Chapter One-Hundred-Fifty-Three
Meanwhile, in New York, after AJ and Brooke had finished their breakfast in bed Brooke ended up getting out of bed and getting in the shower to get ready to go while AJ had taken their tray downstairs with Laila trailing close behind him. When he took it all back into the kitchen he insisted on doing the dishes no matter how many times Peyton protested.
“Alexander James McLean, you are a guest in this house! Why on earth are you doing dishes?” A familiar voice that he never gets tired of hearing spoke from the door way of the kitchen. He grinned and turned his head toward it to find Brooke standing there dressed in a black and white striped t-shirt, white denim shorts, and some black flip-flops. She blow dried her hair and curled it on the ends so that her brown curls came to a rest just on top of her shoulders. She had done her make up so that she is wearing black eyeliner and a light shade of pink lipstick. She looks absolutely beautiful standing there with her arms crossed over her chest and staring at him with narrowed eyes – and she is all his. He still can’t believe it.
“Because I wanted to,” AJ answered simply.
“Well stop it will you? My parents will want to adopt you.”
“I tried to stop him Brookie but he wouldn’t let me,” Peyton announced as she suddenly came up beside her sister while holding Laila. Brooke grinned and took the baby from her sister and hugged her close affectionately.
“It’s the least I could do for your parents since they let me stay here and all when you are supposed to be having Thanksgiving with them.” Brooke rolled her eyes and went on over to him. She reached over and turned off the sink and then wrapped an arm around his waist before gazing up into his chocolate brown eyes.
“Thanksgiving isn’t until Sunday - and they were more then happy to have you. You could stay through out the entire holiday and they wouldn’t mind in the least bit – you would be like part of the family,” Brooke insisted.
“If I could I would and you know it,” AJ replied, as he wrapped his arms around her in return while making sure not to crush the two year old between them and he looked cautiously toward the living room door making sure Jaime wasn’t in sight. When he was sure that he wasn’t he bent down brushed his lips lightly over hers. “You will just have to settle for Christmas – I have my heart set on you coming to Kentucky with me,” He told her in a low voice.
“If I can’t find someone to watch the Orphanage for me I don’t see how that’s going to happen honey.”
“Don’t you worry about it – I already told you I would make it happen.”
“You are not going to go around to all of my employees and act like a desperate boyfriend McLean.”
“I won’t have to act. I really will be one.” Brooke laughed and shook her head.
“You are impossible, you know that?”
“Maybe so, but you love me anyway.”
“Yeah, well you got lucky there,” Brooke teased. AJ smirked and kissed her forehead softly and then he pulled away – just on time too, because Jaime walked into the kitchen right then.
“Are you and AJ still leaving?” He questioned, as he went over and hugged his sister.
“Yes we are,” Brooke answered in a final tone as she hugged him back.
“We’re going out and we won’t be back until dinner – he will be eating with us, and then Peyton and I are driving him to the airport – after that, us girls are going to go and get our hair and nails done.”
“Okay,” Jaime replied, deciding it would be no good to argue. He looked over at AJ though with a look AJ completely understood.
“I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise.” Jaime nodded.
“Kay,” he replied defeatedly. AJ looked over at Brooke.
“I’ll be right back sweetie, I’m going to go and get Laila’s baby stroller.”
“I already brought it downstairs. All you have to do is put her in it – her diaper bag is ready and I brought down her special blanket just incase. I also placed her pink hoodie at the bottom of the stroller.” AJ grinned.
“Thanks,” he told her. Brooke nodded.
“No problem…I want to leave as soon as possible. The faster we leave, the more time we will have together.”
“True that,” AJ agreed and he took her hand and brought her into the living room. Peyton and Jaime followed them and they watched as Brooke set Laila in the stroller and buckled her up. She handed Laila her blanket and Laila covered herself up with it and smiled up at them excitedly. AJ took hold of the stroller and began pushing it out of the house and Brooke followed closely at his side. When they walked out of the house and the door closed behind them Peyton turned to her brother with an annoyed expression on her face.
“What?” he asked innocently. “I let them go didn’t I?” Peyton rolled her eyes.
“How come you are never this protective over me?”
“If you ever get raped Peyton I will be sure to be just as watchful with you as I am of her.” Peyton shook her head and headed for the stairs.
“What? What is your problem?”
“Just forget it,” Peyton replied moodily, and she walked upstairs and went straight to her room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"So where to now?" Brian asked, as him, Riley, and Josh exited the toy store they'd been in. He'd bought the light sabers for Josh, as well as a couple hot wheels he insisted upon having so him and Ellie could play.
"How about Hot Topic or Claire’s," Riley suggested. "I'd like to look at some clothes and stuff, if you don't mind."
