Never Too Late
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A/N: judging by the number of readers per chapter, it looks like some of you just skipped to the last chapter on the previous update (it was one chapter in 2 parts) and were probably confused. just go to 'chapter 12 part 1' and all will make sense again.
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Chapter 13: Here... we finish...
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"Justin, there's someone I'd like you to meet..."
Justin looked at Alex expectantly for a moment before she swung open the door revealing Harper and a small child, four or five years old he guessed. As he looked at this little girl, he began to notice things... her hair, her facial features, her slim build... she looked so much like Alex... and that's when he began to grow nervous.
Alex had a child and he never knew... He was starting to-
"Justin," Alex said, trying to remain calm, "this is Katie." she continued, placing her hand behind the little girl's back, encouraging her forward, curious at the expression of wonder splayed across her daughter's face. "Katie, this is Justin... your fa-"
"Justin?" the small brunette interrupted, her eyes fixed on his. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her mother nod and heard her say, "Yes, Katie. He's-" but the wheels in her mind were turning to fast to hear anymore...
She knew that name but hasn't heard it in some time and as the gears clicked into placed, her eyes lit up... his eyes... and she knew. "Daddy?" she asked quietly, her voice full of hope.
Justin gasped. His eyes darted back and forth between Katie and Alex looking for confirmation to what he'd just heard, thousands of questions racing through his mind, unable to process any.
"Yes, Justin." Alex said, answering his silent question. "She's your daughter."
His breathing increased, his heart raced, his brain, unable to even form a thought anymore, allowed his mouth to gape slightly, and his eyes to widen in shock.
Suddenly the world slowed down, nearly crawling to a hault, time seeming to, once again, stop. "DADDY!" Katie shrieked in excitement, breaking into a sprint towards him... the father she's waited so long for.
Without thinking, he dropped to one knee, the other following soon after, as he watched this child, his child, this glorious little creature... beautiful and exuberant... come crashing into his open arms.
He wanted to be angry with Alex for keeping something like this from him but as his mind recovered, the only thing he felt was joy... unbridled and overwhelming... and tears streamed down his face as his body trembled.
Katie doesn't remember how tightly he clung to her, she didn't care, and squeezed him as fiercely as her tiny frame could manage. Justin doesn't remember how long he held her... he didn't care either. This was his moment, her moment... their moment, and no one could ruin it.
Almost.
"Justin, you cry like a girl."
Quickly he opened his eyes, still holding his daughter tightly, and looked at Alex, who quickly wiped her own happy and relieved tears away in an effort to keep him from noticing... but he saw her anyway and cocked up an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't count. I actually am a girl."
He smiled at Alex and loosened his grip on Katie so he could pull back and see her... truly see her and, in his eyes, she was, for lack of a better word, perfect.
With a trembling hand he reached up to caress his daughter's cheek, wiping her tear soaked face with his thumb as she beemed brightly at him. He couldn't stop his smile from growing when she did the same to him... like father like daughter.
Finally able to speak, he was able to softly stutter out something he'd never known he wanted so badly, "I... I'm a father." and Katie answered with something she's been dreaming of saying ever since she could remember, "Hi, daddy."
Justin let out a short, tear choked laugh, "Hi." before engulfing her in another hug. Never in their lives had two words... 'father', 'daddy'... changed their world so completely... and they couldn't have been happier.
...
Alex stopped crying long before Justin did, and much sooner than Harper, relief easing her tense muscles. And now that she thinks about it, she should have known it would end this way... with Justin embracing his little girl, both crying like, well, little girls... and she was having a difficult time wiping the smile from her face.
She watched for several moments as Justin picked up Katie, twirling her around as she squeeled in pure glee, before finally settling on the couch. Alex let out a soft chuckle as their daughter promptly crawled up into her father's lap and started prattling on like she usually did... but, this time, there was so much more excitement in her voice... and Alex knew why.
