A/N: So, a little change here, I added this scene with Nathan & Heidi, because for some reason it had never been posted, though I had meant it to be put up right after the Niki/DL scene weeks ago. I'm sorry about that!

NATHAN & HEIDI PETRELLI

NEW YORK

"I want to meet her."

"You do?" Nathan smiled with relief. "That's good, she really wants to meet you too!"

"I'm not talking about Claire, Nathan. I want to meet her mother. What did you say her name was? Melissa or Megan?" Heidi interrupted.

Nathan's smile vanished. "Meredith?"

"Yes, Meredith." Heidi confirmed. "I want to meet her."

"I…I don't know if that will be possible." Nathan hesitated. "I don't even know where she is. You have to understand that before all this came up, I hadn't seen her in years!"

"But you had kept in touch with her obviously, or she wouldn't have known how to contact you now."

"We have talked once or twice through the years, but we weren't exactly in touch, as you say." He felt his neck heating up as he tried to explain the details of his past relationship with his wife.

"You should have told me."

"I know."

"I mean, really, Nathan, what did you think I would do? Leave you?" Heidi frowned. "I love you, and I always have. I've never hidden anything in my past from you, so why couldn't you ever trust me with yours?"

"I…I don't know." Nathan faltered. "I suppose I just didn't like talking about it."

"I'm your wife!" She reminded him sharply.

"I know." He could think of nothing better to say. He couldn't deny that she had a good point. He should have told her about his relationship with Meredith years ago, perhaps before he had even married her. It wasn't that he had intended to hide it from her, but the memory of everything that he had lost had haunted him for so long; it wasn't easy to discuss. It wasn't that he had ever regretted marrying Heidi rather than Meredith, but it was the daughter he had never been able to know that wounded him. Discovering Claire again after so many years delighted him more than he thought he would ever be able to express to anyone.

"Nathan, tell me the truth." Heidi pulled him out of his thoughts. "Do you still love her?"

"No!" He answered without any pause. It wasn't an answer he had to think about. When he went to see Meredith a couple weeks ago, he had wondered if any of his old feelings for her would be remembered, but all he could think about was his daughter. A large part of him had never forgiven Meredith for taking Claire away from him. "Heidi, you are the only woman that I could ever love. You have to know that." His mind flashed guiltily to his rash night in Vegas with Niki, but he shoved it aside, knowing he couldn't deal with that right now.

"I just feel like there's this whole part of you that I don't know anymore."

"I know I've disappointed you…"

"It's not about the disappointment that I feel, Nathan." She corrected him. "You have been lying to me for years! How do I know that you aren't hiding something else from me?"

"I'm not." He lied again. "Heidi, I could never have anticipated any of this to happen. I thought my daughter was dead. I never expected to see her or her mother again. I never thought it was necessary to tell you about something that was no longer a part of my life. You are my life now, and Simon and Monty…but now I have Claire as well…"

"And Meredith."

"No, not Meredith. She has no part in my life. She doesn't even have a part in Claire's life."

Heidi sighed, finally seeming to calm down a little and process things more rationally. "I suppose that on some level I do understand why you never told me."

"Really?" He let out a breath.

"It must have been hard for you to believe that you had lost your child."

"It was. I know that I never knew her, but she was mine."

Heidi nodded. "I understand. And for your sake, I am happy that she is alive and that she has found you."

"Do you mean that?" Nathan felt as though she had just given him the greatest gift on earth.

She nodded to confirm her earlier statement. "I can see that she means a lot to you, and I can't be angry with you for that. She was in your life first, after all." Heidi even smiled a little, but the next moment her face was serious again. "I can't promise that I'll ever be able to care for her as you do, but I will do my best to be polite."

"So, you will meet her, then?"

"Of course." Heidi told him. "I expect that you are going to want her in your life, and therefore she will have to be in mine as well. I'd rather she were here with both of us, then to have you running off to be with her all the time." She paused. "Besides, Monty and Simon should know their sister."

"You are the best wife in the whole world." Nathan swooped across the room to the couch where his wife was perched and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Thank you." He kissed her quickly and then pulled away and knew his eyes had tears in them. "You don't know how glad I am."

She returned his kiss. "I do, sweetheart. I can see it in your face. What kind of wife would I be if I tried to ruin this for you?"

"When should I have her come over?"

"Is she in the city now?"

Nathan nodded. "She's staying with Peter."

