Notes: This fic was one I wrote for the Nick Song Fic Challenge (Round 4). The song used to inspire the fic was Collin Raye's "The Eleventh Commandment". The word limit was 2500, so I had to cut out a lot of scenes. Originally it was over 4700 words. :lol: So, I'm posting it here in full. Rating is TV-14, but there are mature themes in that the cases deal with child abuse (all kinds). But there really are no graphic scenes, it's all spoken about. I'm not able to fit the whole fic in one post, so the fic will be posted in parts. 
_____________________________
Vartann and Nick were questioning a teenaged girl about the death of her father.
"Did you or did you not conspire to kill your father?"
"I didn't conspire to do anything, Detective. I told my friend what my father did to me."
Nick inquired, "What do you mean?"
"I got tired of keeping it inside. I got tired of him hurting me... so I told my friend."
"Your father was hurting you?"
Nick gulped after Vartann had asked that question. He knew what was coming next. For a second, he lost his focus as he flashbacked to what had happened to him when he was nine.
"Yes, Detective. He-"
"It's okay, Alaina. You don't have to elaborate," Nick told her. He knew full well what the girl's father had done to her. "How long had this been going on?"
"Since I was twelve. When I told my friend, he was so angry. Later that night, my father came into my room as he did nearly every night. My friend found the hidden spare key and came inside. He heard me begging my father to leave me alone. Clark came into the room with a gun and he shot my dad. He did it to protect me."
After the interview, Nick approached the girl carefully. “Alaina, I know what you’re going through.”
“Really?” She asked as if she didn’t believe him. “How could you know what I am going through?”
“Because it happened to me.”
“What?” She gasped.
“It wasn’t a parent; it was a last minute sitter.”
“How old were you?”
“Nine.”
“I’m sorry that I snapped at you,” She said apologetically, ashamed that she had jumped to conclusions.
“It’s okay, Alaina.” Nick gave her a business card with his number on it. “If you ever need to talk, feel free to call me anytime.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stokes.”
“You take care of yourself okay, Alaina?”
“You too.” She smiled and walked out of the room.
Nick let out a breath, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
~ ~ ~
Nick had worked some difficult cases, but this one had brought back bad memories. The girl's father had done unspeakable things to her. This was something that Nick knew all too well, only not at the hands of a parent, thankfully. It was only one time. This poor girl had endured this for years. Hopefully now she would be able to have a decent life now that her father was dead and could no longer hurt her.
The case following that one had involved a baby that was found on a playground. Luckily someone found it quickly enough, but tests had proven that the baby was addicted because his mother had done drugs while pregnant. She poisoned him and when he was born, she threw him away like garbage. It made Nick sick to his stomach. One of Nick's sisters had told him that these kinds of cases got to him too much and he shouldn't take them. Catherine always asked if he was okay to work those kinds of cases (since she knew his secret). He always said the same thing: "Someone has to fight for these kids. Why not someone who can understand what they're going through?"
During the case involving the baby, Nick held it together at work (barely). Once he got home, he had released the contents of his stomach, tears stinging his eyes. Children were innocent, precious and as his mother always said “gifts from God”. Parents were supposed to protect and love their children, not harm them in such horrible and vile ways. Nick couldn’t help that the case had gotten to him. Before he knew it, he had begun to cry.
What Nick didn't know was that the following day held and even more devastating case.
+++
"Hey, Nick," Riley said as Nick joined her and Brass at the crime scene. "The little boy was rushed to the hospital. It looks like there was a break-in."
"Where are the kid's parents?"
"According to the landlord, the family has only been here a couple of months. Just the boy and his mother," Brass said.
"Is anyone at the hospital with the kid?"
"Greg and Catherine are."
"So, where's his mom?"
"We haven't located her. She may have been abducted."
~ ~ ~
Nick walked down the hallway of the hospital. "Oh, hey, Nick."
"Hey, Greg. How's the kid?"
"He's going to be okay."
"He say what happened to his mom?"
"He said his mom was not at home."
"Who was with him?"
"No one."
"He was home alone?" Nick asked incredulously, not believing that a parent would be so careless as to leave their four year old child home alone.
"Apparently."
"How old is he?"
"Four and a half. He's pretty smart though."
"Hey, Nicky," Cath said, joining them. "Forget to tell us something?"
