Chapter Four-Hundred-Thirteen
“Ryan, hey!” Ellie exclaimed happily, upon walking out of her bedroom and into the hall and spotting her guest padding through it quietly toward his room. Ryan flinched, nearly jumping two feet in the air at hearing the girl he’d been trying to avoid since they ate their late breakfast.
“Ellie…hey…”
“What’cha doing?” she asked interestedly.
“Just going to my room for a bit…” Ryan answered casually, and with that he slipped into his bedroom when he realized he was standing in front of it. Elenore hurried on after him.
“What’cha going to do in here? It’s not like there are any fun toys in here or anything…” she asked, looking around the room with an eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach. How ironic it is that not too long ago Summer had been beating her in this very room…and she just spent the night in it with Ryan and is willing to follow him right into it. Not too long ago, she was a firm believer that spare rooms were dangerous. But…after last night, she has a feeling as much as he refuses to admit it Ryan wouldn’t let any spare room give her trouble. He may not appreciate her clinging to him like she is…and he may pick on her a lot, and even hurt her sometimes…but she knows he would never let anybody else do it. One of the other kids maybe…but not someone who is ten times bigger then he is even. Ryan rolled his eyes moodily, grabbed up his favorite book that he’s read over a dozen times by now – Treasure Island, and he crawled onto the bed and lay on his side.
“I’m going to read, that’s what” he answered before instantly burying his nose into the book. Elenore ignored his very subtle hint that others would usually pick up on as a sign that he wants to be left alone and she crawled up onto the bed and lay next to him quietly as he read in silence. After a long moment, she reached over and grabbed one of his other books – Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone and she opened it up and flipped through the pages in silence, completely unaware that he was watching her over the top of his book.
“Ryan?”
“What?”
“I wanna read this.”
“But you don’t know how to read.”
“Uh-huhs.”
“No you can’t.”
“Yes I can so. Uncle Jerry an’ Kevy have been teaching me. I can pick up on a few words now, I can” Ellie answered matter of factly.
“Fine, but that book is much too big and hard for you,” Ryan informed knowing she can’t possibly come up with an argument for that.
“Then I guess you’re gonna haves to read it to me huh?” Ellie asked him sweetly.
“But Ellie, I want to read my book.”
“But you’ve read it already – lots of times an’ its your daddy’s special book that he gaves to you. Its not gonna goes anywhere.” Ryan looked taken aback that she pays attention to him enough to know about his book. She wasn’t even in the room when he told Howie and everybody about how important Treasure Island is to him.
“Ellie…”
“Please,” Ellie pleaded, fighting her tears back with great difficulty when she saw that Ryan really was going to turn her down. She’s not dumb, she knows he is getting pretty tired of her, but she is having fun learning about Ryan. “I’m really lonely right now” She insisted, and it’s the downright truth. “Joshy is grounded, Kota an’ Sarah are on vacation with Spencer…I haves no one to play with.” Ryan sighed heavily upon seeing the waterworks about to happen before his very eyes.
“You are going on a picnic with that…Kristin lady you were talking to earlier aren’t you? Weren’t you supposed to get ready?”
“I am,” Ellie insisted, and she indicated toward her clothes. He looked down at them to see that she was wearing a long sleeved white shirt and denim blue over alls and Kevin had done her hair up in two braids. “She isn’t gonna gets here for another fifteen minutes – you haves time to read me a little bit.” Ryan eyed her for a long moment in silence and she stared back at him with a look that clearly said it all – that she was prepared for rejection. Ryan knows full well that she’s been rejected many times in her life.
“Fine,” he sighed, and her whole face lit up in huge smile and her eyes were wide with surprise.
“But get over here – I’m not reading it to you, you are going to read it to me with my help. Everyone should know how to read it’s too important.” Beaming happily, she scooted closer to him with the Harry Potter book in her hand. Ryan set Treasure Island down on the bed beside him so it lay face down saving his page and he began to teach a five year old how to read, neither of them realizing that Kevin and Jerald were hiding just outside the door listening to the whole thing.
“Well, AJ and Howie will be happy to hear that there is one way to get that kid involved with the others…” Kevin whispered quietly to Jerald so that only he would hear. “If he won’t join them in their games of Ninja Turtles and toys and such…then maybe they should join him in what he enjoys most.” Jerald nodded in agreement.
