Trip to Childhood Memories || Nicole

Nicole noticed the looked on Danny's face they got the bags into the car. "Danny, what is it?" she asked while looking at him. She didn't know that this man was Danny's father. Nicole watched Danny as she stood there. "Danny" she said gently as she stood there. "You okay?" she added while watching him.

Danny looked at Nicole, helping her put the bags into the trunk of the small car he rented. He sighed quietly, nodding his head. "Yeah. I'm good." he told her, although that was only partly true. Even though Danny knew that he would meet his father during this time, he wasn't quite prepared for it, yet. He didn't know how approach it, but he didn't have time to think about it either.

"Just will cross paths with my father sooner than I expected." Danny added. He didn't know that things would turn out very different and he'd actually come to terms with what he did to him, that they would take a step of trying to mend the broken bond between them.

Nicole nodded in reply when Danny said that to her. "Ace" she said gently while walking to the front passenger door of the car. Nicole opened the door and got in, sitting down on the passenger seat. After closing the door, she got her seat belt on, then set her hat down on her lap.

Danny nodded a little, closed the lid of the trunk and then got into the car. He slowly pulled out of the spot he was parking and into the airport traffic. It would take them a little while to get to the property his grandparents owned. They would actually go through a small part of the city to get there. But Danny planned to take Nicole for a ride through Nashville, if she was up to it.

For the first part of the ride, Danny remained quiet, concentrating on the traffic and where they were going.

Nicole was silent as well, taking in the scenery around her as Danny drove them to their next destination. As he did, Nicole pictured herself as a country girl or a southern belle, causing her to smile as she thought about herself like that.

About twenty minutes later, Danny pulled into the driveway to his grandparent's property. It was surrounded by forest for the most part. The way up to the house was covered in a layer of snow, as was everything around them. It was a beautiful view to see the trees covered in white, yet that meant that Danny had to drive slowly up to the house, because the driveway was actually a little slippery at some points from cars going up and down the snow and then freezing over.

A faint smile came to Danny's face as he looked up ahead, seeing the beautiful old farm house approaching. It was a quite big, two story house with an upgraded attic, that held Danny's old room when he was a kid, a guest room for two and a smaller bathroom. The second floor held his grandparent's bedroom, a bigger bathroom and four addentional bedrooms, one of which was his grandmother's seweing room. Downstairs was a medium sized kitchen with the dining room right next to it, a big living room and and a small study. And of course a small restroom.

On the way up to the house, the cab that his father took to the house came up in front of them. The driver waited on his half of the small circle the driveway made in front of the house, until Danny drove to the left and stopped the car near the front porch.

"Here we are." he said quietly. "This place certainly holds a lot of memories."

Nicole nodded a bit as she looked at the place, smiling a bit as Danny said that to her. "Ace" she said while putting her hat on as she got out of the car. "I moved to the wrong place." she said gently before looking over to Danny, seeing the look on his face at the same time. Nicole walked over to Danny and stood with him.

Danny smiled a little bit at her, having parked the car a little aside, he would be able to leave it there for now. They just go out of the car, when the front door opened and his grandmother stepped onto the front porch, smiling happily when she saw her grandson. She came over to them, giving Danny a big, warm hug.

"Danny." the elderly woman said in a warm tone, tears coming to her eyes. "Bueno verte."

"Siento mismo, nana." Danny replied, a soft smile on his face. It felt good to see her again after two years. She was still the same warm and welcoming woman she always had been.

Pulling away from him, Danny's grandmother looked at Nicole, giving her the same warm and welcoming smile.
"You must be Nicole." she said, a slight Spanish accent still in her voice. "I'm Carla."


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bueno verte - good to see you.

Siento mismo, nana. - I feel the same, grandma, here like "Same here."

Nicole watched Danny and Clara interact with other, smiling a bit as she watched them. "Yes, I'm Nicole" she replied gently in her Australian accent while watching Clara. "Its nice to meet you." Nicole added while standing in front of the car as she said that to the older woman. "You have a lovely home." Nicole commented honestly.

