Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux by Latrivia Nelson (books to read for beginners .TXT) 📕

“Fine.” He smiled over at her. “We’re on our way.”

***

Nicola’s heart fluttered and stomach tightened as he drove down the interstate whizzing past other cars like they were sitting still. The last nine months felt like at least five years. Now, it was actually happening. Either today he would get his walking papers, or he would find out that he was bound to Ivy for the rest of his natural life. Nearly a year ago, such a thought would have resulted in heavy drinking and a binge of reckless sex, but today he was sober and totally in control.

Pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, he jumped out in his workout clothes and pulled off his sweaty t-shirt. He grabbed a clean white t-shirt from his backseat quickly and pulled on his University of Memphis baseball cap. With little time to spare, he dashed to the maternity ward.

Before Nicola was ready, he was let off of the elevators onto his destination. He took a deep breath and peered through the windows of the waiting room. Expectantly, he saw Grey sitting with his legs crossed reading a newspaper, and an unfamiliar man that bore close resemblance to Emerald sat across the room looking at the television. Reluctantly, he walked into the waiting room letting the door slam behind him. Both men looked up. A curious stare was shared and then the tension dispersed.

Wanting to be mature in the presence of Ivy’s father, Grey stood up. It was still all about the show for him. Who knew if someone was watching or not. He had to always be the bigger man in front of others, at least.

“Hi, man.” Grey said relaxed giving his most carefree smile.

“Um, hey.” Nicola stopped completely stunned. “Is Ivy okay?” he asked looking around for Sadie. He nodded his head at Madison.

“Yeah, she’s alright,” Grey said looking over at Madison to make sure that he saw them cooperating.

Madison stood up and extended his hand with an uneasy smile. So this was Nicola? He sized the young man up as he looked him the eyes. “Madison Winters,” he said giving Nicola a firm handshake.

“Nicola Agosto,” Nicola said looking Madison in the eye. “Nice to finally meet you, sir.”

Madison searched Nicola’s face for some small sign of weakness and then released his hand. Guiding him over to the seat beside him, he offered Nicola a cup of coffee as they sat down. Nicola took the cup although he was not in the mood for coffee as a kind gesture. He wanted to make a good impression on this man for some reason. He wanted him to know that he wasn’t just some guy that had possibly knocked up Ivy. As he looked up, he caught Grey cutting his eyes at them both.

“Grey, you come over here, too,” Madison directed as he sat down in the middle chair.

“Yes, sir,” Grey said following his orders and sitting down quickly. This is madness, he thought inwardly.

“I guess all three of us will be walking on pins until we find out what the hell is going on in there, huh?” Madison looked at the door. He wished that Sadie would come out with some news. “So, we might as well get along, call a truce…do what adults do.” He looked over at Grey and then Nicola. “Today is about Ivy. She’s in a very difficult place right now. She’s bringing life into this world, no matter how controversial the situation is, and she needs both of your support.”

“Well, she’s got mine,” Nicola said leaning back in the seat to relieve his aching back.

“Mine too,” Grey said looking away from Nicola.

“Good,” Madison said hoping that he had made himself perfectly clear.

For the first time in nearly a month, Nicola missed Brooks. If he had been there, the pressure would not have been so great. He would have calmed him down, filled him in on what he was missing out on in the delivery room and cracked a joke to ease the tension. Now that he was flying solo, however, he didn’t know how to handle the situation. Here he was in the room with Ivy’s fiancé and father with nothing to say and nothing to do but wait. And he had all the time in the world to ask the question that he had been asking for so long…what if? He had a fifty-fifty chance that those boys would be his, and he more than anything, he wanted them to be. He smiled at the little Asian girl looking at him while she played with her doll across the room. He definitely wanted them to be.

Emerald and Trina walked through the door both in khaki pants and polo shirts moments later wringing wet from the sudden downpour. Nicola looked up confused. Who were they supposed to be? He could detect instant discomfort in Trina’s eyes when she saw him. Letting go of Emerald, she clasped her hands together.

Nicola stood up, went to them both and shook Emerald’s hand. He had always respected Ivy’s brother. He was so honest and forward. He carried the same characteristics that Madison did. They were honorable men. He didn’t know either very well, but he could definitely since that about them. Suddenly, however, he sensed something new. This was a development that evidently happened while he was away. Trina had moved on even before he had.

“How are you, man?” Emerald looked back at Trina and realized Nicola didn’t know about them.

“Fine. And you?”

“The bottom finally broke out of the sky just as we were about to get out of the car.”

“Yeah, I see,” Nicola looked at Trina again. Which one of them was actually going to tell him? “How are you, Trina? You look…different.”

“Fine. How are you?” She walked over and hugged him. Letting go she cleared her voice, pulled her hair behind her ear and continued. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah.” Nicola looked into her eyes. “What have you been up to?”