"Sure, no problem," Brian smiled in return, happy to be out with the two he cared about more than anything. "And we can go for ice cream or something after all that." Josh rolled his eyes. Figures they'd have to go to girl stores, instead of more toy stores and sports stores and maybe a clothing store or two. He did need a new pair of sneakers, so he figured. Hey, his new father was rich, so why not reep the benefits? Besides, shoes couldn't cost all that much...could they?
"Great, it's this way," Riley grinned, knowing the way as she'd spotted the stores on their way in. Brian nodded and took hold of her hand, as they began to walk through the mall.
"Stick close Josh. I don't want you to get lost or anything." Josh scowled. Figured Brian would hold her hand instead of his, though holding Brian's hand would be a bit embarrassing, but so what? When he was with Brian, he didn't have to be such a tough guy anymore. No, he only did that to protect Ellie and Kota...and now Sarah too, if Kota would let him get near her, which didn't seem to be too often. And he hated to upset Kota, but she was being kind of mean to Sarah for no real good reason, other than not wanting to share. He shook his head and followed along quietly, sticking close in case anybody was watching and awaiting the right moment to snatch him again. They finally reached Claire’s and went on inside, Riley heading straight for the earrings and necklaces and such. Brian followed her, too busy watching her to care where they were going; and Josh trailed along behind them dutifully. Josh gave a heavy sigh as he looked around, frowning at all the pink he saw. What was with girls and pink? Were they born loving it or something? Why couldn't they like a good color, like blue or green, or even yellow? Heck, even purple, though still kind of girly, was better than pink. Besides, purple at least came in darker, manlier shades - but pink? Yick. Only sissies wore pink - well, girls and sissies. Though, Brian did tend to wear pink quite often...but he couldn't be a sissy, could he? Josh cast a glance over at the man who had just recently adopted him, contemplating his own question. Nah...Brian wasn't a sissy. Brian was a great guy, who knew how to make him laugh and cheer him up when he felt bad. Josh gave another sigh, but this one was more annoyed than anything, as Riley held up a pair of earrings.
"What do you guys think?" Riley asked, still smiling. "These ones...or these ones?" Josh scowled and rolled his eyes. Both pairs were the same, but just different colors.
"Who cares?" He muttered.
"Why don't you just get both?" Brian suggested, ignoring his son's comment. "That way you don't have to choose."
"Good point," Riley laughed, sticking them into her little Claire’s basket and resumed looking at all the earrings on display.
"What's with girls and jewelry?" Josh wondered to himself, wandering away a little bit to see if they had anything Kota might like. Little did he know, they had just missed the group, as the group had moved onto Hot Topic just moments before they had entered Claire’s. When he was unable to find anything, Josh went back to Brian and Riley, Brian seemingly not have noticed Josh had even left his side in the first place.
"Can we go?" Josh asked in an annoyed tone.
"Soon as Riley's finished here," Brian replied.
"She's only got two ears, how many more earrings does she need?" Josh demanded impatiently.
"Yeah, another girly one," Josh grumbled, scowling and scuffing his one shoe upon the tiled floor.
"Enough," Brian said firmly, deciding he was not going to take attitude of any sort from Josh today. Today was to be a fun day, not one where people got cranky because they weren't getting their own way.
"I'm almost done," Riley replied. "I just need another pair, then I want to check out the necklaces, and then we can head out." Josh crossed his arms over his chest in protest, but kept silent when he saw Brian cast him a stern glance. After standing silently for a short while longer, he finally gave up and walked away, knowing Brian wouldn't even notice as he was too busy eyeing Riley again. Josh shook his head disappointedly as he left the store and went out into the mall area. He needed to get out of that store. It was just too girly! He scuffed his shoes on the floor still, his head down, not watching where he was going - right then he didn't really care. Eventually though, he found a bench and sat upon it to watch all the people go by - though, the bench was a little far away from Claire’s. But that wasn't his fault - he wasn't the one who'd placed the bench so far away from the store. Brian, meanwhile, had noticed Josh had been awful quiet for quite some time now and glanced down to see how the boy was doing. Needless to say, he was shocked to discover his son wasn't still standing next to him. He cast a hurried glance around the store, even moving slightly and straining his neck to see if the boy had gone to the back of the store, but he couldn't see him. He frowned and cast another glance around, calling the boy's name out this time.
"Josh?"
"What's wrong?" Riley asked, looking up from the necklaces she was now looking at.
"You didn't happen to see where Josh went, did you?" Brian asked, feeling foolish for once more not seeing his son disappear. How was he supposed to be a good father if he kept losing his son? Riley shook her head as she headed for the checkout counter.
"No. Why?"
"I can't find him," Brian replied, feeling panic start to rise up within him. Riley turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.
"I'm sure he didn't go far," she stated, handing cash over to the girl behind the counter. "I mean, he knows better than to wander off."
"Well, he's not in the store Riley!" Brian snapped somewhat.