“And then maybe once he sees the rest of the kids aren’t so bad after all…he will start joining in on their activities all on his own without even realizing it,” he added and Kevin nodded. He will be sure to share this with Howie and AJ later. Maybe Ellie attaching herself to Ryan isn’t such a bad thing after all. It may just help the kid.
“You know…” Kevin replied, as he wrapped his arm around Jerald and steered him away. “If Ryan loves getting lost in those books so much…maybe we can find a way to ‘bring the books to life’…so to speak.” Jerald looked at Kevin with a raised eyebrow.
“Come again?”
“I’m not exactly sure yet…it’s still in the thinking process. But I really do think I am onto something here…I really think that if we tried, we could get Ryan involved with us and the other kids…using books. We might even be able to do so right in his very own library.” Jerald gently patted Kevin on the back.
“Well while you are figuring that out bro, I have a girlfriend to talk to since you so kindly pushed her into my direction and all. She’s going to be here any second now.”
“Yes, yes you do – shoo!” Kevin replied, suddenly remembering Hope and he shoved his brother in the direction of the stairs. “Do say hi to Hope for me will you?” Kevin asked, smiling at him innocently. Jerald rolled his eyes, shook his head, and then walked down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~
“Nick? What happened?” AJ asked frantically as he watched his best friend usher his little sister into his room as she had tear stained cheeks and everything.
“Like you don’t know!” Nick snapped angrily.
“I wouldn’t be asking you if I did, now would I?” AJ replied patiently.
“Bullshit. Like you didn’t have anything to do with it!”
“Would you please not raise your voice at me Nickolas? If you haven’t noticed I have a baby sleeping over there – I just got her to stop crying for Ashley not even twenty minutes ago since she walked out the door with you earlier. Wake her up and I will hit you.”
“Bella waking up and crying is going to be the least of your problems if I find out that you had anything to do with what happened to us earlier, Alex.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about Nick! I’ve been here baby-sitting your children for the past couple of hours. So please, why don’t you clue me in?”
“We were attacked, AJ!” Nick informed, still not believing that AJ didn’t have anything to do with it. The last time they had the discussion about testing Ashley, AJ had been all for it.
“WHAT?” Ashley looked over at the children worriedly then and discovered Sarah sitting in the middle of a bed with both Laila and Dakota with their heads lying in her lap and they are all watching cartoons – all except for Dakota, who was watching them with fear in her eyes. Ashley grabbed Nick and AJ both by the arms then and dragged them outside of the room shutting the door behind them and they both looked at her incredulously for her pushiness as they were both too caught up in their heated discussion.
“If you are going to have this discussion, you can do it out here away from Dakota. She has enough nightmares, thank you very much” She told them, and she narrowed her eyes at them, daring them to argue with her when she is already beyond pissed off and upset at them. Nick had explained to her that the whole attack was a set up by Detective Stabler and she hasn’t spoken to him the whole way back to AJ’s Motel room.
“What happened?!” AJ demanded to know, and he immediately turned his gaze back on Nick as if she wasn’t even there.
“You tell me!”
“You can’t honestly believe that I would have anything to do with my baby sister being attacked, Nickolas!”
“Oh yes you would! You and Detective Stabler both!” Understanding instantly formed on AJ’s face then, and Ashley stared at her brother in utter shock and hurt in her eyes upon recognizing it.
“Alex?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with that!” AJ demanded firmly. “I distinctively told Elliot that I was staying out of it. That you told him you didn’t want to go through with it and I wanted to respect it! It was all his doing!”
“How dare he?!” Ashley asked, finally reacting to the information that Nick had clued her in on earlier. She had been so shocked and still shaken by the whole thing, that when he told her, she just fell into complete silence. They both looked at her to see that tears were flooding her eyes. “How dare you ALL? I don’t care if either of you decided not to go through with it, you STILL thought about doing it!”
“We just wanted to prepare you for the bigger and badder threat that is out there waiting for just the right moment to attack you again baby” Nick insisted as he turned his entire attention back on his girlfriend again. He looked her in the eyes, pleading with her to understand and he went to take her hands into his only to have her swat them away and take a step back.
“We just wanted to see to it that you could really defend yourself, we wanted to make sure you learned everything that we taught you in defense class” AJ added.
“By scaring me half to death?” Ashley asked tearfully. “That was a really cruel thing for you to do Alex!”
“I didn’t do it honey! I told you it was all Detective Stabler’s doing, not mine!”