"What?" He inquired, confused.
"The kid looks a lot like you at that age."
Nick was even more confused by Catherine’s statement.
"Your mother showed me pictures back when you were taken," Cath explained.
"Oh. We couldn't find any pictures at the house. Riley's still there with Jim. How did the kid get hurt?"
"He said the bad man pushed him before running away and he hit his head."
When Nick saw the sleeping boy, he realized what Cath meant. The boy did look similar to Nick. "What's his name?"
"Oh, that's the best part," Cath said with a grin, "His name is Parker."
"Parker?"
"He looks like you and his first name is your middle name."
"So, what's his middle name?" Nick figured the name and the fact that the boy looked similar to him as a child were just weird coincidences. It wasn’t like someone had cloned his DNA and made another person from it. Nick had to suppress a chuckle at that thought.
"Didn't ask."
~ ~ ~
Greg and Nick went back to the lab and Catherine stayed with the boy. She smiled at him when he woke up. "Hi, sweetie."
"I've seen your friend before."
"Greg?"
"No, the other one."
Cath realized he hadn't been asleep the whole time. "Nick?" The boy nodded. "Where?"
"Don't remember."
~ ~ ~
Riley ran toward Nick. "Nick!"
"Yeah?" Nick looked up from the breakroom table where he and Greg were eating lunch with Wendy and Bobby.
"I found pictures at the scene. They were hidden in a shoe box on the closet shelf in the master bedroom."
Nick and Greg joined Riley in the layout room. "Nick, it's you!"
"What?" Nick turned to look at Greg.
"You're in some of the pictures," Greg said as Cath joined them.
"Well, the boy did say he'd seen you before," Cath told Nick.
"I've never seen him before today." Nick was surprised to see that some of the pictures were of himself and even more surprised to see another familiar face in some of them.
"He's obviously seen the pictures, Nicky. He says he lived in Texas before."
"Tawny," Nick said, picking up one of the pictures with a gloved hand. Tawny is Parker’s mother?
"What?"
"You know her?"
"She's an old girlfriend from high school."
"Well, I guess that means the kid can't be yours or he'd be older," Cath said.
"Actually..." Nick paused as realization began to set in. Oh my God, Parker could be my son!. "How old did you say he is?"
"Four and a half," Greg answered.
"Nicky?" Cath ventured when he was quiet.
"Tawny and I kind of briefly rekindled our relationship a few years ago when I went home to visit my family."
"Are you saying that the kid could be yours?"
"I guess it's possible, Cath. He's the right age." I might have a son!
"Oh my God," Riley said.
"Have they found Tawny yet?" He wondered why Tawny had never told him that he could be father. He felt resentment and anger began to build up inside of him.
"No, but, Nicky... Parker told me that his mother takes medicine... in her arm. He said she's scary after the medicine and sometimes she hurts him."
"She does drugs and she hits him?" He felt more anger build inside of him, he was on fire with it. The anger was burning through his veins like gasoline. The anger didn’t care if Parker was his son or not, no child should be mistreated by a parent… ever! There was absolutely no excuse for it!
"She also tells him that she's sorry he was born."
This just keeps getting worse, Nick thought. "I'm gonna need a DNA test." I don’t know much about being a dad, but that boy deserves to be with someone who won’t hurt him. And if he’s mine, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he feels safe and loved. I’ll even take parenting classes if I have to. Whatever it takes.
"I figured as much. We'll run the boy's DNA through the system and say we're trying to locate his father in hopes of locating the mother."
"Thanks, Cath. I'm going to do everything I can to get custody if he's mine." Deep down, Nick was terrified at the idea of being a dad, but his had a responsibility to his son, if Parker was in deed his son. His own fears did not matter. What mattered was that the little boy never had to be afraid of a parent again. There was no way he’d ever let Tawny get the boy back even if it turned out that he wasn’t his son.
~ ~ ~
"Nick," Wendy said, coming into the breakroom where Nick was talking to Catherine, "the results are in. Parker is your son."
Nick felt an overload of various emotions. The resentment and anger toward Tawny for not telling him about Parker came back ten-fold. He felt upset with himself for not keeping in touch with Tawny. He felt sad that his little boy had endured so much pain at the hands of the woman that Nick once thought of as a possible future spouse. He was heartbroken that he had missed so much of his son’s life. He had missed his little boy’s first words, his first steps, his first smile, everything. How many firsts were left? How could she not tell him that he had a son? What right did she have to keep that information from him? She didn’t even want the boy, apparently. Why didn’t she give him to Nick the minute he was born?
