I Only Want to Be With You
By Vicky
This is a sequel to “Promises.” To make the transition between stories
easier, I have included the last few paragraphs of “Promises” in the
first
part of “I Only Want to Be With You.”
Part 1
Nick gently turned Jo to face him and took both of her hands in
his.
“Jo, I’d be very honored if you’d let me start courtin’ ya.”
Jo couldn’t believe what she just heard. “What?” she whispered.
“I wanna start courtin’ ya.”
Trying to blink away tears, Jo stared into Nick’s mesmerizing blue
eyes.“Okay. Yes,” she barely spoke.
Nick leaned forward and kissed Jo. She put her arms around his
shoulders and closed her eyes, wanting to savor this moment forever. All of a
sudden, loud cheering was heard from the porch. The couple turned to find the
entire Plumfield family, including Rob, standing on the porch, watching them.
“What are you doing?” Jo called, feeling herself start to blush.
“Hi, Mom.” Rob waved. Jo gave him a small, embarrassed wave in
return.
“Can we start jumping to conclusions now?” Nan yelled. Bess, Dan,
and Nat laughed at her question.
Jo rolled her eyes, “Yes, Nan!”
“Good,” she replied.
“What was that all about?” Nick asked Jo when she returned her
attention to him.
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”
“How about another kiss?” he asked. Jo just smiled. Nick held
her face in his hands and drew her closer to him, gently kissing her.
“I love you, Nick,” she whispered.
“I love you, too, Jo . . . and I’ll love you forever.”
“Do you promise?” She hugged him tight.
“I promise.” Nick and Jo stood together in each other’s arms while the
children and Asia watched from the porch.
* * * * *
That night, after dinner, the children sat in the parlor by the
warm fire. Emil, Tommy, and Dan sat in one corner talking about the fishing
expedition they were planning for tomorrow afternoon. Nat and Nan were
sitting at a table doing their homework, while Bess sat reading to Rob
on thefloor.
“Mrs. Jo, can you help me . . .” Nat looked up from his homework and
didn’t see Jo in the room. “Where’s Mrs. Jo?”
Bess stopped reading, “She and Nick were sitting on the couch, but
they’re not there anymore. Hmmm.”
“I thought I saw her go outside,” Dan replied.
Nan perked up, “Really?”
“Yeah. She and Nick left about ten minutes ago.”
“I’m gonna go find ‘em.” Nan stood and walked toward to door.
“Stop right there,” Asia called from the kitchen. “You’re gonna
stay in
here and finish your work, Nan.” Asia wiped her hands on a dishtowel
as she
entered the parlor.
Nan sighed, but went back to the table where she had been sitting.
“All of you are gonna have to give Nick and Mrs. Jo some more time
alone
now, ya hear?” Asia said. “You’re not gonna be able to bother them all
of the
time.”
“But Nat had a question . . .” Nan started.
“I don’t care. I’m sure that you can help him.”
“I’ll try.” Nan moved to the chair next to Nat and looked over
his
shoulder at his book. “What don’t you understand?”
Nat looked at Nan and smiled, “Thanks.”
“Not a problem, I guess.” Nan turned her head toward Asia, who
smiled
and returned to the kitchen.
* * * * *
Jo and Nick sat on the porch swing, gently rocking back and forth.
“I’m
glad that Asia offered to keep an eye on the children. I still can’t
believe
we left the house without them noticing us,” Jo said.
“Well, I think Dan saw us, but he didn’t really pay attention.”
Nick
nonchalantly put his arm around Jo’s shoulder.
“That was nice of him.” Jo quietly laid her head on Nick’s
shoulder and
pulled her coat tighter around her.
“You gettin’ cold?” Nick asked.
“Not anymore.” She gazed up at him and smiled. “You can’t
imagine how
long I’ve wanted to sit here with you like this,” she whispered.
“I’ve wanted to since the first day I met you.”
“Me too . . . since I bailed you out of jail.” They both laughed.
Jo
sat up to look at the starry sky. “Do you want to take a walk?”
“Sure.”
The couple walked hand in hand from the porch into the front yard.
Jo
stopped and stared at the dark blue sky with its twinkling stars.
“When I was
a young girl, I used to love wishing on stars. I did it every night
before I
went to bed.”
Nick stood behind Jo and hugged her. She placed her hands on his
forearms. “Why’d ya stop?”
“Oh, I still make a wish once in a while.”
