Chapter Sixteen | Nick

"I can't do it!" Isabella exclaims, dough dripping from her fingers.

My niece wiggles her fingers, her apron wrapped securely around her waist. Before us, a bowl of cookie batter Talia left us in charge to whip together despite me telling her that I shouldn't be in charge of an oven. Isabella wanted cookies after dinner and Talia thought it would be a good idea to bake some verses getting her the already made cookies in the cupboard.

When Ryan called, asking me if I could watch Isabella for a few hours so he and Caitlin can have date night, I eagerly agreed, loving any extra time I could spend with my niece, and when I mentioned it to Talia she offered to tag along to help which I didn't have any problems with because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to her, even if it was just a few hours.

Isabella was thrilled to see her. I look out the kitchen that overlooks the dining room where I see her picking up the toys Isabella brought down from her room to play with. She looks beautiful in a pair of destroyed light denim jeans and a black Guns N Roses t-shirt.

"You just gotta add a little bit more flour." Talia says, walking towards us.

Isabella and I both take a step back and allow Talia to take over, adding more flour to our batter so that it would become thicker.

"Our hero." I tell her before kissing her cheek.

"Oh babe, you got a little flour on your shirt." Talia tells me, frowning.

I look down at my shirt but see nothing. "Wh-" I start to say but stopped when Talia suddenly flicks flour in my face.

"Oops." She grins at me and Isabella and her giggle.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" I arch a brow at the both of them.

"You look silly Uncle Nick." Isabella continues to giggle.

"You know what's silly? This!" I flick some flour on her face. Talia laughs louder and I flick my gaze to her. "Oh, don't think you're free babe." I grab a handful of batter from the bowl.

"You wouldn't..." Talia eyes me suspiciously.

"Oh, but I would." I state before I throw the batter at her chest.

For the next ten minutes we have a food fight. Talia throws batter back at me, I throw some at Isabella and Isabella attacks Talia. It isn't until I slip on some batter on the floor that I wave my white flag and call a truce.

Isabella goes upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed while Talia and I stay downstairs to clean up the mess we made in the kitchen.

"I don't think your sister would ever let us babysit again if she saw her kitchen."

"She'd probably murder you." I agree.

"We should probably start cleaning up them before they come back." Talia says before she stands up. I tell her where the cleaning supplies are and the two of us begin cleaning.

That was actually pretty fun. Normally whenever I played with Isabella, Caitlin or Ryan were around, playing with us, but I don't know, this time felt different. Playing with her and Talia somehow just made it feel like we were our own little family in some way.

"You're quiet." Talia notes as she steps back into the kitchen after helping Isabella with her shower and getting her into her pajamas.

"How's Bella?"

"All snuggled up in her bed. She's waiting for you to give her a goodnight kiss." She tells me.

"I'll be up in a minute." I say, wiping the counter.

"Are you okay?" Talia comes to stand next to me by the counter.

"Yeah. Just thinking." I answer.

"About what?"

"Kids." I tell her truthfully.

"What about them?"

I shrug. "Is that something you want in the future?" I wonder.

She's only eighteen and I had no idea if our relationship would last another week or another year. But I wanted to know if children were something she saw herself having in the future.

Talia shrugs. "Honestly? I don't know. I love kids. I think I'm great with them... but I still have so much I want to do and experience. So maybe when I'm older."

That was a fair enough answer. "Okay?"

"What about you? You planning on knocking me up?"

"No." I answer too quickly. "I told you before that my parents did a number on me. I definitely don't want kids. I don't want to screw them up like my parents did with me."

"Nick, you're not a screw up." She tells me adamantly. "I know you think you are, but you're not. You're smart, kind, funny, giving, patient... I mean, outside of class at least." She grins. "I watch you with Isabella and that love on your face? The love you show her? You're gonna be a great dad if you change your mind." Talia tells me.

I lean in and kiss her because I have no words. No one's ever seen me in the same light as she does. I hope that never changes.

"I really like you." I tell her when I pull away.

"I really like you too." Talia smiles before brushing her lips against mine. "Now go put your niece to bed so we can have some alone time."

"Yes ma'am."

I walk past her out the kitchen and head for the stairs. The door to Isabella's room is ajar and I poke my head in to see that she's still awake.

"Hi." She giggles.

"Hi Princess." I walk further into her room.

"That was fun Uncle Nick!" Isabella exclaims as I sit at at the edge of her bed.

"Yeah? My clothes disagree." The shirt and jeans I wore were not salvageable so I had to wear some of the clothes Caitlin keeps in the spare bedroom for me.

"Sorry." She giggles.

"Don't be sorry. I had fun too." I reassure her. "You ready for bed?" Isabella nods her head. "Good. When you wake up your mommy and daddy will be here and I'll see you for breakfast on Sunday."

"Is Talia your girlfriend?" Isabella asks, suddenly.

"Yes." I chuckle. "She is."

"If you marry her, then she'll be my aunty right?"

Woah. "Uh, yeah. But I gotta be honesty with you Belle, I'm not thinking about getting married."

"But you like her right?" Isabella persist.

"Yes."

"And she likes you. I can tell because she always stares at you when you're not looking." Isabella tells me and I can't help but laugh.

I don't think Talia would like that she's sharing that kind of information. But I gotta admit I like knowing that her eyes are on me all the time.

"And since you like her too I think you guys should get married like my mommy and daddy."

I wonder where all of this is coming from. "I really care about Talia but I don't know what our future holds Belle. But I'll tell you what, if I do decide to marry her, you'll be the first to know."

"You promise?" She holds out her pinky.

"Promise." I wrap my pinky around hers before kissing her forehead. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Uncle Nick."

I press a kiss to her forehead one last time before standing up from the bed and seeing myself out of her room.

Talia is sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar when I return.

"How is she?"

"She's good," I pause. "She really likes you, you know?"

Talia smiles. "I like her too. She's great."

"You know who else is great?" I snake my arms around her waist and pull her close. "You."

"You're not so bad yourself." She grins before kissing me.

I can taste the sugar from the cookie on her lips which makes me hungry for more.

"So sweet." I say between kisses.

"Mmmh." Talia hums in delight. "We can't. Your sister and Ryan can walk in any second."

She's right.

"Fine. But when we get home, you're mine."

"We'll see." Talia smirks before taking another bite of her cookie before walking out of the kitchen.