Nick walked into the Sports Authority at the Orlando Mall and saw someone he hasn’t seen in four years. His ex-girlfriend, Hayley, was sitting behind the counter. She left him the day after the first time they made love. He blamed himself for her leaving. He feared that he scared her away. He walked up to her and smiled at her. She looked at him.

      “Hello, Hayley,” Nick said.

      “Nick, what are you doing here?” Hayley asked. Nick looked at her.

      “Shopping, this is a mall and this is a store,” Nick said.

      “Oh, right, sorry,” Hayley said.

      “How have you been,” Nick said.

      “Fine, busy,” Hayley said.

      “Why did you leave me?” Nick asked.

      “I really don’t want to talk about that now,” Hayley said.

      “I do,” Nick said.

      “Okay, fine, I couldn’t handle everything, okay, I couldn’t do it anymore, I couldn’t handle being a Backstreet Boy girlfriend, plus, Willa came over and told me that you two were on the verge of getting back together so I decided to step aside,” Hayley said.

      “I haven’t talked or seen Willa in six years,” Nick said.

      “You mean she lied,” Hayley said.

      “Apparently so because I never talked to her about anything, and I never want to get back together with her,” Nick said. The phone rang. Hayley picked it up.

      “Sports Authority, this is Hayley, Hi Stacey, what, oh no, I can call my mom, I can’t, no one is here to take my spot so I can leave, I’ll call my mom to come and get him, okay, bye,” Hayley said. She hung up and dialed a number.

      “Hi Mom, can you go pick up Jason, Stacey said he threw up all over the place, oh, okay, I’ll see what I can do, bye,” Hayley said. She hung up and looked at Nick.

      “Nick, there is something you need to know,” Hayley said.

Chapter 2

Nick stood there as Hayley told him that Jason was his son. She looked at him.

      “I have a son, I have a son and you never bothered to tell me!” Nick said angrily.

      “Nick, please,” Hayley said.

      “I can’t believe this, how could you do this!” Nick said angrily.

      “Nick, stop,” Hayley said.

      “You know what, I’m going to pick him up and take him home with me, don’t bother coming to pick him up!” Nick said. He went out the door. He went to the babysitter’s and picked up Jason and went home. He laid a sleeping Jason on the couch. He sat down and called Brian, Kevin, Howie, and AJ. They came over and saw Jason.

      “I can’t believe Hayley did this to you, no child should be kept from their father,” AJ said.

      “No child should be kept from their mother either, but in this case, it might be an exception, she kept him from you, it’s her turn,” Kevin said.

      “Kevin,” Brian said.

      “Brian,” Kevin said.

      “Brian, she kept him from me, she never told me about him, he is a part of me, he is my son, I deserve to be in his life and she deserves to be punished,” Nick said.

The doorbell rang. Kevin got up and opened the door and saw two police officers.

      “Can I help you?” Kevin asked.

      “I’m Officer Spencer and this is Officer Davis, we are looking for Nick Carter,” Officer Spencer said.   

“What’s this about?” Kevin asked.

      “The kidnapping of Jason Hardin,” Officer Davis said.

      “Kidnapping, there was no kidnapping, Jason Hardin is Nick’s son,” Kevin said.

      “That is not what Jason’s mother said,” Officer Spencer said.

      “Come in,” Kevin said. They came in and saw Nick holding Jason.

      “Jason is my son, Hayley told me so, she is just lying to get him back, I told her she wasn’t getting him back because she left me for no reason and didn’t bother to tell me that I had a son, she is lying, he is my son, he looks like I did when I was little,” Nick said.

      “Officers, let us get a blood test, if Jason isn’t Nick’s son, we will give Jason back to Hayley, but for now, can you please tell Hayley to leave us alone until then,” Brian said. The cops left. Nick sat there holding Jason.

Chapter 3

Nick left Jason with Kevin, with Kevin assuring him that he won’t let anyone take Jason. Nick went to the Sports Authority and saw Hayley behind the counter. Nick stood there and glared at her.

      “You sent cops to my door, lying to them about Jason being my son, have you gone insane,” Nick said.

      “I wanted my son back,” Hayley said.

      “I told you that you weren’t going to get him back after what you did, you kept him from me, I’m only doing the same thing, keeping him from you, I don’t know why you are doing this to me, why you kept our son away from me, not bothering to tell me about him, I haven’t changed my number, Hayley, you knew my number, I could have supported you, we could have been a family, Hayley, if you had told me about him, if you hadn’t had left, we could have been a family, but you blew that chance, when you kept our son from me, here are custody papers, I have filed for full and sole custody of Jason, I’ll see you in court,” Nick said. He put the papers on the counter and walked out and went to Kevin’s and picked up Jason and went home. He sat down with his son. The phone rang. He picked it up.

      “Hello,” Nick said.

      “Mr. Carter, this is Dr. Harris, I have the results of the blood test that we ran on you and Jason this morning, Jason is your son, I am 100% sure, he is your son, I did the test three times and it came back the same,” Dr. Harris said. Nick smiled.

      “Thank you,” Nick said. He hung up and looked at Jason.

      “Hi Jason, I’m your daddy,” Nick said. Brian, Howie, AJ, and Kevin came in.

