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Chapter Four-Hundred-Two



Meanwhile in Jersey, everybody had gone off to do their own thing after deciding that Wiley and Kori would be taking them all out later for a bit of small town fun. Ashley looked down at Bella in her arms who was still very content in staying close to her mommy. She lifted the three-month-old up so that she was standing on her legs again and smiled at her some causing the baby to smile back happily and gurgle.


“Would Baby Bells like to see what mommy bought her today? Huh?” she asked while leaning forward and kissing her cheek affectionately and Bella cooed in response. “Yeah? Mommy bought you lots of new things, I know you’re going to like them” she told her before getting up with her and taking her upstairs. Nick chuckled as he watched his girlfriend walk up the stairs while carrying on an entire conversation with a baby. When she disappeared in their room Nick got to his feet as well and looked to see what his girls were up to. When he saw that they were content in playing with Spencer, he went upstairs after Ashley. When he walked in their room he found her sitting on the bed showing Bella the clothes she’d gotten her and Bella making appreciative sounds and talking back as if she were telling Ashley just exactly how much she loves them all.


“Aw…those dresses are adorable” Nick insisted when he got a good look at them. “Put them on her please? I want to see.” He encouraged and Ashley smiled at him some.


“All right but we’re just going to try them on for now. I don’t want her dirtying them up because I want to dress her up all cute for tonight,” she insisted and she began to undress Bella and put her new clothes on her. When she finished with the first dress, she put the white headband that was adorned with a pink bow on her and held her up for Nick to see as he sat on the bed behind her with his arms wrapped around her and his chin on her shoulder. Nick instantly melted at the sight of her.


“Aww…aren’t you just the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen,” he told her. Ashley sat there smiling as he made such a huge fuss over Bella and her cuteness for a couple of moments, and then when Ashley finished modeling her, she left her in her diaper before getting up. She grabbed some of her own clothes, and headed into the bathroom where she could take a shower with her. She would rather avoid the complications that bath time brings. She would rather have a calm shower with her, simply because Bella doesn’t scream her little head off during showers with mommy or ‘daddy’ as opposed to baths. Nick followed her in there and sat on the counter so he would be there to take Bella from her when needed.


“So…how was today?” he asked conversationally. Now that they’re alone, he wants to give her the chance to vent to him if needed. He doesn’t want her holding anything in, just so there can be an outburst about it later.


“Good for the most part…” Ashley answered as she worked on washing Bella’s hair with her special No More Tears baby shampoo. “I liked the time I got to spend with my sister.”


“But?” Nick asked after a long pause. He could sense that there was a but.


“But it was a little hard toward the end…that’s when I started missing you the most.”


“What happened baby?” Nick asked gently.


“We just butted heads a little bit is all. I voiced how I felt and she got a little snippy with me. I was just voicing how I felt. I hate it when she treats me like a baby…its just a lot easier when you’re around because you’re my best friend and you get me. I never have to explain or defend myself.”


“What were you voicing your opinion about?” Nick asked, trying to understand her vague responses.


“We were talking about my education. Apparently Momma Denise called up some people about home schooling me.”


“Well that’s a good thing sweetie you need your high school education.”


“Yes but she didn’t bother explaining to me until after I got upset that Denise was just getting the information and was planning on presenting it all to me when I got back and asking me if its something I might want to do.”


“Ohhh…” Nick replied, instantly understanding what happened now as he knows how Ashley’s mind works. “So you thought she was making decisions for you and got upset because you want to be treated like you’re old enough to be apart of the decision making right?”


“Yeah and she went into this whole speech on just because I’m eighteen now and old enough to legally have sex with you that doesn’t mean I’m an adult just yet. I’m still a teenager who has to do what my mom says and I tried to explain that it doesn’t mean I’m not capable of making some of the decisions. I mean I’ve made some pretty stupid life threatening ones in the past, but I think I’ve grown up a lot since then and can handle it now. She got all snippy with me.”


“She’s your older sister sweetheart I’m sure it’s just a habit to be a little pushy. Speaking as an older brother myself, it’s sometimes something that we don’t even think about. We just want what’s best for our younger siblings.”


