Post by lubbybaby on Aug 17, 2006 8:45:40 GMT 10
Biggest Chap I've done so far! Hope you guys like it, It's all Abby and dad:
Father & Daughter X The Past
Abby sat on the couch; remote control in her hands, flipping from one channel to the other. She sighed, over 500 channels on tv, and still there was nothing to watch.
She settled for Nick at Night’s scheduled with “Facts of Life”
Maybe I would take her mind of today’s events.
But the more she tried o stop thinking about it, the more she tough about it.
About the grand escape, the years of living like a normal child, growing up with friends and superficial worries, but than the truth came out and her childhood was blown away, turned into dust in the wind, and within seconds she became a grown up and made her escape, her escape to do what she though was the right thing to do, but as it turned out was the wrong choice … … … She could hear Luka singing the in the background, under the shower; he was really not a bad singer, … … … well maybe it had been the right choice all along but only now was it clear to see.
Not far from there, inside a hotel’s royal suite :
Simon Cowell found himself in his underwear wrapped in a silk robe, walking straight for the mini bar and grabbing a miniature bottle of whiskey and going for the box of cigars he had left on one of the tables.
With the cigar between his fingers and the whiskey in his hand, he sat down on one o the sofas and grabbed the remote control flipping from one channel to the next. “Over 500 channels on the f**king TV and still, there is nothing to watch” he mumbled and sighed looking at a piece of paper next to the phone.
He settled for Nick at Night’s schedule with “Facts of Life” not knowing his daughter was watching the exact same thing.
“Just call her Simon” His wife’s voice sounded from behind the door.
“She ran away, Paula, twice! Do you really thing she wants to see me?” He didn’t even bother to look back at her.
“You’ll never know until you call her!”
Simon sighed staring back at Paula with angry look. He hated being told what to do! She knew it better than anyone.
“Fine, do as you please. Be annoying and stubborn for the rest of your life”
“If I changed I wouldn’t be the man you married”
“Ugh! Simon!! The man I married would never quit, until he got his way. Seems you’re letting go this time around.” Paula didn’t say another word or even bothered to look at him, she knew Simon well enough to know it had caught up with him.
Stubborn as he might be, he would always try to prove her wrong. It was like that since the day they met and it would always be like that.
The ringing of the telephone brought woke her up in a second and quickly glancing around, she found herself in bed, with a note from Luka beside her. She knew he had left for his shift and he knew the note would say something like, “Don’t eat too much crap.” And “Page me for anything”
She grabbed the phone thinking it was him on his first of many calls of the night to check up on her.
“Hey”
“Hi” There was no need to say who it was, there was no need for any explanations, she knew who it was and she knew why he was calling.
“Dad”
“Abby”
Suddenly the only sound that could be heard was the sucking of a cigar in her father’s mouth and the release of the smoke that she could almost smell.
“How did you get this number?” She asked sitting up straight on the bed.
“”You dropped your tag Dr Lockhart”
“Still doesn’t explain” Abby protested
“Abby, I’m Simon f**king Cowell, In within a second I knew where your live, where you eat, I knew about Richard, Luka, John and Luka again. I know Erick has landed in an institution, I know Maggie is finally on her meds, I know Kovac was believed to be dead in Africa, I know Carter found him, I know he dated a nurse called Sam Taggart, I even know her son’s name: Alex, … … But strangely enough I still don’t know why my daughter ran away from me 20 years ago when she was 10 and I also don’t know why she ran away on me today”
Abby sighed. He was mad, he was very mad, but how could he not be mad? He had gone through hell because of her, thrown his youth away because of her and when he had thought he was gifting his kids with a bigger and better future she ran away to never be found again… … … until now.
“B b, sweetie? Can we talk?” His voice was soft, a request she hadn’t heard from him in years and still it came so natural to her even as he used the nickname that only few dared to call her.
She softened up thinking of Luka’s words earlier. She sighed. “We can talk, but I don’t want anyone from the ER to find out … … at least not yet… … … God knows that place is quicker than E! News daily and I don’t want a place where next thing I know I’m on the cover of some crapy gossip paper!”
