Chapter 37 Can You Be My Daddy?

Allie

Since the nutjob stalker was safely behind bars Thursday morning, Nico and I agreed that it was safe for Gracie to go to preschool. He surprised me by asking to go with me to drop her off before we both returned to the house for the day. He and the boys were going to finish the rehearsal that had been interrupted the afternoon before, and I was going to take some footage of them for the promotional blitz that would be used to kick off the upcoming album.

It wasn't until we got out of my car at the preschool that I realized he might have had an ulterior motive for joining us this morning.

Nico helped Gracie out of her booster seat in the back while I grabbed her backpack and lunchbox. He held her hand as they walked around to join me at the front of the car, and Nico slipped his free hand in mine so that the three of us walked hand-in-hand up to the building. I noticed Nico scanning the parking lot and wondered if he was worried about paparazzi. When I quietly asked him about it, he glanced down at me with a smirk, before bending to murmur in my ear.

"Not particularly, Sunshine. I'm actually just wondering which of these assholes is Liam."

I stopped walking and stared at him with my mouth hanging open, and he and Gracie stopped to wait for me to rejoin them. I narrowed my eyes at him and scowled, while he stared back at me with a brow arched.

"Coming, Sunshine? We don't want our princess to be late," he said with a cocky grin.

"I can't believe you," I hissed at him in an undertone as we started walking again. He opened the door for us and ushered us both in ahead of him with an exaggerated bow that made Gracie giggle.

"After you, your Highness," he told her. "And you, my love," he said to me with a wide smile.

I rolled my eyes as I brushed past him. I was relieved to note that Liam wasn't here. Hopefully, he had already dropped off Grayson for the day, and we could avoid an uncomfortable scene. I signed my daughter in for the day and turned to make a quick getaway with Nico. It was not to be.

It was clear that Gracie was excited to introduce her Uncle Nico to all of her friends, and I noticed a number of parents - particularly the mothers - lingering in the lobby for a chance to meet him, too.

Gracie's teacher, Miss Rosa, approached me with a smile. She was an older woman who had worked for the school for years, and she was wonderful with the children.

"Good morning, Allie. I have to say, between Mr. Peretti this morning and his bandmate yesterday, the staff and parents here have had quite the exciting time of things this week. I have to confess, I'm not familiar with their music, although my daughter is a big fan. Congratulations to you, by the way. I'm very happy for you both. You make a lovely couple, and it's clear that he has Grace's approval."

We both glanced over to the crowd surrounding Nico. He was holding a beaming Gracie in his arms, listening intently as she introduced him to the people standing nearby. I vaguely registered the door buzzer behind me as someone else entered the building.

"Hi Allie." I stiffened slightly as I recognized the voice. Oh shit. I really hoped this wouldn't be awkward.

I turned with a small smile to greet Liam and Grayson. I saw Liam's eyes flicker over toward Nico, holding court with his admirers. Nico hadn't noticed him, and Liam looked back to me with a smile and a quick wink. I stepped aside so that he could get Grayson signed in, and I sent up a silent prayer that Liam wouldn't linger and could leave without Nico being any the wiser. Then Gracie - my dear sweet daughter - threw me under the bus.

"Look Uncle Nico, there's Grayson and his daddy. His daddy and my mommy went on a date. I don't think they'll do that anymore though, since you and Mommy are getting married. Grayson, come meet my Uncle Nico. He and my mommy are gonna get married and we live at his house now! Uncle Nico, can Grayson come see my new house?"

Nico's smile had morphed into a scowl as an oblivious Gracie babbled away, unwittingly twisting the knife of jealousy. I widened my eyes at Nico and gave him a look intended to convey that he needed to bring it down a notch. He rolled his eyes at me and then directed a glare at Liam that would have caused a lesser man to turn tail and run.

To his credit, Liam brushed passed me with a reassuring smile, then approached the group. Nico put Gracie down and she rushed over to welcome Grayson into the circle of friends who had gathered around. I quickly joined them, taking care to stand close to Nico's side. He snaked an arm around my waist and tugged me closer, in a clear gesture of possession. I stifled a huff and rubbed my hand on the small of his back to reassure him. I was a bit perturbed at his little jealous routine, but I knew if the roles were reversed, I would not be happy at all to meet a romantic interest of Nico's, especially one he had been involved with so recently. Liam calmly smiled at Nico and held out his hand.

"Liam Davidson. I've heard a lot of good things about you from Allie and Grace."

Nico stared him down for a moment before grudgingly shaking his hand. I was proud of him when it didn't appear he was doing that macho-bullshit hand squeeze that some guys did when they were trying to appear dominant.

