It's All About Timing

by CCL

Chapter Two

Author's Note: Call it therapy, call it psychosis, but it makes me feel better and with the approaching holiday, well it just had to be done. Love you, Daddy. And I miss you.

Warning: EXTREME SAPPINESS AHEAD! You may go into sugar shock! I recommend brushing your teeth thoroughly after this chapter to prevent cavities!

Thanks to: Ardath and Dallas, and everyone else who helped this along. What can I say guys? Gotta love betas that do impromptu read throughs and grammar checks.

Despite the complaining muscles, Vince forced himself to shift in the seat so that he could actually look at Dani. And at that first enlightened glance, even he couldn't deny the resemblance.

The long dark hair that curled gently around her sun-darkened shoulders was undeniably the same as his. It's dark exotic beauty matched only in the unruly way it fluffed around her face, struggling to pull free of the tiny bows holding it out of her face. Tentatively, he reached out his left hand to brush the backs of his fingers against the soft lightly freckled cheek and Dani looked up at him, smiling brightly. He could only gasp at the piercing blue eyes that met his. It was almost like looking in a mirror.

Vince's throat was dry, tight and there appeared to be a huge lump lodged inside that he could not make himself swallow down. Something prickled behind his eyes, painful and stinging. Then suddenly his vision blurred and the beautiful angel in front of him slid out of focus. He tried swallowing again, and blinking his eyes to clear whatever was disrupting his sight before he turned to Nic in desperate confusion. It took several tries for his voice to work and even then it sounded merely like a strangled sob.

"But...but you said...that there was someone else? I mean, gods Nic, why didn't you tell me?"

She sniffled herself and reached out to cup his cheek, the touch cool and soothing to his flaming face and he nuzzled her palm, closing his eyes so that hopefully she wouldn't see the weakness he was feeling at this moment. He was a father. He was Dani's father. He and Nic were parents of this gorgeous little girl. And he'd never known. The shock of realization hit him hard, like a punch in the gut. Sure he'd watched over them, helped out with money but he hadn't been there for them. He'd missed all those wonderful moments of Dani growing up. The sadness was mind-blowing and that emotion was quickly followed by jealousy and another surge of anger.

"Answer me, Nic! Please! You gotta tell me why you kept this from me! You had no right to keep her from me!"

A finger pressed against his lips to silence him as her own tear filled gaze met his. She licked her lips and took a deep breath, sighing loudly before the words began to tumble out of her mouth.

"Vince, I wanted to tell you. But after that day, I just couldn't. God, it hurt me so much for you to think that I'd actually been with somebody else. That you even thought I wanted somebody else. And I didn't exactly lie about it. There was someone else in the picture. Her. Man, when you jumped to that conclusion like that? I swear it was like a wake up call. I was suddenly so scared that you'd hate me for getting pregnant. That you'd tell me to get rid of it. And that maybe you didn't love me as much as I loved you."

She swallowed and wiped at her eyes, scrubbing away the tears stubbornly as if offended that they had the nerve to fall against her command. She sniffled and gave a small smile of reassurance to Dani, affirming that she was okay before looking back at Vince and tracing a thumb over a single tear track on his face.

"I kept telling myself that I was going to tell you. At first I said I'd wait until she was born, because then you couldn't tell me to have an abortion or get rid of her. But then I thought that maybe it would be better when she was older, more independent of me. Ya know, in case you wanted to spend time with her and not me? And then I put it off again, saying well it would be better if she were talking so you could communicate with her some. And then on and on. When the money started showing up, I kinda thought that you knew already. I guess I was half expecting you to knock on the front door and demand to see her. But you never did."

Vince reached up to grasp the hand against his cheek and hold it in place, rubbing his stubbled cheek across the tender skin in what he hoped was a calming gesture. He listened patiently, carefully, not missing the anguish in her voice and the tremble of her lower lip as she spoke each word. Before he even realized it, his anger was slipping away and in it's place was understanding. He was still deeply hurt that she could think so little of him, but after revisiting that fight in his own head earlier, he could sympathize with what she must have been feeling. Of course she had been unsure. And he had let pride keep him away for so long.

