Chapter Thirty
“What took you so long?” Chris complained to Kori when the girls made it back to the car.
“Sorry…I didn’t mean to. I got…um…caught up in the moment.” Kori answered, resuming her position in the drivers seat and Isabel crawled into the back next to Chris.
“What friend were you seeing?” Wiley interrogated.
“Spencer’s father…” Kori answered, looking at Wiley for only a short moment, before going to start her car. Just as she moved her hand to turn her keys he noticed a little bit of blood on it from when she had helped Scott up. He had blood on his hand from touching his nose.
“Kori Mortenson!” He exclaimed, and Kori flinched a little.
“WHAT!?” She exclaimed back, looking at him in bewilderment at his outburst and he grabbed her hand to look at it.
“What the bloody hell happened? What moment did you get caught up in?”
“I…well…I had to make sure just exactly what side he was on. Mine or Sean’s…and I was pissed…and well, you know what happens when you piss me off.”
“Oh Kori you didn’t…” Isabel spoke up from the back seat, suddenly worried.
“I only shoved him around and punched him in the face a few times….no big deal. He’s my son’s father - even if he doesn’t want to be. I could never harm him - severely.”
“If that’s all you did then what is the blood from?” Chris wanted to know.
“Okay, so I may have broken his nose….”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us what you were up to. I can’t believe you made us sit out here in this car while you went in there and did that.”
“Would you have let me done it if I told you?” Kori questioned Wiley, amused at how protective of her he is being.
“Of course not!”
“Well then now you see why I didn’t tell you.” She replied while rolling her eyes. “Now can we go? I thought ya’ll were so eager to get to the mall and stuff.” When no one said anything else, she started the car and began her drive to the mall. Everyone was silent for a few minutes until suddenly Wiley spoke up once again.
“Well, is he on your side?”
“Yeah, he says he is…and I’m pretty sure he was telling the truth. I mean yeah I was beating the shit out of him but there was just this certain look in his eyes…and he was being very sincere too. So I don’t think he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. He says he didn’t know it was a setup. That he saw it on the website - he checks the website every now and then to make sure that Sean doesn’t have me - because he loves me and he couldn’t stand to see me in the hands of that asshole. He says he called me to warn me about Ashley because he knows how much she means to me and that I would want to know.”
“Oh,” Wiley replied.
“He also begged me to let him see Spencer too…”
“You aren’t going to let him are you? I thought he didn’t want anything to do with him.” Chris spoke up again.
“Well I don’t know…do you think I should? He is after all his father…doesn’t Spencer deserve to get to know his dad? And who knows…maybe if he takes one look at Spencer and sees how incredibly adorable and loveable he is…and how much he looks like his daddy…maybe he will change his mind.”
“Yeah…maybe…” Wiley replied indifferently, and he turned and looked out the window and remained silent during the rest of the ride to the mall.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile at the Orphanage, while Nick was busy talking to Riley, Kevin, and Dr. Huang Ashley sat under a tree with Detective Stabler, Dakota, Elenore, and Spencer. All of them were enjoying the ice cream that Detective Stabler had gotten them. Ashley sat Indian style with Dakota lounging comfortably in her lap and Spencer right at her side. He is beginning to really like his aunt quite a bit.
“Ashee,” Dakota spoke up after a long while.
“Yeah sweetie?”
“Is Tyke gonna be okays? I heard uncle Brian say he needs his rest right now.” Dakota asked worriedly, as she looked over at her uncle who still sat in the sandbox with Tyke asleep in his lap.
“Yeah he’s okay…he just gave Brian a little scare is all. He tried to protect Brian from getting hurt by Mrs. Ellerbee and ended up a little hurt himself…but he’ll be just fine I promise.”
“Oh, kay….” Dakota replied softly. She really loves that Chihuahua a lot. He has been there for her many times in the past when she really needed him - especially in times where she was really sick. She remembers all the times he laid at her feet on Brian’s couch when she had a fever and all she could do was lay around and watch TV. Her and Tyke go way back seeing as how he’s been around since she was just a baby. Ashley who sensed Dakota’s sadness put her empty ice cream cup down in the grass and she slid her arms around Dakota’s waist and rested her chin on top of her head. She is the closest to Nick that she can get right now since he’s for one talking to Dr. Huang and two, he’s also doing his very best to keep their relationship strictly business right now with Detective Stabler and Dr. Huang around. She misses his hugs though. She looked over at him to see what he’s doing now and he’s still standing there talking business. Ashley couldn’t help but smile a little bit. She’ll never understand how he can make just standing there look so sexy. Nick who was standing there listening to Riley give her opinion on something felt eyes on him. Knowing exactly whose eyes they were, he turned his head in the direction Ashley is in and looked at her and just as he expected, he found her sitting there staring at him longingly. Her eyes widened however, when they met with his curious blue ones and she quickly looked down at Dakota instead and she suddenly felt like a little school girl who just got caught staring at her crush. It took everything in Nick not to laugh. He looked back at Riley, Dr. Huang, and Kevin and he noticed Kevin watching him in amusement. He had noticed Ashley staring at Nick long before he did.