Nick heard Catherine’s voice trying to get his attention. She sounded far away at first. He masked his emotions for the time being and turned to listen to Cath.
"Nick, you know that I have to take you off of this case now, right?"
Nick nodded. "I think I need to go see Parker now."
~ ~ ~
Nick walked toward the nurse's desk. "May I help you, sir?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm here to see Parker Everett."
"Visiting hours are almost over."
"I'd like to sit with him all night if that's okay."
"Are you family?"
"I'm his father."
"Well, it's about time you showed up!"
When she had berated him for being late, his first thought was: “What gives her the right to judge me?”
"I was here before, but as a CSI. I just found out that he's mine. My boss had Parker's DNA put through the system to find his father in hopes of locating his mother. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Tawny in over four years. She never told me we had a child. I never even knew she was pregnant." Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
Nick felt humiliated at having to explain his absence to a complete stranger and this only made his anger toward Tawny grow.
"Okay, you can go in, but he's asleep."
"I don't want to wake him; I just want to sit with him." The nurse nodded.
When Nick walked into the room, seeing the small boy sleeping, he felt a hint of pride fill his heart. This was his little boy. “I’m a father,” Nick whispered, knowing that he’d have to call his folks to update them. His mom would be thrilled to have another grandchild. She’d been at him for years to settle down and start a family.
He never thought he’d end up a single father, but there was no way he was letting that pitiful excuse for a mother near his son again. He would die before he let that happen.
He sat down in the chair next to the bed, carefully taking his son's small hand in his much larger one. A single tear slipped down his face.
Parker opened his eyes, seeing Nick. "Hi," the boy said.
Nick smiled. "Hi, Parker." That one word… it had been the first word he’d ever heard from his son.
"Mommy has pictures."
"Of me? Yeah, I know; we found them."
"Did you know her?"
"Yes, but I didn't know about you. I would have been there if I'd known." More tears filled his eyes.
"You're my Daddy, aren't you?" Wow! Nick felt his heart swell with pride again. Despite all that his son had been through, he was a very bright little boy. Greg wasn't kidding when he said that Parker was smart.
Nick smiled again. "Yes, Parker," Nick said, "I am."
"Mommy said you didn't know."
"I want my Daddy!" Parker cried.
"Yeah well, he's not coming. He doesn't even know you exist. I didn't tell him. I wish you'd never been born!" She moved to hit him, but he ducked and ran into his room, shutting the door and hiding.
"She said she didn't tell you because I was bad."
Tears filled Nick's eyes again. Nick felt like punching something. How dare she say that to this amazing little boy!
"Oh no, Parker," he said softly, "you're not bad. You're a very good boy." Nick smoothed the boy's hair.
“I never got any gifts for Christmas at home. She said Santa didn’t bring me any because I was a bad boy.”
Nick didn’t think he could get any angrier with Tawny than he already was, but with each word from Parker, his anger toward the boy’s mother grew. He felt more and more tears building in his eyes. “She was wrong, Parker,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Parker, from now on, things are going to be different. I promise you that. I’ll buy you anything you want.” The child deserved to be spoiled after the way his mother had treated him. “You just tell me what that is and I’ll do whatever I can to get it for you.”
“I just want to be safe,” the boy sniffled. “That’s the best gift I could get… not to hurt anymore.”
Feeling his heart break at his son’s words, more tears fell from Nick’s eyes. “I can make that happen, Parker.” He smiled at the boy. “Is there anything else you want?”
“I never…”
“What is it, buddy?”
“Mommy never hugged me. Will you?”
Nick pulled his son into his arms and warmth flooded his heart. He had hugged his nieces and nephews before, but this was so much different. This was his own child. He’d never felt anything like what he was feeling in that moment. How could he love someone so much when he’d only just met them?
It dawned on Nick that this precious little boy had probably never heard anyone tell him that they loved him either. “I love you, Parker,” Nick whispered, still holding the boy in his strong arms.
"Will you stay?"
"Of course. I'll be here all night."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"'Kay. Night."
