More Than Business

Chapter 80

NICKI POV

I've had my hearing back for a few days now... I don't think I realized how much I missed sound.

I sat on the floor beside Liam's crib, snaking my hand between the bars as he slept. I stroked his nose, cheeks and little lips.

I heard a soft knock at the door.

"come in." I called out softly, not taking my eye off of Liam.

"They're so peaceful when they sleep." Aubrey's mom sat beside me.

"yeah.. and I can hear his little breaths." I added.

"This is Liam right?" she asked.

"Yeah." I nodded, their cribs each had their names engraved on them.

"I have to learn how to tell the boys apart." she remarked.

"Oliver reminds me of Aubrey." I explained, "but if you're feeling really desperate, Liam has a birthmark on the back of his neck, Oliver's is on his stomach and Allison has one on her arm."

"Spoken like a true mother." she joked.

"Can I ask you something?"

"of course honey."

"Do you think Aubrey is doing the right thing?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Being with me.."

"Of course he's doing the right thing." she put her hand on my shoulder, "trust me."

"You of all people should understand why I-"

"You are an amazing woman, okay?"

"People always say to trust your gut.. and when you first met me, you hated me."

"Thats not true, when I first met you, you were just a little girl running away from her uncle." she stated.

"You know what I mean."

She sighed, "I never hated you. I was skeptical.. but I didn't hate you."

"I just.. can't help but think that somewhere out there, there's the perfect woman for him. And that she'll be able to offer him more than I ever could, and he won't have to calm her down after she has an anxiety attack because she'll be normal." I wiped away oncoming tears with my free hand, "I want.. with everything in me, for Aubrey and I to work out. I want to be that perfect wife for him. But I would hate for him to waste his time waiting for me to get my shit together and-"

"Honey you need to stop." She said bluntly, "You are fine, and as his mother.. I need you to know and understand that I couldn't imagine a more perfect wife for my son than you."

"I'm sure you told Alexandria the same thing" I rolled my eyes, "look how that turned out."

"Thats not true." she consoled.

Thats when it hit me, "And.. I did the same thing that she did."

"No you didn't."

"So what is it some sort of coincidence that we both got into an accident? She had Aurora and Aaliyah in the car, I had OJ." I ranted.

"you are nothing like her." she said through her teeth.

"I know that, and that's what scares me."