Chapter Three-Hundred-Eighty-One
When Nick and Ashley finished their conversation and were both on the same page again, the two of them walked downstairs hand in hand only to discover Brian explaining the penalty for Harboring a Fugitive to a young Batman, who stood before him unashamed for what he had done. Angel stood behind him ready to grab him if he should run, and Q and Laney stood guard as well. Nick stopped to listen, curious on how Brian will handle the situation causing Ashley to stop and listen as well.
“As Detective Stabler explained to you awhile back, young Batman, Harboring a Fugitive is a crime,” Brian began his speech sounding very much like a judge at the moment. “Although your intentions were good, and no doubt very adorable…such crimes are not to go unpunished.”
“You can’t arrest Batman, who would be around to fight crime and keep this Orphanage safe?” Josh argued suddenly.
“I think we’ll manage for awhile,” Q insisted amusedly. “For now you can leave that up to the very talented security team we have around here.”
“In the real world Joshua Lee, such a crime would land the wrong doer right in prison for three years,” Brian continued on with his lecture. “So I think what I’m about to do is very much fair. Batman, I hear by sentence you to three weeks of house arrest.”
“THAT is not fair!”
“Argue with me,” Brian went on calmly as if there was no interruption. “And I will just keep adding on to the weeks with each argument made. There will be no television, no going outside to play, no coming here to work with me everyday, no nothing. You will sit in our house for three weeks and face your punishment.”
“Who is going to watch me?” Josh wanted to know, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his eyebrow at his father. He can’t very well leave him home alone and him and Riley have to be here every day. So, there is no way that this punishment can work.
“Your Grandmother will be here for another week, she can watch you until then,” Brian pointed out and Josh scowled. “Then when she goes home, maybe Angel will be willing to baby-sit for me?” He added while looking over at the twin who has always adored him. Angel raised her eyebrow and gave him an ‘excuse me?’ kind of look. “I would pay you for it of course,” Brian quickly added.
“How much?” Angel asked, considering his offer. She wouldn’t mind the extra money…and the opportunity to spend a day in Brian’s house. She could easily go there anyway with her brother and all, but now at least she has an excuse.
“Five bucks an hour sound okay to you? A regular shift for me is 9 in the morning to 10 at night. I’ll come home at twelve with lunch and I’ll eat with you guys and see how things are going…that’s twenty bucks right there and then I’ll be gone again at 1 o’ clock. That’s another 50 bucks right there. So you would be making 70 bucks all together.” Angel gaped at him.
“Seriously? 70 bucks a day for three weeks?”
“By the end of three weeks you’ll be holding $1470.00,” Brian confirmed and Q whistled.
“I would take the offer Sis, that’s a really good deal” Nick spoke up from a few feet away causing all of them to turn their heads and look at him. Angel looked at Brian then and nodded.
“Okay I’ll do it.” Brian grinned and he looked at Josh.
“There you go son, it’s settled.” Josh crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at him. “What about bedtime? What about Ellie and me?”
“Bedtime is a different story,” Brian answered after thinking about it for a moment. “I understand that you and Ellie need each other…and to avoid conflict I don’t think that should change,” he added while looking over at his cousin for confirmation.
“I will bring her over to your house in her pajamas right at bedtime,” Kevin spoke up. “Bedtime is bedtime, they won’t have anytime to play, they’ll just go right to bed and sleep. And maybe one of us can sit in there with them and make sure that sleep is what they do.”
“Yes and first thing in the morning we can wake her up and you can take her out of the house before Josh wakes up. That way they wont have anytime to play.”
“I think they need to see each other at least,” Jerald spoke up. He had been standing next to his brother silently listening in amusement. “In the morning so they don’t feel like we’ve tricked them again and took her away in the middle of the night…and so they know that everything is okay. Security blanket Brian…you can’t take away a security blanket without expecting a huge reaction. And with these kids it gets pretty huge.”
“Fine, we’ll wake them both up then for breakfast. I just don’t want them playing with each other, it’s supposed to be a punishment.”
“Maybe the punishment can start right at nine o’ clock when you leave. He’ll still be stuck in his house without Ellie to play with for the rest of the day anyway, what’s it going to hurt if he eats breakfast with her every morning? Its not like they’re gonna have time to go off to his room and play or anything.”
“And they just wont be allowed to bring toys to the table that way they cant even play at the table either, they will just sit there and eat – and carry on a conversation with the grownups. That’s it” Kevin added.
“Fine,” Brian replied. “But other then bedtime and breakfast, no friends allowed.”
“When is this punishment starting?” Josh asked moodily.
“Tonight when we get home from the Orphanage. But you’re still not allowed to run off and play. Since Sarah is going home, you can go sit in her chair in Riley’s office.” Josh turned and stalked off toward Riley’s office while grumbling quietly under his breath as he went and Brian shook his head and went after him making sure he doesn’t act rudely toward anyone who might be in there looking to adopt. Nick kissed Ashley’s cheek softly then.
“I’ll go get Sarah, you go pack up Bella’s things and meet me back here okay? I really need to get home and deal with Dakota.”