“Why don’t we play a game?” Ashley asked the kids, dying to get her mind off of the beautiful blonde across the playground that is for now completely off limits to her.
“Likes what?” Elenore asked as she is very interested.
“How about telephone?” Detective Stabler suggested when he noticed Ashley was having a hard time thinking of one. Elenore looked at him confused. She had never played that game before. She looked around at her friends and immediately felt better when she saw the other two hadn’t had a clue as to what he was talking about either.
“How do you plays that?” Dakota asked curiously.
“Someone thinks of a word, and then turns to their friend and whispers it into their ear, and they turn and whisper it in another person’s ear…and so on till the word makes it all the way around the circle. Then the last person says the word out loud. Sometimes if it’s a big group of kids that is playing the word doesn’t always stay the same, it turns out to be something really silly.” Detective Stabler explained. “Why don’t we see if we can get a few more kids over here to play?” He added.
“Kota and I will do that,” Ashley immediately volunteered. Dakota looked up at Ashley suddenly skeptical.
“But nobody will wanna come plays if I do it’s,” she insisted.
“Aww, sure they will. Trust me,” Ashley reassured, and she stood up and put Dakota down. She took her hand led her over to a little girl that she had met earlier while playing red light green light. She remembers her name is Holly.
“Hey Holly,” Ashley greeted, and the little seven year old smiled up at her happily.
“Hi! You wanna play house with me?” She asked hopefully, as she was standing near a fisher price dollhouse and she is holding a cabbage patch doll.
“Actually Holly, Kota and I were wondering if maybe you wanted to come join a few friends of ours in a game of Telephone.”
“Okay!” Holly replied excitedly.
“All right. We’re meeting under that tree right over there,” Ashley explained, and she turned and pointed to the tree that Detective Stabler, Elenore, and Spencer were still sitting under. Kota and I will be there shortly.”
“Kay,” Holly replied, and she put her doll down before running over to the tree. Ashley grinned and looked around the playground. She suddenly found the girls Meghan, Alana, Jessica, and Aubrey all sitting under another tree playing with little troll dolls. They’re all 6 and 7 year olds and Ashley recognizes them as Nick’s number one fan club - his little “wives” that he had told her about.
“Alright Kota, you’re talking to the next group of people, okay?” Ashley asked, looking down at Dakota and she looked up at Ashley frightened. She is scared that they will bully her the way Josh does.
“I don’ts wanna Ashee…please don’ts make me they’ll be mean to me.”
“No they won’t sweetie I promise. I will be right there with you the whole time, okay?” Ashley asked gently, and she crouched down in front of Dakota.
“All you have to do is ask if they want to come play telephone with us. I’m not going to let anyone bully you honey I promise. Not everyone in this Orphanage is friends with Josh…trust me, I spend a lot of time observing.”
“…They’re aren’t?” Dakota asked softly, doing her very best to hold back her tears but it didn’t work out too well.
“Nope…and Just a little secret between you and me… he sure does like to pretend that they’re but in reality half the kids can’t stand him.”
“Kay,” Dakota replied softly.
“You ready to go see those girls right over there now?” Ashley asked gently, and she pointed to Nick’s little ‘wives’ over by the tree. Dakota looked over at them and then at Ashley and nodded. She is feeling a little brave now, now that Ashley had told her, her little secret. Ashley smiled at her and gently wiped her tears away. She stood up and scooped Dakota up into her arms and she began to carry her over to Nick’s little fan club of ‘wives’. She hopes by the end of this day Dakota will have made some new friends. She feels that if she meets the right kids she will. Sure she has Elenore and now Spencer and that’s really great, but it’d be nice if every kid in the Orphanage wasn’t so skeptical of her. Because she is a really great kid and Ashley wants them all to see that. When they reached Meghan, Alana, Jessica, and Aubrey she sat down with them and placed Dakota safely in her lap.
“Hi ladies,” Ashley greeted them gently. They looked up at her curiously.
“Hi,” they replied in unison.
“What are you four up to?”
“Playin’ trolls,” Aubrey answered.
