Nick walked into the kitchen.  It was the first time that he got out of bed in the two weeks since he got sick.  He liked the feeling of family he got when he saw Roxie cooking breakfast and Ariel happily talking.  Ariel turned toward the door.  “Morning Daddy.”

“Morning.”

Roxie turned from the stove.  “Hey.  You look like you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah. I am.”  He walked over to Roxie and gave her a good morning kiss before returning to the table where Ariel was.

“So, are you going to work today?”

“No.  I’d rather just relax.”

“Sounds good.”

“Guess what Daddy.”

“What?”

“Roxie lives with us now.”

“She does?”  Nick questioned and looked toward Roxie.

Roxie looked back at Nick.  “Don’t you remember?  I asked you if you were okay with it.”

“You did?”

Roxie blushed and bit her lip.  “It was the day you went to the doctor.  We were lying on the couch and you were half asleep.”

“Wait, that really happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I was dreaming.”

Roxie laughed.  “So, you’re okay with it?”

“Yeah.  Although you should know that the answer would have been the same either way.  You didn’t have to be sneaky and tell me when I was completely out of it.”  He said with a laugh.”

“But it was fun.”

He shook his head.  “You’re too much.”

“I know.”  She walked over to him and quickly kissed him before going back to making breakfast.

A comfortable silence fell over the kitchen and Ariel felt compelled to break it.  “I want to redecorate my room.”

Nick and Roxie made eye contact and smiled.  They knew what Ariel was going to say next.  They were just surprised how long it took Ariel to ask.  “You don’t like your princess room?”

“Well, I do.  But I want to change it so I can have dolphins and whales and other sea creatures.  And then we can put Atlantica so I can have Ariel and friends.”

Nick nodded.  “Okay.”

“Really?”  Ariel asked excitedly.

“Yes really.”

“We should go to the mall today.”

Roxie put breakfast on the table.  “Then I guess we’re going to the mall today.”

After breakfast, they made their way to the mall.  Once inside Nick asked.  “Ok Ariel, where to first?”

Ariel scrunched up her nose.  “Well, we need paint, bed stuff, pictures, furniture…”

“Wait, furniture?  What’s wrong with your furniture?”  Nick questioned.

“It’s part of the old room.”

“Ariel, there’s nothing wrong with your furniture.  I’m not buying you a whole new bedroom set.” 

Ariel whimpered.  “But…”

“No.”  Ariel looked up at Nick pouting.  “You don’t need new furniture.  You have a white bedroom set.  Trust me when I say it'll match the new look of your room.”

“Oh okay.”  Ariel said conceding

After 2 hours of shopping, they were nearly almost done.  They got everything they’d need but paint and bedding.  They were about to go into Sears when Ariel announced that she was hungry.  They turned around changing their destination and headed in the opposite direction toward the food court.  Once at the food court, Ariel ran toward McDonalds.  Nick placed the bags on a table and ran after Ariel.  He didn’t catch her soon enough as she ran right into the legs of two girls.

He cringed and made his way over there quickly.  He approached them and without looking at the strangers, he looked down at Ariel and scolded her for running away.  He looked up.  “I’m sorry.  She…”  He stopped realizing that two of his younger sisters were standing in front of him.  “Uh, hi.”  He said nervously.

“C’mon Angel.  Let’s go.”  BJ said before dragging Angel away. 

Nick sighed sadly and grabbed Ariel’s hand and took her to the McDonald’s line.  He ordered his, Roxie’s and Ariel’s food and then made his way back to their table, holding the food in one hand and Ariel’s hand in the other.  He approached the table and placed the tray on the table.

Without warning, he felt someone hug him from behind.  Slightly confused, Nick turned around and was shocked to find his sister Angel hugging him.  “I’ve missed you Nick.”

Nick smiled too.  “I’ve missed you too.”

“Daddy, I just realized that I need a fish tank.”

Nick turned to her briefly.  “We’ll see.”

“Oh my god, you’re a father.”  Nick turned quickly to the sound of his other sister’s voice.  “It wasn’t enough that you had to screw up your life and everyone in your life, now you have to screw up a little kid.”  Nick opened his mouth to try and defend himself.  “Angel, let’s get out of here.”

