A/N: Hey, there! So, I know the last thing I need to be doing is starting yet another series, but here we go! Actually, I'm not sure to make this a series or not, so I'm counting on you to let me know. Mally is a little angel for the most part, so in this one, the daughter will be a hanous bitch for the most part (I love Nick having a daughter, if you can't tell). This chapter doesn't have much, but later she'll be the devil's spawn, with real bad problems. Sound like a kickin' good time? Let me know in a review!
Nick Stokes frantically paced around his kitchen, waiting for his friend John to pick up on the other end of the line. He'd been frantically calling people for a while now, hoping to pick up a single thread, but no luck so far. This was one of the last numbers he knew, so he crossed his fingers.
"John?" he asked, "Hi, it's Nick Stokes. I'm so sorry to call you at this hour. We can't find Kelsey. She was supposed to get home at eleven, and it's almost one o'clock."
A tired John Groves responded, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Nick, I haven't seen her. She hasn't been around here tonight. Courtney got home at eleven thirty and she didn't mention anything about Kelsey."
Just then, the back door opened to the Stokes home, and fifteen year old Kelsey slowly walked in, looking tired and ruffled, but just fine.
"John, she just walked in. She's okay." He reported, relieved, but feeling the anger boil up. "I'm so sorry to wake you up." Nick glared over at his daughter, now with his hand on his hip. "Thanks again."
Half angry, half relieved, Nick walked over to Kelsey and hugged her. "Thank GOD you're okay." He said as he clenched her tightly, taking in her familiar scent. Courtney was worried. Her dad wouldn't be this happy for too much longer. She knew the relief would soon be overtaken by the quest for the truth.
Nick pulled away after a good hug, as she expected, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Where the hell have you been, Kelsey Marie?" he demanded of her, looking dead on into her eyes. It made Kelsey uncomfortable and she looked away.
"We lost track of the time." She tried, searching for an answer. It almost sounded like a question.
"By two hours? Two whole hours?" He raised his voice, dropping his arms and putting them back on his hips. She nodded timidly. "You've got to be kidding me! Do you expect me to believe that?"
"Yes! We were playing basketball over at Finney Park." Kelsey then turned her forearms out to show the scrapes from the game, hoping this excuse would do the trick.
Nick gently lifted her left arm up to look at the scrapes.
"You've got asphalt stuck in there." He informed her, taking her by the wrist and leading his daughter towards the kitchen sink. He let the water run until it was warm. "Start washing that out with soap. I need to call your mother. She's out looking for you with Mrs. Jenkins."
The soap stung against Kelsey's fresh cuts, but that was not worrying her as much as the look of disappointment on her father's face. Nick was not Kelsey's biological father, however. Her real dad left her mom and Kelsey when she was just six months old. Kelsey hardly ever heard from her real dad. Nick started dating their mom, Sara, when Kelsey was two. For baby Kelsey, Nick was the only father figure she'd ever known. They married two years later and have been a family ever since. In recent months, Kelsey began to use the "You're not my real father" catchphrase whenever she was in trouble. Of course, Nick had been the one filling the role of dad since she was two, including bedtime stories, afternoon outings, hugs, kisses, and loving discipline.
Kelsey admitted that she and Nick always had a better father-daughter relationship than almost anyone else she knew, but she didn't let him know that nowadays. She could talk about important things with him and he was actually home a lot, unlike many other fathers she knew. Kelsey considered Nick to be her real father, but teen angst caused her to reach deep down for anything to throw back at him. In the back of her mind, the phrase always lingered as a weapon fully loaded, ready to be fired.
Nick picked up the phone and dialed Mrs. Jenkins' cell phone. He paced, which was never a good sign.
"Baby? It's me. She's back home and she's okay…yes….I'll wait for you to get here…bye." He hung up the phone and walked back over to the sink. "How's it coming?"
"Okay." She answered shortly, beginning to wash the suds off her arm.
"We probably better put some of the cream crap your mom puts on. Neosporin." He grabbed a clean towel from a drawer. "Come here." He gently pressed the towel down over her arm and led her to the kitchen table. There, he blotched her arm dry with the towel.
"Where does she keep that stuff?"
"In the medicine cabinet in the bathroom." She told him, dreading the sting. "Dad, I'm fine."
"No. We're better safe than sorry. We don't want it to get infected. I can't believe you left it this long." He rummaged around in the downstairs bathroom and finally found what he was looking for.
Kelsey moaned. "That stuff stings!"
Nick was not in the mood and gave her a look.
"Well, if you'd been home on time, this probably wouldn't have happened." He expressed as he sat back down at the table. Kelsey buried her head in her spare arm and laid her left arm on the table, her dark brown gentle curls spilling over on the wood. As Nick applied the ointment, she took a quick, painful breath in and jerked her arm back a little.
