Nick drove out of the airport garage and made his way through the city to CJ's school. Lexie told him about her phone call with Victoria Winslow's producer, Mark Nelson, and how they wanted to discuss the trial. Lexie seemed fine as she discussed the potential interview, but he wondered when she was going to tell him about the car.

When they arrived at the school, Nick parked the car, and they walked into the school office to sign in. They headed for the playground to find CJ's class that was out for recess. CJ spotted them first and came running up to them. She threw herself into his arms and, squealed with delight. Nick held her close and spun her around, each of them sharing a quick kiss.

"You miss your old Dad?" He asked her as she hugged him tightly.

"Yes, I did!" She said as she leaned away from him and stuck out her tongue. "Can we go home now? I've only got one more class? I don't have to go, do I? Are we going to move to Tampa now?"

"Hang on!" Nick laughed, setting her down. "Yes, we can go now, but I have to check you out of school. No, we aren't moving yet. Have you and Lexie found a house yet?"

"No, they've all been kind of ugly and old." CJ sighed, looking up at Lexie. Lexie nodded in agreement.

"Well, you keep looking." He stood up and tapped her nose. "Let's go sign you out of school."

"Yeah!" CJ cheered, running ahead of them.

Nick drove CJ and Lexie home, but they stopped several times for errands. Lexie claimed she hadn't had time earlier and they just had to be done today. It was nearly two hours later before they actually even started heading home. On that final leg home, Nick noticed Lexie constantly checking her watch. He simply reached over and took her hand.

"Good to have you home, Mr. Carter." The guard at the gate said, letting them pass with a wave.

"So, what are we going to do tonight?" Nick asked as he drove up the winding hills to the house.

"You guys are going to do a lot of kissing." CJ groaned, throwing herself across the backseat.

"Not until you go to bed." Nick teased her.

"Oh, yeah, right." She giggled.

"You have homework?"

"Yes, but can I stay home from school tomorrow? " She whined.

"No, I don't think so." Nick said, "But I'll help with your homework if you like."

"Oh, okay."

"You got to go to work?" Nick asked Lexie.

"Yes, but I'm about caught up. I might be able to leave early."

"That's okay. I could use the sleep myself." He smiled as they drove through the housing development.

Nick pulled up to the corner of the street they lived on and an old beater of a truck came roaring down the street at them. The occupants, two rather large laborers, laid on the horn and waved as they drove past.

"Someone you know?" Nick asked innocently.

"No." She answered without hesitation, but inside she was praying. God, please let that mean they got done with the Ferrari.

Bobby and Steve, from the auction house, had finished the Ferrari, and Nick pretended that he didn't notice how perfectly clean it was when he pulled into the garage two spots down from it. They simply unloaded his luggage and headed inside.

"You hungry?" Lexie asked Nick as CJ ran upstairs to change out of her uniform.

"Starved." He turned and put an arm around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her. "And I know what's on the menu." He murmured.

"Well, I know how much you like Cook's dumplings." She smiled. "I had her make us some."

"She here?"

"No, I sent her home early." Lexie smiled as Nick kissed her again more passionately.

"I thought you guys were gonna wait." CJ groaned from the top of the stairs.

"Okay, okay! You got your homework out?" He asked as he let go of Lexie.

"No! I want to play a little, can I, Dad?" She said with a stomp of her foot.

"If you ask nice and stop that foot thing you got going on these days." He warned.

"Please?"

"Please, what?"

"Please, can I play a little while before I do my homework?"

"Yes, you may." Nick smiled. She ran off, down the hall down the back stairs and out to the playground with a slam of the back door.

"Good Lord!" He laughed. "She been giving you that much trouble?"

"No, she's been fine. Really." She reassured him. "Give me that so I can clean it up, and why don't you go play with her." She reached for his bag.

"I'd rather play with you, little girl." He teased, pulling her back into his arms and burying his face into her neck. "I have missed you so much." He groaned, pressing his body into hers.

"I've missed you, too." She agreed, letting herself melt into his arms, his bag forgotten on the floor. They stumbled back down the hallway towards the garage and into the laundry room to the left. Once inside, he kicked the door shut and pulled her completely into his arms. She eagerly lifted her legs around his waist, and he hoisted her on top of the washing machine. He ground into her, and she gasped and moaned at the intimacy she had missed.

"We'd better stop." Lexie panted, pushing him away.

"I don't want to stop." He said, moving back in.

"I don't either, but CJ is out there." She groaned as his lips found her tender neck again. "Nick, please." He stopped and looked into her face. She captured his face in her hands and kissed him gently. "Later, I promise."