"Oh? He's met her?"

Nathan smiled. "That's a long story as well, but she actually met him before she even knew about me. They strangely get along very well."

Heidi shrugged. "Why don't you invite them both for dinner tonight?"

"That's perfect." He thanked her again once more before heading to his office to make the call.

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long! School's really taken over this semester. Everyone told me jr. year was hard in college, but wow, I didn't expect it to be this hard! I'm trying to write as often as possible, but it's difficult. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! I hope you all stick with me. This chapter is kind of just silliness, but I'm going to have more action soon, probably in the next chapter. I have more stuff coming up with Sylar and his mysterious new 'employer'…so please review!

PETER, CLAIRE, & MOLLY

NEW YORK

"Okay, what do you think of this one?" Claire spun away from the mirror to face Molly who was staring at her with childish excitement etched on every feature of her shining face.

"You look really pretty Claire." Molly flattered sincerely.

"Thanks." Claire returned the younger girl's smile. "Do you like this outfit the best then?"

Molly's nose scrunched up as she contemplated the knee-length red halter dress that Claire was trying on. Her round eyes drifted to the mass of clothes scattered around the room, which Claire had already tried on and discarded.

"Yea, I think so. It's really pretty." She decided finally.

"Thanks." Claire turned back to the mirror and frowned. "Maybe I should get a guy's opinion…" She opened the door of Peter's bedroom, which he had loaned her and Molly for the time being. "Peter?"

Molly followed Claire into the living room in search of Peter, who they found on the phone in the kitchen. Claire waited impatiently for him to finish his conversation, but couldn't help noticing the change in his expression as he looked at her. When he finally hung up the phone he was starting at her.

"Wow."

"Yea?" She smiled. "Really? 'Wow's' good."

He cleared his throat and looked away from her quickly. "You look nice Claire."

"You don't sound too happy…" Claire analyzed his expression. "Is there something wrong with my outfit?" She glanced down at her dress, instantly self-conscious, and started adjusting the neckline.

He cleared his throat again and shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong with your outfit. I mean…I think it might be a little too…umm…mature…"

"Too mature?" Claire grinned. "Peter, the guy I'm dating is four years older than me. Looking more mature is kind of the point." His eyes fixed on her again, but this time she saw something else in the expression. "What's wrong now?"

"I just got off the phone with Nathan."

"Did something happen? Is he okay?" It only took a moment for her to forget about the plans she had that night.

"He's fine Claire, don't worry." Peter's lip twitched upward as he recognized the care that Claire had for Nathan. "He told Heidi about you."

"He did?" Her eyes shone with excitement.

"Yep, and she wants to meet you."

"Seriously?" Claire felt happier than she had in weeks. "I…I didn't think she would."

"How could she not?" Peter asked. "You're the daughter of her husband. That automatically makes you a part of her life too."

"Not everyone would feel that way about it." Claire decided.

"Well, Heidi's a good person."

"When does she want to see me?"

"Tonight actually." Peter answered more slowly. "She asked Nathan to invite us both for dinner."

"Tonight?" Claire's excitement dwindled instantly as her date plans resurfaced in her mind.

"I know you had plans, but…" Peter quickly thought of how to talk her out of going on her date with Jaden. "Nathan sounded really hopeful. I think he'd be really disappointed if you didn't come tonight."

Claire considered it for a minute. "I was really looking forward to my date…but I also really want to meet Heidi."

"It's your choice Claire. You have to choose your priorities." Peter turned away from her, ending the conversation.

Claire didn't have to make a choice. "What time do they want us there?"

"So you're coming then?" Peter turned to her again, this time smiling.

"Yes. I just need to call Jaden and change into something…less mature."

Peter smiled at her choice of words. "Good idea. I'm going to change too. We should leave in about fifteen minutes."

Claire nodded, but stopped as she turned to leave the kitchen. "Peter, what are we doing with Molly?"

Peter glanced at the younger girl as though noticing her for the first time. "Umm…good question."

"I don't want to be alone." She spoke up quickly. Her big brown eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, sweetie, don't worry. We're not going to leave you alone." Claire placed her arm around the girl's shoulders. "I guess you could come with…" She looked at Peter who didn't seem to pleased with the idea.

"Where's Mohinder?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. I think he was going to talk with Matt or something…"

"That's right…Matt said he had something important to talk to him about."