Without warning, Brandon popped into her head, and, given what she was about to do, felt no guilt. "Harper," she said, turning to her best friend, "I've got to make a phone call."
Resisting, and failing for the most part, the urge to record Justin and Katie, she put down her camera and listened in as Alex dialed and placed the phone to her ear. "Brandon, hi, it's Alex-... No, I've got to cancel-... 'Cause, it's not working out-... It's not you, it's me. It just wasn't meant to be. I care for you, just not in that way. Take your pick-... Uh huh-... Uh huh-... Nope, sorry-..." Alex pulled back from her phone and looked at it a bit miffed. "He hung up. Rude."
"Well, you weren't very nice, Alex." Harper said. Alex shrugged and looked back into the living room at her family, her new family. "Honestly, Harper, right now, I couldn't care less." she said with a smile.
Harper frowned for a moment before grinning. "I understand. And besides, when I was in town the other day, I heard that Brandon was kind of a froo froo anyway."
Alex shot her a 'what the hell are you talking about look'. Harper sighed, "Yeah, I don't know what it means either, but it doesn't sound good."
Alex giggled at her best friend and gave her an unexpected, but still welcomed, hug. "Thanks, Harper. For everything." "Your welcome, Alex."
...
Alex flopped down on the couch next to Justin, placing Katie's feet in her lap and watched the two of them. Justin rarely spoke beyond the occasional, 'wow', 'really?', 'that's so cool', but what he was doing was gently stroking her cheeks, running his hands through her dark hair and down her arms... almost like he was afraid this was all a dream and touching her was the only way to make sure this was real...
As she watched them talk, well, Katie mostly, she saw the look of amazement and wonder on Justin's face, and when he pulled Katie down and kissed her on the forehead, Alex knew one thing: Never in her life had she been this happy.
And in the eighteen minutes Justin and Katie have known each other, Alex knew two more things: Justin would always be wrapped around Katie's little finger. And Katie would always be daddy's little girl...
...
It's been a week since Justin came back and six days since he had met his daughter and things were as close to perfect as they could be. And although Alex may have been a bit jealous that Katie was taking up so much of Justin's attention, she understood, and decided to let it go... for now.
It was just around lunch time and they had decided, as a family, to go to the burger joint just down the street. 'Family'. That word, and the emotions it brought forth, still made Alex smile. She had called her family, her 'old' family, Sunday evening, as promised, and told them about what had happened. They were ecstatic, even Theresa, that their two oldest children were finally happy and threatened to come visit as soon as possible... but after some begging and Katie's 'grandpa, please', they decided to give Alex, Justin, and Katie some time to just... be.
Finally ready to go, they stepped outside, and Justin, being the responsible one, locked the door. Turning around, he grinned at Katie, "C'mere, you." and she squeeled with delight as he picked her up and put her atop his shoulders.
Alex rolled her eyes and smiled at them. "You know, Justin, she's five. She can walk on her own."
"No, mommy. I like this better." Katie giggled. Justin beamed. "I know, right? This is so much more fun." he said, carefully bouncing his daughter while she laughed.
Alex couldn't help but shake her head and grin devilishly as they started the short walk to the restaurant. That's my girl. Why walk when you can be carried.
But she couldn't stop her nervousness from growing as they approached.
Finally arriving, they happily ate their bugers and fries and talked openly about anything and everything... no one knew them here... and even if someone did, they could go to hell... there wasn't going to be anymore running.
After about a half an hour Katie blurted out, "I gotta go potty."
Alex chuckled at the little girl's bluntness. "Ok, honey."
Katie hopped down from her chair and proceeded to make her way to the bathroom when Alex noticed Justin getting up too. "Justin, she's fine." she said, motioning for him to be seated.
"Right, sorry." He said, sitting back down. "I'm still new to this whole 'dad' thing."
Alex gave him a faltering smile, making her current nervousness worse. "I'm sorry." she said, realizing how much it must have hurt him to have a child he didn't know about kept from him.
