This is the next story in my Nick/Nat Romantic Rendezvous series. It also deals with Nick and Schanke's partnership. Warning! Mush ahead! So much fluff, it'll clog your dryer vents! >G< As usual, the standard disclaimers are in effect. The characters aren't mine, just borrowing them for a bit. Permission given to post on the ftp site, Mel's fkfanfic site, the fkfanfic2 site, and the Nick/Natpacker site. All others, just ask! All of these stories can be found at my website (waves in thanks to Stacy!): http://www.geocities.com/knightlady2u/ Enjoy! Picnic in the Park by KC Smith August 2003 Natalie Lambert sighed as she sipped from her glass of iced tea and then held it against her face. Record high temperatures had made Toronto nearly unbearable for the last three days, and there didn't appear to be any relief in sight. She stood when she heard a knock on her door and smiled at the person on the other side, before letting him in. Nick Knight walked into the foyer and kissed Natalie lightly on the lips, openly admiring the white gauze sundress she had on. "How are you, Nat?" Natalie smiled. "*Hot*. I hope this lets up soon." She eyed his jeans, silk shirt and leather jacket warily. "You know Nick, people might think it's odd for you to be dressed like that when it's been so hot." Nick looked down and then smiled sheepishly. "I guess you're right. The temperature doesn't bother me much one way or the other, so I just don't think much about it." Nat nodded. "You should go and change into something lighter. Maybe shorts and a t-shirt?" Nick grimaced. "I have t-shirts, but no shorts." Natalie laughed. "Why am I not surprised? I have some t-shirts that belong to Richard. If you'd like, you can wear one of them, I'm sure he won't mind." Nick smiled and nodded. "That'd be great." He followed her down the hallway to her bedroom and waited while she pulled a couple of t- shirts out of a dresser drawer. "We have blue, green or white," Nat said, holding the t-shirts out for inspection. "Hmm. Blue," Nick said, accepting the t-shirt from her. "Are you ready to go?" Natalie nodded. "As soon as you are." She stepped out of her bedroom and closed the door behind her, leaving Nick to change. Nick came out of the bedroom and smiled at Natalie. "Is this better?" he asked. Natalie smiled back and nodded. "You look a little cooler." Nick laughed and opened the door. "Shall we?" Nat preceded him into the hallway and Nick waited while she closed and locked her door. Then she followed him downstairs to the waiting Caddy and got in after Nick had opened the door for her. They drove to a park at the waterfront and Nick got out of the Caddy first, opening the door for Natalie. Then he retrieved a picnic basket and a blanket out of the trunk. "Where would you like to sit?" Natalie scanned the crowded park. It was almost nine-thirty, but the park was full of people. The hot weather was keeping people out later. "How about over there, under that tree?" Nick gestured ahead. "Lead the way." He followed her across the park to the grassy spot beneath the tree and spread out the blanket, waiting for Natalie to be seated first. Natalie opened the picnic basket. "Hmm. This looks promising," she grinned, pulling out two glasses and two wine bottles. Nick took them from her and opened them, pouring a pink Chablis into one of the glasses and handing it to Natalie, before pouring blood from the other bottle into his own glass. "To us," he said, toasting Natalie. Natalie smiled and clinked her glass against his. "To us," she murmured, before taking a sip of her wine. She pulled out the containers of food and started opening them to see what there was to eat. "Fried chicken, potato salad and watermelon... mmmm. Oh! Cupcakes!" She looked up to see Nick grinning at her. "What?" Nick chuckled. "Nothing. I just like watching you. You get so excited about your food." Natalie blushed. "I just wish you could share it with me," she said wistfully. Nick reached out and touched her face. "I know. Maybe someday. Now eat." Natalie smiled and nodded, biting into a piece of fried chicken. "But Daddy, you *promised*!" Jenny Schanke whined from the backseat of the family car. "And you have to work tomorrow night!" Myra looked at her husband. "You did promise, Don." Schanke gave her a sour look. "Yeah, alright, fine. We can only stay for about an hour, though. It's getting late." "I don't have school tomorrow, so I can sleep in," Jenny told him. Schanke sighed and turned towards the park. Jenny had been pestering him all afternoon to take her to the park, and he had promised