Roxie found herself in her car the next day.  Even though she knew Nick was going to be home the remainder of the week to watch his daughter himself, something inside of herself possessed her to get into her car and drive to his house.  It was almost noon and she smiled to herself as she pictured Nick and Ariel watching The Little Mermaid together in the living room around that time, Ariel probably eating mac and cheese.  It was no secret that Roxie had fallen hard for the little girl.  And her father was starting to get under her skin as well.  Roxie couldn't help but daydream a little as she slowed down near his house.  She turned into the driveway and put her car into park.

She got out of her car and headed for the door.  Standing on the porch, she knocked on the door.  She didn’t hear any movement on the other side of the door. She thought maybe that Nick took Ariel out.  She turned back to the driveway.  His car was still here, so that meant that they were home.  She knocked again.  Again, there was no movement on the other side of the door.  Roxie was starting to panic.  What if something happened?  She tried the door and to her surprise it was open.

She stepped into the house and closed the door behind her.  Taking a deep breath, she headed into the living room.  The menu from the Little Mermaid DVD was playing in a loop.  She thought it was a little odd that Nick didn’t turn it off.  She cautiously walked further into the room.  She wasn’t quite sure what she would find.  She walked around the couch and she laughed to herself as she realized that she was only freaking herself out.  Nick was lying on the couch fast asleep with Ariel lying on his chest.  She too was fast asleep.  Roxie smiled.

Not having the heart to wake them, Roxie made her way into the kitchen.  She decided that she would start making lunch.  She pulled out a kettle to prepare the mac and cheese.  She placed the kettle on the stove, and as soon as she let it go, it fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Nick woke up abruptly to the sound of a crash in the kitchen.  He listened carefully and heard moving around in the kitchen.  He stood up careful to not wake Ariel and placed her back on the couch.  He looked around the room looking for something he could use as a weapon.  He spotted Ariel’s metal baton and grabbed it.  He headed for his kitchen and took a deep breath as he gently pushed the door open, with the baton held so he could hit the intruder.

As he was about to swing at the intruder, he realized it was Roxie.  “Jesus Roxie, you scared me.”

“Sorry Nick.  I didn’t want to wake you.”

He lowered the baton and took a seat at the table.  “Well then you shouldn’t have dropped anything.  God Roxie, look what I grabbed to defend myself.” He said waving the metal baton, w/ purple and pink ribbons at her.  Roxie started laughing and soon Nick was laughing with her.

“Why are you here?”

“You don’t want me to be here?”

He started to stumble over his words.  “No, I just meant that, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I just felt like coming.  That’s ok right?”

“Yeah.”  He said with a yawn.

Roxie noticed and looked at him confused.  “You just woke up, how could you be tired?”

He stayed quiet.  He didn’t know what to say.  He looked at Roxie and something compelled him to tell her the truth.  “I barely slept last night.”  He yawned again.

“How long?”

“What?”

“How much sleep did you get?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know.  An hour, maybe 2 at most.”

“You should go take a nap.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Nick, go take a nap.”

“What?  Are you my mother now?”

“No, but you look tired.”

Nick laughed lightly.  “I thought I hired you to be Ariel’s nanny, not mine.”

“You did, but you look really tired.”

“I’m fine Roxie really.

“Ok, Nick.  If you say so.”  She said with a chuckle.  She turned back to the stove to continue making lunch.  “So Nick, what were you and Ariel planning to do today?”  Nick didn’t respond.  “Nick?”  She turned around to find that he had his head resting on his arms on the table.  He looked to be asleep.  She walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder.  He opened his eyes and turned toward her.  “Go take a nap.”

“What about Ariel?”

“What about her?”

“I can’t take care of her if I’m sleeping.”

“I’m here; I can take care of her.  Now go.”

Nick nodded.   “Ok.”  He said, finally giving in.  He stood up and walked out of the room.

Roxie watched him practically stagger out of the room.  She felt concerned for him when she realized that he was more tired than he let on.  She turned back to the stove to continue cooking lunch for herself and Ariel.

“ROXIE.”  Ariel ran toward Roxie and hugged her legs.

“Hi Ariel.”

“Is Daddy at work?”

Roxie shook her head.  “No.  He’s taking a nap.”

“Oh.  Do you want to watch a movie with Daddy later?”

