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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Three-Hundred-Nineteen



“So what was with the water war anyway?” Nick asked Angel and Stacy as he and Ashley stand in the lobby with the four teenagers.


“Stace sat and listened to my rant about Aaron,” Angel began explaining. “And then suddenly she decided that we had to do something about his idiocy. So we conspired against him and formed an army of children armed with super soakers.”


“Which would explain the real reason why you were being all sweet and crap when you came upstairs and found me.”


“We couldn’t leave him fully helpless though,” Stacy spoke up. “So we left water balloons lying around for him to find.”


“Well I could’ve left him helpless just fine” Angel insisted. “But since Stacy is his girlfriend and all she insisted we had to leave him something.”


“We didn’t anticipate on the sprinklers coming on though,” Stacy replied. “That was a surprise.” Conner smirked.


“That was my doing. I had to make it a fair fight somehow. Two against all of you just wasn’t right.”


“Traitor,” Angel accused and Conner chuckled and slid his arms around her waist as he backed her up against the wall.


“But you love me anyway,” he accused right back before claiming her lips for his own.



~*~*~*~*~



“What do you want to talk to me about Elliot?” Sarah spoke up after awhile as the four of them (Brooke stayed in her office incase she was needed) sipped on hot chocolate and ate cookies. Brooke had known Sarah would insist upon having Elenore as she as the head mistress of the orphanage knows everything, so she had a cup of hot chocolate ready for her and everything. Detective Stabler thought about his answer carefully for a couple of moments. When he thought about how he is going to go about it, he spoke up.


“Well, Santa Claus left me a note on my tree on Christmas morning and it had something to do with you,” he told her mysteriously. Both girls gaped at him in astonishment.


Me?” Sarah asked in surprise. “Really?”


“Really” Detective Stabler answered, still keeping the mystery in his voice.


“Well, what’d it say?” Elenore questioned eagerly and she squeezed her friend’s hand gently in her excitement.


“He told me about your request that you left him” Detective Stabler told Sarah, knowing this is about to turn from a fun conversation to a serious one very quickly here but he doesn’t see any other way to deliver the news.


“My request?” Sarah asked softly and she looked up into the Detective’s eyes searchingly and found all of the answers she needed in them. She squeezed Elenore’s hand back, but it wasn’t a gesture out of excitement.


“Yeah, your request…do you know which request I am talking about Sarah?” Sarah nodded quietly and looked down at her hands as she fought to keep her tears at bay.


“Can you help me Elliot?” she whispered so quietly it’s amazing he even heard her at all.


“That’s what I’ve been asked to do, the question is…will you let me?” Detective Stabler asked and he reached out and gently lifted her chin so she is looking him in the eyes and he stared back at her with patience and kindness. Sarah nodded quietly.


“The only way I can help you is if you open up to us sweetheart.”


“Us?” Sarah whispered.


“Me and Nick,” Detective Stabler explained gently.


“Kay…” Sarah spoke softly as she hugged her legs to her chest.


“That means you would have to talk about what happened,” Detective Stabler clarified when he had a feeling she didn’t understand. Sarah looked over at Brooke, the only other human being in the whole world besides the cops who were involved in the past, and her own mother who knows what happened.


“I don’t want to…” Sarah insisted and her eyes watered up. She can’t keep her tears back anymore.


“Sweetheart the only way I can help you is if we know what’s going on,” Detective Stabler pressed gently. “I can’t investigate unless I have clues to go by, that’s just the way it goes.”


“NO!!” Sarah sobbed. “I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!”


“Sarah sweetie…I know the past hurts you but I think it’s time you let it all out, it’s the only way things are going to get better” Brooke tried as a single tear rolled down her own cheek at the memory of the terrible incident. The memory of how torn up Sarah was and how long it took for her to go about her days like a regular person again. To respond to people again. She eventually got better, but not really. She wouldn’t talk about it at all to anybody, Brooke made a promise to her that she wouldn’t tell anybody about it either – that it would be their secret and that was that. But Brooke has a feeling that by keeping that secret she’s never really had the chance to actually deal with it. Which is why she keeps having nightmares and why she still can’t talk about it to this day. Sarah shook her head and buried her face in her lap.


“Sarah please…” Elenore spoke up softly and she reached out and gently touched her hand to her friend’s shoulder. “Don’ts you want to find the guy who did it?” she asked, remembering Sarah confiding in her that she did – very badly.


“NO!” Sarah cried. “I want my daddy!” She turned toward the door then. “DADDY! DADDY I WANT YOU!” Suddenly the door opened and Nick rushed in.


“What is it baby? What’s going on?” He asked worriedly and he rushed on over and sat next to her before gathering her into his arms. She threw her arms about him, buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed and he rubbed his hand over her back. He looked over at Detective Stabler for answers.


