Chapter Ten: Best Interest

Pacing up and down the hallway of the courthouse, Nick anxiously tapped his fingers against the phone in his pocket, desperately waiting for the court to decide who would be the most suitable guardian for his niece, Millie. Unfortunately, the Judge working her case happened to be good friends with Judge Stokes, making it impossible for Nick to participate or get a say in any of the decision making.

Back in Vegas, Greg was supervising a play date with his neighbour, struggling to keep his eyes open, after the double shift he pulled last night. "I gotcha another coffee, Greg." His hyper neighbour, Rosa announced, perching herself on the arm of the chair next to Greg. "Black, nice and hot, just the way you like it." The younger man gave her a half smile, carefully lifting the hot coffee mug from her hands. "So, how long is Nick away for this time?"

"He's been gone for four whole days so far." Greg groaned, as he realised how much he was missing him again. "We've never really been apart this long, except the time when I had to have my appendix out, but hopefully the court case will go the way we want it today and he'll be back tomorrow."

"Oh... sounds very exciting. What's he doing over there?"

"I told you about his sister dying, didn't I?" Rosa nodded to him. "Well, his sister has a thirteen year old daughter, Millie. Her grandparents didn't even acknowledge her existence, before her mother died, just because she doesn't have a father to speak of."

"Oh... and those are Nick's parents? Well I'm glad Nick didn't turn out that way, he's such a polite young man. A real sweetheart." Rosa smiled at him, then turned her attention towards her sons as AJ shoved them into the dirt. "Oh my goodness!" She gasped, jumping to her feet. "Young lady, that is no way for a little girl to behave. And you two, you should be ashamed of yourselves for being beaten up by a girl half the size of you." She teased her sons, as she pulled them to their feet.

"She started it!" One of them snapped, trying to lunge for her, but his mother held him back.

"Well I'm finishing it!"

"I'm sorry, Rosa." Greg apologised, reaching out for AJ's hand. "She's been acting up since Nick went away to Texas."

"Daddy, you said you'll take me today." AJ complained, tugging her hand out of his. "I wonna go!" She screamed in her temper tantrum.

"Take her where?" Rosa queried, brushing down her sons clothes, from the dirt they were pushed into.

"Oh... ballet. It was my mother's idea." Greg looked around for Cooper, spotting him sat on the back door step of Rosa's house. Unlike AJ, he didn't like playing with other kids. He preferred to play quietly by himself with the dinosaur figures he had brought with him. "Do you mind if I leave early, Rosa?"

"Oh of course not." She shook her head, checking the time on her watch. "Julie will be here in a minute to pick up the twins. And I know that Rita's shift finishes soon, so I won't be on my own for too long." She collected AJ and Cooper's jackets from inside, before she helped Greg to collect up the toys his children had brought with him. "You'll have to bring the kids swimming with us one day. Julie's boys love it."

"They can't swim." Greg pointed out to her, collecting up the last of Cooper's dinosaurs. "AJ's been begging us to get her lessons, but she needs a parent to stay with her the whole class, and the lessons are at really awkward times."

"I can take em." She suggested, leading Greg towards the front door. "My boys are great swimmers. They barely need supervision anymore. I wouldn't mind taking your two along with us."

"I'll talk to Nicky." He smiled at her, ushering the children outside. "Bye, Rosa."

"Bye. Take care of yourself, Greg." She waved after him. "Bye kids!"

"Bye." AJ waved back, hurrying after Greg down the drive. "Greg, I know Daddy isn't here, but can we still go?"

"Yeah, okay." He agreed, taking hold of each of the kids' hands, so he could cross the street to their house. "Cooper, go and put those toys in your room." He unlocked their front door. "And you both need to use the bathroom before we leave."

"I don't have to go." Cooper complained, patting Dallas' head as she rushed to greet them.

"Try." Greg insisted, ushering him off to his room.

"Daddy, the puppies got out again." AJ lifted one of the small pups into her hands, noticing another trying to crawl under the sofa. "Daddy's gonna be mad."

"Why?" Greg stepped into the front room with her, seeing exactly what she was referring to. "Oh. It's okay. We'll clean it up, he'll never even notice. Can you get me some paper towels from the kitchen? I'll be right back."

