Author's note: The support for this story has been amazing. I really appreciate it. It won't be long now before we near the end.
CoolDiva: All I can say is that Tim definitely won't be happy when he learns that Tommy is Emma's real father.
moonlite-n-roses: I've been waiting forever to reveal the twist that Tommy is Emma's father, I'm glad I could amaze you.
Lone Nightblade: Don't you worry, Tommy is definitely going to have his say in who gets Emma and trust me he'll make sure it isn't Tim.
GracefulCrane: Didn't mean to give you a heart attack!
Chylea3784: I'm glad that my little twist was actually a surprise for some people.
GinaStar: Yeah, women can't help but fall at Tommy's feet..LOL.
welleg: Thanks, I'll do my best to keep you interested.
AJ: No this story has a totally different vibe than Bewitched but that story will get a sequel so look out for it.
"This is so unbelievable," said Jen who handed a glass of water to Nikki who sat on the couch.
Jen had come home to find Nikki passed out on the couch and Hayley and Tommy filled her in on the truth about Emma's paternity.
"Yeah, we're pretty blown away by it too," Hayley said.
"Is this real?" Nikki asked as she held the copy of the test results that Hayley had printed and stared at the results.
"Yes, according to this test there's no doubt about it, Tommy is Emma's biological father," Hayley told her.
"It's like it was meant to be, I mean what are the odds that you would run away from Tim to find Hayley who just happened to be best friend's with your daughter's real father, I'm telling you this was destiny or something," Jen told Nikki.
"It's a miracle," Tommy said.
"Speaking of miracles, do you guys realize what this means that judge will no reason to give custody of Emma to Tim, I mean how can she, once the truth about Emma comes out," Hayley said.
"Knowing that judge, she'd find some reason to give custody to Tim anyway," Jen told her.
"Now that I think about it, what if Tim has paid that judge off somehow, I mean he's rich enough and it would explain why she keeps siding with him," Hayley remarked.
"Nikki, are you ok, you're being awfully quiet," said Jen.
"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just still in shock about this whole thing," Nikki told her.
"Come on Jen, why don't we let the two of them talk for a minute, I mean it's not everyday you find out you share a child together," Hayley said.
"I'm telling you, its fate," Jen said one last time before she and Hayley left the room.
"That's just like Jen, she's always believes that fate has a hand in everything," Nikki commented.
"Do you think she's right, that somehow fate brought us together?" Tommy asked.
"I don't know what to think, I mean I never wanted to find Emma's real father, I had her because I was trying to save a marriage that wasn't even worth saving, I can't imagine how you must feel about me now knowing that Emma is yours and knowing that I allowed her to grow up in such a hostile environment," Nikki answered.
"No, don't do that, don't start apologizing for something that wasn't your fault, I don't blame you for any of this, I'm just glad that I could be here to help you get out of all that, and you've given me the greatest gift any man could hope for, I have a daughter because of you, I love you Nikki," Tommy said and then he kissed her.
"I love you too and everything would be perfect if we just had Emma back with us where she belongs," Nikki said.
"We'll get Emma back, that I promise you but how are we going to explain to her that I'm her daddy," Tommy said.
"We'll figure out a way, it shouldn't be too hard, Emma already loves you and you've been more of a father to her than Tim's ever been," Nikki replied.
"I've missed so much of her life, so many moments are already gone," Tommy said.
"True, but there are just as many moments still to come and now you can be there for all of them," Nikki told him.
"Sorry to interrupt but I put in a call to Natasha Davis, I didn't tell her anything just that there were some new developments that would help to get Emma back and she's on her way over to talk to you," Jen said as she reentered the room.
"I'm glad she's coming, the sooner we get Emma back the better," Nikki said.
"Jen, can I borrow your car, there's something I need to take care of, Nikki do you think you can handle talking to your lawyer alone," Tommy said.
"What could be more important than meeting with my lawyer to get Emma back?" Nikki questioned.
"It shouldn't take long, I'll be back as soon as I can and I promise you, we will get our daughter back," Tommy told her as Jen handed him her car keys.
Tommy got into Jen's car and pulled out a piece of paper that had an address written on it. He then typed the address into the car's GPS system. Sometime later, Tommy parked the car outside an office building.
"Is Mr. Durham here?" Tommy asked the secretary.
"Yes, he is but Mr. Durham's not seeing anyone today," she answered.
"Oh I think he'll see me," Tommy said as he walked past her desk and headed towards Tim's office.
"Wait, sir, you can't go in there," she called after him.
"Hello Tim," Tommy said as he walked in and found Tim on the phone behind his desk.
"I'm sorry Mr. Durham I tried to stop him," the secretary said.
"It's ok Linda, I'll handle this," Tim said as he hung up the phone.
Tommy waited until the secretary had left and then he closed and locked the door behind her.
"Let me guess, you're here to beg me to drop my custody suit so that you can continue to play house with that whore of a wife of mine," Tim said.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Tommy told him.
"Well here I am and there's no one around to stop you," Tim said getting up from the desk and coming face to face with Tommy.
"You'd like that wouldn't you, for me to beat the shit out of you again and end up in jail where Nikki and Emma would have no protection from you," Tommy said.
