Note: When I started writing this, I thought Katie was only 3 years younger than the guys. So pretend we first meet her on the show at age 13, not 10.

I own nothing.

Prologue…

'It's a dream; it's all just a dream!'

Katie pinched herself.

And gasped.

Nope, she was very much awake.

Of course, this was probably the millionth time she had chanted those words to her self and pinched her arm in the past twenty-four hours. She really should stop trying to wake up from the nightmare her life had become. But she supposed as long as there was a slight chance, she would keep on pinching.

"Katie!"

She groaned and looked up from the airport runway to find the person shouting her name.

She gave a small smile—more of a quirk to the lips really—before walking over to him.

"Katie," he said awkwardly, "it's good to see you, hon."

She nodded, trying to convey it was good to see him too.

But it wasn't.

Not really.

And her reasons for being there weren't any 'gooder'.

Now she couldn't even think proper English.

PINCH!

Nope, still awake.

"Well…." He shifted uncomfortably. He was not used to spending time alone with her, and neither was she with him. "We just need your bags and we'll be on our—,"

She cut him off, "All I have is this," she explained, pointing a finger to the large backpack hanging from her shoulder.

"Oh, well, okay," he almost stammered. "I guess then… let's go." He turned and started walking toward the exit.

She really should take pity on him. He really did not know what he was about to get himself into. But she needed him. More than she had ever needed him before.

She only hoped that he would not let her down.

"Katie?" he said, turning back around confused when he saw she was not following him.

Shaking herself from her musings, she scampered forward.

"Coming, Dad."

"Its not much now, but you can do whatever you want with it," he shrugged. "I'm sure you know more about these things than I do." He made a sweeping gesture around the room.

She really didn't care what her room looked like. It was strange enough being in this house. Her father had lived here for the past ten years, ever since Mom and Dad divorced. But she had never lived here…or visited, for that matter. When Dad wanted to see her and Kendall, he had to come to them.

But the visits were always few and far between, made even worse by Kendall's big break four years ago.

She noticed Dad was standing awkwardly, not sure what to do and she smiled a little.

"Dad, its fine," she said reassuringly, "No need to go all Charlie Swan. I'm just going to settle in. Act normally, okay?"

He furrowed his brow for a moment, not knowing the Twilight reference, which she should have expected. But he gave up on trying to figure it out and let out a breath.

"Good idea. Settle in and I'll make us something for dinner," he said quickly. "Don't have much in the house, but I could throw together some soup and sandwiches or something. Or we could go out to eat somewhere. Or we could order. There's Chinese, Thai, Indian, Pizza—"

That was the most he'd said to her since she got off the plane and she was pretty sure he wasn't going to stop until she cut him off.

She was tempted to tell him she was not hungry, but she knew she should eat.

"Soup and sandwiches sound great, dad," she said quickly, interrupting.

"Alrighty then," he said, before leaving the room, clearly relieved to escape the room for the moment.

He definitely had no idea what to do with his sixteen year old daughter in the house.

"Daddy, you're gonna need to relax or this is never going to work…" she mumbled to herself.

And she really needed this to work.

The next few days passed with relative ease… seeing as how Dad had to work at the construction site for most of that time and he only arrived home for a late dinner before heading to bed.

She guessed as Foreman he had to put in more hours than anyone else.

In the interim, she had settled into her room and gotten to know her way around the house. She had taken a few walks around the neighborhood, curious about her surroundings, but mostly just keeping to herself.

She knew she was eventually going to have to talk to her dad about what was really going on, but she appreciated the distance for the moment.

It was going to be a long year.

"Not much. She mostly keeps to herself," he mumbled into the phone.

"Has she been going out? Making any friends?" his ex-wife asked.

"I guess?"

"What do you mean, 'You guess'?" she exclaimed. "Don't you know?"

"I have to work, Jennifer," he said with not a little exasperation. "I can't be here every minute of every day keeping an eye on her."

"Well, that's just great, Bill," she snapped. "Have you even talked to her at all or has she just been like some renter who you don't speak to unless you have to?"

