Chapter 10

"I can't believe you are here! How are you here? I've missed you so much!" Luce had run right into her Mom and Dad arms. She hadn't realized how much she missed them. Luce took a small step back still hugging them both.

"Well that very nice boy over there called us about two weeks ago and asked if we would like to come up here for your meet. Your Dad said no at first but I convinced him. Daniel really is a special boy and I think he likes you a lot." Daniel had walked up behind Luce.

"It very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Parker. I'm very glad you both were able to make it. How was your flight? I hope the staff treated you well." Daniel shook Mr Parker hand. Than smiled at Luce. "I'm gonna leave you all to get caught up just remember Luce you need to be in the pool by 10. You have a very special daughter." Daniel turned walking toward the pool with both of their bags. Luce watched him go and wondered why she had ever dough him.

"So baby, how are you liking college? We've missed you. Have you made a lot of friends? Do you have enough money or do we need to send more? Hows your computer holding up?"

"Mom, mom, mom." Luce giggled "I like college and I miss you both too! I have met a lot of people and have a couple really good friends. You will meet Nora, Hailey, and Jordan later. Yep I do have enough money just keep up the care packages. About the computer. .. ." Luce looked at her feet. "it actually died. But Daniels Dad was super nice and had sent me a new one so... It's all good."

"Wow that's a pretty generous gift. So are you and this Daniel serious?" The way her Dad asked was kinda awkward. But Luce knew it was just him being protective.

"I think we are. Hey I got to go." Nora walked by and Luce grabbed her. "Can you show my parents around." Luce eyes were pleading for her friend to say yes.

"Ummm sure. Yeah. No problem."

"Mom, Dad, this is Nora she's my roommate and best friend. She'll show you around and bring you back here for the meet. Thanks Nora."

"No prob little one. Come on Mr. and Mrs. Parker we can start the tour at Luce and my room." Luce watched her Mom and Dad walk away safe in the hands of her best friend. She turned around and headed for the pool.

Daniel was standing outside of the locker rooms. She jumped into his arms. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. How did you know? How'd you pull it off? I mean I can't believe you did it?" She thru her arms around Daniels neck.

"I had Nora get their number and I called. It took a little convincing but your Mom loved the idea. Plus Dad is in Tokyo for two weeks. So I knew the plane would be free. And after all the crap going on with Becky I hoped it would help me get out of the dog house a little." Daniel twirled a small section of her hair around his finger. "Are you happy?"

"Oh goodness yes. Thank you so much baby. I love you." Oh crap that didn't actually come out! Please say that didn't actually come out. Daniel face was something Luce couldn't get a read on. His eyes were sparklingly but his face read shock.

"Luce. Ummm." Oh God it did come out and he doesn't feel the same way.

"Umm I gotta get changed. I'm sorry." Luce tried to run into the locker room but Daniel was faster. He wrapped her into his arms while picking her up and kissed her. He set her down and whispered in her ear.

"I love you Lucinda." She looked into his eyes and smiled. He gave her another kiss. "Good luck love." Daniel handed Luce her bag and walked into the guys locker room. All she could do was stand there. Megan came up next to her. "Hey we gotta get changed. Come on." Luce fallowed her into the locker room and got changed.

Coach had them all warm up with the captains and him giving last minuet pointers. Luce couldn't lie she was nervous but was ready to show what she had. She looked over at the bleachers and there was her Mom and Dad sitting next to Jordan, Hailey, and Nora. A big smile came across Luce face. Ok stay focused. She looked at the event board she would be in the first race than the second, forth, and fifth, all the girls events were first fallowed by the guys. She was stretching when coach came up to her side. "Ok kid now I know its a freestyle and its not your best but just give it all you got ok?"

"Yeah ok coach." The knots in her stomach just got tighter. Jas walked up to her side.

"Hey freshmen you got this. So quit freaking out."

"Ok thanks Jas." Luce pulled her goggles down and climbed onto the block. The buzzer went off and everyone she was racing with dove into the pool. Luce noticed Becky in the lane next to her. Ok you bitch want to hang all over him fine. But this little freshman is about to kick your ass. With that thought she took off. Swimming as fast as she could. When Luce got to the end of the pool she didn't even think cause her body knew what it needed to do. Flip, twist and push. After her turn she looked and couldn't see Becky next to her. Come on Luce push harder. She raced for the other end and the end of the event. Her hand hit the wall and her head popped up looking for everyone else. Wait everyone else is still swimming toward me. Oh My Goodness I did it! Daniel was there as she climbed out.

