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Story #1: A Father/Son Talk

Many of my readers were curious as to what Nick would say to Noah after the whole incident that took place in American Honey and Fallen Angel. That conversation is below.

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-- Noah --

Last night when I had made love to Kay, the last thing I thought I would be doing in the morning was getting ready to go to the hospital to see her. The thought that she had tried to kill herself made me sick. And terrified.

I had almost lost her.

Trevor had gone home the night before. He had lost major points in my book. Who ran out on his girlfriend when she was that upset?

I spent the night tossing and turning. I had even contemplated sneaking off to go to the hospital.

But I was probably already in enough trouble.

Dad came into the room as I was typing my sneakers. Our rooms this time were adjoining. That was clue one that he didn't trust me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"We need to talk before we go," he said.

I sat back on the bed, using my hands to brace my upper body. Dad came over and sat down.

We both stared at the ground.

"So you were careful right?' he asked.

"Of course I was."

Dad rubbed his neck. "I excluded that little detail when I talked to Brian."

I looked over at him. He met my eyes. It was more man-to-man than father-to-son.

"You did?"

"I figured this was something the two of you needed to figure out," dad said lightly. "When she's ready."

That meant a lot considering he could have pulled the parent act.

"I didn't know...about all the other stuff," I explained. "I would never have done it if I had."

"Well, your first time ranks right up there with mine then," dad said. "My first time was with someone who grew up and still slept with teenage boys."

"Really?" I asked. Dad smirked.

"Yeah. Gross huh?"

"Totally." I ran my shoe over the carpet. "But Kay wasn't my first."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I figured I needed a practice run."

The corner of dad's mouth twitched.

“We’re Carters. We don’t need practice runs,” he said. I laughed. We lapsed into silence. “But seriously, I promised your mother I would give you a talk."

I groaned. Dad had already given me a talk. It had concluded with my first condom which I had used as a water balloon. That’s what a stupid fourteen year old boy did.

Now I was fifteen going on sixteen. Times were different. Everything was different.

“I can’t tell you not to do it,” dad said. “Because my record’s pathetic. I’m surprised your mom even married me. But, just think about the consequences. Be safe. If you tell me I’m going to be a grandfather, I will kill you. I still deserve at least five more years of teasing AJ before it happens to me.”

“Deal,” I said with a smile.

Dad patted my knee.

“You really like Kay?”

“I love her.”

“Love’s a strong word,” dad said. “You’re only fifteen.”

“I’m mature.”

Dad laughed. “You get that from your mom.” He looked at me and his smile faded.

“But, seriously. Kay’s dealing with an amazing amount of stuff right now. I think you need to step back and let her figure out her own life before you add yourself into the mix.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant. I wanted to fix what happened, but I knew I couldn’t.

After all, I wasn’t Superman.

“I know. I can wait.”

Dad stood up. “Alright, good talk.”

“Good talk,” I agreed.

We both walked towards the door. Before dad put his hand on the knob, I smiled.

“Would you be this calm if Brooke just told you she had slept with someone?”

Dad looked at me.

“Did she sleep with Trevor?”

“I don’t know,” I said lightly.

Dad looked like he was weighing that in his mind.

“It’s stupid, but it’s kind of a right of passage with you,” dad said. “I mean you’re my son.

There’s Carter pride at stake. With a daughter it’s different. The whole damn thing’s complicated.”

I smiled. “Then can I just say I’m glad I’m a son?”

Dad laughed. “You and me both. Another daughter would kill me.”

We walked out into the hallway. Dad patted my back.

Our little moment was over; it was back to reality. On one hand, I wanted to see Kay so bad it hurt. On the other hand, I didn’t want to see her with her wrists bandaged and that broken look on her face.

This love thing was hard.