“We’ll see.” Roxie said without thinking.  She noticed the big grin on Ariel’s face and realized what Ariel said.  "Wait, you mean, watch a movie with you and Daddy?"

“I can be there if it’ll make you feel more comfortable.”

Roxie couldn’t believe it.  A four-year-old was trying to match her up with her father.  “Why don’t you go wash your hands?  Lunch will be on the table soon.”  She said, trying to change the subject.

“I’ll go get Daddy.”

“No.”

“Why not?  Don’t you like my Daddy?”

"Yeah, I like him, but - "

 "Ooo, you liiike him?"

 "He's nice, but he needs his nap."

It was several hours later, and Nick was just waking up from his nap.  He sat on the edge of his bed trying to wake himself up.  He stood up and stretched and went downstairs.  He found Roxie and Ariel in the living room playing Candy Land.  He leaned against the doorframe watching them.  He smiled and felt his heart skip a beat. 

He wasn’t sure what to make of that feeling.  He’s been single, with no intentions of ever dating again, for two years.  And now, watching Roxie playing with his daughter was making his heart swell with feelings that made him realize that he was tired of being alone.  It was at that point that he realized he’d like to have a more personal relationship with Roxie, but he didn’t know how to achieve that.

Ariel looked up and spotted Nick standing in the doorway.  Ariel smiled and with a mischievous glint in her eyes she said, “You know Roxie, you don’t have a boyfriend and Daddy doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

Nick’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.  Roxie looked up from the game and then realized that Nick was standing in the doorway, obviously in shock from his daughters words.

“Hey Nick.  Feel better?”  She asked, completely ignoring the fact that she knew Nick heard what Ariel said.

“Yeah.” He walked further into the room.

“That’s good.  I wasn’t sure if I should wake you up for dinner or not.”

“You could have woken me up.”

“It’s just that you were asleep for five hours.  I figured you really needed that nap and I didn’t want to disturb it.  Oh, I was planning on making spaghetti for you two.”

“That’s fine.  But don’t you mean us three?” He asked and sat down on the floor with them, pulling Ariel onto his lap.  “Listen, if you’re going to cook us dinner while you’re here, you may as well stay with us and enjoy it.  Why cook twice when you don’t have to.”

“Alright then, I’ll stay for dinner.”

“Yay.”  Ariel said excitedly. 

~*~

Roxie was in the kitchen cooking dinner while Nick and Ariel were in the living room.  From Nick’s position on the couch, he could see perfectly into the kitchen to where Roxie was cooking.  He couldn’t make himself turn away.  Ariel was pretending her Barbie dolls were getting married.  Ariel saw Nick starring at Roxie and smirked.  “I think Roxie would make a good mommy.”

“I bet she would.”  Nick said distractedly, since he was still starring at Roxie.  Ariel giggled and Nick turned to her.  “Wait?  What did you say?”

Ariel giggled.  “Roxie would be a good mommy.”

Nick was kind of in shock about his daughter’s statement.  He sputtered out, “Well, uh, yeah, but I don’t know…”  He took a deep breath  “Does she even want kids?”

“Well, she doesn’t have a boyfriend, and she really likes you Daddy.  And if she likes you, then she has to be ok with kids, because of me.”

“You heard her say that?”

“Well, no, but you’ve seen the way she looks at you.”

Nick wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t.  “I really doubt that she likes me Ariel.”

“Why?”

“I’m nothing special.  Girls like Roxie don’t like guys like me.”  He said sadly.

“Why not?”  At that moment, Roxie called from the kitchen saying that dinner’s ready. 

Ariel got up and ran out of the room. Nick watched her in confusion.

Ariel returned shortly, holding a couple candles.  Nick looked at her strangely.  “What you are doing?”

“We need candles.”

“Why?”

“Because we do.”

Roxie was putting the food on the table as Nick and Ariel entered the kitchen.  She noticed that Nick looked sad, sadder than he usually looked.  She watched him put a small amount of spaghetti onto Ariel’s plate.  He put some sauce on it, and then made his plate.  Roxie looked at him concerned when he didn’t take that much.  She tried to brush it off thinking he’d have seconds.  She grew more concerned when she realized that he was barely picking at his food.  “Nick, are you feeling alright.”

