Author's Note: Hey, an update! Yay! Okay this one takes place before the movie.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Parent Trap (1998) or any of its characters. ) :

Innocence

Paperwork was the devil. It was something that Nick Parker reaffirmed every Monday when he went over all of the various documents that the growing success of Parker Knoll was producing. Of course, the success made the paperwork a little less scary in that he was looking at more profit and expansion than bills and debt. Still, the man found these Monday afternoons tedious, so the jiggling of the handle on his office door was more than enough to draw his attention away from the sales report in his hands.

"Daddy?" the young red-headed girl questioned as she peeked into the room.

"Hey, Hal." Nick smiled as he glanced at the clock. Yes, it was time for school to be out wasn't it? He dropped the papers, pushed his rolling chair a few feet from the desk, and held out his arms. Hallie quickly entered and crawled into his lap.

"How was school?"

"Fine." Nick frowned at the short and rather glum sounding answer. Usually the question brought on a full enthusiastic description of the day.

"What's wrong, Squirt?" the man questioned.

The girl was silent for over a minute keeping her eyes on her hands as they fidgeted in her lap.

"Hal, did something happen?... Hal?... Hallie?" Nick gently began to shake his daughter's shoulder as his concern grew with each passing second of silence.

"Why don't I have a mommy?" Hallie blurted suddenly.

Nick's worry faded from him in an instant and was replaced by shock and something else he couldn't quite identify. "What?" he asked softly.

The girl's face finally looked up at her father's, frowning slightly for having to repeat herself. "Why don't I have a mommy?"

"Why don't you… W-what brought this on?"

The red-head's frown deepened at not yet having an answer, but she decided to be patient and explain further. "Everyone else in my class has one. And everyone says you have to have a daddy AND a mommy for a baby to come. But … I don't."

It was then that Nick's brain finally came out of its stupor. Her mother. Right. Of course, questions like this were going to come up. She was in school now and had other lives to compare her own to. Hadn't he known this? Hadn't he prepared for this? Oh, that's right. He was just going to tell her the truth. He stood up and sat Hallie on top of his desk so he could talk to her more on her level.

"Well, you see Hal…" It was then that he made the mistake of looking into his innocent little daughter's expectant eyes.

The truth? He had really thought that he could just plop his five-year-old down and tell her the truth? What part of the truth could she possibly understand? What could this child possibly glean from the truth about his divorce and the horrible agreement made that wouldn't completely shatter her? Well, he definitely couldn't tell her about her sister. Not that he had ever planned on it, but was she really old enough to understand the concept of divorce? No of course she wasn't! He didn't really understand it half of the time! But here she was, expecting him to give her something. What could her say?

"Those people are right," he continued slowly. "Usually there does have to be a daddy and mommy for a baby to come, but you're special."

"Special?" the girl questioned tilting her head to the side and looking skeptical. "Special how?"

"Well, you see… Babies come from this big bird called the stork."

The girl nodded in agreement and Nick felt a little relieved that he had stumbled upon a story that the girl had already been told. Now he just had to roll with it…

"Normally the stork will only bring a baby when there is both a daddy and a mommy wanting one, but I didn't have a mommy." He was doing good…but he needed some drama.

"One night there was a terrible storm and the stork had to land on my porch. I didn't think he was warm enough so I let him inside."

"How come he got to come inside but you wouldn't let me bring Mr. Quackers inside when it was raining?" Hallie demanded a slight pout on her face.

"Because Mr. Quackers is a duck. Ducks like the rain." He thought for a minute before adding on another reason. "And because the stork knew how to use the toilet. No animals can come into the house unless they are potty trained."

"Fine," The girl sighed, pouting for a few seconds before turning her attention back to her father.

"Okay, as I was saying," Nick continued, satisfied that he had prevented anymore animals being smuggled indoors for at least a few days. "The stork spent the night at my house and I guess he saw how lonely I was, because a few days later you were sitting in a basket on my porch. Now I'm not lonely anymore and I have a reason to work hard and get us nicer things." He gestured around him at the nice house that had only been completed months before.

Hallie's face creased into a frown again and for a terrible moment Nick thought she had seen threw his badly thought-out story.

"Okay," she said suddenly, her frown replaced with a smile. "That makes sense. Can I go play now?"

Nick grinned back at her. "Sure," he replied sitting her back onto the floor. He watched her hurry out of the office and shut the door behind her. The man then made his way back to his desk and sat down in his chair.

His grin disappeared. He felt… guilty. Out of everything he had been feeling a minute ago, that was what seemed to stick. That was the first real lie he had ever told his daughter. Of course, it was just a white lie and a poor one at that. Parents told little white lies all the time to protect their children from truths they weren't ready for didn't they? Still, Nick couldn't help but feel that this was the mother of all white lies. Mother. That was the problem wasn't it? He just needed a little more time. A year or two would be good. Just a few more years of Hallie being a happy innocent little girl that didn't have to wonder about a mother she didn't know. Then again, Hallie was also a smart little girl with classmates to talk to. Yes, he'd be lucky if that story held up a year, but he'd take whatever he could get.

Nick sighed as he sat back down in his chair and looked down at the papers that covered his desk.

I really hate paper work.

Ending Note: Okay, I know that the little story that Nick makes up is really REALLY awful and not very developed at all, but since he is making it up on the spot for a five-year-old it's kinda supposed to be. (Yes, that's the excuse that I'll stick with.) Other than that I'd love to know what everyone thought about it. Also, I am still open to suggestions on characters and themes, though I do have some ideas about ones that I would like to do and I can't guarantee that suggestions will be done right away or at all. If I do decide to use someone's idea I'll definitely let you know and you will be credited in the author's note. Thanks for reading!