Nick sat there looking at a picture of his girlfriend, Hayley. She left him eighteen years ago. Nick is currently 44 years old. He and his bandmates, Kevin, Howie, AJ, and Brian were still together as the Backstreet Boys. Kevin was 53. Howie was 51. Brian was 49. AJ was 46. They were holding onto their promise to never split up. They still had a lot of fans and new fans every day. Their concerts still sold out. Nick sat backstage looking at the picture. He put the picture away and sat there. Brian, Howie, AJ, and Kevin came in and sat down and they all talked. One of the bodyguards came in with a girl. The guys looked at her.

      “Billy, what’s up,” Nick said.

      “I found her out by the buses, she insisted on seeing you,” Billy said.

      “Can we help you?” Brian asked.

      “I would like to talk to Nick,” she said.

      “That’s me,” Nick said getting up. He came over to her. She hugged him.

      “Dad!” she said. Nick stood there in shock.

      “Huh?” Nick asked.

      “You are my father,” she said.

      “What’s your name,” Nick said.

      “Emily Marie Carter,” she said.

      “And you are my daughter?” Nick asked.

      “You don’t know about me?” Emily asked.

      “I’m sorry, no,” Nick said.

      “How old are you?” Brian asked.

      “I’ll be eighteen next week,” Emily said. Nick’s eyes widened.

      “Hayley,” Brian said looking at Nick.

      “That’s my mother’s name,” Emily said.

      “I can’t believe this,” Nick said sitting down.

      “My mom said you didn’t want a child, that you didn’t want me, but I had to come see you,” Emily said.

      “Emily, I didn’t even know that you existed, your mother didn’t tell me she was pregnant, I didn’t know about you, she left and didn’t tell me why, she left without tell me anything, she left while I went to the grocery store for food,” Nick said.

      “She never told you about me,” Emily said.

      “Believe me, if I knew about you, I would have done anything to be there for you,” Nick said. Emily sat down next to him.

Chapter 2

Emily and Nick sat there talking and getting to know each other.

      “So does your mother know you are here?” Nick asked.

      “No, I left a note saying that I went on a road trip with friends,” Emily said.

      “So she doesn’t know you are here, I bet she’ll call me,” Nick said. After he said that, his cell phone rang. He looked at it and looked at her and answered it.

      “Hello,” Nick said.

      “Nick, it’s me,” Hayley said.

      “Hello, Hayley, after eighteen years, what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” Nick asked.

      “Is she there?” Hayley asked.

      “Is who here?” Nick asked.

      “Her name is Emily,” Hayley said.

      “Who’s Emily,” Nick said. Emily smiled.

      “Nick, don’t play dumb with me,” Hayley said.

      “You leave me without an explanation eighteen years ago and suddenly you are calling me up asking if I have seen someone named Emily and you are calling me dumb, I don’t deserve to be spoke to that way, goodbye,” Nick said. He hung up.

      “Thanks, I want to stay with you, Dad, I know if she knew I was with you, she would come take me away from you but I had eighteen years without you and I don’t want there to be any more years without you,” Emily said.

      “You can stay with me as long as you want, you are a part of me, and nothing can change that, and I want to be the father you want,” Nick said hugging her. She held onto him tight.

The next night, Nick was sitting in his hotel room with Emily. She went to bed. Someone knocked at the door. Nick looked and opened it and saw Brian. He came in and looked at Nick.

      “What’s up,” Nick said.

      “I had a DNA test ran on Emily, to see if you were her father, I took some of your hair from your comb and some hair from her brush while you two were out of the room,” Brian said.

      “Brian,” Nick said.

      “They matched, she’s definitely your daughter, no mistake, the test was ran three times, all said the same thing, Nick, I had to be sure that she was telling the truth,” Brian whispered.

      “Thanks,” Nick said. Brian went back to his room. Nick sat down and thought about what he said. He went to bed.

Chapter 3

Nick woke up to someone shaking him. He opened his eyes and saw Emily.

      “Dad, Mom’s coming, I answered your cell phone and it was her, she knows I’m with you, she’s coming to take me away from you!” Emily said. Nick sat up.

      “Why did you answer it?” Nick asked.

      “I wasn’t thinking, I was half asleep, I didn’t look at the number,” Emily said crying. Nick hugged his daughter close. Nick got up and called the number back.

      “Hello!” Hayley said.

