Chapter One-Hundred-Thirty-Three
Meanwhile, at the Littrell House, Brian's cell phone suddenly rang. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID to see that it's AJ calling him. He opened the phone and placed it to his ear.
"Hey Aje…what's up? When are you coming back?"
"Well…that's what I called to tell you about," AJ answered, and Brian raised his eyebrow.
"You are coming back right? You left your mom here for one and Ryan is not pleased in the least bit that you took his sister so far away from him."
"Yeah, I'm coming back I promise. I just need to stay another day…"
"Why?"
"Brooke and I got into a huge fight. She got scared for some reason and tried to push me away…almost made me go home right now…long story I'll tell you later. But anyway the point is she's begged me to stay one more day. She was upset and crying…I couldn't say no. I called you instead of Kevin because I knew you would understand."
"Alright…I suppose you want me to be the one to tell the bossy cousin right?" AJ grinned on the other end.
"That would be great — thanks Brian!" Brian groaned a little and rolled his eyes.
"No problem…"
"Anyway is my momma there?"
"Mhm, she's sitting here listening to me talk to you."
"May I talk to her?"
"Yeah sure," Brian replied, and he leaned over and handed the phone to Denise who got up and left the room to talk to her son. Brian looked over at Ashley then who was still sitting on the floor, Abbie wrapped in one arm and Lil Rok in the other and she is petting them. He smiled at her a little bit.
"Ashley honey you don't have to sit on the floor…why don't you come sit down over here?" He offered, patting the empty space beside him, as Riley sat on the other side of him.
"Kay," Ashley replied, and she set the puppies down and got up and she went over and sat down next to Brian, but she hugged her legs close to her chest and made sure that her shirt was pulled all the way down.
"How was your date with Nicky?" Howie asked curiously.
"It was great, I had a lot of fun," Ashley answered with a smile. "It was nice to be able to spend a whole day alone with him outside of these four walls…or outside of the Orphanage."
"I bet it was. What'd you do?" Brian questioned.
"We went shopping in the little stores in town and then came back here and went into the woods where he says the two of you used to go swimming in the lake and we had a picnic there."
"Ah yes…I remember that lake," Brian grinned. "Good times…"
"What'd you buy?" Kori asked curiously, as she noticed how self-conscious her sister is acting. Even with the fact that she's been raped, she knows for a fact she is never this nervous — around them anyway.
"A few pairs of earrings, some coffee…we looked around more then buy things. It was a lot of window shopping."
"I see," Kori replied.
"Those brownies are really starting to smell good," Ashley replied as she attempted to change the subject.
"Yeah, it smells like that's not the only thing they are baking," Brian smiled.
"We should go and investigate," Ashley insisted. "Come with me?"
"Of course. It is probably about time I check on my son anyway," He replied, and he got up and offered her his hand. She took hold of it and allowed him to help her up but she made sure to keep hold of her shirt, as she knows it tends to slide up a little when she stands. He brought her into the kitchen and as soon as they were in there and the door was shut Kori stared after them suspiciously.
"She was never really a good liar…she's hiding something."
"I don't think she's lying, I just think she's leaving out something," Howie agreed. "She is a pretty experienced liar though. She hides a lot of stuff from us when it comes to Sean."
"Do you think something happened to them while they were out? Something Sean related, and she's too scared to tell us?" Leslie asked curiously.
"No we would know if it did, she wouldn't be this calm. Besides, Nick wouldn't keep something like that from us." Howie insisted.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, at the playground, when Nick, Dakota, and Q arrived Nick set Dakota down so her feet were on the ground and she looked up at him and took hold of his hand.
"Come push me on the swings daddy, please? Please?"
"Of course baby," He told her while smiling down at her some and he allowed her to drag him off toward the swings. Q chuckled a little and then followed. When they got to the swings she crawled up onto one and Nick got behind her and began pushing her. He did a couple of underdogs like he usually does, and when she was swinging as high as she could go and was content for the time being he looked at Q who was standing there watching him and waiting. He knows there's a reason Nick insisted a bodyguard came with them. He sensed it from the beginning that something wasn't right.
"What's going on Nick? Why'd you insist on me coming a long?"
"Because I think we are being followed," Nick answered, talking quietly so that only he could hear. Dakota is too busy squealing and giggling as she swings high up in the air and he doesn't want eavesdroppers to over hear — especially the ones that are following them. Q became serious.
"You are positive?"
"Yeah…I think I saw them too."
"Where at?"
