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Author's Chapter Notes:
Yay another chapter! hehe anyways thanks for all the reviews so far! keep em coming! now this is marie's side of the issue and a lead in, to the next chapter dun dun DUN! lol.
Chapter Fifteen: Mercy

    Two days...two entire days she'd gone without calling him. God she wanted to, more than that even; she'd spent more than a few minutes every hour holding her blackberry in her hands his contact information on the screen. All she had to do was push one button and then she'd reach him. Be able to tell him everything she wanted to, everything she needed to.

    She was a coward and she knew it, felt it and was ashamed she couldn't just tell him. It was one of the most important things that she knew she needed to get out. She accepted him, as a man and a father and wanted to be with him despite all the complications that were going to come. She wasn't sure what she could do to counter those complications there were so many after all.

    First but not even remotely the most important was the fact that he was a celebrity. They'd been seen together by the paparazzi. It was only a matter of time before they caught on to the repeated appearances between them. How was she going to deal with that on a daily basis? To have cameras shoved in her face and strange people ask her penetrating questions about her private life just because she happens to be involved with someone who was in the public eye. During the first day apart she did a little research on his past. Although she knew she had to get the straight dirt from him personally she knew arming herself with the tidbits of information the tabloids and fans had gathered over the years would essentially help her in handling this aspect of his life.

    What shocked her the most about the fame part of his life was how hard he tried at keeping things so extraordinarily private. He didn't allow the paparazzi to take many photos of him with his daughters opting to keep them as far away from the public eye as he possibly could. She admired him for that really in a lot of ways that he was trying to be the best father he possibly could be to them, protecting them from being tainted by the world of LA at such a young age. She wondered why he kept a house here in LA anyways. Was it because of his work? The girls' school? She didn't know exactly but whatever it was she was glad that he'd come into her life.

    He was making her feel things she thought she'd never really ever get the chance to experience. And really she knew that's why she was flipping out. All these new feelings were scary and held a frightening amount of potential to grow and become her only awareness. The mere fact that he was on her mind constantly for the last few days had driven her to near insanity. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him, felt his touch and her entire mind and body wanted nothing more than to call him back over and spend hours just being in his arms again. The other night she had definitely answered her own question. Just because she'd figured out his secret didn't make his kisses feel much different. If anything they felt more intense, like he was letting himself really feel with her and she liked that. His emotions certainly were all over his face and his actions that night and as much as she knew she had to tell him she felt like almost she didn't have to.

    Maybe her actions spoke louder than her words could. After all she wasn't the type of girl to just go around randomly sleeping with a guy, a guy with kids no less. She'd tried the no-strings thing a long time ago and never really found herself to be okay with the shame she felt afterwards. Now that she and Nick were hooking up she didn't feel shame at all after their encounters. She felt happy to be so close to someone, during the act itself the way he looked at her, how he held her closer, tighter when she wanted him to. All of it made the entire thing between them feel more intense and damn near explosive. She wasn't sure that sex was supposed to be that good with someone she barely knew. Yeah, she knew the basics, and even some of the things that the fans did now with her research.

    It had made her laugh watching videos of him goofing around with the other guys over the years, seeing him as a young teenager and growing into a young man. She saw pictures of Anna, his late wife and her neuroses about her ended. She was beautiful of course; she expected nothing less. But she was also remarkably normal. She wasn't famous, wasn't an actress or singer. She was a college student and so she realized that maybe that was really Nick's type after all. If he'd been able to choose a woman who wasn't all that different from her and make it last maybe she was his type of woman. When she'd first met him and he'd kissed her she figured that he'd done it merely on impulse but now she was beginning to realize that there was really something there after all. That maybe he was genuinely attracted to her and doing the best he could to be both the man and the father to his daughters. She figured it was extremely hard for him. To juggle both aspects of himself, to be the good father to Jo and Livie yet still find time to stave off his loneliness and find a person who could capture his attention and hold it. Yet, also be worthy of his daughters' affections too. She knew now why he'd kept things from her. It wasn't just to keep his daughters protected; it was to protect his own heart. And that simple fact made him all the more endearing. He was just as scared of getting his heart broken as she was. She supposed that most people were like that way, especially after the loss he'd suffered at only 25 years old. He seemed so much more mature and older than only being 27 but she supposed that was do largely in part to having to grow up so fast on the stage and then growing up even faster with becoming a husband and a father at only the age of 22.

    She couldn't imagine what that must have been like for him, to have to accept so many responsibilities so early in life. Maybe it came with the territory of being in his world. Never before had she felt such profound respect for how her parents had raised her. To be just a normal kid with a pretty run of the mill childhood. Without those experiences of her earlier years she didn't know exactly what she would be now, or how successful she would be with her business if she'd even have it at all. She knew she owed her success to being raised right, having parents who taught her to be practical and responsible.