      “Don’t you even think of coming up here,” Nick said.

      “I’m coming to get my daughter,” Hayley said.

      “She is my daughter, too, Hayley, and she wants to stay with me, she is 18, she can do what she wants, you have no control over her, don’t bother coming up here, okay, she doesn’t want you here, if you love her and care about her, you will let her be, you got it!” Nick said. He hung up.

      “The tour is leaving today,” Nick said.

Two hours later, they were on the road. Nick sat there talking with Emily. There was commotion and the driver pulled the bus over. Someone knocked on the door. The driver opened the door and two police officers got on and looked at Nick and Emily.

      “Nick Carter, you are under arrest for kidnapping Emily Carter,” one officer said.

      “Excuse me, but he did not kidnap me, I came to him because he is my father and I have grown up without him!” Emily said.

      “Officers, she is his daughter, I have the test to prove it, I’m Brian Littrell, Nick’s bandmate,” Brian said. They looked at the tests.

      “They aren’t fixed, they are real, you can call Dr. Harris at the hospital in Baltimore,” Brian said. Nick shook his head.

      “I knew she would do this,” Nick said.

      “Sir?” one officer said.

      “My ex, she up and left me eighteen years ago without explanation or reason, I never did anything to her, I never cheated or nothing, I was the loving and caring boyfriend, I went to the store for food and I came back and she was gone, then eighteen years later, my daughter shows up, my ex was pregnant when she left me, I never knew I had a daughter, for some reason, she doesn’t want my daughter anywhere near me and I never did anything wrong!” Nick said.

      “She told me that my father abandoned me, that he didn’t want a child, but she lied to me, officers, my father didn’t know about me, he didn’t know I existed, I came up to Baltimore to meet my father, he didn’t kidnap me, I wanted to be with him, I turn eighteen next week, I do not want to go back to my mother, as far as I can tell, my father didn’t break any laws, I am his daughter, his blood, he is not holding me against my will, I wanted to be with him, I don’t want to be with my mother,” Emily said. Hayley came running on the bus. She ran to Emily and hugged her.

      “Thank god you are okay,” Hayley said. Emily pushed her mother away.

      “I’m just fine, Mother, I’m with my father!” Emily said.

      “Hayley, why did you do this, why did you lie,” Brian said.

      “Brian,” Hayley said.

      “Ms. Hardin, we can’t arrest Mr. Carter for kidnapping his daughter, she came to him, he didn’t know about her,” one officer said.

      “You are going to believe him!” Hayley said.

      “Mother, shut up, what did Dad do to you to make you treat him this way, he did nothing but love you and this is how you repay him, pressing phony charges, keeping me from him, you left him, Mom, for NO REASON, all he did was love you, I can’t believe you are my mother, Officers, I never want to see her again, can you get her off this bus, I can’t look at her right now,” Emily said turning away. Nick pulled her close and she held onto her father as the officers tried to get Hayley off the bus.

      “Nick’s not your father!” Hayley cried.

      “He is her father, Hayley, I had DNA tests done, they did the test three times, it’s a match, their DNA matched, Nick is her father,” Brian said. Hayley looked at him.

      “Emily!” Hayley said.

      “GET OUT OF MY LIFE, MOTHER!” Emily screamed at her. The officers got Hayley off the bus. Nick sat down holding her close.

Chapter 4

The tour arrived in Pittsburgh and Nick and Emily went to the hospital for a blood test. They did it in secret so there wouldn’t be a mix-up. They sat in the doctor’s office. The doctor came in and sat down and looked at them.

      “There is no doubt, the first test done by the hospital in Baltimore using both of your hairs, was correct, the blood test said the same thing, you two are father and daughter, no doubt at all, I did it myself and ran it three times, no mistake done, you are father and daughter,” the doctor said. Nick hugged Emily.

      “Thank you, doctor,” Nick said. He shook his hand and Emily shook his hand and they went back to the hotel and walked in and saw Hayley talking to Brian and Leighanne. Emily held onto Nick’s hand. They walked up to them.

      “Mother, why are you here,” Emily said.

      “Emily, I want you to come home now,” Hayley said.

      “I’m staying with my father, Mom, we just got back from the hospital, we had a blood test taken, I am his daughter so no more saying that Nick’s not my father because he is my father, so don’t deny that he is,” Emily said.