Justin reached across the table and took her hand. "It's okay, Alex. I know, now, why you did it... why you ran. I understand and I just want you to know that I'm not angry..." he stated with a grin, "...not even a little. Okay?"
"Thanks." Alex said softly, only this time, her smile was genuine. Okay, Alex thought to herself taking a deep breath, It's now or never. "Justin, there's something I need to tell you and I need you to promise me you won't freak out."
Justin scoffed and stated confidently, "I don't freak out."
"Really," Alex retorted, "cause I super-glued some of the pages to your Captain Jim Bob Sherwood comic together."
"You what?" he shrieked.
"Just proving a point, Justin." Technically, she didn't lie about the super glue, but that could wait... "Your comic's fine." Most of it is anyway.
"Not funny... but I get your point" he grumbled. "I promise not to freak out."
Alex took another deep breath and swallowed hard before cautiously telling him, "I'm pregnant."
Suddenly his mouth was dry and hanging open, his eyes were about to be let loose from their sockets... he was in shock... again. He mentally scolded himself. How could you have been so stupid. Why didn't you use protection?
He knew that they had dodged the proverbial genetic bullet with Katie, and by all accounts, he had deemed her to be perfect, but what were the odds? What were the odds of this new life being, as much as it made him cringe, defect free... but as these worries played through his mind, something pushed itself through to the foreground.
He used to be a wizard, and Max was still a wizard, a full wizard, and if push came to shove, magic might be the answer to his unborn child's health... and as much as he hated the idea, he knew, already, that he would do anything to ensure it.
As he stared into Alex's eyes, so full of nervous anticipation, a new thought appeared. I'm about to be a father again! As a smile slowly started forming, he blinked in realization and shook the smile away..."W-What? But it's only been a week since we... you know..."
Alex threw a french fry at him. "No, genius, I know that. Back at your apartment... Like almost two months ago... Ringin' any bells here?"
"Oh, right." he said, blushing slightly. "I thought you were the smart one." Alex retorted with a wry smile. "Soooo... what do you think." she asked, the anxiety quickly returning.
He dropped his 'annoyed' glare when he saw the genuine nervousness behind her eyes. "I mean, I'm nervous and worried, sure. But this... it's just... terrific and wonderful!"
Alex snorted. "Who talks like that? Just say terrifical."
"Alex, that's not a word."
"Did I just say it?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, but-" "Then it's a word!"
"It doesn't work like-" he started, but that thought crossed his mind once more. I'm going to be a father again. "Alex, your pregnant?"
"I've noticed. And didn't we cover this already?" she replied flatly.
"We're going to have another child?" Justin said, his excitement quickly building, even has Alex tried to stay nonchalant. "Yep." she replied as her relief lessened.
He leaned forward and took her hand again and asked softly, fighting back the tears that would surely get him called 'girly' again, "We're going to have a baby?"
Alex only nodded this time, her face beaming, her smile shining at the happiness and joy held behind his eyes.
Without warning he jerked upright, his chair sliding across the restaurant, throwing his arms in the air, "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!"
"Ah! OH!" Alex winced, startled by his outburst.
By the time she recovered, he was running around shouting 'we're gonna have a baby' so excitedly her heart nearly burst... until people started shooting knowing looks her way. "Justin! Sit! Down! Now!" she commanded with a hiss. His reply...
"WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!"
Alex slumped back down into her seat and raised the menu in front of her face. "He's so embarassing." she muttered to the number five special. She vaguely recalls the sound of the restaurant door dinging as he ran outside... still shouting his happiness to the whole town of Warren as far as she could tell.
Only then did she feel somebody elbow her from the next table. "Oh hey, Shirley."