Simon smiled “Come to the hotel, tomorrow around 9 am, through the back door. I’ll be waiting in the suite.”
“Oh, ok, just one problem there Sherlock”
“Yes”
“Are they going to let me in, through the back door?”
“Don’t worry, someone will be waiting for you” Simon could hardly contain his happiness. For so long he had waited for this moment. Of course every time he played the scene in his mind, she was still the cute 10 year old that had ran away from home, but as he had seen her today she was so far from that little girl, so grown up, so beautiful… … … and by Christ she was pregnant. He suddenly felt himself out of breath, his ten year old little girl was a pregnant 30 year old doctor and he had missed all of it.
“I should have though better coming from The Simon Cowell”
“Hum hum” was all he could answer as he felt still out of breath.
“Are you ok?”
“Yes, yes, of course. So nine am. I’ll be the famous one”
“I’ll be the one in a lab coat”
“So?” Paula stood behind the door again.
“Oh, For Christ sakes woman, you have been standing there the whole time haven’t you?” Simon took one of the cushions and threw it at her.”
Paula ducked laughing out loud “I always win”
“Only when I want sex” He chased her inside not really minding if their two boys would wake up with the hysterical sounds of laughter coming from both of them.
“So, you’re going?” Luka raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.
“I’m going” Abby sighed taking one last look in the mirror. She was wearing tight jeans with 3 little brown flowers drawn on it, a tight, white t-shirt and a brown leaher jacket over it.
“You look gorgeous” Luka embraced her from behind sinking his nose in her hair
“Yes, well my jeans barely fit anymore”
“Bu you have that extra glow in your eyes”
“That’s a load of crap!”
“Mean like her father” He grinned
Abby threw the pillow at him “Jerk” She said storming out “Working today?” He asked.
“Nope. Told Weaver I had to deal with my mom”
“Mom? Hum, Simon Cowell wearing a skirt, now that would be funny”
“When I was nine he had to wear a kilt to some man competition it was hilarious. You know you should think of applying for ER chief. Would come in handy”
“So you can sleep in more often?” Abby nodded and left.
“You’re really old hum dad?” The four-year-old Zion Cowell stated while he buttered his toast, much to Paula’s and his older brother’s amusement and Simon shock.
“Excuse me?” Simon stared at his son with a puzzled and angry look.
“Yeah, I mean you have a 30 year old daughter, I mean come on, she’s almost mom’s age!” The boy stared up at his father showing his obvious resemblance to his mother, everything that kid seemed to have earned from his mother and Simon couldn’t help but love that about him.
“First my dear child we do not call people old?”
“Ancient?” The 7-year-old Beau tried. He was a different story, Blond and with Blue eyes he resembled Simon’s family, sometimes more his grandmother than his own father.
“No, not that either. You just don’t call people old and that’s it. Even less your own father. And for you information I’m not that old and your mother is a lot older than you might believe.”
“I’m younger than you”
“Don’t you people have to go? Go, get out, now!” Simon stated making them go aster and within five minutes they were out the door with both Zion and Kipling screaming back “Ancient man”
“Pst, you!” A man in a hat that seemed to cover his face and a cape that covered his body urned to Abby. He was leaning against the wall, on the back entrance of the hotel. “Abby Cowell?” The man whispered
“yeah” She stated looking at him with a puzzled look. “Seacrest”
“Oh, my, God of all people he chose you to wait outside?” Abby whispered back
“Paula doesn’t know how to whisper and well Randy isn’t exactly a good cover up, so I’m here. Come on, follow behind.” He entered the hotel and made his way through the kitchen and into the lobby where they headed up the first few steps of the stairs and only on the first floor did he take off the coat and the cape and finally smiled at her offering his hand “HI, nice to meet you. Ryan”
Abby smiled back “Abby. Sorry to put you through this by the way.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I end up doing tons of favors for you father”
“Are you really his daughter?”
“You mean because he’s to young?”
“No, I mean you’re too beautiful”
Abby grinned “Thanks”
There was an awkward second where neither spoke. It was obvious he liked her and he could tell she wanted to pretended she hadn’t noticed.