AJ set the puppies into the box with the others, counting them to make sure they were all there, before she grabbed the paper towels, making her way back to the front room. Greg quickly cleaned up the pile of mess one of the puppies had made, making sure he scrubbed the carpet clean, so Nick wouldn't know what happened.

"Daddy, we're gonna be late."

"Don't rush me, Munchkin. You're worse than your father." He giggled, washing his hands, before he hurried into the kids' bedroom, hurrying Cooper along so they could leave. "C'mon then, everybody back in the car. We'll be home later, Dallas." Greg ruffled his hand through her fur, locking the door once they were all out. He checked his phone was still fully charged before he started the car, not wanting to miss Nick's call.

When they arrived, the ballet class had just started, giving Greg enough time to get AJ changed. She eagerly joined the rest of the class, leaving Greg to take a seat on the sidelines with Cooper, watching the teacher introducing the class of young girls and few boys to the five basic positions of ballet.

"Hello, you're new here aren't you?" A woman suddenly asked, taking a seat beside him.

"Yes... Greg Sanders." He introduced himself to her, politely shaking her hand.

"Dora Davis. This is my daughter Olivia." The woman in her early forties, introduced him to the child at her side. "My Olivia's in the advanced class, but her sister Hannah is with your daughter." She pointed to the little blonde haired girl, who was picking at a scab on her elbow, while the others were doing the simple ballet steps. "Your little girl's a very pretty one." She complimented him.

"That's my... daughter Amaya-Jayne, and this is Cooper." He introduced her to his son, then watched as the woman opened up her large purse, pulling out all sorts of brushes and things to style her daughter, Olivia's hair.

"Ballerina bun." Dora smiled round at him, catching the look on his face. "You'll do well to learn how to do one. The teachers prefer the children to have them, rather than their pig tails flopping about everywhere." She explained to him, then sat Olivia down on her lap to sort out her hair. "Are Amaya-Jayne and Cooper your only two children?" She queried.

"Yes." He nodded to her, waving to AJ as she looked over at him. "Are Olivia and Hannah your only children?" He returned the question.

"No... I have another daughter and four rotten sons, no offence sweetheart." She smiled at the shy little boy beside her. "Olivia here is eight and Hannah is six, they're my youngest two. The boys are all in their teens now. I always wanted a little girl to do this with. My other daughter Rosie, she's thirteen now. She's never been interested in anything girly. We just signed her up for soccer last week, and she's loving it." She rambled, brushing out her daughter's hair. "How old are your two?"

"AJ's seven and Cooper's six."

"Sorry if I'm rambling Greg, my husband says I could have my own talk show." She giggled, reaching into her bag for something else. "Would you like me to teach you how to do a ballerina bun, Greg?"

"Sure." He nodded to her, finding her constant chatter oddly comforting, as he was really missing talking to Nick.

"Alright... first of all, you dampen the hair." She instructed, spraying her daughter's long blonde hair with a canned spray bottle, before she started to lightly brush it out with a thinner comb. "Then you brush the hair back into a tight ponytail..."

"Ow." Olivia winced.

"Sorry, sweetheart." She quickly apologised to her daughter, combing through the knot much gentler this time. "Then you tightly twist the ponytail . . . and wrap it around the base as tight as it will go." She continued to instruct him, while she showed him with her daughter's hair. "Then you tuck the ends under the base of the ponytail... securing it in place with several hairpins." Dora reached into her bag for the hairpins, pinning her daughter's hair back into the neat bun, before she let go, admiring her work. "Then I use a little of this strong hold spray, just to make sure it doesn't fall out, while they're jumping about." Lifting her child off her lap, Dora shook the spray can in her hand then lightly sprayed her child's hair, keeping it held securely in place. "There we go, one ballerina bun."

"Wow... that's amazing, there's no way I'll ever be able to do that."

"It's easy once you get the hang of it. I learnt how to do it off the internet. I was never a girly girl growing up. I had short hair until I was thirty, so I never really did anything with my hair but let it hang there. Rosie was the first to have her hair long. She wears it in braided pigtails for her soccer games, and these two love their long hair. Not always a good thing when it comes to shampoo, but it does look nicer."

Greg nodded in agreement, remembering his recent conversation with Nick about wanting to cut AJ's hair a little shorter, but their daughter wanted to keep it long, forcing her fathers to learn a few more hairstyling tips.

