Chapter Six
Saturday Morning, 6:13 AM
"Mommy!!" Miah shrieked jumping on top of Kerry, who was still asleep in bed.
"Huh? Wha?" Kerry opened her eyes to see Miah's face just inches from hers. "Whoa. Hi, munchkin."
"Mommy!! We're going to DithneyWorld with Nick today!!"
Kerry moaned and pulled the pillow over her head. "But not for a few more hours. Go back to bed, babygirl." she mumbled.
Miah frowned. "Don't wanna. I wanna stay here."
"Fine. Stay in here with me. Just be quiet. Your mom needs her beauty rest." Kerry said, raising the covers on her bed, allowing Miah to slip under them and cuddle next to her.
"Wanna look pretty for Nick?" Miah asked, squirming around next to Kerry, trying to get comfortable.
Kerry giggled. "Yeah, baby, I do." she replied, hugging Miah to her.
7:57 AM
Nick sat up in bed, wondering what his deal was. He NEVER woke up before his alarm went off. He didn't wake up WHEN the alarm went off half the time.
It's Saturday. As soon as he realized what day it was, it all made sense. Kerry. He'd been looking forward to today all week. Especially after Thursday night, when Kerry had called to thank him for the flowers. He'd thought it would just be a sweet gesture to Kerry and fun for Miah, not having known Kerry'd never gotten flowers before. But he should have figured, like that dumbass she used to date would think of something like flowers.
He got out of bed, smiling, and went to shower, already knowing today was going to be great.
9:04 AM
"Miah! Chill! He'll be here in about an hour." Kerry said, while trying to iron her shirt. Miah had never fallen back asleep, much to Kerry's dismay, so they'd both been up since 6:30, Miah bouncing off the walls the entire time.
"But I'm ex-ci-ted, Momma!! I'm gonna see Mickey an' Minnie an' Tigger an' Pooh an'
Don-ad... " Miah stopped chattering when Haley came in the room and scooped her up, and hung her upside down. "AAAHHHHHH!"
"We know you're excited, babe. It's all you've been talking about all week." Haley said, flipping Miah back over and setting her on the bed. "How does your mom feel today?" she asked, looking at Kerry.
Kerry snarled at the iron which was refusing to remove her wrinkles, "Damn thing" and then glanced at Haley, "Huh?"
"Earth to Kerry. I thought you were supposed to space out AFTER you went out with him, not before." Haley rolled her eyes at Kerry. "I asked how you felt about today."
"I'm... nervous, I think. Like, I mean, I know it's going to be fun... I don't know. I guess we'll just see what happens." Kerry gave up on the iron and yanked the plug out of the wall. She quickly dressed and went to pull her hair back, knowing that if she tried to get it to do anything else, it would never survive a day of Disney.
9:54 AM
Kerry sat on the couch, staring off into space, while Miah stood in the window waiting to see Nick coming down the street.
Haley flopped next to Kerry on the couch. "You ready for this?" she laughed.
"Yeah.. I'm tired already though. I guess I'm just wondering if HE's ready for this." Kerry replied.
"He'll be fine. You'll be fine. Everyone is going to have a great time." Haley said. "Starting now." she added, when Miah shrieked that she saw Nick. "I am kinda anxious to meet him."
"Behave, Haley." Kerry said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her heart fluttered when the doorbell rang. She walked quickly to the door, and looked through the peephole, to give herself a chance to get a look at him first.
He was smiling when Kerry flung the door open. "Morning."
"Hey." she grinned, and then got shoved out of the way by Miah.
"NIICCKKK!!!" Miah squealed wrapping her arms around his legs.
"Hey cutie." he replied, picking her up and swinging her around.
Haley stood in the doorway between the living and kitchen watching the whole scene. She loved the smile on her sister's face, Miah's obvious delight, and Nick appeared to be quite happy also. Haley had to admit that this might not be such a bad thing for Kerry to be involved in.
Nick noticed the other girl watching him and asked if she was Haley.
Haley blushed and said yes as she crossed the room to shake Nick's outstretched hand.
"So, are the Collins women ready to take on the Magic Kingdom?" Nick asked.
'YESSS!!" Miah shouted.
"I think that about covers it." Kerry laughed.
"Then let's go." Nick smiled. "Nice to meet you Haley."
Haley blushed again. "You too. Don't have too much fun without me."
Kerry hugged her sister as Nick started out the door. "No parties while I'm gone." She winked and closed the door behind her.
All the way to Orlando Miah talked incessantly about all the things she wanted to do. Kerry was glad that she was so excited, but wished she be estatic a little quieter so that she could talk to Nick. When they got out of the Durango in the parking lot, Nick put on a baseball cap and sunglasses, in attempt at a slight disguise.
Immediately upon walking onto Main Street USA, just inside the gates of the Magic Kingdom, they were stopped by perky photographer wanting to capture the first few seconds of thier Disney adventure on film. Out of instinct, Kerry tried to brush her off and walk past. She hated having her picture taken. Nick stopped her though, saying "C'mon, just stop for a sec."