It was not a quiet evening home. The phone rang constantly all through dinner. When Nick and CJ went upstairs to do her homework, Lexie fielded all of the calls.

"Just checking to see if everything is alright." Howie chuckled on the phone.

"It's great, Dad. Thanks for letting him come home early."

"Well, he's been no use to me."

"Why? What happened?"

"Maybe I'd better let him tell you. . ."

"Dad. . ."

"It really isn't my place. . ."

"Since when?"

"Oh, it's nothing really. He and AJ had a few scrapes. Nothing we didn't see in the early days." Howie sighed.

"Oh, that. He said AJ was being too fussy. They weren't arguing over me, were they?"

"No, no! Strictly the album." Howie said quickly, wanting her to know it wasn't about her.

"Hey, can I talk to Mom?" Lexie asked. She heard Howie chuckle over the phone.

"I'll go get her." He smiled, getting out of the desk chair in his den.

Lexie and her mom talked until after CJ finished her homework and Nick put her to bed.

"You ready to come to bed?" Nick whispered as he leaned into the den.

"Just a sec." Lexie said, then returned to her mom.

"You need to go?" Leah asked.

"Yeah." Lexie smiled.

"I understand. It's pretty late here." Leah said.

"What are you two doing up?" Lexie asked. "Oh, never mind. I don't want to know."

Nick was in the shower when Lexie got upstairs. She quickly undressed and joined him. He was all over her before she even stepped all the way inside. Her laughter turned to moans as he pressed her against the moist tiles. His body melted into hers and he took her. He chanted her name, and he lost complete control as she clawed at his body, begging for more. He prayed this ecstasy would never end.

"How did I ever leave you?" He panted as he surged on. "God, I've missed you so much."

The warm water cascaded down both of their bodies as he held her to the wall, her legs around his waist. She could feel each tile pressed into her back, but she didn't care. Nothing could distract her from the feel of him moving within her.

"Please, Nick, please don't stop." She cried out feeling her body react to his long absence. "I've missed you, too."

Their lovemaking consumed them as they struggled to completely satisfy themselves and each other. They came in a fever-heightened state, dropping to the floor of the large shower gasping for breaths.

"I don't want to leave you." He whispered. The water was running down his face, keeping his hair slicked back.

Tears suddenly poured from her, and she buried her face into his wet chest. She had missed him so much, and she couldn't pretend to be brave and strong another minute. She didn't have to, because he was really here.

Nick helped her from the shower, and she was giggling by the time he had the water off and was teasing her with a towel. He wrapped her up and pulled her into his arms and kissed her with a smile.

"I can't tell you how much I've missed you."

"I know. Trust me, I know." She smiled up at him. "I can't believe you're really here."

Her hands trailed down his shoulders and down his arms.

"Let's go in the bedroom. We've got so much to talk about." He smiled.

"I know!" she laughed.

They talked for hours, like two best friends playing catch up, sitting cross-legged on the settee and talking until the sun was almost up. Reluctantly, they went to bed and settled in for the last couple hours of the morning, cuddled in each other's arms.

"Oh my freakin' God! It's Nick Carter!" Norma whispered, leaning across the podium toward Lexie. She looked up and smiled as he walked across the warehouse toward her. "Damn, he's even better looking in person." Norma added.

"That ain't Nick Carter, that's my date." Lexie chuckled, putting her pens away.

"Well, he sure looks like Nick Carter." Norma smiled.

"I know, he gets that all the time." Lexie smiled back, leaving Norma to meet him half way. Nick took her into his arms and kissed her.

"Ready for lunch?" he smiled.

"Yep, you have perfect timing."

"So I've been told." He grinned.

"Come on, I'll introduce you around."

Lexie took Nick all around the warehouse and introduced him. He met her crew and even the two guys he remembered leaving the house the night before; obviously the two guys who detailed the Ferrari. They seemed rather smug to Nick, but he didn't let on he had any idea anything was up. The Ferrari was the one thing she never confessed during their midnight talk last night.

They had lunch at a local deli and then he headed home to an empty house. Cook had gone shopping, and it still wasn't time to pick up CJ. He changed into some swim trunks and lazily wasted the afternoon in the pool. Cook returned in time to see him get out and then chastise him for dripping water through the house because he forgot to get towels.

The phone rang by the bed and he threw his trunks in the bathroom, before falling naked across the bed to answer it.

"Hello?"

"You are home."

"Hello, Mother." He sighed.

"I had to find out from Howie that you had left Orlando."

"Sorry."

"Are you coming by to see me?"

"I guess. I. . ."

"Good, I'll have dinner for you and CJ, then."

