"Hold your freaking horses!" Nathan bellowed to whomever was relentlessly banging on the other side of the door.

It was just after eight and he had never been much of a morning person. Whoever it was, he had a good mind to beat them senseless when he opened up. Standing on the other side of the door was a smiling Dan.

"Rise and shine, son."

Nathan groaned out loud as he rolled his eyes.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing here? I can't seem to get away from you. In Charlotte we lived 196 miles from each other and aside from planned visits, I never saw your ass. I move to New York, and it's 619 miles away and now every time I turn around, you're behind the door grinning like a Cheshire cat. That 'no call, no visit' rule we talked about just doesn't apply to Haley's place. What gives, man?"

Dan pushed his way in.

"Nice digs. Must be the great taste of my other son, the one that actually loves me and treats me with respect and greets dear old dad with a smile upon my visits."

"He just feels sorry for you. Luke has a soft heart. What can I say?"

"Speaking of the prodigal son, where is he?"

"Sleeping like everyone else as this ungodly hour so keep it down. Now what do you want and where is Mom?"

Dan checked his watch.

"Probably up to her elbows in bacon grease with her little partner, Karen", he rolled his eyes. "I'm here on business, Nate."

"What kind of business? The dealership?"

"Not this time. This concerns you."

"If it concerns me, then how come it concerns you?"

"Because once again, I'm saving your ass. No need to thank me for it, not that you ever do", Dan took the liberty of sitting down and making himself at home.

"What now?"

"I flew it late yesterday evening for a meeting with the NBA commissioner."

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

"Looks like we're pretty close to you being back for regular season, provided you stay out of trouble."

"That…that's great. Was Coach there?"

"No. Seems like you've worn out your welcome in Charlotte. The Bobcats have voided your contract."

"What? They can't do that!"

"The hell they can't, and you have only yourself to thank for it. Be lucky they aren't suing your ass."

"So what now?"

"You're a free agent. Nothing is set in stone but Memphis, Minnesota, and Cleveland are quite interested."

Nathan scoffed.

"I don't want to play for any of those teams."

Dan smirked.

"Well, excuse me, Michael Jordan. Don't know if you got the memo but your reputation and off the court antics have drastically overshadowed your talent and natural ability. Those three teams are currently some of the worst in the league. You could commit mass murder and they'd probably still be vying for you. They need you. But the current top teams…Indiana, New York, Los Angles and Phoenix, you think they're going to jump through hoops to secure a third year player with a reputation of tardiness, disrespect for his team and coaches, marital problems and illegitimate babies that stay in the tabloids and a not so secret drinking problem? Get real, Nate. You're lucky you still have a job and you are in no position to negotiate."

Nathan sighed.

"I'll think about it."

"Think about it? That's cute, son. In the meantime, while you're exercising that pea brain of yours, why don't you the same for your body? You're looking kind of soft around the middle. What have you been doing with all this off time?"

"Relaxing, regrouping…thinking. Trying to get my life back into some kind of order."

"How noble."

"Oh and spending some quality time getting to know and bonding with my child. I wouldn't expect you to be familiar with that."

"Yes, sweet little Lillian. How is she?"

"Fine."

"And Haley?"

"Like you care."

"I do or I wouldn't have asked."

"Nice acting job keeping the straight face and all but she's fine, too, Dad."

"That's nice to know."

"Look, it's early and Haley isn't expecting visitors…"

"I am aware of that and I don't have the time anyway. A car is waiting for me downstairs. My flight leaves shortly but that does bring me to my second order of business. You know your mother's birthday is in two weeks. I am throwing her a surprise party. I'm sure she'd love it if you could come."

"Okay. I guess…"

"I take it Lillian will be with you."

"I'd have to see if that can be worked out."

"Haley is welcome as well. She could be your date."

"Hold on", Nathan said as he grabbed the remote and turned the television on the new channel.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure hell didn't freeze over. Did I just hear you right or did someone have a little too much whiskey last night?"

Dan laughed.

"Clever but you heard me loud and clear."

"Dad…"

"I have no animosity towards Haley. She did ruin your life once…no twice but hell, what can I do about it? You're a grown man, you have a child with her and for whatever reasons I have yet to figure out, obviously you're still in love with this woman. I can't make all your choices for you and Luke even though I only have your best interests at heart. If he wants Brooke Davis and you want Haley James, who am I to stand in the way?"

"You're scaring me but okay…"

"Nonsense. Come and we'll have a good time…as a family."

"It's a little late for that all the way around, don't you think?" Nathan muttered.

"It's never too late. All I want is a healthy, loving and positive relationship with my boys. Your mother adores you. We can be a family again. That's not impossible. And as for your own new family…well, that's up to you but I assumed the reason for you moving up here temporarily, in addition to the child was to somehow rekindle the flame?"

"Dad, there is no flame, okay? I came here for Lil, bottom line. Haley and I are in agreement when we say being good parents is our top priority. All that other stuff…if it ever happens, it won't happen for a long while. It's on the backburner for now and I don't know if you'd forgotten but uh…legally, I am still married to Megan."

