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Chapter 6

"Dad," Clare said as she walked into the backyard where Nick was standing. He smiled at his daughter when he turned to face her.

"Yeah?" he replied as he turned his attention back to staring at the sky.

"I'd really like to talk to you. It's kind of important," she stated as she moved closer to her father. "It's about me and Brad. Um.. we're going to be getting married this summer."

"What?" Nick asked as he turned his complete attention to Clare.

"Married. That's the only reason why I brought him here. I heard what you said to mom last night. I know you don't like Brad, but I do. I like him a lot and we want to get married. Part of the reason that he came was that he wanted to have your blessing," Clare explained. "We're not going to get married if it's really going to bother you. I talked to Brad last night and he doesn't mind waiting. He wants you to be cool with the idea."

"Sit down," Nick said, pointing to one of the chairs at the table. She nodded and sat, Nick took the seat beside her. "I'm going to be honest with you. I don't like this guy, but if he makes you happy... then I'll learn to live with it."

"Excuse me?" Clare asked, more than slightly surprised at her fathers reaction.

"I wasn't much older than you are now when I got engaged for the first time," Nick replied.

"First time?"

"Yeah, first time. As much as I love your mother, she wasn't my first love. A girl named Samantha was."

"What happened?"

"A lot. I was twenty-three when I asked her to marry me. A friend of ours had hooked us up. I didn't like the idea but I went with it anyway. When I met her, I knew she was the woman for me. I just looked into her eyes and it was like our souls connected," Nick explained. "We were engaged for what.... maybe a week when we found out that she was pregnant. I can't even begin to explain how happy I was. But..."

"But what dad?" Clare asked, hoping that he would continue.

"But it just wasn't meant to be. A month later, she died."

"Oh my gosh, dad I didn't know," she replied.

"I know you didn't. No one was supposed to know."

"Does mom know?"

"No. I just can't talk about it with her. It seems weird. Besides, I don't want her to think that I married her for the wrong reasons. It wasn't that long after it happened that I had met your mom. It's been years I know, but I still love the woman that I lost. I don't want to make it look like your mom is second on the list."

"If mom doesn't even know about this, why are you telling me?"

"Because in my heart I believe that it was you that kept me alive," he replied seriously.

"What?" she asked puzzled.

"I rushed things with your mother. Looking back at everything, I think that we should have gotten married no matter what. But I asked her quickly. I'm not sure why.. probably because part of my was gone and I thought that was how I could regain it. Anyway, she got pregnant with you. At that time, I was really in a bad place in my life. Everything was completely falling apart. Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn't come along, but I have a strong feeling that I would probably be dead."

"That's crazy dad."

"Maybe but it's true."

"Why didn't you talk to me sooner?"

"Because I never needed to talk."

"What changed your mind?"

"Is your mother around?"

"No, she went to the store. Why?"

"Because I'm going to show you what started all of this, but you have to promise me that you're not going to tell your mother. She doesn't need to know about this. Got it?"

"Yeah, I won't say a word," she replied as Nick led her inside of the house. They walked though the hallways until they reached the ladder that would bring them up to the attic. Nick went up first, with Clare following close behind. Nick walked over to the box that he had been looking through the day before and Clare walked behind him.

"This was Samantha," Nick stated as he handed his daughter a picture of him and Samantha. The one he found the day before.

"She was really pretty," Clare commented. Nick nodded.

"My life is inside of this box. Everything I did when I was younger is right her. Tossed aside like it was nothing," Nick mumbled as he started to pull things out of the box. Clare reached down to the floor to pick up a CD he father had put down.

"You're on the cover," Clare stated. Nick looked over at her and smiled.

"Yeah. That's what I did when I was younger. I sang."

"Would you mind if I brought it down stairs to listen too?"

"I don't know.." Nick started but trailed off.

"I won't let mom know that I'm listening to it, alright?" He looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, but keep it away from your mother at all costs."

"Sure. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Who are these other guys?" Nick sighed as he glanced down at the album cover.

"The other members of the group. Brian, Kevin, Howie and Alex, but we used to just call him AJ," Nick explained.

"What happened?"

"Things were really tough so we decided to part ways."

"Have you talked to any of these guys?"

"Yeah, I ran into Alex yesterday. To be honest, it was great to see him. It was really what I needed. I had to talk to someone who knew what I was going through. Someone who was there when it all happened."

"Why haven't you talked to the rest of the guys?"

"That's really a good question. We all promised to keep in touch. That's not what happened though. I just happened to run into Alex yesterday." Clare smiled.

"Lets go down stairs. I'm going to go listen to this," she stated. Nick smiled. The two of them went back down to the main floor. Parting ways when there was a knock at the door.

"I've got it," Nick told her. He sighed yet again as he walked his way towards the front door. He wasn't expecting someone and Erin wouldn't have left if she knew that someone was coming. Nick grabbed the door knob and opened the door, freezing when he saw who was on the other side.