Leap
Posted on Thu Jul 14th, 2022 @ 4:56am by Dominique LaFramboise & Jarrod Lask
Mission:
Prequel - Or How We Met
Location: Bay City, MI - various locations
Timeline: About 1 month after "Run"
The past month had been heaven for Jarrod. He spent barely any time at his own apartment anymore and was considering asking Nicki about moving in together. He hesitated because he didn’t want her to think he was pushing, but he was absolutely sure he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
He would propose tomorrow if he thought she’d say yes this soon.
But for now, he was content. He would let Nicki make the calls in their relationship. (The irony that she was alpha of the Leesh as well as their relationship was not lost on him.)
The other firefighters had noticed the change in his demeanor and needled him until he finally told them what was going on. They now spent most of their shifts together razzing him relentlessly. Jarrod didn’t mind, though; he was just happy there was a valid reason to be razzed.
Getting off shift early in the morning meant that Nicki was still in bed, so when he got to her place, he let himself in with the key she had given him and headed straight upstairs to curl up with her for an hour or so until she woke up.
To his surprise though, when he climbed into bed with her this time, she was already awake. “Good morning,” he said with a grin, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead. “You’re not usually awake when I get here.”
She grinned at him. “Can’t sleep,” she explained.
“Is anything wrong?” he asked, concerned.
She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again.
“Nicks,” he said, now very concerned. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“I know,” she replied. “I’m just thinking.” She paused a moment. “Do you remember a few months ago when my cousin asked me to do some studio work for her down in Nashville?”
“How could I forget?” He replied. “You were gone for like three weeks.”
She nodded. “Well, it turns out some of the other artists who record there heard some of it,” she continued. “Some big names. Althea Parker was mentioned several times.”
“And… what?” he asked. “Did they hate it or something?”
“Not at all,” she said. “They absolutely loved it. In fact, they were interested in having me do some work for them. Apparently Althea was especially interested in my saxophone work.”
“Well, that’s great!” he replied encouragingly. “Why are you so troubled?”
“Well, because I was thinking,” she started slowly, “that it might be easier if- if we moved to Nashville.”
He blinked, confused. “We?” he repeated.
She gave him a nervous grin. “I was hoping you noticed that wording,” she replied.
“Nicks, I can’t just up and leave,” he argued.
“Why?” she asked eagerly. “What’s actually keeping you here? I mean, it’s not like we’d be so far away that we couldn’t pop up for the odd long weekend. And every last holiday, if we wanted.”
“I have a job here,” he reminded her. “One that I love. I can’t just leave that.”
“You’re telling me they couldn’t use an already trained firefighter in Nashville?” she pointed out.
That was true. It was easier to get into a firehouse anywhere if you were already trained. It was a simple test that took about an hour or two and then you were in most of the time. Sometimes the certifications were different and there was new training to go through, but his current training would put him ahead in any case. He’d seen many firefighters hired from other cities or even states. One guy had come all the way from California. “Okay,” he said. “That’s true. But moving costs money. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have much in savings. And what will we do in the meantime?” He wanted to ask how much of Ryan’s life insurance money she had left, but that felt rude. Plus it was really none of his business.
Nicki hesitated. She bit her lip in thought, then seemed to make up her mind. “Ryan left me a lot,” she said. ”And I mean like a lot. Enough that I can live very comfortably on the interest. Don’t worry about the money, Jarrod; I’ve got it covered.”
“And what if I say no?” he asked.
“Then I’m not going,” she replied. “I won’t go without you.”
He just stared at her for a moment. She was serious. She really wanted to do this. And what’s more, she wanted him to come along. He couldn’t say yes just yet. This was a big decision. He was sure she hadn’t come up with the idea on the spot and he wasn’t about to answer on the spot. “I’ll think about it,” he promised. “That’s the best I can do for now.”
She grinned and kissed the end of his nose. “That’s enough for now,” she told him.
Nicki had met Jarrod’s parents many times over the years. Since his appartment came with a private outdoor space, he was fond of hosting barbecues and his family and friends were always invited. He was sure his parents knew how he felt about her. He had not yet told them about his relationship with her, but now was the time. He needed advice on this and who better to ask than his parents?
It had taken him many years to refer to Ron and Stella as mom and dad, though Stella had earned the title mom well before Ron had earned dad. Jarrod suspected that this was because he had been so close to his birth father and didn’t care much about his birth mother- who was still in prison as far as he knew. But they were good parents- strict, but fair and open-minded. And he felt confident going to them for advice.
So the next day while Nicki was running errands- something she preferred to do alone- he decided to pay his parents a visit.
“Just in time for lunch!” declared his mother as she opened the door to welcome him. “Nothing special, just gazpacho and garlic bread, but there’s plenty if you’re hungry.”
“You know me,” he said as he greeted his mom with a hug. “I can always eat.”
“Course he can,” put in his dad from the kitchen where he was adding a third place setting to the table. “Can’t all firemen?”
Jarrod grinned. His parents were friendly and lived simply. They were the jeans and T-shirts type. Their home was clean and tidy, but hadn’t been redecorated since it had been built in the mid 80s. Ron was thin, but all wiry muscle and Stella had an athletic build thanks to years of chasing children and volunteering at every church function that came up. One would never guess to look at them, but they had money. Not a lot, but enough to live very comfortably off of for the next 30-40 years.