"Hey, don't get mad at me," Riley told him. "I didn't tell him to take off on you."
"Sorry," Brian apologized quickly, grabbing her hand once she had her bag. "We better check the mall. Just - what if Sean's goons grabbed him again? What if someone else grabbed him? How could I not have noticed him disappearing on me!?!?! How!?!?!"
"Brian, relax," Riley attempted to soothe. "I'm sure he's fine."
"But you don't know that!" Brian exclaimed, dragging her out into the mall as he began to frantically search for his son. "Josh! Josh!? JOSH!?!?!?!" Riley scanned the crowd too, also hoping they'd find Josh soon, as she hated to see Brian in such a state of panic.
"Josh?!?! Josh!!!!!" Suddenly, they spotted the boy sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall a few stores down. Brian's worried look soon turned into an angry one, as he strode in the direction of his son with Riley at his side.
"Joshua Littrell!" Josh looked up when he heard someone say his name and tried to hide his worried look when he spotted Brian's angry face. Oh, boy. He was in trouble - big trouble for sure this time. Brian reached his son and had to refrain from reaching out and shaking the boy. "Joshua Littrell! Just what do you think you're doing?" He demanded angrily.
"Sitting here watching people walk by," Josh answered half honestly.
"You know better than to take off like that!" Brian exclaimed.
"Well, if you watched me instead of her, then maybe you would've seen me leaving!" Josh snapped somewhat, scowling once more. He'd been quite happy sitting there on the bench all by his lonesome, as he didn't have to be near Riley. Even if she did convince Brian to buy him the light sabers, it didn't mean he considered her nice or anything. And there was just no way he was going to stand there and watch her look at stupid old jewelry. Brian's expression hardened.
"Maybe you and I need to go out to the car for a while, so you can sit there and think about what you've done, and everything you're missing out on. What do you think of that Joshua?"
"I'm not going out to the car!" Josh argued. "I told you I didn't wanna look at stupid old earrings!"
"You'll not raise your voice to me, Joshua Littrell," Brian replied in an even tone.
"Well, you're yelling at me!"
"I have every right to yell at you!" Brian snapped. "You scared me half to death! I thought someone had grabbed you and taken you from me again! You know you have to stick close, because Sean's henchmen could be lurking nearby! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get yourself kidnapped again!"
"Well, if it meant I could be away from Riley, then let them take me!" Josh yelled. “I don’t care!"
"You take that back Joshua, or you can be grounded for the rest of our stay in Kentucky," Brian told him sternly. "I will not have you talking to Riley, or myself, that way." Josh glared up at Brian, tears welling up in his eyes. Brian was his father now. He was supposed to be spending time with him, and not Riley!
"Fine then, you're grounded," Brian replied, scooping the boy up into his arms. "No more treats for you today. No toys, no ice cream, no clothes, no shoes. Nothing." Josh just kept his arms crossed over his chest stubbornly, as his angry tears began to stream down his face. Riley sighed heavily, feeling as though somehow this was all her fault. Though, Brian did have a few points. But, he'd broken his own rule – the one about talking calmly. He always lectured Nick on it, and had just broken it himself, thus making him a hypocrite. Scared or not, he always told Nick to talk calmly, so he should've been able to do the same thing. But, he was known to have quite the temper at times - and right now seemed to be one of those times. Brian turned to Riley then.
“Where should we go now?” He asked Riley softly, turning to look at her. Riley shrugged, not wanting to upset Josh anymore then she already has. The two of them walked through the store quietly until suddenly they ran into everybody else.
“Hey Bri…what happened?” Ashley asked, noticing Josh’s tears right away and the unhappy looks on Brian and Riley’s faces. Brian sighed and began to explain to them what happened.
“Oh…”
“I think I’m going to take Josh out to the van for awhile so that we can have a talk…” Brian announced afterward, and he looked at Riley.
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all…I’ll just stay here with everybody else.”
“Kay,” Brian replied, and he kissed Riley’s cheek despite his son’s scowl and then he walked off with Josh toward the store they had entered the mall in. Kori turned her attention on Riley who she notices is holding back tears with great effort. She slid her arms around her waist and looked into her eyes sincerely.
“I’m sorry honey…you just have to give the kid a chance to get used to you…you know?” Riley nodded.
“Yeah, I know, I understand…” Riley answered softly and she rested her head against her shoulder, liking the fact that she has someone there to comfort her.
“We were just headed to Cold Stone…what’s your favorite ice cream? My treat,” Wiley piped up.
“Strawberry. But Wi you don’t have to…really.”
“No, but I want to” he insisted, while wrapping his arm around her also as he stood on the other side of her and together he and Kori guided her in the direction of Cold Stone with everybody following close behind them.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
It was co-written with Lenni.
Enjoy =)
It was co-written with Lenni.
Enjoy =)