“Mhm,” Ashley agreed and then walked off toward the playroom while Nick went after Brian and Josh. Soon enough Ashley had everything that belongs to her packed up and she met up with Nick in the lobby where he stood holding Sarah who has her arms wrapped around his neck, her head rested upon his shoulder, and she is half asleep. They said goodbye to everyone, Ashley wished Kevin good luck with Ellie and implied that maybe he shouldn’t be too hard on her this time around, and then she followed Nick out to the car.
~*~*~*~*~
“Come on Ellie, please let me take you down there” Aaron pleaded after awhile. “It’s very cold up here. I really ought to go down there and ask Brooke to warm the place up a little bit.” Elenore rolled her eyes.
“You are more then welcome to go do that’s but I’m stayin’ here.”
“You’ll freeze to death.”
“So bring me a blanket.”
“Kevin will kill me if I go down there and I don’t have you.”
“Well, that’s your problem for making promises that you can’t keep, aint it?” Elenore asked softly as she moved over to a corner, crawled into it, and she lay down before hugging her legs to her chest.
“This is getting ridiculous. I’m the teenager and you are the kid. If it comes down to it, I’ll just come over there and get you and I’ll drag you down there to Kevin.”
“No you won’t,” Elenore told him in a bored tone and she rolled her eyes. “You can’t even catches me.” Aaron sighed.
“What do you want kid? Will five bucks get you to give in?”
“I want my daddy to come gets me himself.”
“He can’t even fit up here.”
“He will tries if he really loves me an’ wants me back.”
“Ellie,” Aaron sighed. “You know he loves you, why do you have to put him through this test?”
“No I don’ts.” Aaron looked over at her and he noticed her eyes filling up with tears. “If he really loves me he’ll come an’ gets me himself instead of sending everybody else after me. He won’ts make Q watches me anymore when its supposeds to be his job an’ he won’ts fire people that’s I love just because I was bad.”
“You saw him fire Q?”
“Course I did,” Elenore answered while pushing herself more into her corner and she let out a sniffle. “We were in the vent above the lobby when it happened.”
“He didn’t fire him for long sweetie, he went and apologized. Its all okay now.”
“Doesn’t matter, he still did’s it. I’m nots going down there unless he comes an’ gets me. An’ if he never does…well then I guess I hafta stay up here forever.” Aaron gazed at her in silence for a few moments and then he sighed and turned and crawled toward the nearest air vent. Once he got to one, he opened it and realized that it was the air vent to the playroom. He hopped out of it and onto the puzzle shelf while feeling thankful that there were no kids in the room to see his bad example, and he headed off to find Kevin and deliver Ellie’s message. When he walked out in the lobby, he found Kevin standing there, his feet rooted where he stood in the middle of the lobby and he was waiting. He caught sight of Aaron and he raised his eyebrow.
“Where is my daughter?” He demanded and Aaron gulped.
“…She…refused to come down.”
“They all refused to come down, but Ashley and Angel still managed. She’s five – couldn’t you just grab her?”
“She’s a fast five year old” Aaron pointed out. “She put up a really good chase…and anyway, the reason she refuses to let me bring her down is because she wants you to go get her yourself.”
“But I can’t fit up there. Didn’t you tell her that I can’t fit up there?”
“She doesn’t care. She says if you love her you’ll try.”
“That’s bul—“
“--Kevin, stop” Aaron ordered firmly, and Kevin raised his eyebrow. “She might be listening to everything we’re saying right now,” he continued. “She saw you fire Q and needless to say she is very hurt and upset about it.”
“Well good, then if she’s listening she’ll hear this. ELLIE come down here this instant young lady!”
“Kevin calm down,” Jerald jumped in.
“Yes please because that’s not helping,” Aaron added.
“I don’t care. I want to talk to my daughter. I need her down here right now.”
“Well the only way you are going to talk to her is if you go up there and get her yourself because she refuses to let anyone else bring her down, and she’s even threatened to stay up there forever.”
“I—“
“-She’s practically in tears. She’s confused on whether or not you love her and she really needs that reassurance right now. And I think she deserves it.”
“Daddy Sean woulds TRY,” they suddenly heard her voice from the vent across the room. Kevin felt a huge tug at his heart at those words and he glanced around at Aaron, his brother, and Brian and they were all looking at him with ‘are you going to take that, or prove her wrong?’ looks.
“Oh yeah he would try all right,” He replied. “He would go up there, get you, bring you back down and beat you senseless,” he pointed out.
“Buts at least he would try,” Elenore replied softly and he heard the crack in her voice as she tried real hard not to cry.
“Kevin,” Jerald spoke up and Kevin looked at him. Jerald grabbed him by the arm and he gently pulled him near and he spoke quietly so only Aaron and Brian would be able to hear what he says. “Go to your daughter.”
“But I—“
“—Right now. Do you love her or not?”
“Of course I do.”
“Really? Cause just earlier you said to Ashley that you don’t even know what love is. I bet you don’t. I bet you hate that little girl up there and she should just go right back to where she came from. I bet you don’t even deserve her.”