Carla laughed a little, looking at Nicole. She had, much like Danny's grandma Rosa, a very warm and welcoming vibe around her. And right now, she already liked Nicole. She was a true beauty, honest and very sweet, from what Carla could tell right now.
"Thank you." Carla replied. Then she looked at both of them and smiled. "Come on inside you two. You can get your things later. Your father arrived just a few minutes ago, Danny"

"Yeah, I know." Danny said, following his grandma to the door. His voice indicated that he wasn't thrilled to see him, but he'll live.

"You're most welcome" Nicole replied with a slight nod, hearing the tone in Danny's voice. She reached over and took Danny's hand in her's after she said to Danny's grandmother. She walked with them to the door, waiting to see what this house looked like.

They entered the house, Danny gently holding onto Nicole's hand. He knew that he had to deal with his father sometime. But he still wasn't prepared for it. He didn't even know how to start, nor where.

"Give it a rest, cariño. You can't stay mad at him forever." Carla told her grandson in a soft voice, leading him and Nicole inside and into the spacious living room. "He's upstairs right now, but he'll down any minute."

Danny sighed a little, but nodded. "I know, nana." he said quietly. "But it's not just me you have to say that to."

Carla gave a small chuckle in reply, shaking her head. "He said the same thing."

Nicole watched Danny and Carla as they interacted with each other, then looked around the living room, taking in the size of the room. At the same time, she had an image come into her head of her in a house that was out in the country. Nicole smiled a little at the thought of her being a country girl.

Danny slowly shook his head, looking around the very familiar room. He liked the smell of old wood that was in the whole house from the wooden floors and sometimes wooden paneling. It brought back a lot of happy childhood memories, the ones he mostly had when he stayed the summer at this house.
He heard the footsteps on the stairs and knew his father was coming down the stairs. He felt his body tense a little, mostly because he didn't know what was going to happen next.

Nicole heard them as well and looked over, taking Danny's hand again as she stood with him. She soon saw Danny's father a she stood there. Nicole kept her cool as she watching him, not knowing what was going to happen next.

Carla watched the scene in front her, standing nearby. She wouldn't get invloved. This was something the two men had to solve between themselves. Danny looked up, seeing his father as he stood in the doorway to the living room. To his surprise, there was no anger or resentment in his father's brown eyes. In fact, he had a casual look on his face.
Still, the atmosphere was a little tense, neither of the men knowing what to do now. They hadn't seen or spoken to each other in 16 years, since the day Danny left. It was the first time they crossed paths.

"Daniel." Harry Cooper said to his son, a casual, but somewhat stiff tone in his voice. He gave him a small nod as a greeting.

"Dad." Danny said in just the same tone.

Carla looked at the two of them, then took Nicole by the hand. They needed to give the two men some space. She would be properly introduced to Danny's father later.
"Come, I'll show you around." Carla said to Nicole. "Give them boys some time alone."

Nicole nodded, then let go of Danny's hand. "I'll be back later." she said to Danny before going with Carla. Nicole followed the older woman into a different part of the house. Once out of ear shot, she leaned in a bit. "It always like that with them?" she asked gently, a bit of worry in her voice as she asked that.

Danny nodded to Nicole, giving her a look that said he would be fine. Then he watched as Carla led Nicole out of the living and to the kitchen of the farm house. Carla walked to the cupboard and then turned around and looked at Nicole.
"They haven't had any contact whatsoever, since the day my grandson left for Las Vegas." Carla replied. "They didn't part in good terms, you know."


Back in the living room, Harry entered the room, taking a step toward his son, who was watching his father, not knowing what to do, nor what to think. It's been a long time since he left, but he couldn't forget the things he did to him when he was growing up. But his grandmother was right, he couldn't stay mad at him forever.
"So... beautiful woman you have there, son." Harry said, hoping that he could just talk casually with him.
"Yeah... thanks." Danny replied. He felt a little awkward right now.

"Look, Daniel..." his father started, looking into his son's eyes. "I know you're probably still mad at me and I don't blame you... I did many things the wrong way..."

