A fic I have had the idea for for a while. Hopefully I can actually get this finished. Anyway, here is chapter one, I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Secrets and Lies

Nikki Alexander had a secret, something that she hadn't told Leo or Harry, despite having worked with them now for almost seven years. The secret ate at her every single day that she worked with them knowing that she hadn't told them. The recent events with Niall and Harry had forced her to dwell on her secret more than usual. The secret was that when she was 19 years old she had had a daughter, a daughter that her father had forced her to put up for adoption. The girl would be fifteen now as Nikki was now Thirty-four, when Nikki had put her daughter up for adoption, she had wanted to know everything that happened in her life, she had asked that the adoptive parents send her monthly updates. They complied with the request at first but eventually the updates became less and less frequent until eventually they stopped altogether. Nikki hadn't really wanted to send her away, she had argued with her father about it for months and months before he guilt tripped her into it. But her secret was brought even closer to the surface three weeks after Niall, Harry's charge, had gone to live with his grandfather, she received a letter from her daughter who had only just been told that she was adopted.

Dear Dr. Alexander,

Or should I just call you mum? I guess you already know who I am but I shall introduce myself. My name is Alice Jones but my mum...my other mum calls me Ali. She says that you picked my name when I was born, so I suppose I have you to thank for that. I am currently 15-years-old and about a week ago my mum told me that I was adopted. This was obviously a shock, I had always suspected that she wasn't my real mum, but finding out that it was actually the case threw me completely. In any case that is the reason I am writing to you. I want to meet you. I apologise if I sound a little bit forward but from the very little that I have been told about you, I only know that you have blonde hair and are a home office pathologist. My parents kept an eye on you apparently. I think they were worried that one day you might want to take me away from them. Anyway, I've e-mailed you my phone number, with the name of a pub that I know is near your office and the times that I will be there. I hope you decide to come.

Love from,

Alice

x

Nikki couldn't help the tears that had started flow down her cheeks the moment she had started to read the letter, it had been sent to the office so she was currently sat at her desk trying not to sob as she stared at the piece of paper in front of her. It was at that moment that Harry walked it.

"Nikki?" he was concerned as always. He moved so that he was stood next to her; "Hey, are you ok?" he noticed that she had a piece of paper clutched in her right hand, but when he went to pick it up Nikki hugged it to her chest. She wasn't quite ready for Harry to find out. Not this way.

She sniffed and hiccupped closing the e-mail that contained the pub's name and times that Alice would be there, looking at her watch Nikki realised that Alice would be there right at this moment, getting to her feet she tried to smile at Harry before replying; "I, I'm fine Harry. Just. Look I'll see you later." She grabbed her bag and hurried out of the office, Harry watched her retreating form, feeling even more worried than he had when he found her. Nikki found her way to the pub and rushed in, during the walk over she had managed to regain control of her emotions. She had dried her tears and focused her mind, it would be no use to anyone if she turned up an emotional wreck. She stood in the doorway of the pub glancing around at the faces of unfamiliar people until her eyes fell on a pair of eyes that she would normally have mistaken for her own. She stopped herself from hurrying over to the table, Alice was thin, with short brown hair, Nikki wondered if that was natural or if her daughter had dyed it that colour. There wasn't much else that she could observe from the other side of the room so she decided to approach.

"Alice Jones?" she asked her voice almost cracking slightly as she took her daughter in.

"Mu-Nik-Uh...Hi." there was awkward pause as Nikki smiled and nodded; "Wow, you are so much prettier than I thought you would be." The teenager gushed as she motioned to Nikki to sit down opposite her.

Nikki took a seat and blushed slightly at the complement; "Thanks, you...you look like me." Nikki admitted; "It's like looking in a time travelling mirror." There was a pause again as the both just stared at each other; "So, your mum told you that you were adopted. Are you okay with that? Do you hate me?" Nikki rushed her questions, when she had given Alice up she had always wondered if however many years down the line she would meet her again and find out that her child resented her for giving her up.

"What? No! How could I hate you? I don't even know you. Look," she paused taking a deep breath; "I had always suspected that I wasn't my parents' daughter. But that's ok. They didn't love me any less than Nathan. My brother...half brother step brother, I don't even know what to call him. Anyway, you should know that I have always been loved." She saw Nikki's smile was tinged with sadness and smiled again; "Also, I understand why you gave me up-" It was at that that Nikki interrupted.

"I didn't want to! My father, forced me to. Told me I'd never make it as a doctor if I had a child to raise so at 19, after months of arguing I finally gave in. I was never happy about it though. I always wondered where you were, if you were ok." Nikki was rambling now so she decided it would be a good idea to stop talking altogether; "I, I would like you to meet some friends of mine. Not today, not now, but in the future. If you decide you want to see me again." Nikki added the last part hastily, she didn't want to push the girl, but at the same time she had lived without her for so long it felt as if now after fifteen years part of her heart had been returned to her.

Alice smiled; "I asked my mum if it would be alright if I stayed with you for a while. She said it would be ok as long as you're fine with it. My school is only round the corner so living with you is actually more convenient than living at home." She grinned.

Nikki's eyes went wide, tears began to glaze over her vision; "You want to stay with me?" she asked not believing her ears.

"Well, yeah. As long as it's ok with you of course."

"It's fine. I would be delighted to have you." Nikki grinned and looked down, now noticing that Alice had a rather large bag with her.