Dora chuckled softly to herself, then smiled up at the father who arrived late, with his twin girls in tow. "Greg, this is my little brother, Sean. Sean, this is my new friend Greg and his son, Cooper." Dora introduced them.

"Hi Greg, nice to meet you." The man firmly shook his hand, then took a seat beside Dora.

"You're late again, Sean. If you're not careful, those twins of yours will be kicked out." She warned him, then looked round at Greg beside her. "The two little identical twin girls there are Sean and Martin's beautiful little girls that they had through surrogacy."

"Oh." Greg looked at him surprised.

"Oh I'm sorry, you don't have a problem with gays do you, Greg?" Dora openly asked him. "This is a gay friendly studio after all, so I'd assume that you wouldn't..."

"No, I don't. If I did, then I shouldn't be living with my boyfriend, Nick and our two children." He smirked.

"Oh I knew it; I didn't want to offend you in case I was wrong." The woman chuckled, applying a sparkly lip gloss to her daughter's lips. "Where's your boyfriend today then, Greg?" She queried. "Most fathers always stop by the first day, just to do their duty of supporting their child."

"He's in Texas." As she looked at him surprised, Greg quickly explained, "His sister just died."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Dora placed her hand on her heart, looking into the younger man's eyes. "No wonder you're so quiet..."

"No, that's just you, sis." Sean smirked from beside her. "No one can ever get a word in edge ways with you, Dora."

"Oh you bully." She laughed, playfully elbowing him in the side. "Look... Greg's daughter is the one with the cute little pigtails. Her name's... Amaya-Jayne." She remembered, complimenting Greg, "It's a very beautiful name by the way. I've always liked double barrelled names. I just couldn't think of any that were good enough for my girls."

"They're better then the names our parents gave us." Her younger brother remarked. "Shane, Diana, Dora and Sean." He pointed out to Greg. "We're all named after our Aunts and Uncles."

"I like my name." Dora poked her little brother in the side. "Look at Greg's little girl, this is her first day and she's beating both your daughters at all the moves already." She teased her little brother, making Greg smile widely for the first time since Nick had left for Texas.

"Uncle Nick," Millie excitedly exclaimed, rushing towards him. Nick knelt down to her level, realising she was a lot taller than the last time he saw her. He wrapped his strong arms around her, clutching her tightly in his embrace. "Uncle Nick, I missed you."

"I missed you too, baby girl." He whispered softly, then pulled back to look into her big brown eyes. She looked exactly like his sister Kayla when they were younger, reminding him of his childhood.

"Uncle Nick, they said I have to live with some Aunt... Veronica Hallin. I don't know any Aunt Veronica." She spoke in a vulnerable voice, as she clutched his hands tightly in her own. "Uncle Nicky, can't I live with you? I'll be a really good sister to AJ and Cooper, I promise."

"I'm sure you would, Millie. But it's not up to me. The court has to decide where you'll live." He tried to explain to her, as he looked at the tears in her eyes. "Honey, Aunt Veronica is my sister, Ronnie. She lives in the same neighbourhood you used to..."

"I don't know her though." Millie complained, pulling at Nick's heart strings even more, as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Why should I have to be forced to live with someone I don't even know?"

"Honey, if I could do somethin'... trust me, I would." He assured her.

"Millie!" Nick's sister, Ronnie called out to her down the hall. "C'mon Millie, it's time to go."

Millie looked towards Nick for help, but he was powerless to do anything. "I thought you were my friend." Millie tugged her hand out of Nick's, stubbornly folding her arms across her chest, as she looked at Nick through her tears. "I've lost everythin' now."

"Millie wait, you can always call me if you need me." Nick quickly pulled one of his cards from his pocket, writing his home number on the back. "Here, keep this with you. Whenever you need me, I'll always be there for you. I swear, if I could do anythin' else I would."

"Millie now! I'm runnin' late as it is." Ronnie shouted again, being hushed by her mother beside her for shouting again.

Millie looked at the card in her hands then slowly turned around, heading down the hall towards the grandmother she knew, so she could introduce her to the woman she would be living with from now on.

"Millie, this is my daughter, Ronnie. Your mother Kayla's big sister." Jillian explained to her. "You'll be stayin' with her and her husband Jason, sweetheart."

Millie looked over her shoulder at her Uncle Nick, then reluctantly followed her Aunt Ronnie off towards the door, so she could take her to the car.