her they'd go on the way home. But now it was dark, and he was tired. But he *had* promised. They pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. Jenny ran straight for the playground, while Don and Myra trailed along behind. "Hey, isn't that Nick's car?" Myra asked, pointing towards the Caddy. Schanke looked over and nodded. "Wonder what he's doing here." They located Jenny amidst the crowded playground, taking seats on the park bench nearby. Schanke kept looking around the crowd, trying to find Nick. When he finally spotted him, his eyes widened in surprise and he elbowed Myra and pointed towards him. "Myra! Look at that! I don't believe it..." Myra looked in the direction her husband was pointing and smiled. "Oh, how sweet! Don't they look cute together?" Schanke stood. "I'll be right back." "Donald Schanke, you sit back down this instant! Don't you dare disturb them," Myra said, pulling on his shirt. "I just want to go and say 'hello'," Schanke told her. "And I'm sure you want to make some comment about them being together, too." Her stare was penetrating. "Well... yeah. They always say that they're 'just friends'. But the way they're looking at each other, it's got to be more than that." "Sit," Myra commanded. He sat. Natalie was comfortably lying semi-reclined on the blanket, while Nick sat beside her, one leg bent and the other stretched out in front of him. She had finished her meal and her wine, and now she was laughing at a story he was telling her about a time in his past. "Sounds like you had a lot of fun," she said, finishing off her wine and placing the empty glass into the picnic basket. "We did," he sighed. "Things weren't always bad between us." Natalie smiled at him and then took a deep breath, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. "This is nice," she murmured. Nick looked confused. "What?" "Just being able to spend time together talking; relaxing." Nick reached out and caressed her cheek with his palm. "It certainly is." He caught sight of an ice cream vendor and looked at Natalie. "Would you like some ice cream?" Natalie grinned and nodded. She accepted Nick's help in standing, and then followed him over to the ice cream stand. Natalie ordered a single scoop of triple chocolate ripple. After Nick had paid for the ice cream, they resumed their places on the blanket. "You look as if you're enjoying that," Nick commented, his eyes sparkling. "Mmm... yes," Nat purred. She held it towards him. "Want a bite?" Nick chuckled and held up his hands. "Oh, no." "Aw, c'mon Nick! One little lick of ice cream isn't going to kill you!" Nat said, holding it closer to him. Nick gave her a pleading look, though he was still smiling, and leaned forward to take a lick from her cone. He swallowed quickly and then grinned at her. "Happy now?" Natalie shrugged. "It's a start." Picnic In the Park 2/2 by KC Smith Schanke glanced over and saw Nick take a lick from Natalie's ice cream cone. From the look on his face, and the fact that he'd not eaten a bite of the picnic they'd brought, he guessed that Natalie didn't have much more luck in getting Nick to eat than he did. He wondered just exactly *what* Nick did eat. Surely he had to survive on more than just those protein shakes Nat made for him. Shaking his head, he watched as they laughed and talked. They were obviously having a good time. And Natalie was certainly enjoying her ice cream cone. Getting an idea, he stood up again. Myra looked at him. "Where are you going?" "To get us some ice cream," he told her. Myra glanced around and spotted the ice cream vendor. "And it just happens to be over by Nick and Natalie, right?" "Oh, yeah! I guess it is," he said, feigning surprise. Myra glared at him. "Sit. Down. And stay there." With a pouty look at his wife, he sat back on the park bench. Natalie finished up her ice cream cone and stretched. Then she turned towards Nick. "I'm surprised at how busy the park is this late at night." Nick nodded in agreement. "It is a bit unusual." He looked into her eyes for several moments, and his eyes darkened. Leaning forward, he placed one hand on either side of her face and gently kissed her. Natalie wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed the kiss to deepen. She suddenly squealed with laughter as Nick pushed her back onto the blanket, stretching out slightly on top of her. Nick looked into Natalie's eyes, his own full of laughter and mischief. "I'm not bothering you, am I?" he asked, still smiling. "Oh, no. Not at all," Nat said, a lecherous grin on her face. "Hmm. Good," Nick said, kissing