A/N: Thanks for the reviews and the suggestions! Here's the dinner scene. It probably could have been better, but I was having a hard time with it. I'm not really sure how to write Heidi since her part wasn't huge in the show. Nathan's strangely tricky for me too, so if there's any advice for them, let me know! Also, all the italics are thoughts and I've told this chapter sort of from Peter's POV so everything that's italicized means that he's reading minds! As always, hope you enjoy and review! XOXO

PETRELLI RESIDENCE

"I don't know if I can do this." Claire froze as Peter opened the car door for her.

"Of course you can." Peter assured her. "This is what you've been waiting for."

"I know, but I'm terrified."

"Everything is going to be fine!" He held out his hand and she grasped it tightly. "Come on. Nathan hates it when I'm late."

Claire's eyes widened. "Great, you could have told me! I'm already making a bad first impression!"

"I'm pretty sure he won't hold it against you." Peter tugged on her hand and she followed him up to the front door. "Here we go!" He rang the doorbell.

Claire took a deep breath. Peter could feel her hand tightening slightly on his. Oh god…what if they don't like me?

He hadn't meant to read her thoughts, but lately he had been practicing so often it had become automatic. "I'm right here." He reminded her in a whisper.

She glanced up at him and he knew that she knew he'd read her thoughts, but before she had a chance to answer, the door opened and Nathan stood there, ready with a grin.

"Claire!"

"Yea, good to see you too Nathan." Peter rolled his eyes at his brother's sole focus on Claire.

Clearly determined to ignore all sarcasm from his brother, Nathan continued to smile at his daughter. "I'm so glad you could make it tonight." Nathan hadn't budged an inch from the doorway and neither had Claire moved from the front step. "I was actually a little concerned that you wouldn't want to…"

Peter gave her a minute to respond, but when he realized she wasn't going to, he replied for her. "She was thrilled to get your invitation. She even cancelled her date."

"Date?" Nathan echoed instantly. "You're dating someone?"

"No." Claire shook her head, while Peter nodded.

"Yes."

"Peter!" Claire nudged him in the ribs and glared at him. Can you please stay out of my personal life?

Peter raised his eyebrows at the way she invited him into her thoughts. "Not likely." Peter squeezed her hand, which he was still holding. He knew that the gesture comforted her.

"So are you going to invite them in?" Heidi stepped up behind her husband.

Claire looked to her instantly and their eyes locked.

"Hi." Claire mumbled out an inadequate greeting.

Nathan's attention switched to his wife and he stepped back to give her more space. "Heidi, this is Claire."

"Hello Claire." Heidi, always cordial, gave Claire a welcoming smile and held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you." Claire freed her hand from Peter's grip and shook Heidi's. "Thank you for inviting me for dinner."

"Of course." Heidi smiled at her husband. "I've heard a lot about you."

Claire glanced at Nathan. How much did he tell her? Peter couldn't help sharing Claire's curiosity and followed her gaze to Nathan. When he shook his head slightly they both knew her ability was still a secret from Heidi.

"I hope you're hungry." Heidi motioned the group into the house.

"Starved." Claire responded. "Peter isn't exactly the best cook."

"Oh, like you're so much better!" He protested. "I've never eaten so much macaroni and cheese in my life!"

Claire shrugged. "Molly likes it."

"Molly's nine."

"Okay you two, enough squabbling. You're worse than my kids." Heidi led the way into the dining room where the table was laid out with a full set of crystal.

Claire was momentarily overwhelmed by the elegance. Peter could see the amazement in her eyes and he followed her thoughts as they drifted back to her home in Odessa with the china from Target and the mismatched silverware; the contrast was startling for her, but she was admiring it fully.

"Is anything wrong?" Heidi asked.

"No, not at all. Your table's beautiful."

"Thank you." Heidi beamed at the compliment. "Please have a seat. I'll let Sara know we're ready."

"Who's Sara?" She whispered to Peter as Heidi exited the room and Nathan took the sat at the head of the table.

"Sara's the kitchen maid. I think you met her last week when we were staying here." Peter responded as he pulled out a chair for her. "Sit here."

