Chapter Twenty-two
"OHMYGOD!!" Sara shrieked, jumping on Kerry to hug her. "Congratulations!!"
Kerry giggled and hugged her back, and then Deidre and Meredith. She and Nick had been home from Jamaica for two days, and she was dying to tell everyone her news. Even her parents and Haley, who'd known it was going to happen, had cried and squealed when she and Nick had told them yesterday.
She had melted, when Miah had said she liked Kerry's ring, Nick told her that he had a present for her, too. Kerry had watched, along with her sister and parents, as Nick gave Miah a little black velvet box. Inside had been a necklace, with a charm that read "Daddy's Little Girl". Miah was thrilled with the present and Kerry and her mom had both cried because it was so sweet.
"How did he ask?" Meredith questioned.
Kerry gave the extremely condensed version of the proposal and the rest of the trip, which really hadn't consisted of much time spent outside of the bed. She chatted with the girls a while longer and then had to leave, to go hunt down the reason she'd been sent to the mall. Haley had requested a footlocker for her graduation present, to help with her move to college. Kerry intended to find one, and fill it with various fun things that Haley would enjoy, that would remind her of things they'd done together.
As she browsed through the stores, she began to feel depressed. She couldn't believe Haley was actually leaving. It was odd, even after living separately over four months, to think she wasn't going to be around all the time. They still talked on the phone almost every night, and were spending time together whenever they had the chance. But now she was leaving.. going to Miami to go to school, and wouldn't be home very often. She finally found what she was looking for and made her purchasing, feeling more saddened. She wished there was some way she could convince Haley to go to college closer to home, USF, UCF, just not Miami.
Kerry drove to her parents house and found Haley sitting in the driveway, waiting for her.
Haley jumped up and ran to Kerry's window before she had a chance to open the door. "Can we go somewhere?"
"Uh, sure. Get in." Kerry knew something was up, and figured she'd find out what it was soon enough. "Where do you want to go?"
"Wherever. Just not here." Haley replied, sounding like she was on the verge of tears, and turned to look out the window.
They ended up at Kerry and Nick's, Nick and Miah had gone somewhere, which left the house for Kerry and Haley to talk. Haley sprawled on the couch, Kerry in the big leather chair opposite her. Neither of them spoke for a while, Kerry knowing it best to wait until Haley was ready to talk.
"I don't want this." Haley said softly, breaking the silence.
"Don't want what, sissy?" Kerry asked, rearranging herself in the chair to face Haley.
"To leave. To go to school."
"I thought you were anxious to go. You've been excited about it..." Kerry got up and moved over to the couch.
"To go to college yes... not to go all the way to Miami to do it." Haley moved, making more room for Kerry.
"Then why did you apply there?"
"That's where mom told me I was going."
Kerry sighed. She hadn't known that was what had happened, but it didn't surprise her. Their mom had wanted the best for them, to go to college, get good jobs, be happy and have a successful life. Kerry had failed for the most part and she knew it bothered her mom, and now Haley was feeling the effects of it.
"She just wants me out of the house so her and dad can move. He decided to take that job in Seattle..."
Kerry interrupted, "Why didn't I know any of this?"
"They just decided to move... and I just didn't want to tell you, cause I knew you'd get mad and try to fix things, but I wanted to try to do it myself. I thought I'd be able to find some way out of it.. but I couldn't . And now I'm stuck packing to go to a school and major in something I don't even like because it's all planned out for me." Haley said, starting to cry.
"What do you want to do, Hay?" Kerry asked, pulling her into a hug.
"I don't wanna leave here! I was just wanting to go to USF or.. god, I don't even care if I'm in school. I don't wanna leave you or Miah or miss out on planning the wedding... I just don't wanna go!" Haley wailed against her sister.
Kerry tightened her hug on Haley, "Sissy, we'll work something out, okay? Don't worry about it. You don't want to go, you won't."
"How am I not going to? Mom and Dad will be mad..."
"Haley, they just want you in college somewhere, they aren't going to care where. Just as long as one of us goes, they'll be happy." Kerry was hoping she could figure something out. She'd been wanting Haley to stay, now she wanted to, they just had to come up with a way to make it happen.
Haley sniffled, but felt a little better. She and Kerry had managed to find their way out of alot of things, maybe they could do this, too.
The phone rang and Kerry squeezed Haley again and went to pick it up. "Hello?"
"Hey angel. Did you find what you were looking for?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, and I picked up an upset sister along the way, so we have company." Kerry replied, hopping up on the kitchen counter.
"It's cool... I was just calling to see if you wanted us to pick anything up on our way home, like food or whatever."
"Ohhhh, yeah, grab some chinese will ya? That's me and Hay's comfort food."
"Sure thing. Your usual?"