"Hold still, baby." He took hold of her left fingers with his spare hand.
"Sorry, it burns like hell."
Nick finished rubbing the ointment onto her arm and took one last glance at the injury.
"Alright, now go up to your room, and when your mom gets in, we'll come in to talk."
Kelsey's teen angst began to build up. She began to say, "You can't tell me what to do." But Nick had been expecting it and interrupted her mid-sentence.
"Go!" he said calmly but firmly before she could finish. They stared each other down for a couple seconds and then Kelsey hastily got up from her chair and stomped up the stairs. Nick put his head in his hands and waited for his wife to return.
About ten minutes later, Sara returned home, tossing her things on the counter, looking exhausted. Nick got up from the table where he had been sitting and thinking. Sara's face was much softer now that her daughter was home safely. She walked to the table and kissed her husband gently on the lips.
"Is she up in her room?" Her voice called out, sounding tired.
"Yeah. I told her we'd be up to talk." He tried to calm and comfort her, gently stroking her arms as she slumped against him.
"What did she say?"
"Said they lost track of time. Either she's lying or being totally irresponsible." He let go of his wife and leaned on the chair as she paced a little.
"Either way, I'm going to skin that girl for putting me through all this."
Just then, the phone rang, snapping them from their trance.
"Hi Nick, it's John."
"Hey, there, what's up?"
"Nick, I went in to Courtney's room to check on her right after you called and she wasn't in there. Snuck in the back door a few minutes later, but we were waiting up for her."
"So they were out together?"
"Yeah, I guess they must've met up after 11:30. Courtney must've climbed out her window after we went to bed. From what we've gotten out of her so far, a bunch of them were out at the lake drinking."
"They were drinking?" he repeated. He looked over at his wife, her mouth opened wide. Nick couldn't believe he hadn't noticed a difference in Kelsey. Before he could stop her, Sara was storming up the stairs in a hissy, and Nick was left to end the conversation.
"How many kids were there?"
"Courtney said about thirty."
"That many?" he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Well, I better get upstairs quick. Sara is tearing her to pieces. I appreciate you calling."
"No problem, Nick. I'm sure we'll talk again soon."
Nick hung up and rushed up the stairs, now more angry because he'd been lied to. He could hear his wife's voice frantically yelling behind his daughter's closed door.
"Drinking alcohol at the age of fifteen? Have you been listening to a word we've said for the past fifteen years?" Nick heard his wife rant. He stepped in and closed the door, so not to awake their five year old daughter, Chloe, a product of his marriage to Sara.
"Kelsey, I need you to level with me right now." Nick interrupted, looking down at her seriously, as she sat on her bed. "I just got off the phone with Courtney's dad. Are you ready to tell us what really went on?"
"What is this, an interrogation?" she snapped, looking between her two parents, standing in judgment.
Nick folded his arms and glared at her.
"You'd better watch your mouth. I'm gonna lose my temper here real quick."
Kelsey collapsed onto her bed and put her head in her hands. They just didn't understand that teens didn't tell their parents everything.
"Okay…" She moaned, knowing they wouldn't let her sleep until they knew what had really gone on. Sara sat on the edge of her bed and Nick pulled the chair out from Kelsey's desk. "Colin, Megan and I went out to the movie and it ended at ten. So then we went to Finney Park to hang out. We played a couple games of basketball." She lifted her arm to remind them of her injury, hoping it would earn her a little pity.
"Then what?" Nick probed quickly.
"Then some other kids showed up. I didn't know them but Colin did. They invited us to the lake."
"What time was it then?"
"10:45."
"You should've headed home right then." He looked down at the floor, and then back up in disappointment.
"Okay, I'm sorry!" She snapped, "I screwed up!"
"Did you drink anything?" Her mother asked. Kelsey sighed.
"I had one beer. That's all. Other kids were drinking more."
"That makes it better?" He asked in disbelief. "Do you know what could've happened if the police showed up? All that underage drinking? That kind of stuff goes on your record. Not to even mention the fact that you're diabetic! You were so irresponsible!"
"I researched it on the Internet! As long as I ate beforehand and only drank a little, I would be fine. And I am. I just checked my blood sugar."
Nick let out a disappointed sigh, not believing she had actually planned this.
"I'm so proud to know my fifteen year old daughter knows how to drink responsibly." He chastised her, and Kelsey immediately looked ashamed, wishing she hadn't just told them that.
"I'm just tired. I want to go to bed." She laid down on the bed and put her right arm over her eyes.
"We wanted to go to bed two hours ago."
"I know. I'm a horrible daughter."
"Alright, we'll talk about this tomorrow when we've all had some sleep." Nick decided, getting up and pushing his chair back under her desk.
"Can't wait." Kelsey muttered, kicking off her shoes. She wouldn't even bother to change into her pj's, she was so tired.