her again. The kiss deepened once again, and Nick lightly rubbed Nat's shoulders and arms, before tangling his fingers in her hair. He finally broke the kiss and looked into Nat's eyes. "We'd better stop or the people around us may get an unexpected show," he said, grinning broadly. Nat gave him an evil grin. "So?" She laughed at Nick's incredulous look. "I'm just kidding! You're right." Nick stood and pulled Nat to her feet. "Let's walk." "What about the picnic stuff?" "Let's pack it up and take it to the car, and then we'll go for a walk on the beach." "Sounds good to me," Nat said, helping him to clean up. "Okay! That is *definitely* not the way people who are 'just friends' act!" Schanke said, pointing towards Nick and Natalie. Myra glanced over and saw that Nick was lying slightly atop Natalie, and they were engaged in a very passionate kiss. She smiled broadly. "Oh, my. Yes, I'd say that is more than friendly." Schanke stood, but was stopped again by his wife. "Don't go embarrassing them. You can talk to Nick tomorrow." Schanke gave his wife a sour look and sat back down, watching Nick and Natalie. He could tell they were laughing and having a good time. And he could tell by the looks on their faces that they were hopelessly in love. When they began loading up the picnic basket, he sighed. He *was* happy for them. If ever two people belonged together, it was Nick and Natalie. He was just upset that they hadn't clued him in. It hurt his feelings that Nick didn't seem to care enough about him to share things with him. They were supposed to be partners, after all! He watched as they strolled across the park hand in hand, placed the picnic basket and blanket into the Caddy's trunk, and then headed for the water. Glancing at his watch, he decided it was time for them to head home. "Jenny!" he called. Jenny ran over to where her parents sat. "Yeah?" "I think it's time to go," Schanke said. "It's getting really late." "Just five more minutes? Please, Daddy?" Jenny wheedled. "No. I'll bring you back on another day," he told her. "Let's go." Jenny gave her mother a pleading look, but Myra just shook her head. "You heard your father." Sighing loudly, Jenny waved goodbye to her new friends and then followed her parents to the car. Looking out towards the Lake, she stopped and stared. "Daddy? Isn't that Nick and Natalie?" she asked, pointing. Schanke and Myra stopped and looked towards where their daughter was pointing. Nick and Natalie had removed their shoes and were carrying them, as they walked along the waters edge arm in arm. They were obviously very happy. "Yeah, it is. Come on." They got into their car and headed home. The next night at work, Nick glanced over at Schanke. He'd been awfully quiet since their shift had started. "Hey, why don't we go for a drive?" Nick asked. Schanke shrugged and stood, following Nick out to the car. Once they were in the car, Nick hesitated. "Schank... there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a few weeks. Something good. It's just that I-- I'm not used to sharing personal details of my life with people. Don't take it the wrong way, it's just the way I am." Schanke raised both eyebrows and looked at his partner. "What is it?" he asked, though he thought he knew. "Nat and I... well, we've been..." Nick took a deep breath. "Nat and I started dating a few weeks ago. I realized after what happened with Roger Jameson that I care more about her than as a sister, or a friend. So now we're a couple. Officially." Schanke grinned broadly. "It's about damned time." Nick looked confused. "Huh?" "Ah, Nick. Anyone who isn't blind can see how you two feel about each other. We've all just been waiting for you two to come around," he told him. Nick gaped at his partner for a moment, before laughing and shaking his head. "Funny that we're the last ones to know." He turned serious again. "Schanke, I'm really scared this time. I don't want to hurt her, and I never want to lose her." "You won't. Hurt her, I mean. As for losing her... well, just make sure she knows that she's the most important thing in your universe and you'll never have to worry about that," Schanke told him. Nick placed his hand on his partners shoulder, giving it a solid squeeze. "Thanks, Schank." He turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Schanke smiled to himself, turning his head away so that Nick wouldn't see that his eyes had misted over. 'Thanks for trusting me, Nick,' he thought. End KC Smith tigrlady2u@juno.com Nick/Natpacker with dark tendencies. "I've never met a chocolate I didn't like."