"Luce you got first!" All she could do was smile. She could hear her Mom and Dad from the side lines.

"Way to go freshman." Jas high fived her. Coach was just smiling as he walked up to her.

"That's my girl. Now get ready for the next. Head in the game kiddo." The butterfly. She had this in the bag. Luce fixed her swim cap and stepped on the starting block and put her goggles into place. Deep breath in and out. The horn went off. She dove into the pool. Luce didn't even have to think about what she was doing. He body sailed thru the water. She reached the end of her first lap flip, twist, push. She rocketed off the wall then pushed hard to finish first. Luce could hear Daniel, Jas, Mark and Coach yelling at her to push it. Ok here we go. Now push. She reached the the end and hit the buzzer and popped out of the water. Once again she had some how taken first barely. Once everyone had made it to the end. Luce climbed out right into Daniel arms. He picked her up.

"Way to go love." He put his mouth to her ear. "I love you." He set her down and they all walked over to everyone else who were all cheering.

"Ok, ok. Next up get on the blocks. We can all celebrate later." By the time her next race came up Luce was feeling tired. But yet again she was up against Becky. Ok I kicked her ass once and I'll do it again. I'm gonna show her what this little princess girl can do. But in the back of her mind she was worried about if she had the stamina for 200 meters. Its only four laps I got this. Just gotta take it easy at first than kick it into high gear for the last two laps. That is exactly what she did too. She made sure she stayed next to Becky thru the first two laps. When she made it back to the starting end of the pool Luce flipped, spun and pushed with all she had. Time to go, go, go. She swam with everything she had left letting her anger with Becky from the last few days give her the energy to keep going. She flew past Becky and could see the person in first. Flip, Turn, Explode. Luce took off for the other end of the pool and the end of this race. She kicked and kicked and kicked. She almost collided with the wall when she hit the buzzer. Luce knew she didn't make first but she hoped she had smoked Becky. Luce got out of the pool before she even dared to look at the score board. Second. I got second. And Becky . . . . Third. Ha take that you hateful hag. Everyone was telling her how good she had done when Becky passed by with a very pissed off look on her face. All she could do was smile. Ok final race time. Megan climbed up on the block next to Luce.

"I'm gonna kick you ass Luce." All she could do was smile.

"You can try." Megan smiled. They both fixed their goggles and took their positions. Then they took off. Luce knew she wasn't going to do so hot this time. The last race had taken almost everything she had. Her body hurt and she was super tired. She then thought about Becky in Daniels clothes this morning and she found the energy to keep going. Luce ended up finishing third to Megan's second and she was perfectly fine with that.

"Good job Luce."

"Thanks Megan." Daniel was stretching and Luce could tell he was trying to get in the zone. All three of his races were back to back. The announcer came over the speakers saying the men competition would start in one minuet. Daniel walked over to Luce, who had finally taken off her goggles and swim cap and was running her fingers thru her wet hair.

"You think I can get a good luck kiss?" Luce finished sliding her towel dress on and turned to him. She rose up on her toes and gave him a kiss. Than another and another. "Thanks beautiful."

"Good luck and babe." Daniel slid his swim cap on and looked at her.

"Yeah." Luce smiled.

"Kick their butt." Daniel smiled slid his goggles down and took his place. She knew he would do amazing he was one of the strongest swimmers on the team. Daniel did go great taking 1st in two and 2nd in the third. The rest of the meet passed quick. After everyone was asking Luce if she was going out tonight. They all headed to the locker room. Luce took a shower and changed her clothes. She walked out to the front of the pool. Where her Mom, Dad, Nora, Jordan and Hailey were waiting.

"Oh honey you did so good. We are so proud of you." Her Mom gave Luce a big hug.

"Yep that's my bumble bee." Her Dad gave her a big hug and kissed the top of her head. They both squeezed her tight. As her team mates passed they all told Luce what a good job she did and they couldn't wait to see her tonight. She had almost forgot about the party later. Daniel was over talking to Coach, Jas and Mark but when their eyes locked he smiled and winked.

"Luce you did so awesome. You kicked major butt." Nora gave her a big hug. Jordan and Hailey joined in.

