A/N So Nick is wondering if he should come clean with his son...

Chapter 9

"Wow. Y'know, I didn't believe mom when she said you had a mustang." Lucas said and ran his hands over the dashboard as they drove. They had stopped by a Thai restaurant and bought some takeout to bring home.

"Well, don't tell your mother I didn't sell it." Nick muttered as the engine roared to life. He ran a hand through his hair

Lucas' eyes widened, "She thinks you sold it?" he gaped.

"Uh uh."

"But….why?"

"She wanted a house, 2.5 kids and a dog – and a fucking space wagon – that thing is a nightmare to drive. It's like going from a motorbike to a tricycle." He said and turned off the main road.

"Really – where are we going?" he asked in confusion as all he could see ahead were trees.

"Just want to show you something – she thought I had to sell the car to pay for the house and mortgage."

"But you didn't?"

"We don't have a mortgage, Lucas – not that she knows that."

"Uh, why?"

"Because your mother was a spoiled brat back in the day – couldn't even boil pasta – I swear that woman could burn water. C'mon Lucas – if she spends as much as she does now on things we don't need – new curtains every other month, new carpets every year to match the seasons – y'know, she swaps the entire load of kitchen equipment every other year, how much do you think she would burn knowing I can afford it, hm?"

"No way! What's the point in that?"

"She does. And there isn't. She's grown up thinking money grows on the trees in the garden – not to bad-mouth you mother, because I love her to pieces, but she doesn't know the worth of money –she's a dean of a christian junior high school for fuck's sake. Setting a good example for the community my ass – and you don't need to go to that voluntary work she signed you up for – blame it on trauma or something like that." Nick pulled the car up. He snatched the bag of food and got out. Lucas followed him, and jumped up on the hood of the car next to him.

"Wow." He said when he looked at the view of the city lights.

"Pretty amazing isn't it?" Nick asked and handed Lucas a paper bowl of wok – noodles, rice, vegetables and fried beef in chilli sauce, and they ate in silence.

"Dad, can I ask a question?" Lucas asked.

"Shoot." Nick said and sank his teeth into a spicy bite of beef.

"Are you cheating on mom?" he asked bluntly.

Nick stiffened for a second before he shook his head, "No. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're acting weird." Lucas said deadpanned.

"No, I've always been acting the way Hannah expected me to, because I didn't really give a fuck about what I wore or how I talked as long as I got to see you every day, growing up."

"So you're not fucking someone else than mom." Lucas winched at his own choice of words.

"I'm not gonna lie to you Lucas, I love you mother to pieces. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for her –"

"Except sell your car." Lucas butted in with a wry smile.

" –except selling my car, and staying celibate." Nick specified, "Y'know, when she was nineteen, she actually told me that the angels cry and puppies die when you jack off. I swear, I laughed so hard, it actually made up for all of the years of Sunday-School I suffered through."

Lucas just shook his head. "You can't be serious."

"Oh I'm very serious. We've been married for twenty years, and she still goes to bed fully dressed."

"But you didn't answer the question – and I didn't need to know that."

"Yeah." Nick said, "I'm fucking other people than your mother."

"How long?"

"The last one?"

"There are more?"

"Take you pick."

"Do I have siblings?" he snarked.

"You might soon." Nick replied calmly.

"Of fuck."

"Indeed."

"The last one. How long?"

"A month…and a half." Nick glanced at Lucas "Bit more than two." he admitted. Actually it was closer to three...

"Just two months?" Lucas asked, "No more?"

Nick glanced over at his son who was staring up at the stars, "Didn't say it was over did I?"

Lucas let his head fall to the side and gazed at him, "You're still fucking some other broad?"

"Guy – I'm bi." Lucas didn't answer for a while and Nick started to wonder if he chocked on something, "Guess Hannah left that out when she told you of my 'wild' youth."

"You could say that." Lucas admitted, "So I supposed this would be a good time to tell you I'm gay."

Nick arched a brow; he hadn't expected that, "Yeah, I suppose." He moved slightly. "Got a boyfriend?" he asked, trying to steer away from the previous subject.

"Yeah. His name is Derek."

"How old is he?"

Lucas bit his lip, "Nineteen."

Nick scowled, "I'd say he was too old but I'm not really one to talk" he muttered, "Just use a condom, okay."

"Dad!"

"What?"

"He's clean – and…"

"That's not really what I'm worried about, Lucas." Nick scolded.

"What, it's not like I can get pregnant-"

"Sometimes I regret sending you to a Christian school – Lucas, I really thought we didn't need to have this talk, but apparently we do; some men can get pregnant. Everyone are checked when they're sixteen – ignoring the fact that many are sexually active before that – and about one out of ten-thousand have the gene."

Lucas frowned and studied his father, "You said I might soon have siblings."

Fuck. "Uh, Billy might be pregnant."

"So his name is Billy …do you love him?"

Nick snorted, "No," he quirked a lip, "There is a difference between love and sex, Lucas."

"Does he love you?"

"He probably hates my guts right now." Nick chuckled.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah. Morning sickness kicked in just as I was supposed to leave, dead to the world when I left – why I was late – sorry."

"That's okay. At least you have a good reason…" It wasn't like his mom ever showed up, "Don't you feel bad about cheating?"

Nick chewed on his lip as he pondered, "No….not really, no," he said, "I don't really think of it as cheating..."

"Why not?" Lucas sat up in frustration, "You're fucking some guy behind mom's back! How is that not cheating?"

"Any sexual relationship we had is pretty much dead –" Lucas made a face, not wanting to think about his parents in a sexual context at all, "- been for years - and I'm confident when I say it's not my fault. When I have a headache, I take an aspirin and get on with my day. I can't cheat on something that doesn't exist. Luce, sex and love is not the same things!" he sighed loudly, "I don't love Billy; it's just sex; a means to an end. If I loved him, then it would be cheating, because then I would be betraying something that was exclusively Hannah's…. How do you feel about it?"

"I don't understand it. Numb, I guess." Lucas shrugged. "Are you and mom breaking up?"

"No." Nick said firmly, "We're not breaking up. We might if she found out, but she always was a drama queen…" Lucas looked at him oddly, "What?"

"It's just so weird hearing you do anything but worship the ground she walks on."

Nick laughed, "Then you better get used to it…I'm just being honest Lucas. You know I love her, but she's not perfect…neither am I. The difference is that I never claimed to be." He said and laid back, his arms folded underneath his head.

~*~

A/N; so what do you think? as always, open to suggestions! in what direction do you want Nick and Billy's relationship to take? Good? Or Bad?