's okay, shhh baby, just breath and focus."

I pressed my lips to his and Nicko's body relaxed, pulling my waist towards his. As I pulled away I leaned my forehead against his, kissing his nose and cheeks, feeling him breathe slower against me.

"Sing." I heard him breathe, "Anything, sing for me."

I nodded and kissed his lips again, quickly. "When your legs don't work like they used to to before, and you can't sweep me off of my feet. Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love? Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?" He began to calm down, his heart rate slowing down as the words left my mouth. "Cause Darlin' I, will, be lovin' you, till we're seventy. And baby my heart could still fall as hard at twenty three." I softly sang the words and ran my fingers through his hair, "And i'm thinkin' bout how, people fall in love in mysterious ways. Maybe it's just the touch of a hand. Well me I fall in love with you every single day, I just wanna tell you I am...."

I trailed off as leaned his head back to look at me, smiling a bit, "I love you." He whispered, and I kissed his lips.

"I love you too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comment and Vote!

Twitter: @Lovatic_Chica

-Rachel