“Well that’s fun. I used to play trolls too when I was a little girl. In fact, me and my friends we loved to play with them under trees too, just like you. We had a whole bunch of them.”
“Cool,” Alana replied, smiling up at her. Ashley smiled too and looked down at Dakota.
“Dakota has a few trolls of her own too, I was with her when Nick bought them for her.”
“What do they look like?” Jessica asked Dakota, suddenly interested in the little girl sitting in Ashley’s lap for the first time.
“One gots blue hair, another pink…an’ then I’ve got a couple of em’ withs rainbow colored hair - an’ a big one that I sleeps with sometimes - only sometimes cause I like to sleeps with my care bears more.”
“Neat!” all four girls replied excitedly. “Will you show them to us sometime? And maybe play with us sometime too?” Aubrey asked hopefully. Dakota smiled shyly and she looked up at Ashley. Ashley smiled down at her in return and gave her a reassuring look. Dakota looked back at the girls.
“Can my friends Ellie and Spencer plays too?”
“Do they like trolls?”
“I know Ellie does, I don’ts know ‘bout Spencer but I could ask him.”
“Okay,” Aubrey replied.
“But anyway, Ashee an’ I were wonderin’ if you wanted to come an plays telephone with us. Right over there under that tree,” Dakota brought up and she turned and pointed to the tree where Elliot, Elenore, Holly, and Spencer waited. They seemed to be playing a practice run of Telephone while they wait.
“Okay,” Jessica replied. “But I have never played that game before. I don’t know how.”
“Me neither,” the other girls replied in unison.
“That’s okay I’ve never played it before either. Elliot will show us how though.” Dakota replied. All four girls stood up as did Ashley who still held Dakota. She kissed her cheek and set her down on the ground and she followed her new found friends over to the tree. Ashley smiled in satisfaction and followed. She figures they’ve found enough kids for now. Maybe more kids will notice how much fun they’re having and decide to join them.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile over at the sandbox, Tyke was now awake and was just walking around the playground sniffing things but he made sure to stay near by Brian. He is for one in a new place, and two he can sense Brian’s uneasiness. As Brian lay in the sand on his side with his head rested in his hand he sat and watched Tyke closely. He watched him for awhile until suddenly he noticed Josh walk up to him. He raised his eyebrow as he noticed the six year old crouch down in front of Tyke and pet him.
“Hey Tyke…” He greeted him gently. He had watched all of the kids play with him earlier when they were stuck in the cafeteria, so he heard Brian tell them his name. Tyke sniffed at the new person for a moment, than reached up and licked Josh’s cheek slightly. Josh giggled a little as it tickled and he sat down in the grass and continued petting him. So he likes dogs huh? The kid isn’t so tough after all. Brian thought, as he watched Josh in amusement. He sat there just watching him for a few moments, then he got up and walked over to him.
“He really likes you…” Brian announced, causing Josh to flinch a little and look up at Brian worriedly. He didn’t know he was being watched.
“I…um…I’m sorry I just-”
“No, no it’s okay I’m not mad. You can play with him,” Brian reassured gently, as he is now a little concerned by how intimidated Josh seems. He’s never seen that side to him before. “Like I said, he really likes you. It’s not every day that he gets to play with kids - unless Kota comes over which is rare these days.”
“Does Kota like Tyke?” Josh asked softly as he resumed petting Tyke. Brian grinned a little and sat next to him.
“Oh yes…she’s crazy over Tyke. He’s been around since she was just a little baby.”
“I’ve always wanted a puppy…but my father wouldn’t ever let me have one.”
“Why not?? Every kid needs a puppy! They make great friends while growing up. Just ask Kota.”
“I don’t know…guess he never really liked animals. But then he never really liked anything so it‘s not like it mattered or anything.” Josh answered, and Brian noticed he suddenly looked very sad. Brian sat watching him in silence for a few moments. Why’d his parents give him up? I need to remember to look at his files later… He thought to himself.
“What kind of dogs do you like Josh?”
“Well I love all dogs a LOT… but if I had to choose I would pick a Golden Retriever…”
“Those dogs are fun. Especially if you’re a kid and you start out with a puppy because then you and the puppy could grow up together.” Josh nodded and he looked down at Tyke who was chewing at one of his toys that Brian had taken out of his bag and placed in the grass for him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After Nick, Riley, and Kevin finished their meeting with Dr. Huang they turned to look at Ashley, Detective Stabler, and the kids to find pretty much half the kids on the playground sitting in a circle playing telephone with Ashley and Detective Stabler - both Dakota AND Spencer sitting in Ashley's lap. Riley laughed.
“Told you she’d take over if given the chance…”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