“No.  I miss him.  I want to stay.”

“Angel, now.  I can’t believe you even came over here.”  BJ looked over and spotted Roxie.  She turned back to him.  “I can’t believe you found someone dumb enough to date you.  How much are you paying her?”

He stood there watching them walk away.  He received a false sense of hope when Angel hugged him.  He thought maybe the time had come for him to reconcile with his family.  And then BJ came along and realized that almost 5 years later he still hadn’t been forgiven which meant to him that he probably never would be forgiven.  He turned back to the table.  Roxie was looking at him with a look of concern.  He didn’t want to deal with anything right now.  All he knew was the he wanted to be alone.  He grabbed the bags from the table.  “I’ll be outside.”

Ariel watched Nick leave quickly.  “Daddy didn’t eat.”

“We’ll save his lunch for him.  Maybe he’ll want it later.”

“Okay.”  Ariel said then began to eat.

Outside Nick was putting their purchases in his jeep.  He kept hearing BJ’s hurtful words repeating in his head.  He felt tears begin to well up in eyes.  Even though he had been expecting that kind of reaction, to actually face it was worse than he ever imagined it to be.  He took a deep breath.  He couldn’t let this get to him.  He took a few more deep breaths before he felt composed enough to go back inside.

He approached the food court and found Roxie and Ariel almost done with their lunch.  He approached the table.  “So, you girls ready to continue.”

“But Daddy, you didn’t eat.”

“That’s ok.  I’m not really hungry.”  He looked at Roxie and almost lost it again when he saw the look of sympathy she was giving him.  He put on a fake smile.  “So, what do you say?”

Ariel slid off the chair.  “Let’s go.”

“You guys go ahead.  I’ll be right there.”

“Ok.  We’ll be in Sears looking at bedding.”

“Ok.”  Roxie stood up and kissed him.  It was intended to comfort Nick.  Ariel giggled, and they broke apart.  Nick took Ariel’s hand and walked toward Sears.  Roxie watched them walk off.  She looked around the food court until she spotted the two girls from earlier.  She ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­marched right up to them.   “Excuse me, but who the hell do you think you are, coming up to him and attacking him like that?  What right do you have to say those things to him, and in front of his daughter?  And for the record, he’s not how you think he is.  He’s a great father, and a great boyfriend.”  Roxie said and then walked off toward the entrance to the food court.

Angel stood up.  “Where are you going?”

“BJ, I miss him.  And don’t you sit there and tell me that you don’t miss him.”

“You were too young to fully understand…”

Angel interrupted her.  “I know why he was disowned.  Did you ever think that if maybe we supported him, like a family should, then maybe we could’ve helped him?”  BJ went to respond but Angel cut her off.  “You may be ok with hating him for the rest of your life, but I’m not.”  Angel said and ran off to follow Roxie.

Angle caught up with Roxie and tried to stay far enough back so she wouldn’t get caught.  She wasn’t successful.  Roxie turned around quickly.  “Why are you following me?”

“I’m sorry if you hate me, but I didn’t say those things to Nick.  Please.  I just want my big brother back.  I miss him.”

Roxie searched Angel’s eyes and found that she couldn’t see anything but sincerity.  “Fine.  But if I see one frown cross his face, then I’ll personally make sure you never go near him again.”

“Deal.”  Angel walked silently at Roxie’s side.  “I’m Angel.”  She said shyly. 

Roxie, realizing that Angel really was trying, let her guard down a little.  “I’m Roxie.”

They walked in silence for a little longer until they found Nick and Ariel looking at children’s bedding.

Ariel glanced back and noticed Roxie first.  "Roxie!"  She sang happily, then quickly her smile faded when she caught sight of the girl walking with her.  "Hey!  What are you doing here?"  She said immediately, ready to defend her daddy.

“I…”  Angel said just as BJ walked up. 

Ariel glared at the two strangers and stood in front of her daddy with her hands on her hips.  “You said mean things to my Daddy.  Go away. You don’t belong here.”

Nick wouldn’t look at his sisters.  He looked down at Ariel and couldn’t help but smile at the small girl.  “Ariel, not everyone’s going to like me.  Don’t worry about it okay?”