“I told her I knew her secret, she asked me for help, but right when I told her she would need to talk to us about things she shut down on me” he explained, summing the story up in a nutshell. Nick kissed Sarah’s forehead softly as Ashley crawled onto the couch beside him after handing the baby to Angel and she too wrapped her arms around Sarah and hugged her. Dakota crawled up into Ashley’s lap wanting in on the hug also. After a long while when they had Sarah calm somewhat Nick placed his forefinger and thumb to her chin and gently tilted it up so she is looking up at him and she sniffled.


“Baby we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on,” he told her gently. “Though I wish I could I’m not a mind reader. I can’t look at you and just know what is going on but I’m sure all mommies and daddies would love that magic power a lot of the time.” Sarah rested her head against his shoulder as endless tears pooled down her cheeks.


“I really want to know what has you so upset sweetheart. I really want to make the nightmares stop. I want to make your pain go away. But you have to help me out just a little bit here. Please…please tell me what’s bothering you.” Dakota reached out and gently took her sister’s hand causing Sarah to look over at her.


“Please Sarah…you told me an’ Ellie why not tell daddy? He makes everything better I promise” Dakota insisted gently. “An’ I don’ts like it when you struggle in your sleep it makes me sad.”


“It hurts too much…” Sarah sniffled and she snuggled into Nick.


“Which is why you need to talk to me about it sweetie. It’s not good to keep these things inside. The best way to make your pain go away is to confront it. Day by day and I have a feeling you haven’t been doing so at all” Nick replied while looking over at Brooke for confirmation and Brooke shook her head in reply. Nick gently shifted so he is sitting with one leg over the other and he gently lay Sarah back in his lap with his hands behind her head for support so she is looking up at him. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before gazing into her watery eyes. “Please baby you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to talk to me” he continued to plead. Sarah lay there looking up at him for a long while and then she spoke softly.


“My biological daddy was murdered when I was five…” she told him softly and her voice cracked, as she wants so badly to cry. “He didn’t do anything wrong…I tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t listen to me. He didn’t do anything wrong…they just took my daddy from me an’ I never saw him again.”


“Who?” Nick wanted to know as he looked at Brooke and noticed her back was turned now and he can tell she is trying so hard not to cry herself.


“The police…” Sarah sobbed. “They…th-the-y…” she couldn’t finish the sentence. She sat up in Nick’s lap threw her arms about him and she continued to cry with all she has in her. Nick looked at Brooke again.


“Brooke?” he asked softly and she turned and looked at him and saw the question in his eyes and she nodded quietly as she let her tears fall freely.


“Oh man…” he replied not believing Sarah could suffer so much. “Oh baby I’m so sorry…” he told her while tightening his arms around her for a hug. He rubbed his hand over her back and just let her cry it all out. A tear rolled down his own cheek and he can just feel his heart shattering to pieces for this precious little girl. He can’t imagine Dakota losing him to such a thing.


“Why did they take him Sarah?” Detective Stabler questioned after awhile when she began to calm down somewhat to Nick’s comfort. When Sarah didn’t answer he looked at Brooke and Brooke looked at Sarah.


“Is it okay if I tell him sweetie?” Sarah nodded into Nick’s chest and Brooke looked back at Doctor Johnson.


“I don’t know the whole story…they just told me enough because everybody is supposed to tell me why a child is being sent here,” Brooke began as she rubbed a hand at her eyes. “But I do know that he was accused of murdering another man. They say he shot someone…all evidence pointed to him they couldn’t prove otherwise and the man who accused him had a very strong alibi so that was that…”


“He didn’t do it” Sarah insisted firmly and she turned to look at them all as tear tracks remained on her face but she now looks very serious. “He wasn’t like that, he was a good man. He wouldn’t hurt anybody.”


“I believe you baby,” Nick told her gently and he hugged her close to him and kissed her forehead softly. “All I have to do is look at you and how you turned out and I know the man is innocent.”


“My biological daddy died for something he didn’t do an’ I want him avenged,” Sarah insisted. She looked back at Detective Stabler. “I want him locked up for life. I don’t want him to be murdered like my daddy – he wouldn’t want that. It would be just fine if he were locked up.”


“I’ll try my very hardest to find him Sarah, I promise.” He looked at Brooke then. “What happened to her mother?”


“Lord knows…” Brooke replied softly. “She took off shortly after her husband was taken and left Sarah at home all by herself. When she didn’t come back Sarah dialed 911 and she was sent here.”


“And she was never found?”


“Not that I know of.”


“What was your biological father’s name Sarah?” he asked, turning his attention back on the little girl.


“Dennis Moore.”


“And your mother?”


“April...”


“Okay well then I’m going to go back to the station and see I can find your father’s case and have it reopened. If there is any other information I need to know then tell Nick and he will pass it onto me okay?”


“Kay…” Sarah replied softly and Detective Stabler got up and left the room. Sarah looked up at Nick and Nick slid his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.


“I love you Sarah.”


