Time Flies

Chapter 16: 'I'm your grandpa'

Nicks pov:

My jaw is clenched and my hands are bawled into fists.

Blake: "i'm sorry..."

I ignore her and she hands me her phone, which i immediately open tiktok.

Charlie is talking to the kids but i block it out. my ears are ringing and all i feel is anger and a sense of sadness.

I open her DMs to see an account with the name: 'user197491' saying "Hey blake. I've been trying to find....

it gets cut off and i click on the conversation to read the rest of the message.

'Hey blake. i've been trying to find you or your parents or your siblings for a while. I'm your grandpa, Stephane Nelson. your dad has cut me off after i supposedly neglected him but i was only trying to make him more of a man. I know you may find this weird but i would like to have some sort of a relationship with my granddaughter. please don't tell your dads, if they are even still together, i don't want you to get in trouble...'

I feel charlie's hand on my face wiping away tears i didn't know i had.

Nick: "•there will be no relationship between any of you and my sperm donor•"

I say sternly as i look at all of my children.

They nod. Eli seems to understand because i've told him a little about my relationship with my sperm donor.

Colette: "•you said that you never really saw you after mimi and him got divorced but...did he know about you and papa?•"

I nod and wipe away my tears.

Nick: "•it was a bit of a mess when i did come out to him. he wasnt horrible about it but he didn't understand. we never really talked after that. he wasn't invited to our wedding, as you guys know. But when you were born he did try to see you. i kicked him out quickly...•"

i take a breath and hug char again. I bury my head into the crook of his neck, taking in his scent before pulling away and setting blake's phone on the table.

Nick: "blake you know you're grounded right?"

she nods.

Charlie: "•i think we all need to take a breath and go to our rooms for a bit then we can come back to regroup okay?• blake your father and i will hold your phone and we will be going through your page later do you understand?"

They all nod and separate off. Charlie looks back at me and sighs.

Charlie: "we did okay right? do you think we traumatized them?"

Nick: "i think we did okay...maybe not traumatized but we'll make sure they talk about this with their therapists"

charlie just nods.

(An hour later)

Charlie's pov:

Nick, blake, and i are sitting at the kitchen table with her phone about to go through her tiktok page.

her face is red like she's embarrassed and that makes me worry she's posted something bad.

We open the app and to her account to see 15 videos posted, 150 followers, and 2.2k likes.

I click on the first video she's posted and it's a simple video saying:

"Hey tiktok hoping to post smth idk💀🫶"

Nick and i share a glance and scroll to the second video. It's her and her friend doing a dance. they are shaking their hips.

nick glances up at her and then back at the video.

Nick: "what made you post this?"

Blake: "it's just a dance."

I sigh and pause it.

Charlie: "do you know who could've seen that? anyone. any person in the world could've seen that."

She glances between us and then looks down at the table.

Blake: "i'm sorry papa..."

i sigh and scroll to the next video. It's our family in the car singing a song. I feel anger rising as she records us discretely. this is how stephane knew.

Nick looks up at her.

Nick: "how dare you."

he's voice is stern and harsh. i place my hand on his thigh hoping the situation doesn't escalate.

Blake: "i'm sorry...i-i just thought it was funny..."

I speak before nick can.

Charlie: "Honey...you recorded your family without their permission and posted it online. this is how Stephane found us."

Tears roll down her face and nick is taking deep breaths.

Charlie: "i can't watch anymore. you will delete tiktok, you will not have your phone for 2 weeks, and we will be monitoring your activity on it."

Blake: "Monitoring? so invading my privacy?!"

Nick: "you went behind our backs, we need to rebuild some trust"

Charlie: "but- we can compromise that we will only check what apps you have. we will not go through your messages, photos, search history, etc."

nick looks at me.

Nick: "Char what? what if she's talking to guys or taking...pictures..."

I stiffen and look up at Blake.

Charlie: "have you been taking...pictures...or talking to guys?"

Blake: "no papa"

she wipes away a few tears. i stand up and go hug her tightly. i hate making my kids cry; i hate it more than anything.

I look across the table and he's deleting her account and the app.

Blake: "daddy...?"

Nick looks up, his eyes are watery-they look glass.

Nick: "thank you for not responding."

his voice cracks but he still sounds firm.

Blake: "are you going to reach out to him...?"

He's quiet. i'm quiet. he stiffens. i stiffen.

Nick: "unless it's to tell him to fuck off, no. i haven't talked to him properly in 16 years. he doesn't deserve to know me, your dad, or any of my kids."

Blake nods.

Blake: "does mimi talk to him...? or uncle david...?"

Nicks face turns red with anger. i know she fucked up calling him uncle...

Nick: "don't call him your uncle. he is unimportant to this family. mimi has cut off stephane and david doesn't reach out to her much. he is not your uncle do not call him your uncle."

he's crying and i hate to see him break down like this. I pull away from blake and envelop nick into my arms.

Nick: "why can't he leave me alone-?"

he says quietly-he's shaking.

I whisper 'it'll be okay' and 'he's just a dick' into his ear. it seems to be somewhat effective because his tears slow.

Blake: "i'm sorry."

We both stop and look at her.

charlie: "your rebelling, it's what teens do. but i don't appreciate it."

she nods and i add-

Charlie: "give me and your dad a few minutes okay?"

She quietly stands up and goes to her room without another word.

Nick just cries silently into me for the next 20 minutes. all i can do is hold him and tell him it'll be okay.