Her mother got up, leaned over, and kissed Kelsey on the cheek.
"I'm glad you're home safe."
Nick got up and put his hand on Sara's back in support. When his wife was done, Nick sat on the bed and leaned over the girl he'd helped raise for the past thirteen years.
"Just yell at me in the morning." She told him, closing her eyes. "I can't take any more."
"How's your arm?"
"Fine."
"We'll have to keep up with that Neosporin." He looked down at her for a moment, looking so tranquil and peaceful for now, and he was thankful she got home safe. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweetheart." He kissed her gently on the cheek and stroked her face with his thumb for a moment. "And I love you." Nick whispered, before getting up. Kelsey didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Nick knew she hated him right now, but that was to be expected.
At 8:47, Sara and Nick heard their youngest child's feet on the stairs down the hall. Sara had been laying in bed for a while. Once she heard Chloe, she nudged her husband.
"Munchkin's up."
Nick rubbed his eyes and looked at the alarm clock.
"Already? Eight forty five? That heathen."
"We better get down there before she burns the house down."
"You stay in bed for a while longer and sleep. I'll take care of Miss Sunshine." He leaned over and gave his wife a series of slow, tender kisses.
Nick had decided last night that Kelsey would wake up when he had to, since she had kept him up all night. He opened her door and flipped the lights on.
"Time to get up, Kel!" He announced. Kelsey was still dressed in her hipster jeans and tanktop she was wearing the night before.
"Why?" She moaned, the way only a tired teen girl can, as she shielded her eyes from the burning spring sun.
"There's no reason for you to get to sleep in." He told her, "If you can party that hard, you can work that hard too."
Nick walked over to her window and opened the blinds, pouring the morning sun into her room. He went to her closet and fished out some fresh clothes as he continued. "Why don't you go take a shower and change your clothes. We'll be downstairs. I better hear the shower in five minutes."
He deposited her new clothes on her bed, and then left, hurrying down the stairs. Still clad in his pajamas, he made it just in time before his other daughter could cause too much mess. She was about to pour herself a bowl of Cheerios, which would have ended in disaster.
"Woah, there." He grabbed the box and fished it away from her reaching hands. "Let daddy help you with that."
"Hi daddy!" She exclaimed. She put her arms around him to give him a hug, only reaching just above his waist.
"Good morning." He ruffled her chestnut hair a little and planted a kiss on the top. Nick treasured his youngest and only biological child because she was still in the stage when she loved being around her daddy, and wasn't ashamed to admit it. He could still play with her, and get plenty of unforced hugs and kisses. Those days were gone with Kelsey. "How'd you sleep, peanut?"
"Good." She stared longingly at the cereal being poured. "Give me lots, daddy, I'm starving!"
"We don't want it to overflow when we add the milk." He patiently explained. "You can have seconds if you're still hungry. How's that?"
"Okay." She agreed, nodding her little head once firmly. "Daddy, why were you yelling last night?"
Nick looked down at her, concerned that he'd upset her.
"You heard me yelling?"
"You woke me up," She complained, "And mommy too."
"I'm sorry, baby." He poured the milk. "Kelsey didn't get home until very late, and mom and I were very worried. So when she got home, we needed to talk. I must've talked louder than I thought."
Nick picked up the bowl of cereal and a spoon and took his daughter by the hand, leading her to the table.
"You don't need to worry about it."
Chloe seemed to accept her father's explanation, and began eating her cereal as Nick opened the paper.
Sara decided she couldn't sleep any longer and finally got out of bed. She slipped on her robe and headed for the kitchen. Kelsey's door was open, surprisingly, and she wasn't in her bed. The shower ran in the background.
"Why's Kelsey up so early?" She arrived downstairs and walked into the kitchen where her husband and daughter were sitting at the table.
"I got her up." Nick admitted, raising his hand timidly. "She's not sleeping in if I'm not."
"Mommy, you and daddy woke me up last night!" Chloe complained again, putting her tiny fists on her hips.
Sara whipped around with a worried look on her face, not knowing what to say."
"When we were talking to Kelsey." Her husband cleared up, looking over the morning newspaper and giving her a knowing wink.
"Oh." She sighed and smiled simultaneously. "I see."
The three members of the Stokes family went about the rest of their morning, waiting for the teenager to join them. After breakfast, everyone else took their showers and Chloe watched cartoons. After Nick was done dressing, he joined his daughter in front of the television. He sat down on the couch and pulled her onto his lap. When he started tickling her mercilessly, she squealed with laughed, squirming to get away.
"Stoooooooop!" She pleaded. He gave her kisses on the cheek and then put his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. They were enjoying "Scooby-Doo" when Kelsey finally bounced down the stairs dressed in track pants and a t-shirt.
"I'm going to Finney Park to play basketball." She announced and headed for the door, like it was nothing.