"Alex, dear, did you see how happy he was?" the elderly woman asked. Alex tilted the side of the menu again, "Yeah, but geez-"
"Listen to me, honey." Shirley interrupted. "You don't take this away from him. Sure, he'll embarrass you now, but you let him have this. He's just like my Michael was..." she paused to chuckle, "... He did pretty much the same thing to me but, and this is the important part, Alex, but what you need to do now, is let him embarrass you... let him have this joy now... and later, he'll realize what he did, apologize profusely, and make it up to you in spades."
Shirley smiled when Justin stumbled back in and placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "Trust me on this one, honey. Everything will be fine."
Justin recovered enough to make his way to the table as Alex took Shirley's advice and cautiously lowered the menu. "Alex, I'm so... sorry... I was just... really... excited." he panted, the grin on his face appearing to be permanent now.
Alex looked over at Shirley who gave her a 'told ya' grin that Alex returned with a 'thank you' smile. When she turned to face Justin again, Katie was climbing back up into her chair. "Geez, that line in there was forever!" Katie stated. "And what was all that yelling?"
"Does she know?" Alex shook her head. "Can I tell her?" Alex stared blankly at him for a second or two. "Please." He whined. "Tell me what?" Katie interjected.
"Yeah, sure." Alex agreed.
Justin reached over and pulled Katie into his lap. "Guess what." "What?"
"How would you like to have a little brother or sister?"
"Really? That would be terrifical!" Katie exclaimed.
"See," Alex snorted, "I told you that was a word." Justin rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his daughter.
"Well, mommy is pregnant. Do you know what that means?" he said, obviously trying to hide his quickly returning excitement.
Katie's face was the picture of pure joy as she nodded 'yes' to her father's question and looked wide-eyed at her mother. "Really, mommy?"
"Yep. Are you excited?" Alex asked.
The little girl's ability to contain her excitement quickly crumbled. She threw her arms in the air, "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!"
"WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!" echoed her father.
Alex groaned and slumped back down in her chair retreating back behind the menu. "Ohhh, Katie... not you too."
...
The next day, Justin made his apologies, and just like Shirley said, made up for it. Even though he was still new to the town, he had found one of the most beautiful places Alex has ever seen, and since this would be Harper's last day, Harper volunteered to babysit... hang out, she meant...
He'd strung white Christmas lights between the trees to guide the way to the moonlit picnic by candle light set atop a gently rolling hill on impossibly soft grass... And even though Alex found it a little cheesy at first and wondered where the electricity for the lights came from, she quickly melted and grew to love it. They talked, they ate, Justin made a fool out of himself, Alex laughed at him... the usual... and when they made love beneath the stars, he whispered, "I love you so much."... and all was forgiven.
A few days later, Alex walked into their home and the sight she saw forced her to struggle to fight back tears... a fight she lost. Toys, books, and puzzles were scattered across the living room and though irritated at first, when she turned around and saw Justin sleeping on the couch with Katie resting peacefully on his chest, she couldn't help but smile as she remembered something Shirley had told her over a year ago... love always finds a way... and though she didn't know how, it seemed that Shirley was always right...
...
For the next few days, Justin began to grow more and more quiet and his face began to show signs of guilt and worry and Alex was growing nervous.
He was sitting at the kitchen table flipping through a photo album of Alex and Katie when she found him. "Justin," she asked cautiously, "what's wrong. You haven't been yourself lately."
He wiped his eyes so Alex wouldn't see, but the redness in them gave him away as he turned his chair to look at her. "Why were you crying?" she asked, but this time, there was no teasing in her voice.
"It's nothing. I'm fine." he answered with a weak smile. Alex walked to him and sat in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Justin, remember what you told me?... no more fear. If you're having second-"
"No! No, it's not that... at all! I love you and I love Katie and," he paused to place his hand on her stomach, "I love this baby, and I'm not going anywhere... ever... it's just that..." his voice trailed off.
"What?" Alex gently encouraged.
He sighed. "When I look at Katie and I look at these photo albums, I can't help thinking about how much I missed... her being born, you having to raise her by yourself, her first words, her first steps..."
