Quick A/N this time, as finals, work and a sprained ankle don't mix very well. Sigh, such is life.

Anyway, thanks to Newgirl78 for volunteering to beta this!

Chapter 6

"Are you sure you can do this, Nick?"

Jess's voice, filled with skepticism, asked again. Nick pressed his phone harder to his ear, hoping that he could quiet his own doubt, and convince Jess in the process.

"Yes, Jess, it's only for a few hours. I have all the emergency numbers," he assured, hoping the nerve didn't show up in his voice. Jess sighed, but took this as a legitimate excuse. He took the opportunity to continue. "And she has extra clothes in her bag from school, which I will make sure she brings home."

It had been almost a month since Nick had met Aly. Sometimes it felt like his relationship with her was moving at a turtle's pace, when other times it felt like he was flying through her life. Julia was slowly getting used to the new routine – he split his time between Jess and Aly Monday thru Wednesday, then Julia Thursday and Friday. Weekends were split, depending on the workload.

Although Jess and Nick took her out on weekends, he never had actually been given the opportunity to take care of her alone.

That is, until Jess needed to stay late for an end-of-school orientation for the new round of kids moving up to middle school, and was left with no other choice but to ask Nick to pick her up from preschool. He had originally been upset that he had not been her first option – Cece was taking a night out with Schmidt – but moments after agreeing to do it, he realized that he had his own share of doubts.

They did got along great, despite everything. There was nothing like seeing Aly's face light up when he walked in, knowing she'd get a few hours, at least, of playtime before he had to return to life. He thought of this as he formed an answer.

"I'll be fine," he finally replied.

Nick put his head in his hands, hanging up with Jess after she finally conceded that no, taking off tonight was not a wise idea, and Nick was going to have to learn how to take care of Aly eventually.

They were still navigating how to tell Aly who he was. Because of this, he was living two separate lives, but was hopeful this stage was temporary. This transition appeared to be the easiest.

He rifled through a few more stacks of paper – who knew being the owner of a bar required so much signing – and glanced up at the clock again.

2:30 PM.

Still two and a half hours until he needed to be there. Two until he could leave the bar. Probably about one before he could go hang around the main room without anybody realizing that he was just avoiding work today.

He sighed and pulled another pile of paychecks to go through.

He could do this.

He ended up leaving an additional fifteen minutes early, just in case. He'd also checked the booster seat in his car (Jess had only reminded him the day before that he actually needed one) twice more to make sure all the buckles were in place.

He felt even less like he knew what he was doing when the GPS on his phone kept leading him in circles, and it was ten minutes after five when he pulled into the parking lot. Thankfully, a playground fenced in behind the parking lot had clued him in on where to go. Around the corner, he could see clear evidence of children – sidewalk chalk, colorful pictures in the window, and the striking cover of disinfectant (still overpowered by the smell of toddlers).

He walked into the building despite how out of place he felt. Part of him still found small children profoundly strange – just not his kid.

Nick followed the signs to the office, passing rooms named after various zoo animals. Jess had told him exactly where to go – ironically, room 4D – and he found the number he was looking for across a hallway banner spelling out "4D DINOS" in footprints.

A cheery woman, dressed in overalls covered in paint, greeted him when he got to the door.

"Aly's dad, right?" She chirped, handing him the roll sheet to sign her out. Nick wished she'd been a little quieter with that revelation, but there weren't any kids nearby to catch what the woman had said. He took this opportunity to gauge how late he was. To his relief, there were still a few kids left late, and he spotted Aly playing in the back with another girl in pigtails.

"Nick!" She waved, getting up to put the blocks back up. She was obviously used to the routine. The teacher gave him an odd look, to which he just shrugged.

"Jess explains it better," he replied quietly.

The woman nodded, unfazed. Surely there were crazier things three-year-olds did. "I mean, I'm sorry to assume, but you look just like her."

"No. I mean, you're right," he added, watching Aly pull her little backpack out of her bin in the back. "I am. I'm Nick, by the way."

"Liz," she held out her hand. "And I figured you were. Jess had you added to her file last week, so you could pick her up."

He shook her hand, and looked over as Aly walked over. He didn't have long to marvel in her words – he was on Aly's file, whatever that was. Still, it was a start.