“But the thing is, you still thought about doing it, you still knew about it all along!” Nick gently pressed her back up against the wall then, and cradled her face in his hands and Ashley stared back at him with hurt and disappointment in her eyes.
“I don’t like that he did it either baby, I knew it would upset you and ruin things between the two of us when things were going so great so I told him not to! I ordered him not to do it and he still did. But you have to admit, no matter how cruel it was, it was still for your own good.”
“By terrifying me Nicky?” Ashley cried. “My heart about stopped when that evil bastard grabbed me! Here we were talking about what would happen with Bella if I died and the next thing I know it I’m being dragged away from you kicking and screaming!”
“I was terrified too,” Nick reminded her gently trying to get her to see reason. “Remember baby? I was fighting to get away from the guy holding me back to get to you. My heart stopped back there too! All I could hear was you crying and begging for me to help and that was all I wanted to do, but I couldn’t. I felt pretty helpless until I realized what was going on,” he explained gently as he wiped away her tears with his finger. “He wasn’t hurting you he was just being rough with you to scare you and make it seem real. And the guy holding me back had suspiciously thrown me down onto the ground into a position like he were going to arrest me too. So I caught on…and started urging you on knowing the only way to get them to leave you alone was for you to defend yourself. And Baby you did so well, I was so proud of you at that moment. I couldn’t believe how much you kicked that guy’s ass. If I hadn’t stopped you when I did, who knows what damage to him you would’ve caused with that jagged piece of wood.”
“But—“
“—I’m sorry they terrified you sweetheart, but you have to understand that it’s going to be a lot worse then that should Sean ever resurface. He’s going to be ten times more scarier then those two suckers were and Stabler felt that we needed to prepare you for that. It’s one thing fighting with us in defense class…but we needed to make sure you could do all of the moves on someone you didn’t know and trust.”
“So you tell me that it’s going to happen, not scare the living daylights out of me out on the streets!”
“You aren’t going to get a warning before Sean comes baby.”
“She really did great then?” AJ wanted to know, as a small part of him feels kind of sorry that he’d missed out on seeing his baby sister kick some ass.
“Great is an understatement. I couldn’t believe how awesome she did once she finally gained confidence from me cheering her on and coaching her with my eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Stabler’s buddy now has a broken jaw.”
“His Jaw? You mean they grabbed her from behind and she used the technique that I taught her?”
“Mhm.” AJ looked at Ashley then wearing a proud look all over his face. Ashley rolled her eyes not feeling amused in the least bit about the situation and she turned and opened the door and went inside. Nick started to go after her but AJ gently grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him causing the young blonde to turn and look at him.
“Just let her be angry for awhile…she needs time to calm down and think everything over for herself.” Nick pulled his cell phone out of his pocket then, pressed the number one speed dial, and put the phone to his ear.
“I hope you are happy!” he announced angrily when the person on the other end – most likely Detective Stabler had answered and he walked off to do a full on bitch session. AJ shook his head and then opened the door to his room and went inside before Laila starts to miss him. When he walked in he found Ashley lying on his bed next to a slumbering baby and she is gently caressing her face with the pad of her finger as she watched her sleep peacefully. He noticed Dakota crawl over to her then and she lay her head comfortably on Ashley’s shoulder as she had her back turned. Ashley rolled over onto her back then and gently pulled Dakota so she was lying on top of her and she hugged her close to her welcoming the snuggles that she looks forward to each and every day.
“I love you Mommy Ashee,” she murmured in her ear and Ashley hugged her closer to her.
“I love you too Dakota Ann, very much.” Ashley answered while gently cupping her cheek in her one hand and looking into the four-year-old’s eyes with so much seriousness in her own, wanting her to see how much she means it. “Where is my other girl at huh?” she asked after a moment and she turned her gaze on Sarah who was sitting there quietly watching. “Why isn’t my Sarah over here giving me hugs?” Sarah instantly crawled over to Ashley then and wrapped her arms around her too as she lay beside her. She rested her head against her shoulder comfortably as Ashley slid one arm underneath her and snuggled her close. She leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. Laila feeling utterly left out and a strong desire to cuddle too, crawled over and lay with Sarah, who smiled some and hugged her in return. Ashley smirked some as she watched all of the children around her – Dakota on top of her, Sarah sandwiched between her and Laila, and Bella lying on her other side with her little fingers wrapped firmly around Ashley’s one finger and she is still sound asleep. AJ chuckled and went on over and grabbed his camera up from the dresser and he opened up the case, pulled it out, and instantly began to snap pictures of his sister with all of the girls.
