134 - Nails

*I suck at doing things with long nails. My friend Priss usually has a little bit of nails. But her sister, Eliza, damn that girl’s nails! – Camille*

The day before the prom, Camille dropped Nicki off for her hair to be done. When she picked her up from Shonda’s house that evening, her tiny braids had been refreshed, and iridescent and purple tinsel extensions had been added in.

After everyone had settled in for the night, Camille was curled up against Darkness’ side in their bed. They each had their respective books that they were reading. Darkness was deep into a murder mystery and Camille was reading a high fae fantasy. Tink was asleep in Mitch’s room where he typically now slept.

The volume was turned down on the mystery show that was playing on the TV. The timid knock that was on the bedroom door had both of them jumping and then laughing at themselves.

“Come on in,” Darkness called as Camille held a hand to her chest as she continued to laugh.

The door opened and Nicki peaked around the wooden door. “Can I talk to you?”

“Always,” he replied as he put his bookmark in to mark his spot. He handed a bookmark to Camille who slid it into her book, still chuckling.

“I’m sorry,” Camille told them as she sat her book aside. “There was just someone knocking on a door in my book and I thought that was perfect timing.”

Darkness chuckled, “I just had someone nailing their victim to a wall.”

“What kind of books do you read?” Nicki asked as she sat at the foot of the bed.

“Whatever my lovely wife recommends,” he admitted and pressed a kiss to her head.

“That series is one recommended by Porthos. He loves his true crime podcasts and books. Pretty sure he was a serial killer in a past life. H. H. Holmes or some shit like that.”

“Who’s that?”

“You meet Porthos, you ask him about and you will learn more about America’s original serial killer than you ever wanted to know. He had the original Hotel California, except it was in Chicago. I think it was Chicago. Maybe Detroit. Watch it be Milwaukee or something like that.”

“Your friends worry me sometimes,” Darkness admitted with a laugh and a kiss pressed to her head.

“Just sometimes?” She asked as she turned and looked up at him. “Sometimes they *don’t worry me.”

Darkness and Nicki both laughed at Camille. He murmured something as he pressed a light kiss onto her lips. They turned their attention back to the teen sitting at the end of the bed.

“What’s on your mind, Nicki?” Darkness asked as he adjusted him and his wife on the bed.

Camille leaned her back into his bare chest. His arm slipped around her waist and toyed with the hem of her tank top to her pajama set.

“I know that we talked about going and getting my nails done tomorrow…”

They both waited for her to continue as she picked at a piece of imaginary fuzz on the comforter. After a moment, she looked up and they could see the fear and worry in her eyes.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Darkness assured her. “Just tell us what’s on your mind.”

She nodded, “I was looking at different nail ideas and Mitch was sitting there with me. He was telling me which ones I should get and which ones not to get. There were a few that we saw, and he was like,” she held her hand out, inspecting her nails much like her younger brother had, “don’t you think that would look good on me?”

Camille smiled, “You think that he wants to go with us tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I think he does. But I’m afraid that he would be picked on at work.”

“You let me take care of that,” Darkness assured her with a gentle smile.

“Thank you,” Nicki whispered as a tear slipped down her dark cheek.

Camille opened her arms, and the younger woman moved into the warm embrace, “It’s okay, *kleintje*.”

Niki had had liked the term for little one, or *kleintje*, in Dutch. She remained curled into the warm and comforting embrace that her new adoptive parents offered. Darkness ran his hand down her long braids and then lifted some and let them fall.

“I love the way your hair sparkles.”

“Thank you,” Nicki said as she sat up and sniffled. “You don’t mind that I had her put the tinsel in, do you?”

“It’s your hair,” Camille smiled as she brushed a few tears off the Nicki’s cheeks. “You just need to make sure that you’re going to be okay with them for a while. They have to stay until the next time you get your hair did.”

Nicki grinned, “I love it. I may always have tinsel in my hair from now on.”

“Black and iridescent tinsel would look really neat. Give your hair a little shimmer and shine without being blatant about the color.”

Both women looked at Darkness who shrugged.

“I’m a girl dad now, I have to know these things.”

Camille laughed as she barely moved out of the way before Nicki launched herself at him and hugged him tightly.

“I love you, Darkness,” the teen whispered.

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” he assured her.

It was only in the last few months that the three kids had started calling him Darkness and not Uncle Amos. Although he would never say anything, it meant a lot to him that they were now calling him the name that he preferred and not the one that Keisha had insisted on for all of their young lives.

The following morning, when they were loading up into the Jeeps to go do the final things to get ready for the prom, Darkness and Vin were in his Jeep while Camille had Nicki and Mitch in her car. The married couple had discussed it between them last night. And this morning, Darkness discussed it with Vin early this morning.

Although she never got a chance to ask him about it, Darkness gave Camille an assuring nod. Then she received a notification that the nail appointment had been updated.

Camille was laughing at Vin and Darkness as they sat in the pedicure massage chairs as they each got foot massages.

“That’s it,” Darkness declared. “Whenever she’s here, expect me.”

“Me too,” Vin agreed with his eyes almost rolling to the back of his head. “That spot in my calf has been tight for months.”

“You get manicure also?” the technician asked as she buffed his nails.

“Maybe, but probably not the color,” Vin agreed.

“No, if I’m going to pay the same amount as my wife, I’m getting everything that she gets.”

“You’re going to keep getting you r nails painted?” Mitch asked from he was also being pampered.

“You know, I’m working with the plumbing company more,” he grinned at the younger two kids across from them, “maybe I should do dookie brown.”

Mitch grinned broadly at the large, tough biker.

“Mitch, I’m taking Vin to the barber after this, you going with us?”