    But how responsible was she being in her situation now? Things between her and Nick were magnetic, almost like they couldn't stay apart from each other for too long, always drifting toward one another. He was exactly against the type of man she normally went for. He wasn't some stockbroker, lawyer or publicist, he was a musician someone completely in touch with his creative side like she was. She supposed since they were both in extremely creative fields that they were somehow kindred and that provided some fraction of the initial attraction between them. His passion about his music and how he talked to her about it was a clear indication that he should always be making music that it wouldn't suit him to be anything but. She noticed, though, that when he was with his daughters that he had the same passion in his eyes that he really wanted to be the best father he could be for them.

    She supposed that it was because he'd had a much less traditional upbringing than your every day guy. He was singing and performing from a very young age and supporting the family not long after that. That was something in a way he should be proud of. That his talent was enough to support his loved ones. She did get where he would be more than slightly resentful of it. Being just a teenager and having the weight of the family resting on his shoulders. She assumed that, that was where much of his parental instinct was coming from. He'd learned early on how to monetarily take care of his family and now he was mastering the art of parenting.

    The girls came to her mind and she found herself grinning at the image of them in her head. Jo was definitely more like Nick than he thought she was. While she looked nothing like him and was her mother in looks and possibly personality, she noticed that she and Nick shared several quirks to their demeanor. Their faces both scrunched up the same way when they were thinking about something important to them. She cared a lot about her sister and her father and seemed to be the consummate worrier of the two girls. No doubt something she inherited from her dear father. Marie figured that Jo had taken on the role of his protector, wanting to see her father happy again and not as broken as he must have been when they first lost Anna.

On the other hand was Livie, she was her father through and through in looks and in personality. She was cute, funny and going to be one hell of a ball buster one day. Even at three years old she had a sarcastic sense of humor that was apparent to see that it was hard for Nick to punish her accordingly because he himself found it to be rather entertaining. Livie's bright shock of blonde hair and big blue eyes made her seem much more innocent than she supposed she was. Add to that, she had her father's shockingly bright smile and his contagious laughter; it was really hard to see how he could ever be the disciplinarian with her.

It was easy to see herself in their lives, as their friend and a role model. She didn't think of herself as a role model per se that was for sure. But Becca had convinced her that being a successful businesswoman and doing what she loved was a great thing to show them. That they could do what they wanted and be happy and successful at it. Having Nick as their father was also a great role model for them, seeing that he could balance family and a successful career would show them that they could really do the things they want with their lives yet still have the bonds that everyone longs for in life and maybe now that she had gotten her own career squared away for the moment that now she could really see where this would lead her if only for the brief time period that she would be in town for.

---

She felt her blackberry buzz across the table as she clicked away all her thoughts onto her laptop and moved the laptop for a moment grabbing the phone grinning seeing Nick's number across the screen. She answered it smiling. "Hi..." She said casually trying to contain her excitement that he'd been the one to call her. She'd wanted to call him, had tried several times over the past few days but couldn't seem to bring herself to do it.

"Hey...umm I'm sorry for calling but I kind of need a huge favor." He began. He hated having to go to her to ask for this. But really what choice did he have? Everyone he knew he could trust this with were out of town or were busy themselves. It wasn't like he could take them to the meeting either. He'd done that once and it had only proved to be the biggest distraction. None of them were able to get any decisions made or work done, all of them distracted by his daughters' personalities.

Marie's breath caught for a moment, she definitely didn't expect this type of call at all, but maybe this would give her the excuse she'd been looking for to have that discussion with him. To ask him all the questions she'd been longing to do for the past two days. "What's the favor?" She asked tentatively. She had a feeling it had to do with his daughters and really if that was the case she was game and would jump at the opportunity.

"I know this is a lot to ask of you since you don't really know them all that well but I wouldn't be asking you if there was anyone else in town or available to watch them for me. I have a big meeting with the record company and then rehearsals and my babysitter cancelled on me and their preschool and daycare is closed for the holidays until after the New Year. Is there any way I could persuade you to watch them for a few hours?" He asked an almost pleading tone to his voice. He hated asking her for help, if he could have gotten someone else, he most certainly would have. But this was his last resort he just hoped he wasn't asking too much of her by doing so.

Marie sighed into the phone, it was a lot for him to ask so early on but she also knew he wouldn't have called upon her to do it unless he really had no alternative. In a way though she was almost grateful he had called her. It did show a lot that he trusted her enough to watch them for a few hours while he worked. "I suppose I could help you out. As long as you promise me one thing..."

He smiled into the phone happy that she was willing to watch them. "What's that?" He hoped that it included time to be spent between the two of them. There was really so much to talk about, but even still he just wanted her next to him where he could simply just reach out and touch her

"When you come back, you and I sit down and talk." She stated knowing that it was too important to get around doing for much longer. He agreed with her and she smiled. "Good I'll be over in twenty." She replied hanging up her phone. She felt a nervous knot twist in her stomach, as she got ready to leave. This was a chance to prove that her decision had been right, that she did need to try things with him, even though they may not last.

Chapter End Notes:
thanks so much for reading! as always r&r