Ariel looked back at Nick.  “Why would anyone not like you?  You’re the best Daddy in the world and I love you, so that means that everyone else should love you.”

Nick couldn’t help but chuckle.  “I’m afraid that’s not how it works.”

Ariel turned back to BJ and Angel.  “Why don’t you love my Daddy?  Do you even know him? I don’t think so, cause if you did, you’d really really love him.”

Angel looked at BJ.  “See, he has to have changed.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Well, for one, that little girl really loves him.  And secondly, he’s not dead.”

Nick’s eyes widened and he suddenly became nervous.  He wasn’t ready for his secret to come out.  “Maybe we should go somewhere where we can talk alone.”

BJ glanced over at him, then looked at Roxie and Ariel.  She suddenly realized that neither of them probably knew about Nick's past.  She made eye contact with her brother again and decided that she could either go all through her life hating him or she could try to make amends.  She nodded.  “Okay.”

Nick walked toward his sisters then turned back to Roxie.  “Make sure she doesn’t buy out the store.  I haven’t gone to work in a couple weeks.  I might run out of money if she did.”

“Don’t worry Nick.  I’ll keep her grounded.”

“Okay.” Nick turned around and followed his sisters silently. 

They walked out of the store and sat on the bench in front of the store.  The silence was deafening.  “How old is she?”  Angel broke the silence.

“4.”

“Oh, she was born right after you…”

“I’d rather not talk about the past.”

“Well, you’re going to have to eventually.”  BJ said.

“BJ, I know what I did to you was wrong, and I’m sorry.  But it does seem that you’re not ready to forgive me.”  Silence fell over them again. “I guess I’ll go back in.”  Nick stood up and turned back to the store.

“Nick?”  He stopped.  He knew that voice all too well.  He turned around slowly. His eyes locked with his mother’s and she smiled before coming up to him and hugging him.  She pulled back and held him at arm’s length.  “You look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”  She smiled. 

Jane was about to ask him a question when Aaron ran over and hugged him tightly.

Leslie walked over to them and glanced at Nick briefly.  “Ok, so you’re still alive, can we move on now?”

Nick didn’t get a chance to respond.  It was at that moment that Ariel ran out of the store and over to him.  Nick bent down to pick her up.

“And who is this?”  Jane asked as she looked at the younger female version of her son.

“This is Ariel, you’re granddaughter.”  Nick looked at Ariel.  “Do you need me to come back in and pay?”

“No Daddy.  Roxie paid.”

Nick nodded.  He looked up just in time to see his father and Leslie walk away. 

“So, Nick.  What have you been doing with your life, besides raising a daughter?”

“Um, I own a music store.”

“Wow, that’s good.  I’m glad you’re doing so well.”

“Thanks.”

“You don’t have to be a stranger anymore Nick.”

“I don’t think everybody wants me back in your life.”

“They’ll get used to it.”

Roxie came out of the store carrying Ariel’s new bedding.  She approached Nick.  Nick handed Ariel to Roxie.  He introduced Roxie to his interested family then quickly stepped out of the crowd.  He wrote out a check to his father for $1,000, and nervously approached him. Nick was afraid to look in his father’s eyes, so he kept his gaze on the floor.  “I’m sorry.  Here.”

Bob took the check and looked at it.  He nodded but knew that he’d never accept the money.  He handed the check back to Nick.  “Use it for your daughter.”

He took his check back and turned to walk away from his father.  He turned back.  “I’m sorry.  I know I screwed up.  But I’ve changed.  I want my family back, or as much of it as I can get back.  I just hope that you’ll be able to forgive me one day.”

Bob only nodded.  “I hope so too.”

Part of Nick hoped to be instantly forgiven and the fact that he wasn’t hurt, but he tried to not let it show.  He looked at Leslie and she turned and walked away form him.  He walked back to the small group by the bench.  He looked at Ariel and Roxie.  “You ready to get going?  We still have to go to the Pet Store.”

Ariel looked up excitedly.  “I’m getting a fish tank?”

“Yes.  A small one, and you’ll have to help me take care of the fish.”

“Okay,” Ariel said excitedly.  “We also have to go to the paint store.”

“We’re not going there today.  I’ll stop on the way home from work.”