"Justin," she said sadly, "it's not your fault." Alex leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on his forehead as a tear finally slipped from his eye.
"I just... sometimes I think that she'll wake up one day and realize that she doesn't want me... that she doesn't need a father."
"Daddy, No!" Katie stated firmly from behind them. "That's not true!"
Quickly, she made her way to her parents and tugged on her mother's arm. "Mommy, mooovveee." she whined.
"Okay, okay." Alex unwillingly complied and knelt down beside them.
"Thanks." Katie said, hopping up into her father's lap. She pointed a finger at her dad and put on her best 'serious' face. "You are my daddy. You will always be my daddy... no matter what! Got that, mister?"
Justin chuckled softly and stroked his daughters cheek. "Got it." Suddenly he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from him... and that's when he knew that this delicate being before him, loved him as much as he loved her.
Katie lowered her finger and placed it on his shoulder. "Good."
Justin sniffled quitely and took Alex's hand, squeezing it gently, and looked back into his daughter's eyes. "So... It's not too late for me to be your dad?"
"No, daddy." Katie stated firmly, shaking her head for emphasis. "It's not too late."
She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, squeezing her arms tightly around him and whispered in his ear, "It's never too late."
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End
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A/N: well there ya go. my feeble attempt at a sweet story. hope you like it! the only thing left is the epilogue... coming soon.
on a randon note: there's a single word and a single phrase that exactly one of you will get (you know who you are) and i found it too amusing to pass up. hope you saw it!
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fun facts
(this part is just a 'thank you' for reading. it will have no bearing on the story, and if you don't feel like reading it, just skip it.)
-also, if you'd like to review the story, feel free, but please don't ask stuff about these goofy little 'facts' in one... my reasoning- if someone, in the future, is reading reviews to figure out if they want to read this thing, i don't want them asking 'what the hell?'-
this part is just for y'all! if you have a question about them, do it in a PM or something... i'll answer. promise.
about the story:
-like everything else i've written on this site, it was done with only a smartphone and a bluetooth keyboard (i know, right?)
-it all started with the very last line (like all the rest of mine have) and backtracked from there to the last scene.
-i like the idea of the first thing you read in a story (the title) and the last line being the same (i don't know why)
-the next thing in my head was the very first scene and it progressed from there
-i don't particularly like to write them 'in character' so to speak. my tendency is to slide them a little more towards 'real-ish' but i figured i'd slide them more toward 'character' for this last chapter.
-some of you may have thought that some chunks were missing... and they were. i cut out, what i like to call, pointless chatter. it's the stuff that characters are saying that are not all that important to the 'main event'... kind of taking up space if you will... and while it's fine to read, i found it incredibly dull to write... so as alex would say, i gave it the 'bootski'. some of my favorite, or most important 'pointless chatter' made it in the form of a flash back, and is designated by *flashback* where i took it from.
-it was originally supposed to be 30 chapters but i cut it down to 13 + an epilogue: here's a brief run down of what was booted and kept.
ch 1-3: funny feelings, awkward moments, lingering touching and looks.
ch 4: feelings become tangible, try to ignore, *flashback* the dance, alex gets the kiss she wanted, just not from who she originally intended.
ch 5: time passes, horribly uncomfortable for both, alex accepts her feelings first, justin resists.
ch 6: justin finally accepts, "now what", "keep it a secret, duh" *flashback* roses (altered)
ch 7: time passes, theresa becomes suspicious, *flashback* catches them on the couch and flips her shit.
ch 8: sneaking around, time passes, *flashback* their first time, (would've pushed it to 'M')
ch 9: time passes, time together coming to a close, alex feels sick, missed period (not from their first time though), pregnancy test, "shit, that's not good."
