Veronica stood in front of the great iron gate, trembling with many different emotions. Fear, nervousness, and excitement were just a few of the emotions running through her. She rang the bell and waited for someone to answer.

"Who is it?" a deep masculine voice asked.

"Veronica." Vee answered not sure what to say.

"Who are you?" the voice asked again.

"Please let me in, it's an emergency." Veronica answered again not sure of what to say.

"Do you need me to call 911?"

"Um, no."

"Then go away and leave us alone."

Veronica opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say. She turned around and started to walk away when suddenly she had an idea. There had to be a break in this gate somewhere. She began to walk around the perimeter until she found a gap big enough for her small frame to squeeze through. She barely made it, but when the rest of her squeezed through she felt triumph.

She started to run up to the house and it seemed she made it without anyone seeing when a man grabbed her arm and scared her half to death.

"What are you doing? Didn't I just tell you to go away. Get in here." he said dragging her inside.

"Let go of me!" Veronica said scared for the first time.

"Who are you? And why are you here?"

"What are you talking about?" Veronica asked confused.

"For the past two months, people have been getting past the gates, coming up here vandalizing our house, breaking stuff, and everything else. This is the first time we've been home when it happened." Lance explained angrily.

"No, I had no idea. You have to believe me, I just got here from Los Angeles." Veronica answered holding her bag close.

"Lance, honey, what is it?" a woman asked coming upon the scene.

"Nothing Cassandra, we were just getting to the bottom of this." Lance answered wrapping an arm around the woman.

"Who are you?" Cassandra asked feeling as if she recognized Veronica.

"My name is Veronica, I'm Leeann's daughter. I came here to find you and meet my father." Veronica answered holding her birth certificate. Her dreams weren't coming true quite as well as she thought they would.

"What?" Lance asked grabbing the piece of paper from her. "This can't be."

"Who do you think you are, coming in here and making up a story like this. Just because you have a birth certificate doesn't mean that you are his child. Your mother probably just put the first name she could think of on the birth certificate." Cassandra glared at her.

"Don't you EVER talk about my mother like that." Veronica threatened standing up. "I've waited for this moment since I can remember, and I get nothing but accusations thrown at my face. It's quite obvious that maybe I wasted my time coming here."

Veronica felt tears burning at the back of her throat as she turned around and headed towards the door.

"Wait, Veronica, if this is true and you've known about it your whole life. How come your mother never told me about it?" Lance asked stopping her.

"I don't know. She never told me." Veronica shrugged. "Excuse me, I'll just go home now."

Veronica grabbed her birth certificate from Lance and headed once again for the door when she was this time stopped by the man named Stephan.

"You aren't going to let her go without getting to the bottom of this are you Lance?" Stephan asked him.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I need a moment to think and to breathe." Lance said putting a hand to his head.

"In the mean time, she should stay here, with us. That way you two can get to know each other." Stephan suggested.

"No, no, absolutely not." Cassandra said shaking her head.

"This isn't your house and you aren't married yet." Stephan reminded her.

"Lance, you aren't going to let this girl ruin your life are you?" Cassandra asked.

"She will stay here until we can straighten this out." Lance said turning around and heading back into the house.

"So then Miss Veronica, we should go get your things." Stephan said taking control of the situation.

"We haven't properly met, I'm Veronica, my friends call me Vee." Veronica said sticking out her hand.

"Well it's nice to meet you Veronica, I'm Stephan. Now if you'll tell me where your hotel is at, we'll have someone go pick up your things. Until then, let me show you to your room." Stephan said taking her elbow after shaking her hand.

Stephan led Veronica to one of the guest rooms and opened the door. "I hope this will work for you."

Veronica walked inside the room and was amazed. The room was definitely designed for a girl with its dark mauves and light pinks. There was a huge four poster bed in the middle of the room with huge bay windows that opened to her own private balcony. There was a walk in closet and she had a bathroom of her own.

"This is beautiful." she said walking around.

"I'm glad it suits your needs." Stephan smiled. "I'll leave you to get acquainted to your new surroundings."

Stephan walked out and closed the door behind him. He started down the hall towards the raised voices and stopped just outside their room and listened for a few minutes.

"I want her out of here Lance. She can't stay." Cassandra demanded.

