Page 49 of Fox and Nitro
“It’s a huge deal!” she barks before wailing again.
“Ah, I’m just going to grab some tissues, I’ll be back in a sec,” I say, giving Nitro wide eyes to fix her while I leave the room.
As soon as I’m out of earshot I pull my phone from my pocket and speed dial the fucking Love Pres. I need help STAT.
“Don’t tell me you’ve fucked it up two minutes in,” Pops answers in a bored voice.
“She’s crying,” I hiss down the line. “Like, hysterically crying.”
Pops’ voice turns cold. “What did you do?”
“I don’t know! We presented her a nice breakfast on a tray with a flower and a candle and she burst into tears, saying something about us being too sweet and that it’s a really big deal.” I run a hand down my face. I feel frazzled as fuck. Usually I’m the calm one when my love has an emotional reaction, but it seems all Jazz has to do is tear up and I freak the fuck out.
Pops sighs down the line. “Jazz hasn’t had the best run of things, son. She’s let herself settle for the bare minimum and has become accustomed to thinking that’s all she needs to live a happy life.”
“But she’s not really living a happy life. Caring for her class or her nephews or her family isn’t the same as caring for herself. How can she be the best version of herself if she’s not filling her cup or letting anyone else fill it?”
“Have you been watching those self help videos again?” Pops asks suspiciously.
“No,” I bark. “It’s just something I heard the women talk about,” I reply sheepishly.
“No, it’s good shit. That’s how you’ve managed to settle Nitro down and how you’ll win over Jazz,” Pops says. “Just take it slow. Remember that she’s not used to being cared for by someone outside of her family. So show her this is your bare minimum, and then do it every fucking day to show her she’s worth the effort and sticking around.”
“I can do that.Wecan do that.”
“Good. Now get back in there before Nitro bursts into tears too.”
I hang up, and head back toward the bedroom where things seem a little quieter. Poking my head around the door I findher snuggled into Nitro’s side, his arm thrown around Jazz’s shoulders, her sniffling the only sound in the silent room.
“Hey, Sweetheart. Feeling a little better?”
“Not really. Now I’m mortified that my face is all puffy and red and I’m full of snot,” she grumbles.
“Still fucking beautiful to me,” I smile, moving to sit next to her.
Nitro removes his arm and gently moves Jazz into my arms, where she curls in, her head beneath my jaw and I’ll be damned if my heart doesn’t skip a beat.
“Here, we have these for you,” Nitro says, pulling Jazz’s rainbow pill box that Vi gave us out of his pocket.
He hands it to Jazz then passes her a glass of water. She takes it with a watery smile and dutifully takes her medication.
“Thank you,” she says quietly before she sighs.
“Wanna tell us what that whole -” I wave my hand around in the air and she snorts, “was about? Because, not gonna lie, freaked the hell outta me.”
“Me too,” Nitro says, hand in the air.
She bobs her head, cheeks pink. “I just realized that I was well and truly fucked. Emotionally. You two have been getting through my walls and I’m really scared that if I let you in I’ll be devastated when you leave.”
“Where are we going, sweetheart?”
“You know.” She rolls her eyes. “You’ll see what happens when I have a flare up of symptoms. You’ll see how my mom sometimes has to come and help me shower, how the house is a mess and how much weight I put on everytime I’m prescribed steroids to help calm my immune system down. You’ll see all sorts of stuff and probably me crying. A lot.” She looks at her hands fiddling in her lap.
Nitro places his large hang over hers, and I place mine over both of theirs. “Hey, look at me,” Nitro says, softening his voice.“I don’t give a shit about how much you weigh or if you need me or Fox to help you in the shower. I don’t care if when you’re in pain your only outlet is tears. As long as I’m not the cause of your tears I can handle that.”
“I know this is probably moving too fast, but we want you Jazz,allof you and whatever that entails.”
“But, why me?” she asks, almost exasperated.
