| Author's Note: I know nothign about 17th Century Italy... i made it all up! Now onto the story Heather was greeted warmly by the rest of the family, getting hugs and kisses. At least they were happy she was there. Nick took her one bag upstairs, hardly acknowldeging her at all. Leslie and Angel had hundreds of questions, and Heather promised to answer them all. Heather spent the day getting to know the Carteer family, and in turn they got to know her. She really loved being there except for Nick's occasional remark or glare. Jane noticed too, and quickly sent Nick on an errand. " Heather what's going on with you and Nick?" She asked after he was gone. " I don't know," She shrugged. " Actually that's a lie. I do know. He's upset that i didn;t say i was dating him on TRL," " But you're not," Leslie said sitting next to her on the couch," " Not officially, but we have been talking for a year, and we are close. I just didn't thikn he'd be that offended by that. I mean we've never even kissed," " Heather he'll get over it." Jans said. " He won't stay mad forever," " I came all the way out here to spend time with him and he can;t wait to get away from me-" A knock on the door interrupted Heather, and Angel ran over to answer the door. It was Heather's other luggeage. Angel grabbed it and thanked him carrying it over to the couch. " What do you have in there? It's so heavy," " Your gifts from Italy... and clothes." Heahter said opening her bag. Heather moved Nick's case out of the way and quickly dispersed the packages. Jane was the first to open hers. " Thank you Heather, it's beautiful," She said holding up the silk shawl. " Where did you find this?" " Well all of your gifts have the same background, they're all antiques.When i was in Italy i had very little time to shop, only for a few hours, and amazingly i found this beautiful little antique shop and i fell in love with everything there. That shawl is about a hundred years old and the appraiser told me that it belonged to a duchess-well she wasn;t a duchess when she wore it, its the shawl she wroe on her wedding day." " Thank you," She said again, wrapping the delicate garment around her shoulders. Angel was next. " Cool, Its an angel," She said holding up the relic. " It's so pretty," That angel is an original artifact form the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Unfortunately it was before Michaelangelo painted the ceiling. It was taken down with other like it during it's restoration. although i'm not really sure why," " Thanks," She said giving her a hug. " It's really cool," " Leslie your gift was worn by all young eligible women when they went to balls and parties if that nature. It signifies grace, beauty, and honesty... all the things young men of that time looked for in young women.Most families had their own pictures or saying carved in them, but that one's blank so you can engrave it anyway you like. Now, that doens't mean you can go out right now and get married, but it is a nice thing to have around your neck." Leslie lifted the pendant and watched it sparklr in the light. " Thank you." She said. " Would you help me put it on?" " Sure," She said taking the necklace and undoing the clasp. " Ok. Here's the.... ice... cream," Nick said busting through the door, but stopping when he saw Heather's case open and her things sprawled out all over the floor. " What's going on?" He asked. " Heather's giving us our gifts," Angel said showing him her angel. " Really?" " Uh huh," Heather said handing Jane two more gifts. Those are for your Husband and Aaron," " Thanks," Jane said. " C'mon grirls. Let's go put our things away," Leslie and Angel stood and followed Jane out of the room, leaving Nick and Heather alone. " I got ice cream.... for desert," He said. " I should probably put it away before it melts," " Right," Heather said looking back down at her suticase. " I'll just take my suitcaes upstaris then," " Right," He repeated quietly, not moving form his spot. " I should probably put this away," " Okay," " Okay," Nick stood there for a few minutes beofre walking past her and into the kitchen. Heather sighed and began putting things back in her suticase. She zipped it up and stood, and turned around running right into Nick. " Sorry," She said softly. " Me too," He said quickly. " I'm an asshole. I had no right to be upset with you-" " I wasn't trying to lie about you or anything, Nick. I'm just not sure what exactly we have here-" " I know. I overreacted." " I don't want there to be any tension between us." Heather said quietly, taking his hand in hers. Nick looked down at her, his thumb nightly running over her hand. " I don't either," " So are we okay?" She asked. Nick stepped forward giving Heather a kiss on the forehead.... disappointing Heather. " We're okay," Chapter Four |