"Jennifer," he murmured, trying to keep his voice down in case Katie was not in her room like he thought. "Things are going slow. But I haven't spent longer than a few hours with her in ten years! And even those times Kendall was always with her. It's going to take some time."

"And whose fault is that? You should have spent more time with them! Made an attempt to see them more, but no, you had to spend all your time at work!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing this argument inside and out by now. He needed to take a few calming breaths so he didn't start shouting at her… and so he didn't hang up on her altogether.

"Yes, we've been through this argument a million times before," he said quietly. "Can we not do this? We can't change the past ten years, so instead of focusing on the past, let's focus on the present."

He could hear her sigh. He knew he had gotten through to her.

"There's something going on with her," she finally said morosely. "She claims that nothing is wrong, but there's got to be. Why else would she choose to stay with you?"

He winced, knowing she was right.

"Maybe what she told you is the truth," he explained rationally. "Maybe she just didn't feel like going on tour with Kendall and his friends this time. I know you like to go with them to keep them out of trouble, but maybe she really didn't want to go! Or maybe she really does want to reconnect with me. Maybe she misses a stable home and just wants to go to school like a normal teenager."

She sighed, "And maybe you're right. But I just feel like something else is happening here."

"Maybe once spring break is over she'll change her mind again?" he said, trying to make her feel better. "Maybe she just needed a little break from all the excitement."

"Bill, spring break is over," she explained. "If I'm not mistaken, she starts her new school tomorrow."

"Oh," he had forgotten.

"Make sure she has everything she needs, Bill!" she exclaimed. "She didn't bring a lot with her for some reason."

"I think she's been taking care of that…" he wasn't sure, but he remembered seeing some empty office supply store bags in the trash, and a few others that he assumed were female clothing store names.

"Well, find out," she said. "And please try to talk to her more. Get to know your daughter. Even if nothing's wrong, she still said she wanted to reconnect—so reconnect!"

"Okay," he agreed. His stomach tightening at the daunting task set before him.

"She needs you now," he could hear the catch in her voice. He knew it hurt her that Katie had left her for him. "More than she ever has before. Please don't let her down, Bill."

"I-I won't," he promised, cursing himself.

At least he hoped he wouldn't.

"How was your first day?"

She wanted to groan. She had gotten used to the quiet dinners where they just ate and cleaned up and went to their respective rooms.

She sat her fork down.

"Fine," she finally answered.

"Like all your classes? Make any friends?" he asked hopefully.

"They're okay. Some," she mumbled. She was bored out of her mind in class and she hadn't spoken to one person all day.

But he didn't need to know that.

"Have everything you need?"

She answered with a perfunctory, "Yes."

"Because if you need anything I can—"

"Got it. Thanks," she waved off his sentence, not needing him to finish.

He looked a little put off, but eventually just closed his mouth and went back to eating in silence.

She relaxed and picked up her fork again, digging into the meal, trying to eat as quickly as possible.

And that's how it went all week.

Dad made it home in time to have dinner with her everyday. And every day he would ask the same basic questions, receiving the same short answers. And every day he would give up.

Katie should have known her peace and quiet would not last for long.

"So how was your day?" he asked that Friday evening.

She sat in silence for a full moment before, "Fine."

Her head came up quickly at the sound of a fork hitting a plate sharply.

"That's your answer everyday, 'fine'," he said, looking a little more alive than he had ever been in the entire time she had known him. "I want a little more than fine."

He didn't yell, but he definitely looked upset with her.

"Well, it was fine," she said, a little wide eyed. "What else do you want me to say?"

"I don't know," he shrugged exaggeratedly. "Maybe tell me something that happened today that was funny, sad, or stupid? Maybe just talk to me!"

"Why, Dad?" she exclaimed. "Why should I talk to you? I don't even know you!"

"Then why are you here?" he exclaimed, rising to the argument. "Why choose to come live with me instead of staying in L.A. with your mother and brother?"

"You know why," she said, clamming back up again. She wanted to tell him the truth so badly. She wanted to tell someone the truth. She just didn't know how. "I'm sure mom told you."

"Yes, she did," he said. "She said, among other things, that you wanted to reconnect with me. What I don't understand is if you want to reconnect so badly, why do you just sit there each night saying maybe two words before you go to your room. We are like roommates, not father and daughter."