"In town where Ashley and I were…the two of us were standing outside a shop right across the street from a coffee shop and Abbie seemed so eager to go over there for some reason…we couldn't figure out why because there wasn't anything over there for her. Ashley decided she wanted coffee though, so we decided we would go over there. The moment we got across the street Abbie ran over to this man who had his back turned to us. He had his hoodie on over his head — she got as far as his feet before Ashley tried to pull her back — but no matter how hard she tried, Abbie just wouldn't part from that man…"
"How did the man react to the situation?" Q questioned, and he watched as Nick momentarily turned his attention back on Dakota. He gave her another underdog and she shrieked with excitement as he ran underneath her, sending her swing flying. When he ran back around so he was standing beside the swing and out of the way from being hit he continued his quiet conversation with Q.
"Kind of nervous. He wouldn't turn around…and normally when a dog runs up to someone, they usually crouch down and pet them and act very friendly toward them, don't they?"
"Usually…unless they aren't dog people."
"Yeah, but there was something foreboding about that man, Q."
"He didn't turn around at all?"
"Nope…he kind of moved away from Abbie, and he didn't even turn around when Ashley went up behind him to pick Abbie up. He kept his back to us like he was afraid of us seeing him."
"Were there any others?"
"Yes. When I got Ashley to go inside the coffee shop I took a look around the place because I was nervous and alert by this time. When I did I noticed another man sitting in a booth alone, and he kind of looked our way as we walked in, but was trying not to be obvious that he was looking at us. While we were in line waiting Ashley went to go sit in a booth to wait on me but I kept hold of her hand and ordered her to stay near me. When we were on our way out again with our coffee I looked over at that table to see the man we saw outside now sitting with the man at that booth, and they were both wearing hoodies."
"What did the man that you saw in the coffee shop look like? Did you see what he looked like before he put his hood up?" Q asked as Nick stood there pushing Dakota who was fortunately still oblivious to their conversation. Either that or she just doesn't care.
"He had black hair that was kind of all over the place, dark brown eyes I think…and facial piercings…there was definitely facial piercings. He looked very scary…I'm sure if Ashley wasn't so oblivious to the whole thing she would've been pretty scared of him if she saw him."
"Especially if she recognized him," Q agreed. "Which is very likely…"
"Yeah I don't get that. You would think Sean would send people that she doesn't recognize to spy on us. She isn't as scared to tell me things as she used to be. I have to pry it out of her sometimes, but she still tells me."
"There probably isn't anybody working for Sean that she wouldn't recognize," Q replied and Nick shrugged. "Did they follow you anywhere else? They must know you are onto them by now."
"I think they followed us to the woods where we had our picnic. Ashley and I were lying on the blanket by the lake talking when suddenly Abbie jumped up in an alert stance and looked around. If Ashley hadn't had a hold of her leash and if I let her, she probably would've given them away."
"They probably were then. Those dogs have good bad guy radar."
"Tyke does anyway…Abbie seems to think they are her friends…and that worries me. Why is she so friendly with them?"
"I don't know," Q replied, shrugging his shoulders. "She's a puppy, she's friendly with just about anybody."
"Then why doesn't she run up to any other stranger? I think they are giving her stuff to get her on their side…"
"Lil Rok too…he seems to like that gate just as much as Abbie does."
"Yeah, well, it scares me Q. These dogs don't give them a chance to do their job…what if they piss them off enough and they try to poison them?"
"Tyke is in grave danger then…if any of the puppies piss them off, it'll be him first."
"We can't let that happen," Nick insisted firmly. "I won't let anything happen to Tyke…I love that dog. Or any of the puppies for that matter."
"It's not going to happen Nick, don't worry about it. We know they are hiding outside that gate. They haven't been there since Ellie told us about her nightmare, but when they do show up we will get them. I promise." Nick nodded and then turned his attention back on Dakota.
"I'm going to go sit down at the picnic table under the Ramada over there Nick…and make a phone call to Marcus. Holler if you need me okay?" Nick nodded and Q went over to the Ramada like he said he would leaving Nick to spend sometime alone with his daughter.
"How about we go play in the sand now baby, hmm?"
"Yeah!" Dakota cheered happily, and before Nick could stop the swing she jumped off of it as it was high up in the air and she landed on her feet. Nick laughed a little. She then grabbed up her set of buckets and shovels that he bought for her at the toy store and took off running toward the sand and he followed her.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, when Kevin and Jerald arrived at the carnival Elenore gasped in surprise. She knew they were taking her somewhere fun but she never guessed that it would be a carnival. Kevin chuckled a little bit as he pulled into a parking space.
"Surprise…do you like it? Jerald told me that there was a Carnival in town and he insisted that we should bring you." Elenore who already had her car seat undone sprung from her seat and into the front and she flung herself into Jerald's lap and hugged him tight. Jerald laughed and hugged her back.
"I wants to go on the Ferris wheel, an' eat cotton candy, an' ride the bumper cars….an' an'…" Jerald laughed.
