"Because You Love Me"
By: Kasey
(c) 2000
Y'all wanna steal? Fine. Then expect some major ass
whooping if you do so!

Chapter 4.

                   Kevin and Nick sat in the waiting
room of the psychologist, watching as Ella played in
one corner, ignoring both of them. She hadn’t spoken
since Kevin had told her her mother was gone, hadn’t
even sniled at AJ. They had abandoned the clothes
buying until Kevin had spoken with the psychologist,
none of them knowing how to deal with Ella after she
had retreated into herself.
	" Kev?"
	" Yeah Nick?"
	" What’ll happen if the psychologist says that
there’s really something wrong with Ella?"
	" What do you mean, what will happen?"
	" I mean, will you send her back into foster care?"
Kevin turned to face Nick, a startled look on his
face.
	" No! I wont send her away. She’s my daughter, I will
take care of her. Why did you think I would send her
away?"
	" Because you said yourself you didn’t want to be
both a singer and a father. If there’s something
seriously wrong with Ella, it means you’re going to
have to spend a lot of time with her. It may not leave
a lot of time for the group. It means you’d have to
make a decision between your career and your
daughter," Nick said and Kevin frowned.
	" When I said I didn’t want to be both a father and a
singer, I wasn’t thinking straight. I would never give
up Ella for anything. And there’s only two
weeks left of the tour. I think I can handle two
weeks. After the tour finishes, I’ll spend as much
time as I possibly can with Ella, with psychologists,
with anyone
will help her and me to get through this. Its not like
I really have anything else to do ya know. I’ll move
to Texas temporarily if I have to, to be closer to
this
psychologist. I will do anything within my power to
help Ella," Kevin said and Nick nodded.
	" That’s all I wanted to know."
	" What would you do?" Kevin asked suddenly and Nick
looked startled.
	" Me? I don’t know. I’m still a little young to be
thinking about being a father. But, if in the same
situation, I would probably keep her. I just wouldn’t
know for sure until it happened I guess," Nick said
and Kevin nodded, looking thoughtful.
	" It’s not like I’m the only one who’s going to be
near her. It’ll be like she has five fathers. Well,
maybe four fathers and one big brother," Kevin said,
smiling as he remembered AJs antics. Nick laughed.
	" Oh yeah, AJ makes a good brother. He only has a
mentality of about a ten year old anyway," Nick
snickered and Kevin had to hold back a laugh.
	" Don’t go saying that with him in hearing distance.
You’d be watching your back every second of the day in
fear of retaliation," Kevin said and Nick
smiled.
	" Oh, I think I can hold my own against Bone."
	" Yeah, just like you held your own against Brian
when you ‘told’ him we were leaving," Kevin pointed
out and Nick had the grace to look shamefaced.
	" Well, I knew Brian would ask a lot of questions. I
wanted to save that, so I just didn’t tell them," Nick
said as the door to the office opened. A woman stepped
out of the room, looking immaculate and poised.
	" Mr Richardson? Ms Harvey will see you now," she
said and Kevin nodded. 
	" Thank you. Ella, come on. Lets go have a chat with
this nice woman," Kevin said and Ella stood, still
holding her teddy bear. She walked ahead of him,
entering the room first and sitting down on a chair
opposite the desk where a red haired woman sat,
writing. She looked up and smiled, the impact of it
hitting Kevin in the stomach, taking his breath away.	
	" Mr Richardson? I’m Brianna Harvey. This must be
Ella?" Brianna asked, smiling gently at the little
girl, who, to Kevins surprise, shyly smiled back, "
Hello there Ella, you can call me Brianna."
	" Hello Brianna," she said softly. Brianna turned her
attention to Kevin and Nick, who were standing in the
doorway.
	" Sit down, please Mr Richardson. And your friend as
well," she indicated the seats across from her and
they sat, " May I call you Kevin?"
	" Sure. This is Nick Carter," Kevin said and Brianna
nodded her hello to him.
	" OK, before we begin, I just need a little
information. Ella, would you like to go with my
assistant Nancy? She has a drink and some snacks for
you. I need to talk to Kevin for just a few minutes,
and then I’ll come and talk to you okay?" Brianna
spoke to the little girl softly, as if she was calming
down a skittish horse and Kevin marvelled at the
effect it had on Ella. Ella nodded and followed Nancy
out of the room. Brianna waited until the door closed
behind them before turning her attention back to
Kevin, " Kevin, I need you to start at the beginning
and tell me whatever you know about Ella and how you
came to find out that you had a daughter. I’ll ask
some questions when I feel the need, but I’ll let you
do most
of the talking."
	" OK. I found out about Ella night before last when a