“I do so deserve her!” Kevin snapped loudly for all to hear. Jerald stepped back then to hear what he has to say. “I love that little girl with every ounce of my heart and the difference between me and Sean is that I can’t stand to live without her!”
“Oh yeah?” Jerald asked making sure his brother could hear his doubt so it would egg him on even more.
“Yeah! She is the most important thing in my life and I love her. I want her in my life more then anything and I’m not going to let someone like Sean take her away from me - ever!”
“Then what are you waiting for little brother? Go get her!”
“Yeah cuz, go prove it to her” Brian added, amused at the fact that reverse psychology doesn't work on his niece, but it will work nicely on his cousin.
“How?” Kevin asked looking completely stressed. Like he desperately wants to prove his love for his daughter but he just doesn’t know where to start.
“If you love her as much as you say you do you’ll figure it out all by yourself,” Jerald insisted. “There should be nothing that keeps you from getting to her. So you show us Kevin.”
~*~*~*~*~
“Should I call Alex and tell him he can bring Bells home now?” Ashley questioned as Nick pulled into the driveway.
“You should probably call him anyway to let him know where we’re at but I don’t want the baby home just yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because she doesn’t need to be here right now,” was all Nick said as he glanced back at Dakota in the rearview mirror. When the car was parked, Nick shut it off and then opened the door and got out. He opened up the door to Dakota’s side then and unbuckled her seatbelt before gently gathering her into his arms. Ashley did the same with Sarah and while Marcus went in ahead of them to check on the house, she got on the phone and called AJ. By the time she finished talking to him and hung up the phone Marcus came back out.
“It’s safe,” he informed and Nick carried Dakota in the house and Ashley followed. When they were in with the door shut, he sat Dakota down so her feet were on the ground and she stood at the foot of the stairs. She crossed her arms o ver her chest and looked up at him.
“Go to your room. I will be up there shortly.”
“No! I don’ts want to!”
“I wouldn’t argue with me right now little girl, if you can’t already tell I am not in the mood.”
“NO.”
“Do you want me to start taking privileges away? I know you’ve been looking forward to your part in the play young lady but if you can’t behave…”
“NO! DADDY NO!!!” Dakota shrieked suddenly, and she dropped to her knees on the floor as she broke down into hysterical sobs. “Daddy please don’t, please…Ashee tells him! Please don’ts let him, please!”
“I can’t honey, I have no real say in what he does…I’m sorry.”
“Daddy don’ts take my part away from me, please!” Dakota wailed, suddenly flinging herself at his feet and latching onto him and she cried as if the whole world was being taken away from her. She has worked on her part much too hard and put all of her dedication and focus into it for him to just take it away from her now. Ashley turned and walked out of the room with Sarah as her heart is breaking into pieces having to watch this. She called it. She knew that would be the first thing he would take from her, but she didn’t want to be right.
“Then I suggest you get upstairs right now and wait for me otherwise its gone,” Nick finally replied. Dakota stopped crying abruptly at his words and she looked up at him sniffling for a moment, before getting to her feet and going straight upstairs. The next thing they heard was her door slamming shut and Nick flinched slightly, closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples briefly, and then he turned and walked through the hall, rounded the corner, and found that Ashley had sat Sarah on the counter. She was in the process of cleaning up after their two days of complete bliss. Nick slid his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her neck softly.
“Why don’t you go sit on the couch and after I deal with Kota I’ll do this? And then start thinking about dinner.”
“No, I really need to busy myself right now.”
“I’m sorry honey, I know its never easy on you when I have to be tough with Kota.”
“Just…do me a favor Nicky, okay?”
“Anything baby.”
“I know she’s your daughter and I have no real say in what you do with her, but I just want you to think very strongly about something okay? She’s put her whole heart and soul into her part as Belle in the play. I’ve only known her for four months but in that short time I’ve never seen her work this hard for anything. It means the whole world to her…just remember that okay?”
“I’m not taking it away from her I promise,” Nick insisted gently and he turned her around to face him and brushed his lips lightly over hers. “Okay? I just needed to get her upstairs somehow…I know it would kill my whole relationship with her if I even dared to take that away from her. Beauty and The Beast has been her story since before she could talk…and as her daddy I’ve been looking forward to seeing her onstage myself in that beautiful gown of hers.”
“Kay…thank you.”
“Does that make you feel better?” Ashley nodded quietly and he planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be down in a little bit. When I’m all done with Dakota and all of the stress is done and over with why don’t you tell AJ to bring Bella home and ask him if he wants to stay for dinner?"
“Really? You want to invite Alex here after he’s been such a pain in the butt lately?” Ashley asked slightly amused.
“Yeah well, I’ll deal with it. And anyway, I think he’s doing a little better now that Jaime scared him shitless earlier and after you made him finally see that he is going through the same stuff he is putting me through.” Ashley smiled up at him some causing Nick to grin back.
“I love you,” She reminded him and he leaned forward and claimed her lips for his own one last time, before pulling away and going on upstairs after making sure Marcus was around.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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