An Overdue Announcement

Nick Russell and Pete Valentine

Casting a critical eye over the soup and sandwiches he had made, Nick wondered if it was enough. Then, he remembered Dr. Shapiro's advice about not stressing out over little things. Screw it. After all, he hadn't promised Kelly anything fancy. Just said they were having lunch.

Still being critical, he looked in the mirror that hung on the wall in the hallway. He really should clean up a little and change. Was that worrying over little things? He wasn't sure.

No, he decided. He always felt better cleaned up and, besides, he had company coming. As he changed his shirt and fixed his hair in the ponytail he had taken to wearing a few months back, he had the thought that, technically, he probably shouldn't consider his wife company.

His wife. Kelly showing up yesterday had been the equivalent of lightning striking. He'd literally been struck dumb, with no idea what to say. After she'd left, though, he'd known exactly what to say to Pete Valentine when he got him on the phone.

"Nick! Buddy! Hi! How's it going?" had been Pete's enthusiastic greeting when he'd called. In a few seconds, though, Pete had been much more subdued.

"It's going fucking great!" Nick had told him.

"You got a problem?" Pete had instantly been on the alert.

"Problem?" Nick said. "No problem at all. How could finding out that I still have a young, beautiful wife be a problem?"

"Uh- Look-," Pete started out. "I was gonna tell you about that, Nick. I was just tryin' to wait for the right time-"

"The right time," Nick said thoughtfully. "The right time might've been as soon as you knew?"

"Come on, man!" Pete protested. "You were in no shape to handle it. Shapiro told me that himself. Said you needed to be a lot better first. Besides, I kept hopin' Kelly would change her mind. Come to her senses."

Nick was feeling a little calmer, having blown off that initial head of steam. "Why'd she do it, Pete? Why the hell didn't she just go her own way? You offered her plenty, didn't you?"

"I offered her whatever she wanted, buddy," Pete told him. "Only problem is, she told me what she wanted was you. Said she loved you. Wanted to stay married to you."

Following a moment of silence from both men, Pete went on. "Maybe you've really got somethin' there, Nick. Somebody worth keeping."

Nick ran a hand over his face in frustration. "I still don't think I'm ready to handle anythin' like this, Pete. But I did invite her to come for lunch. Maybe we can talk rationally. Maybe I'm up to that, at least."

A few minutes after he'd hung up the phone, Nick heard Kelly's car in the driveway. He felt his throat tighten and his heart race. How was he gonna handle this?