"Cassy, please, she's my daughter. I'm not going to just throw her out." Lance said running a hand through his blonde hair.

"What happened to the 'we don't believe her, let's get to the bottom of this' theory we were operating a minute ago." Cassandra pleaded with her fiance.

"Cassandra you can't be serious. Of course she's my daughter. She looks like me, how can you not see it." Lance shook his head at her.

"Ugh." she screamed before walking out and slamming the door behind her.

Cassandra was one for big scenes and this was definitely a big scene she was making. She was two years younger than Lance at age forty one, but she acted like she was a teenager sometimes. Their upcoming wedding was the first attempt down the isle for both of them, but Lance swore he would make it work, either that or he wouldn't marry her.

He sighed and sat down on his bed. What on earth was he doing to do. Just a few doors down was a living breathing young woman, his very own daughter. How could Leeann not tell him he'd fathered a child. He would have fought to keep her, he would have done something other than just let her go. He felt sick to his stomach and rushed to the bathroom and splashed water on his face.

"Pull yourself together man." Lance told his reflection.

Stephan knocked on the door and let himself in. "Are you okay Lance?"

"Yes thank you Stephan, I just need a few minutes." Lance looked at his 'butler' and above all else, his friend.

"Shall I call one of the guys?"

"No thanks. I just wanna be alone."

"All right, well, don't stay in here forever."

Stephan closed the doors behind him and went to look in on Veronica. He knocked on her door and politely waited for her to answer.

"Come in." Veronica called wondering who it would be.

"Hello Miss Veronica, how are you doing?" Stephan asked politely.

"I'm doing good. Is my stuff on its way?" Veronica asked.

"Yes ma'am. It should be here in a few minutes. Is everything to your liking?"

"Stephan, you don't need to worry or keep asking me questions. I'm fine, this place is beautiful, relax." Veronica assured him that she was fine.

"Sure thing Miss Veronica. If there's anything you need, let me know."

"Thanks Stephan." Veronica nodded. "Hey Stephan, who was that woman out there with Lance?"

"His fiance." he answered.

"I thought so." Veronica nodded. "Thanks."

"Your welcome, would there be anything else?"

"No thanks." Veronica shook her head.

Stephan backed out of the room and quietly shut the door. He shook his head and looked towards the master bedroom. Lance didn't seem to be taking this very well. He thought about what he said and decided to call Justin anyway. Lance could use someone right now.

"Hello?" Justin answered.

"Hey Mr Justin? This is Stephan, Lance's butler, I need you to come over here right now if you could."

"Is everything all right?" Justin asked.

"Well, I'm not sure how much I should tell you, but I'll at least tell you that Lance's daughter just came for a surprise visit." Stephan explained hoping that Justin would catch on.

"His what?" Justin said not sure if he heard right.

"You heard me, his daughter Veronica just showed up today and he's freaking out a little. I really think he could use a friend right now."

"Sure, don't worry about it. I'll be there in ten minutes." Justin answered.

"Thank you Mr. Justin. I knew I could count on you." Stephan smiled.

"Stephan, when will you ever call me Justin?" Justin chuckled.

"Probably never sir. I will see you later." Stephan said hanging up the phone.

Justin hung up the phone then went to find his wife Amber to tell her he was going out.

"Amber?" he yelled.

"In here honey." she said from the kitchen.

"Hey baby, Lance just got some news so I'm going to go over there and see if he's all right." Justin told her.

"All right, do you know when you'll be back?" Amber turned to ask him.

"I'll probably be over there for a couple hours. Do you still need me to pick up the kids from school? Or are they taking the bus today." Justin asked.

"They'll be taking the bus." Amber answered.

"Well I better get going. I'll see you later baby." Justin said kissing his wife on the lips.

"See ya. Say hello to Lance for me." Amber smiled.

Justin headed to Lance's house and couldn't find anything to say. He was in front of the house before he knew it. Stephan let him in and pointed to the master bedroom where Lance was waiting un expecting of his visit.

"Lance?" Justin called knocking on the door.

"It's open." Lance answered surprised at how comforting it was to hear his friends voice.

"Stephan called and told me you might need a friend." Justin said sitting on the bed next to him.