"Nicky, I didn't know you were back in town." Jillian smiled softly, hugging her youngest tightly in her warm embrace. "Did you bring Greg and the children with you?" She looked around for them.

Nick shook his head. "No, they're back home in Vegas."

"I'm sorry sweetheart; I didn't know your father would do that to..."

"He's not my father." Nick interrupted her.

"Oh... I know, sweetheart." Jillian smoothed her hand up and down his back. "I'm still sorry though."

"I know you had nothin' to do with it." Nick assured her, giving her a soft smile. "Are you goin' back to your apartment now that Millie's out of the house?"

"Yes... Bill did offer to let me stay a little while longer, it's weird livin' back in the old house with him. Turns out he actually does his own laundry now." She chuckled softly, then gave him another quick hug. "I love you, honey. Give my love to the family. I get you this Thanksgivin', don't I?"

"No, Jean's invited us all over to the house for Thanksgivin'." He remembered. "It's her and Daniel's forty fifth weddin' anniversary too, so they've invited everyone over for dinner."

"Oh, that sounds nice." Jillian pecked a kiss to his cheek, giving him a warm. "Maybe Christmas then. I'd love to see how Cooper's settlin' in. How's Dallas, she have her pups yet?"

"Yeah, seven of them."

"Oh my, quite a handful." She chuckled softly. "Gwen told me that you two looked at a house out in New Jersey."

"Yeah, we weren't sure if we wanted it though."

"You could always move up here, have more of your family around you?" She suggested, admiring how loving her son was towards his niece. He was still watching over her now, just to make sure that she made it to the car with Ronnie. "Sweetheart, you're not an orphan you know. Just because... it doesn't mean that we feel any different towards you. I've always loved you, from the moment you were born."

"What about Lillian?" He looked round at her.

"Honey, you have to understand, she was still just a child when she had you. When we made the decision to raise you as our own, we thought that we were doin' what was best for the both of you. Lillian never chose to get pregnant or to lose you to us. You both seem to think that it would have been better if you had stayed together, but think what you would have missed out on."

"You didn't have to lie to me."

"You'd rather that you knew where you came from when you were just a little boy? Sweetheart, we were tryin' to protect both of you. I never saw you differently from your brother and sisters. I've always loved you like my own, and I've always wanted to protect you. I never wanted you to find out, especially like that. I hate him for tellin' you like that." She gently placed her hands on her son's shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, you'll always be my little boy. You're nothin' like your... biological father and you never will be." She pulled him into her arms to hug him again, wishing there was something she could do to make him feel a little less detached.

"Don't draw on Daddy's coffee table." Greg warned his children, kneeling down the other side of the coffee table, where they were drawing. "The coffee table isn't like the sofa cushions; we can't just flip it round and hope he doesn't see the stain." He giggled, grabbing himself a fresh piece of paper to draw on for himself.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Cooper queried, crawling round the other side of the table, to sit beside Greg.

"I don't know buddy, but I'm sure he misses us." Greg assured him, pressing a kiss to the top of his son's head, as he pulled him onto his lap. "Daddy said he'd call before you guys go to bed though."

"Will Millie have to go away to live with her Daddy?" AJ asked, reaching for the blue crayon to fill in the sky of her picture.

Greg shook his head to her. "No, Millie doesn't know who her Daddy is, Munchkin."

"I didn't know my Daddy." She reminded him, handing him the crayon from her hands, as he reached out for it. "Maybe Millie's Daddy doesn't know she exists either."

Cooper looked at his sister then turned his head to look at Greg behind him.

"Maybe... but your Daddy loves you now he knows you exist, AJ." He assured her. "And he loves you too." He smiled down into his son's eyes. "No more than I love you of course."

"I love you too, Daddy." AJ crawled around the table on her knees, wrapping her arms around her father's neck to hug him tightly. "I made you this." She handed him her picture, smiling to him as he looked at the drawing of the four of them stood outside the house, with Dallas and the puppies running around them.

"It's beautiful, Munchkin." He smiled at her, wrapping one arm around her. "That's definitely a fridge worthy piece, doncha think?" He got a second opinion from Cooper, smiling as the boy gave him a nod. "I think we'll pin that right beneath that picture of drunk Nana from my birthday party." He giggled, climbing to his feet to put it on the fridge, with the rest of their art work. "Now who's hungry?" He turned to look at them.