"Slow down little one...slow down…we will get a chance to do everything I promise. And even though Kevin will kill me you can have anything that you want okay? Just ask me and I'll get it for you." Elenore beamed and looked over at Kevin who was narrowing his eyes at his older brother who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Let's go, Let's go, I wants to gooo," she insisted eagerly. Jerald laughed once again and he and Kevin opened their car doors and got out. When they did they shut their doors and Kevin locked the van with the remote control in his hand and he followed Jerald who was already taking off with his little girl.
"What would you like to do first, Ellie?" Jerald asked, as Kevin caught up to them. Ellie glanced around, then looked up at him grinning.
"The bumper cars!" She exclaimed, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him in that direction.
"Hey Kev!" Jerald called back as he was dragged away. "Wanna get us some tickets while we stand in line?" Kevin rolled his eyes.
"I thought you were paying, Jer!"
"I'll pay you back! Relax!" Jerald yelled back.
"Yeah, I'll get 'em!" Kevin shook his head as he made his way to the line-up, which thankfully was shorter than the line-up for the bumper cars.
"Is it our turn yet?" Ellie asked for the millionth time in five minutes.
"Almost," Jerald chuckled, ruffling her hair as he smiled down at her. "We still hafta wait for Kevin to bring us our tickets too."
"Here," Kevin said, coming up to them out of nowhere. "I think 80 tickets will be enough for now - right?"
"Yeah, that'll do for now," Jerald smirked. "But we may need more later."
"Then you can buy them. I don't need that lady looking at me strange again," Kevin replied. "She thought I was crazy for buying so many, but I explained I've a brother who insists on spoiling his niece, and she understood perfectly." Jerald rolled his eyes.
"Whatever Kev," he said, grabbing the right amount of tickets and steering Ellie onto the platform and over to a blue car. He strapped her in, then himself, and smiled at her. "Ready to smash some cars up?"
"YEAH!" Ellie exclaimed loudly, causing some people nearby in other cars to look. Jerald nodded, then drove them around, bumping into everything he could, enjoying hearing her laugh every single time. Kevin smiled as he stood watching them, taking pictures with the camera he'd smartly brought along. Soon enough, the ride was over and Ellie bounded off and straight for Kevin. "Kevy! Kevy!" She squealed. "We're goin' on the ferris wheels next!" Kevin smirked.
"Oh, really now?"
"Uh-huh!" Ellie nodded like crazy, her two ponytails, also known as dog-ears, bouncing about like crazy.
"Let's go!" Jerald exclaimed, scooping her up and sticking her on his shoulders, before taking off running. Ellie squealed and laughed as she held on tight. Kevin shook his head, not sure who was more excited - Ellie or Jerald.
The two of them, Ellie and Jerald got on the Ferris wheel rather quickly, much to Ellie's delight. As they rode it up, Jerald grabbed hold of the back of Ellie's shirt, as she kept leaning forward to peer down at Kevin, thus making him nervous.
"Not too far forward Ellie," he told her. "I don't want you to fall out."
"I wont's!" Ellie assured him, grinning big. She leaned forward again and waved down at Kevin. "HI KEVY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kevin waved back, shaking his head some. She sure was a hyper little girl when she wanted to be. The Ferris wheel went around quite a few times, before the two riding it finally got off and joined Kevin once more.
"Now where Ellie? "Jerald asked.
"Snow cone!" Ellie squealed, as she spotted another kid eating one.
"Blue, right?" Jerald smiled.
"YEAH!" Ellie agreed loudly. They all headed off in the direction of snow cones, and after that, rode a few more rides. They went into a fun house, and rode the Gravitron, the Scrambler, and the Paratrooper, before deciding to take a short break for dinner.
"Who wants pogos?" Kevin asked, returning to the table where his brother and soon-to-be [though-unknown-to-everyone] daughter.
"Me! Me!" Ellie shrieked, her one hand raised and waving in the air, as Jerald joined in with the "ME!" bit. Kevin laughed and handed them their pogos, which he'd had the woman place on plates for them.
"Careful Ellie. It's still pretty hot."
"Okay!" Ellie chirped, grabbing up her apple juice instead and gulping some down. Kevin had convinced her to have juice instead of soda, seeing as she was going to be eating enough sugar as it was - more than enough actually.
"Can we goes on the berry-go-round now?" Ellie asked hopefully. "Please?"
"Sure thing Kiddo," Jerald grinned, scooping her up and heading for the ride she had requested, soon as they were finished eating their pogos and drinking their refreshments. Kevin was carrying what was left of Ellie's juice though, as she had asked it of him. Ellie cheered and clapped excitedly upon their arrival at the berry-go-round. All it was, was hollow strawberries you climb into and you sit there, turning the big wheel in order to make it spin more, as it moves around. It has a roof and door on it as well. The three of them went on it together and spun all that Ellie wanted - which was quite a bit, as she loved to spin!
"More! More!" Ellie cheered, as they spun like crazy.