Nick was too absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the concern in her voice.  He nodded.  “I’m fine why?”

“You’re not eating.”

“I guess I’m just not that hungry.”

“You skipped lunch.  You should be starving.”

He only shrugged.  Ariel finished her food and Nick turned to her.  “Do you want more?”

“Uh, nope.”  She slid off her chair.  “I’m going to go play.  You two can be alone.”  Ariel said and ran from the room.

An awkward silence fell over the two.  “Nick, what’s bothering you?”

Nick scoffed, “We’d need more than a dinner to have that conversation.”

Roxie looked at him briefly before looking down at her food.  They finished dinner and Nick silently helped her clean up

As Roxie was about to leave, Ariel came flying to the door. “Why don’t you sleep over?”

“Ariel, I’m sure Roxie has things to do at home.”  Nick said

Ariel ignored Nick and looked at Roxie.  “Well?”

“Ariel, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

Ariel started crying.  Big, fake tears were rolling down her cheeks as she said, “Don’t you love me?”

“Oh, well, of course I do, but…”

Almost immediately, Ariel stopped crying.  “Great, then it’s settled.  You’re going to sleep here tonight.”

Roxie looked at Nick to get his approval.  He just shrugged.

Roxie sighed.  She didn’t know what to do.  Ariel really wanted her to sleep over, but it seemed that Nick didn’t want her to stay.  She looked into Ariel’s pleading eyes and gave in.  “Alright, I’ll stay.”

~*~

It was time for Ariel to go to bed.  She insisted that Roxie tuck her in that night.  Nick couldn’t help but feel jealous. 

Roxie took Ariel upstairs and changed her into her pajamas.  Ariel climbed into bed and Roxie pulled the sheets around her.  “Roxie, what did Daddy mean when he said that girls like you don’t like guys like him?”

Roxie started to feel nervous.  “Huh?  Why wouldn’t I like your Daddy?”

Ariel giggled, “So you DO like my Daddy.”

Roxie smiled.  “Goodnight Ariel.”  She said and left the room.  She found Nick channel surfing while lying on the couch.  She stood over him trying to figure out what was going through his mind.  It seemed that Nick liked her, otherwise why would he say that there’s was no way that she could like him.  “Ariel’s asleep.”

Nick looked up at her briefly.  “Thanks.  You know, you don’t have to stay here.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

"No, Ariel will be upset if you go...  But you don't have to stay if you really don't want to.  I'm sure you have something better to do than sit around spending time with me..."

“Why do you do that?”

Nick looked at her confused.  “Why do I do what?”

“Put yourself down like that?”

He shrugged.  “No one I know, except Ariel, likes to spend time with me.  Why would you be any different?”

It was at that moment that she realized that his insecurities were much deeper than she thought.  His insecurities were rooted in his depression.  Roxie bit her bottom lip, trying to think of a way to demonstrate to Nick that she did want to spend time with him.  Since she didn't want to call it an early night, she decided that she would stay up with him and watch some television.  Maybe a conversation would spawn off of something on the TV.  Roxie could only hope as she watched Nick flip through station after station without any luck in finding a good program to watch.

“We can watch a movie.  Are there any good movies on?”  She asked.  Nick shrugged and handed her the remote.  She searched through the movies on TV and didn’t find anything good.  “Nick, where’s your movie collection?”

“In that cabinet by the TV.”

“Thanks.”  She opened the cabinets and looked over the movies.  She spotted a few scary movies and smiled to herself.  She hated scary movies, but it would give her an excuse to get physically close to Nick, hopefully without making Nick uncomfortable.  She pulled out A Nightmare on Elm Street and then turned to Nick, showing him her selection.  He nodded his approval and sat up to make room on the couch for her.

She put the movie in and then started walking toward the couch.  “I must warn you.  I absolutely love scary movies, but they terrify me.  I will probably end up burying my face in your shoulder for half the movie.  I hope you don’t mind.”

“Okay.”

Roxie started the movie and sat down next to Nick.  She stood up quickly.  I’m gonna go make popcorn.”  Nick nodded and she hurried off into the kitchen.  She returned minutes later with a bowl of popcorn.  She placed it on the table in front of them and got comfortable on the couch.

