Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (43 page)

Now, it was time for the big show. Prepared to wake him, she stood over him with a cold pitcher of water staring at his limp body. She nudged him first and then slapped him on the cheek. He still did not move. In her last resort, she splashed the ice-cold water on his face. Jumping up, he looked confused and upset just out of reach of his gun.

“It’s just me,” Ivy said trying to relieve the fire she saw in his eyes. But Nicola did not speak. He pulled his large tired body up as much as he could, dazed and aggravated.

Assisting him, Ivy grabbed his arm and made him sit up on. She stood in between his long legs perched on the rail of the bed. Pulling his shirt off, she rubbed his face softly and wiped the water from his eyes. Moving into him, she unbuckled his pants. He looked at her peculiarly, surprised that she was there. He laid back in the bed and allowed her to pull off his pants. Then, she grabbed his arm and led him to the bathtub.

“Take your underwear off when you get in tub,” she said leading him to the large garden style, oversized marble black tub.

Nicola stepped in the warm water and instantly awoke from his long sleep. Sitting down, he let out a moan. His body ached almost as bad as his head did. Covered in bubbles, he laid back in the tub while Ivy sat beside him on the bank of tub with her feet inside the tub. Snuggling in between her legs, he laid his head back on her large stomach and rubbed her bubbled soaked legs.

He closed his eyes as he felt one of the babies kick at the back of his head. “Why are you here, Ivy?” His voice was low and scratchy.

“Why are you so damned drunk, Nicola?” She rubbed his arms with a soft scrub.

“I don’t’ want you to see me like this.” Pulling his arm away he pulled off his underwear and threw them across the bathroom.

“Well, if you don’t want me to see you like this, then don’t get like this.” She pulled his arm back forcefully and washed his chest.

He frowned. “You just don’t know what I’m going through right now.” He was more than prepared to invite her to his pity party, but it seemed that she did not want to attend.

Ivy let out a sigh. “I have to say I am disappointed at you. I thought you were more of a man than this… getting piss poor drunk like some college kid. You know better. Besides, what does this help? What?”

He turned around to look at her, but she never looked up from scrubbing his chest.

“Believe me. I already know…I’m sorry,” he said in his most sincere tone. Normally, he would have told any other woman to go to hell, but with Ivy he only felt embarrassment. The feeling was quite like a mother scolding her young.

Ivy tried to continue on with her stern contempt, but as she looked at him sitting vulnerable in her care her heart warmed. “I know you’re sorry.” Her voice softened as she allowed her fingers to rub his tense shoulders. He looked up at her, and they made eye contact for a brief moment.

“Damn, I feel like shit,” Nicola said with his vision still blurry.

“The truth of the matter is that I was worried sick. I know how you must feel. Trina has been dragging around the house like you wouldn’t believe. The only thing is that she hasn’t gone to drinking yet.” She said softly. “Do you want me to wash your hair?”

“Yes,” Nicola said enjoying being pampered by the woman he loved.

Ivy continued. “This whole thing has been so sudden. So unreal. But you have to continue on, Nicola. You can’t just ball up and give up.”

“I haven’t given up. I just got drunk, Ivy,” Nicola said equally as soft.

“Well, this isn’t healthy.” Ivy paused. “Do you hear me?”

“Yeah, baby. I hear you.” Nicola said raising his head slightly before she drenched him with warm water.

“You’ll have to shave yourself. If I do it, I’ll probably kill you.”

“In that case, I’ll get to it.” He slouched down in the water. “Can we just sit here for a minute…just sit here?” He pulled her legs up over his shoulders and let them rest on his chest. Ivy pulled her long sundress up above her thighs. Comfortable, he rested between her legs feeling the heat from her womb.

“I’m having boys,” Ivy said softly as she rubbed through his curly locks. She knew that he was dying to find out and couldn’t wait any longer to tell me.

“Boys? Really?” His eyes opened and he looked up at the ceiling. “Can I ask you a question?” His massive arms lay across her legs.

“Yes,” Ivy said yawning and looking at the dark curly hair on his arm against the contrast of his wet skin.

