Her Early Bird

After a few months, the crazy fans stopped surprising Nick on the sidewalk. People finally stopped contacting Nick for interviews, and his family mercifully cut back on the teasing about his five day relationship with Dani Brookes. Nick's life was slowly returning to normal. The biggest difference being that Nick was going to school, or so he hoped. He'd applied to business school, but hadn't received a letter of acceptance yet. He was still wondering if business school would actually help him run the shop, or if he should just get his parents to teach him since they had actual experience.

Over all, life was basically just like it had been before Danica had walked into his life, but at the same time, it wasn't. Nick spent his days trying to push down anything that reminded him of Danica, and now that his family had stopped being ridiculous about it, his reminders were few and far between.

Nick was in his bedroom, playing video games when someone knocked on the door. Without looking away from the television screen Nick called to the person to come in. He was about to lose his level anyway, so Nick stopped the game and looked up to see his father standing in his bedroom.

"Hey Nick," David said. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Nick replied with a shrug. Setting his papers aside, Nick turned to his dad who seemed not quite ready to speak. David pulled up Nick's desk chair and took a seat a few feet away.

"Listen, Nick, It's about Danica," David started. Nick opened his mouth to say he didn't want to talk about her, but his father interrupted him. "Before you tell me to shut up, just listen okay. You know I listen to her music, had all her albums before you met her."

"And probably found some way get her to sign them," Nick added, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes okay true," David smiled. "But that's besides the point."

"What is your point dad?" Nick added, trying to sound like he didn't care. This was how he'd gotten through the last few months, trying not to care.

"I love your mother."

"And this relates to the topic how?" Nick asked. Even by his father's standards, this was a very strange conversation.

"I'm getting there," he explained. Nick sighed, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, so I love your mother and if I had never met her, we wouldn't have had you or your brother and sister, and I wouldn't trade that for the world," David continued affectionately. "But before I met her, there was someone else." This was news to Nick. His parents didn't talk much about the time before they'd gotten married, though he knew at least his father had dated a little before marriage while his mother hadn't. "It was crazy young love with no rhyme or reason. We adored each other, but I gave it up because I was afraid."

"I still don't understand what this has to do with Danica?" Nick replied.

"I don't want you to make the same mistake I did," David replied.

"Oh come on!" Nick said. "This is totally different. Do you really think someone like her could care about someone like me? The media calls me her boy toy for pity's sake. She's 27!"

"I'm ten years older than your mother," David argued. "And why would she have spent so much time with us if that was all you were to her?"

"I don't know," Nick replied curtly. "But I am sure she had a reason."

"I think she's in love with you," David started slowly, but before Nick could disagree, his father handed him a CD.

"I pre-order all her music," David explained. "This only just came out. Listen to it before you disagree with me." And with that, dad left him alone.