okay. This is just an idea That has been playing on my mind for some time now. I'm just going to give you all a run down on whats happening.

basically, Nick and Zoe used to date (15.5 years before this story is set), but Nick suddenly left. Zoe was left on her own with a baby. This story is set after that baby (Nicole) has turned 14. Nicole Know's Nixk's face from some pictures, but she has not seen or heard from him before, ever. I hope you all enjoy :)

aimee xx

"Nicole sweetie? Time to get up, or you'll be late for school." Zoe said. Nicole peeled her eyes open to find her mum sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Hey mum. Sleep well?" She asked. Zoe shrugged.
"All right, you?" Nicole nodded. "Okay, well I've made you porridge, its out downstairs. Eat that and then get ready, and quickly. I'm going to have to drop you off slightly early because work starts at nine today." She told her.
"Okay, that's cool. Thanks mum." She said, getting up out of the bed and quickly giving Zoe a hug.

They pulled up outside the school in Zoe's mint, green Bug. Nicole leant over and kissed Her quickly on the cheek.
"Have a good day at school sweetheart." Zoe said, smiling.
"Will do mum, and you have a good day at work." She replied.
"Mm, I'll try. It doesn't run very smoothly without a clinical lead dear."
"So you've said." She said cheekily, jumping out of the car. "Love you, I'll walk up to you tonight, 'kay?" Nicole said.
"Okay. And I love you too sweetie." Zoe replied before shutting the door and driving off. Most people complain about having 14 year olds, but she was blissfully happy with Nicole. Her father wasn't around though, he didn't know Nicole existed. Zoe had tried to tell him, but he never returned her calls, so she gave up trying. But none of that mattered, her and Zoe got along like a house on fire, and Zoe intended to keep it that way. She parked in the staff parking section of the hospital car park before heading into work. Something was different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Noel and Louise were stuck into their conversation, 'typical' thought Zoe. However, they shut up as she got nearer to them. 'Weird' she thought to herself. Not too bothered about it, she headed on to her puny little Trauma lead's office. She punched in her code and swung open the door, happily walking and hanging her coat up on the hat and coat stand that stood next to her door.
"Hello Zoe." She heard from behind. Having jumped out of her skin, she spun quickly and froze as she discovered who had said it.
"Nick Jordan." She whispered, almost robotically.
"Hello. Its so good to see you. What's it been, nearly fifteen years!" He said. He hadn't changed, she thought. Still looked the same. Still sounded the same. Still had the same god complex, thinking she'd be okay with this.
"You Jerk!" She screamed, finally losing it. "How can you think that you can just show up here like this! After all that time! Not a single freaking phone call, or a text message or even a god damn letter! Nothing! How dare you! You treated me like a pair of old worn shoes! Use them for a while and then kick them to the side and move on! YOU JERK!" At that moment, she ran out of her office and ran to the staff room. She headed straight for the coffee maker, tears streamed her face.
"I take it you know?" Tess said from behind her. Zoe just nodded. She was trying incredibly hard to stop crying. Tess understood.
"He doesn't know about her, does he?" She said, gently. Zoe shook her head.
"No. And please Tess, you're the only one that knows shes his. For me, please don't tell him. I need to be the one." Tess nodded.
"Yes, I understand." At that moment, Nick walked in.
"Zoe... Please? I didn't do any of that by choice." He begged her.
"Oh right! So leaving Holby for nearly fifteen years was an accident now! Right! Now I feel better!" She shouted, in a very sarcastic tone. He sighed.
"Yes it was!" He shouted at her. "If you'd give me one damn minute to explain myself, then you'd know that!" He was furious, but so was she. Tess, knowing neither of them would back down easily, left the room to give them some privacy, and also to stay alive.
"How could you even possi-" She began.
"ZOE SHUT UP!" He bellowed. She opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again when she took a real look at his facial expression. "Thats better." He said, more calmly. "I had to leave, Zoe, because my brain tumor came back. It would have killed me, but McFae said he could operate. And he did. In America. Where he lives. I've been over there recovering, he got 98% of it out. But then I went on to Chemo. I've been clear for months, only just got permission to fly. So here I am. Your new clinical lead. Zoe was speechless. They stood in silent for a few minutes, but to them, it felt like hours.
"I...I thought you just left to get away from me." She whispered,trying desperately to choke back tears, but she was failing. They were cascading down her cheeks.
"I would never have done that to you Zoe." He said opening his arms and allowing her to hug him. She accepted, hid her face in his chest and immediately broke down into sobs.
"All this time... I've been so angry. I... Why didn't you tell me?" She cried. Nick too, was choking back tears.
"Well... There was every chance that I'd... That... That I wouldn't make it. I thought you'd move on easier if you hated me. I just, I didn't want you to be hurt permanently because of me, I knew that if I did make it, I'd be able to come back and make things right." Zoe nodded.
"Oh Nick." She sighed, still crying. Suddenly the staff room door flew open. It was Tess.
"We need a doctor out here!" She cried, then ran back out. Zoe wiped her eyes and followed her.