Danny snorted a little, not being able to control that feeling of anger that he felt rising, being reminded of the past. "That's a very unusual way for saying you beat the crap outta me."

Nicole nodded a bit in reply when Carla said that to her. "Good grief" she said gently after Carla made that comment. Nicole glanced back to where Danny and his father were, then looked back to Carla. "How do you feel about Danny being with me?" she asked off the cuff.

"Well, his father was a complicated man there for a time." Carla replied, looking a little bit saddened. "You probably know that he raised his hand against his son, more than once."

Carla was obviously surprised by Nicole's question, especially since she just met the lovely woman who came all the way from Vegas to Nashville to be with her grandson during a time of sadness and grief.
"Why would you ask me that?" she countered, giving Nicole a questioning look.


Down the hall, in the living room, Harry sighed. He knew his son had every right to be upset, but he was really trying to say he was sorry and trying to connect with him again.
"I know I messed up. And I'm sorry." Harry said in defeat. "But you weren't the only one going through a hard time. I know I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Damn right you shouldn't have." Danny countered.

"Please, son... I'm really trying here." Harry said and sighed again. He gave up, he felt like it was pointless to discuss this with Danny. But he wanted to put this past them, he wanted to make peace with him.

Nicole nodded a bit, "Danny eluted to it.......I just wanted to know you felt about your grandson being with an Aussie sheila." she replied honestly while watching her.

Carla nodded a little, then smiled at Nicole.
"Well, not that it would matter... I am happy as long as he is. And you seem like a lovely woman." she said in an honest tone. She liked Nicole, at least from what she had seen since they arrived. Nicole had a very different vibe around her than that Anna did. And Carla only met her once or twice. "Just don't go breaking his heart."


Danny watched his father for a while, before he nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. He was his father after all and the look on his face told him, that Harry actually meant what he said.
"Alright. Apology accepted." Danny said in a more friendly tone. "Just don't think you can get back into my life just to tell me what to do."

Harry looked at his son, then held up his hands in defense. "I won't. I don't need to anymore." he told him. "You've gone your own way and made a name for yourself. Even got the Medal of Valor just a few months back..."

Danny looked at his father in surprise. He never figured that he would know all of this, but it actually felt nice that he knew.
"Yeah, I know about that. I know about every good deed you've done since you joined the FBI." his father said, seeing the look on his son's face. "And I'm proud of you. Even though you probably don't want to hear that from me."

Nicole smiled a little when Carla said that to her. "Thank you" she replied. "Though.....I'm not much in the way of a homemaker." she added honestly. "Anything I would need to know about that?" Nicole asked off the cuff as she watched Carla while standing there with her.

"Homemaker, huh?" Carla repeated with a small smile on her face. She took a good look at the young woman before her, sensing that she had Military background. That made Nicole's doubt about being a housewife actually understandably, but Carla knew that Nicole would do just fine if she really wanted to be one.
"You really want to become just a simple housewife for him?" she asked Nicole in a gentle tone, admiring that she would do that. Not many women thought of it as a good way to spend your life.


Back in the living room the atmosphere was less tense. Danny's brown eyes were settled on his father, the man he used to look up to when he was a little boy. How much things had changed since then, but right now, he was accepting his apology, making an efford of at least putting the past behind them and maybe getting along a little better again.
"Actually..." Danny admitted. "I wish you would've said that to me when I needed to hear it more than I do now."
Although Danny was playing it down with words, as if his father's first approval in ages didn't mean that much to him, it actually meant a whole lot to Danny. Hearing his father say "I'm proud of you." was something he wanted to hear back then before he left.

"I regret that didn't say it back then." Harry told Danny honestly. "It's not too late to say it now, is it?"

Nicole looked at Carla when she asked her that. "Well it would be nice if I had some more skill around the house then I do now, but I'd still like to keep the job I have." she added, her adventurous spirit showing as she said that to the older woman in front of her. Nicole hoped that didn't come off as odd or anything like that.