Nick grabbed Miah with one arm, and carefully slipped the other around Kerry's shoulder, making sure she saw him so she wouldn't be startled by a sudden touch. The photographer took four quick pictures and handed the claim tickets to Nick.
"So where to first?" Nick asked Miah.
"I wanna see Mickey!!"
"Alright, the Mouse it is." Nick looked at Kerry who was studying a map of the park. "Where would we find a big talking mouse around here?"
"My guess would be in Mickey's Toon Town Fair." Kerry said, using her best tour guide voice.
"Lead on, Map Girl." Nick laughed.
"Is that all I am to you? Just someone to read your maps?" Kerry teased.
"We'll see how well you do with that, and then we'll go from there." Nick replied, smirking.
Kerry tried to glare at him, but it didn't work, and she turned her back to him to hide her giggles. She said, "Fine, fine. Come along." and pointed them in the direction of Mickey.
Nick and Kerry watched and laughed as Miah ran around in a fountain of randomly spurting water with several other kids. He was glad to be here with her, and with Miah. He knew today was going to be a good test for him, being with both of them all day. And he felt like he was going to do very well. He was having a great time, Miah was obviously having a blast, and Kerry seemed very content.
"What's your favorite ride here?" Kerry asked, as she glanced at the map again.
"Space Mountain, of course." Nick replied, like it should have been the most obvious thing in the world.
"Shoulda known." Kerry laughed, "That is such a guy thing."
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, cocking his head and raising his eyebrow to her. "Don't you like it?"
"I love it! It's just I should have realized that before I even asked. No guy would ever say that anything at the Magic Kingdom, other than Space Mountain is his favorite ride."
"I like Pirates of the Carribbean and the Haunted Mansion, too." he said, like he was trying to redeem himself for being such a typical guy.
Kerry cracked up laughing.
"What??"
"You have just rounded out the top three guy favorites. I saw that one coming." she kept laughing.
"Alright, what's your favorite? Huh?"
Kerry stopped laughing, looked at the ground and mumbled "Peterpansadventure."
"What was that, Kerry? I don't think I quite caught that..." he said, stepping closer to her and cupping his hand over his ear. "Did you say Peter Pan?"
"Yes, I did say Peter Pan. So there." Kerry said and stuck her tongue out at him.
The first thought that ran through Nick's mind was 'don't stick that out unless you're going to use it.' but he knew better than to say it. He almost surprised himself by thinking it, but he couldn't deny that he was totally attracted to Kerry and definitely wouldn't protest if she did want to use her tongue on him.
Miah came running over to them dripping, and gave her mom a hug, getting her wet.
"UGH! You're all wet!!" Kerry yelped.
Miah giggled. "Yup!"
"Thanks for sharing, babygirl."
"Alright, let's go visit Peter Pan." Nick smiled, and reached for Kerry's hand.
Miah stepped between them and grabbed Nick's hand on one side and Kerry's on the other. "Let's go see Pete-ah Pan!"
"Sounds good to me." Kerry said and ushered them off towards Fantasyland.
After two flights over London with Peter and Wendy and a few trips around the "Small World" Nick declared it was time for lunch. They had lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, right near the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter that Nick couldn't stop raving about.
Kerry just shook her head and said he was crazy. The only thing she really liked over here in Tomorrowland besides Space Mountain was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. "I swear, I used to be more fun than this... I guess having a kid has made me boring." she said, sighing.
"Not hardly. You're alot more fun than alot of people I know." Nick countered.
"You're too kind."
"Just honest." Nick said. "And ready to go hang out with some pirates. Anyone care to join me?"
"I do, I do!" Miah said.
"Ahoy, matey." Kerry replied, rolling her eyes. "Typical guy." she laughed quietly.
"I heard that." Nick made a face at her.
"I meant for you to." Kerry grinned.
Half-way across the park to the Pirates Miah complained. "Momma my feet hurt."
"C'mere, Miah", Nick said, scooping her up and hoisting her up over his head and setting her on his shoulders.
"Cool!" Miah exclaimed, looking around, enjoying the new higher view she had of things.
The afternoon quickly faded into late evening after swashbuckling through the Carribbean, cruising the jungle, taking in the Tiki birds and running from one side of the park to the other.
They ended up near Main Street again, by the photo shop and went to look at the pictures that had been taken earlier in the day. All four turned out well, smiles all around. Kerry couldn't get over how much they looked like... like a family. Like this was how it was supposed to be. She sighed louder than she thought and Nick asked what was up.
"Oh, um..." she thought quickly, "it's just a cute picture.. the castle in the background and all. I always wanted to be Cinderella when I was little." she said. It was the truth, even though it hadn't been her exact thoughts at that moment.