“I love you too daddy…” she told him while nestling into him. “What if they find April an’ she wants me back?” she asked worriedly.


“Well she can’t have you back she lost her parental rights a long time ago and I have papers that say you’re mine. You have nothing to worry about baby.”


“I’ll just tell her I have a new mommy – Ashee,” Sarah insisted. Nick couldn’t help but chuckle a little and exchange amused looks with Ashley and he kissed the top of her head. Suddenly his cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out and when he glanced at his caller ID it read Kevin on it. Flipping his phone open he placed it to his ear.


“What’s up Kev?”


“We’re ready now, you can bring the kiddies.”


“Are Brian, Josh, Riley, and Chris all back?”


“Yup. We’re all waiting on you now.”


“Okay we’ll be there soon. We got hung up here with Detective Stabler.”


“Is everything okay?”


“We have it all under control.”


“That’s not what I asked though,” Kevin replied. “Is everything okay?” he asked again with genuine concern.


“Well I have a six year old with a broken heart…but other then that everything is okay.”


“Are you going to explain it to us when you get here?”


“Mhm.”


“Okay I will let you get here then. See you later Nicky.”


“See ya” Nick replied and he hung up and looked at Ashley.


“Stay here with the kids and I will run upstairs and get their shoes and Bella’s diaper bag and such.”


“Okay – she’ll need her playpen, stroller, and possibly her swing. Those are must haves wherever we go.”


“I know baby” Nick told her, slightly amused at how motherly she already sounds and he leaned forward and kissed her cheek before standing up.


“Aaron come help me,” he told him before walking out of the room. Aaron stared after him with what the hell kind of looks.


“Aaron, now!” they heard him shout while already standing outside the elevator.


“Why me when Conner is standing there too?” Aaron complained while walking out of Brooke’s office after his brother.


“Because one, you are my brother and two I assume he should go wake Rosalie up from her nap if he is coming.”


“Where are we going Ashee?” Elenore wanted to know.


“For us grownups to know and you kiddies to find out. Now come on we have a couple of other kids to fetch” she told them mysteriously and she stood up with Sarah rested on one hip and Dakota on the other. She took hold of Elenore’s hand and led them to the playroom while Angel trailed close behind her with Bella. By the time Nick and Aaron were downstairs with shoes and baby things, Ashley was standing in the lobby with Conner – who indeed went upstairs and got Rosalie, Angel, Stacy, Dakota, Sarah, Elenore, and Gabe, Holly, and Spencer (Who was in the hospital wing spending time with Scott).


“Are you coming Brooke?” Nick wanted to know. “I’m sure AJ would kill me if I arrived without you.”


“Yeah for one I have to – you’re taking a couple of my kids along with you, and two my brother and sister are there too.”


“Well okay then, lets go” He replied cheerily and he led the kids out to the van that Ann let him borrow for this occasion. He piled all of the kids and stuff inside it and then they all took off to their destination. When they got there they found that they were at Brian’s house.


“This is it? This is the surprise?” Elenore asked incredulously. “But we’re here all the time.”


“Hey don’t judge until you get inside” Nick chuckled. When he pulled into Brian’s yard they all got out, let the kids out and they all ran inside anxious to see what’s going on.


“KEVY!!!!” Elenore shrieked happily upon seeing her father. She ran to him and Kevin chuckled and held his arms open just on time for her to go flying into them.


‘Hi baby, did you have fun? Wait a minute. These aren’t the clothes I put you in. Why are you in different clothes?” Elenore giggled some.


“Angel, Stacy, Aaron, an’ Conner all let us have a water fight on the playground an’ then Nicky gave me a bath.”


“Ohhh I see,” he replied, and Elenore looked around eagerly and noticed Brian cooking hot dogs and hamburgers on a grill out in the backyard.


“What’s going on? What’s the surprise?” she asked anxiously.


“We thought we would have a little barbeque tonight – give you kids a little break from Orphanage food. As for you and the kiddies, we set all of yours, Josh, and Chris’s big toys that you got for Christmas up around the beach for you to play in and we’re going to have a bonfire with s’mores.” Elenore gaped at him in surprise and he chuckled.


“YAY!!!” She cheered, and she slid down from Kevin’s arms and ran on out to the backyard where the rest of the kids had gone and discovered everything for themselves. She ran through the backyard, climbed over the wall to the beach where she found Jerald, Drew, and Raul keeping watch on the kids making sure none of them go near the water. Not that any of them would want to seeing as how it’s ice cold. But as she got closer, she noticed a man out there that she’s never seen before and all of her friends are gathered around him. He is dressed funny and he seems to be making everybody laughed. Elenore looked closer, and her face broke into an even bigger grin as she realized he is a balloon man and he is making crazy balloons for all of the kids – it was then that she realized, Jerald and the two security guards are wearing silly balloon hats. Elenore ran on over to him and joined in with her friends in making requests.