She was at a loss for words. She had said that. And she did want to reconnect. It was the only way she would be able to get through the next few months.

"I don't know what to say," she finally mumbled.

"Neither do I," he said in exasperation.

"May I please be excused?" she asked quietly.

There was nothing but silence for a moment.

"Yes," he finally said.

He watched her leave the room. She knew because she could see his reflection in the china cabinet door.

He slowly walked down the hall toward her room.

The door was cracked open. He gave it a little knock.

"Yes?" he heard softly.

He pushed the door open the rest of the way.

For the first time, he was looking at the room since she had moved into it. Everything was basically the same, but there was a few picture frames on the desk, and her laptop was now situated on top of it.

There was a big stuffed bear on the bed next to her. She was sitting, propped up with pillows behind her. A textbook was spread out on the comforter in front of her and she had obviously been studying before he interrupted.

He rested against the door frame.

"Katie… I … " he wasn't sure where to begin. "Katie, I know these past ten years haven't been easy for you not having me around that much," he started. This was hard.

"I was very shocked when your mother called with your request," he went on. "But I never once even tried to think of a way to get out of it."

She was still looking down at the comforter.

"To tell the truth, I was a little excited," he said truthfully.

She finally looked up at that.

"Yeah, me, excited," he said, almost laughing at himself. "Hon, I know I've made a lot of mistakes, but I don't want to make another one. You are my daughter. I love you even though I don't say it that much… or hardly ever. I am very grateful that you have given me this chance to be a part of your life again. And I will try my best not to make a mess of things like I always do. I want you to know that I do and will always want you in my life… however I can get you."

Sometime in the middle of his speech, his eyes had traveled to the desk and the pictures there. He could see his son, big and strong, with his arms protectively around Katie and Jennifer. Part of him wished Kendall was in the room too, hearing these words from his heart. But he was pretty sure that ship had sailed. Katie may be sixteen and not have spent much time with him, but Kendall had been with him longer—being nine when Bill had left—and had decided a long time ago that he wanted to have as little as possible to do with his father. Kendall was now nineteen, a pop star, and would probably never need him in his life again.

He walked over after his speech and picked up the second frame. It was a picture of Kendall and his band. They looked so young and happy. Regrettably, he knew about as much about the other three boys as he knew about his own son.

Kendall was better off without him.

And until a few weeks ago, he had thought the same of Katie.

He finally looked at his daughter, wondering why it was so quiet after his little speech.

She was staring at him, a single tear sliding down her face.

"Katie?" he asked, concerned, putting the picture back on the desk before going over to the edge of the bed. He hesitantly sat down next to her. He could feel his hands trembling. Imagine that, he was scared of a sixteen year old girl.

"Daddy," she said softly, her eyes speaking volumes, so vulnerable and sad.

His stomach started to hurt when he realized that not only had he gotten through to her, but she was in far more pain than either he or Jennifer realized.

"You can tell me anything, Katie," he said softly. "It doesn't matter what it is. I know something else brought you here. And it's going to be okay. I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."

He reached for her hand, wondering if she would allow him to grasp it.

She did.

As she clutched his hand tightly, she whispered, "No one can ever know."

He nodded.

"Not anyone," she whispered again, closing her eyes tightly. "Not even mom."

He gulped. How was he going to deal with this without Jennifer's help… though some small part of him was not exactly upset about the thought of finally being the one to take care of her.

"Not even mom," he agreed.

"Promise?" she whispered, her eyes sparkling from the unshed tears.

"I promise you, Katie," he swore. "We'll get through this together and we won't tell anyone else, ever."

She grew quiet before whispering.

"I'm having a baby."

Hot.

All he could feel was hot.

Burning, engulfing…

Painful hot.

It took everything inside of him to push it all back. The growing ball of anger inside him was monstrous. He knew he had to push it back. He was about to explode from the rage.

He had heard during one of his wife's rants that Kendall had some anger management issues. Bill knew where those had come from.

And he knew that no matter what, if he could not push back his anger, he was going to say something that he would never be able to take back.