"I uh...I never told her much. But I did tell her that she had a father and that one day, I'd take her to see him. She goes to pre-school now, while I work, and this year they made these pictures for their fathers. And she...well she asked if we could go see her Daddy on Father's Day so she could give it to him."

Nic's hands pulled away from Vince briefly as she once again fumbled around at the edge of the seat. When she sat back upright, in her hands was a small scroll, tied up with a blue satin ribbon. He fidgeted slightly and looked down as Nic leaned across the seat and handed the bundle to Dani, whispering softly.

"Okay, baby. Here ya go. Now you remember when you told me you wanted to give this to your Daddy?"

"Yes, mama. I remember."

"Well," she swallowed as her voice faded away and tried again. "Well here's your chance, baby. Cuz see here?" Nic reached for Vince and helped him shift around a little more so that they were both facing the little girl. "This... is your Daddy. And Vince?"

He shot her a quizzical look, battling the new tears that threatened to well up in his eyes.

"This is your daughter. Danielle Marie Malone."

Seven little words. So innocent on their own. Combined together they touched Vince deeply and he gasped, giving Nic a pained look that conveyed gratitude, and love and a multitude of other emotions that he couldn't begin to name.

She'd given Dani his name. Malone. And not only that, she'd given their child his mother's name. Marie. The sum of all that equaled the best Father's Day gift he'd probably ever receive for the rest of his life.

He was a father.

And his little girl was gazing at him with a mixture of pride, happiness, and awe at finally having the man she'd dreamed of right in front of her.

"Daddy?"

He smiled and nodded at her reaching out to touch her again and laughing softly as joy bubbled inside him, overflowing when he couldn't contain it a moment longer. For the first time in he didn't know how long, Vince felt love and knew that he was loved in return.

"Yeah, baby?"

Small, sweaty hands reached up to grab his large, thick fingers and pull them down into her lap where she carefully rotated his hand and gently placed the handmade gift inside, folding the fingers up around it as she gave him a heartbreaking smile.

"Happy Father's Day, Daddy."

Suddenly the car was too confining and his injured arm was more of a hindrance than he wanted to deal with at the moment. He flashed her a quick smile before shifting around and scrambling for the seat belt, shooting Nic a pleading look.

"Help me? I just...I just gotta hold her again. Please?"

With a shaky nod Nic released her own seat belt and freed his as well before rushing to climb out of the car and help him out on the other side. Seconds seemed like hours as he stood on the sidewalk in front of the house, eyes glued to the backseat where Nic fumbled with clumsy quivering fingers to free Dani from her car seat.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Dom and Mia and the rest of the team had gathered near the driveway, curiously watching the scene unfold. They maintained their distance from the newly joined family though, and Vince was grateful not to have to share this moment with them just yet.

A tug on his leg alerted him that Dani was standing in front of him, arms outstretched in a silent plea to be picked up. It took only a moment of thought as he switched his present to the bandaged arm and used his good one to carefully reach down and scoop her up, cradling her tightly to his body and soaking her up.

It was heaven. Heaven right here on earth, to be loved so unconditionally by a child he'd only just met but had fantasized of belonging to him in countless dreams. Suddenly the sun was a little friendlier, the birds sang a little sweeter, the air smelled a little cleaner and Vince felt a whole lot better.

He looked over at Nic, standing shyly off to the side and watching father and daughter embrace. Without a second thought he stepped over to her and draped his injured arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and whispering in the top of her hair.

"Thank you, Nic. For everything."

She nodded and hugged him back, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling in as close as possible, letting her hands rub soothing circles over Vince's and Dani's backs. It was like coming home. It was home for Vince and he made up his mind right there that they'd never be anywhere other than right by his side. A family. A real honest to god family like he'd only had a taste of growing up. The kind of family that he'd made with Dom and Mia and Leon and Letty. And Jesse.

Jesse.

Just as his mind began to race with the idea of sharing and showing off his new family to the rest of the team, the loss of his littlest "brother" struck hard and he had to clamp down on that emotion to deal with later. Right now there was no room for sadness. He knew that Jesse would want him to enjoy the moment, live it to the max, memorize it, and then retell it often and with lots of embellishment for days and weeks to come.

