October 30, 2000 Tokyo, Japan

Tina chewed on her thumbnail as she watched (somewhat) patiently as Nick and Parker had some time to say hello, sharing hugs and kisses and stories from the plane.

She looked around the room, not surprised by the expense that was taken to make sure Nick was taken care of. After all, the Japanese people love the Boys and Nick in particular so he could have had a room in the basement and still managed to get a free upgrade into this penthouse suite.

The entire outside wall was floor to ceiling windows and judging from the tint, were made only for seeing out and not for prying eyes to see back in. There was nothing particularly Japanese about the room’s decor, in fact it all looked very Western but the view was another story. The view was simply stunning to say the least; overlooking Tokyo Bay (Nick was notorious for requesting views of the water where he could) with a huge, almost futuristic looking city looming in the distance. She could only imagine what it would be like at night.

Leaving the two boys in the living room she ventured into the suite’s other rooms, quickly taking in the large king sized bed in the master bedroom before being completely distracted by the en suite bathroom. She thought to herself that she would give up everything she had to have this bathroom. As she stepped onto the floors the stone slowly started to heat up, double sinks were completely see-through except for a blue light making them glow from the bottom, a vanity area with an ample amount of light and perfect amount of space for doing hair and makeup, a double headed shower with enough bells and whistles to nearly convince her not to bathe for fear of being too confused but finally, the pièce de résistance, the tub. In the corner of the room, surrounded by another set of huge windows was an infinity tub. Water fell from the ceiling like a waterfall, filling the stone tub which she knew would look amazing when it was full, probably appearing as though water would fall on the floor at any moment if it weren’t for the way it was skilfully crafted. Needless to say, it was going down in history as the bathroom to beat.

She was making her way back through the bedroom when she noticed it in the corner, like an elephant. She nearly laughed to herself because no matter how long they played blocks, or read books, or watched movies Nick had a lot of learning to do about his son.

“Nick?” Tina called out, slightly reluctant to even speak to him since she hadn’t yet had the chance to ask him why she was on her own when they got off the plane.

“What?” she heard him ask in return, his voice laced with the usual amount of annoyance.

“Why is there a crib in here?”

There was a shuffle and he soon lumbered into the room, his blonde hair standing on end, “What’s the problem? It’s for Parker, who else would it be for?”

She laughed sarcastically and raised a dark blonde eyebrow in his direction, “Parker hasn’t slept in a crib in 6 months.”

The first expression to cross his face was embarrassment, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance, “Well it’s not like I knew that since obviously his Mother doesn’t let me know what’s happening with his life. We agreed that I would know about milestones and I’d say getting out of a crib would be kind of a milestone.”

“You are such an ass!” she let out a frustrated cry, eyes widening, “I called you when I was looking into toddler beds and I asked for your opinion and you said you didn’t have time to talk about it, that you were busy, and that I should just do ’whatever’ so don’t blame me!”

“Whatever.”

In a flash she crossed the room, poking her head out to make sure Parker was occupied with his toys on the floor before firmly shutting the door. Turning back to Nick she shook her head, “No. I’m done with whatever. Parker is not a toy. You don’t just get to play with him whenever you want then pass him off when you’re done with him that’s not how parenting works.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” he glared, crossing his arms across his chest.

“You don’t show it!” she told him honestly, throwing her arms out in exasperation, “If it’s so important to you to know all these things then maybe you should ask once in a while. Maybe you should actually stick around when you’re on break instead of fucking off to party with your friends. Today is my 21st birthday and I flew all the way to Japan so that we could see you and you haven’t said so much as ‘hello’ to me! You left me at the airport with no way to the hotel and you haven’t even asked how we got here! I’m not a glorified babysitter I’m the mother of your child and it’s time to realize that we are your life no matter how much you wish we weren’t.”

His expression softened and he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up further, “I don’t think that,” his voice was low, “I know I’m a shit sometimes but it’s hard, you know? To see everyone else making plans to go off and have fun and I have to say ‘Sorry, as much as I would love to go to Florida and have fun I have to go to Cleveland because I have obligations.’ That’s really hard for me because I want to have fun... but I also want to be with you guys. I don’t want Parker thinking I’m some asshole that doesn’t care about him, I can’t be that guy. It would just be easier if you guys moved to Florida...”

She sighed, having had this argument a thousand times over the past two years, “Easier for you? Yes, absolutely. It wouldn’t be easier for me though. I spent most of my life dying to get the hell out of Cleveland and now I am stuck there by choice. I have a support system there; I have friends and my mother – people who are willing to help me out when I need it, and take care of Parker once in a while so I can get out of the house. You’re not there 8 months out of the year, why do you want me to feel any more isolated than I already do?”

“Why do you feel isolated?” he asked as if he were hearing these words for the first time.

“Because I’m alone,” she whispered, “and I can’t keep doing this alone.”

“You’re not alone,” he tried to stress to her, “I’m gonna try to be better, I promise. We can make this work, you know we can.”

“Where were you today?” she finally asked, watching carefully as he tried to avoid her gaze, “Tell the truth.”

Nick took a deep breath then looked up, finally making eye contact, “I forgot you were flying today. I was supposed to send someone to pick you up and I forgot.”

She shook her head, reaching up to tighten her ponytail just to keep her hands busy and not show just how angry she was, “And that,” I stressed, “Is why I can’t believe you when you tell me things will get better and that you’ll change.”

With that she left him alone in the lavish bedroom, not feeling comfortable leaving Parker playing by himself any longer than she already had.