ME: They are going to take a while to heal. Hicks… It sounds like he’s having some memory problems. Lee had to tell him about the accident three times, and he still wasn’t remembering.
WEAVER: Shit. There goes the fifty bucks he owes me… Or maybe I can convince him he owed me a hundred?
I laughed. Trust Weaver to bring some humor into the situation.
WEAVER: I’m trying to get emergency leave, but not sure how quickly I’ll be able to get there. Give them my love, will you? And let me know if anything changes!
ME: Always.
Once we got the news, we relocated to the central lounge of the hospital. The moment I did so, I sank down into one of the cushioned seats and swore, wishing we’d done it sooner. The chairs up here weremuchmore comfortable.
Once we’d found the waiting area, though, Mama K and Mama D insisted we go back to the house and get some sleep. We decided we’d take turns at the hospital, making sure the boys were never left alone. It made it a lot easier that they were in beds right next to each other.
Nicki had apparently been dropped off by his roommate, who had gone to stay at a friend’s house for the night. I drove Nicki and I back to the house. Bishop insisted he was fine and headed to the dojo to run a class that afternoon for Mama D. Lee decided to stay with the moms at the hospital, which I thought everyone felt better about. None of us felt like he should be alone right now.
We were all stunned at Mason’s abrupt departure. He and Lee had seemed so…right… together. I guessed that’d just go to show you. Appearances were deceiving.
We pulled up to the house and I had the car in park before I even registered the fact that I had brought Nicki home with me.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Nick,” I’ll take you home…” I began, starting the car back up.
“No, seriously, this is fine,” he smiled at me. “It’s not like I haven’t slept here a million nights before this.”
I chuckled. He wasn’t wrong. Nicki and I had alternated staying at each other’s houses when we were dating. At first, his parents and mine had been “concerned” about us becoming intimate during a sleepover. They’d not so subtly begun eliminating our opportunities to spend time together, which had driven us both crazy.
So one night, without telling either set of parents what we were doing, we invited them all four “out to dinner” at the tree house.
Nicki’s dad hadn’t been able to make it, but his mom had come, and so had both of mine.
We’d escorted them up to the tree house, where we had set out pizza and a two liter or soda. For sixteen-year-olds, it washautecuisine.
They could have laughed at us, but they didn’t. We’d eaten pizza, laughed, and enjoyed the meal. The last piece was finished and the trash picked up, and I saw Nicki look at me and nod, and I knew it was time.
“Moms, we’d… we’d like to talk to you guys about something,” I began.
We sat in a loose semi-circle in the treehouse, both my moms seated on a pile of pillows under one window. Nicki’s mom, as our “guest” sat in the one folding chair. All eyes fell on me, and I could feel my face getting red, but Nicki smiled in encouragement. He moved over and sat down next to me on the floor and took my hand in his. He flashed me a grin and squeezed my hand.
“You… you guys need to stop trying to keep Nicki and me apart," I said in a rush. "You've been working overtime to keep us from spending the night together, and we want it to stop."
“We’re sixteen, and practically adults, and if we wanted to have sex, there are lots better places to do it than surrounded by family!” Nicki exclaimed.
Mama K’s eyes were dancing merrily as she glanced at Mama D and Mrs. Terhune. Mama D was glancing around the treehouse thoughtfully, seemingly just beginning to understand the potential for trouble in this very private spot.
“While you are almost sixteen and 'practically adults’, you are still our children,” Nicki’s mom said, her face appropriately solemn.
“We don’t want you doing something… something you might regret later, muchachos,” Mama K said.
Nicki nodded in understanding.
“We know, but we love each other. We don’t intend to have anything to regret," he said, his cheeks turning pink. "...But we also know neither of us is ready to… to have sex."
He glanced at me nervously, and this time it was my turn to squeeze his hand in encouragement. We’d talked about this ahead of time. Mama K and Mama D always said that if you were not mature enough to talk about sex in an adult manner, you weren’t mature enough to be having sex. We desperately wanted to prove to them how mature we were, so…
“Since we already know that, and we aren't planning on having sex, it’s driving us crazy that you guys are trying to limit our time together so much!" I exclaimed.
“Mom, you and Dad are talking about us moving to Florida,” Nicki continued, catching his mother's thoughtful gaze. “If that happens… I might never see Kaine again. Or… or I could get sick, and… and die before we ever move back.”
Silence fell in the room. We’d all contemplated the possibility, how could we not? Nicki's illness was so damn unpredictable. But I think it was the first time that any of us had ever confronted stated it quite so baldly.