"Nico Peretti. Allie has mentioned you." He gave me a quick side-eye, and I withheld the urge to roll my eyes again.

Liam shot me a quick smile before looking at Nico again. "I understand congratulations are in order. Allie is an incredible woman. You are a very lucky man."

Nico's grip on my waist tightened along with his jaw and I felt the tension running through him.

"Yes, I'm the luckiest man in the world to have Allie and Gracie in my life. They mean everything to me." My heart melted a little at the loving expression on Nico's face as he looked down at me, smiling softly. He gently squeezed my waist, then dropped his arm and stepped back a few inches or so, just enough that I was no longer plastered against his side.

I glanced at Liam, only to find him with a rueful smile on his face.

"Message received, man, but not necessary. Allie already told me she was in love with you. As long as you make her and Grace happy, I'm happy for you both."

At Liam's sincere declaration, I could sense some of Nico's tension easing. Before anyone could say anything more, Gracie came up to us, dragging Grayson by the hand.

"Mommy, Grayson likes to swim. Can he come over to swim in our pool with me?"

I hesitated, flicking a quick glance in Nico's direction, only to find him smiling down at the kids. He returned his gaze to me and sighed, before looking back at her with a wry grin.

"Sure, princess. Maybe Grayson and his daddy can come over for a cook-out and you guys can play in the pool."

I let out a relieved breath and smiled as Liam agreed that they would love to get together with us sometime.

Miss Rosa called for all of the kids to gather around the story-circle. Grayson gave Liam a quick wave and scurried off to join his friends. Gracie hugged Nico's leg for all of a nanosecond and ran off as he was bending down to hug her back. He stopped mid-bend and then slowly straightened, looking so forlorn that I had to smother a laugh.

"Well, I guess I see where I rate," he said, an adorable pout on his face. Liam snickered, and I laughed outright.

"You got more than I did," I pointed out. "I think she forgot I was here."

Liam chuckled. "Welcome to the joys of parenthood, Nico. Just when you think you're the center of their world, they'll forget all about you and crush your soul."

We took our cue to make our way to the front exit, Nico still pouting and grumbling under his breath a little. Liam was stopped by one of the other parents for a second, so I gave him a quick wave and hustled Nico back out to my car.

"So, that was Liam." Nico pronounced as soon as I put the car in gear.

"Yep, that was Liam," I said, shooting Nico a quick glance to judge his mood. He sighed and shifted in his seat.

"He seems like an OK guy, I guess. I really wanted to hate him, you know. I did hate him after he sent you those fucking roses. Wanted to kick his ass, actually."

I felt my heart clench, hating the fact that I had hurt Nico by dating Liam or anyone else. "I'm sorry," I said quietly, then turned my attention to the traffic in front of us.

Nico sighed again, then reached over and gently squeezed my thigh before sliding his hand up a little. "It's OK now, Sunshine. Everything's OK as long as I have you with me."

I drove us back home with his hand resting on my upper thigh, fingertips just grazing my inner thigh in the most tantalizing way. I prayed for a pothole or bump in the road to shift his fingers just a bit further north, but no such luck.

We pulled through the gate to find Matt's car there already. Of all the damned times for him to be early. Damn, I was hoping for a few minutes alone with my sexy man. It was going to be a long day.

By the time we parked in the garage and walked into the house, Tony and Josh were strolling in through the front door. All three of them showed up early? That was pretty much unheard of. The universe was obviously being a huge clit-blocker today, because Nico and I didn't have a second alone together.

The guys rehearsed hard for a few hours, then took a break to eat the lunch that I'd made for them. I had left them alone in the studio, knowing that they were up against the clock to make the final tweaks they wanted to the song so that it could be re-recorded in the morning. I hadn't wanted to interrupt or interfere with that process. From the way they talked as they ate, it sounded as if they had made substantial progress.

"I really think the arrangement on that last bit - with you two coming in hard just a beat before I start to sing the bridge - that really works," Nico said to Tony and Josh. They just nodded, mouths full, as Nico reached for another sandwich.

Matt spoke up to add, "I really want to try slowing down the first line of that second verse again. Let your voice do that growly, raspy thing. Maybe let it break a little. You know, really draw out the emotion."

Nico just smirked at him. "Sure, man. How 'bout I just rip open my chest and throw my broken heart right there on the floor?"

Josh snorted. "That would do it."

"Oh, please, asshole. Your heart's not broken anymore. You're so happy you're practically shooting hearts and rainbows out of your ass," Matt said, tossing a chip at Nico.

Nico made a valiant attempt to catch the chip in his mouth midair, almost falling off his chair in the process. Once everyone stopped laughing, they finished the last bits of their lunch and made their way back downstairs to the studio. I quickly cleaned up the lunch mess before going into my home office to respond to some emails regarding another band that Michael represented.