“My dream came true . . . and I didn’t have to wish on a star.”
She turned to face him. “Nick, I . . .” Jo trailed off as Nick
put his
finger to her lips.
“Don’t talk. I just like standin’ here with you. That’s all I
need.”
Part 2
“Time for bed,” announced Asia, entering the parlor.
Nan looked at the wall clock. “Asia, it’s only nine. Can’t we
stay up
later?” she asked.
“It is Friday night, Asia. We don’t have school tomorrow,” added
Emil.
The children all turned to Asia with pleading looks on their
faces. She
sighed, “I can’t believe I’m lettin’ you talk me into this.”
“Thank you, Asia,” Bess smiled.
“Yeah, thanks.” Dan walked over to the fireplace and added
another log
to the dwindling fire.
“I’ll give you half and hour . . . unless Mrs. Jo comes back
‘cause I
don’t want you kids gettin’ me in trouble. Agreed?” questioned Asia.
“Yes,” the children said in unison.
* * * * *
Outside, Jo and Nick had returned to the porch after a short walk
around
the house.
“It’s getting’ late,” Nick said, sitting on the porch
railing.
“I should tell the children to get ready for bed. Rob’s already
up later
than usual.” Jo put her hand on the doorknob.
“I’m sure that Asia has everything under control Jo. You don’t
need to
worry so much.”
“I can’t stop worrying about them. They’re my . . . children,” Jo
lowered her head and began playing with her coat sleeves.
Nick stood and moved toward Jo. “I’m sorry,” he lifted her chin
and
looked into her expressive brown eyes, “I feel the same way about ‘em.
I
guess I’d be concerned about ya if ya didn’t worry so much about ‘em.”
“Let’s go inside,” Jo smiled, “You can still help me read Rob his
bedtime
story.”
“Jo . . .”
“Come on. It’ll be fun.” Jo grabbed Nick’s hand and led him into
the
house.
Once inside, Nick helped Jo off with her coat and received a small
kiss
in return. The couple entered the parlor, finding the children still
awake
and sitting in a circle telling stories.
“Hi, Mrs. Jo,” Nat said, noticing her and Nick enter, “Hi, Nick.”
“Shouldn’t you all be in bed by now?” Jo asked, hands on hips.
“Asia said we could stay up a little bit later since it’s Friday
and we
don’t have school tomorrow,” Tommy answered.
Jo turned toward Asia and raised an eyebrow at her, “Really?”
“They were so pathetic lookin’, Jo. But I also said that they had
to go
to bed as soon as you came back,” Asia replied from the couch where she
was
reading. “Remember that?” she asked the children.
“I see,” Jo smiled.
“But it hasn’t been a half hour yet.” Nan looked at Asia.
“Don’t ask me.” Asia pointed to Jo, relinquishing her authority.
“Please, Mrs. Jo,” Nan said. The other children smiled and nodded
their
heads in agreement.
“Okay,” Jo gave in, “Ten more minutes, but that’s it.” Jo walked
over to
her son and knelt in front of him. “Rob, I’m sorry, but it’s time for
you to
go to bed. It’s already past you bedtime,” she looked up at the clock,
“by
quite a bit.”
“But I’m not tired,” Rob yawned. The children laughed at Rob’s
will to
stay awake.
Nick came up behind Jo and looked at Rob. “Come on Rob. I’ll
read ya a
story.”
“I want to stay up like the other kids.” Rob’s eyelids began to
close,
but he quickly reopened them.
“Okay then,” Nick said, picking up Rob, “That settles it.” Nick
turned
Rob upside down and dangled him, by his feet, over Jo’s head. “If you
don’t
go to bed, I’ll have to drop ya on your ma and I don’t think she’d like
that
too much.”
Jo looked up at her son and laughed. “Are you going to let Nick
drop you
on me?”
“No . . . I’ll go to bed,” Rob spoke between spurts of laughter.
Nick
headed upstairs with Rob slung over his shoulder, both of them smiling
and
laughing.
Jo stood and looked at the smiling faces around her. “I expect to
see
all of you in your rooms in thirty minutes,” she said, barely audible
to the
talking children. She left the parlor and waited at the base of the
stairs
for a reaction from them.
In the parlor, a look of confusion came over Nat’s face. “What is
it,
Nat?” Emil asked.
“Thirty minutes?” Nat called to Jo.
“You heard me.” Jo smiled and walked upstairs.