"Yup, same for Hay only egg rolls instead of crab rangoon."
"Alrighty. Will do. I'll be home soon, I love you."
"I love you, too. Bye." Kerry hung up and sighed. She was still amazed sometimes, by the little things he did.
Haley shuffled into the kitchen, "Did I hear something about egg rolls?"
Kerry smiled and gave her a hug, "Yeah, Nick's bringing dinner home."
"I think I'm gonna call him, like, WonderBoy or something... he's always doing something cute." Haley said, dropping into a chair at the table.
"WonderBoy, I like it." Kerry giggled.
"So, like, what did you guys do in Jamaica? I only got the G-rated version with mom and dad. I know you didn't go outside much, you're still as pale as you were when you left. I swear, you're the only person who can live in Florida all her life and still be pale."
"We went outside! Like... twice." Kerry said, grinning. "We had alot of lost time to make up for! That's not all we did, I mean, yeah, we did that alot, but we hung out in the hammock and talked about everything, like when we want to have the wedding... and stuff."
"Oh? When are you thinking? And what is 'stuff'?" Haley inquired.
"We want to do it soon... we figured we could get it together in four months, so that's what we're going for. And 'stuff' is just... wedding details, our life in general..." Kerry said, sitting across the table from her sister.
"So like around my birthday? How cool! And what does life in general mean?"
"Yeah, we were thinking the 29th. And damn you're nosey!"
"Um, yeah."
Kerry rolled her eyes."We talked about everything- kids, pets, cars, boats, stay where we are or move, what are we gonna do when they go on tour... everything."
Haley smiled, "Kids? Am I going to be hearing a new voice calling me AuntHayhay soon?"
Kerry shrugged, "Not too soon, I don't think. We're not like, trying or anything, but if it happens, we're okay with that. We both want it... so we're kind of just thinking, when it happens, it's time."
"I can't wait." Haley sighed.
"You can't wait?? Go have your own kid!" Kerry laughed.
"That would require a guy... and anyway, I like doing the aunt thing - spoil them and let mommy deal with it." Haley grinned.
"You're good at that!" Kerry turned to the door to see Miah come running in and Nick following her, loaded down with bags. Kerry went to help Nick as Miah tackled Haley and jumped in her lap.
"Thanks angel." Nick kissed Kerry on the cheek. "Everything okay? She looks alright.."
"Yeah, she's okay... I have something I want to talk to you about later."
"Okay... " Nick looked confused.
"Nothing bad. Just an idea." Kerry said, pulling the boxes of chinese food out of the bags.
Thirty minutes later, the food was long gone, and the fortune cookies had come out.
"Lemme read mine first!" Haley said, cracking the cookie open. She pulled out the slip of paper, "A tall stranger will soon enter your life. In bed." She cracked up, "Yeah, I'll hold my breath for that one!"
Nick laughed and handed Kerry a cookie, "You better not get one like that."
Kerry opened hers and read, "Watch your relations with people carefully, be reserved. In bed." She dropped the paper, "What fun is that?" She made a face and turned to Nick, "Your turn."
Nick grabbed the cookie and broke it open, "Eat another fortune cookie. In bed." He looked at Kerry, and said, "I only eat fruit loops in bed."
Kerry squealed and laughed so hard she almost fell off of her chair. Nick reached for her, pulling her onto his lap.
Haley looked at them both and shook her head. "I think I missed something, and I don't want to know what."
Kerry shook her head, "Nope. Not explaining that one."
"Good. Miah, let's go play in your room while mommy and daddy act silly, k?" Haley said, taking Miah's hand.
"Otay. I can show you my new barbie!" Miah said, leading Haley up to her room.
Nick kissed Kerry's neck, "So what was this idea of yours?"
Kerry gave him a quick rundown of what was going on, with Haley not wanting to go to school. "Okay, so here's my idea... she doesn't want to leave, I don't want her to go... you know how we were talking about getting a nanny for Miah? Could we maybe ask Haley to do it? Get her an apartment close to the house, she can take classes at USF, and then still be available in the evenings to watch Miah if we want to go out or something..."
Nick nodded, "I like that idea, I'd rather have someone we know and trust than trying to find someone new. It's fine with me."
"Thank you, love." Kerry kissed his cheek and ran upstairs to ask Haley.
A few minutes later Haley dashed down the steps and threw her arms around Nick's neck. "Thank you!"
Haley ran back upstairs and Kerry came down, and sat on Nick's lap again, straddling him.
He smiled at her, "I think Haley is happy."
"She's happy, Miah's happy, I'm deleriously happy... are you happy?"
"How could I not be? I've got everything I could ever want or need, right here. And I get to keep her forever." he said, taking Kerry's hand and kissing her engagement ring.
She kissed him deeply and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Forever and then some." she sighed happily.