~*~*~*~*~
“ELLIE, KRIS IS HERE, COME DOWNSTAIRS PLEASE!” Kevin yelled up the stairs for his little girl who was still up there reading with Ryan. “RYAN YOU COME DOWN TOO. BRING YOUR STUFF WITH YOU.”
“Howie’s kid is still here?” Kristin asked interestedly, as she stood in the living room with Kevin waiting on the kids and Kevin turned and looked at her.
“Yeah, he spent the night. I was thinking that we could maybe run him home on our way to the park. Do you mind?”
“Why not bring him with?” Kristin offered readily. “He might have fun at the picnic too and Ellie wouldn’t have just us grownups there to hang with.”
“Actually, I think he might want a little break from Ellie” Kevin chuckled. “He was being a little too nice to her last night giving her the idea that he really cares about her underneath and she…sort of attached herself to him. She’s been driving him crazy all morning.”
“Ah I see,” Kristin laughed.
“He’ll probably want to go home, hide in his room for awhile, and bury himself in a book. And Id say he deserves it after how patient and sweet he’s uncharacteristically been.” Just then, Ryan came downstairs wearing his backpack on his shoulder, and Ellie permanently attached to his side.
“KRISTIN, you’re HEEERE!” Ellie exclaimed happily upon seeing her. Kristin laughed and Ellie gently pushed her way past Ryan and ran for Kristin who opened her arms allowing her to fly into them and hug her.
“Well hi kiddo it’s good to see you too,” She told her while hugging her in return and she couldn’t help but notice Ryan eyeing her warily as she held Ellie making sure she does it with care.
“Ryan, this is mine and Ellie’s new friend Kristin – Kristin, this is Ryan” Kevin who didn’t fail to notice it as well introduced and Kristin gave him a gentle smile.
“Hey Ryan it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Shh! Secret!” Ellie whispered in her ear.
“Oh yeah? From who?” Ryan asked suspiciously.
“From Jerald and Kevin,” Kristin answered deciding that wasn’t a lie.
“Oh…well that’s cool. It’s nice to meet you too,” he told her and Kevin praised him with his eyes for being nice.
“Kevy we goes on picnic now?” Ellie asked eagerly.
“Of course honey, but we have to make just one stop on our way to the park okay? We need to drop Ryan off at home.”
“But why can’ts Ryan come with us?”
“Because I think Howie is expecting him home princess,” Kevin lied somewhat. He’s sure Howie is expecting the kid to come home sometime today anyway but he knows he isn’t staring at the clock counting down the minutes till he does either.
“So call him an’ tells him he’ll be late,” Ellie suggested as they all walked out the door and Ryan looked at Kevin interested in what he was going to say next.
“I can’t princess because Howie has plans with him. He…wants to spend the day with him” Kevin explained after a moment.
“Oh…” Ellie replied before heaving a sigh and Kristin hugged her closer.
“Aw, but we’re going to have lots of fun anyway sweetie I promise.”
“Yeah…” Ellie replied while smiling somewhat but it’s obvious that she is upset slightly. Kevin sighed softly and made a mental note in his head to get on Brian’s case about Josh later. They all piled into his car then, and they headed to Howie’s house. When they were there five minutes later, Kevin parked in the driveway and looked at Kristin.
“I just want to go in with him to make sure he gets in there okay. Do you want to come with me? I bet he’d like to meet you.”
“Sure, why not?” Kristin asked and Kevin noticed the shy look in her eyes.
“You’ll be fine I promise. Sweet D doesn’t bite.”
“Sweet D?” Kristin asked, as she and Ryan both got out of the car and watched him retrieve Ellie from her booster seat.
“Yeah…” Kevin answered looking at her with his head tilted slightly to the side like Abbie often does when she’s confused. “It’s a nickname that the rest of our bandmates and the fans call him…” Kristin noticed the same look Jerald was giving her last night and sighed inwardly, before speaking up.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know much about the Backstreet Boys,” She told him sheepishly, deciding she might as well get this out in the open so she doesn’t receive those looks anymore when she doesn’t know something that should be obvious. Kevin arched his eyebrow at her curiously and he is suddenly very intrigued. “I know who you guys all are as far as names go…and I do enjoy your music a lot but I don’t know much other then that except for what my sister has clued me in on since I met you. She’s the huge fan.”