He could not explode at her. He had only just gotten her back. If he made any false moves, everything would be over. There would be no chance to build a relationship with any of his children ever again.

"Daddy?" she whispered quietly, worried because he hadn't said anything after her revelation.

He needed to mask the anger. He needed to focus on any other emotion he could feel. He needed to bring that emotion out instead of his anger. But he couldn't find it… not until he looked into her heartbroken gaze.

There it was.

Sadness.

So sad.

And that's when he let go of the anger.

"Oh, Princess," he whispered the name he had not called her since she ran around in Disney Princess dresses at the age of four.

He pulled her into a tight embrace. The first real hug they had shared in forever.

And Katie cried.

It was dawn.

Bill knew because he was awake when the sun first started rearing its head.

He laid awake all night.

His daughter had finally fallen asleep after crying until she could not cry anymore.

They hadn't spoken of anything at all.

She was too upset to answer questions and he was too busy hiding his anger to ask them.

When she fell asleep, he didn't leave.

He sat there, all night long, in quiet contemplation.

He needed to figure out what to do next and where to go from here.

He wished he had someone to talk to, but he had already promised her that no one else would know. And after breaking a million promises through the years, he knew this was one he had to keep no matter what.

He was glad it was Saturday. He didn't have to go into work and she didn't have to go to school.

He was planning on letting her sleep in as long as she wanted, but when the first streams of sunlight poured through the room and touched her face she stirred awake.

She just lay there, not saying a word, still snuggled up in his arms.

Neither of them really knew what to say.

Then his stomach growled and broke the ice.

She burst out laughing and he couldn't help but join her.

She sat up finally, still giggling.

"How about I make us some breakfast," he suggested.

"Okay," she said, smiling brightly.

He couldn't help but be flummoxed at the change in her. These past two weeks there was nothing but mopey teenager. If he had known all it would take was a talking stomach to make her smile like that, he would have starved himself a lot sooner.

"And, Daddy?" she said from the doorway to her private bathroom.

"Yes, honey?" he said.

"Thank you."

Her 'thank you' running through his head, he whipped up a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast.

Obviously he had done something right, but he wasn't sure if that made him relieved, or even more scared because things were far from over; and there were still millions of ways he could mess this up.

She walked quietly in the room and sat down.

They ate in silence as usual, but it was not the same because she smiled at him a lot. The tension that usually permeated the air was gone. He returned her smile as much as possible, but he was still deeply troubled. He was trying to be reassuring for her, but he was just as scared as she probably was.

As she scraped the plates and he washed them before she dried them, he finally decided it was time to address the situation.

"We need to talk…" he said.

"I know," she said.

He nodded but didn't say anything, just finished up the dishes before heading to the living room.

He was pleased when she followed. He opted for the couch because he would be too relaxed in his easy chair. She went for the other end of the couch and sat, tucking her feet up under her, still in her pajamas.

"So, what do you want to know," she asked.

He was surprised at how easy she started the conversation, diving in head-on. She didn't seem nervous at all. He knew that she had always been a brave little thing, but had never really gotten the opportunity to witness it in her as a teenager. There was something so perfunctory about it. She was so upset and scared last night, but now she was cool and collected and ready to take on the world.

"Well, I..." he cleared his throat and asked the one question that was bugging him the most, mainly because his first instinct was to get on the phone and have his ex-wife on the next plane.

"Why don't you want your mother to know?"

"Because I've decided what I want to do, but I don't want her to judge me or try to make me change my mind. And I don't want her to accidentally slip and tell someone else. She knows every single person in my life. You, not so much."

"Fair enough," he nodded hesitantly. He still didn't understand why she wouldn't trust her mother with this. He and Jennifer hadn't gotten along much in their later years of marriage, and still didn't get along that well currently, but he knew that she had always been very nurturing, a champion mother. He knew that she would never have made their children afraid to come to her with any problem no matter how terrible. He assumed that, judging by the last half of her explanation, Jennifer must know whoever the father was and that was the strike that Jennifer held against her in this crisis.