      “Emily, if he wasn’t your father, I wouldn’t have gave you his last name,” Hayley said.

      “Well, why did you if you wanted to keep me away from him,” Emily said.

      “Emily, you haven’t been around his lifestyle,” Hayley said.

      “Mom, Baylee is around this lifestyle and he is just fine,” Emily said.

      “Emily and Baylee have been hanging out backstage,” Leighanne said.

      “Mom, I’m almost eighteen years old, I have graduated high school, I want to get to know my father before I go to college, I have no reason to not want my father in my life, if there was a problem, the guys and Leighanne would have told me, but I want to be with my father and he wants me to be with him, too, if you love and care about me like you say you do, let me be, let me be with my dad, give me the chance that I have wanted for eighteen years,” Emily said.

      “Hayley, I don’t know why you don’t want her around me or why you left me for no reason, if it was because you thought I didn’t want a child, you were wrong, we were 26, we were old enough, Baylee was born around then, he was on the road with us, the same could have happened with Emily, if you had told me that you were pregnant, I would have been the happiest guy on earth and I would have never abandoned you or our child,” Nick said.

      “I guess I screwed up, huh, I am so sorry for keeping you two apart, you both are right, you both deserve to be the father and daughter you both want to be, I’ll go home and let you two be, I am not a good mother,” Hayley said. Emily hugged her mother.

      “Mom, I know you love me, I know you were thinking of what was best for me, but I really wanted a family, I wanted to know the other part of me, I have found the other part of me and I want to be the best daughter you could ever have,” Emily said.

      “You are,” Hayley said.

      “Mom, stay, so we can be a family, you two don’t have to be together, even though you two aren’t together, you two are my parents, and I want us to be together as a family, even if you two aren’t together, can you two get along for my sake,” Emily said.

      “Nick,” Hayley said.

      “Yeah,” Nick said.

      “We can get along for you, Em,” Hayley said. Emily smiled and hugged her mother and then hugged her father. They went up to Nick’s suite.

Chapter 5

The next day, Nick sat in the suite waiting for Hayley and Emily to return from their shopping trip. He had to talk to Hayley alone. Brian came in with Leighanne and Baylee. They sat down and waited. Hayley and Emily came in.

      “Hey guys,” Hayley said. Emily went to her room and put her bags down and came out.

      “What’s up,” Emily said sitting down.

      “Em, me, Leighanne, and Baylee were going to go out to see some sights, want to join us?” Brian asked.

      “Sure,” Emily said.

      “I’ll go, too,” Hayley said.

      “Actually, Hayley, I was hoping we could talk, alone,” Nick said.

      “Oh okay,” Hayley said. Emily hugged her mom and dad and went with Brian, Leighanne, and Baylee. Hayley sat there looking at Nick.

      “So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Hayley asked.

      “Us,” Nick said.

      “What about us?” Hayley asked.

      “What reason did you have to leave me and not tell me we had a daughter?” Nick asked.

      “Nick, honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking, I thought I was doing the right thing but the more I think about it, the more I regret what I did, I was stupid, I was an idiot, I am so sorry for leaving you and I am so sorry for keeping the fact that you have a daughter from you,” Hayley said crying as she covered her face with her hands. Nick got up and sat beside her.

      “I still love you, Hayley, I can’t stop, I have tried, I tried to let the anger get the best of me but I can’t stop loving you,” Nick said.

      “I can’t stop loving you either, I couldn’t, I never even tried,” Hayley said.

      “I want you back,” Nick said.

      “I want to be with you again,” Hayley said.

      “The past is the past, a new start, a fresh start,” Nick said. Hayley smiled and they hugged. Nick pulled back and kissed her softly. The kiss deepened and they laid on the couch.

      “Nick, make me yours again,” Hayley said. Nick picked her up and carried her to his room and they collapsed on the bed and removed each other’s clothes and they made love. Afterwards, they held each other.

      “Never leave me again,” Nick said.

      “Never, I couldn’t leave you again, it would kill me,” Hayley said.

      “Let’s get married and be a real family with our daughter,” Nick said.

      “Oh god, yes,” Hayley said. They kissed and made love again. Two months later, Hayley and Nick got married. Emily was excited that her parents were together. This reunion was a long time coming. Emily knew that her mother was her father’s longtime love and vice versa. They were a real family and they would never be apart.

THE END!