"Ready?" He asked, and she grabbed his hand. Three weeks later, and he was still getting goosebumps from her unwavering trust. The toddler nodded, and Nick led her out the door.

"Bye Miss Liz!" Aly called back as they walked out. Liz waved back at the pair, shutting the door behind her.

"So how was it today?" He asked as they headed into the springtime sun. Aly shrugged, something she had to have picked up from him, and didn't hesitate in her answer.

"Fun," she began, before launching into a detailed description of how Wednesdays were Art Days, and that she glued a macaroni picture but it wouldn't be ready until tomorrow. She played the bells in music class, and this was also her week to be line leader.

What a day in the life of a three-year-old.

Nick nodded dutifully, fully immersed, and felt a small bit of relief in how smoothly this had gone.

When they got to his car, he tried to help her into the car seat before realizing that he had absolutely no idea what to do once she was in it. Luckily, Aly was a pro and helped Nick avoid a small panic-induced call by picking up the buckles and wiggling her way through them.

He sighed, watching her intently. "Glad you know what you're doin', Aly."

"Momma never lets me do them," she explained, but then, sheepishly, "but I know how to do them."

"I trust ya," Nick nodded, getting lost in that little smile. Who cares what other three-year-olds could do, his could buckle in the car seat all by herself.

Finally, he pulled his thoughts together and shut the door, hopping into the driver's side. The CD that Jess had given him was still in the player, so he turned to something that he didn't classify a lullaby.

It feels like the perfect night
To dress up like hipsters…

Aly giggled at the opening beat. "Momma likes to dance to this."

"Oh really?" Nick asked, intrigued. "Does she dance a lot?"

It's miserable and magical, oh yeah…

"Lots," Aly nodded, then twisting around in her seat, did the best imitation she could of Jess dancing. "Like this!"

I dunno about you,
But I'm feelin' 22…

Aly may have been imitating her mother, but Nick was sure that she inherited some of his more questionable styles. He tried his hardest not to stare too long in the rearview at her, but allowed himself a few glances at stoplights as they laughed their way through the rest of the song.

He remembered a time, that didn't seem all that long ago, where he had done the same thing just to get a smile out of Jess.

Aly's honesty about her mother left Nick downright hopeful. Deep down, his Jess – the sing-along human – was still somewhere in there.

He turned the wheel, letting the car roll to a stop. He didn't even realize where he'd driven until he was pulling into the driveway. Aly looked at her window, then at him.

"Why are we here?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, uh…" He searched for words. Then, on a surge of sheer confidence, he came up with it. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

He was helping her out of the backseat before she could answer, thankful (and slightly scared) that Aly also knew how to wiggle her way out of the buckles. He picked her up, feeling more and more like a parent as he shut the door with his hip.

"Where is this?" Aly looked at him as they made their way up the walk, her hands holding tight to the collar of his shirt. She'd gotten into the habit recently of playing twenty questions.

"I live here," Nick explained, sliding the key into the door.

"Oh… Who's that?"

Nick had hoped he would at least have time to find Julia, but as soon as the door swung open, Julia was in her usually spot on the couch, and her eyes locked on Aly as the little girl at his side spoke.

"Better question," Julia looked at Nick, more seriously, "would be who's this?"

It was easy for Nick to see why Jess had been so unhappy at him for asking her about Aly at their first meeting, when Aly was right there. She was a toddler, not a cat. He didn't even care if Julia was trying to be funny.

"Aly," Nick replied, trying to avoid a repeat of his first encounter with her. "Julia, this is Aly. Aly, this is Julia."

Julia looked between Aly and Nick, smiling apprehensively. She was waiting on his next move. He looked down at Aly, and found her gaze turned towards his, biting her lip in question. He knew that it wasn't helping matters with Julia, but her reaction made his heart leap. She was looking to him like she looked to Jess.

"It's okay," he coaxed, and Aly turned slowly to look at Julia. "She's nice, I promise."

"Well hi, Aly," Julia waved. It looked a little odd, and overly babied, and Nick offhandedly wondered if that's how he had looked to Jess when he had first started to spend time with Aly.

"Hi Julia," Aly replied, then blurted, "Do you live here?"