They reached Simon’s floor and he guided Abby to the door, knocking twice “Simon, 9 am sharp” He announced and shaking hands with Abby again he left.
“I hope I’ll see you again soon”
“You to”
Simon opened the door with a large grin “Come on in”
Abby looked around herself for a second., The suite alone was the size of their home when she was little, maybe even bigger. She had been used to this at her grandparent’s home, but, alone with her father in a place like this; it was brand new.
Toys laid around the floor everywhere. Loui Vouiton bags in the corner, opened bars of Toblerones, Milka and Lyndt Chocolate lay on a table that was set for breakfast with the most delicious things.
“Breakfast? I know pregnant women have a tendency o feeling hungry more than once a day”
Abby smiled “You know I’m pregnant?! Of course you know, how could you not, I mean you know everything else”
Simon grinned. “Sit” He signed for her to take her place and she did. He sat down in front of her “Tea?” He offered holding the jar
“That’s really your thing, I’m a coffee kind of gal”
“You shouldn’t though”
Abby rolled her eyes “Trust me it’s ok! There’s really no proven thing hat coffee is harmful”
“Oh, well, just don’t tell Paula”
Abby laughed, “I won’t. How many kids do you have with her again?”
“Two boys, Zion and Beau.”
“So, I’m still the only girl?”
Simon smiled “Yup. Guess I’m meant to have boys”
“Good. It probably means, I’m going to have a boy”
“You don’t know yet?”
Abby shook her head with a smile “I don’t want to know”
“Paula didn’t resist, she said it be to weird to buy girls things and end up with a boy”
“Luka is doing the nursery. He wants to kill me because he hasn’t figured out what color to use”
Simon laughed “White and light yellow always work. Beau’s room was all in white and light yellow, obviously though Paula had me pay over a million for the stupid thing and I’m sure I would have done a better job”
“Yeah, you did all of our nurseries” Abby remembered seeing him falling from a table once while hanging something in her baby brother’s room.
“You’re mother was pissed! Said she was the artist, but I kept saying building things and refurnishing places was really a man’s job. Truth though was, I wanted to tell my kids I had done that. I was so proud of that”
“Maybe if you had told Paula that”
Simon thought about it with a smile “Never really thought of that.”
“I remember I was proud to tell my friends my dad and I had built a tree house together when I was five. … …” Abby chuckled.
Simon watched her as he poured her a little bit of coffee and more than half a cup of milk.
“We used to do picnics there.”
“Yeah, you would take us there and read stories, we would listen to demo tapes you’d bring in and than we would eat all that junk food grandma used to send from London”
“It was my way of getting you all out of the way when your mother had her crazy days.”
“I only realized that when you told me the truth about her”
Simon watched her wondering if he should have ever told the truth about Maggie. He should have known her better, he should have known she would try and protect Maggie, she was the mother after all.
“Should have never old you though”
Abby studied him for long seconds wondering what he was really thinking about.
There was a time she knew every word he would say, every reaction he would have, and she wondered if it was still the same now.
“I had to take care of her, someone had to” Abby started.
“I took you and Sean out of there because I wanted better for you and that night, the night she chased you with the knife… … … I couldn’t have that happen again, Abby!”
“I know, … … … and if I had been in your place I would have probably done the same thing, but you left Erick”
“Abby, I tried. Do you remember the tantrum he threw when I mentioned leaving? He slept close to your mother that night. If I had tried to get him out we would have never been able to leave and latter I had your grandfather go after him, we fought for him in court and the truth came out. He wasn’t my son”
“We all had to take the DNA test.”
“Judge asked for it. I knew you and Sean were mine. Sean was a spit image of me since birth and you, well you act a lot like me”
“Great! Thanks a lot. With the fame you have, this is an insult”
Simon laughed. “Oh come on, you know better than all that TV crap”
“Yes, and I know there are two different Simons, work Simon and Simon the family guy”
He cracked up. … … … “Tell me one thing, though. How did you manage it?”