Nico texted me after forty minutes or so had passed, letting me know they were finished tweaking the song and they wanted me to listen to it. I made my way down to the studio, to find Nico sipping a bottle of water in the outer room while the guys messed around with their instruments.

After greeting me with a quick kiss - not nearly enough to satisfy my need for him - Nico joined the others back in the studio, pulling me along behind him. He directed me to have a seat on the sofa, then took his place at the microphone.

I spent the next few minutes watching him sing about the heartache of being without the woman he loved.

"My arms are empty, 'cause you're not here. My body's aching without you near. Sleeping without you is killing me. Beside you is where I want to be. I can't stand one more minute alone. Baby, I'm begging you, please come home."

I'd heard the song before, of course. I'd heard all of their songs, even the ones that didn't make the final cut for the album. At the time I'd first heard it though, I had just thought it was a regular song about heartbreak - a pretty common theme for songwriters.

However, Nico had confessed to me - during one of our lazy, late-night talks as we snuggled in bed - that I was the reason for the song. He had written it about me a few months ago, when he was feeling particularly frustrated about his spot in the friend-zone. He'd also confessed that he had chosen this house because I had liked it when I helped him house-hunt after his initial encounter with Stripper Barbie. He told me that he had imagined Gracie and me living there with him, and that's why he chose this one. It had seemed like the perfect home...for all of us. I was shocked, then saddened all over again at the thought that we had wasted so much time.

I was in tears by the time he finished the final note. The changes they had made had ramped up the intensity of the song, and I could almost feel Nico's pain bleeding through his words. He immediately walked over and scooped me up into a big hug, and I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. He ran his arms up and down my back, soothing me with his touch, before pulling back a little to be able to peer down into my face.

"You OK?" he asked softly.

I sniffled as I nodded and gave him a soft smile. "I love you."

He smiled broadly at that. "I love you, too, Sunshine." He dropped a kiss on my forehead and hugged me again before releasing me.

"I want to get a little footage of you guys to post online. The buzz is really growing for the album release, especially since tomorrow night's show at the Live Wire sold out within minutes of being announced," I said, picking up my camera. "Michael forwarded me an email he got from the label execs, and they are really putting the pressure on to maintain the pre-release hype. Lana and her PR team will be all over you guys for the next few weeks."

At their collective groan, I just laughed. "That's what you get for being rockstars, gentlemen. It's a rough life, but somebody's gotta do it."

"When I called Lana and Michael to give them a heads-up that I was coming out tomorrow, Lana wanted to tip off the tabloids to make sure that I made the news. I told her no." Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'd rather let it happen naturally. If nobody takes the bait tomorrow at The Grove, I'll just wear the shirt at the concert tomorrow night. Hell, I'll probably wear it then anyway. She seemed OK with that."

I spent the next half hour or so snapping photos of them just goofing around in the studio, along with video of them doing a cover of Stairway to Heaven. Nico did an intro to the song and explained about Gracie's version of the lyrics. They tried to sing it Gracie's way, but they were laughing too hard to continue by the end of the first verse. I stopped recording after Tony yelled "We love you, Gracie!" , followed by the rest of the guys chiming in to yell it as well.

The other three left shortly thereafter, and Nico volunteered to go pick Gracie up while I did a quick edit on the photos and video and posted them online. I made a start on dinner - fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy - before they came home a little while later. Gracie was chattering non-stop as they walked through the door. It was clear that she had been excited to show off her Uncle Nico again to the friends who hadn't met him that morning.

She was still telling us about her day by the time we sat down to eat, regaling us with a story about her friend Talia. I had just taken my first bite of the chicken when her next words almost made me choke.

"- and then Talia said that Uncle Nico couldn't be my uncle anymore when you guys get married. She said he would haf'ta be my daddy then, or my stepdad. She has a daddy and a stepdad."

She kept chattering away, oblivious to the fact that both Nico and I were frozen in our seats. My eyes flicked toward Nico, to find him staring at me intently. I was trying to decipher the look on his face as she continued.

"She calls him Steven. Just plain Steven though, he's not an uncle. She said she can't call him Daddy, since she already has a Daddy. Since I don't have a Daddy here anymore, can you be my Daddy now, or do you haf'ta be just plain Nico?" At her innocent request, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt the tears welling in my eyes. Nico and I had talked about this, in a roundabout way. He'd said he wanted to raise her as his own, but we hadn't really discussed specifics.

I tried to blink away the tears so that I could focus my gaze on the two most important people in my world. Nico grabbed for my hand and gave it a squeeze, and I realized that I wasn't the only one with tears in their eyes.