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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter One-Hundred-Thirty-Four




After being gone for three hours, Nick and Q suddenly walked in the house — Nick carrying a four year old girl who is just covered from head to toe in sand and mud.



"Wow, someone looks like they had a lot of fun…" Wiley announced observantly and Dakota giggled, as she knows he is talking about her. She is very proud of herself for getting so dirty she did it deliberately.



"Yes, she is very pleased with herself," Nick replied, rolling his eyes playfully. "But what she isn't going to be too happy about is the bath that she gets in result of it," He added, and he looked down at her just on time to hear the protests that he knew were to come.



"Aww…but daddy…"



"Don't you but daddy me little one. Little girls who insist on getting dirty must suffer bath time afterward." He told her, and he placed his nose to hers as he stared into her eyes. Dakota scowled. Nick grinned at her amusedly and he went over and scooped up Lily who was sitting up in her dog bed looking at him eagerly.



"I think Miss Lily is due for a bath also," he announced, as he kissed the tiny Chihuahua's head.



"Run Lily, run for your life! Daddy is bein' evil!"



"Nah, Lily likes bath time." Nick insisted encouragingly.



"Nuh uhhh, she dreads it." Nick shook his head smiling and he looked over at Howie curiously.



"Where is Ashley?"



"In the kitchen with Brian, Jackie, and Josh."



"Doing what?"



"I don't know, they went in there to see what all Jackie and Josh were baking in there and haven't come out ever since. Do you want me to go in there and tell her you are back?"



"Nah that's okay, I'll go in and say hi to her after I've given Kota a bath," Nick insisted, and he carried Dakota and Lily up the stairs, Dakota pouting the whole way up. When they got up there he took her down the hall to their bedroom and they went inside. He went to the dresser and opened up Dakota's drawer and he looked at her.



"What pajamas do you want baby?"



"Care Bears," Dakota pouted. Nick grabbed her care bear pajamas and some underwear and he brought her into the bathroom. He set her clothes on the counter and set her down so her feet were on the floor.



"Alright honey, you take your clothes off while I set up your bubble bath," he told her, and he turned his back on her to do just that. Dakota scowled and did as she was told and she got undressed. When she was completely in the nude and just standing there waiting, a smirk suddenly formed on her face. She looked up at him cautiously for a moment and then turned around and made a run for it out of the bathroom. Nick saw her in the corner of his eye and whipped his head around just on time to see her disappear around the corner.



"DAKOTA ANN, GET BACK HERE!" He yelled after her. Just as he did he could hear her giggling in the distance and knew that she was already out in the hall. Nick shook his head and decided he would take care of getting the bathtub ready and then he would go seek his streaking four-year-old afterward.


~*~*~*~*~



"Uh-oh, I heard Nick yell up there. Looks like Kota is giving him a hard time…" Riley announced while smiling some.



"It wouldn't surprise me," Howie replied amusedly. Just as soon as he said that though, they saw the naked four year old come running down the stairs at full speed, causing them all to burst into laughter.



"Dakota Ann Carter, What on earth are you doing?" Angel asked while still laughing a little.



"Running from daddy," Dakota answered rather smugly, and she looked around for a place to hide.



"You better not do that. Nick isn't going to be too pleased with you," Aaron warned trying his first attempt at being a responsible uncle but he was just dying of laughter.



"Oh wells," Dakota shrugged. Aaron chuckled and reached over to grab her as she was just mere inches away from him but she jumped back, stuck her tongue out at him and giggled, and then she ran for the kitchen not caring if Josh is in there. She pushed open the door and ran into the room where she saw Josh sitting in his grandfather's lap as he sat at the table and Brian and Ashley were sitting at the table as well and Jackie was in the middle of making dinner. They all stopped as she ran into the room though and shocked expressions formed on their faces — Josh's face turned bright red.



"Dakota Ann, what in gods name do you think you are doing?" Brian asked, laughing at her and Josh threw his hands up to his face and covered his eyes causing Brian to laugh even harder.



"NO BATHS!" Dakota insisted, and she ran over to the pantry, opened the door and she dove into it before shutting the door behind her. Ashley giggled a little. Brian shook his head smiling and started to get up but Ashley grabbed his arm and gently pulled him back down making him look at her curiously.



"Let me get her. I want to go up and say hi to Nicky anyway," She told him. Brian nodded and Ashley got up and went over to the pantry. She opened it up and saw Dakota crouched underneath the bottom shelf hugging her legs to her chest and she is in the furthest corner. Ashley got down on her knees and peeked under there to find her looking back at her innocently.