"Hey we are all going out for dinner you guys wanna come." Jordan dark hair was moving like waves around her face.

"Ummm I think I'm gonna skip guys. I kinda want to spend time with my parents."

"Yeah of course. We'll see you in the room later to get ready for the party."

"Ok." The girls started walking toward the parking lot. Luce turned back to her parents. "How long are you here for?"

"Just a couple more hours sweets. Dads gotta work tomorrow."

"Ok I know what we should do. We can get pizza in the mess hall and then there is somewhere I want to show you." Luce started leading her parents to the mess hall. "How's Liz, Micky, and Jen doing? Does Jen like community collage? How are Liz and Micky handling their senior year? I miss them like crazy."

"The girls are good. They still come over every Friday for cookies although it really isn't the same without you." Her Mom kissed her head. Luce turned to her Dad.

"How's teaching going?" Her Dad gave her hand a squeeze.

"Good. Same old same old. Can't wait to have you home bumble bee. But hey Thanksgiving is only a month away."

"Yeah I know. I can't wait to be home too." To be honest Luce missed her room. When her parents had finished the attic when she was six. They turned it into her room. It covered the whole top floor of the house. The room had a window on each wall. Her extra high four post bed was snugged in the window alcove facing the backyard. When she was 12 her mom had put a gaze canopy that started in the end of the alcove and lightly fell to be wrapped around the end two posts. Her desk fit perfectly in the alcove facing the front yard and her Dads rose garden. The roses grew up the front side of the house all the way to her window making her room smell of roses every summer. Her vanity was on the left side of the house, it had the best lighting. Along that whole wall was her closet with her freestanding mirror which doubled as a jewelry box. In the right side alcove her Dad had built her a large sitting area where her and her friends had spent many afternoons playing or talking about boys and clothes. The room was a light cream color and her mom had made it look like there was ivy crawling along the walls. The floors were a dark cherry and all her furniture was a light mahogany. With the stairs in the middle. She really missed the mixed smells of cookies, her Dad's roses, jasmine and lavender that grew all around the house. Luce couldn't wait for Thanksgiving break. Now all I have to do is convince my parents to let Daniel come with. It would be amazing to show him everything. Luce sat her parents at the girls table and went to get their pizza. She turned to walk that way when she saw Daniel leaning against the booth just the way he had been the day after they met. Luce smiled and walked with all the food to the table.

Daniel leaned down and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Hey. So way to kick serious butt today. After how Coach was bragging to the other coaches, I don't think you need to worry about your scholarship for next year. I honestly was waiting for him to do back flips. I was just telling your parents how amazing you were and Charlie will be here in two hours to pick them up." Daniel turned to look back at her parents. "Mr. and Mrs Parker I would like to also offer that anytime you would like to come up just let me know and I will make the arrangements." Daniel looked back at Luce and their eyes locked. Making her smile. Her Dad cleared his throat.

"I want to thank you again Daniel. It was very generous of you to fly us out here like this."

"Of course, Mr Parker. I knew Luce was homesick and she was nervous about not having you here for her first meet. Anything to make Luce happy." Daniel smiled at Luce making her blush. She gave him a quick peck.

"Daniel, how old are you again?" Luce turned instantly to look at her father.

"Dad." Daniel slid in so he was sitting next to Luce and put his hand in hers under the table.

"I'm 21 sir."

"Hmm don't you think your a little old to date a 18 year old."

"Daddy!" Luce was mortified and turning bright red. She looked her Mom.

"John." Luce's Mom looked at her husband in utter disbelief. But her Dad was just getting started.

"What are you majoring in?" Daniel didn't look at all nervous but Luce was squirming in her seat.

"I am majoring in biology and minoring in theology sir. I would like to become a micro biologist. Mainly work in the field of childhood cancers. I hope to find a way to treat cancer on a cellar level so things like radiation and chemo are no longer needed." Luce and her Mom couldn't help but smile. Turn that into a negative Dad.

"That is a lot to take on. How many years of schooling would you need to finish in able to accomplish something like that?"

"Another five to earn my doctorate and then another two or three as an intern. But I will be able to work in the field as soon as I get my doctorate."

"That's a lot of debt to take on. How would you pay all that back?"

"DAD! Mom!" Luce wanted to just disappear. Daniel squeezed her hand telling her it was ok.

"Actually between my allowance from my father and the discounts for being captain for the swim team I really don't have debt to speak of."

