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Chapter 15

Nick smiled to himself when he heard the door bell ring. He already knew who it was. It was the guys. He was finally going to be spending some time with them with out having all of these interruptions. Interruptions that ended up being life changing. From the beginning Nick knew that Erin was not going to be happy with his decision but he didn't care. This was something that he had to do for himself, no matter what the results were. He needed to find closure for a past that he still longed to re-live.

"Hey Nick," Brian greeted when Nick opened the door. Nick smiled at Brian. He was glad to see him again, this time things would end better.

"Hey Bri, where's the other guys?" Nick asked as Brian stepped into the house and Nick shut the door. Brian turned to face Nick.

"I wanted to come over and talk to you alone," he explained.

"Alright," Nick replied. "Let's go into the living room." Brian nodded and walked with Nick towards the living room. "About the other day, I'm really sorry about what happened. You guys shouldn't have had to see that."

"It's okay Nick," Brian answered as he looked at Nick. Nick took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as Brian continued to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing really," he shrugged. "I knew that this was going to happen one day..."

"Can I ask you something? Personal."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Why didn't you talk about all of this with us before you got married? It wouldn't have come to this," Brian stated.

"I talked to Alex, Brian. Besides, I kept telling myself that I should marry her. There really wasn't anything that anyone could say that was going to change my mind. I was so afraid of losing another kid that I did the first thing that I could think of," Nick explained.

"You know I love Alex and everything but he was going through a lot of shit at the time," Brian replied honestly. "You should have talked to Howie, Kev or myself. We were a little more clear headed at the time Nick. We would have helped you work through your problems. Things would be so different right now. You'd probably be a lot happier."

"Believe it or not Bri, I am happy. I've got my kids and that's all the I need to make me happy. If things had been different, I wouldn't have Grace or Chris and I wouldn't give them up for anything."

"You were bringing them into a bad situation, you had to have known that then and you sure as hell have to know that now."

"You didn't know the situation Brian!" Nick yelled. "How many times did I see you after Erin and I got married??? You have no fucking clue how things really were. You were fooled just like everyone else. You thought we were a happy couple, even Erin thought that. So how are you going to tell me that I brought my children into a bad situation!?"

"Don't yell at me Nick!! I was only thinking about the well being of your kids!"

"In case you haven't noticed, my kids are just fine. They're happy and healthy. I don't know what the hell you think the problem is."

"You tore them away from their mother!"

"I did not! They know that their mother loves them and that they could call her at anytime and she would drop everything for them!"

"Nick I didn't mean to make you upset okay?" Brian replied causing Nick to relax as he looked at Brian, saying nothing. I'm just trying to make sure that you and the kids are alright."

"We're fine. Trust me, if there was a problem, you guys would be the first know about it. You guys and the kids are basically all I've got left." Brian forced himself to smile as he took in the sight of the man that was one of his best friends for just over ten years. So many things had changed since the last time that they were together.

The man standing before him used to avoid responsibility at all costs. Now, more than twenty years later, Brian found himself looking at almost the exact opposite of the kid that he had watched grow up. He was looking at a man that loved his kids and put them before anything else in his life. This Nick was much more mature than the Nick that he remembered. Part of Brian was disappointed by this. When he had received that surprising call from Alex, he had expected, or at least hoped, that things would be the same. That was nearly impossible Brian now thought to himself. Too many things about all of them had changed.

"How's Baylee?" Nick finally asked. "It's been a really long time since I've seen him."

"Yeah, he's great. He's twenty-four now. It's really hard to believe."

"You're tellin me! I still remember him as a little baby, since that's really the only the only time that I've ever seen him."

"Hey man, at least you seen him! I don't think I ever saw Clare when she was a baby and I sure as hell didn't see Christian and Grace," Brian remarked.

"How many kids you have?"

"Five."

"That's it? I thought you and Leigh were going to be rabbits and repopulate the world," Nick joked. Brian laughed, he was glad to see that Nick hadn't changed entirely.

"Rabbits?" Brian replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, rabbits have a lot of kids. I remember when I was younger that you always wanted a big family so I thought the rabbit thing fit."

"Five is enough man. You should know that. You grew up one of five," Brian responded. "True, but the difference with me is I was the brother not the father."

"Maybe you and the kids could come up and visit us sometime. I'd really like you to meet my other kids," Brian suggested. Nick smiled.

"I'd really like that."

"Great, how 'bout the next time that the kids have some time off from school?"

"I could ask them, but I'd have to get back to you on that."

"Great. That sounds great," Brian replied. "Frack." The biggest grin appeared on Nicks face as Brian said this.

"I've got an idea!"