"Come on out of there honey…"



"Nevers! You will just takes me to daddy."



"You can't stay under there forever you know."



"Oh yes I can," Dakota insisted in a matter of factly tone.



"Oh yeah? What will you do about dinner then? Dakota reached up to the shelf above her and pulled down the box of captain crunch cereal and she smiled at Ashley rather smartly. Ashley laughed a little and then reached under and gently grabbed hold of Dakota's arm.



"NO, NO, NO I WON'TS TAKES A BATH I WON'TS!" She shrieked, as she pushed herself into the corner and did her best to put all of her weight into it so Ashley couldn't pull her out. Ashley sighed and then pulled back and decided she would try a different approach.



"Okay, okay…fine have it your way," She told her, and she sat back. Dakota raised her eyebrow and looked at Ashley weirdly.



"Don't have a bath, stay in that pantry all night long. We don't mind," She added, and she got up and grabbed hold of the pantry door.



"Jackie, do you have anything Kota can use to kill any spiders that may come out in the middle of the night?"




"S-Spiders?" Dakota asked, gulping a little.



"Oh yeah…spiders tend to go in there sometimes…" Jackie replied, playing a long.



"Sometimes even crickets go in there too. A shoe will do it…would you like a shoe Kota, so you can smash them if you should see any?" Harold added.



"ACK!!! NO WAYS!!!" Dakota shrieked, and she crawled out from under the shelf and threw herself into Ashley's awaiting arms. She clung tightly to her as soon as she did.



"THEY'LL EATS ME, THEY'LL EATS ME!" Ashley giggled and hugged Dakota close to her tight.



"There aren't any bugs in there honey…I was just messing with you. Thanks for coming out though." Dakota scowled at her.



"That is not very nice, Ashee." Ashley smiled at her and rubbed her nose lightly over hers.



"I'm sorry honey…but you really do need your bath. I can tell you've been playing in the sand haven't you?" Dakota smiled then.



"Uh-huhs! Daddy an' I made this really cool sand castle!"



"Neat!" Ashley replied, and she got up with her in her arms and she began carrying her out of the kitchen. Josh recovered his eyes again now that she was out of the pantry. "But you really do need your bath sweetheart. It would be very uncomfortable to stay covered in sand all night," she added. When she got upstairs with her she brought her down the hall to their bedroom just as Nick was on his way out to go and look for her.



"Ah, I see you have caught my streaking monkey!" Dakota giggled and Ashley smiled and handed her over. Nick hugged her close to her and kissed her forehead.


"That wasn't very nice young lady," he scolded playfully and Dakota giggled again and stuck her tongue out at him. Nick shook his head smiling and he brought her into the bathroom and set her in the tub where Lily was.



"LILY!" Dakota shrieked happily, and she scooped the small wet puppy into her arms as she yapped playfully. Nick turned to Ashley then and he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, before resting his forehead against hers and gazing into her eyes.



"Hi baby…"



"Hi," Ashley replied and she leaned up on her tiptoes before brushing her lips lightly over his. He grinned against her lips before kissing her back.



"It's been 4 to 5 hours, may I take my bandage off now?" Ashley whispered softly in his ear.



"I guess but don't let Kota see it. She might tell Brian," Nick whispered back. Ashley nodded and walked out of the bathroom to take the bandage off and Nick sat down on the floor and leaned his back up against the wall and he sat there and watched as Dakota played with Lily and her toys. A few moments later when Ashley had gone back in she had her sex pistols shirt pulled down over her navel and she went over to Nick and sat down in his lap so her back was to him. She leaned back against him and rested the back of her head against his shoulder and he kissed her forehead and whispered into her ear once again.



"Does it look okay?"



"Mhm, fine."



"We'll take a shower later and I'll help you clean it." Ashley rolled her eyes playfully and she looked up at him causing him to smile down at her innocently.



"I love you," she informed him and she placed her hand to his cheek and he leaned down and kissed her softly. The two of them sat there watching Dakota play for awhile and Ashley ended up playing with toy boats with her. After a long while Nick took over and began to do all of the stuff that Dakota hates the most about bath time. When he finished rinsing out her hair he unplugged the tub and Dakota stood up carefully. Ashley handed him a towel and he wrapped Lily in it and scooped her up.



