Love You Goodbye

Chapter Ten

Nicholas's POV
"Ads!" I bent down as my daughter ran into my arms.
"Hi Daddy."
"How was your night with El?"
She pulled away from me and smiled, "It was fun! But I missed you."
"I missed you too, baby girl."
Addie glanced back at Cade and Elise who were having a hushed conversation. "How come El always yells at Uncle Cee?"
"She's not yelling baby. They're just talking about something."
"What are they talking about?" Her body leaned into mine as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
"We'll talk about it at home okay? I need to talk to El."
Addie ran over to where she had her small bag and stuffed animals as I walked over to her mother.
"El? Can we talk?"
She looked up at me and nodded. Cade stepped back and kneeled down next to Addie.
"What do you want Nicholas?" Elise asked.
"We need to talk about last night."
"What about it?"
Samuel came up beside her and put an arm around her waist. She leaned into him.
I sighed as I looked at the floor. "I meant it, Elise. I'll bring her on tour if it'll keep you from throwing away your dream."
"You will?" She sounded surprised.
I met her gaze and nodded. "Yes. Of course, El! Singing and performing on stage is what you've dreamt about since we were five years old! I never want to see you give it up."
"What about four years ago when I pursued my dream and left you?"
"Well, I'd hoped you wouldn't leave us and not even consider taking us with you."
"'Us?' as in you AND Addie?" Samuel chimed in.
"Yeah. I had hoped she would have taken the both of us, but at least Addie. It isn't fair for an infant not to be with her mother." I looked back at Elise. "El, you're her mother. I want her to know her mother. I know I've been hard on you lately, but it's because I want the best for my daughter. We were once best friends; I don't see any reason for this not to work."
Elise looked at Samuel and they seemed to have a silent conversation. He nodded slightly before turning and walking into the open bedroom.
Elise took my hand and led me out to the hallway. I closed the door behind us.
Suddenly, her arms were wrapped around my waist. "Thank you, Nicky."
I put my arms around her and held her for a few minutes. She kept whispering thank you.
"You don't have to keep thanking me, El. She's your daughter."
Her eyes met mine and for the first time, my heart didn't hurt. "No, Nic. She's OUR daughter."

A week later
"Daddy? Where we goin'?" Addie asked, lying in my arms.
I smiled, "We are going with Elise and Samuel on a trip."
"We are?"
"Yeah. Does that sound good?"
She nodded, "Yeah. I like El."
"You do?"
A smile appeared on her face, "Yeah, she's nice to me now, Daddy. And Sam is pretty cool. He buys me ice cream."
I chuckled. "Well I'm glad they make you happy, baby girl. We're going to spend a lot of time with them."
"Will we still make viveos?"
"Of course! Do we ever miss videos?"
She shook her head.
"Alright then. We'll keep making videos. Maybe El and Sam will make some with us."
Addie smiled again. "That sounds cool, Daddy." She sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder again. We were waiting outside for Elise to pick us up.
Just then, a large bus pulled onto the street.
"There's El." I pointed to it. Addie pulled her head up and her eyes went wide.
"That's El?"
"Yeah."
The bus came to a stop and the door opened. Elise bounded down the steps. "Hey guys."
She gave us a hug and picked up our bags from the ground. "Are you two ready?"
"Yeah." I said as Addie nodded.
Elise smiled and kissed Addie's cheek. "Come on then."
We boarded the bus and Addie quickly began to squirm in my arms. "Daddy. I wanna get down."
I chuckled as I watched her run off through the bus. I glanced at Elise. "Wow, this is quite the traveling bus you have here."
Her face lit up. "Yeah, it is. I like the homey feel."
"It suits you."
"Thanks, Nicky." We were silent a moment. I could hear Addie speaking with Samuel in the back of the bus. "I, um, I wanna thank you again Nic."
I met her gaze. "I told you to quit doing that, El."
The bus took off down the street.
"I'm just incredibly happy." Her hands rested on her belly.
"I'm glad. So, where are Addie and I sleeping?"
"Oh, right! Okay, so not much has changed in the back since my first tour, which means you can have the same bunk."
I kept my mouth shut as memories flooded in and out of my head again.
"Is that okay?" She asked quietly.
I nodded, "Of course."
"Okay." She handed me the other bag. "I'll go get Addie for you." She disappeared through the door to what used to be the game room.
I sat down on the bunk and immediately pulled out a set of sheets. Suddenly there were two arms snaked around my leg.
"Daddy! Come look!" She tugged me toward the back.
"Addie, honey, maybe we should wait for Elise to show us back there."
"I wanna show you something, Daddy." Her small hand took ahold of three of my fingers. I let her lead me to the door where I stopped her and knocked.
"You can come in, Nic." Elise's voice echoed softly.
Addie pushed the door open and I saw that the room had in fact been transformed.
"Wow." I sighed. "This is pretty neat."
"Look, Daddy!" Addie pointed to the wall next to the door.
I turned and saw what she wanted me to see; Elise's concert film from last year.
"It's Ellie." She mumbled, her hand still squeezing my fingers.
"Yeah, it is."
I focused my eyes on Elise as she looked at Addie. I smiled. This wouldn't be as hard as I thought.

