" Because You Love Me "
By: Kasey
(c) 2000
You know the deal by now.

Chapter 7.

	It was a very rare day when Brianna Grace Harvey
would admit she was impressed. It was even rarer when
she admitted she was impressed with a man. Especially
a man who she had written off right at the beginning,
as someone who would find the routine of being a
father too boring and send his daughter
back to foster care. Now, almost two days into her
‘tour’ with the Backstreet Boys, she was impressed and
re-thinking her whole attitude towards Kevin Scott
Richardson. He was no ordinary man. He managed to do
his duty as a Backstreet Boy, as well as a father. So,
between interviews, rehearsals, meet and greets
and concerts, Kevin managed to read to Ella; take her
on a tour of the backstage at concerts; take her on a
tour of every tour bus; take her shopping - with
Brianna for support and just generally spend quality,
if not quantity time. He couldn’t always be there, but
he made sure that if he wasn’t, he spent good,
constructive time when he was.
	But Brianna could also see frustration begin to build
up in Kevin, at Ellas refusal to acknowledge him. She
had been told that Kevin was her real father,
news which had made her react very badly, so at
Briannas suggestion, there would be no more mention of
it until Ella mentioned it. That had not sit well with
Kevin, but he had managed to hide it, behind a small
smile and a shrug of his shoulders. To a casual
observer, he might seem a cold and aloof father, but
once you got closer in, you noticed the warmth that
radiated from him whenever he was around Ella, the
unspoken love in his eyes, the way his gaze lingered
on her when she slept...oh yes, this was definitely a
man who loved his daughter.
	The only trouble was, this was also a man she was
starting to feel attracted to. His quiet humour, his
gentle spirit all made him much more attractive to her
because she saw so little of these characteristics in
others. She dealt with tragedy and sorrow and pain
eight, ten, twelve hours out of every day, all of it
being dealt out by adults, onto children. She had very
little faith in human kind, but the more she saw of
Kevin, the stronger sense of appreciation she had for
all things good. 

*****

	" Brianna."
	" Yes honey?"
	" Where’s your mommy and daddy?" Ella asked. Brianna
looked at her, unsure what to say.
	" My parents?"
	" Yes. Where are your mommy and daddy? Mine are
dead," Ella said sorrowfully.
	" My mother and father are divorced."
	" Divorced? That’s where mommies and daddies don’t
live together, right?"
	" That’s right."
	" Was my mommy and Kevin divorced? Is that why they
didn’t live together?"
	" No sweetheart, that was something else. Your mommy
didn’t tell Kevin that you were alive, that’s why he
never lived with you. Your mommy married your
step-father and Kevin never knew, not until he was
told my your mommys lawyer."
	" Would he have lived with me if he had known I was
alive?" Ella asked, worrying her bottom lip.
	" I’m sure he would have made an effort to be there
Ella. If he couldn’t live with you, I’m sure that he
would have lived near you, or brought you and
your mommy to live near him," could this be the one
thing that was stopping Ella from embracing Kevin as
her father? Insecurity?
	" If you’re parents are divorced, where do they live
now?" 
	" My mother died a couple years ago. She had...she
smoked a lot of cigarettes and the doctors found a
disease in her lungs. My father remarried six
months after the divorce came through. He now lives in
Florida with his wife," Brianna said, pushing the
bitter memories of her parents marriage failure and
her fathers subsequent desertion from her life.
	" How old were you?"
	" I was twelve."
	" Did your daddy see you after the divorce?"
	" Once a year, until I was sixteen. Then he stopped
coming and I stopped wanting him to come. I haven’t
seen or spoken to him in almost ten years,"
Brianna told the little girl, sadness engulfing her.
	" Oh," Ella whispered and fell silent, then, " Do you
miss your daddy?"
	" Yes, sometimes I do."
	" I miss my mommy."
	" I know you do sweetheart. What about your
step-father?"
                " No. Idon’t miss him. He was a bad
man. He hurt me and mommy. Will Kevin hurt me
Brianna?" Ella asked, looking at her with such
insecurity in her
eyes that it was all Brianna could do not to grab her
and hug her tight.
	" No, Kevin will not hurt you. I promise you. Kevin
is a good man. He loves you, and he wants you to love
him to," she said and watched as Ellas face
closed over, as it usually did when Brianna mentioned
anything concerning Kevin. But this time, she was
going to risk mentioning him again, " Do you want
to talk to Kevin about what your feeling?"
	" No," Ella said stubbornly.
	" Are you sure? I know he’s really worried about you.
Don’t you want to ask him any questions?"
	" No! I hate him, I hate you! I don’t want to talk to
Kevin!" Ella shouted and ran from the room. Nick
stepped into the room moments later, a wry smile
on his face.
	" No luck again?" he asked and Brianna sighed,
shaking her head in defeat.
	" No. It’s the same response. She brings Kevin into
the conversation, but when I try to expand, she shuts
down, becomes defensive and surly," she said.
	" Have you considered bringing Kevin into one of
these sessions?"
	" I’m afraid that Ella isn’t ready for that kind of
scenario yet," Brianna said.
	" Maybe it’s time you started pushing her a little
more. You only have two weeks with her. Don’t you want
to see some kind of result?"
	" Nick, this isn’t something I can rush. Ella has
been through a lot for someone so young. If I make her
do something she doesn’t want to do, then it
could result in complete withdrawal."
	" I noticed that Ella watches AJ a lot, though she
tries to keep it a secret. He said that she follows
him around as much as she can, that she’s hard to
shake. Could he help?" Nick asked and Brianna bit down
on her lip. Could AJ be the key to unlocking whatever
was holding Ella back from accepting and embracing
Kevin? Was it worth the risk of introducing AJ into
the sessions as much as possible?