Chapter Two-Hundred-Twelve
When Nick, Ashley, Wiley, AJ, and Marcus arrived back at the Orphanage they went inside and went to the playroom. When they did they found Brian, Riley, Brooke, Howie, Kevin, Jamie, and the rest of security sitting at a table having small talk and keeping an eye on all of the children at the same time.
“Hey guys, how’d it go?” Brooke questioned as she got up and went and hugged AJ. He slid his arms around her waist, pulled her near, and he kissed her forehead.
“It’s a very nice house,” AJ answered. “Simple, but warm and welcoming even after all this time. I can tell their mother was a very kind woman.” Ashley smiled some and she rubbed at her bloodshot eyes in attempt to keep anymore tears from escaping and much to her relief she succeeded. It was a very close call though, because AJ’s words were so sensitive and caring and they went straight to her emotions and tugged on them. Even though she managed to force back unwanted tears it is still very obvious that she’s been crying – a lot. Brooke smiled some.
“I already knew that when I met her daughter,” she insisted and she reached over and gently touched Ashley’s cheek.
“Stop it you people are going to make me cry again,” Ashley begged but she couldn’t help but smile some more.
“How are you feeling?” Brooke asked while pulling her into a hug.
“Better…it helped to go there. It helped a lot.”
“I bet it did…I wish we knew about that will a long time ago.”
“I don’t think I would have been strong enough to go there about a month ago…but I’m slowly healing now so it made things so much easier.” Nick wrapped his arms around Ashley from behind and he kissed the back of her neck softly.
“How did Kori handle it?” Brooke asked quietly as she watched Kori go over to her son.
“She did very well…I’m proud of her,” AJ answered. “She faced so much tonight and cried a lot. Maybe by tomorrow she’ll muster up the courage to go into her parent’s bedroom.”
“Yeah…but no one is to push her, you hear me?” Ashley asked while giving AJ a stern look. “It took a lot of will power for me to go in there tonight…it’s something you have to prepare for all on your own.” AJ nodded.
“I won’t push her sweetheart, I promise. I’m just happy that she is actually trying.” Nick hugged Ashley close to him as he remained behind her and she rested back of her head against his shoulder and looked up at him. He gazed into her bloodshot eyes and kissed her forehead softly.
“Lets go get you in bed okay? You need to sleep that’s the next best thing for you right now.”
“Kay…” He looked over at Dakota and Sarah then, who were lying side by side on their stomachs in the blocks center coloring in their coloring books while Josh and Elenore played with blocks. Kori had already taken Spencer up to their room. He couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight of his two girls playing nicely together – and sharing crayons of all things.
“Kota, Sarah, its time for bed.” Dakota looked up at her daddy and opened her mouth to complain but shut it again when she saw how upset Ashley looks. She frowned then and got up at once and followed Sarah over to them. She reached for Ashley as soon as she got to her and Ashley scooped her up into her arms. Dakota slid her arms around Ashley’s neck and hugged her tight not even bothering to ask what’s wrong. She knows. Ashley hugged her back and kissed the top of her head as she turned and walked out of the playroom with her.
“That’s so adorable…” Brooke insisted when the playroom door shut behind them. Nick chuckled and nodded.
“Isn’t it though? I don’t think she realizes how perfect they look together, though I do tell her a hundred times,” he agreed and he took Sarah’s hand and looked down at her and smiled some.
“Ready for bed princess?” Sarah nodded though he saw she wasn’t even looking at him until he spoke to her. He glanced over to where she was looking and noticed some of the girls from his fan club giving Sarah resentful looks. Nick sighed and then he playfully scooped Sarah up into his arms so he is cradling her and he bent down and blew raspberries on her neck making Sarah squeal and giggle in delight as he carried her out of the room. When he stopped she slid her arms around his neck and he bent down and whispered into her ear.
“Don’t worry about them, Nicky will take care of it later. Okay?” Sarah looked at him questioningly and he chuckled.
“It’s a secret.” When the two of them got upstairs to their floor and walked into the room they found Ashley lying in bed and Dakota covering her up with a blanket. Dakota looked at Nick and Sarah.
“Shhh daddy she’s going to sleep,” She whispered, placing her finger to her lips. Just as Dakota had said it, Ashley’s eyes closed and she was out. Dakota looked at her and she leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Nick stood there watching her for a few moments wondering where the video camera is at when he needs it. Dakota crawled over to the lamp and she turned it on to low and then looked at Nick seriously.
“Lights daddy – Ashee’s sleeping.” Nick chuckled and he hit the light switch that he was standing next to and he went all the way into the room then.