"Will you get Kota for me honey?" he asked, and he walked out of the bathroom with the puppy. Ashley grabbed another towel and wrapped Dakota in it and she gathered her up in her arms and grabbed her pajamas and she followed Nick out of the bathroom. While Nick dried Lily off with a blow dryer and groomed her and all that good stuff, Ashley dressed Dakota into her pajamas. When she finished she brushed out her hair and then Dakota went over to her shopping bags from when Nick took her to the mall and she dug through all of Lily's bags until she found the pink bow that she had bought for her.



"Daddy can we puts this on Lily now? Please?"



"Mhm, give it here baby." Dakota went over to him and handed him the barrette and she stood there and watched him as he put it in. When he finished he grinned and handed her over.



"There you go sweetheart. All yours now." Dakota hugged Lily close to her and she took her downstairs with her. Nick took Ashley's hand, gently pulled her up from the bed and the two of them followed her down there. When they got downstairs they discovered everybody in the kitchen so they went in there just on time to see Dakota crawl into Brian's lap.



"Hey sweetheart, it's good to see you fully clothed." He told her, making a silly face at her and she giggled and snuggled close to him.



"Sorry about that man, she got away from me when I wasn't looking," Nick apologized.



"Ah it's fine. You should have seen the look on Josh's face though it was classic." Nick chuckled a little.



"You take baths with Ellie sometimes Josh, what's so embarrassing about seeing Kota naked?" Nick asked teasingly — he already knows the answer.



"Ellie is practically my cousin — it's different," Josh insisted.


"You should have seen how bright red he got it was hilarious — and then he covered his eyes," Brian replied, still laughing a little at the moment. Josh blushed even more and rested his head against Harold's chest bashfully.



"Just don't do that again Kota!" He ordered. Dakota giggled and stuck her tongue out at him.



"I wonder what Ellie would have done if she were here to witness that."



"Heh…she probably would have taken off her clothes and ran through the house with her," Howie replied. "That is totally something she would do."



"Yeah," Brian laughed.




~*~*~*~*~*~



Meanwhile, at the Carnival, after riding on all of the rides and stuff Jerald and Kevin took Elenore around to play all of the games. By the time they finished Kevin had managed to win her a teddy bear that Elenore made out to be the greatest treasure he has ever given her and that made him feel important again. After playing all of the games the three of them were walking around, Jerald holding onto Elenore's hand and Elenore clutching her teddy bear tight under her arm where he is safe. As they were walking around, they both could tell that she was getting tired because she had popped her thumb into her mouth. Kevin knows she isn't usually a thumb sucker unless she's scared, upset, or exhausted. He smiled down at her some.



"Is the sugar rush finally going down sweetie?" Elenore looked up at him with sleepy eyes.



"My feet hurteds Kevy…" she whined. Jerald leaned down to pick her up but she swatted his arms away grumpily.



"No I wants Kevy…"


"Hey — Hey…you wouldn't be getting grumpy now would you?" he asked gently, and he leaned over and gathered her up in his arms to hug her close to him though he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at her words. She wants him. Elenore slid her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder.



"It's alright, sometimes the only thing a child needs is her daddy when she's tired," Jerald replied understandingly and he emphasized the word 'daddy' hoping his little brother would get the hint. Kevin just smiled to himself and hugged Elenore close to him and he rubbed his hand over her back. "Should we go back to Aunt Jackie's now?"



"No I was kind of thinking of going to see mom and Tim. Mom said she wanted me to bring Ellie by and she said that she was making some pumpkin pie," Kevin explained, and he looked down at Elenore. "But if Ellie is too tired…"



"Nooo! Kevy I wants pie!" Elenore insisted. "I wants pie Kevy pleeeease?"



"Alright honey…alright. Maybe my mom will make you some real dinner too — something home made. It's been a few hours since you've eaten something other than junkfood." Elenore snuggled close to him and he kissed her forehead as he began walking toward the carnival exit and Jerald walked by his side smiling to himself — his brother really needs to adopt this little girl. By the time they reached the parking lot Elenore was asleep. He went over and opened the door to the back seat and he placed her in her car seat being careful not to wake her up. When he did he buckled her up and then he handed Jerald his keys and went and got in the passenger's side as he was just as tired as Elenore.



"It's a good thing she's sleeping…a good 20 minute nap will be good for her. I don't want her to be grumpy for mom."



"I'm sure she can take a nap while mom is making dinner," Jerald reassured.