Dan smiled.

"I almost forgot my third order of business. Thanks for reminding me, my boy."

"What now, Dad?" Nathan asked impatiently.

Dan opened the briefcase he had been carrying and rifled though it. He found and handed a sealed folder to his son.

"There you go."

"What the hell is all this?"

"Depends on how you look at it. Early Christmas present, maybe. Open it and find out."

Nathan tore open the envelope packet and pulled out the stack of legal paperwork. Sure enough, it was a petition for divorce from Megan.

"How's you get this?"

"They were sent by your lawyers. I had an expert on domestic litigation look over the documentation and you got the best out possible. She filed under the irreconcilable differences clause and she didn't ask for any settlement or alimony. She only requested that you sell the Charlotte estate and give her half. That's fair."

"It's more than fair", Nathan said quietly as he browsed through everything.

"All you have to do is sign and I will be happy to hand deliver them back to North Carolina."

"If I need a personal courier, I'll hire one, Dad. I'll read these over and I'll have a meeting with my own attorney before I sign anything."

"Suit yourself but pay special attention to that last page. I had it drafted myself. It's a confidentiality agreement."

"For?"

"You never know. Better safe than sorry, right? You get your life together and Meg might get revenge hungry. She could go to The Enquirer or have a sit down with Barbara Walters and make a fortune airing our family's dirty laundry. I cannot allow that. That paper ensures with her signature, she is permanently barred from ever discussing the events of her relationship with you and the Scotts."

"Dad…"

"No need for thanks. Really", he winked.

Nathan smiled.

"Trust me, I won't be thanking you. As a matter of fact, I plan to show you exactly what I think about your little agreement", Nathan stated as he ripped up the paper.

"Idiot, what are you doing?" Dan yelled.

"I've done enough to Meg. I hurt her beyond belief. I lied to her, I cheated on her, I treated her like crap and in one of my tantrums, the stress caused her to go into premature labor. Our kid is dead and tell me she doesn't at least blame me a little for it. I ruined her life, Dad. Yeah, she's strong and eventually she'll move on but the pain of the last year will be with her forever. She could have went public a long time, she could have stabbed me in my sleep or she could have been a real bitch about this divorce. But she wasn't. And she never will be. Know why? That's not her style. Megan has more class in her pinky finger than unfortunately, you and I have combined in our whole bodies. I would never disrespect her or add insult to injury by asking her to sign this crap. I will sell the house and if I could, I'd give her everything if I thought she'd accept it. But I know she won't so I'll honor her wishes and give her half. That's the very least I can do."

"And they say Lucas is the one with the soft heart", Dan commented. "Don't let this come back to bite you in the ass, son. You have a chance to get it all back but if everyone finds out all the details of everything that has happened, once public sentiment turns against you permanently, you're done. Remember that."

"I'm tired of hiding, Dad. I won't live a lie anymore. My life is an open book anyway. When the time is right, I'll handle the public the right way. I made a lot of mistakes. I will apologize and admit to them…and I'll be honest about them. That's all I can do. It might hurt but I owe it to Meg and to myself and to my two daughters."

Dan shook his head.

"I've died a thousand deaths, Nate. I've sacrificed so you and Luke don't have to. But you make life harder than it has to be. One day, you'll leanr and because of your stubbornness, it might be a very painful life lesson. But you go right ahead since you're so damned smart and honorable. Die a couple of times, boy. It might make a man out of you…it did me."

Nathan looked his father square in the eye.

"A coward dies a thousand deaths. A soldier only dies once."

"One day you'll look back on this very conversation with regret."

"No, Dad. The only thing I regret is opening that door and letting you in. Now you have a plane to catch and I have sleep to catch up on. Before this gets any uglier, why don't you do us both a favor and get out of here."

Dan stood and straightened his expensive jacket.

"You are more and more your mother's son everyday."

"And thank God for that one. See you at the party…Dad."

Nathan shut the door and closed his eyes. Just 15 minutes with that man was enough to drain the life out of anyone. Sighing, he collapsed back down on the couch and stared at what was to be the final and legal end to his second failed attempt at a happy marriage.

"You alright, man?"

It was Lucas.

"Perfect timing. Dad just left."

"I heard", Lucas yawned as he joined his little brother on the plush sofa. "I was cowering underneath the covers of my safe bed until he left."

"You didn't miss much. As usual, he was being an asshole. He got me back in the NBA as a free agent being courted by the three teams I'd least want to go to. He invited us all to my mom's surprise birthday party in a few weeks. Oh…and he dropped off these divorce papers."

"I heard it all, man. You okay?"

"I don't know. It sucks. Hell, it hurts. I guess most of its my own doing. I'll be fine."

"Yeah you will be. And good for you for standing up to him like that."

"He deserved it."

"That he did. You've come a long way, brother."

"With an even longer way to go."

Lucas smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Maybe so but the journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."