"We can call Niki." Claire decided suddenly. "She'll take Molly for a couple hours while we have dinner and then we'll pick her up on the way home."

Peter nodded and looked at Molly for confirmation. "Would that be okay with you?"

"Yea, absolutely!" She smiled.

"Okay, why don't you pack a few things and be ready to leave soon." Claire walked with the girl back into the bedroom they were sharing.

"Ten minutes!" Peter called after them.

"We know!" Claire shouted back. She shut the door of the bedroom and located her cell phone to call Jaden. For some reason she didn't want Peter to hear her conversation.

"How long will I be there?" Molly asked as she stuffed a sweatshirt into her backpack.

"Only a couple hours sweetie. We're just doing dinner." Claire told her. "We would bring you with, but it's going to be a lot of grown-up talk. You'd be bored!"

"It's okay, I like seeing Micah." Molly assured her.

"Good!" Claire dialed Jaden's number. "I'm going to make a quick phone call, okay?"

Molly nodded and started adding her coloring pages to her bag, letting Claire have her privacy on the other side of the room.

"Hello?"

"Jaden, hey, it's Claire."

"Hi Claire, why are you calling me now? I'm supposed to pick you up in an hour!"

"Yea, that's why I'm calling." Claire didn't know how to explain the situation to him. "It's kind of complicated, and I can't get into the details right now, but I'm not going to be able to make it tonight."

"I knew it. You're having second thoughts about me…"

"That's not what this is at all Jaden. I'm not having second thoughts; something's just come up. I'm really sorry and I promise to make it up to you, if you'll let me."

"Are you sure tonight won't work? We can push it back a little…"

"Thanks, but tonight really isn't going to work. If you are still interested though, we can reschedule." She crossed her fingers, hoping that he would agree.

"Absolutely! You name the day and I'll make it happen."

Claire smiled dreamily, deciding that Jaden was about as perfect as she could wish for. "How about I get back to you?"

"I'll be waiting. Have a good night Claire."

"Thanks. You too!" She clicked off the phone and held it tightly for a minute to process the conversation. It had left her smiling and her cheeks were flushed.

"Are you okay Claire?"

It took Claire a minute to realize that Molly was speaking. "What? Oh yea, I'm fine! Great actually!" She finally released the phone and began to remove the dress that was no longer appropriate for her evening plans.

"You look funny." Molly observed.

"Really?" Claire glanced in the mirror and realized that she was still grinning. "I'm just happy, Molly. Nothing weird, I promise."

"Okay." Molly shrugged, clearly uninterested in analyzing the older girl. "I'm going to wait with Peter."

"Tell him I'll be ready in three minutes!" Claire dropped the dress on the bed and started pulling clothes from her duffel bag, which she still hadn't unpacked, even though Peter had been constantly nagging her about it.

It took her more time to choose an outfit for dinner with her father than it had taken to pick her dress for the date with Jaden. She had tried everything from jeans to mini skirts to business style dress pants. Nothing felt right for the night.

"Claire?" Peter pushed the door open when she didn't respond. "Claire? Are you ready yet?" He stopped suddenly, turning around quickly when he realized she wasn't fully dressed.

"Oh, Peter!" Claire jumped when she finally realized he was there.

"I'm sorry, I knocked, but…"

"It's fine. Sorry I didn't hear you." She pulled a tank top on over her bra. "I'm covered."

He turned around, more slowly, still uncomfortable. "I am sorry."

"Really Peter, it's no big deal." She smiled at him reassuringly.

He tried to return the smile, but was blushing. "So, umm, why aren't you dressed yet?"

"I can't figure out what to wear." She confessed. "Nothing's good enough."

"Claire, you have half a dozen outfits here!" He started picking up some of the discarded articles from around the room.

"I just want to look perfect…"

"I know you do." He had finally started to calm down from the earlier embarrassment and he was now eager to help. "You're going to look beautiful no matter what you wear."

Claire smiled at him in surprise. "Thanks."

He blushed again and returned his focus to the outfit crises. "How about this skirt," he held up a black knee-length pencil skirt. "And this shirt." He handed her a light blue silk tank top. "Nathan likes blue."

Claire took the clothes he had picked out. "This actually might work." She grinned. "How did you do that?"

He shrugged. "Blame the world I grew up in. Anyway, we're already running late. Hurry up and dress, okay?" He left the room so she could change.