“I know that finishing high school is very important and I want to more then anything, but I don’t want to be treated like I’m not capable of making some of the decisions when it comes to me.”


“I know honey…if she continues to be pushy let me know all right? And I’ll try to reason with her from one older sibling to another.”


“Kay,” Ashley replied softly and a few seconds later, she opened the curtain slightly and held Bella out toward him.


“Here, take her so I can work on washing myself up now, kay?”


“One second,” Nick insisted and then grabbed Bella’s towel and held it open. Ashley gently placed Bella against it, and he wrapped it around her before gently taking her. “Oh! You smell so good,” he told her while sniffing at her hair and smelling the baby shampoo. He leaned forward toward a smiling Ashley who still had her head poked out from the shower and he gave her a brief but meaningful kiss before turning around.


“Come on Her Royal Cuteness, let’s go get you dressed.” Bella squealed happily and Nick chuckled.


“I know, its such a fun-fest getting you dressed aint it? You have so many adorable outfits you should have your own closet” he told her amusedly. “I’m sure at the rate mommy is going, you’ll need three closets by the time you’re four!”


“You shush, mister” Ashley called after him from the bathroom and Nick smirked.



~*~*~*~*~



“Steve, I think you’ve got it. No tornado is strong enough to bust through this wood at the rate you’re going” Annabelle insisted gently as she stood in the basement watching him.


“You can never be too careful Anna – if a tornado comes tonight I want—“


“Baby listen to me,” Annabelle insisted gently and she grabbed the hammer away from him and tossed it to the side before whirling him around to face her and cupping his face in her hands. She stared into his tortured eyes sincerely. “There isn’t going to be a tornado tonight. I promise you. Every day thunderstorms happen in Oklahoma too, it doesn’t always have to be a disaster.”


“You can’t know that.”


“Brandon tells me it storms a lot here these days honey. He even likes to sit on the front porch and listen to it while he writes.” When Doctor Johnson didn’t argue, Annabelle slid her arms around his neck as he wrapped his own around her waist protectively.


“Come upstairs with me honey. Brandon has given me permission to make dinner tonight because he wants to spend sometime with Peyton. I thought maybe you, Julie, and I could do that together.”


“I can’t cook to save my life, remember?” he asked softly, his eyes still on the hammer.


“I’ll teach you,” Annabelle insisted while grabbing the hammer and putting it completely out of his sight. “Please baby? This is supposed to be a vacation. There is no worrying allowed – not if I have anything to say about it and I can be a pretty good distraction when I want to be.” Doctor Johnson rested his forehead against hers.


“I’m sorry I worry a lot. How you put up with me I don’t know,” He told her quietly.


“If you haven’t noticed,” Annabelle began while playing with a strand of his hair at the back of his neck. “I love you. That’s what you do for people you love.”


“I love you too,” Doctor Johnson insisted. “I lost my sister and my parents Annabelle…and I’ve been living with it ever since. If I lost you and Julie too…it would destroy me.”


“We aren’t going anywhere. Its going to take more then Mother Nature to tear me from these arms I promise you that.” When Doctor Johnson tightened his arms around her, she rested her head against his shoulder comfortably. “I’ve never felt so safe in my life.” Doctor Johnson moved away from the window pulling her with him and he leaned against the wall as she continued to lean against him. “Come on upstairs with me baby. I told Julie if she helped with dinner she could teach you how to make cookies.” Doctor Johnson couldn’t help but chuckle.


“I’m gonna take lessons from a six year old?”


“Hey she’s known to make really good cookies. She learned when she was four.” Annabelle pulled away from him then and took his hand into hers, laced their fingers together, and gently squeezed it. “Come on,” She encouraged, and then began to guide him up the stairs. She kept her reassuring eyes locked with his as they took each step together. When they reached the top she smiled at him lovingly and brought his hand up to her lips before kissing it softly. Julie who’d been sitting on the couch with Brandon and Peyton still, caught sight of Doctor Johnson, grinned happily, and she slid off of the couch and ran on over to him. He gathered her up into his arms and brought her close and she slid her arms around him, rested her head against his shoulder and hugged him firmly and he returned it.