"Goodnight, buddy." It wasn't long before the little boy fell asleep. Nick drifted off a short time later.
~ ~ ~
Fear struck Nick’s heart when he awoke to his son screaming.
"Stop it, Mommy! Please!" Parker cried out in his sleep.
Hearing his son crying out in his sleep for his mother to stop hurting him broke Nick’s heart. His poor little boy was so traumatized by what his mother had done to him.
After several attempts, Nick finally succeeded in waking his son. "Parker?"
Parker sat up and threw his small arms around Nick. "I don't want to be around her anymore. Please, Daddy!" The boy's tears fell onto Nick's shirt. "Don't let her hurt me anymore."
"It's all right, son," Nick said soothingly, "I'm here now. I promise you that no one is ever going to hurt you again. Shh... Daddy's here. You're safe now." He kissed Parker's temple as fresh tears fell from his eyes. He held his son in a secure embrace as he himself sobbed.
“Daddy, don’t cry,” Parker said. “I’m okay. It was just a bad dream. I’m sorry I scared you.”
“Nothing to apologize for, son. I’m the one who should apologize to you.”
“Why, Daddy?”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t know about you.”
“Not your fault, Daddy. How could you know when she didn’t tell you?”
“Still… I’m sorry that she hurt you, buddy. I’m so sorry.” He continued to sob as he held his son.
“It’s okay, Daddy.” Parker returned the hug.
“I love you, Parker.”
“I know,” Parker said simply as if he had always known. “I knew you would even before I met you.”
Nick wondered how his son could be so wise at such a young age.
“Where I used to live, a neighbor lady stayed with me sometimes,” Parker started, answering Nick’s unspoken question, “and she taught me a lot. She didn’t know Mommy hurt me though.”
“She couldn’t see the bruises?”
Parker shook his head. “She was older and had bad eyes.”
“Oh. She ever hug you?”
“Yeah… couple times. She was nice.”
“That’s good, Parker. I’m glad she was there.”
“Then Mommy said we were moving and I was sad that I’d never get to see Mrs. Chandler again.”
“Do you remember where she lived? Was it in Texas?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe we can go visit her someday. Would you like that, buddy?” Nick wanted to meet the woman who had been so kind to his son. He wanted to thank her for her kindness and for teaching his boy.
“Yeah! Can we, Daddy?” The boy asked in an excited tone.
Nick chuckled at the excitement in the boy’s voice. “I’ll see what I can do, buddy.”
“Am I gonna live with you now, Daddy? I’d like to, but if you don’t want me to, I understand.”
It pained Nick to hear his son feeling like he was unwanted. “Parker, I would love for you to come and stay with me. I’m going to do everything that I can to make that happen.”
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Do I have… grandparents?”
“Yes, buddy. You have a grandma and a grandpa as well as uncles, aunts and lots of cousins.”
“Do you think they’ll like me?”
“Of course they will, bud. They’ll love you. You’ll never have to feel lonely ever again.”
“Do I have brothers and sisters?”
“No, I don’t have any other kids.”
“Do you have a wife?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Nope.”
“So you live alone?”
“I have a dog.”
“A dog? Does he like kids?”
Nick smiled. “Yeah, he’s actually still a puppy. I only got him a few weeks ago.” What timing, Nick thought. I guess someone out there knew I’d be getting a kid too. Every kid needs a pet… well, maybe not kids who are mean enough to torture animals, but mostly every kid.
“Okay.” The boy yawned.
“Sleepy, buddy?”
“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and it wasn’t long before he was asleep.
"Sweet dreams, Parker." Nick kissed the top of Parker's head as he leaned back against the headboard with his son still in his arms. Nick eventually fell asleep.
~ ~ ~
The following morning, a flash woke Nick up. He opened his eyes seeing Cath standing there, a camera in her hand. "Hey, Cath."
"Hey."
“Cath, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“When Linds was born, did you find yourself…”
“Falling in love with her at first sight?”
“Yeah.”
“I did, but I felt some of that after the first sonogram. It’s normal, Nicky… to love your child regardless of when you met them.”
"He had a nightmare last night about what she did to him. He begged me not to let her near him again. He even called me Daddy."
"That was fast."
"Yeah. Cath, how did this happen?"
"What?"
"How did I miss this?" There were tears in Nick’s eyes.
"Miss what, Nicky?"
