Chapter 19

Ring! Ring!

Kevin lazily got out of bed and found his cell phone. Then he answered it.

"Hello."

"Hi, Kevin. It's me Kate, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, no."

"Okay, well I have some news for you."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"You now have temporary custody of your daughter, Lily."

"Whoohoo!"

She laughed at his excitement.

"Can I go tell her? Can I go see her? Heck, can I bring her home with me?"

"Yes Kevin, you can do all of three things. But first I need you to come down here and sign a few papers."

"I'll be there as soon as possible!"

"Okay, see you in a little while."

"Bye."

He hung up and then called Nick.

"Hello," Nick said sleepily.

"Nicky get up and get dressed. We're going home today and I'm bring Lily with us!!!"

"What? Going home?"

"Yep. Kate just called and told me that I now have temporary custody of Lily. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yeah, that's great Kev. So when do we go pick her up?"

"As soon as I get out of the shower and get dressed."

"Oh okay. I guess I better get up myself then."

"I'll be over there in about 15 minutes."

"All right."

"Bye."

Kevin hung up and then quickly got into the shower and got dressed.

I woke up and it was only 7:30. Both Samantha and Jaclyn were still asleep. I was tired of laying in bed all day long since yesterday, so I figured I would get up and actually get dressed today.

I walked into the kitchen to find Ryan reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee.

"Morning Lily," he said.

"Morning Ryan," I said as I poured myself a glass of apple juice.

"It's nice to see you up this morning," Ryan said.

I smiled at him. "Is it okay if I sit on the front porch?" I asked.

"Sure," he said. "It's a really beautiful outside right now, might as well enjoy it."

"Yep," I said as I walked back to my room.

I grabbed a magazine from Jaclyn's desk and then walked out. I sat on the swing and read the magazine.

As I flipped through it I came across a picture of Nick and my dad. I did a double take and then read the caption: Welcome to the boys' club: At Men Strike Back, VH1's male answer to Divas 2000, Sisqo (third from left) unleashed his booty anthem song, "Thong Song", while Sting joined Backstreet Boys on "I Want It That Way".

I didn't understand what that meant. I knew who Sting was and I knew who Sisqo was, so I guess they had to be Backstreet Boys. I couldn't believe it, my dad and Nick, famous? Those must have been the guys he was talking about, the ones that I would meet later. Why didn't he tell me about this? How long had he been doing this? How famous was he?

I searched through the magazine looking for answers to my questions. And then I came across an article about them on page 136, Backstreet: from boys to men.

There was 6 pages full of pictures of my dad, Nick, and three other guys. My head was spinning as I read all of the captions. They had to been together for at least 4 years, that I could figure out from the captions. But that was about all that they told me, besides that they seemed to be very famous. Then I stared at picture of my dad with his mom, my grandma.

I tired to make sense of everything. But it was too much to fathom. My dad, famous? And in a teen magazine? What was going on?

Then I slowly began to realize why my dad and Nick always were wearing those hats and sunglasses. They didn't want to be recognized. And that's why they were always watching who was around them.

Kevin and Nick walked into Kate's office. She was standing there with papers for Kevin to sign.

"I knew you'd want to get right down to business," she said as he took the papers.

He smiled at her. Then he began reading over them. Once he finished he went through and signed everything.

"Thank you Kevin," she said as she took the papers back.

"No, thank you Kate," he said as he hugged her.

"You're welcome," she said as he let go. "And I'll be making my way down to your house within the next couple of days. Just to check on things."

"Okay," he said.

"And I will be calling Mr. and Mrs. Martin to let them know that you now have custody of Lily and are able to take her home with you," she said.

"Thank you again Kate," he said.

"You're welcome. Now go pick up your daughter," she said, smiling.

"Right away," Kevin said.

"Oh no," Nick moaned. "Please Kevin give me the keys."

"No way Nicky," Kevin said as they walked out.

"Ugh!" Nick said.

Kate laughed at the two of them. Then she sighed. She was glad that it looked like Lily was getting a wonderful dad and a great new friend. Those were two things that Lily desperately needed.

I sat there staring at those pictures until I heard a car drive up. I quickly closed the magazine and then looked towards the car.

I watched as my dad got out of the car smiling from ear to ear. I think I instantly had the same smile as I saw him.