“Do you think that they’re mine? The babies?”

“I have no idea,” Ivy said slowly.

“Do you want them to be mine?”

“I have no idea.” Ivy rubbed her stomach. “I’m seven and half months pregnant. My only want is for them to arrive on time and healthy.” She tried to avoid revealing too much of herself to a man who had repeatedly denied her the attention or explanations that she so desired. But she had to ask.
“Do you want them to be yours?” Her voice was laced with curiosity.

With a smile, Nicola rubbed her soft legs and kissed the inside of her knee. “Ivy…they are mine,” he said self-assured. Ivy didn’t argue with his statement for fear of exposing the way that she felt for him. Nicola didn’t push his feelings for her, because of his fear of being exposed by Grey. Instead that sat in silence and fear, thinking of all the things that they should have been saying at that time but weren’t.

After a while, when the water began to cool and their bodies began to wrinkle, Nicola awoke from his peaceful slumber and realized that Ivy had fallen asleep behind him leaning back against the marble wall. Standing up, he grabbed a towel and wrapped his waist. In the process, Ivy awoke and caught a glimpse of his all too familiar sculpted temple. She looked away before he could catch her. Smiling, he grabbed another towel and dried her legs.

“Feeling like your old self?” she asked stretching.

“A little bit,” Nicola said helping her out of the large garden tub.

“Well, I’ve got dinner downstairs. If you’re hungry…” Ivy tried to ignore how beautiful he looked with his huge black locks of hair wet and curly around the nape of his neck.

“I’m starving,” he said going to the sink to shave. “What’s for dinner?”

“I was actually shocked when I looked in your refrigerator. There were all the ingredients for Cold Duck and Mango Salad.” She smiled proud of herself.

“Did you see the wine in the rack? We could chill something.”

“No alcohol, Nico.” Ivy said infuriated that he had even suggested.

“I’ve been drinking wine with my dinner since I was six.”

“Well tonight, we’re going to have Coke or water.” She smiled.

“Si, signora. You better be glad that I went grocery shopping. I normally have an empty cupboard,” Nicola said spraying himself with Ralph Lauren Polo cologne.

“Where do you shop?”
“Miss Cordelia's Grocery.”

“I love that store.” Ivy paused. “Is that the Black by Ralph Lauren?” she asked looking at his cologne bottle.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “You like it.”
“I love it,” Ivy said walking up and sniffing his chest.

“Hey,” Nicola said lifting her chin. “I’m only human. Don’t tempt me.”

“Tempt you to what? I didn’t think that men liked pregnant women.” She looked him directly in his brown eyes.

“I think that you are more beautiful than you’ve ever been right now. And if you weren’t with Grey, you’d be in my bed right now.” Rubbing her back, he kissed her cheek and walked into his walk-in closet to pick something comfortable to throw on.

Ivy was left on cloud nine. He did find her attractive still. The thought made her happy, but hearing him say it made her feel like a women. She tried hard not to lose her composure, but it was a hard task. “Your closet is more like another bedroom,” she said peering inside his wall-to-wall, wooden closet space with mahogany wooded hangers, oak dressers and larger oversized golden mirrors.

“It’s one of the reasons I bought the place.” Putting on some white tube socks, he grabbed a pair of long, black jersey shorts and took off his towel.

“I’m going to go down and check on the food,” Ivy said remembering herself.

“Okay,” Nicola said jumping into his white Nike shorts. “I’ll be down in a few.” Shaking off his dizziness and nausea, he collected his thoughts.

“Okay,” Ivy said drifting off. She could feel the heat rising around her neck. His beautiful body never ceased to amaze her.

To set the mood from the earlier somber feel to a more lively beat, Nicola put on his favorite Ibrahim Ferrer CD and opened all the patio doors to let the late evening breeze in the house. He pulled the dark drapes to allow in the moonlight. Ivy finished setting the table and grabbed two cokes from the refrigerator. Sitting comfortably in the dining room, they lit two candles and sat quietly enjoying the meal.