“Grandpa helped me. … … I was going out the window and he caught me. I told him that I couldn’t leave Maggie alone with Erick. But he made me promise that if I needed anything, he made me swear that whatever problem I had I would call him. He also made me swear I would keep in touch”
“Son of a bitch, all this time the old bastard kept this from me?!”
“It was his part of the deal. He wouldn’t tell you where I was, and I would always keep in touch and if he told you I would stop calling”
“And when he died?”
“Let me ask you this, who gave you the info about me?” She smiled looking at him.
“MY OWN MOTHER??!!!”
Abby nodded “I’m sorry, but I knew that if you knew where I was you’d take back and I also knew Maggie would stop going on her meds and very likely kill herself.”
Simon shook his head. “Next thing I know you’re going to tell me that Paula knew where you were”
“No, I never met her. But I would love to. I’m a huge fan, I mean really a woman that puts up with your bad moods”
“Oh, she left you a few things”
“For me?”
“Yeah. Baby stuff.” Abby looked at the table he pointed to and saw a large number of shopping bags from the most expensive stores she could thing of. “I mean anything is a reason for her to go shopping and when I told her my daughter was pregnant, needless to say she marched through every store of Chicago”
“Wow, My child is going to have more expensive clothes than me”
Simon laughed, she really thought like him.
“There’s also a bunch of shit from American Idol”
“Luka’s going to love it”
“Abby?” He eyed her sipping on his teas again.
“Yup”
“Can we start this thing again? This father daughter thing? Should we give it a shot?”
Abby smiled “Sure. As long as you an Maggie keep a certain distance from one another that’s fine”
“It’s a deal”
“How’s Sean?” She finally asked the question that had been eating her away . Her little brother had been five when she ran away from home that night and even though she sometimes talked to him over the phone, he was at school at Eaton and they hardly had anything to talk about since they barely knew each other.
“He’s great. Has a band, is working as a publicist for “Sony” and keeps telling me he’ll be richer than me faster than me” Simon grinned
Abby laughed. “Last time I talked to him he was going to Africa to shoot pictures”
“Yeah, photography is another one of his passions. Costs me a lot of money but hey, I’m he father right?! Besides he’s really starting to pay for his own things now”
“How does he handle Paula?”
“She’s like a mother to him. … … Abby, he barely remembers your mother he was 2 years old when we moved to London and five when you ran off”
“I still have the memory of him holding on to that teddy bear at 6 in the morning when you woke me up for school.”
“Oh, he’s a man now. Take a look” He took a picture out of his wallet and handed it to Abby.
She took it, looking carefully at it.
There they were, her father, her grown up brother, his father’s new wife, Paula Abdul and their two boys, all happily smiling in Hawaii apparently, all dressed in summer clothes tight together, a family.
“The little one looks like Paula”
“Zion? Acts like me though, beau looks like me but is sweet and adorable like Paula”
“How did Sean turn out?”
“He’s a lot like your grandfather, more quiet, very reserved, but everyone loves him.”
“Why don’t you come meet us in LA?”
“I don’t know?!”
“Oh, please. I want you to meet Paula and the kids, and I really want to meet this Croatian doctor.”
“Luka Kovac”
“So what do you say? A weekend on the beach? I hear you two could use a break!”
“I … …”
“My jet will be ready for you next weekend. The driver will take you to our home and there’s zero to worry about.”
“Some time off does sound appealing”
“See… … Come on… …”
“Fine, you win”
“I always do. Now quit with the coffee or this kid will be jumping out of there.”
“Ugh!! Fine” Abby rolled her eyes.
She stayed a while longer, he showed her around downstairs where they did all the filming and the auditioning, introduced her to everyone and had her play around with the auditioning tapes.
Later as she left, he had the driver take her back to the ER with the reassurance that she would really come for the weekend to LA.
“Wow, dropped off by a jaguar?” Carter announced surprised to see Abby there .
“Yeah. My fathers call”
“Who’s he?”
“Not of your business.” Abby smiled waving off to the driver and getting inside.
“Luka there?”