"I don't need you in jail to get what I want, the courts are going to make sure that I get custody of Emma and Nikki will never see her again," Tim replied.
"Emma isn't even your daughter, so why do you want her so badly?" Tommy asked.
"I love that little girl despite her mother's shortcomings, I've always loved her and she's been mine since the day she was born and I'll be damned if I let that slut take her away from me, it'll serve the bitch right for lying to me all these years, just think she thought she was pulling one over on me by lying about Emma's paternity well she's the one who's being punished," Tim said with a laugh.
"You bastard, you will never get Emma," Tommy said as he slammed Tim into the wall and then put his arms around Tim's neck.
"Go ahead, hurt me so my secretary can call the police," Tim said.
"I could kill you right now, just one little snap and then you wouldn't be able to hurt Nikki or Emma ever again, but that's not why I came here today, I just wanted to be the one to see the look on your face when you learned the truth, I'm Emma's father and I've got the dna test to prove it, that's right Tim, Emma is my daughter," Tommy said as he cut off Tim's air supply.
"You're lying, there's no way you could be Emma's father," Tim said once Tommy loosened his grip a little.
"Oh there's a way, not to get too technical or anything but that donor that Nikki used, well that was me, and it's true that Nikki and I never knew each other but somehow fate has brought us together and now we know that I'm Emma's biological father and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you never see my daughter again," Tommy told him.
"You might be Emma's biological father but I'm the only father she's ever known and that alone is enough for the judge to give me full custody," Tim replied.
"Let me ask you something Tim, just how do you think the voters will react when they learn the truth about you, that's right I know all about your campaign and I also know how any sort of question about your character will ruin your chance for office, how will people feel knowing that you beat your wife when she was pregnant with the daughter that you claim to love so much or how about the fact that your trying to take her away from her mother not to mention the fact that her biological father has been found and he happens to be in love with her mother and you're trying to take a child from her parents, I know how careful you've been to keep your divorce and custody hearing out of the media so I'd hate for that kind of information to get out," Tommy told him.
"What do you want?" Tim asked as Tommy still held him pinned to the wall.
"I want you to drop the custody suit and then I want you to sign a document denying your claim as Emma's father or else we'll fight this out in court and I'll make sure that every sordid detail of this is leaked to the media," Tommy answered.
"Mr. Durham, are you alright in there?" the secretary asked as she began knocking on the door.
"I'll give you some time to think about it," Tommy said as he released Tim unlocked the door and said nothing to the bewildered secretary.
Sometime later, Tommy arrived back at Jen's apartment and he decided not to tell Nikki about his conversation with Tim.
"I thought Ms. Davis was on her way over?" Tommy questioned seeing that Nikki's lawyer had not yet arrived.
"She got called into to court for another client but she said she'd be here soon," Nikki told him as the phone rang.
"Nikki, it was Natasha, she said you need to come down to the court house something's happened, she sounded urgent," Jen announced.
"This can't be good," Nikki said as she and Tommy headed for the door followed by Jen and Hayley.
They arrived at the court house only hours after Emma had been taken into the custody of social services.
"They're gonna take Emma away from me, somehow Tim's found a way to make sure that I'll never see my daughter again, I mean why else would we get called back into court today," Nikki said as she paced back and forth outside the court room.
"Nikki, don't do this to yourself, maybe the judge has decided that Emma belongs with you because Tim's not her biological father," Jen said as she tried to reassure her.
"Let's just wait until Ms. Davis gets here and then we'll deal with it, I'm not letting Tim take our daughter away, I promise you that," Tommy said.
"Mommy, mommy!" came Emma's voice as she spotted Nikki.
"Oh Emma, sweetie I missed you," Nikki said as she pulled Emma into a hug and held on tight not wanting to let the little girl go.
"Hi Tommy," Emma said when her mother finally released her.
"Hi Emma, I'm so glad to see you," he said as he gave his daughter a hug.
"I don't understand, what's going on," Nikki said to the social worker.
"I'm not sure, we were just told that Emma needed to be at the courthouse," the social worker replied.
"That's because she's going home with her mother where she belongs," Natasha Davis said as she finally came out to meet them.
"The judge actually said that?" Nikki questioned.
"She didn't have to, Tim dropped the suit, his lawyer called the judge and said that his client no longer wished to pursue custody," Natasha answered.
"I don't believe it," Jen said.
"It's over, it's finally over," Nikki said.
"Mommy, do I have to go away again?" Emma asked.
"No baby, you are going home with Mommy where you belong," Nikki told her.
"Before you go, I need to speak to you and Tommy in private," said Natasha.
"Hey Emma, why don't we go and get your things from the social worker and then we'll be all set to go home," Hayley said.
"I'll go with you," said Jen.
"What did you need to see us about?" Tommy asked.
"Well, dropping the suit again Nikki isn't the only thing Tim did today, he also signed a legal document renouncing his claim as Emma's father which means that Tim's name will no longer appear on Emma's birth certificate and I just thought you'd like to get started on the paperwork that will legally make you Emma's father," Natasha replied.