As the movie began to get scary, she kept getting closer to Nick.  On the screen, Tina reached up to Freddy’s face and pulled his face off revealing the skull.  Roxie screeched and buried her face in Nick’s shoulder, cautiously peeking at the screen every now and then to see if the scene is over.

Nick looked at her longingly.  This innocent physical contact seemed right to him.  He began realizing just how much he actually likes her.  Unfortunately, with the realization of his feelings came the much stronger and painful realization that there’s no way that she could possibly like him in return.

The two of them continued to watch the movie.  Roxie became more comfortable with the closeness she was experiencing with Nick and she hoped that he wasn't uncomfortable with her being there.  Part of the way through the movie, Nick's eyes became droopy and he fell asleep.  Shortly after, Roxie had a wave of tiredness come over her body as well.  Both of them were out by the time the movie was over.

In the middle of the night, Nick and Roxie were asleep in each other’s arms.  Roxie opened her eyes slowly.  It took her a few minutes for her to realize that she was sleeping on Nick’s chest as he held her.  She smiled and looked at his face to see him sleeping peacefully.  Reaching up, she pushed a few strands of hair away from his eyes.  He stirred a little, adjusting his position in his sleep and then settled down again.  She kissed his cheek and then curled up against him again.

Nick woke up and moments later realized that there was a weight on his chest.  He panicked at first but then realized that Roxie was lying on top of him.  He sat up abruptly knocking Roxie off of him. 

Roxie woke up abruptly as she hit the floor.  “Ouch.  What’s wrong Nick?”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

Roxie thought he was apologizing for knocking her off him.  “It’s ok Nick.  Just get comfortable and we can go back to sleep.”

“Wait what?  I was apologizing for holding you.”  Roxie looked at him, confused and hurt.  “We should go to bed.”  Nick said and stood up.  He helped Roxie up and they went upstairs.  He told her what room she could sleep in and they went in opposite directions at the top of the stairs.  God Carter, you’re so stupid.  How could you hold her like that?  You know she doesn’t like you.  But damn, it felt good to hold her.

Roxie entered the guest room.  She couldn’t figure out what went wrong.  One second they were happily curled up in each other’s arms, and the next he was freaking out.  She sighed; maybe he doesn’t like me after all.  He keeps sending me mixed signals.  She really liked him and hoped that the mixed signals that he was sending were due to his confusion.

The next morning, Roxie woke up with a bit of a headache.  She went into the bathroom in the hallway to find some form of painkiller.  She opened the medicine cabinet and found that it had no medicine.  Then she remembered that Ariel would be able to reach this cabinet.  She walked out of the bathroom and went to Nick’s room.  She knocked on the door and waited for a response.  After no response, she knocked again, this time a little louder.

A soft response came from inside.  “It’s open.”

Roxie opened the door and found Nick still lying in bed.  “I’m sorry to wake you.  But do you have anything for a headache?”

“It’s in my bathroom.”

“Thanks.”  She walked through Nick’s room and into his bathroom.  She opened the medicine cabinet and looked around for a common painkiller.  She found it next to a small prescription bottle for Prozac.  She couldn’t believe that he was on antidepressants.  She quickly took two Advil and closed the medicine cabinet.  She turned around and saw Nick starring at her. 

Nick was watching her in the bathroom.  He saw her briefly stop looking and stare into the cabinet.  He realized that she found his medication and a feeling of inferiority washed over him.  She turned around and he saw sympathy in her eyes.  He sighed and looked down.

She walked over to his bed and sat down on the side of it.  She looked at him and hugged him.  She was suddenly determined to do whatever it takes to make him feel better about himself.  “I’m going to go make breakfast.  Is there anything specific that Ariel likes to eat?”

“She loves waffles.”

“Ok.  Breakfast will be in about 10 minutes, so go wake her up.”  Nick nodded.  Roxie started to leave the room and realized that Nick wasn’t moving.  “Well, aren’t you going to get out of bed?”

“I sleep in my boxers.” 

“Oh.”  She giggled.  “Sorry.”

Roxie left the room and went downstairs to make breakfast.  Soon, Ariel made her way into the kitchen.  She spotted Roxie.  “Roxie, you’re still here.”

“Of course I’m still here.”

Ariel sat at the table. “What are you cooking?”

“Waffles.  Your daddy said you liked waffles.”

Ariel nodded excited.  “Yes.”