A quietly comfortable silence then hung in the air for a while as they both thought about what had just transpired, Alice broke that silence with a question; "Uh...what should I call you? Nikki? Mum? Dr. Alexander?" The last one was said with a proud smile.

Nikki shrugged; "Whatever you feel comfortable with Alice. But not Dr. Alexander."

0o0o0o0000o

Almost a month later, and Nikki was stood in Leo's office asking for some time off; Leo stared at Nikki would was grinning at him; "You want a week off work? Can I ask why?" Leo was confused Nikki was very dedicated to her work, nothing and or no one could drag her from it. She hadn't taken a holiday in about three years and she was now using that as leverage to gain herself a very sudden holiday. This made Leo suspicious.

"You may, but I probably won't tell you." She smirked again before continuing; "So, the week of the 7th I can have off?" she was already making a note in her diary and getting up from her chair to leave and Leo smiled to himself, whatever it was that had happened Nikki was in a very good mood all of a sudden. While he was suspicious he was also happy. It had been far too long since he'd seen her smile like that.

Nikki was once again on her way out of the office when Harry caught her, he had been worried about her ever since he'd found her crying almost a month ago and she'd given him no explanation as to why, but now she was grinning, more than usual. Her emotions were flip flopping far too fast for him to keep up; "Oh Nikki, glad I caught you, did you want to have dinner with me tonight?"

She looked up from where she had been rummaging through her bag, she looked disappointed and he knew that she was about to turn him down; "Sorry Harry. I have plans. Oh and I've got all of next week off so I won't see you for a while." She smiled and reached up to press her lips to his cheek, her way of saying; 'bye' as she then turned and left the lab. Leaving Harry even more confused than he had been when he first saw her. He reflected that women really were very difficult to understand.

"So did you get the time off?" Alice's voice sounded apprehensive down the phone, it was half term all that week and Alice's adoptive parents had agreed to let Nikki have her for the holidays.

"Of course I did. Look I'm just going to the shops did you want something special for tea tonight?" she asked ducking into her car.

There was a pause as Alice considered the question; "Pizza!" she replied, Nikki could hear her grin.

"No, we aren't having pizza. What would your mum say when she gets you back a week later have you've gained like three stone of weight?" she laughed to herself as she placed her phone in the hands free handset and got ready to drive off opening her window and leaning an arm outside she sighed happily.

"But that won't happen," Alice's voice came through loud and clear through the car; "I inherited your fast metabolism." Nikki laughed, but stopped suddenly when she saw Harry holding a bag and looking very sheepish.

"Uh, Alice I'll call you back ok?" Nikki's voice was tight as she then slipped out of the car; "Harry. Is that my bag?" she asked hoping that he hadn't heard the conversation she had just been having, but the chances of that were very slim.

"Yeah." He whispered handing it to her still staring at her clearly confused; "What...what did she mean inherited your fast metabolism...who was that?" he was finding it very difficult to form any kind of coherent thought at the moment. Nikki had been hiding something from him and Leo for seven years.

Nikki took a tentative step towards him and swallowed hard; "That," she sighed; "that was my daughter. She is 15. When I was 19 I got pregnant and my dad made me give the baby up for adoption...she, she got in contact with me about a month ago. We met up. She's wonderful Harry you would love her." Nikki was looking at him desperately, Harry was trying to cling onto the anger he had felt when he originally realised what he was hearing, but he found that it was slipping away from him quite quickly.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, but he already knew the answer, when they had met Nikki's child would have been nothing more than a distant memory, one that people didn't just talk about, and of course she had only had her daughter back in her life for a month, he understood.

"I'm sorry Harry. I should have mentioned it." She sighed heavily and looked down at her shoes; "I just didn't know how I was going to bring up the subject. Oh by the way when I was 19 I had a baby and I gave it up for adoption. Yeah that wouldn't have been awkward at all."

Harry fought a sympathetic smile; "You seem happy." Harry pointed out.

She grinned at him; "I am. She's amazing. I can't wait for you to meet her Harry."

He locked eyes with her and smiled; "You want me to meet her?"

"Of course I do!" Nikki grinned; "You're my best friend." Harry smiled at her as she then continued; "But I really should get going...I have her for half term, that is why I got the time off so I could spend it with her. Please don't tell Leo, I want to pluck up the courage myself." She then threw her arms around his neck and gave him a squeeze; "This wasn't how I intended for you to find out you know. You should come over though during the week after work. Have dinner with us. She will love you." Nikki insisted.

"How can you be so sure of that?" He asked resting a hand on her waist.

"Well she is my daughter." She said giving him a wink before getting back into her car once more.

Harry leaned into the window; "I am going to need to process this," he paused giving her a warm smile before looking up at her; "I imagine you're a brilliant mum."

She blushed before turning the key in the ignition; "Flattery will get you everywhere Cunningham," she smiled before shrugging; "you would have to ask her though, I don't know how good I am. But I do get the feeling that she likes me." Nikki smiled again before sighing happily; "I should go, she'll be waiting." He nodded and stepped away from the car his heart thumping loudly in his chest. His brain kept reminding him that Nikki was a mum, she had a teenage daughter. It would take a while for him to come to terms with that fact.

A/N: So there you have chapter one. Things have been revealed, now what will this all mean for Harry and Nikki? How will Nikki tell Leo? Reviews are wonderful, no flames thank you. Chapter two is being written.