"Ellie, this is as fast as it goes and as much as it spins," Kevin chuckled, as him and Jerald turned it extremely fast. Their strawberry was the fastest one spinning right then, as no one else wanted their kids to get sick. But Ellie was far from being sick, she was cheering and egging them on and laughing the entire time. Both brothers were surprised the little girl hadn't started feeling sick or dizzy, as they themselves were becoming rather dizzy. Eventually the ride was over and they got off, both men a little tipsy, though Ellie was able to walk just fine.
"Hehe. You's silly," she giggled, as she watched Kevin and Jerald stumble about somewhat. "I'm nots dizzy. I likes to spin an' spin an' spin really fast!"
"We can tell," Jerald laughed, as him and Kevin crashed into each other, sending Ellie into a fit of giggles. Soon as they could walk again, they led Ellie over to the airplane ride, so she could ride alone. Ellie ran for a blue plane and clambered up on into it, waving at them as the ride started up and her plane took off - soon as she'd yanked back on the stick at her feet.
"LOOKS KEVY!!!!!!!!! I'M FLYIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ellie screeched, as she flew on by.
"GO ELLIE!" Kevin cheered, rooting her on. Jerald smirked as he watched his baby brother make a fool of himself, as he cheered the little girl on. Leave it to a five-year-old to remind his little brother how to have fun again. They headed for the kiddie coaster next, then the swings, the slides, the train ride, the bouncy inflatable playland, the carousel, the pony rides, and the toboggan ride. After all of that, they headed for the one fun house, which was bigger than the first one. Ellie stuck close as the three of them went in, giggling at her reflection in all the mirrors; then giggling at Kevin and Jerald's reflections as well. They made their way through the maze, laughing plenty, and were amazed when they reached the obstacle course. They went through most of it without any problems - until they reached clown land. There were clowns everywhere, and they all amazed Ellie - until one popped up behind her, cackling an evil, sinister laugh. "KEVY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ellie shrieked turning and practically jumping straight up into his arms, as her tears began to fall. Kevin caught her and hugged her tight.
"Shh....what's wrong, Sweetie?"
"The clown's gonna eats me!" Ellie wailed, burying her face into his neck. "Don't lets him eats me!" Kevin sighed as he rubbed her back, watching as Jerald went over and kicked the fake clown that had popped up and scared his future niece.
"Evil clown! I'll show you!"
"Jer, don't break it - they may sue," Kevin groaned.
"Well, they should be sued for scaring little kids!" Jerald exclaimed. "C'mon. Let's get out of here." Kevin nodded his agreement, and carried Ellie on out of the fun house. "How about I go buy you that cotton candy now?" Jerald suggested, reaching over to rub Ellie's back as well. "Will that make you feel better?"
"Maybe...." Ellie squeaked, peeking out at him. Jerald flashed her a warm smile, and reached for her.
"C'mon Munchkin." Surprisingly, though still a bit scared, Ellie went right to him - releasing her death grip on Kevin. Kevin smiled some, though he wasn't sure if he should be happy about her liking Jerald, or upset at the fact he could so easily be replaced by his brother. Soon as Ellie had her cotton candy, they decided to head elsewhere and go and do something else - something a little less scary.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile at the Littrell House, Brian and Ashley were still in the kitchen watching Jackie and Josh bake brownies — it turns out though, that they weren't only making brownies, but chocolate chip cookies too. Jackie had pulled a chair up to the counter and allowed Josh to crawl up onto it so he could help out with everything.
"Will Kevin be coming home for dinner? I think I will be getting started on that very shortly." Jackie questioned, as she placed another sheet of cookies into the oven.
"I'm not sure. I will call him," Brian answered, and he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, opened it up and he pressed the number one and waited as it rang. A few moments later the older man answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kev, are you three having fun at the carnival?"
"Yeah great, though Jer and I learned that Ellie and Clowns do not mix."
"Uh-oh…what happened?"
"We took her into a fun house and a clown scared her into tears…I ended up having to carry her out of it."
"Aww…poor thing. Be sure to give her a hug for me okay?"
"Sure thing. But not that I don't love you or anything, but why did you call?"
"Mom wants to know if you are coming home for dinner?"
"No we ate dinner here. But I was thinking of taking Ellie over to my mom's house for dessert. So we won't be back until way later."
"Alright sounds good," Brian replied. "See you later then."
"Alright, bye," Kevin replied, and he hung up the phone. Brian looked at his mom then who was looking at him and waiting for his answer.
"They already ate at the carnival and he wants to take Ellie to Ann's house for dessert. He won't be back until later."
"Oh okay," Jackie nodded, and she turned her attention on Josh to help him scoop cookie dough out onto another sheet.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
It was co-written with Lenni.
Enjoy =)
It was co-written with Lenni.
Enjoy =)