"Is this ok with you?" he asked Nikki.
"Of course, you are Emma's father and I'd really like it if your name was listed on her birth certificate," Nikki responded.
"Alright, I'll draw up the necessary papers and everything should be done in a few days," Natasha replied.
"Come on, let's take our daughter home," Tommy said.
An hour later, there was a celebration going on in Jen's home as everyone was relieved to have the whole custody battle behind them. Now there was only the matter of explaining to Emma that Tommy not Tim was her dad.
"Are we going to live with Aunt Jen now?" Emma questioned.
"No baby, why do you want to stay here?" Nikki asked her.
"No, I miss my room, I want to go back to Tommy's," Emma answered.
"I'm glad to hear you say that because I want you and your Mommy to come home with me too," Tommy told her.
"Can we Mommy?" Emma asked.
"Yes Emma, we'll go home with Tommy but first I need to tell you something, that man that you called your Daddy well he was a bad man and he was really mean to Mommy and that's why I took you away but he's not your daddy anymore Emma, I know that may be hard to understand but we are never going to see that bad man again," Nikki informed her.
"I don't want a Daddy who's mean to Mommy," Emma said.
"That's good but you know what else, you have a wonderful Daddy, one that loves you very much and one that loves Mommy and I think you already love him too, and you know how I know that," Nikki said.
"How?" Emma asked.
"Because I'm your daddy Emma," Tommy answered.
"I'm glad you're my daddy," Emma told him.
"Well I'm very glad that you're my daughter, now come here and give your daddy a hug," Tommy replied.
"I'm really going to miss you guys but I'm glad you're going home with Tommy where you belong," Jen told them.
"You just make sure that you come and visit us a lot," Tommy replied.
A few days later, Nikki and Emma were sent the things that Nikki wanted to keep from Tim's house and they were finally ready to move to Reefside with Tommy. But before she left Denver for good, there was one more person that Nikki needed to sort things out with.
"Nikki, what are you doing here?" Charlotte Hunter asked after Nikki and Emma were let into her home by the housekeeper.
"I've come to say goodbye Mother, Emma why don't you go and see if your grandpa is in his study," Nikki said.
"Running away again, honestly Nikki do you want to raise your daughter looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life?" Charlotte questioned.
"Didn't your beloved son-in-law tell you, the custody battle is over along with my marriage and Tim has given up his rights as Emma's father," Nikki answered.
"Why on earth would he do such a thing?" Charlotte asked.
"Because Tim is not her father and for once in his life he's actually doing the right thing, I don't know what changed his mind and I don't care because I am free," Nikki responded.
"You are making a mistake, how on earth are you going to take care of Emma all by yourself," her mother said.
"I'm not alone mother but even if I were I would find a way to take care of my daughter, I don't need Tim or his money to do that," Nikki told her.
"That's right because you have your inheritance to fall back on because I unlike you thought about my daughter's future," Charlotte replied.
"I am thinking about my daughter's future, I am making sure that her mother is around to see her grow up, but you, you would rather watch your own daughter get beaten down like a dog just to keep your rich son-in-law happy, I couldn't believe it when I saw you walk into that court room, you testified against your own daughter, what kind of mother does that, did you ever even love me or was I just a way to secure your ties to my father's money," Nikki yelled.
"Of course I loved you, I only wanted the best for you," her mother told her.
"Then why didn't you help me get out of that marriage, you saw what he did to me and yet you convinced me that I had no choice but to go back to him, you didn't want what was best for me, you wanted what was best for you, you wanted me married off to a rich husband of my own so that you could keep my father's money for yourself, well you keep the money, I hope it was worth losing your daughter over because I will never forgive you for what you tried to do," Nikki said.
"Nikki, I never meant to hurt you but Tim loved Emma and he would have taken care of her, a little girl needs a father," Charlotte responded.
"Emma has a father, you see it turns out that her biological father is Tommy and he loves her and she loves him and he was more of a father to her than Tim ever was even before we learned the truth so my daughter is going to be just fine, goodbye mother," Nikki said as she left her mother in stunned silence.
"Nikki, sweetheart, Emma just told me that she has a new daddy," Nikki's father said as Nikki entered his study.
"Yeah, it's unbelievable really but it turns out that Tommy is her real father," Nikki told him.
"I want to apologize to you, I haven't been a very good father, I was so wrapped up in my company that I never realized the horror that you've living through, your mother always told me things were fine and I should have known she was only saying what I wanted to hear," he replied.
"It's ok Dad, there was nothing you could have done, I had to be the one to finally realize that I was strong enough to get out of it, I know you would have tried to help if I had only told you what was happening but that's in the past and I just want to move on with my life," Nikki told him.
"I hope you'll still let me see Emma, it's going to be really lonely around here without her visits," he said.
"We'll miss you too Dad and I expect you to come and visit us in Reefside, I'd really like for you to get to know Emma's real father," Nikki replied.
"I'll look forward to it," he said.
An hour later, Nikki and Emma had left her parents home and they headed to the airport to meet Tommy and Hayley.
"Is everything ok?" Tommy asked Nikki.
"It is now, let's go home," she said.