Nick had two of the pictures framed, and gave one to Kerry, keeping the other for himself. In his mind, he'd already picked out exactly where he was going to put it when he got home.
They wandered further down Main Street, pushing through the crowd of people gathering for the Electrical Parade, to look in the shops.
"Momma! Look at this!" Miah said, grabbing her mom's wrist and dragging her over to a display of dress-up outfits from various Disney movies. "I like that one, Momma." she said, pointing to a gold ball gown similiar to Belle's in Beauty and the Beast.
"That's pretty cool isn't it, babe?" Kerry asked, while reaching for the price tag. She took one look at it and quickly dropped it. "Maybe we can dress you up like that for Halloween... but we can't get that now, okay?"
"Okay. Mommy, I gotta go to the bathroom." Miah said.
"Um, okay." Kerry turned to look for Nick to tell him where they were going and was surprised to find him right beside her. "We're going to the little girls room."
"Okay. I'll just stay in here and wait for you, okay?"
"Yup. We'll be right back."
"Okay." he smiled. He watched them walk out the door before grabbing one of the ball gowns and something for Kerry and heading to the register.
When Kerry and Miah returned, they found Nick standing outside the shop, holding a bag and grinning widely. "Let's find a spot for the parade, shall we, ladies?" he asked.
They settled on the near the steps to Cinderella's Castle to watch the parade, and put them in an ideal place for the following fireworks.
"Hey Miah, close your eyes." Nick instructed.
Miah closed her eyes, scrunching her face up in the process while Nick reached into the bag he'd been holding. Kerry's jaw dropped as she watched him pull out the dress.
"Look Miah." he said holding the dress out in front of her.
Her eyes flew open. "Oh thank you!!" she shrieked, jumping up off the curb to give him a hug. "Can I put it on Momma?"
Kerry was almost too shocked to reply. "Umm, no, let's wait until we get home. You don't want to get it messed up."
Miah looked disappointed but she agreed. She waited while Nick situated himself on the curb next to her mom and then sat herself in his lap.
"I think you have a new best friend," Kerry remarked. "Thanks alot for that." Saying 'thank you' didnt really seem to be adequate though. He'd done alot more for them in the relatively short time she'd known him than she could ever really thank him for. He made her happy, doted on Miah... he seemed too good to be true.
"No problem." he smiled and leaned back against the railing behind him. It really wasn't a problem. He was glad to be able to do things for them, Kerry gave him a reason to smile and he enjoyed Miah.
They sat in silence, with the exception of Miah's occassional whisper of amazement as the street came alive with thousands of colored lights from the parade going by. When the procession ended they moved a little closer to the Castle and waited for the fireworks to begin.
Miah was rapidly wearing down, and had curled up on a bench right next to where Nick and Kerry were standing, arms around each other.
"I had a great time today, thank you so much for this." Kerry said quietly, cautiously leaning her head against Nick's shoulder.
"Thank you for agreeing to come. I had alot of fun, too." he replied, turning to kiss her softly on the forehead.
Kerry smiled in the darkness and turned her attention to the sky where the fireworks were beginning to explode and bathe the park with their colorful light. She felt very peaceful, despite all the noise, standing there, wrapped up in Nick's arms.
As the Grande Finale began, Nick carefully turned Kerry towards him and looked in her eyes. He bent his head to brush his lips against hers, and was pleasantly shocked when she responded by returning his kiss and pulling him closer to her. He slowly slipped his tongue into her mouth, giving her a chance to stop him if she wasn't comfortable with that. She welcomed it though, allowing him to kiss her like he wanted to, and giving back with equal enthusiasm.
When she broke the kiss, she smiled at him shyly and then glance over at Miah, who was peering them- face glowing with a delighted grin.
"I think we got caught." Nick laughed softly.
They left the park, Miah between them, holding both their hands again, until they got back to the Durango. Miah immediately stretched out across the back seat and was asleep before they even got out of the parking lot.
On the drive home, Kerry and Nick talked about favorite memories of DisneyWorld and their childhoods. Kerry was disappointed when they pulled up in front of her parents house. The day had been perfect, she didn't want it to end. Kerry grabbed the bag holding the picture frame and Miah's dress. Nick gathered up Miah and carried her into the house, then upstairs to her room, carefully tucking her into bed. Kerry kissed Miah's cheek and then walked Nick back out to his truck.
They kissed again, each one a little more passionate and wanting than the one before. Nick hugged her goodbye, and got back into the truck, when he remembered he still had something for her. He called her back over to him, "Hey! You forgot something!"
'Forgot something?' She thought she'd checked to make sure she had everything. She walked back over to the drivers side and asked what it was.
"Here ya go, Cinderella." Nick said, holding out a beautiful glass slipper to her.
Kerry blushed as she took the slipper from him. She leaned in through the window to kiss him again. She whispered, "Thank you, Prince Charming." and turned to walk in the house so Nick couldn't see the silly grin on her face.