"The way Tawny was. The drugs, the violent tendencies..."
"Nicky, some people are just really good at hiding their true nature. As for the drugs, maybe she wasn't doing them before and during the pregnancy." Cath gave him a friendly hug.
_____________________________
Silver Lining
Vartann and Nick were questioning a teenaged girl about the death of her father.
"Did you or did you not conspire to kill your father?"
"I didn't conspire to do anything, Detective. I told my friend what my father did to me."
Nick inquired, "What do you mean?"
"I got tired of keeping it inside. I got tired of him hurting me... so I told my friend."
"Your father was hurting you?"
Nick gulped after Vartann had asked that question. He knew what was coming next. For a second, he lost his focus as he flashbacked to what had happened to him when he was nine.
"Yes, Detective. He-"
"It's okay, Alaina. You don't have to elaborate," Nick told her. He knew full well what the girl's father had done to her. "How long had this been going on?"
"Since I was twelve. When I told my friend, he was so angry. Later that night, my father came into my room as he did nearly every night. My friend found the hidden spare key and came inside. He heard me begging my father to leave me alone. Clark came into the room with a gun and he shot my dad. He did it to protect me."
After the interview, Nick approached the girl carefully. “Alaina, I know what you’re going through.”
“Really?” She asked as if she didn’t believe him. “How could you know what I am going through?”
“Because it happened to me.”
“What?” She gasped.
“It wasn’t a parent; it was a last minute sitter.”
“How old were you?”
“Nine.”
“I’m sorry that I snapped at you,” She said apologetically, ashamed that she had jumped to conclusions.
“It’s okay, Alaina.” Nick gave her a business card with his number on it. “If you ever need to talk, feel free to call me anytime.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stokes.”
“You take care of yourself okay, Alaina?”
“You too.” She smiled and walked out of the room.
Nick let out a breath, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
~ ~ ~
Nick had worked some difficult cases, but this one had brought back bad memories. The girl's father had done unspeakable things to her. This was something that Nick knew all too well, only not at the hands of a parent, thankfully. It was only one time. This poor girl had endured this for years. Hopefully now she would be able to have a decent life now that her father was dead and could no longer hurt her.
The case following that one had involved a baby that was found on a playground. Luckily someone found it quickly enough, but tests had proven that the baby was addicted because his mother had done drugs while pregnant. She poisoned him and when he was born, she threw him away like garbage. It made Nick sick to his stomach. One of Nick's sisters had told him that these kinds of cases got to him too much and he shouldn't take them. Catherine always asked if he was okay to work those kinds of cases (since she knew his secret). He always said the same thing: "Someone has to fight for these kids. Why not someone who can understand what they're going through?"
During the case involving the baby, Nick held it together at work (barely). Once he got home, he had released the contents of his stomach, tears stinging his eyes. Children were innocent, precious and as his mother always said “gifts from God”. Parents were supposed to protect and love their children, not harm them in such horrible and vile ways. Nick couldn’t help that the case had gotten to him. Before he knew it, he had begun to cry.
What Nick didn't know was that the following day held and even more devastating case.
+++
"Hey, Nick," Riley said as Nick joined her and Brass at the crime scene. "The little boy was rushed to the hospital. It looks like there was a break-in."
"Where are the kid's parents?"
"According to the landlord, the family has only been here a couple of months. Just the boy and his mother," Brass said.
"Is anyone at the hospital with the kid?"
"Greg and Catherine are."
"So, where's his mom?"
"We haven't located her. She may have been abducted."
~ ~ ~
Nick walked down the hallway of the hospital. "Oh, hey, Nick."
"Hey, Greg. How's the kid?"
"He's going to be okay."
"He say what happened to his mom?"
"He said his mom was not at home."
"Who was with him?"
"No one."
"He was home alone?" Nick asked incredulously, not believing that a parent would be so careless as to leave their four year old child home alone.
"Apparently."
"How old is he?"
"Four and a half. He's pretty smart though."
"Hey, Nicky," Cath said, joining them. "Forget to tell us something?"
"What?" He inquired, confused.
"The kid looks a lot like you at that age."
Nick was even more confused by Catherine’s statement.
"Your mother showed me pictures back when you were taken," Cath explained.
"Oh. We couldn't find any pictures at the house. Riley's still there with Jim. How did the kid get hurt?"