lawyer called me from Kentucky, telling me that I was
the father of a seven year old girl who had
lost her mother and step-father in a car crash only
three or so weeks before."
	" Had you any idea that she existed before then?"
Brianna asked, making notes on a pad in front of her.
	" No. Not at all. Ellas mother, a woman named Janette
Clarke, was someone I dated a few years ago. We broke
up and I never spoke to her again. I had no idea that
when we broke up she was pregnant. She never called,
and as far as I know, never tried to get in contact
with me to tell me."
	" What kind of relationship did you have with this
woman, Janette?"
	" I dated her after my engagement broke up, so it
wasn’t a relationship that was destined to last. We
were physically intimate from the second date until
the night we broke up. We parted on mutual terms, no
hatred or bitterness and I thought we’d at least
remain friends, but she disappeared. Now I guess I
know
why," Kevin said, a tinge of bitterness in his voice.
	" So do you think it was a deliberate attempt on her
part to get pregnant?"
	" Hey, I thought this was about Ella, not me," Kevin
said defensively and Brianna smiled slightly.
	" It is, but I need to know if you’re going to hold
an past grudges against her, make her feel as though
her birth was an accident. If any of this were to
happen, then I’d be recommending foster care for her."
	" I just got her out of foster care! I wont hold any
grudges against her! What happened between Janette and
I was not Ellas fault. I am not like some
people, where they take out their mistakes on their
kids. I’m a better person than that!" Kevin said, his
voice rising.
	" Kevin, I’m only trying to establish what sort of
home life Ella will have. From what you’ve just said,
I doubt I’ll have anything to worry about in that
aspect of her life. Please, dont take any offense at
this line of questioning. It’s my job," Brianna said
placatingly and Kevin nodded, breathing deeply as he
tried to get his temper under control. He was shocked
at himself for losing his cool so easily.
	" You make this sound as if it’s an  interrogation,"
he muttered and Brianna laughed.
	" Sometimes it can be, for the people who do the
wrong thing when it comes to children. Please
continue."
	" Anyway, I found out about Ella. Nick and I flew to
Kentucky to get Ella out of the foster home she was
staying in. She doesn’t seem to like me very much, but
she’s already made best friends with Nick, and another
friend of ours, AJ. Me she could forget."
	" You sound as if that hurts."
	" Damn straight it does!"
	" Kevin..." Nick spoke up, warning him in a soft tone
and Kevin nodded.
	" I’m sorry. But this is my daughter. For her to be
afraid of me, it does cut me. I only want to hug her
and tell her that everything is going to be okay
now. But she wont let me touch her. She wont respond
to me in anyway."
	" You said she was frightened of you. How?"
	" Last night, she woke me up screaming. When I tried
to comfort her, she started begging me not to hurt
her. Said ‘bad man hurt me’. Nick was the one who
ended up comforting her. And this morning, when we
arrived back in Texas, she took to AJ straight away,
letting him hold her hand," Kevin said and Brianna
nodded, writing furiously before looking up.
	" Is there anything you can tell me about her life
with her mother?"
	" Nothing. There was no other family to take Brianna
in, no one to tell me what had gone on when she was
living with her mother and step-father, or, I
suppose, her father as she knew him."
	" Have you told her that you are her real father?"
	" No, I wasn’t sure if it was something she was ready
for. I had to tell her that her mother was gone today,
when she didn’t want me to buy her new
clothes. Instead she wanted me to take her back home.
I had to tell her that Janette was gone. Ever since
them, she’s withdrawn into herself, wouldn’t even
smile at AJ, and believe me, when AJ wants you to
smile, he’ll make it happen. But not to Ella. Nick
cant even get a reaction out of her. Its the first
time since I met her that she’s spoken first, and the
first defiant gesture I’ve seen, when she refused new
clothes. I’m at a loss and I feel helpless," Kevin
said and Brianna nodded.
	" Are you an only child or the baby of the family?"
	" Youngest child."
	" So you aren’t used to dealing with younger
siblings?"
	" Well, I wouldn’t say that exactly. I’ve spent the
last six or so years dealing with teenage boys as they
grew up."
	" But you haven’t had much to do with children as
young as Ella right? She’s seven?"
	" That’s right on both counts. Is there anything else
you need to know?"
	" No, I think it’s time I spoke to Ella. You can stay
in here, I prefer to speak to the children in a room a
little less intimidating. I’ll be back in a little
while, then we can discuss anything that needs it,"
Brianna said and left the room.

*****