"Me!" Both AJ and Cooper shouted together.

"The court made its decision, and it's out of our hands now, Nicky. They're not goin' to hand her over to her unmarried uncle. The child needs a safe, stable environment... and a family that'll love her, no matter what." Ronnie explained to her little brother, as she cleaned up the dinner plates off her dining room table. "That's why the court awarded us custody, as we were willin' to look after her until she's old enough to do it herself."

"So when she reaches a certain age, you're just gonna shove her out the door and hope for the best?" Nick sarcastically asked her, leaning against the back of one of the chairs, while Ronnie started to wash the dishes in the sink. "Why do you even want another kid in the house? You're always tellin' us that regret havin' the kids you've already got."

"It's not my fault that you didn't win, Nicky, so don't take it out on me. The court goes for the best interest of the child, and they found us the more suitable guardians. It's normal for them to pick a stable environment, rather than an unmarried gay uncle."

"Normal?" Nick ignored her remark. "You've never even spoken to Millie in her entire life. You wouldn't even acknowledge her existence until now. She doesn't know who you are."

Sighing heavily, Ronnie dried her hands on a towel, then turned to face her little brother. "Chuck has six children. Lillian has five. Gwen has four and Vicki has four. I only have two, so it seemed like the..."

"I have two kids." He interrupted her. "I'm perfectly capable to look after another child, and you didn't even want her. The court didn't make their full decision, because no one was willin' to take her on full time. I am, but I wasn't allowed in."

"That's not my fault." Ronnie turned back to her dishes, struggling not to say what was really on her mind.

Leaning against the counter beside his sister who despised him, Nick folded his arms across his chest, asking softly, "It's because I'm livin' with a man isn't it?"

"Quite frankly... yes." She nodded round at him, as she scrubbed the gravy off her patterned design china plates. "Personally, I'm not surprised the court wouldn't let you in. You are after all a homosexual; you're gettin' a good picture of what eternity is goin' to be like for you after you've left this plain. The rest of us are goin' to be on the other side of the gates of heaven, enjoyin' the afterlife, while you're banned to the..."

"Shut up, sis." He cut her off again. "You never believed that crap before."

"Fine then. What do you and your boyfriend know about raisin' a teenage girl? Millie is better off with us. We have room for her, she won't have to move schools and she'll be with family that care about her." She argued her case, then gently pushed him aside to wipe down the counter top. "You may think that you're a pretty decent father to the children you have, but you're just not suitable in the courts eyes, which is understandable, since you're livin' in sin. Even if you weren't gay, you're still an unmarried man. Children need stability. Who's to say that you and Greg won't break up in a few months time... or even a few days?" She bluntly told him. "Maybe if you weren't sleepin' around with men, people might take you a little more seriously. The court chose us to take care of her, so there's nothin' more that I can do."

"She's right, Nick." Ronnie's husband, Jason appeared behind them, after he had tucked their children into bed.

"Thank you." Ronnie smiled round at her husband, then turned back to her little brother. "I'm not pickin' on you because you're gay, Nicky. You can't have Millie because she needs a stable environment."

"Did you even ask Millie what she wants?" Nick asked her.

"She's a child; she doesn't know what she wants. We can do a better job and she won't be teased at school for havin' guardians that like to take it up the arse."

"Nick." Jason rushed to hold him back, as he suddenly lunged forwards, looking as though he was about to thump her. "Ronnie, that's enough. Let's just let Nick say goodbye to Millie, then I think we'll call it a night." He suggested.

Ronnie nodded to her husband, wiping her hands on a towel, once she placed the last dish on the draining board. "Be reasonable Nicky, the child's lucky to have a home at all after Daddy found out about Kayla and that woman. Did Kayla honestly think that she could hide her disgustin' relationship from us?"

"Is that what this is about? You're punishin' an innocent child over your stupid beliefs? What happened to hate the sin and not the sinner?" Nick angrily shouted, feeling his hands tensing at his sides from his frustration.

"C'mon Nick, let's go." Jason suggested, leading the younger man off towards the front door. "You're not helpin'. Millie's upstairs sleepin'; do you want her to see you like this?"

"Yes Nicky, maybe you should go back home to your little boyfriend." Ronnie agreed, following them to the door. "No court in their right mind would ever grant someone like you a child, even if you weren't gay. You can't even control your temper around your own sister."