"He said the bad man pushed him before running away and he hit his head."
When Nick saw the sleeping boy, he realized what Cath meant. The boy did look similar to Nick. "What's his name?"
"Oh, that's the best part," Cath said with a grin, "His name is Parker."
"Parker?"
"He looks like you and his first name is your middle name."
"So, what's his middle name?" Nick figured the name and the fact that the boy looked similar to him as a child were just weird coincidences. It wasn’t like someone had cloned his DNA and made another person from it. Nick had to suppress a chuckle at that thought.
"Didn't ask."
~ ~ ~
Greg and Nick went back to the lab and Catherine stayed with the boy. She smiled at him when he woke up. "Hi, sweetie."
"I've seen your friend before."
"Greg?"
"No, the other one."
Cath realized he hadn't been asleep the whole time. "Nick?" The boy nodded. "Where?"
"Don't remember."
~ ~ ~
Riley ran toward Nick. "Nick!"
"Yeah?" Nick looked up from the breakroom table where he and Greg were eating lunch with Wendy and Bobby.
"I found pictures at the scene. They were hidden in a shoe box on the closet shelf in the master bedroom."
Nick and Greg joined Riley in the layout room. "Nick, it's you!"
"What?" Nick turned to look at Greg.
"You're in some of the pictures," Greg said as Cath joined them.
"Well, the boy did say he'd seen you before," Cath told Nick.
"I've never seen him before today." Nick was surprised to see that some of the pictures were of himself and even more surprised to see another familiar face in some of them.
"He's obviously seen the pictures, Nicky. He says he lived in Texas before."
"Tawny," Nick said, picking up one of the pictures with a gloved hand. Tawny is Parker’s mother?
"What?"
"You know her?"
"She's an old girlfriend from high school."
"Well, I guess that means the kid can't be yours or he'd be older," Cath said.
"Actually..." Nick paused as realization began to set in. Oh my God, Parker could be my son!. "How old did you say he is?"
"Four and a half," Greg answered.
"Nicky?" Cath ventured when he was quiet.
"Tawny and I kind of briefly rekindled our relationship a few years ago when I went home to visit my family."
"Are you saying that the kid could be yours?"
"I guess it's possible, Cath. He's the right age." I might have a son!
"Oh my God," Riley said.
"Have they found Tawny yet?" He wondered why Tawny had never told him that he could be father. He felt resentment and anger began to build up inside of him.
"No, but, Nicky... Parker told me that his mother takes medicine... in her arm. He said she's scary after the medicine and sometimes she hurts him."
"She does drugs and she hits him?" He felt more anger build inside of him, he was on fire with it. The anger was burning through his veins like gasoline. The anger didn’t care if Parker was his son or not, no child should be mistreated by a parent… ever! There was absolutely no excuse for it!
"She also tells him that she's sorry he was born."
This just keeps getting worse, Nick thought. "I'm gonna need a DNA test." I don’t know much about being a dad, but that boy deserves to be with someone who won’t hurt him. And if he’s mine, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he feels safe and loved. I’ll even take parenting classes if I have to. Whatever it takes.
"I figured as much. We'll run the boy's DNA through the system and say we're trying to locate his father in hopes of locating the mother."
"Thanks, Cath. I'm going to do everything I can to get custody if he's mine." Deep down, Nick was terrified at the idea of being a dad, but his had a responsibility to his son, if Parker was in deed his son. His own fears did not matter. What mattered was that the little boy never had to be afraid of a parent again. There was no way he’d ever let Tawny get the boy back even if it turned out that he wasn’t his son.
~ ~ ~
"Nick," Wendy said, coming into the breakroom where Nick was talking to Catherine, "the results are in. Parker is your son."
Nick felt an overload of various emotions. The resentment and anger toward Tawny for not telling him about Parker came back ten-fold. He felt upset with himself for not keeping in touch with Tawny. He felt sad that his little boy had endured so much pain at the hands of the woman that Nick once thought of as a possible future spouse. He was heartbroken that he had missed so much of his son’s life. He had missed his little boy’s first words, his first steps, his first smile, everything. How many firsts were left? How could she not tell him that he had a son? What right did she have to keep that information from him? She didn’t even want the boy, apparently. Why didn’t she give him to Nick the minute he was born?