Aside from all that, they were cheerful and friendly and honest and had raised their kids to be the same. So as his mother served up the cold raw vegetable soup, Jarrod decided to tell them everything.
“So you guys remember Nicki, right?” he started.
“Number one bitch!” said Stella cheerfully; ever since she had learned the meaning of Nicki’s nickname as the alpha of the Leesh, she had been very keen on using it as she felt it was hilarious. “Who could forget her?”
“We like her,” agreed his dad simply. “Good head on her shoulders.”
“What about her, hon?” asked Stella, setting a bowl of soup in front of him.
“Well,” started Jarrod slowly. “I’ve… I’ve been seeing her.”
“About time,” put in Ron.
“Ronald!” scolded Stella, then she turned back to Jarrod. “That’s wonderful, hun. She’s a great girl. Woman. I gotta stop referring to everyone younger than me as a girl.”
“How long?” asked Ron, digging into his own soup.
“About a month,” answered Jarrod. “I kept thinking she’d change her mind or something.”
“Why would she do that?” asked Stella, finally sitting down with her own bowl of soup. “She’s been in love with you at least as long as you’ve been in love with her.”
Jarrod nearly spit out his soup, but managed not to. “You- you know about that?” he stammered.
“It’s pretty obvious the way you two looked at each other every time we saw you together,” answered Stella.
“Hard to miss,” agreed Ron.
“Well,” said Jarrod, telling himself that he shouldn’t have been surprised. “Yeah. Anyway. I guess I wanted to make sure it was going to stick.”
“We’ll have to have you two over for dinner sometime,” Stella replied. “I mean, we’ve spoken to her on many occasions, but never as our son’s girlfriend.”
“Would it be any different?” asked Jarrod.
“Probably not,” laughed Ron.
“No, probably not,” relented Stella. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it anyway.”
“I’m sure Nicki would like that,” Jarrod replied. “She likes you guys.”
“What’s not to like?” laughed Ron.
“Not a thing,” answered Jarrod with a grin.
“So what else is going on in your life?” asked Stella.
“Well,” sighed Jarrod. “The only other thing involves Nicki.”
“You’re getting married!” guessed Ron.
“No,” answered Jarrod. “Well, I would marry her tomorrow, but I’m not sure she’s ready for that. No. It’s…. Well, she’s considering moving to Nashville. And she wants me to go with her.”
There was a slight pause before Stella nodded. “I think you should go,” she said.
“Really?” asked Jarrod.
“Yeah,” replied Stella. “You’ve been in love with her for years. And it can’t be that hard for a fireman to find a job anywhere in the world.”
“That’s what Nicki said.”
“Smart girl,” agreed Ron.
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Jarrod asked. “We haven’t actually been seeing one another very long.”
“But you’ve been friends for years,” pointed out Stella. “And you said yourself that you’re ready to marry her any time. If she wants you to go to Nashville with her, you should go. And it’s not that far. What is it, an 8 hour drive? 10 hours? You could visit as often as you like.”
“She said that, too.”
“See what I mean?” replied Ron. “Smart girl.”
“Jarrod,” said Stella seriously. “All of your arguments ignore one thing: you love her. That’s all the reason you need.”
Jarrod looked to his dad, who just nodded his agreement. He grinned. “Thanks,” he said. “I still want to think about it. It’s a big decision and I don’t want to make it too quickly.”
“Understandable,” agreed Ron. “But think about this: how would you feel if she went without you? That should give you the answer.”
Stella nodded. “Take the leap, Jarrod,” she said. “That’s our advice.”
Take the leap.
It was a leap. It felt like jumping off a cliff. But not like the fun kind of jumping where you had a parachute or hang glider attached. This was much more frightening.
But, his father’s words kept echoing in his head. How would you feel if she went without you? He would be crushed. He would probably end up following her after all. He didn’t want to live a single day without her in his life. And it didn’t matter that she’d said she wouldn’t go if he wouldn’t come. So, he had his answer.
As soon as she walked through the door, he took the bags of groceries out of her hands, hastily set them on the floor and kissed her.
“What was that for?” she asked as he pulled away.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “If you want to go to Nashville, I’ll go with you. I’ll go anywhere with you. Just name the place. You want to go to China? I’ll go. Timbuktu? Count me in. Anywhere is perfect as long as you’re there.”
Now it was her turn to kiss him. “I’m too happy to care how cheesy that was!” she laughed as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “I’ll start looking at places. Oh my God! I can’t believe we’re actually doing this! Oh!” she exclaimed, suddenly pulling away from him. “I have frozen stuff in the car. We can talk while we work.”
And so they did. As they unloaded her car and put the groceries away, they discussed the type of houses they liked and possible locations. By the time they had started working on dinner, they had concocted their perfect home: a craftsman style house in a subdivision full of similar houses, but with no HOA so each house could be unique. There would be one with a flock of flamingos in the front yard, another with an adorable garden gnome, and one that always seemed to have too many kids playing.
It honestly sounded like heaven.
