Meet Me Under The Stars (girlxgirl)

Chapter Twenty One

Nikki's POV

I stood by the front door. Almost hesitant to go inside. Why was I scared? I grew up in this house. There's no one here besides the two people that have always been in my life. There's nothing that I should be scared of but I am.

I took a deep breath as an attempt to get my shit together. "Man up Nic, man up."

I slowly knocked on the door before hearing a deep "One sec." from the other side.

The door opened and there stood my father. It had been a good year or so since I last saw him. He wasn't able to fly up with Jenna the last time she came. He looked better than ever. His face no longer had the scruffy look he always had, he had bulked up a little more, a result from eating better and working out I assume, and he had one of the brightest smiles on his face.

"Nikki, it's good to see you again." He said before pulling me into a bear hug.

"Hey pops. I missed you." I replied once our hug ended.

"You need to come see your old man more often. I miss you being at home."

I just chuckled as we both walked into the house. "We'll see dad."

He gave me a silent nod before leading me to the kitchen. "There's someone that I want you to meet." He told me.

I quirked my brow up at him. "Who is it?"

I could see a tint of pink hit his cheeks before he looked down to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "I um. I've been seeing someone and since you're here, I thought it would be a good time for you to meet her."

I sat down and stared at him for a second. "You've been seeing someone?" I asked as I crossed y arms.

I could tell he got a little more nervous. "W-well yeah."

I squinted my eyes at the man who raised me. "What about mom?"

He sighed before looking at me. "I will always love your mother, but its been 8 years Nikki. I can't keep dwelling on the past. Plus I genuinely like this one, but if you want me to stop seeing her then I will, you know I respec-"

He stopped what he was saying and looked at me having my laughing fit with a confused expression.

"Dad I don't care if you're dating or not. I know it's been a while since moms death. I'm honestly really happy that you're finally looking at someone else. You deserve to be happy." I told him in all sincerity.

If I'm being honest I've already known. Jenna told me a year and a half ago that dad had started to see someone. He finally got his act together when he did. He stopped the drinking, he started taking care of the house and himself on his own, and he seemed to be doing better than he did since the night we lost my mom.

He threw one of the dish towels at my head, causing me to laugh some more. "Don't scare me like that you punk. I thought you were actually mad at me."

I just smiled at him and grabbed one of the apples that were on the table. "So when do I get to meet the lucky lady." I asked before biting into the apple.

"The day after tomorrow if that's okay. I know you aren't staying in town too long. I want to make dinner here, is that okay?"

I pretended to think about it for a second before nodding. He let out a sigh of relief before speaking again. "Alright I know you're probably tired from everything, why don't you go upstairs and rest. I'll wake you when Jenna gets here."

"Alright dad. I love you." I said before I kissed his cheek and turned to leave.

"I love you too sweetie." I heard him say as I exited the kitchen.