Nick heard Catherine’s voice trying to get his attention. She sounded far away at first. He masked his emotions for the time being and turned to listen to Cath.
"Nick, you know that I have to take you off of this case now, right?"
Nick nodded. "I think I need to go see Parker now."
~ ~ ~
Nick walked toward the nurse's desk. "May I help you, sir?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm here to see Parker Everett."
"Visiting hours are almost over."
"I'd like to sit with him all night if that's okay."
"Are you family?"
"I'm his father."
"Well, it's about time you showed up!"
When she had berated him for being late, his first thought was: “What gives her the right to judge me?”
"I was here before, but as a CSI. I just found out that he's mine. My boss had Parker's DNA put through the system to find his father in hopes of locating his mother. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Tawny in over four years. She never told me we had a child. I never even knew she was pregnant." Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
Nick felt humiliated at having to explain his absence to a complete stranger and this only made his anger toward Tawny grow.
"Okay, you can go in, but he's asleep."
"I don't want to wake him; I just want to sit with him." The nurse nodded.
When Nick walked into the room, seeing the small boy sleeping, he felt a hint of pride fill his heart. This was his little boy. “I’m a father,” Nick whispered, knowing that he’d have to call his folks to update them. His mom would be thrilled to have another grandchild. She’d been at him for years to settle down and start a family.
He never thought he’d end up a single father, but there was no way he was letting that pitiful excuse for a mother near his son again. He would die before he let that happen.
He sat down in the chair next to the bed, carefully taking his son's small hand in his much larger one. A single tear slipped down his face.
Parker opened his eyes, seeing Nick. "Hi," the boy said.
Nick smiled. "Hi, Parker." That one word… it had been the first word he’d ever heard from his son.
"Mommy has pictures."
"Of me? Yeah, I know; we found them."
"Did you know her?"
"Yes, but I didn't know about you. I would have been there if I'd known." More tears filled his eyes.
"You're my Daddy, aren't you?" Wow! Nick felt his heart swell with pride again. Despite all that his son had been through, he was a very bright little boy. Greg wasn't kidding when he said that Parker was smart.
Nick smiled again. "Yes, Parker," Nick said, "I am."
"Mommy said you didn't know."
*Flashback*
"I want my Daddy!" Parker cried.
"Yeah well, he's not coming. He doesn't even know you exist. I didn't tell him. I wish you'd never been born!" She moved to hit him, but he ducked and ran into his room, shutting the door and hiding.
{end of flashback}
"She said she didn't tell you because I was bad."
Tears filled Nick's eyes again. Nick felt like punching something. How dare she say that to this amazing little boy!
"Oh no, Parker," he said softly, "you're not bad. You're a very good boy." Nick smoothed the boy's hair.
“I never got any gifts for Christmas at home. She said Santa didn’t bring me any because I was a bad boy.”
Nick didn’t think he could get any angrier with Tawny than he already was, but with each word from Parker, his anger toward the boy’s mother grew. He felt more and more tears building in his eyes. “She was wrong, Parker,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Parker, from now on, things are going to be different. I promise you that. I’ll buy you anything you want.” The child deserved to be spoiled after the way his mother had treated him. “You just tell me what that is and I’ll do whatever I can to get it for you.”
“I just want to be safe,” the boy sniffled. “That’s the best gift I could get… not to hurt anymore.”
Feeling his heart break at his son’s words, more tears fell from Nick’s eyes. “I can make that happen, Parker.” He smiled at the boy. “Is there anything else you want?”
“I never…”
“What is it, buddy?”
“Mommy never hugged me. Will you?”
Nick pulled his son into his arms and warmth flooded his heart. He had hugged his nieces and nephews before, but this was so much different. This was his own child. He’d never felt anything like what he was feeling in that moment. How could he love someone so much when he’d only just met them?
It dawned on Nick that this precious little boy had probably never heard anyone tell him that they loved him either. “I love you, Parker,” Nick whispered, still holding the boy in his strong arms.
"Will you stay?"
"Of course. I'll be here all night."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"'Kay. Night."
"Goodnight, buddy." It wasn't long before the little boy fell asleep. Nick drifted off a short time later.
~ ~ ~
Fear struck Nick’s heart when he awoke to his son screaming.
"Stop it, Mommy! Please!" Parker cried out in his sleep.