“And somebody else needs to start getting ready for bed too. Pajamas Kota.” Dakota stuck her lower lip out in a pout.
“Don’t you start that young lady or you can go straight to bed as soon as you’re in your pajamas instead of watching a movie with me and Sarah.” Dakota scowled at him.
“I was thinking your favorite Christmas movie too – The Santa Clause.” Dakota’s mouth dropped open at the mention of her favorite movie. Nick nodded in amusement.
“So get to it soldier hut two, three, four…” Dakota hopped off of the bed and rushed over to the dresser and he grinned and set Sarah down. “You too missy.” While the girls were getting changed into their pajamas, Nick went over to Ashley and checked on her making sure she had changed into her pajamas too before Dakota tucked her in for the night. Seeing that she had changed into one of his over sized t-shirts, he recovered her up and kissed her forehead softly.
“Daddy can we haves popcorn too during our movie?”
“If you and Sarah do me a favor and be big girls and stay right here while I go get it. Can you do that?” Dakota and Sarah both nodded dutifully and he grinned and got up and he walked out of the room running into Marcus on his way out – Almost literally.
“Whoa. Where’s the fire Nick? Everything okay?”
“Yeah everything’s fine. I was just on my way to go get some popcorn. Ashley is in there sleeping and the girls are proving to me that they can be big girls and stay there. Will you kind of monitor them for me though?”
“Mhm.”
“Where is the rest of the security team?”
“Across the hall. We’ve set up a security room like the one we had in Kentucky – we’ve found that it’s so much easier that way.”
“You have a camera in the basement, right?”
“We have about three of them in the basement going in different directions. None of the rooms in the orphanage were left unsecured. It’s completely safe.”
“Good…I know Kota won’t go near that basement alone again, but still.”
“I know Nick,” Marcus replied and he gently squeezed Nick’s shoulder. “Nothing like that is going to happen again as long as I’m in this building.” Nick gave Marcus a short hug then.
“That’s comforting…but please get some sleep Marcus,” he told him, and then he walked off to go get the popcorn. Marcus shook his head smiling and he went and peeked into Nick’s room to see Dakota sitting at Ashley’s side just watching her protectively. While she was doing that, Sarah sat in the lazy boy chair with Abbie in her arms while Lily lay a few inches from the chair asleep. When Nick returned with a bowl of popcorn he put The Santa Clause into the DVD player and pushed play. When he did he went over and turned the lamp all the way off before gathering Dakota up under one arm and he handed her the bowl of popcorn before going over and gathering Sarah up in his other. When he had them both he sat down in the chair with each of them in his lap facing the TV. He put the leg rest up and Abbie jumped up onto it, settled down against his legs and she lay there begging for some popcorn while Lily sat on the floor waiting for someone to drop something.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day Ashley ended up sleeping through breakfast. When she woke up she found herself lying alone in bed but there was a note lying on the pillow that Nick would normally be sleeping at. She grabbed it and opened it up and she read what it said. I’m downstairs baby, I know you were emotionally exhausted so I thought it’d be best if I let you sleep. Come downstairs when you wake up, I have something special for you. Nick. Ashley lay there trying to wake up all the way for a few moments and when she had, she got out of bed and pulled on some pajama pants and she grabbed her blanket, wrapped it around herself, and headed for the elevator. Abbie hopped down from the bed and followed at her feet. When she got downstairs she went into the cafeteria to find that everybody was cleaning up. The only table that was left down was the usual table that Ashley and the gang all sit at and Nick was sitting there with two red roses.
“Hey sleeping beauty, how are you feeling this morning?” Brian who was the first to see her asked.
“Surprisingly really good,” Ashley answered as she allowed him to pull her into a hug and kiss her forehead.
“It doesn’t surprise me all that much. It’s all that mourning you did last night. You needed it.” He kissed her cheek and hugged her one last time and when he pulled away she went straight to Nick. He grinned when he saw her coming. When she was standing in front of him he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap and he grabbed the roses and held them out to her while making a goofy face and she giggled, kissed him on the nose and took the roses.
“I thought you should have something to make you smile first thing in the morning.”
“Thank-you Nicky, its just what I needed,” she told him and she wrapped an arm around him and snuggled into him. He sat there rubbing his hand over her back for a few moments, and then he noticed AJ and Denise come out of the kitchen with two plates in his hand.
“You also need some breakfast,” he told her, and she looked up at him and saw him looking past her, causing her to look too and she saw her mom and brother carrying two plates full of breakfast over to them. When they approached the table they set them down in front of them and she saw that both plates were filled with Ashley’s favorite breakfast. She looked at him questioningly.