“That’s very refreshing,” Kevin answered honestly after a moment as he stood there with Ellie rested on his one hip. “I could get used to that. I’m sorry I just assumed that you were a fan…”
“Oh I am a fan,” Kristin corrected. “Like I said, I love your music and you all are very talented…but I’ve been living under a rock when it comes to the inside information. I didn’t even know my sister was a fan up until recently that’s how out of it I am.”
“Well, that’s okay” Kevin reassured sincerely, as the two of them walked side by side up Howie’s driveway (and looking rather cozy while doing so, much to Ellie’s delight) with Ryan walking ahead of them. “It’s nice to talk to people who don’t know more about ourselves then we do sometimes.”
“Yes, that it is” Howie added as he had opened the door for them when they approached and heard what was last said.
“Hey D,” Kevin greeted as he gently linked arms with Kristin and led her into the house out of subconscious. He was raised to be a gentleman after all.
“Hey,” Howie replied curiously as Ryan slipped in as well and shut the door behind him. “This must be the infamous Kristin that Ann has just gone on and on about with nothing but great things.” Kristin blushed and leaned into Kevin slightly being uncharacteristically shy and completely surprising Kevin. He had her down as the outgoing type since the very second he met her.
“Yup, that’s me” She answered and Kevin smirked.
“Howie this is mine and Ellie’s friend Kristin – Kristin this is my best friend Howie.”
“Hello Kristin, it’s really nice to meet you” Howie replied sweetly.
“Nice to meet you too” Kristin answered softly.
“Another shy type huh? She’ll fit right in with Ashley that’s for sure” Howie teased light heartedly.
“She’s not normally this shy, you are just scary that’s all” Ellie spoke up teasingly, causing all three of them to laugh. He gently gathered the five year old out of Kevin’s arms then and into his own and he threw her up into the air playfully and caught her again making her shriek and giggle before holding her up above his head with his hands placed lightly under her arms. He planted a kiss on her nose before bringing her down and hugging her close to him affectionately.
“Hi there you silly goose I haven’t seen you in quite awhile – Kevin has been keeping you all to himself lately hasn’t he?”
“Uh-huhs an’ I like it” Ellie answered happily and Howie grinned upon seeing the honest to god truth behind her words. He hugged her close to him then and she snuggled into his arms soaking up all of his hugs for all its worth.
“Well good because my niece deserves to be happy end of story,” he told her and Ellie beamed upon hearing Howie call her his niece. None of the boys have called her their niece before. He looked to Kevin then, who was standing there next to Kristin quietly watching the scene before him, and he couldn’t help but notice the older man’s protective gaze on her. Not because he doesn’t trust him, but because he doesn’t trust himself to leave her alone anymore.
“Where are you three off to?” he asked while gently rubbing his hand over Ellie’s back.
“We’re going on a picnic in the park.”
“Which reminds me,” Ellie spoke up. “Can Ryan comes with us?” she asked hopefully. “Please?” Howie looked down at the little girl in his arms completely startled by her request, as he hasn’t yet been filled in on the update of his foster child and Ellie’s relationship yet. He looked at Kevin then and eyed him curiously and Kevin chuckled.
“I’ll fill you in on all of the details later, I promise.”
“Yes cause rights now we haves a picnic to goes on an’ you haves a question to answer mister,” Ellie added while looking Howie in the eyes. Howie continued to make eye contact with Kevin, and Kevin gave him a short shake of his head and mouthed Ryan doesn’t want to.
“Actually, you know what sweetheart? I was thinking of taking Ryan out myself this afternoon, but maybe we’ll meet back up later at the Orphanage okay?”
“Kay…” Ellie answered softly and Howie kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry honey, if I had known about it earlier I wouldn’t have told Lindsey that I would take him to the mall and buy him a few things that he needs right now. You can play with him later okay?”
“Kay…” Ellie replied and he handed her back over to Kevin who hugged her close to him affectionately.
“Bye D, see you later”
“Bye,” Howie replied and he smiled at Kristin. “Bye Kristin, it really was nice to meet you” he told her with a wink.
“It was nice meeting you too” Kristin added and she smiled at him some, slowly beginning to warm up to him. Kevin grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders innocently as he began to carry Ellie and lead Kristin out of the house so they could get to their picnic that Ellie has been looking forward to all day. Neither Kevin nor Ellie knowing that Ellie’s surprise waits for them there.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