I stood up to go to him, but he had all ready made it up the steps. He came up to me and tears were spilling from his eyes.

Nick was taking pictures the entire time. Wanting to capture every moment for Kevin.

Soon I was crying just as much as my dad was. Then he engulfed me into his arms.

"You came back," I choked out.

"Never wanted to leave," he said, then he kissed the top of my head.

We just stood there bawling like babies when Nick came up to us and wrapped his arms around us.

I was squished in between my dad and Nick.

"Oh, I love you guys!" Nick exclaimed.

I laughed at him. "Nick, I can't breathe."

He pulled away and then took me by the shoulders.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe?" he asked as he shook me.

I laughed. "Yeah Nick, I'm fine."

"Oh good," he said as he hugged me again.

Then the three of us sat down on the swing. I sat in between my dad and Nick. My dad held my hand the entire time.

"Lily, I have some news for you. And I want to know exactly what you think. Because I want to do what's best for you," my dad said seriously. "Okay?"

"Okay," I responded, preparing myself for the worst possible news.

"I talked to Kate today and she told me that I now have custody of you," he said, staring at me.

I sat there staring at him, not believing what I was hearing. I would finally have a dad. And one that really loved me and wanted me.

Kevin was beginning to get nervous because Lily wasn't saying anything or showing any kind of emotion. Just staring.

Nick was wondering what Lily was going to do. He knew that if she said she didn't want Kevin to be her dad, then Kevin would be crushed.

Kevin fought back tears as he began to speak. "Lily, what do you think?"

I smiled at my dad as the tears poured out of my eyes. Then I said, "I love you Daddy."

He immediately wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you too my little girl," he managed to say in between sobs.

After we had stopped crying for a while, I decided it was okay to talk again.

"So when do I get to go home with you?" I asked.

Kevin smiled. "We can leave today, if you'd like."

"Really?" I asked surprised.

"Yep, I've already gone to Kate's office and signed all the papers that I need to," he explained.

"Oh, okay," I said.

"But Lily, there is something else," he said.

"What is it?" I asked nervously.

"I only have temporary custody of you," he said.

"Oh," I said, trying not to sound too hurt by the news.

"Oh no Lily don't worry though," Nick said, noticing that Lily's mood had changed. "Your dad wants full custody, it's just that he can't right now."

"Yeah, Nick's right. Things are a little more complicated because you were adopted. But Kate is working on getting me fully custody of you as we speak," my dad explained.

I hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry, I want you to stay with me forever," my dad said as he kissed my head. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I just have to get some of my things," I said as I let go.

"Well let's go, so we can hit the road," Nick said.

"Okay," I said as we stood up.

I grabbed the magazine and then we walked into the house.

I introduced my dad and Nick to Jamie and Ryan.

Then they followed me into my room.

Both Jaclyn and Samantha were sitting on their beds when we walked in. As soon as they saw my dad and Nick, their jaws dropped.

I tried to ignore them, but their faces were quite hilarious.

"Jaclyn, Samantha, this is my dad and Nick," I said.

"Hi," my dad said as he waved.

"Hi girls," Nick said as he flashed them a smile.

Both Jaclyn and Samantha smiled and waved, not trusting their voices.

I threw my bunny and diary into my backpack. I closed up the couple of boxes I had, then Nick and my dad took them out the car.

"That's your dad?" Samantha asked shocked, after they had left the room.

"Yeah," I replied simply.

"Oh," Samantha said, still in shock.

"Umm. . .I'd just like to thank you guys for making me feel welcome and for helping me," I said.

"It was no problem," Jaclyn said.

"Nope, not at all," Samantha said.

I waved to them as I walked out the door carrying my backpack. "Bye."

"Bye," they yelled.

I walked into the living room where Nick, my dad, Jaime, and Ryan were talking.

"You ready to go Lily?" my dad asked happily.

"Yeah," I said as I smiled at him. "But first I just want to thank you guys for giving me a place to stay. You've been very kind to me."

"You're very welcome Lily," Ryan said.

"It was a pleasure having you here," Jaime said.

I hugged them both and then they showed us to the door.

I got into the car and my dad sat next to me while Nick drove.

"Are you hungry?" my dad asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Stop at McDonald's?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," my dad said.

Nick drove to the closet McDonald's and we went through the drive thru. Then we were off again for the ride home.