“I love you Stevie.”


“I love you too angel,” he insisted, and then walked off toward the kitchen with her. Brandon made brief eye contact with Annabelle making sure she could see how grateful he is to her and she turned and headed after the two most important people in her life. Now that his brother was being taken care of, Brandon got up from the couch, gathered Peyton up so she was hanging over his shoulder and he ran up the stairs with her making her shriek and hold on tight to him before laughing hysterically.



~*~*~*~*~



“Daddy hi!” Spencer cheered happily upon seeing Scott enter the Diner for the first time all day. He hopped out of the booth and ran on over to him tackling his legs. Scott chuckled and reached down and gathered him up in his arms.


“Hi Buddy,” Scott greeted while hugging him close to him affectionately.


“Where you been daddy? You missed a fun swim in the lake an’ window shopping.”


“I had some sleep I had to catch up on. Yesterday was a long drive” Scott lied. Detective Stabler scoffed but otherwise said nothing knowing he’s just trying to protect his son from being right in the core of all the drama.


“Are you comin’ with us to the big barbeque in town? There’s gonna be rides an’ games an’ everything!” Spencer insisted excitedly and he whispered softly in Scott’s ear so that only he would hear. “An’ dancing.” Scott chuckled not missing the hint his son was trying to get across to him.


“You know I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Spencer looked up at him arching his eyebrow. “Any of it,” Scott added and the young boy grinned.


“Where is Kori anyway?” Scott wanted to know as he did a quick glance of the Diner and saw the vase of Red Roses that wasn’t there before.


“She and Wiley are upstairs getting ready to go” Chris was the one to answer.


“Well that’s cool,” Scott insisted ignoring the hostility in Chris’s voice. He knows he is Wiley’s best friend and therefore he can’t blame him for being biased. “Where is Ashley?” he asked AJ this time knowing he won’t bite his head off.


“Upstairs with Nick I suppose. By all means please go up there and say hi to her.”


“I’m not going to let you use me to spy on your sister, how crazy do you think I am? I’m on her good list and I’m staying there.”


“Must be nice,” He heard Chris mutter in a low undertone and then cough and head into the kitchen. Scott rolled his eyes but otherwise said nothing. The last thing he wants to do is add fuel to the fire.


“There’s nothing for you to spy on anyway,” Ashley insisted while leaning over the railing of the stairs. “So get your butt upstairs and give me a hug mister, I haven’t seen you all day.” Scott chuckled and headed on upstairs as he no longer held Spencer and when he got up there he slid his arms around Ashley’s waist and pulled her into a warm hug.


“Hi sweetie.”


“Hi,” Ashley replied. She stood there hugging him for a long time as she watched Chris and Isabel quietly argue in the kitchen. She doesn’t need to hear the conversation to know that he is getting a lecture. After a long while, she pulled away slightly and looked downstairs at the kids.


“Kota, your daddy told me to tell you that he’s just about done with getting Sarah ready and wants you up here.”


“Kay,” Dakota replied and she got to her feet and headed on upstairs as Ashley pulled Scott into the other room with her. As soon as he heard the bedroom door shut behind her, Chris stopped with the whispering but he also made sure that no one upstairs would over hear.


“I just don’t see why it’s such a big deal if I protect my best friend!” he snapped. “Don’t you care about Wiley at all? He’s your friend too!”


“Of course I care about Wiley. I love Wiley and the last thing I want is for him to get hurt. But I have a duty to Kori my best friend who is having a really hard time right now and the last thing she needs is for you to go beating up on her ex-boyfriend and causing more stress to her then she is already in.”


“I wasn’t beating him up.”

“You were beating him up with words and I know you. If I let you keep it up you’re going to get so frustrated and protective of Wiley that you are going to go too far.”


“I don’t see what the big fuss is here. Wiley is her boyfriend so why is she having such a hard time? Unless there is something you aren’t telling me.”


“Just stay out of it Chris.”


“Why should I?”


“Because it’s not your fight. I know you care about Wiley but sometimes you need to step back and let them deal with their own issues.”