"Excuse me?" He turned his head around, not believing what he was hearing.
"I've got a breakfast bar to eat on the way, and I already checked my blood sugar." She told him, pretending not to know why he was so opposed to this idea.
"I don't think so. Not after your behavior last night."
"Why not?" She whined, stopping and walking towards the couch.
Nick lifted Chloe off his lap and quickly grabbed his other daughter by the arm and dragged her into the next room.
"You acted totally irresponsibly last night. There is no way you are going anywhere for at least a month." He tried to whisper, so not to upset Chloe, but his tone of voice was rash.
"You never said I was grounded." She tried to call him on it, giving him a challenging look.
"I told you we'd talk about it today. You know damn well you're grounded. Don't even try that game with me. Now get in the kitchen and eat a good breakfast, because we've got yard work to do."
"You're kidding." She looked at him like he was an alien, but it didn't faze him. Sara had heard the tail end of the conversation, and finally stepped into view when Kelsey kept arguing.
"Kelsey, why don't you just go on up to your room and we'll come make clear exactly what your punishment is. Then you'll come help us with yardwork."
Kelsey didn't dare argue, and stormed up the stairs in a huff, making as much noise as possible. Nick and Sara discussed an appropriate punishment for a minute or so, and then proceeded upstairs to put an end to her moaning and games.
When they came into her room, she was slouching on her bed, examining her non-existent fingernails.
"Your mom and I have discussed your punishment." Nick started Sara sat down next to Kelsey on the bed. A tear began to fall from her eyes, and Nick paused, a little confused. "And we're grounding you for three weeks for breaking curfew and the drinking, and another week for lying to us. No phone, and Internet is only for schoolwork.
Kelsey looked straight up at Nick with tears in her eyes, a look of hate and defiance taking over.
"What makes you think you can tell me to do anything?" She stabbed in a hateful voice neither parent had ever heard.
"Kelsey!" Her mother gasped.
The way she looked at him and the way she spoke stabbed Nick in the heart like never before. Sara looked at her husband, and he looked like he was dying. He looked like he was about to break down, as his life; his daughter; was stomping his heart into the ground with ruthless abandon. Instead, he knelt down to her eye level and gently spoke to her.
"Kelsey, I know I'm not your real father. I wish every day that I could call such a beautiful, talented, loving girl my own, but I can't. But I have been there since the age of two. I've watched you grow, and cared for you, and yes, disciplined you like you were my own. And I think that counts for a lot."
He paused for a few seconds and then promptly walked out of the room and headed down the stairs. Kelsey sat on her bed, looking at the floor in shock and disgust at herself. She couldn't believe how low she'd just stooped. What a horrible daughter she was. Kelsey didn't even know where it had come from. She'd always been so confused about her real father, and what Nick really meant to her. He was trying to control her, and she snapped. But he was just trying to be her father. He was a great dad, and he didn't have to be. Nick loved her like his own daughter, and wasn't going anywhere. What the hell was she thinking?
After her mother left moments later, silently, she began to think about her relationship with Nick. She recalled the many birthdays she would wait for her real father to call. The many times that he didn't, Nick was there to comfort her. He would hold her in his arms, kiss her on the forehead and temples, and tell her that her father didn't know what he was missing. You are the most beautiful, wonderful little girl in the world he would say, and he's crazy not to want to call you. And you have people here that love you to pieces. He always knew exactly what to say. He was there at every basketball game, every dance recital, and every single important event without question or hesitation. He sure made her mom happy too. Without a moment's more pause, she ran down the stairs.
"Where's dad? She asked Chloe, who was sitting on the couch watching television.
"Outside playing in the dirt." She informed him innocently.
Kelsey ran out the back door and looked to the right and then to the left. There she saw her dad; her father, Nick. He was working hard laying mulch in the garden while talking to her mom. He looked very distraught, and Kelsey knew it was her who caused him the pain. Her mom was probably telling him what a wonderful father he was and how she didn't mean what she said.
"Daddy!" She called out, feeling tears sting at the back of her eyes.
"Kelsey?" He put his hand up above her head to shield the sun from his eyes, squinting.
Kelsey began to cry as she ran towards him at full force. She crashed hard into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. Nick started stroking her hair and quietly whispered, "Shhhhhh…" to calm his daughter.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She said over and over again.
Sara had stepped back and looked like she was about to cry as she cupped her hands around her face. "I'll be inside." She whispered to her husband as she headed indoors.
"I'm so sorry…" She sobbed.
"It's okay, sweetheart. You don't have to say anything."
Nick was starting to cry too. He put his caring hands gently around her head and pulled back from the embrace with tears in his eyes.
"You have made my life so wonderful. Since the day I met you."
He kissed her just once on the forehead, and then held her again in his arms as they both continued to weep. They both had each other no matter what, and Kelsey had never felt so safe cradled in his arms.