"So… what have you decided you want to do?" He took a breath, not sure he wanted to hear any answer she had. He would rather she wasn't pregnant at all, but he couldn't change that, now could he?

"Adoption," she said matter-of-factly.

"Adoption?" he asked, gulping because that meant this situation wasn't going to be dealt with quickly. It would be months before the child was born. He would have to keep the secret and keep up with her...and he would have to watch her get bigger and bigger with it... his child, having a child. Gulp. "You're sure?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I can't kill the baby, but I can't keep it. I'm only sixteen years old. But I don't want anyone to know about it. Ever! You're the only one who can know. You did promise!" She looked at him sharply.

"Yes, I promised, and I won't tell anyone," he reassured her. He could feel sweat forming on his palms. It had been a long time since he made any promises. He had always taught his children about the importance of keeping your promises...then went and became a hypocrit when he broke the biggest promise of all and divorced their mother. It had been a mutual parting, done as amiable as possible under the circumstances. But it didn't change the fact that he had broken it. Since then he had thrown that word out of his vocabulary. He didn't make promises because he didn't like how he felt when he couldn't keep them.

This was different though. He would promise Katie anything; and he swore to himself that he would keep it.

Why did he feel like he was living in the middle of the nineteen sixties, in a time when parents would ship their pregnant teenage daughters off to halfway houses or some 'far away aunt' to live with for a while? Then the girl would return home, sans baby, sans scandal, and go back to her normal life and routine as if nothing had ever happened? As if there wasn't a new life in the world because of her little trip?

He felt like he was the halfway house.

"Okay, next question," she said quickly.

He shook himself from his thoughts and asked the second biggest question weighing on his mind.

"Who is the father?" he asked, because he really wanted to put his hands on the boy who had done this to his daughter.

"I can't tell you," she answered quickly. Too quickly.

"Why not?" he asked. He knew there was some disapproval and anger in his voice that he couldn't mask. He was still angry with the entire situation, he would probably be angry about it forever. At least she didn't seem phased or worried by his reaction though. His ability to control his anger the previous night had really gone a long way to settling her fears as far as he was concerned.

"Because I don't want to," she answered logically. "He's not involved. He doesn't know. He will never know." She seemed adamant about that.

"Are you sure—"

"Yes! I'm sure," she insisted. "We'll just leave that part on the birth certificate blank."

"Okay…"

She really had thought of everything, hadn't she? Of course she had more time with this than him.

"So when is... it… due?" he asked, feeling himself grow a little embarrassed. He didn't want to talk about these things with his daughter. Finding out when the baby would arrive would tell him approximately when his daughter had sex.

Damn it! He could feel his right hand form a fist into the couch. He didn't want to think about his daughter having sex. She was sixteen years old! She should be worrying about makeup and clothes and the latest boy band. She should be doing more commercials! She should be running a lemonade stand or a car wash or something, because her mother said she was good at running businesses and making money. She should be starting to think about what college she wanted to go to! She should be thinking about her junior prom!

Instead she was sitting on his couch. No businesses. No friends. No prom. She was pregnant and alone, no boyfriend in sight. He wanted to hurt the boy who was responsible even more now.

"Late September, early Octoberish," she said.

He flinched. So she had sex in late January and in early February? Of course, if she was sexually active, who knew how often she had...

Damn it! He was going to be sick.

"Don't most doctors usually give you a more exact date?" he asked, shaking the horrible thoughts away again and trying to remember everything he'd gone through with Judy when she was pregnant with the kids.

"Yeah, but that was just my estimate," she answered. "I haven't been to a doctor yet."

"So you're almost…" he did quick math, "three months, maybe?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Well, I guess the first thing to do is see a doctor," he said, thinking out loud.

"And then we find a nice couple willing to adopt m-the baby," she said, correcting herself.

He noticed she almost said "my" instead of "the". He wasn't sure why she had corrected herself. He didn't see what difference it made.

"So…" she said, letting out a sigh like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders after answering all of his questions.

Odd, but he felt like the weight of the world was currently on his shoulders now. And it was very heavy. Deep down he knew this wouldn't end well.

"So..."

To be continued…

Next: Part I: Chapter 1 - Kendall gets some news.