daddy14

"Hey Bri, did she cause any trouble?" A.J. asked his friend, walking into the quiet house with a tired expression on his face. "Oh yeah. She was wonderful. She's asleep on the couch with Leighanne right now. Come on in." Brian whispered. "Thanks man." A.J. walked into the living room to see Leighanne stretched out on the long couch, Danni curled up in a ball on top of her, her small head buried in Leighanne's neck. A.J. sort of hissed a little at the sight. They looked like mother and daughther, and at that point he knew that Danni was gonna need a mother. Leighanne wouldn't be there all the time.

"I know. Weird huh? They look amazing together though. I snuck a few pictures of them a minute ago, when they get to developed I'll frame one and give it to you." Brian said. A.J. chuckled nodding, walking over to Danni and Leighanne. He gently removed Leighanne's tight hold on his daughter, and picking her up, her head plopping down onto his own chest. "How did your date go?" Brian asked, as they headed towards the front door. "It went well. I'm surprised. She's a real interesting woman. Her name is Ginger, and we sort of clicked. Expect to be meeting her soon." A.J. said. Brian smiled and patted his friend on the back. "Right on man." "Thanks again Bri. You don't know how much this means to me." "Oh don't worry about it. Danni is welcome here anytime. Serena loves her, and Leighanne and I think of her as a second child. You just go home and relax, you need it." Brian told him. "Relax huh...Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Tell Leighanne thanks. Bye man."

After A.J. left the house he walked to his Durango and gently placed his little girl in her car seat and buckled her in, heading for home.

* * *

"Daddy daddy daddy!!!" Danni shouted, her chubby little legs running towards her father's open arms. "Hi beautiful. Did you have fun at Uncle Nicky's?" He asked. She nodded vigorously, and clapped her hands with glee. "He taught me how to play video games! I beat him two times!" She told him holding up two of her little fingers. "Oh o..." Howie said, shaking his head coming into A.J.'s study. "You're gonna have a little Nick running around now..." "No way!" A.J. exclaimed, than looked at his baby girl a determined look on his face. "Sweety, video games are bad, you shouldn't play them." He told her. She looked up at him with a confused look on her face. "But...daddy...whhhyy???" A.J. and Howie laughed at her expression and a second later Nick came into the room. "Hi guys. Boy she's a fast one. She bolted out of my car and ran inside." Nick said with a grin. "Hey man. No problems right?" A.J. greeted. "Nope. She was wonderful. You know guys, I think I can finally say it." Howie and A.J. averted their attention over to Nick, who was fiddling with his thumbs, his back straight.

"Thank you. Thank you for being my friends, my brothers, and my bandmates. I think splitting up was the best descison we have made in a very long time. We were hangin on by a small string of hope for so...long. But now, I can go back to the real world. I applied at Stanford." Nick said simply. All three pairs of eyes widened, Danni's just because her two favorites guys' did. "Are you serious?" Howie said. Nick nodded, stuffing his hands in his sweat pants pockets. "I also...got accepted. I got the letter two days ago. I didn't tell you guys than, but I took the SAT's in secret, and I got a perfect score. I applied at every good college in the country, and I chose Stanford for their basketball team. Guys, I'm gonna get to shoot hoops, like a job almost. I might have lost you guys for my team members, but I'm not out of the game yet, I can be part of a team again. I'm gonna pursue my other dream and see if I can fulfill it like I did with singing." He told them with compassion in his voice.

"So...your going to move to the east coast?" A.J. asked, almost meekly. Nick nodded looking at his feet, than looked up at his friends with a smile on his face. "I love you guys. You know that. I have more than enough money in my life, and I can always come out and see you. I will never shut you out, EVER. Your my blood, you've been there for me more than my own family has. We made it through those 9 years. We can make it through the rest of our lives."

Howie and A.J. were so surprised by Nick's change of attitude. He was being serious and deep. A.J. set Danni down and walked over to his best friend embracing him in a hug. "I'm proud of you Nick. You've shown us what you really are. I don't think I ever been so happy for anyone in my life." A.J. told him with true sincerness. "Yeah man," Howie chimed in, placing a friendly hand on Nick's shoulder. "BSB Forever..."

"Always man, Always."