He ran his hands over his face and she could hear the strangled growl from his throat,
"Ever since I found out about Mac all I can think of is all the things you got to go through with her, you took that away from me and I can never get it back. She's my first baby. Feeling her kick, singing to her, being there when she was born, naming her." Quinn shook her head,
"I thought you liked her name." He sighed,
"It's not about the damn name and you know it. Maybe if I had the time to get adjusted like you did I would be ok. This was just thrown at me, I need time. And now you're getting married." He shook his head,
"I'll be damned if I let another man raise my daughter." Quinn frowned at him,
"What are you trying to say?" He placed his hands on his hips,
"If you want to get married then fine, but I'm raising her." She shook her head,
"You don't even like her. You practically said it. You need to get..what was that you said..adjusted? You can't do that. You can't just step in after all this time and-" He flew off the handle and screamed louder than ever,
"And who's fucking fault is that? My parents didn't get to enjoy their first grandchild. Did you think about any of that shit while you were being so fucking selfish?" She shook her head as she watched Mac, who was amazingly calm throughout the entire ordeal,
"I didn't want the publicity and it wouldn't have been good for your career." He sighed loudly and threw his arms up,
"Fuck that Quinn. Shut up! I don't want to hear you talk about being worried about my career one more time." He walked past her, nearly knocking her down and slammed her bedroom door. She stood there and looked at the door,
"How the hell is he going to lock me out of my own damn room?"
After ten minutes Nick walked back out and walked over and sat next to Quinn,
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She nodded her head,
"Yes, but I stayed so you could spend time with Mac. I wasn't gonna go to work and leave her alone with you." He smiled slightly as he looked down,
"Probably a good idea. Um, I'm sorry for blowing up like that." She shook her head as she looked down and played with her ring,
"I'm sorry too. I should have told you about the engagement, I should have told James about you. And you're right about you missing all that time with her. And your parents." She looked over at them,
"What did they say?" He sighed, it would probably hurt her to know that he headn't told them about Mac. If nothing else it would start another arguement,
"Uh, they're happy. They can't wait to see her." She smiled,
"They can come on their own, they don't have to wait until you're here." He nodded,
"Yeah, but they're on tour too. With Aaron and my sisters have got some stuff that my parents are working on too. It's a crazy time for the whole family." She nodded,
"Yeah, I understand." He stood up,
"I got something for MacKenzie." She smiled and when he returned with the CD her face brightened even more,
"Oh the CD, I forgot about that." He nodded,
"I recorded it around the time you asked me to do it but I forgot it on my bus." She picked Mac up off the floor as Nick placed the CD in the stereo. She sat down, with Mac in her lap, and waited for the music to play. Nick sat down beside them and took Mac from Quinn's arms and handed her the CD case. She looked down and smiled as she read off the songs,
"Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You by Lauryn Hill, Unforgettable by Nat King Cole, Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle, Apple Of Yur Daddy's Eye by Peter CeTera and Daddy's Girl by Peter CeTera." She looked over at Nick and smiled as he played with Mac,
"Those are perfect." she said as his voice filled the air. Mac was on his lap facing him, smiling from ear to ear as Nick made faces at her. He looked over at Quinn quickly,
"I wasn't sure at first but the idea came to me to sing those type of songs." They sat in silence, Nick and Mac's gurgling sounds the only thing that could be heard occassionally.
Chapter 28
Reunited
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