“Kori can deal with her issues all she wants but that doesn’t mean I am going to play nice with the enemy in the mean time.”


“Just keep one thing in mind Christopher. That enemy is Spencer’s father.”


“Right…the father who missed out on four years of his life. I remember that perfectly well Isabel. I remember Kori alone every single night for nine months. Where the hell was he?”


“Be that as it may, he’s made up for it plenty since she’s been in Florida. Despite his mistakes Spencer loves him and from what I’ve seen he’s a really good father. If you love that kid as much as you say you do, you will respect that.”


“Fine. He’s Spencer’s father. I get it. But that is all he is entitled to be. He lost all rights to everything else a long time ago and therefore needs to back off.”


“Well whether you like it or not, he’s not backing off and as much as I love Wiley I think he has a pretty fair fight. So just back off and let the situation be.”


“I’m not just going to stand by and let my best friend suffer.”


“Comfort him as much as he needs it…by all means, be there for him. Be his best friend. Just don’t fight his battles for him.” Chris scowled and stormed off heading for the back door of the kitchen.


“Where are you going?” Isabel demanded. “We’re leaving for the Barbeque in ten minutes.”


“If Wiley asks where I went tell him I’m out in the back waiting on Ollie. I invited him to go to the Barbeque with me.” Isabel shook her head then and she walked out of the kitchen to go join everybody.



~*~*~*~*~*~



“Ryan, what do you have up your sleeve?” Howie demanded to know as he watched the nine year old walk around the house as if he were on a mission. He’d cleaned up the whole house all on his own, took a shower, got dressed, and was wearing shoes like he were leaving the house or something. And on top of all of that, he refuses to let him go in the kitchen for some reason.


“Brian is coming to get me,” Ryan finally answered when he heard Brian’s car pull up in the driveway and knew it was too late for Howie to protest.


“What? Why?” Howie asked arching his eyebrow. He doesn’t remember planning this.


“He’s taking me to the Orphanage to hang with him for the evening.” Howie stared at him in confusion for a long moment.


“And you just randomly decided ‘hey, I think I want to hang out with Brian today’?” Before Ryan could answer, Brian walked in.


“Well, what can I say D? The kids just love me like that” He insisted with a big goofy grin.


“Ryan isn’t an ordinary kid. He doesn’t just do things unless he has a plan behind it.”


“And the plan was, to hang with Uncle Brian” Ryan insisted while sliding an arm around Brian’s waist and resting his head against his arm. Howie arched his eyebrow, becoming even more suspicious. Ryan never addresses any of the other guys’ as his Uncle. Laila does sometimes, but never Ryan.


“Brian…what are you up to?”


“Nothing,” Brian insisted. “The kid just called me up and said he wanted to hang out. Really. So that’s what we’re going to do now.”


“Uh-huh,” Howie replied. “Your mother will be home soon Ryan, don’t you want to be here to say hi to her?”


“Tell her I love her for me okay?” was all Ryan said as he reached over and grabbed his backpack. Howie eyed it.


“How long did you say you were staying out again?”


“I didn’t,” Ryan insisted and then turned and headed for the door, only to have Howie gently grab his shoulder.


“How long are you staying out for?”


“The evening with Brian and then over night at Kevin’s.”


“And you think you are so grownup that you couldn’t even run it by your mother and me?” Howie asked feeling both amused and incredulous as Ryan still stood there with his back turned.


“I’m running it by you now aren’t I?”


“Cutting it kind of short, aren’t you?”


“I couldn’t take any chances of either of you saying no.”


“And you think having Brian here is going to prevent me from saying no now?”


“Yup,” Brian answered. “Bye D, he’ll see you in the afternoon after Lindsey’s gone to work.” He insisted and before Howie even had the time to protest, he lifted the nine year old up over his shoulder and headed out the door leaving the other man standing there gaping after them in surprise not knowing if he can believe what just happened or not. After standing there for a long moment staring at the closed door in disbelief, Howie whirled around and headed for the kitchen to see just exactly why he wasn’t allowed in there all day. As soon as he reached the door, he grabbed the knob and twisted it open and started to go inside only to come face to face with Brooke causing him to jump back nearly two feet back.