ch 10: in the lair, *flashback* theresa catches them making out (before alex can tell justin about baby), and again, flips her shit, alex panics for child, leaves, time passes
ch 11: *flashback* justin is pissed, leaves to find her, alex's journey, justin's search, shirley
ch 12: alex & shirley, time passes, katie's birth, time passes, 'memory flashes' start, justin's search, time passes
ch 13: chapter 1 (rearranged for new story type)
ch 14: chapter 2
ch 15: chapter 3
ch 16: chapter 4
ch 17: alex & harper, tyler & katie, zeke & alex (about justin, awkward)
ch 18: chapter 5 expanded
ch 19: chapter 6 expanded (ends the same. i love that line)
ch 20: *flashback* justin meets chelsea, alex's search, harper & katie
ch 21: alex's search (extracted for chapter 7), justin & chelsea grow closer, time passes, justin proposes trying to move on
ch 22: chapter 8 more or less
ch 23: chapter 9 expanded (really angry)
ch 24: chapter 10 expanded to 'M'
ch 25: chapter 11
ch 26: time passes, *flashback* justin confesses, time passes, alex meets brandon, harper & alex about bradon
ch 27: alex & brandon, justin starts packing, alex & brandon get closer, justin decides, "who am i kidding. i can't live without her.", drives to alex's in his u-haul
ch 28: katie 5th birthday, alex, harper, and family, alex and brandon, getting serious?
ch 29: chapter 12 expanded (if you can believe it) pushed to 'M'
ch 30: chapter 13
epilogue: epilogue (unchanged) it was only thought of about half way through the last chapter... a line popped in my head to end it with that was too good to pass up.
-you're probably thinking 'holy shit, over half of it was cut. yep. most of it was 'pointless chatter' that only moved the story along a little bit at a time. like i said, it's fine to read, but for me, sucks to write.
-think of it like this, some would take a hammer and chisel and carve out a detailed story... i took a jackhammer to the thing. the same goals were accomplished but this one was just... rougher.
-keep in mind, that's a lot of shit to keep straight in your head, and at times, picking out things, sorting others, rearranging stuff, got to be a bit much... so some stuff got missed or forgotten about... *shrugs* it happens.
about me:
-penname: dulscar- where'd it come from?
it was a type-o years ago that had something at one point to do with my name, but you guessed it, i was too lazy to fix once i realized it... and it kinda grew on me.
-speaking of type-os, i'm not sure if you noticed, but i often type 'in front' as 'infront' and 'no one' as 'noone'
usually i do quite well with spelling and grammar (although the, what some may deem as, 'unique phrasing' is intentional) but for some reason, those two things get me nearly every time... don't know why.
-writing: the first creative thing i've ever written was the first story i posted to this site. unless you count school crap... which i don't... that's more like a punishment.
-favorite stuff i've written: 'happily ever after?' and 'as the fire dies'- i like the picture they put in my head
-least favorite: the short one and the dirty one(it was a dare, don't tell anybody though, it was supposed to be a secret)- let's just leave it at that
-i've officially been on twitter for a little over a week, and yes, i find it completely pointless, but it gives me a chance to get out some 'crazy' that's being stored
why sign up? a friend of mine did and wanted me to... when i refused, they dared me to... and *sighs* i'm a sucker for a dare... can't help myself
-as a writer: personally, i think i suck, but that's never stopped me before. i find it amazing that anybody likes my stuff enough to favorite it and i'm even more shocked when i'm favorited as an author... i am, however, extremely touched and grateful. so thanks!
-what's next? well, most of you who liked this story probably won't like my next one.. though i'd like you to give it a try anyway. it will be called 'over the horizon' and will be for lack of better words, dark and intense. mostly about survival and staying alive when the odds are against you. i'm actually planning this one out!...on paper first! i know, i'm shocked too. it'll be kinda scary though so... yeah.
anyway, if you're still reading this, then thanks! and remember, if you have a question or comment about any of this stuff, please do it in the form of a PM... just to keep reviews separate and avoid confusion from future readers (although, if you did want to review *laughs*, you'd probably have to re-read the chapter after all of this nonsense. lol! sorry 'bout that.)
anyway, thanks for reading folks!