"C'mon, Nick." Jason pointed out the door.

"Fine . . . I'll leave, but I'll be back." Nick warned his sister.

"Don't be so dramatic Nicky; we just want Millie to be raised in a proper environment with a mother and a father." Ronnie explained to him. "She'll even have a little brother and sister here with no emotional baggage."

"Uncle Nicky." Millie's voice called from the stairs. She hurried down them as she saw her uncle by the front door, rushing straight into his open arms for a hug.

"Millie, I told you to go to bed." Ronnie scolded her. "Nick is leavin', you'll see him later."

"Uncle Nicky, please don't leave me." The frightened child whispered against his neck.

Nick looked up at his sister and her husband Jason, gently clutching the child tighter in his arms a moment, before he pulled back to talk to her. "Honey, I can't take you with me right now. But I'll see you real soon. I'm not leavin' you." He assured her.

Millie sniffled back the tears in her eyes, then wrapped her arms around Nick's shoulders again, clutching him tightly, until Ronnie tugged her away from him and sent her back off up the stairs behind them.

Nick watched her go then straightened up, slowly turning for the door.

Jason closed it behind him, immediately starting to argue with his wife once he was gone. He couldn't believe how disrespectful she was towards her little brother, especially at a time like this. His family were very accepting of everything, so he grew up with an open mind towards anything. He knew there were some people in the world who were less accepting of others, but he never would have expected one of them to be his own wife.

Leaning back against the wall beside Dallas' bed, Cooper giggled as two of the puppies jumped up at his hand, licking it softly with their soggy pink tongues. Greg set down Dallas' water bowl, then knelt down beside the bed, watching AJ and Cooper completely ignoring him, as they softly stroked the puppies around Dallas.

"Maybe Daddy will call us tomorrow." He suggested to them, knowing they were upset that he hadn't called yet. "But Daddy would still want you to go to bed, so you can get up early for school tomorrow." AJ and Cooper kept their eyes down, continuing to ignore him. "Fine, when Daddy calls, I'll just have to say that his children have miraculously lost their voices, so they couldn't possibly talk to him." Greg sighed softly.

As the phone in the next room suddenly started to ring, AJ and Cooper cast their eyes towards Greg, watching a cheeky grin spreading across his lips, before he scrambled to his feet to answer it.

"Daddy!" AJ shouted after him, stumbling to her feet to hurry after him.

"Hello, Nicky." Greg answered the phone, crashing onto his bed.

"Hey baby, why do you sound like you've been runnin' around?"

"Because your naughty children refuse to go to bed." Greg giggled as AJ and Cooper climbed onto the bed, trying to pry the phone free from their father's grip. "Wa-wa-wait." He tickled them to pry the phone free from their grip, then set the phone on speaker, so they could all talk to him. "There you go, say hi to Daddy."

"Hi, Daddy." AJ greeted him first, sitting cross legged beside Greg.

"Hey baby, how did your ballet thing go today?" He asked her, pulling the speaker away from his face, as he sniffled back his tears.

Nick listened to his excitable daughter's explanation of all the dance moves and postures that the teacher taught them during the lesson, making him wish he was there to see it, instead of a place where he didn't feel any love from anyone.

"Daddy learnt a new hairstyle did he?" He asked her, wiping away his tears again.

"Yep, a ballerina bun." Greg proudly stated. "One of the other mothers taught me how. We just need that hairspray stuff and some decent hairpins so I can do it."

Nick chuckled softly, moving the phone to his other ear as he started up the car. "I'm sure your mother would know what all that... stuff is that you'll need, baby. Where's Cooper?"

"He's here." Greg gently tapped his son's knee. "Doncha wonna say hello to Daddy, Buckaroo?"

Cooper gave him a shy smile then looked at the phone sat between the three of them. "Hi Daddy." He spoke in a soft voice. "When are you coming home?"

Nick smiled at the sound of his son's voice. "I'll be home tomorrow when you guys get back from school, Bubba." He assured him. "But only if my babies do exactly as your Daddy tells you and go to bed."

"Oh, but Daddy... the puppies are finally awake." AJ complained, pouting out her lip to Greg. "Can't we stay up a little longer?"

"You can play with the puppies again another day." Nick spoke softly, picturing her pouting lip as he closed his eyes. "You have to go to bed now though, baby."

