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David smokes marijuana for the first time
As a high school freshman, a boy asks him if he wants to smoke and David said yes. He said it didn't do anything for him but that is what started his addiction to it. It made him feel like he belonged with certain groups of kids. David's parents always told him to stay away from drugs, but since they never did drugs, he didn't listen to them. He thought that when he has kids, they will listen to him when he says to not do drugs because he actually had experience with it. -
Nic is born
David's first son, Nic, is born. He and his wife, Vicki, live in Berkeley, California. All their attention goes to him. They read him stories, stay up late for him, sing to him and spend all their time with him. In fact, they spent so much time with him and were so devoted to Nic, they forgot to deal with their own relationship problems. "Dare you to move" -
David and Vicki get divorced
David and Vicki get a divorce. Nic is confused when they get divorced. He doesn't know where he will live, who he will live with and when he will see the other parent. Vicki moves to Los Angeles. David will stay in San Francisco. They now have more than 500 mile between them so Nic will live with David and stay with Vicki on holidays and over the summer. Nic has a hard time with the divorce. He doesn't like leaving one parent to go to the other. -
David meets Karen
"More than a woman"While at a friend's dinner party, David meets a woman from New York. They talked a bit and he got her phone number. He calls her the next day after she goes back to New York. They agreed to see each other again when David goes to New York. A few months later, Karen moves in with David and Nic. David was worried how it might affect Nic, maybe it would worry him if another person came to live with them? To David's relief,Nic and Karen get along very well. They draw, watch movies and read together. -
David and Karen get married
Nic is nervous that when they get married, everything will change. After, he realizes that it didnt change anything. Nic and Karen grow closer. Karen knows that she is not his mother, but she still loves him very much and treats him as if he is her son. -
Jasper is born
David and Karen's first child is Jasper. Nic isn't sure how to feel about the new baby. It is his first sibling and they are half-brothers, so he really doesn't know what to think about him. Nic likes playing with Jasper and seems to like him. -
David finds out Nic has smoked for the first time
One day, David picked up Nic from school and Nic smelled like cigarette smoke. Nic denies it at first but then David asks again and he admits that he had smoked. David confronts him about it and makes him know that it is bad. Nic promises to not do it every again. Later on in the week, Nic is about to go to a friend's house to sleep over. David is packing an overnight bag for him when he finds marijuana in his backpack. "How to safe a life" -
Marguerite is born
David and Karen have their second child, Marguerite, who they call Daisy. Nic is used to having his second family and is happy with her arrival. Nic and Jasper play with her and enjoy having her around. David hopes that Nic's drug problem will not affect the family, including new baby Daisy. -
Nic has an ulcer
When Nic returns from Paris, David notices that Nic seems slightly sick, but it isn't very obvious. They go to the doctor and they find out Nic has an ulcer. Later on, Nic tells David that he started smoking again while he was in Paris. David is worried that Nic will be addicted to drugs for the rest of his life and he wonders if it is his fault. -
Nic is arrested
"Jailhouse Rock"Karen planned to take Nic, Jasper and Daisy to the beach for the day while David stayed home. When they were about to leave, police cars drove up to their house, walked up to Nic, handcuffed him, put him in the police car, and drove off with him. Jasper was the only one who actually reacted to the situation, he cried for hours. Nic was put in jail because he didn't go to court after he was caught having marijuana. David bails him out of jail and says it will be the only time he bails him out. -
David smokes marijuana with Nic
In order to stay connected with Nic, David thinks he should do what Nic does so they can be close. One day, Nic was talking with David and then David decided to smoke with him instead of telling him to stop. He encouraged Nic to keep doing drugs by doing it with him. -
Nic runs away
One day, Nic goes out and he is supposed to be home at a certain time. He doesn't return home for 4 days. He didn't call or check in with David. David and the rest of the family were very worried. When Nic finally came home, he told David that he had been doing crystal meth. This worried David because when he was younger, he tried meth. His old friend, Charles, used to do crystal meth and he died before he was 40. "I will wait" -
David regains hope in Nic and his relationships with his family
"Hey Brother"Nic sends a letter to Jasper. When Nic was high, he broke into his own house and stole eight dollars from Jasper. The letter told Jasper that he will always be there for his family and he said he cares for him. He wanted to apologize if he scared him or hurt him ever and told Jasper that he loves him. David took this as an apology to him to. David saw it as Nic trying to make up for never being there for his family. -
David's Cerebral Hemorrhage
One day, David said his head felt like it was exploding so he was rushed to the hospital. He was in and out of consciousness while in the hospital. Every time he was able to think, he thought of Nic. He didn't think about his poor condition, he only thought about how Nic was doing and whether he was alright. -
Nic goes to rehab in New Mexico
Let it goNic goes to rehab in New Mexico at the Life Healing Center. He really likes this rehab center. It was hard for him at first when he was detoxing so it was hard for David to see him going through that. David and Vicki went down for a family rehab session with Nic. It helped them to be together and talk about things as a family. It let David see that it is Nic's life and he can't make his decisions for him. It allowed him to let go of his worry.