“Exam four”
He watched the car drive off and felt his mouth drop open as the car turned and a big “Cowell” was written on the license plate .
Father & Daughter X The Past
Abby sat on the couch; remote control in her hands, flipping from one channel to the other. She sighed, over 500 channels on tv, and still there was nothing to watch.
She settled for Nick at Night’s scheduled with “Facts of Life”
Maybe I would take her mind of today’s events.
But the more she tried o stop thinking about it, the more she tough about it.
About the grand escape, the years of living like a normal child, growing up with friends and superficial worries, but than the truth came out and her childhood was blown away, turned into dust in the wind, and within seconds she became a grown up and made her escape, her escape to do what she though was the right thing to do, but as it turned out was the wrong choice … … … She could hear Luka singing the in the background, under the shower; he was really not a bad singer, … … … well maybe it had been the right choice all along but only now was it clear to see.
Not far from there, inside a hotel’s royal suite :
Simon Cowell found himself in his underwear wrapped in a silk robe, walking straight for the mini bar and grabbing a miniature bottle of whiskey and going for the box of cigars he had left on one of the tables.
With the cigar between his fingers and the whiskey in his hand, he sat down on one o the sofas and grabbed the remote control flipping from one channel to the next. “Over 500 channels on the f**king TV and still, there is nothing to watch” he mumbled and sighed looking at a piece of paper next to the phone.
He settled for Nick at Night’s schedule with “Facts of Life” not knowing his daughter was watching the exact same thing.
“Just call her Simon” His wife’s voice sounded from behind the door.
“She ran away, Paula, twice! Do you really thing she wants to see me?” He didn’t even bother to look back at her.
“You’ll never know until you call her!”
Simon sighed staring back at Paula with angry look. He hated being told what to do! She knew it better than anyone.
“Fine, do as you please. Be annoying and stubborn for the rest of your life”
“If I changed I wouldn’t be the man you married”
“Ugh! Simon!! The man I married would never quit, until he got his way. Seems you’re letting go this time around.” Paula didn’t say another word or even bothered to look at him, she knew Simon well enough to know it had caught up with him.
Stubborn as he might be, he would always try to prove her wrong. It was like that since the day they met and it would always be like that.
The ringing of the telephone brought woke her up in a second and quickly glancing around, she found herself in bed, with a note from Luka beside her. She knew he had left for his shift and he knew the note would say something like, “Don’t eat too much crap.” And “Page me for anything”
She grabbed the phone thinking it was him on his first of many calls of the night to check up on her.
“Hey”
“Hi” There was no need to say who it was, there was no need for any explanations, she knew who it was and she knew why he was calling.
“Dad”
“Abby”
Suddenly the only sound that could be heard was the sucking of a cigar in her father’s mouth and the release of the smoke that she could almost smell.
“How did you get this number?” She asked sitting up straight on the bed.
“”You dropped your tag Dr Lockhart”
“Still doesn’t explain” Abby protested
“Abby, I’m Simon f**king Cowell, In within a second I knew where your live, where you eat, I knew about Richard, Luka, John and Luka again. I know Erick has landed in an institution, I know Maggie is finally on her meds, I know Kovac was believed to be dead in Africa, I know Carter found him, I know he dated a nurse called Sam Taggart, I even know her son’s name: Alex, … … But strangely enough I still don’t know why my daughter ran away from me 20 years ago when she was 10 and I also don’t know why she ran away on me today”
Abby sighed. He was mad, he was very mad, but how could he not be mad? He had gone through hell because of her, thrown his youth away because of her and when he had thought he was gifting his kids with a bigger and better future she ran away to never be found again… … … until now.
“B b, sweetie? Can we talk?” His voice was soft, a request she hadn’t heard from him in years and still it came so natural to her even as he used the nickname that only few dared to call her.
She softened up thinking of Luka’s words earlier. She sighed. “We can talk, but I don’t want anyone from the ER to find out … … at least not yet… … … God knows that place is quicker than E! News daily and I don’t want a place where next thing I know I’m on the cover of some crapy gossip paper!”