So that's what he did.

With a heavy sigh, he pulled back to look at the two females that had just flipped his life upside down. He smiled at both of them and gently tugged at Nic's shoulders, urging her towards the team. The smile faltered slightly when Nic pulled away from his grasp and she resumed her stance a short distance away from him.

"What's wrong, Nic? Come on. Let's go say hey to everyone, it's my coming home party."

She shrugged and glanced over at Mia before meeting his gaze. She was chewing her lower lip again and her hands were wedged tightly in the back pockets of her jeans.

"Listen, I didn't want to mess up anything you had going right now. I just, thought you should know. About Dani that is. So that if you wanted to see her, you could, you know, come by when ever. Spend some time getting to know her, playing with her. She uh, she's been looking forward to this for a long time."

Vince shifted Dani on his hip slightly, holding her more securely and shaking his head in confusion at Nic.

"What do you mean? Nic, what makes you think you're screwing up what I've got? Everyone knows you. They're not gonna say anything. You know that."

She dropped her eyes to the pavement, scuffing her sandals lightly.

"Yeah, but Mia. I mean, I'd heard that, well that you guys--"

"What?? Nic, no!"

Even as he cut off her statement with his declaration, he closed the distance between them and reached out to tilt her head up so that he could look at her, not wanting any misunderstanding over his next statement.

"Yeah, I had a thing for Mia. I'm not gonna lie. Hell, I picked a fight with Brian quite a few times over her. But he loves her and she loves him and I, well I realized a while ago that I was just fooling myself. It wasn't love. Strong friendship, maybe, but not love. There's only one person that I have ever loved, and until today I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to tell her that."

His deep, husky voice wavered on the last sentiment. When he saw Nic's brow crease in confusion, his fingers came up to softly smooth the worry lines away. He let them slide down the high cheekbones to her jaw, sneaking slightly off course to trace the lines of her lips with a bare whisper of a touch. When she smiled and pursed her lips to place a brief kiss on the finger lingering on her mouth, he swallowed his nervousness and let the hand quickly slip to the back of her neck, pulling her close to plant a tender, moist kiss on her lips, speaking with actions instead of words.

Loud whoops and cheers from the driveway made the couple break apart suddenly and both flushed with embarrassment as they saw the team applauding their display of affection for each other. Their gazes met again and they laughed softly as Vince extended his arm in silent invitation to Nic to resume her place at his side and after only one more glance and the group of friends Vince had always called family, she looped her arm around his waist and allowed him to lead her over to the others, each wearing a brilliant grin.

"Finally got over that pride, huh Vince?" came Dom's deep rumble, quiet enough to only be heard by the man in question. Vince nodded and looked at Dani and Nic, his voice almost reverent in tone.

"I found something better. My family."

As the group headed towards the back, Vince re-introduced Nic to everyone, including the new addition to the crew, Brian. But almost all the eyes were on the little girl sitting quietly in her father's arms, staring wide-eyed at all the people hustling and bustling around her.

Vince noticed the looks and nuzzled the little girl's head with his own, planting a kiss on her head, before clearing his throat to get everyone's undivided attention.

"Guys, there's someone else here you should meet. This is Danielle, or Dani, my daughter."

There was a moment of silence as Vince grinned proudly and soon that grin spread to each and every person crowded around them. Nic squeezed at his waist and smiled as words of "Congratulations", "Way to go, guys!", and "We're so happy for you!" resounded in the tight circle.

And with that obstacle out of the way, the atmosphere relaxed as they all settled around to chat with Nic and get caught up on the who's, how's, why's and when's of Vince's new status. Vince on the other hand remained pleasantly detached from the conversation, settling in a chair carefully and spending his time hugging and touching and getting to know his daughter.

As the sun slowly slipped in the sky, Dani dazzled her newly acquired father and his friends by telling stories about her favorite doll, playing in the sprinkler with Mama, her favorite television show and singing childish songs with the sweetest voice Vince had ever heard. She recited her ABC's and counted to 100, the last of which was met with an enormous round of applause and several comments about what a smart girl she was. Dani positively glowed from the praise and rewarded her daddy with a giant hug that seemed to melt the bearish man and remake him into a giant teddy bear.