Nick walked into the room at that point.  “There you are Ariel.”  He said and then kissed the top of her head.

“Didn’t you wake her up?”

“No.  She was already out of the room by the time I got in there.”

“After breakfast, can we all watch The Little Mermaid?” 

Nick groaned and Roxie smiled.  “Of course.”  Roxie said.

“Ariel, why don’t you pick another movie?   You have so many to choose from.”

“Daddy, I want to watch The Little Mermaid.” 

“Ok, ok.”  Ariel ran out of the room to get her DVD to make sure that’s what they watched.  “I swear, one of these days, I’m gonna hide that DVD.”

Roxie laughed.  “Aw Nick, it can’t be that bad.” Nick just glared at her.  Roxie laughed harder.

Ariel returned with the movie and placed it on the table.  Nick grabbed it.  “Daddy, where are you going with my DVD?”

“I’m moving it off the table while you eat.”

They ate breakfast and then Ariel slid off her chair.  She handed the DVD to Roxie.  “Ariel, we need to clean up first.  So why don’t you go inside and color and we’ll be in momentarily.”  Nick said.

“Okay Daddy.”  Ariel said and then ran off into the living room.

“Are you trying to put off the movie?”

“For as long as possible.”  Nick said with a slight laugh.

They finished cleaning up the kitchen and Roxie grabbed the DVD.  Nick sat on the couch while Roxie put the movie on.  Ariel sat up.  She watched Roxie walk to the chair in the living room to sit.  “You can’t sit there Roxie.”

“Okay Ariel.  Where do you want me to sit?”

“On the couch.” 

Okay Ariel.”  Roxie walked over to the couch and sat on the opposite end that Nick was on.

“Don’t sit there.”

“You told me to sit on the couch.”

“Yep.  Sit on the couch, just not there.”  Roxie moved to sit on the cushion next to Nick.”

“Not there.”

“Ariel, there’s no other place on the couch to sit.”

Nick took a sip of his coffee.  “Sit on Daddy’s lap.”  Nick started coughing.

“Are you ok Nick?”

“Yeah.”

Ariel was looking at Roxie.  “Well, sit.”

Roxie looked at Nick and he shrugged.  Roxie sat on Nick’s lap.  Ariel smiled and turned her attention on the movie.

Throughout the movie, Nick kept starring at Roxie.  Nick was trying to forget about his feelings for Roxie, but it was difficult with her sitting on his lap.  He tried to turn his gaze onto the movie but always found himself looking back at her.

The song “Kiss the Girl” was playing in the movie.  Roxie turned to Nick and caught him starring at her.  Roxie leaned in and kissed him.  She pulled back almost immediately to apologize.  Before she could say a single word, Nick leaned in and kissed her.  Nick ran his tongue over her lips until she opened her mouth.

Ariel turned around and saw them kissing.  She giggled excitedly.  Nick and Roxie pulled back immediately.  They were both blushing.  Roxie slid off Nick’s lap and Nick stood up and walked out of the room.  Ariel looked at Nick confused.  She didn’t understand why Nick walked out.  “Come here Ariel.  We’ll finish the movie together.”

Ariel climbed onto the couch and crawled into Roxie’s lap.  “I didn’t mean to make Daddy upset.”  Ariel said.  She was on the verge of tears.

“Oh honey.  Your Daddy is fine.  “We’ll finish the movie together, and then I’ll talk to him.”  Ariel blinked and a tear fell out of her eyes.  Roxie wiped it away.  “Don’t cry.”

Ariel rested her head on Roxie’s chest.  She popped her thumb in her mouth.  Nick walked back into the room; he saw the tears in Ariel’s eyes.  He took Ariel from Roxie and held her on his lap.  Ariel hugged him.  “What’s wrong honey?”

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know baby.  Don’t worry about it.  You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I didn’t?”

“No.  Now turn around and let’s finish watching your movie.”

“Ok Daddy.”

The movie finished and Ariel ran to her room to play with her dolls.  Nick was in the living room cleaning up Ariel’s toys when Roxie walked in.  “Nick, we should talk.”

Nick took a deep breath.  “Ok.”

Nick sat on the couch and Roxie sat next to him.  Nick was nervously fiddling with his hands.  Roxie placed her hands over his to calm him down a bit.  “Nick, how do you feel about me?”