      “Did you hear from the doctor?” Brian asked.

      Tell the cops that he is 100% my son,” Nick said.

Two weeks later, Nick and Hayley were in court. Hayley’s lawyer got up and started opening arguments.

      “Your honor, my client is a loving mother, she is always there for her son, she loves him more than life itself, I feel a child should not be taken from its mother, it would be heartbreaking and wrong, Mr. Carter doesn’t know how to be a father, this is the first time that he is faced with the responsibility of a child, we have proof that he parties, and with his job as a Backstreet Boy, he is never home, he’s always on the road, living on a bus, that is no place for a child, please let Jason stay with his mother, that is where he belongs,” she said.  Nick’s lawyer stood up.

      “Your honor, Ms. Frazier is wrong about one thing, Nick knows how to be a father, he grew up helping his mother and father with his four younger siblings, and Nick is currently on a long break from touring, Nick doesn’t party anymore, he would rather sitting at home relaxing than go out and party, he has the ability to take care of a child, he wants to be a father, he wants to the father that Jason deserves, he didn’t know that he was a father until he ran into Hayley at the mall, she couldn’t leave to go pick up her child because he was at the babysitter’s, he was sick, Hayley told him that Jason was his son, my client felt betrayed, she let his son grow up without knowing him, she knew his phone numbers, but she never bothered to call him up to tell him that he had a son, my client had a right to be angry, something very important was kept from him, the knowledge that he has a son, then she tried to get him arrested for kidnapping and told the cops that Jason wasn’t his son, when she had told him before that Jason was Nick’s son, Nick got a blood test and got proof that Jason is his son, your honor, Nick deserves the right to be with his son, he wants to be the best father a kid could ever have,” Sam said as he sat down. After all the witnesses got up and testified, the judge went to make his decision.

Chapter 4

Nick sat there waiting for the judge to come back with his decision. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked and saw Brian.

      “We are behind you, Frack, no matter what,” Brian said.

      “Thanks, Frick,” Nick said. The judge came back in and sat down.

      “This was not an easy decision, Mr. Carter, keeping a child away from his mother is wrong, Ms. Hardin, keeping a child away from his father is wrong and lying about the child’s paternity is wrong and pressing phony kidnapping charges is wrong, I should find a better home for Jason, but he needs both parents, so my decision is that full and sole custody goes to Mr. Carter, Ms. Hardin, you will get three hours visitation each week, supervised, have a good day,” the judge said. The guys got up and hugged Nick. Nick looked over at Hayley. She had her head in her hands, crying. Nick and the guys went home. Denise stood up and came over to them.

      “Nick won, Mama, he’s got full and sole custody of Jason,” AJ said.

      “Thank god,” Denise said hugging Nick.

      “Hayley got three hours visitation, supervised,” Kevin said.

The next day, Hayley came over for her one-hour visitation. Brian sat there watching Hayley play with Jason. Nick sat in the kitchen. After the hour was up, Hayley came into the kitchen.

      “I wish it didn’t have to be this way,” Hayley said. Nick glared at her.

      “Yeah, it wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t done what you did, you blew it, Hayley,” Nick said. Hayley nodded and left. Nick went and sat down and held Jason.

      “Daddy,” Jason said.

      “Yes, Jason,” Nick said.

      “I miss Mommy,” Jason said.

      “I know you do,” Nick said.

      “Is she coming back?” Jason asked.

      “Not for a couple of days,” Nick said.

      “I want Mommy,” Jason said crying.

      “I know you do, but she did something bad,” Nick said.

      “What did she do?” Jason asked.

      “She didn’t tell me about you until recently, I never knew about you until she told me a few weeks ago,” Nick said. Jason looked at him.

      “You didn’t know about me when I was a baby?” Jason asked.

      “No, Jas, I didn’t, I wish I did, I would have wanted to watch you grow up,” Nick said.

      “Mommy told me that my daddy was famous and was very busy and she said one day that he would come visit me,” Jason said.

      “You mean, you knew about me,” Nick said.

      “She told me that you were my daddy and you were very busy and you would visit me when you had time,” Jason said.  Brian looked at Nick.

      “Go back and play with your toys,” Nick said. Jason ran into his playroom to play. Brian sat down.

      “Well, she didn’t exactly keep Jason from knowing who his father was,” Brian said.

      “She was honest with him about who his dad was,” Nick said.

      “Nick,” Brian said.

      “Joint custody,” Nick said.

      “How about family,” Brian said.

      “She’s moving in with me,” Nick said picking up the phone and calling her over to the house. She came ten minutes later.

      “Is Jason okay,” Hayley said.

      “Sit down, let’s talk, I am calling the judge to reverse the custody agreement, you are to move in with me and Jason and we both be here for our son,” Nick said.

      “Thank god,” Hayley said.

      “What,” Nick said.

      “Nick, I figured I would have to come to you eventually to help with Jason, my house is being foreclosed and I have to move out, your timing is perfect, I made a mistake leaving in the first place, I made a mistake of not telling you about him, I wish I could go back and change things,” Hayley said. Nick took her hands in his.

      “We can be the best parents ever for our son,” Nick said.

      “I’ve always known you would be an awesome father,” Hayley said.