Nicole dawdled a lot as she walked back to her locker after the bell. She knew she was walking and that the person above her had a bus to catch, so she slowed down, allowing them time to get going. She got to the locker room just as they left.
"Hey Nicole! I was looking for you everywhere at lunch! Where were you?" She heard from behind. She turned to see her best friend, battling through the locker-room-rush to get to her. She sighed.
"Hi Tiffany. I had a meeting with Mr. Stevens." She said.
"Oh. Hey? Are you walking?" She nodded.
"Cool! I'll walk with you. Hurry up and grab your stuff." So she did. In no time at all, they were happily walking up the main street, headed for the E.D. Tiffany was off on one of her Tiff-Tales (as Nicole affectionately called them). Tiff-tales are always long, dramatic, exaggerated and, completely and utterly, all about Tiff. It wasn't too long before they reached the E.D.
"Okay, see you on Monday Nic!" Tiff exclaimed and threw her arms around Nicole.
"Yeah, see you!" She replied, happily hugging her back quickly before heading into the hospital. Tess saw her come in.
"Uh-oh!" She said out loud. Charlie heard.
"Uh-oh indeed." He said. "Now I'm going out on a whim here, but um, is she his?" He asked. Tess just nodded. "Dear Jesus. Quickly, get her into our office, then we go get Zoe. But not Nick." He said. Tess nodded and ran over to Nicole.
"Hey Tess, how are you?" She asked, pleased to see her God Mother.
"All right sweetheart. Now, your Mum's busy at the moment. How about you come to my office for a while? They're using the staff room for a meeting." She said.
"Sure, thanks Tess." They headed to the office.
"Okay, help yourself to the biscuits, you know where they are. I'll get your mum as soon as I can." Tess said, leaving her alone. She headed straight to resus.
"Zoe!" She called. "Can I have a word please?" Zoe nodded and crossed over to Tess.
"Yep?" She said.
"Nicole is here. She's in my office." Tess whispered, as Nick was still with Zoe's patient, straining to hear their conversation. Zoe froze for a second, but she quickly snapped out of it.
"Thank you Tess." She said. Tess nodded and left resus. Zoe turned back to Nick. "Nick. I'm going to have to leave that with you, I have to go. It's important." He nodded.
"Anything interesting?" He asked.
"No." She said. With that, she left for Tess' office. She walked in and shut the door behind her.
"Hi mum!" Jody exclaimed, rushing over to hug her. Zoe happily hugged her back.
"Hey you, d'you have a good day?" She asked.
"Yeah, all right. You?" Nicole replied.
"Sort of. Look, sit down sweetie, I really need to talk to you." Nicole nodded and sat. "Do you remember when you were little? And you used to ask me about your dad?" She nodded. "I told you he had left before he knew about you. That I tried to tell him and tried to get him to come back, but he ignored my attempts?"
"Yes." She said.
"Well, it turns out he had a good reason for that. Now, I don't want to go into the ins and outs of it, but... Would you like to meet him?" She blurted, not too sure how Nicole would react.
"He's back?" She whispered.
"Yes. He turned up today. Turns out he's our new clinical lead. Now I still haven't told him, I wanted to let you get a chance for the news to sink in, and also for you to decide. Do you want to meet your dad?" Zoe sat silent as she watched Nicole deliberate over it for a few minutes. Eventually, she looked up, tears in her eyes, and slowly nodded her head.
"Okay. Well stay here, I want to go and tell him. Then I will bring him to meet you. Okay?" Zoe asked.
"Sounds good." She replied.
"Okay sweetheart. Love you."
"Love you too." Nicole said. Zoe bent and kissed her head quickly before heading out of the office to find Nick. Eventually, she found him in the staff room.
"Zoe!" He exclaimed when he saw her.
"Nick, we need to talk." She said, sitting down on the coffee table, opposite to his place on the couch.
"Okay..." He said slowly.
"Well, I had good reasons for you to come home, thats why I kept contacting you all of those years ago. If you'd replied to me, you'd already know, but you didn't. So, its time to tell you. Okay, here goes. Nick. I fell pregnant shortly before you left. I found out the day before you took off. I'm sorry." Nick took a sharp intake of breath and froze. "I tried to contact you, honestly I did. Anyways, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She's got your eyes Nick. I named her Nicole, after you. She turned fourteen two months ago. Anyway, she's here now, and she really wants to meet her dad." She finished. Nick was still frozen stiff, however, tears were tumbling down his face.
"I have a daughter?" He whispered.
"Yes, you do. Do you want to meet her?" Zoe asked. Nick nodded slowly.
"Yes." He whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
"Come on then." She took his hand and he stood up. They left the staff room and Zoe led him up to Tess' office. She stopped outside, punched in the code and entered. All right Nicole, this is Nick Jordan. Your dad." Zoe said. Nick stepped into the office and, stood before him, was the most perfect girl he'd ever seen. Zoe was right, she did have his eyes. She had Zoe's dark hair, though hers was soft and it tumbled down her back in large, beautiful waves. She was thin, and her skin tone was the perfect mix of his and Zoe's, leaving her a beautifully tanned shade of olive. She was beautiful.
"Hi." She said
"Hello." He replied, not really knowing what to do or say.
"Well," Zoe said from the door way. "I'll leave you two to it." She said and quickly left the office and shut the door behind her, before either of them had a chance to protest.

please read and review xx