New Beginnings (Charlie Bartlett Fanfic Starring Robert Downey Jr.)

Chapter 35 - Handy Man

"Did you have a good time last night, Susie Q?" Nathan was in the kitchen cooking dinner for himself and his daughter.

"Yeah, it was cool. Charlie got a hold of a copy of that new Mark Wahlberg movie and screened it for everyone. It kinda sucked, but in a 'so bad it's good' kind of way." She looked up from her trigonometry book. "And your night?"

Nathan told her about the horrid Abbi situation and his impromptu performance, though he didn't divulge exactly what he performed. He was even honest about spending the night at Sydney's – with a few details left out, of course. "Pancakes this morning after clean up and here we are."

"Abbi aside, and please don't ever see her again she sounds awful, it sounds like your night was pretty good."

"It was," he replied, his voice almost distant.

"And you...spent the night at my English teacher's house. The same person I've been begging you to ask out for..."

Nathan's back was to his daughter, which was a good thing considering he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "I just might," he said innocently. "No promises when, but I will take it into consideration, okay?"

Susan's eyes brightened, but she cocked her head in confusion. "If I were going to guess that Valentine's Day had something to do with this, would I be right?"

Nathan's answer was simple. "You wouldn't be wrong."

Sydney was at home, lounging on the couch despite what should have been getting done. After she took Nathan home, she spent the afternoon cleaning, but put off a few of the more daunting tasks that awaited her upstairs. She was watching something on television, but not paying it much attention - her thoughts were completely dedicated to Nathan. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Brynn and Jess entered the room.

"The pancakes were really good this morning," Brynn said, smiling. She was unbothered by Eric's disappearing act due to a pleasant afternoon with Jess. "Did Naaaaaathan help you make the batter this morning?" She channeled her best kindergartner impersonation.

Sydney rolled her eyes and forced away a smile. "As a matter of fact, he did, but last time I checked he didn't have so many vowels in his name."

She shrugged, then plopped down beside Sydney. "We've all been really well behaved for a while, like you asked, but getting to hang out with him last night, after his amazing little on stage ditty, I think he's..."

"He's pretty great," Jess said, sitting on the other side of Sydney. "Had a bit of a chat with him today, he's a good listener."

Sydney blushed, but not enough to be very noticeable. "Yeah, he is, isn't he? I've seen him with a few of the kids at school and he's a natural at it." She looked at Jess. "Everything okay?"

"No," he answered honestly, "but it's a little better. It was nice having a..." He didn't finish and Sydney completely understood why. Jess never held Arlen's preferences against him, but he never had a true father figure either. While she didn't press the issue to learn the topic of their conversation, Sydney's heart leapt knowing that Nathan had helped to ease Jess' mind about something.

The following morning, Sydney's house was silent. Jess finally decided that he should be with Arlen to finalize his mother's things, as well as spread her ashes. Sydney walked into the home's fourth bedroom and leaned against the doorframe. This was to be the nursery. She felt a pang of joy as well as one of pain, but would never show the latter once the baby girl arrived. The room was completely empty, save for the paint cans in the corner. It was early, just about eight-thirty, but as she stared at her cell phone, she dialed him.