"So your parents are paying all of it than." Yep I'm gonna die right here. Luce couldn't be any more embarrassed.

"No sir. I get ex amount a month from my stock that I own in my Dads company, and from an allowance my parents insist that I have. I could just blow all of it but I decided as a freshman to budget it and pay about 80% of my expense including college. However I do have a loan thru a bank. Which I make payments on every month so I can build my credit. I don't want to have to depend on my parents when I am done with school." Luce was pleading with her Mom to end this.

"Well Daniel it sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. Doesn't it John?!"

"Umm Hmm." Luce rolled her eyes.

"On that note. I'm starving and I still want to show my parents around some more!" She turned to Daniel giving him a kiss. "I'll see you later." Daniel raised her hand kissing it.

"Can't wait. Again Mr and Mrs Parker it was very nice to meet you. Mr Parker if you have anymore question please feel free to call me." Daniel shook his hand and left. Luce watched him walk away. Turning to her Dad.

"Daddy really? You grilled him. Here. Oh my goodness. I'm so embarrassed." Luce took a bit of her pizza.

"Well I want to make sure he is good enough for my little bumble bee." Luce finished her pizza and stood up to clear the table but her Mom had beat her to it. She just put her hands on her hips.

"Really Dad."

"We'll see. He's a little old for you baby." Luce snagged her Dads arm and started walking them to her tree. They only had about an hour left and she hadn't figured out a way to ask if Daniel could come with her home for Thanksgiving. Luce stopped dead in her tracks turning to her Dad.

"Daddy. I like him a lot and he treats me like a princess. He sends flowers at least once a week. You heard him he has big plans for the future. He's a really good guy. I mean he flew Mom and you here. Didn't he?" Her Dads expression softened. He let out a big sigh.

"You really like him don't you?"

"Yeah Daddy I do."

"Ok bumble bee. We'll see." Luce gave him a huge hug. "Wow I haven't gotten one of those hugs in a long while." Her Dad squeezed her. "I love you kiddo. I just want whats best for you." Luce lead them to her tree. They talked about what was going on at home. How her Moms students were doing. How her art was going. What her Dad was teaching. How many kids he had flunked or put to sleep already.

They made it to the tree and Luce lead them thru the leafy curtain. She waited for her parents expression. They were in aw.

"It's beautiful baby!"

"Thanks Mom. I found it the second week I was here." Ok here it goes just say it quick like taking off a band aid. "Mama, Daddy. Can I ask you something?" Breath and Go. "How would you feel about Daniel coming home with me for Thanksgiving?" She had said it all in one breath and closed her eyes waiting for her Dad to blow a gasket. When it didn't happen she slowly opened one eye than the other. Her Mom was looking at her husband than at Luce. She could feel every second ticking by. Her Dad started to pace which normally wasn't a good sign. "Daddy?" He looked at her than his wife, who gave a encouraging smile. Luce Dad let out a long sigh.

"I guess. If your still dating him and everything." Luce squealed and jump on her Dad giving him a huge hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you." Her mom looked at her watch.

"John we got to go. Baby you want to walk with us to the parking lot?"

"Of course." Once in the parking lot there was a limo waiting. Luce gave both her parents a huge long hug. Telling her Dad there was nothing to worry about and she would see them both in just a couple of weeks. She told her mom they would bake up a storm as soon as she got there. To please tell Jen, Micky and Liz to call her more. They climbed into the car. It was funny how much she had changed in the matter of a month and a half. It still was hard to watch them leave. Than she felt some very strong familiar arms around her waist.

"Hello love." She turned around to see Daniel with a half smile on his face making her smile. She raised up on her toes and gave him a kiss.

"Hello. So I have some good news. If you want to hear it?" Daniel pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Of course. Whats the good news?" He smiled and kissed her.

"My Mom and Dad agreed that you." She posed for effect. Placing her hands on his chest. "can come home with me for Thanksgiving break. If you still want to?" She batted her eyelashes and smiled. He pulled her closer.

"I would love too." Luce giggled and Daniel kissed her. "Oh and I love you." They stood there for a moment just looking in each others eyes. He leaned down and gave her a long kiss. "Now Nora sent me to come get you so she can get you ready for tonight."

"I love you. She did huh. Walk me back?" Daniel slowly laced their fingers together and lead her back to her room.