"Thanks." She took the seat and he circled to the other side of the table to sit on Nathan's left. Claire scanned the table, seeming to take a mental count of the place settings. "Don't you have children? Peter mentioned it…"

Nathan nodded. "We have two boys. They're with friends for the evening. I thought it might be simpler."

Claire nodded. "Right, of course." I wonder if he's told them about me yet.

"I want you to meet them though sometime." Nathan told her quickly.

"Maybe next time."

Heidi reentered the dining room, followed by a young woman dressed in a sleek black dress covered by a crisp white apron. Claire had to suppress her urge to laugh at the clichéd maid's uniform. She remembered the girl's face from, but she hadn't seen her in her strict uniform because while Nathan and Heidi were out of town the servants weren't necessarily dressed as required. Sarah, the maid, carried a large tray laden with small salad plates, which she started setting at each place.

Heidi took the end chair. "So, Claire, tell me more about yourself." Heidi started the conversation once everyone had their salads.

Claire's cheeks blushed slightly. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything." Heidi decided. "Nathan told me some things, of course, but I want to hear from you."

Nathan smiled at his wife; clearly delighted with the interest she was showing his daughter. Claire however seemed to struggle with what to say.

"You're from Texas right?" Heidi prodded. "How do you like New York?"

"Oh, I love it!" Claire stated quickly. "I've always wanted to come here, of course this isn't exactly the conditions I had in mind." She noticed Peter smiling at her from across the table. "I do miss Odessa though, especially my family." She quieted for a moment; her thoughts again drifted to her family. She wondered what they were doing and whether they were thinking of her too. Peter felt a little intrusive continually prying into her thoughts, but he had become so comfortable knowing what she was thinking while she had been staying with him; it was a difficult habit to break.

"Do you have a large family? Nathan says he doesn't know too much about it…" Heidi kept up the questions.

Claire shook her head. "I have one brother, Lyle. He's twelve."

Nathan couldn't be quiet any longer. "Now you have two more brothers."

Heidi's smile flickered just slightly, but she didn't say anything. Peter noticed the change in her expression and momentarily took his focus off of Claire's thoughts and put it on Heidi. I wish he wouldn't jump into this so fast. Peter pulled out of Heidi's thoughts and turned back to Claire. He had anticipated Heidi to be hesitant, but he knew she was a generous woman and eventually he knew she would warm up to the idea of having Claire in the family.

She doesn't like me. Due to her thoughts, Peter realized that Claire had noticed Heidi's reaction, but pretended that she hadn't. Instead she tried to start up a new conversation. "How long have you two been married?"

"Thirteen years this August." Nathan answered automatically. Heidi nodded to confirm.

"How did you meet?" She seemed suddenly determined to keep the questions on them and off of herself.

"A party." Heidi remembered. "He was at a graduation celebration and I was at the same place for a friend's bachelorett party."

Nathan picked up the story. "I spotted her at the bar and knew I had to meet her."

"So you bought her a drink?" Claire asked.

"No," Nathan grinned. "I spilled a drink on her."

"He still claims it was an accident."

"It was!" Nathan insisted.

"You wanted me to notice you."

"Well, it worked didn't it?" Nathan grinned. "I got your phone number and a date the next night."

"That's so sweet." Claire told them.

"Kind of cheesy." Peter spoke up.

"Oh you're just jealous." Claire snapped. "Don't try to spoil their romance just because you don't have any."

"What about you?" Heidi asked. "You're a very pretty girl. I'm sure you have all sorts of boys lining up for you."

Claire blushed. "No, not really."

"There is one though, isn't there?" Heidi pursued. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Sort of, I mean it's nothing serious yet."

"Tell me about it." Nathan requested. "This is the guy you were supposed to have a date with tonight, right? And you've gone out with him before too…I remember once you and Peter were arguing about him on the phone."

Claire nodded. "His name is Jaden."

"Have you been dating long?" Heidi wanted to know.

"She hasn't even been in New York for a month yet!" Peter spoke up.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Peter doesn't approve. I don't know why. Jaden's a great guy. He's a doctor…well an intern."

