(I don't own this song or OTH. The song is called 'He Didn't Have to Be' By Brad Paisley)
Yeah, I hope I'm at least half the dad
That he didn't have to be
Because he didn't have to be
You know he didn't have to be
A couple months after Finley's sixth birthday he decided that it was time for a Men's Weekend, so he decided to get Lucas, Finley, and Nathan and go camping.
"Have fun." Said Brooke as the guys left for the weekend.
"We will babe, we'll see on Sunday." Said Lucas as he kissed Brooke goodbye.
"Bye." Said Brooke before she turned and went back in the house unsure of what she was going to do by herself, so she grabbed her keys and headed to the café to see if Karen could use any help there for the weekend.
A little while later the guys arrived at the spot they were going to set up camp at.
"Okay we should set up the tent here and put the pit over there." Said Keith as he looked at the spot.
"Sounds good, Fin why don't you find some rocks so we can put together the fire pit. While we put the tent up." Said Lucas.
"Okay Daddy."
"Luke, he's not going to be able to lift the size rocks we need for the pit." Said Nathan.
"I know that, but it gives him something to do and that way he feels like he's helping. I'll go out after we put the tent up and get some bigger ones. Dad used to do the same thing to me, Skills, Fergie, and Junk." Said Lucas.
"It's a good plan I'll give you that." Said Nathan.
"Daddy are there bears out here?" Asked Finley.
"I don't think so why do you ask?"
"Because I heard Mommy tell you this morning to be careful of the bears."
"Mommy was just kidding buddy, you know what why don't you go ask Grandpa where the bears are." Said Lucas.
"What was Brooke talking about?" Asked Nathan as they heard Finley ask Keith about the bears.
"You don't want to know trust me." Said Lucas.
"Gotcha."
"Okay well the tent is all finished. So how about we go find those rocks huh."
"Okay."
"So where did you tell him the bears were?" Asked Nathan as he walked over to Keith.
"Chicago." Said Keith with a laugh.
"That's better than Luke's answer, all he said was that Brooke was kidding." Said Nathan.
About a half hour later Lucas and Finley arrived back with rocks and set up the fire pit. The guys decided to go and catch their dinner in the stream that they were camping near and started the fire when they got back. They had decided against telling scary stories until Finley was older because Lucas and Nathan both remembered how after they had been told neither of them could sleep the entire camping trip.
The camping trip was a good trip for the guys they got to spend time away from their wives and had fun teaching Finley about nature, something that they were sure that would be passed down to the future generations.
Keith sat up on the last night and thought back to the times that he had spent with Lucas and the only thing he regretted was that he had missed the first five years of his life. And with Nathan most of it. But he vowed not to miss any important time with Finley, mostly because he knew first hand how fast kids grow up.
Lucas laid awake thinking how Keith had stepped up and raised him even thought biologically he didn't have to. But at the same time he was grateful that he did. Because if he hadn't he wasn't sure if he would be a good father and that was the one thing in his life he refused not to mess up on. That and his marriage. He had learned from Keith that family always comes first no matter what.