"Cooper's the baby, so he should have to go to bed first." AJ teased her little brother, giggling as he shoved her back onto the bed.

"I'm not a baby. Daddy calls you a baby." Cooper argued.

"No fightin'." Nick warned them both, hearing them through the phone. "You're all my babies. Daddies are lucky; they can have more than one baby. AJ, you're my baby girl. And Cooper, you're my little bubba."

"What about Daddy?" Cooper asked, looking towards Greg.

"He's your big baby." AJ teased him, squirming in Greg's arms as he tickled her.

Nick chuckled softly, wiping away the drying tears on his cheeks. "That's right, and it's time for all my babies to go to bed. All of you, because Daddy has to take you to school in the mornin'."

"Okay." AJ reluctantly agreed, then crawled across the bed to hug Greg. "G'night Daddy, I love you." She blew a kiss into the phone.

"I love you too, honey. Sweet dreams." Nick replied.

"Night Daddy." Cooper whispered, then copied his sister's actions, hugging Greg and kissing him goodnight, before he scrambled off the bed after her. "I love you too, Daddy."

"I know. I love you too, bubba."

"Your heard your Daddy, pyjamas on, I'll be in to tuck you in soon." Greg waved them off then put the phone to his ear, lying back against the bed beneath him. "Okay, what's the matter babe, and don't say nothing, because I can hear it in your voice."

"I just hate bein' away from you guys. It's so big... and lonely out here." Nick explained, holding the phone tightly against his ear. "Don't forget to set the alarm hun; I'm not there to wake you up this time."

"So you're not even gonna tell me about what happened in court?" Greg asked, rolling onto his side. "Who did Millie get stuck with?"

"Ronnie and Jason. They've got the least kids, and no one else wanted her. It's only a temporary thing... and I couldn't do anythin', because I was banned from enterin' the court room." Nick explained to him. "I'm fine though; don't spend all night worryin' about me, because I'll be home tomorrow to tell you all about it. I'm fine baby, get some sleep. I love you."

"I love you more." Greg replied, listening to Nick's soft breathing through the line, before he spoke again, "Sweet dreams, Tex. I miss you."

"I miss you too." Nick smiled into his cell phone, then finally put his car into gear. "Don't forget the alarm, baby. And don't turn it off and go back to sleep in the mornin'. I know what you're like."

"Nicky, that only happened... like two times."

"Try seven." Nick laughed. "You're always doin' it, that's why I moved it over to my side, so you wake me up when you reach over me to turn it off."

"I'm doing it now." Greg assured him, as he set the alarm for the morning. "Will eight thirty be too late?"

"Considerin' the first bell goes at eight forty five and the drive there takes about fifteen to twenty minutes... what do you think, G?" He chuckled. "I usually get up at six forty five, then you have time to get ready yourself, make breakfast and feed the dogs, before you have to wake the kids up and get them dressed, make sure they brush their teeth and everythin'... oh and make sure Cooper goes to the loo before he leaves, otherwise you have to rush him into the school to..."

"I have done the school run before." Greg reminded him with a chuckle. "I can handle it Nicky, what's the worst that could happen? I dress the dogs and take them to school instead of the kids? At least they'll get an education before we find them good homes." He teased. "We can put that on their adoption papers."

"What that they have a second grade education?" Nick smiled into his phone, then gave out a soft sigh as Greg always made him feel so much better. "That's not really a big achievement, Greg."

"Sure it is. Name one other black or chocolate lab in the world that has a second grade education." The younger man giggled, then heard AJ calling out to him from the other room. "I should go, Nicky. Your little babies need tucking in."

"Okay, give em a kiss from me. I love you."

"Love you more." Greg blew a kiss into the phone, then snapped it shut, hurrying into the next room to tuck AJ and Cooper into their beds. Greg kissed them both goodnight then checked all the locks in the house, making sure the windows were all shut, just like Nick always did, before he got ready for bed himself. He was really starting to miss the big comfy blanket that always hugged him while he slept, so he tucked Nick's pillows behind his back, making it feel as though he was still with him.

Alisa123, SunshineAndDaisies, S and cre8tivequilter, thanks so much for reviewing the last chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it.. I was Christmas shopping all weekend, so I never got the chance to post this. I hope you enjoyed a closer look at Greg's fatherly skills :D

Thanks for reading, please review!

Take Care

~ Holly