"That's right, the doctor. He's older than you isn't he?" Nathan commented.

"Look, before you and Peter gang up on me, let me assure you that I am fine with the age difference. He respects me and we get along really well!" Claire defended her dating choice.

Nathan looked ready to argue, but Heidi quickly intervened. "I think that's great that you've found someone who makes you happy Claire. How did you meet him?"

"At the hospital. He's the intern assigned to one of our friends."

"I want to meet him." Nathan announced. Peter was a little surprised at his brother's adamant declaration and dove into his thoughts curiously. Father's are supposed to be concerned about their daughter's dates, right? I should make sure he's good enough for her or something…maybe I should have my security guys do a background check on him…would that be too much? I don't want her to hate me! Damn, I thought being a father was hard before, but it's even worse with a daughter!

Peter pulled out of his thoughts, smiling, and just in time to hear Claire's shocked response.

"Nathan!" She gasped. "We've only had a few coffee dates and two dinners. We are nowhere near the stage of meeting parents." She paused. Parents. Hmm. That sounds weird out loud. Nathan is my parent…my dad. When I get married is he going to walk me down the aisle, or will my dad? My other dad.

Peter realized that he was smiling and quickly focused on his salad so she wouldn't know that he had been reading her again.

The polite chitchat continued through the roast dinner. It wasn't until Sara delivered the crème brulee to each person that Nathan unintentionally brought up the difficult topic that everyone had been carefully avoiding throughout the meal.

"So, have you thought about what you want to do for school in the fall?"

"School?" Claire broke into her dessert and turned her eyes to her father.

"You left Texas before the end of the semester, didn't you?"

She nodded.

"Well, are you still going to be able to start your senior year this fall?" Nathan asked.

"I…I don't know." She glanced at Heidi, who was focusing on her food more than normal.

Why is he doing this? Heidi thought. We agreed before she came over that we wouldn't discuss any long term plans yet. It's too soon. We have no idea what she's doing with her life or what her parents want her to do…this is not turning out like it was supposed to. I shouldn't have agreed to it.

Peter was glad that Claire didn't have the ability to read minds.

I really wish he hadn't brought it up. I'm not ready to talk about this. Claire's thoughts were strangely similar to Heidi's and Peter listened anxiously. He had been dying to ask her what she planned to do with her life, but had always been too afraid of the answer. What am I supposed to say? What about mom and dad? I have to answer. "I guess it depends on where I'm going to be in the fall."

"Oh…of course…" Dammit. Nathan instantly realized his mistake in bringing up the subject. "Well…" He looked to his wife for assistance, but she still wasn't making eye contact. Might as well get it over with. "Where do you want to be Claire?"

She took a minute to think about it before responding. Texas. Here. I miss my mom, but I want to know my real dad…and Peter.

Peter smiled after this thought.

"I don't know." She answered finally. "If I tell you that I want to stay here in the city, will you still make me go to Paris?"

Nathan shook his head. "As far as I am concerned, my mother is not going to have any association with you at all. At least not until I can figure out where her loyalties lie."

"Then, do you want me to stay in the city?"

Yes. He thought. "I want to know you." Nathan said out loud. "I would like to have a chance to be your father, if you'll let me."

Claire smiled. "I want you to be…" She let her eyes drift around the table, first to Peter who was smiling, and then to Heidi; her expression was impossible to read. "I just don't want to create any problems. I know that you both are dealing with a lot right now considering everything…"

Peter again intruded on his sister-in-law's mind. He needs this. It's important to him and to keep her from him would only cause a problem between us. He's worked so hard for so long to get where he is now and he deserves to have something to make him happy. He's already been happier since he told me about Claire. Heidi finally looked at Claire and shook her head. "Nathan and I will have things to work out with or without you. Personally, I don't see how you're being a part of our lives could be anything but a positive thing."

"Thank you." Claire's eyes started tearing up and she used her napkin to clear them.

"Then will you stay in New York?" Now it was Peter's turn to ask, though he had already read it in her thoughts, he needed to hear it out loud for it to be real.

"Yes."