Julia nodded. "Yes I do."

"With Nick?" Aly tilted her head.

"She does," Nick answered.

"So you're mar-ried?" Aly asked with an innocent smile. Nick felt his stomach flip. This was not the way he wanted this conversation to go.

"Almost," Julia quipped.

Aly thought about this, her forehead creased in thought. "Aunt Cece says…" she giggled. "…says that you lived with my mom," she pointed at Nick.

Dammit Cece.

This was some sort of payback, for sure.

"Um… yeah, a long time ago," he agreed cautiously. Julia took a step back, clearly uncomfortable.

"Did you almost marry her, too?"

This time, Nick's insides felt as if they'd fallen to the floor. Julia's began to back away, ducking out of what was sure to be another round of awkward questioning, and a possible Nick Miller vocabulary lock-up. Trying to save what was left of the situation, Nick looked down at Aly and shook his head quickly.

"We were just roommates," he lied. One day she would be old enough to know that he wasn't being truthful… But he wasn't ready to give her a talk that would ultimately lead to where she came from. Then, he looked at Julia. "And I think it's time to go."

Julia turned around and smiled tightly. "It was nice to meet you, Aly."

Aly turned from her gaze again, and let her cheek rest on Nick's shoulder. If his heart hadn't already been hammering from the conversation he just had, it certainly was now.

Funny how Aly could cause something like that to happen in two completely different ways.

Nick had two hours to entertain Aly before Jess got home. With some luck, another round of music from Jess's CD was enough to quiet any other questions Aly had for him. He also let her help cook dinner (pressing the preheat button on the oven), which directed her into another chat about her favorite foods.

Pasta. Bananas. Chicken Nuggets. Nick took mental notes.

Jess apparently remembered how box instructions just didn't cut it for him, as the frozen pasta dinner she had left out for him to fix had a note with it, detailing each step carefully in her neat, teacher-ly handwriting.

He'd spent the last hour trying to keep Aly busy enough to forget about today's episode. That's what Jess told him that she did when Aly started asking questions that she didn't need to know the answer to.

It worked until Jess walked in the door.

"Momma!" Aly clamored, running to the door as soon as she heard the keys.

"Oh, I missed you today, baby," Jess grinned and put her purse down, pulling Aly into her arms. Inadvertently, Nick smiled. She placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "How was your day?"

"Good!" Aly replied, bouncing in her mother's embrace. She launched into a story about her macaroni picture (which Nick had already heard twice). Lately, he'd been focusing more and more on Jess and how she dealt with Aly - how she was so at ease with their daughter, right down to her facial expressions that changed with every story. If nothing else, Nick knew he could take cues from that. He continued to watch the scene from the table, only listening in every now and then to see exactly where Aly was with the current story.

" – and then I met Julia…" Aly babbled. Jess snapped around to face Nick, just as quickly as he hopped out of his seat.

"Aly," he interrupted, "I think – "

"They're almost mar-ried!" Aly continued, drawing out the last syllable like she had before. He didn't even have to look up to tell if Jess was mad about Julia. Nick was no stranger to Jess's fury, but he felt her gaze before meeting it. The look in her eyes was like nothing he was accustomed to.

Uh-oh.

He could almost feel the success of his night drain wistfully away at that stare.

"I think it's time for bed," Jess suddenly told Aly. Aly frowned, placing her arms across her chest.

"I'm not tired, Momma," she whined.

Jess sighed, and when she turned to Aly, it was like a switch had flipped. Her gaze was soft and her voice just as soothing as before. "We'll see after a bath."

Nick grabbed his keys to slip out as the pair made their way to the bathroom, but Jess reappeared as he reached the door. She grabbed his arm, pulled him towards the couch, and sat him down.

"It takes me twenty minutes to get her to go to sleep. We've got some things to talk about."

With that, she spun on her heel and walked away, leaving Nick on the couch, frozen in his spot. He wasn't entirely sure why Jess was so angry over this, but he knew better than to move right now.

Jess had something to say, and he had a pretty good idea that it was not along the lines of "good job."

Another thank you for the awesome feedback! The next chapter is another big one (and one of my favorites, at that) - so stay tuned!