"I can't believe it. She just showed up Justin. Her mother didn't have the decency to tell me that I've had a daughter for most of my life." Lance shook his head trying to understand it.

"Is she Leeann's daughter?" Justin asked.

"Yes. And there's no doubt in my mind that she's mine, because she looks like me. I have a sixteen year old daughter who looks like me. I don't know what to do." Lance sighed.

"Get to know her man. She came to see you for a reason." Justin suggested.

"With Cassandra around it's going to be tough." Lance shrugged.

"Bring her to the barbeque tomorrow. All of our families are going to be there." Justin reminded him.

"Yeah, that might work. Cassy doesn't know about it so she won't be there." Lance nodded.

"Well it's settled, bring her then."

Justin could relate to Lance's situation to an extent. He had eighteen year old twins that he didn't know about until they were two years old. They're mother, his wife now, was a one night stand that happened one night when he'd had a fight with Cameron. Amber was desperate when she sought him out. She was homeless, broke, and she had no where else to go. Justin took them in and they shortly after fell in love and within 6 months were married in a small ceremony. That was when he'd been 25 years old. They got married August 19th 2006 so they'd been married going on 16 years. They had three children together, the now eighteen year old twins Jasmine and Tristan, and a twelve year old daughter Sylvia.

"Thanks Justin, I do feel a lot better now." Lance said inhaling deeply.

"I'm glad you feel better." Justin smiled.

"Yeah. I'm still in shock, but I do feel a lot better."

"It'll get better." Justin assured him.

They were both sitting there for a few minutes when suddenly a song played really loud.

Don't rock the jukebox
I wanna hear some jones
Cause my heart ain’t ready
For the rolling stones
I don’t feel like rocking
Since my baby’s gone
So don’t rock the jukebox
Play me a country song

"Is that country? She really is your daughter." Justin laughed hearing the old school Alan Jackson blasting.

Before you drop that quarter
Keep one thing in mind
You got a heartbroken hillbilly
Standing here in line
I’ve been down and lonely
Ever since she left
Before you punch that number
May I make one request

They both went to Veronica's room and quickly peered in the room. The sight in front of them was pretty amusing. Veronica was dancing all around the room, oblivious to the interruption.

Don't rock the jukebox
I wanna hear some jones
Cause my heart ain’t ready
For the rolling stones
I don’t feel like rocking
Since my baby’s gone
So don’t rock the jukebox
Play me a country song

I ain’t got nothing
Against rock and roll
But when your heart’s been broken
You need a song that’s slow
There ain’t nothing like a steel guitar
To drown a memory
Before you spend your money baby
Play a song for me

Don't rock the jukebox
I wanna hear some jones
Cause my heart ain’t ready
For the rolling stones
I don’t feel like rocking
Since my baby’s gone
So don’t rock the jukebox
Play me a country song
Don't rock the jukebox
Play me a country song

By the end of the song, Veronica realized that she was being watched and she abruptly stopped. She walked over and turned the speakers down.

"Sorry, I got kinda carried away. Alan Jackson you know." Veronica said smirking.

"Oh trust me, I know." Lance grinned.

"I had to test the system." Veronica shrugged.

"This is my friend Justin, Justin this is Veronica." Lance introduced the two of them.

"Nice to meet you Justin." Veronica said shaking his hand.

"You too. I'm surprised that you listen to country. This stuff was way before your time." Justin laughed.

"I love all kind of music. I may be from LA, but my mum always made sure I had country to listen too. Especially Alan and Garth." Veronica smiled.

"Two of my favorite men." Lance agreed.

"Sorry if I was too loud." Veronica apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Listen we're having a barbeque tomorrow and I'd love it if you'd come." Lance offered.

"Really? I mean that would be cool." Veronica beamed.

"We'll go over to Justin's at noon, so if you need to get up early and get ready or whatever make sure you're done by like 11:30." Lance smiled.

"Will do. I'm fairly low maintenance." Veronica shrugged.

"Well Veronica, it was nice to meet you, but I've gotta get going. I'll see you tomorrow." Justin bowed.

"Nice meeting you too." Veronica curtseyed back at him.

The rest of the night was spent quiet as they both stayed away from each other and did their own thing. Veronica, still tired from all the excitement again went to bed early.

*Don't Rock the Juke Box by Alan Jackson