“So, how do you feel about having two boys?” Nicola asked.

“Truthfully, I always had the feeling that they were boys.”

“Really?” Nicola tasted the food. Absolutely delicious. “Why did you think that?”

“Well, I’ve always had a really good connection with my brother and my father. So, I figured that this would be no different?”

“You don’t have a good relationship with your mother?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s always been my rock.”

“So, is my mom. She has always kept my family together.”

“You rarely talk about your family. Are you all close?”

“Well, this time away has made me appreciate them a lot more. And you know,” Nicola cleared his throat and wiped his mouth. “The whole thing with Caesar in my house…that really has made me realize that you have to embrace each day, because the next one is not promised to you.”

“That’s true. Did you live with your folks growing up?”

“Yeah. My dad was always gone, but when he was home, he was a great guy…a real family man. My mom was always there. She always put us first on the list…still does. You know that she still sends me birthday and Christmas packages?”

“Wow,” Ivy laughed. “I wish that my folks did that. Well, they still do a lot.”

“Did you grow up with both parents?”

“Uh huh. My mom and dad divorced when I was a sophomore in high school. They said that it was due to my dad’s work.”

“Which is?”

“He ran a battalion for a while, but now I don’t know what he does.” She laughed. “He’s constantly on the phone with us.”

“Sounds like a good man. No. Really. They did a great job with you.”

“Thanks,” Ivy said happy. “I think so, too.”

Ivy and Nicola talked for hours about their childhood, adolescents and growing adulthood, exposing personal thoughts and interests that no one had cared to know before. For the first time, Nicola found himself enjoying reminiscing about life, and Ivy found herself intrigued by more than just a man’s ambition but about his entire life story.

**

Trina came in from a long haul at work and peeled out of her sweaty uniform at the front door, kicked off her steel toe black boots in the dining room and walked into the kitchen in her underwear to scavenge through the leftovers in the refrigerator. Turning on the stereo on top of the counter, she wiggled around in the middle of the floor as she drank the last of the milk right out of the carton. Pulling her long black hair out of a tangled ponytail, she let her mane down and moaned as she scratched the crown of her head.

“Well, aren’t we relaxed,” Emerald said coming out of Ivy’s room.

“Emerald!” Trina screamed ducking behind the counter.

“Hey,” Emerald said turning around. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Well,
I am
in my underwear.” She looked across the counter and saw her uniform.

“Could you throw me my clothes? They are in the dining room.”

“It’s no different from seeing you in a swim suit. Besides, you

should be proud that you have a freakin’ six pack,” Emerald said picking up her uniform top. “You want the bottoms too?”

“Yes,” Trina said blushing. “You would be embarrassed too, if I had seen you damned near naked.” Her southern drawl emerged in a thick accent.

“Well that can be arranged,” Emerald said peeling out of his jogging pants.

“Boy, what are you doing?” Trina asked laughing as he stripped down to his boxers.

“I’m making you comfortable.” He said rocking to the beat of the song on the radio. “Turn that up.” In a convulsing fit, he danced around the room doing the snake and the robot in his white tube socks and gym shoes.

“God, you can’t hold a beat,” she said watching him dance around in his white boxers. “Okay. Okay.” She said standing up feeling at little better about being in her underwear.

“Okay,” Emerald said laughing as he passed her the sweaty uniform she’d thrown on

the floor.

For a moment, they stood staring at each other in complete silence as the music played. Emerald had a devilish grin on his face, and Trina stood compelled to kiss him for his ability to utterly humiliate himself for her pleasure. Realizing that she was ogling him, she came to her senses.

“I’m going to go and get dressed. You can put your clothes back on,” Trina said with her clothes balled up in her arms
. I have to fight this. I’m just horny
, she thought to herself as she rushed out of the room leaving Emerald alone.

“I may get dressed. I don’t know. I sort of like being free,” Emerald taunted Trina and picked up his clothes as he watched her walk down to her bedroom. He was glad that he had made her smile, but there so much more that he wanted to do for her.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Graduation Day