Simon smiled “Come to the hotel, tomorrow around 9 am, through the back door. I’ll be waiting in the suite.”
“Oh, ok, just one problem there Sherlock”
“Yes”
“Are they going to let me in, through the back door?”
“Don’t worry, someone will be waiting for you” Simon could hardly contain his happiness. For so long he had waited for this moment. Of course every time he played the scene in his mind, she was still the cute 10 year old that had ran away from home, but as he had seen her today she was so far from that little girl, so grown up, so beautiful… … … and by Christ she was pregnant. He suddenly felt himself out of breath, his ten year old little girl was a pregnant 30 year old doctor and he had missed all of it.
“I should have though better coming from The Simon Cowell”
“Hum hum” was all he could answer as he felt still out of breath.
“Are you ok?”
“Yes, yes, of course. So nine am. I’ll be the famous one”
“I’ll be the one in a lab coat”
“So?” Paula stood behind the door again.
“Oh, For Christ sakes woman, you have been standing there the whole time haven’t you?” Simon took one of the cushions and threw it at her.”
Paula ducked laughing out loud “I always win”
“Only when I want sex” He chased her inside not really minding if their two boys would wake up with the hysterical sounds of laughter coming from both of them.
“So, you’re going?” Luka raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.
“I’m going” Abby sighed taking one last look in the mirror. She was wearing tight jeans with 3 little brown flowers drawn on it, a tight, white t-shirt and a brown leaher jacket over it.
“You look gorgeous” Luka embraced her from behind sinking his nose in her hair
“Yes, well my jeans barely fit anymore”
“Bu you have that extra glow in your eyes”
“That’s a load of crap!”
“Mean like her father” He grinned
Abby threw the pillow at him “Jerk” She said storming out “Working today?” He asked.
“Nope. Told Weaver I had to deal with my mom”
“Mom? Hum, Simon Cowell wearing a skirt, now that would be funny”
“When I was nine he had to wear a kilt to some man competition it was hilarious. You know you should think of applying for ER chief. Would come in handy”
“So you can sleep in more often?” Abby nodded and left.
“You’re really old hum dad?” The four-year-old Zion Cowell stated while he buttered his toast, much to Paula’s and his older brother’s amusement and Simon shock.
“Excuse me?” Simon stared at his son with a puzzled and angry look.
“Yeah, I mean you have a 30 year old daughter, I mean come on, she’s almost mom’s age!” The boy stared up at his father showing his obvious resemblance to his mother, everything that kid seemed to have earned from his mother and Simon couldn’t help but love that about him.
“First my dear child we do not call people old?”
“Ancient?” The 7-year-old Beau tried. He was a different story, Blond and with Blue eyes he resembled Simon’s family, sometimes more his grandmother than his own father.
“No, not that either. You just don’t call people old and that’s it. Even less your own father. And for you information I’m not that old and your mother is a lot older than you might believe.”
“I’m younger than you”
“Don’t you people have to go? Go, get out, now!” Simon stated making them go aster and within five minutes they were out the door with both Zion and Kipling screaming back “Ancient man”
“Pst, you!” A man in a hat that seemed to cover his face and a cape that covered his body urned to Abby. He was leaning against the wall, on the back entrance of the hotel. “Abby Cowell?” The man whispered
“yeah” She stated looking at him with a puzzled look. “Seacrest”
“Oh, my, God of all people he chose you to wait outside?” Abby whispered back
“Paula doesn’t know how to whisper and well Randy isn’t exactly a good cover up, so I’m here. Come on, follow behind.” He entered the hotel and made his way through the kitchen and into the lobby where they headed up the first few steps of the stairs and only on the first floor did he take off the coat and the cape and finally smiled at her offering his hand “HI, nice to meet you. Ryan”
Abby smiled back “Abby. Sorry to put you through this by the way.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I end up doing tons of favors for you father”
“Are you really his daughter?”
“You mean because he’s to young?”
“No, I mean you’re too beautiful”
Abby grinned “Thanks”
There was an awkward second where neither spoke. It was obvious he liked her and he could tell she wanted to pretended she hadn’t noticed.