“I haven’t eaten yet. I waited for you.” Ashley placed her hand to his cheek and leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, before resting her head against his shoulder. She then grabbed up the fork on her plate and she began to eat her breakfast, actually feeling very hungry – which surprises her almost more then feeling better for the first time in five years did.
“So Nick says we’re going to be spending the day at your house today, Ash” Howie spoke up as he pulled up a chair and deciding he would give Nick and Ashley some company while they ate.
“Yes. We’re putting some Christmas cheer in the house to honor my mom and dad.”
“That sounds fun.” Ashley nodded.
“Weren’t you planning on taking Ryan and Laila somewhere?” She asked after looking around and making sure Ryan wasn’t listening and he wasn’t. He was over on the other side of the room – from the looks of things, trying his hardest not to get into a heated argument with Elenore.
“Yes, AJ and I will be in a few minutes. AJ just wanted to wait until you were up to see how you were doing.” Howie and AJ sat with Nick, Ashley, and Denise for awhile while Nick and Ashley ate their breakfast and then Howie got up and went to get Ryan.
“Ryan,” Howie called out to him, causing Ryan to drop the toy that he was ever so quietly playing a not so friendly game of tug-o-war with Elenore over.
“Yes, Howie?” He asked innocently. Howie narrowed his eyes as he noticed the over dramatized innocent tone in his voice.
“Do you have your shoes on? I told you we were going somewhere.”
“And you still haven’t answered my question,” Ryan insisted.
“It’s a surprise. But if you don’t put your shoes on we will never get there.” Ryan scowled and he slipped his feet into his vans and crossed his arms over his chest while looking at Howie with a raised eyebrow.
“Fine then, come on.” Howie told him while shaking his head and he turned and went back to AJ. Ryan looked at Elenore one last time and she stuck her tongue out at him. He did it right back and then followed Howie who was pretending not to notice the childish gestures behind him. Elenore hugged her Raphael doll that Ryan had been trying to take from her close to her protectively and she looked at Spencer who looked like he was glad Howie had unknowingly intervened or he would have done something he would regret later. She watched him in amusement, as he stood there rooted in his spot glaring at Ryan’s back. It almost makes her want to go instigate more trouble from Ryan just so Spencer will come to her rescue. She stood there contemplating the idea for a few moments, until her favorite future Uncle interrupted her thoughts.
“I know what you’re thinking, and your best bet would be to not do it little one,” he warned. Elenore looked up to see Jerald standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused look on his face.
“JERRY!!!!” Elenore exclaimed, and she flung herself into his arms causing him to actually stumble back slightly as he caught her and he laughed.
“Hi precious,” he greeted and he hugged her close to him as he sat down on the floor with her. Kevin who had heard her shout his brother’s name turned to see what all the commotion was about and he grinned slightly at the sight of his brother and his soon to be daughter. He went over to them and Jerald looked up at him.
“Hey little brother,” he greeted.
“Hey Jer…where are Tim and mom?”
“They’ll be here soon. Mom is taking a shower and Tim is doing some stuff – I couldn’t wait another minute to come and see my favorite little girl ever,” Jerald insisted as he took in all of the snuggling and hugs Elenore was giving him.
“Doing stuff? What kind of stuff?” Kevin asked while raising his eyebrow.
“I’m not allowed to tell you. Strict orders.” Kevin looked utterly anxious to know what his older brother was up to, but he didn’t press Jerald anymore.
“How was Brian’s house? Did Raul and Q set up extra security around the house?”
“Yup. They made it so safe, not even a mouse could get in – which is probably a good thing, since mom is terrified of them.”
“Well that’s good,” Kevin replied while chuckling slightly.
“Infact, Q said that they’ve set it up so that even Laney, Marcus, and Drew could see what was going on at Brian’s on their TV’s here.”
“Good to know. As long as the three of you, and the Littrells are safe, that’s what matters.”
“Course their safe. Jerry would kicks daddy’s butt if he came nears them.” Elenore insisted. “Cause he’s Master Splinter.” Kevin and Jerald both laughed and Jerald pat her on the head.
“Well I’m happy to see that you have so much faith in me sweetheart, but I think Master Splinter is thankful to have Q and Raul there to back him up.”
“’An Drew, Laney, an’ Marcus has us turtles here to backs them up too.” Jerald chuckled.
“That’s right. Who knows what they’d do if they didn’t have you silly Ninjas here, huh?” he asked while playfully messing her hair up. Elenore giggled.
“Uh-huh, who knows.” Jerald smirked and kissed her cheek.
“They’d definitely have lack of entertainment in the middle of the night, that’s for sure.” Kevin joked and she giggled even more as he leaned forward and kissed her other cheek.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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Enjoy =)
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