Elise's POV
Addie wanted to see every nook and cranny of the entire bus but she wanted Samuel to show her. Of course Sam didn't mind. He and Addie got along much better than I expected.
While Sam and Addie explored the bus, Nic and I sat together on the couch and watched a game of football that I had recorded last month.
"Ah, come on!" Nic mumbled, staring at the screen.
"Did you watch this one?" I asked.
He shook his head, "Unfortunately I was in Dublin stuck in one of Luke's intense work meetings. I hadn't missed a game yet this season."
I chuckled softly, "You never missed a game as a kid."
"True, but I haven't physically been to a game for a couple of years now. Luke and Cade took me to one once as a birthday present."
I suddenly remembered the box under the couch. I got up and crossed the bus. I leaned down and pulled the box out.
"Here. I got this for your birthday when we were eighteen but I never had a chance to, um, give it to you."
He took the box from my hands as I sat back down. "Y-you've held onto to it for four years?"
I nodded. "Yep."
I watched as Nic tore open the paper and the box. He reached in and pulled out the Derby jersey.
"I know you have one, but that one is signed by the players from that year." I said quietly.
"Wow." He breathed out. "This is incredible." His fingers traced over the signatures. "Thank you El."
I looked up at the sound of my nickname. "You-you're welcome, Nicky."
He smiled and leaned over, leaving a quick kiss on the side of my head. He sat back again and looked at his present. "Wow. This is great."
I chuckled, "You like it that much?"
Nic nodded, "Well, yeah! They had a great season that year! And Addie was born on the day of playoffs. It'll be nice to show her some day."
"Well I'm glad I saved it for you then." I thought of something else for him. "Um, wait here. I have something else of yours."
I got up and walked back to my room. Sam and Addie were sucked into Ice Age: The Movie so neither of them looked up as I began to search through the boxes under my bed. I found the t-shirt and left the room.
Nic was walking around up front on the phone when I returned.
"No, Luke, I left this morning." He saw me and held up a finger. "Luke, I have everything you gave me on Friday. I'll send it to you or give it to Cade when I see him next. Yeah, if you send it to El I'll get it." He sighed. "Ok, mate. Yeah. See you in a few weeks. Bye."
He hung up and put his phone into his pocket. "Sorry, that was Luke. He thought I wasn't leaving until tomorrow."
"Oh. Do we need to stop in Dublin?"
He shook his head, "Nope." His eyes looked down. "What do you got there?"
I held out the fabric for him and he took it. "Is-is this mine?"
I nodded, my face suddenly felt hot. "Uh, yeah. I figured I'd return it."
To my surprise, Nic handed it back. "You can keep it. You've had it this long and I clearly don't need it."
"Okay. It won't be weird for you?"
His eyes squinted as he chuckled, "Elise. We were best friends for years and it never bothered me then; it won't bother me now." He opened his arms. "Come here." I took the four steps toward him and was engulfed in his arms. "I'm glad we're working this out for Addie, okay? And I don't want you changing yourself because you think it will bother me. I'm happy for you and Samuel, and I'm excited for you to have another baby. Just be you, El."
I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see my face. I was glad to have him back in my life.
He pulled away and sat down again, still holding onto the jersey. I knew exactly why his demeanor changed before I even turned around.
"Hey babe." I chimed.
"Hey! Everything okay up here?" Sam was holding Addie who was now engrossed into a game on his phone.
I nodded. "Yeah, of course." I stepped toward them and gave them each a kiss on the cheek.
Addie smiled. "Hey El? Sam is letting me play this!" She turned the screen so I could see it.
"Ah!" I gasped. "Candy Crush?! That's my favorite!"
"Really?!" Her face lit up. "That's my favorite! I always beat Daddy!"
I turned as Nic laughed. "That's a true statement." He muttered, still focused on the game.
"Well," I said to the almost four year old, "How about I grab my phone and we can play together?"
Addie looked at Nic. "Daddy? Can I?"
I stepped back as Sam put Addie on the floor and she ran to Nicky. Nicky picked her up and set her on his lap. "Ads, while we're here, you can do anything you want as long as El or Daddy says it's okay. You can spend as much time with El and Sam as you'd like."
"Are you sure, Daddy?" She asked softly. "You seem sad."
"I'm not sad, princess. I'm actually very happy."
She smiled and kissed Nic's nose. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, princess." He handed her his phone. "But use Daddy's phone; I'm sure Samuel wants his back."
Addie hopped down and ran back to me. I took Sam's phone and gave it to him. "Are you ready, Ads?"
She nodded and ran back toward the back room. "Come on, Ellie!"
I ran toward her and picked her up before she could reach the door.
"Eeeeek!" She squealed. I pushed the door open with my foot and then tossed her onto the bed. "Aahh!" She giggled, reminding me of times Nic and I goofed around. "That was fun!"
"I bet it was. So, are you ready?"
She nodded.
"What level, babes?"
She tapped it and then turned the screen.
"Whoa!" I gasped loudly for effect. "Level 42? Good job!"
"Hehe, are you ready, Ellie?"
"I'm ready. Let's go."