Hearing his son crying out in his sleep for his mother to stop hurting him broke Nick’s heart. His poor little boy was so traumatized by what his mother had done to him.
After several attempts, Nick finally succeeded in waking his son. "Parker?"
Parker sat up and threw his small arms around Nick. "I don't want to be around her anymore. Please, Daddy!" The boy's tears fell onto Nick's shirt. "Don't let her hurt me anymore."
"It's all right, son," Nick said soothingly, "I'm here now. I promise you that no one is ever going to hurt you again. Shh... Daddy's here. You're safe now." He kissed Parker's temple as fresh tears fell from his eyes. He held his son in a secure embrace as he himself sobbed.
“Daddy, don’t cry,” Parker said. “I’m okay. It was just a bad dream. I’m sorry I scared you.”
“Nothing to apologize for, son. I’m the one who should apologize to you.”
“Why, Daddy?”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t know about you.”
“Not your fault, Daddy. How could you know when she didn’t tell you?”
“Still… I’m sorry that she hurt you, buddy. I’m so sorry.” He continued to sob as he held his son.
“It’s okay, Daddy.” Parker returned the hug.
“I love you, Parker.”
“I know,” Parker said simply as if he had always known. “I knew you would even before I met you.”
Nick wondered how his son could be so wise at such a young age.
“Where I used to live, a neighbor lady stayed with me sometimes,” Parker started, answering Nick’s unspoken question, “and she taught me a lot. She didn’t know Mommy hurt me though.”
“She couldn’t see the bruises?”
Parker shook his head. “She was older and had bad eyes.”
“Oh. She ever hug you?”
“Yeah… couple times. She was nice.”
“That’s good, Parker. I’m glad she was there.”
“Then Mommy said we were moving and I was sad that I’d never get to see Mrs. Chandler again.”
“Do you remember where she lived? Was it in Texas?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe we can go visit her someday. Would you like that, buddy?” Nick wanted to meet the woman who had been so kind to his son. He wanted to thank her for her kindness and for teaching his boy.
“Yeah! Can we, Daddy?” The boy asked in an excited tone.
Nick chuckled at the excitement in the boy’s voice. “I’ll see what I can do, buddy.”
“Am I gonna live with you now, Daddy? I’d like to, but if you don’t want me to, I understand.”
It pained Nick to hear his son feeling like he was unwanted. “Parker, I would love for you to come and stay with me. I’m going to do everything that I can to make that happen.”
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Do I have… grandparents?”
“Yes, buddy. You have a grandma and a grandpa as well as uncles, aunts and lots of cousins.”
“Do you think they’ll like me?”
“Of course they will, bud. They’ll love you. You’ll never have to feel lonely ever again.”
“Do I have brothers and sisters?”
“No, I don’t have any other kids.”
“Do you have a wife?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Nope.”
“So you live alone?”
“I have a dog.”
“A dog? Does he like kids?”
Nick smiled. “Yeah, he’s actually still a puppy. I only got him a few weeks ago.” What timing, Nick thought. I guess someone out there knew I’d be getting a kid too. Every kid needs a pet… well, maybe not kids who are mean enough to torture animals, but mostly every kid.
“Okay.” The boy yawned.
“Sleepy, buddy?”
“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and it wasn’t long before he was asleep.
"Sweet dreams, Parker." Nick kissed the top of Parker's head as he leaned back against the headboard with his son still in his arms. Nick eventually fell asleep.
~ ~ ~
The following morning, a flash woke Nick up. He opened his eyes seeing Cath standing there, a camera in her hand. "Hey, Cath."
"Hey."
“Cath, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“When Linds was born, did you find yourself…”
“Falling in love with her at first sight?”
“Yeah.”
“I did, but I felt some of that after the first sonogram. It’s normal, Nicky… to love your child regardless of when you met them.”
"He had a nightmare last night about what she did to him. He begged me not to let her near him again. He even called me Daddy."
"That was fast."
"Yeah. Cath, how did this happen?"
"What?"
"How did I miss this?" There were tears in Nick’s eyes.
"Miss what, Nicky?"
"The way Tawny was. The drugs, the violent tendencies..."
"Nicky, some people are just really good at hiding their true nature. As for the drugs, maybe she wasn't doing them before and during the pregnancy." Cath gave him a friendly hug.
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