The Perfect Gift

Ch. 14

They're setting the table, when she suddenly remembers her mental notes about her friends.

"Ricky!" she shouts abruptly, straightening so her spine is in an upright position.

He freezes. "What am I doing wrong?" is his immediate response. His eyebrows furrow at the one plate he's set down on the table. Surely, there's nothing wrong with that plate, right? He looks up at her in concern. "Is it the plate?" he asks stupidly.

"What?" she asks in confusion, her train of thought momentarily derailed. Her eyes dart down to the plate and back up to him. "Babe, the plate's fine."

His shoulders slump in relief and he exhales deeply. "Oh, good."

Nini wants to ask him why he's so worried about the plate but remembers her friends again. "Forget about the plate!" she says with a wave of her hand. "Ricky, there's something you need to know about Kourtney."

"Like what?" he asks as he continues around the table, laying down the plates. Nini follows with the silverware.

"She tends to be a bit..." she trails off, trying to think of the right word. "Shouty," she finally decides.

He pauses, an eyebrow rising. "Shouty?" he repeats incredulously. He's used to his girlfriend's much more impressive vocabulary, so a word like 'shouty' comes as a slight surprise.

Nini winces. "Okay, so 'shouty' isn't the right word," she admits. "Volatile is probably a little more accurate," she amends. "I mean, she's not always like that, but she's just the type of person to not take crap from anybody and if you cross her, she'll go off."

"So what you're telling me is that I shouldn't mess with her by slamming the door in her face, as well?" he asks sarcastically. Before she can begin to over-think things, he laughs and gently takes the silverware out of her hand, finishing the job for her. She immediately starts fidgeting with her hands and he smiles at her nervous tic.

"Nini, is she your best friend?"

She blinks at his sudden question. "Of course!" she says loudly with a confused frown.

"And does she always look out for you? And have your best interests at heart?" he continues gently.

The fidgeting stops. "Of course," she repeats, this time in a firm, steady voice.

Ricky grins at her. "Then that's all I needed to know," he says simply with a small shrug.

Nini smiles and exhales in relief. She looks at him gratefully and throws her arms around him in a hug. "You always know what to say," she mumbles into his chest.

His eyes soften and he smiles quietly from her hug. He looks down at her and wraps his arms around her smaller form. "Jeez. How are you gonna be when I'm meeting your moms?" he jokes.

She freezes in his hold and he winces from the slight tightening of her arms.

Maybe he shouldn't have made that comment.

Nini takes a deep breath and quietly exhales. "One crisis at time, Nini," she mutters under her breath as she steps out of the hug.

His eyebrows furrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing!" she quickly says. "I'm going to finish setting the table. With napkins and glasses, I mean," she sighs as she sets off into the kitchen again.

She's on her tiptoes in the kitchen, reaching for her cabinet with glasses, when Ricky hears a knocking at the door. "I'll get it!" he calls delightedly and practically runs to answer the door.

"Wait, Ricky!" Nini shouts in a panic over her shoulder. "Wait! Let me answer—!"

"Finish setting the table!" he hisses at her as he opens to the door. "Hello!" he greets at an African American woman with black, curly hair, holding a pie box. There was a man next to her as well.