They reached Simon’s floor and he guided Abby to the door, knocking twice “Simon, 9 am sharp” He announced and shaking hands with Abby again he left.
“I hope I’ll see you again soon”
“You to”
Simon opened the door with a large grin “Come on in”
Abby looked around herself for a second., The suite alone was the size of their home when she was little, maybe even bigger. She had been used to this at her grandparent’s home, but, alone with her father in a place like this; it was brand new.
Toys laid around the floor everywhere. Loui Vouiton bags in the corner, opened bars of Toblerones, Milka and Lyndt Chocolate lay on a table that was set for breakfast with the most delicious things.
“Breakfast? I know pregnant women have a tendency o feeling hungry more than once a day”
Abby smiled “You know I’m pregnant?! Of course you know, how could you not, I mean you know everything else”
Simon grinned. “Sit” He signed for her to take her place and she did. He sat down in front of her “Tea?” He offered holding the jar
“That’s really your thing, I’m a coffee kind of gal”
“You shouldn’t though”
Abby rolled her eyes “Trust me it’s ok! There’s really no proven thing hat coffee is harmful”
“Oh, well, just don’t tell Paula”
Abby laughed, “I won’t. How many kids do you have with her again?”
“Two boys, Zion and Beau.”
“So, I’m still the only girl?”
Simon smiled “Yup. Guess I’m meant to have boys”
“Good. It probably means, I’m going to have a boy”
“You don’t know yet?”
Abby shook her head with a smile “I don’t want to know”
“Paula didn’t resist, she said it be to weird to buy girls things and end up with a boy”
“Luka is doing the nursery. He wants to kill me because he hasn’t figured out what color to use”
Simon laughed “White and light yellow always work. Beau’s room was all in white and light yellow, obviously though Paula had me pay over a million for the stupid thing and I’m sure I would have done a better job”
“Yeah, you did all of our nurseries” Abby remembered seeing him falling from a table once while hanging something in her baby brother’s room.
“You’re mother was pissed! Said she was the artist, but I kept saying building things and refurnishing places was really a man’s job. Truth though was, I wanted to tell my kids I had done that. I was so proud of that”
“Maybe if you had told Paula that”
Simon thought about it with a smile “Never really thought of that.”
“I remember I was proud to tell my friends my dad and I had built a tree house together when I was five. … …” Abby chuckled.
Simon watched her as he poured her a little bit of coffee and more than half a cup of milk.
“We used to do picnics there.”
“Yeah, you would take us there and read stories, we would listen to demo tapes you’d bring in and than we would eat all that junk food grandma used to send from London”
“It was my way of getting you all out of the way when your mother had her crazy days.”
“I only realized that when you told me the truth about her”
Simon watched her wondering if he should have ever told the truth about Maggie. He should have known her better, he should have known she would try and protect Maggie, she was the mother after all.
“Should have never old you though”
Abby studied him for long seconds wondering what he was really thinking about.
There was a time she knew every word he would say, every reaction he would have, and she wondered if it was still the same now.
“I had to take care of her, someone had to” Abby started.
“I took you and Sean out of there because I wanted better for you and that night, the night she chased you with the knife… … … I couldn’t have that happen again, Abby!”
“I know, … … … and if I had been in your place I would have probably done the same thing, but you left Erick”
“Abby, I tried. Do you remember the tantrum he threw when I mentioned leaving? He slept close to your mother that night. If I had tried to get him out we would have never been able to leave and latter I had your grandfather go after him, we fought for him in court and the truth came out. He wasn’t my son”
“We all had to take the DNA test.”
“Judge asked for it. I knew you and Sean were mine. Sean was a spit image of me since birth and you, well you act a lot like me”
“Great! Thanks a lot. With the fame you have, this is an insult”
Simon laughed. “Oh come on, you know better than all that TV crap”
“Yes, and I know there are two different Simons, work Simon and Simon the family guy”
He cracked up. … … … “Tell me one thing, though. How did you manage it?”
