Page 59 of Once Upon a Beast

“Fair enough,” I said.

“How is any of this fair?” Nic gave me an annoyed look.

“I never said any of this was fair,”

“So, what are you saying?” Nic asked angrily.

He might be directing his anger at me but I knew he wasn’t mad at me. He was mad at the situation. He had spent years not thinking much less talking to his father and now he had done both in a short period of time.

“I’m saying that it's fair that you wouldn’t know what to do. Do you go and see a man you have avoided for years just because he asked you to? He hasn’t ever done anything for you since he went to prison, why would you want to do anything for now?”

“I thought you were pushing me to go and see him?” Nic gave me a smirk.

“I’m trying to give you all the options so you can make an informed decision,” I countered but smiled back at him. “Or do you go and see him because he asked you, and as his son you still love him and want his approval.”

“That isn’t it.” Nic shook his head at me.

“Okay,” I said and tried a different approach. “Or do you go and see him because it’s what you need to do for yourself. The only person who should matter in this situation is you. You need to do what you want because you think it’s good for you, no one else.”

“I don’t know what that is.” Nic looked so dejected when he said it. I wanted to pull him into my arms and make it all better, but I couldn’t. Whatever he did, he had to do on his own. I could only support him and I was going to.

“You don’t have to. Not yet. When you’re ready to see him, you will. If you are never ready, then you won’t.” I went and stood in front of him.

Nic looked down at me and put his hands on my hips. “How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?”

“You must have done something really good in a previous life,” I teased.

“That must be it. Thank you,” he said and kissed my nose.

“For what?” I asked.

“For listening to me. For being here for me. You have a way of looking at things that I don’t. You can see the whole picture. I’m too close.”

“It’s a big decision. I want to help you make it but I hope I’m not pushing you.”

“You would like me to see him, don’t you?” He tilted his head at me.

“I think you need to. If you didn’t want to, if you didn’t think you needed to, this wouldn’t be bothering you as much as it. You would have just hung up on him when he called or you would have dismissed his comments. You have in the past but you aren’t now. You aren’t one who lets things fester but you’re letting this. All those things tell me that you want to go, you just haven’t convinced yourself of it yet.”

“So, my subconscious knows I need to go see my father but my mind isn’t ready to accept it yet?”

“Something like that.” I smiled at him.

“When you move in with me, is this the type of conversation I can expect to have with you?”

“You can have any conversation you want with me,” I teased.

“Really?” Nic asked and dropped his head down and kissed my neck. “In that case, there is a conversation I would much rather have with you than the one about my father.”

I wanted to push him to keep talking, I felt like we were getting somewhere but I could tell he was done talking. As his mouth sucked on my earlobe, I quickly felt the same way. I tightened my hold on his hips and tilted my head to the side. “What was it you wanted to discuss with me?”

“So many things,” he said and picked me up and carried me to his bedroom.

Chapter 31

Nicodemus

Two days after I talked to Layla, I decided to go and see my father. Everything that she said was right. I did need to see him. Even if I didn’t want to admit it. There were unresolved issues between us and I needed to confront them.

---