The food, conversation and good company seemed to make the time fly even faster and before anyone realized it, the clock was approaching eleven and Dani had long since fallen asleep with her head resting on Vince's shoulder. Through out the evening his eyes had locked with Nic's and a feeling of tension, uncertainty and anticipation had curled in his gut, making him shiver despite the heat and mugginess of the air. Now, as the party was slowly winding down, those emotions came back to the fore in full force mingled with something Vince could only describe as fear.

Mia and Brian were clearing dishes while Dom and Leon closed up the grill. Letty lingered talking to Nic until Mia had requested that she bring in the coolers and all too soon, Vince was once again alone with his newly reunited family.

"She looks pretty beat. I should probably get her home and in bed. It's been a big day for her and she's got daycare tomorrow morning."

He nodded, his throat constricting with the thought of letting Dani go. He tried to shift her away from his body, so Nic could lift her from his lap, but even in sleep the little girl showed a determination not to relinquish her new prize. Vince squeezed her once more before gently shaking her awake, calling to her softly.

"Dani? C'mon, baby wake up now. It's time for you to go home and go to bed. Your mama's waiting for you, sweetheart."

Her small round face screwed up in a frown, softly whimpering her protests.

"No, no, no. Don't wanna go, Daddy. Wanna stay. Please can't I stay, please?"

His heart broke at the words and he regretfully shook his head, kissing the tears that began to leak from the corners of her eyes.

"Awww, don't be that way, baby. I'll see you again real soon, okay? Now be a big girl and let go of me so Mama can pick you up."

Again she voiced an unhappy protest, the high voice cracking slightly on a sob.

"N-no! You come too, Daddy! Please? Please, Daddy?"

Through it all, Nic was silent, her eyes taking in the exchange and offering reassuring pats to both the grumpy child and the disheartened father. At Dani's last request, Vince furrowed his brow and turned his head to Nic, his eyes pleading for help. Her response both shocked and thrilled him to the core.

"Well if you wanted you could come back with us. Stay until she falls asleep or, whenever."

Vince's face lit with enthusiasm as he smiled at both Nic and Dani and began to struggle to his feet.

Before he could pass Dani off to go tell everyone where he was going, Dom appeared, slamming the backdoor with a small duffle bag in hand. With a huge grin, he approached the couple, passing the bag to Nic and clapping Vince on the shoulder.

"Mia told me to tell you that she packed all the medicines they gave you along with the directions. You're supposed to take a white one and a blue one before bed and then a white one in the morning."

Nic grinned and nodded, her voice soft compared to Dom's deep rumble.

"I'll take good care of him, Dom."

"I know you will, Nic. Hey, V? Can I talk to you for a second?" He jerked his head to the side slightly and only grinned at Vince's quizzical look. Nic smiled and made her excuses to give the boys a minute of privacy.

"I'll just go put this in the car, V and wait for you, okay?"

He gave a small smile and watched her walk away, waiting until she was out of earshot before turning to Dom.

"Alright, brother, what's going on? You trying to get rid of me?"

The larger man smiled and shook his head, a chuckle escaping before he could stifle it back.

"Hey, brother, I'm just looking out for you. Which, by the way, I also packed you some condoms. I suggest you use 'em unless you want this little angel to have a little brother or sister in the very near future."

Vince widened his eyes in shock before Dom's laughter became too contagious and he joined in wholeheartedly.

"What would I do without you, brother?"

"You don't really want me to answer that, now do you?"

The glance to Vince's good hand brought another round of laughter between the two men and Vince playfully punched at Dom's shoulder before looking towards Nic, propped up on the side of the mustang and giving his oldest friend an apologetic look.

"Go on. Get outta here. Take care of what's important."

"Thanks, Dom. Really. I--"

"Don't have to say anything. Go on. Your future is waiting on you."

Vince smiled and nodded, turning towards Nic. His heart swelled at the shy smile she gave him and when he reached her side, he dropped his head towards hers brushing an ultra sweet kiss on her lips before whispering to her softly.

"Come on, Nic. Let's go home."