"Well, Lexie. . ."

Click.

"Bitch." He muttered as he looked at the receiver and then hung up the phone. He dialed Lexie's cell phone, because he figured she would on her way to pick up CJ.

"Hello?"

"Hey, baby."

"Hey. What's up?" She asked.

"Mom wants us to have dinner over there."

"I'm sure you and CJ will have a wonderful time."

"You're invited."

"You're funny."

"But you are coming, aren't you?"

"Of course, and miss a chance to piss her off?"

"I wish you two got along."

"You don't even get along." Lexie chuckled. "Same story, Nick, and its never going to change. I can't stop being AJ's daughter, and I'm not going to stop being in love with you."

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

"It's not your fault. It's not my fault. It's her fault for making the situation unbearable. For your and CJ's sake, I'll behave."

"I know, and I love you for that."

"So, what have you been doing all day?"

"Just swimming."

"You check the email for the real estate agent? She sends me something almost everyday."

"No, I've just been relaxing."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad. I'm about leave here, get CJ, and come home. You need anything?"

"Nope." He smiled, rolling to his back. "I'm naked, though."

Nick heard Lexie laugh aloud. "Well, I'm sure that's a sight to see."

"I like to think so." He laughed back.

"I should be there in an hour or so. Be dressed, okay?"

"If I must." He sighed dramatically.

Lexie and CJ were home in an hour, and Nick sat with CJ as she did her homework while Lexie took a shower and changed for dinner. He helped CJ pick out something clean and brushed out her golden locks, braiding them neatly down her back.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?" he hummed, putting the last clip in her hair as she did her homework.

"I'm glad you're home." She said softly. He slipped his arms around her and held her close.

"I'm glad to be home, sweetheart."

"Can we do something while you're home?" She asked, nestled in his embrace.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, just something." She shrugged.

"We used to go to San Diego and see the whales." He suggested. "We could take a short flight down there. . ."

"Can we take the Prowler?"

"That's a long drive for that old car. Besides, I don't think Lexie can spare too much time away from work."

"Oh." She shrugged. "Can't just you and me go?"

"We can't leave Lexie out."

"You said once that you would always be there for me."

"I am." He said, straightening up. "I'll always be here for you, CJ, but Lexie is a part of our family now."

"I know." She shrugged.

"What's going on?" he asked her. "Is something wrong?"

"Can I stay home tonight? Will Cook stay?"

"Cook is already gone for the day. Don't you want to go to Grandma's tonight?" CJ was suspiously quiet. "What's going on? C, you can tell me anything, you know that."

"Grandma doesn't like Lexie very much." She said quietly.

Nick let out the breath he had been holding. "Has Grandma said anything to you?"

"No, not really."

"But you've heard some things."

"Yeah. They had a big fight at your party, and when I stay over there she says some things to other people." CJ said quietly. "Grandma and Aunt Jill had a big fight once, and Uncle Aaron said he didn't want to hear it from either one of them. Even Grandma and Aunt BJ fight about it."

"Honey, I'm sorry you had to hear all that." Nick sighed, realizing he would have to confront his mother about this. "I guess I can't lie and tell you they do like each other, because you kind of already know they don't. Lexie doesn't try to fight with Grandma, but some times Grandma says things that aren't very nice and Lexie just gets angry at her. I don't think either one of them should argue like they do, but unfortunately I can't tell either one of them what to do."

"What are we going to do?" CJ asked, sounding so desperate for some kind of resolution.

"You know, I love them both the best I know how and hope that someday they will get along." Nick sighed. "I know it's hard, but you love your Grandma, right? And you love Lexie, right?"

CJ nodded "yes" to both of his questions.

"Well, I know they both love you and so if you keep loving them, then they will learn to love each other because you will have taught them how."

"You think so?"

"I sure pray so." He smiled. "Just try not to let Grandma make you feel bad about liking Lexie."

"I know."

"Does Lexie say bad things about Grandma?"

"No, not really."

"But you know she's thinking them?"

"Yeah." CJ sighed.

"Well, there isn't anything we can do about what Lexie is thinking." Nick smiled, hugging CJ. "There isn't anything anyone can do about what a woman is thinking."

"Daddy!" She giggled against his chest. She pushed away slightly and looked up into his face. "Can we still go do something?"

"Just you and me? Yeah, I think so." He smiled.

"Can we have a date and go to the movies tomorrow night? It's Friday!" she smiled.

"You and me? You bet." He smiled back.

"You think Lexie will be mad?"

"Naw, she'll probably be reading some book." He shrugged, hoping that Lexie would understand.