“Grandpa helped me. … … I was going out the window and he caught me. I told him that I couldn’t leave Maggie alone with Erick. But he made me promise that if I needed anything, he made me swear that whatever problem I had I would call him. He also made me swear I would keep in touch”
“Son of a bitch, all this time the old bastard kept this from me?!”
“It was his part of the deal. He wouldn’t tell you where I was, and I would always keep in touch and if he told you I would stop calling”
“And when he died?”
“Let me ask you this, who gave you the info about me?” She smiled looking at him.
“MY OWN MOTHER??!!!”
Abby nodded “I’m sorry, but I knew that if you knew where I was you’d take back and I also knew Maggie would stop going on her meds and very likely kill herself.”
Simon shook his head. “Next thing I know you’re going to tell me that Paula knew where you were”
“No, I never met her. But I would love to. I’m a huge fan, I mean really a woman that puts up with your bad moods”
“Oh, she left you a few things”
“For me?”
“Yeah. Baby stuff.” Abby looked at the table he pointed to and saw a large number of shopping bags from the most expensive stores she could thing of. “I mean anything is a reason for her to go shopping and when I told her my daughter was pregnant, needless to say she marched through every store of Chicago”
“Wow, My child is going to have more expensive clothes than me”
Simon laughed, she really thought like him.
“There’s also a bunch of shit from American Idol”
“Luka’s going to love it”
“Abby?” He eyed her sipping on his teas again.
“Yup”
“Can we start this thing again? This father daughter thing? Should we give it a shot?”
Abby smiled “Sure. As long as you an Maggie keep a certain distance from one another that’s fine”
“It’s a deal”
“How’s Sean?” She finally asked the question that had been eating her away . Her little brother had been five when she ran away from home that night and even though she sometimes talked to him over the phone, he was at school at Eaton and they hardly had anything to talk about since they barely knew each other.
“He’s great. Has a band, is working as a publicist for “Sony” and keeps telling me he’ll be richer than me faster than me” Simon grinned
Abby laughed. “Last time I talked to him he was going to Africa to shoot pictures”
“Yeah, photography is another one of his passions. Costs me a lot of money but hey, I’m he father right?! Besides he’s really starting to pay for his own things now”
“How does he handle Paula?”
“She’s like a mother to him. … … Abby, he barely remembers your mother he was 2 years old when we moved to London and five when you ran off”
“I still have the memory of him holding on to that teddy bear at 6 in the morning when you woke me up for school.”
“Oh, he’s a man now. Take a look” He took a picture out of his wallet and handed it to Abby.
She took it, looking carefully at it.
There they were, her father, her grown up brother, his father’s new wife, Paula Abdul and their two boys, all happily smiling in Hawaii apparently, all dressed in summer clothes tight together, a family.
“The little one looks like Paula”
“Zion? Acts like me though, beau looks like me but is sweet and adorable like Paula”
“How did Sean turn out?”
“He’s a lot like your grandfather, more quiet, very reserved, but everyone loves him.”
“Why don’t you come meet us in LA?”
“I don’t know?!”
“Oh, please. I want you to meet Paula and the kids, and I really want to meet this Croatian doctor.”
“Luka Kovac”
“So what do you say? A weekend on the beach? I hear you two could use a break!”
“I … …”
“My jet will be ready for you next weekend. The driver will take you to our home and there’s zero to worry about.”
“Some time off does sound appealing”
“See… … Come on… …”
“Fine, you win”
“I always do. Now quit with the coffee or this kid will be jumping out of there.”
“Ugh!! Fine” Abby rolled her eyes.
She stayed a while longer, he showed her around downstairs where they did all the filming and the auditioning, introduced her to everyone and had her play around with the auditioning tapes.
Later as she left, he had the driver take her back to the ER with the reassurance that she would really come for the weekend to LA.
“Wow, dropped off by a jaguar?” Carter announced surprised to see Abby there .
“Yeah. My fathers call”
“Who’s he?”
“Not of your business.” Abby smiled waving off to the driver and getting inside.
“Luka there?”
“Exam four”
He watched the car drive off and felt his mouth drop open as the car turned and a big “Cowell” was written on the license plate .