“I like you a lot.”  He said softly.

“That’s good, because I like you a lot too.”

“You can do so much better than me.”

“Nick is that why at some points I think you like me and others you are pulling away?”

“How could you like me?”

“You’re a sweet guy, a great father.”

“No I’m not.”

“What sweet or a great father?”

“I don’t know about sweet, but I know I’m a horrible father.”

“No, you’re not Nick.  And I don’t want to ever hear you say that again.”

Roxie kissed him again.  He pulled back.  “Trust me; you don’t want to be with me.”

“Let me make that decision.”

“I’m a mess.  I have nothing to offer you but problems.”

“Nick, I like you, despite your problems.  I want us to be together.  I like you.  And I know you like me, because you’re trying to protect me from, well, from you.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Nick, I know you’re depressed.  I knew before I saw the Prozac in your medicine cabinet.  I like you.  I don’t know what else I have to do to get you to believe that.”  Nick stayed quiet so Roxie continued.  “I know you like me, because you admitted it.  So why not try a relationship.  Your problems aren’t a good enough reason for us to not try.  We all have problems.”

“Probably not as bad as mine.”

“Nick…”

“Roxie, I need antidepressants to function normally so I can take care of my daughter.”

“You won’t need them forever.  I really want us to be together.  But if you really don’t want to, I won’t push you.”

Roxie stood up to walk away.  “Roxie wait?”

“What?”

“I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“I haven’t been in a relationship since Ariel’s mother.  I don’t know how to be in a relationship anymore.  And what if we break up, what’s that going to do to Ariel?  Not to mention all the problems I have.  I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Roxie walked back to the couch.  She sat down next to him and took his face in her hands and gently moved his head so he’d be forced to look into her eyes.  Her heart broke at all the sadness that was found in her eyes.  “If you have feelings for me, then you are ready.  It doesn’t matter that you haven’t been in a relationship since Ariel’s mother.  All relationships are different anyway.  Ariel wants us together.  She was playing matchmaker after all.”  She stopped briefly and Nick chuckled.  “Let’s not worry about the breakup yet.  We won’t know what will happen with us until it actually happens.  As for your problems, I’ll help you to the best of my ability to help you feel better.”

“I don’t know.” 

Roxie kissed him and once again he pulled back.  “No.  I want you to kiss me.”  Roxie kissed him again and this time he gave in and returned the kiss.  They pulled back breathless.  “How did that feel for you?”

He looked down.  “It felt right.”

“I think we should be together then.  Or are you willing to regret not doing anything?”

“I want to be with you.” 

Roxie smiled.  “I’m glad I was able to change your mind.  And I promise I’m going to help you with your problems, if you’ll let me.  You’re not alone anymore.”

Nick smiled.  For the first time in a long time he realized that she was right.  He didn’t have to go through his problems alone.  He kissed her. 

The kiss deepened and they ended up lying down on the couch making out.  Ariel walked into the room and gasped when she saw them.  Nick sat up abruptly trying really hard to not laugh.  Roxie sat up and moved next to him so that she was leaning against him.  He put his arm around her.  He kissed her head and whispered in her ear, “We need to stop kissing when my daughter is awake.”  Roxie smiled.

Ariel smiled at them.  “So, I guess I don’t have to remind both of you that the other isn’t dating anyone.”

“No, you don’t.  Because now, I’m your daddy’s girlfriend.”

Ariel giggled.  “Let’s go to Chuck E. Cheese?  We need to celebrate.”  Ariel ran upstairs to put her shoes on. 

Roxie walked over to Nick and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.  He in return wrapped his arms around her waist.  “So, are we going to Chuck E. Cheese?”

“I guess so, seeing as how we owe our new relationship to my meddlesome daughter.

Ariel came downstairs clutching her tiny purse.  “Okay Daddy, we can go now.”  She turned to Roxie, “Come on new Mommy.”

Nick's and Roxie's eyes grew wide upon hearing what Ariel said.  They glanced at each other and chuckled a little, both of them trying to hide their nervousness.  Ariel was putting a lot of pressure on them already and they'd only been together for a matter of minutes.

 "What?"  Ariel giggled, noticing their reactions. 

 "Nothing..."  Nick trailed off.

 "Okay, good.  Are you two ready to go?"  Ariel asked.