Chapter Four-Hundred-Thirty-Six
"I don'ts see why Kristin hads to go home," Ellie insisted for the third time since they arrived back at their home later on that day without Kristin. Kevin and Jerald looked at her as she sat at the kitchen table with a pout fixed on her face and a cookie in her hand.
"What would you have her do, move in?" Jerald teased somewhat and Ellie gave him a look like that isn't such a bad idea and he chuckled. "Forget I asked."
"She could always moves into the guestroom," Ellie answered simply.
"I wouldn't object to that," Kevin replied and Jerald rolled his eyes, bit back the comment that wanted to come, and then sat down in the chair beside his niece.
"And what about her niece and nephew huh? Don't you think Nate and Jesse would be sad if their aunt moved out?"
"They'd gets over it?" Ellie asked innocently.
"What if I decided to one day up and move in with Hope?" He asked, deciding he would take a different approach. "And insisted you'd get over it. Would you be able to so easily?"
"No. You are my Uncle Jerry an' you moved here to be withs me," Ellie answered firmly.
"Well, sweetie, from what i've gathered from watching Kristin with Nathan and Jesse...she is to them, what I am to you. Do you get what i'm trying to say?" Ellie huffed.
"Yes. That Kristin will nots be moving in."
"At least not right now," Jerald told her gently. "Lets just wait and see how close she and Kevin get first before we make that decision." Ellie sighed, but otherwise looked defeated.
"Cheer up sweetheart. You may just see her again tonight if she manages to talk her brother and sister into letting her take the kids to Kota and Sarah's sleepover."
"Kay."
"In the meantime," Jerald spoke up after a moment. "I've gotta go take a shower because I'm taking Hope out again tonight." Ellie eyed him, feeling slightly jealous now with even the slightest bit of mention of him moving out. Jerald caught it without her even having to say anything and he gently cradled her face in his hands before leaning forward and giving her an eskimo's kiss and she giggled slightly.
"You have your slumber party tonight beautiful, you aren't even going to miss me."
"You are nots allowed to move out Uncle Jerry."
"I'm not going to move out baby, that was just a what if statement to prove a point. I'm sorry if I scared you..." Ellie continued to look at him fearfully and he gathered her into his arms, cuddled her close, and kissed her forehead softly. "When you come home tomorrow you are going to find me and all of my things still here. I'm not going anywhere."
"You promise?"
"I promise sweetheart. If Hope and I ever take our relationship to that level...if anything she'll be moving in here and we'll be like Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky in Full House."
"As long as you don'ts decide to kick me out to do your taxes," Ellie insisted, as she remembers that episode quite well. Jerald and Kevin both burst into laughter upon hearing this and when Jerald managed to calm down, he rubbed the tears from his eyes that formed there from laughing so hard.
"Don't worry honey, we won't be doing our taxes until long after you've fallen asleep for the night."
"Good," Ellie replied, feeling relieved and Kevin snickered.
"Anyway," Jerald replied, as soon as he recovered from Ellie's random innocence. "Are we good? Did I reassure you any?" He asked gently.
"Uh-huhs," Ellie nodded and Jerald kissed her forehead.
"Good," he replied. He hugged her close for a little bit longer, and then sat her down in a chair before getting up and walking out of the room and upstairs to the bathroom so he could have his shower. Kevin grinned and shook his head before grabbing up a box that Ellie had not seen him holding before, and he sat down at the table while placing a fresh plate of cookies between him and Ellie so the two of them could sit there sharing cookies and milk and talk.
"So...Ellie," he began gently and he watched her as she eyed him warily and placed her hand in her pocket protectively. He noted this to himself, deciding that must be where she is hiding her pictures from him.
"So...daddy," She repeated.
"The reason Kristin went home sweetie is because I thought you and I should spend some time alone together before you go to your slumber party. Is that okay with you?" Ellie nodded quietly, still not removing her hand from her pocket.
"I thought that maybe, you would like to see some pictures of your grandfather. Would you like that?"
"Really daddy?" Ellie asked surprised, and Kevin nodded while smiling at her some.
"This box here is filled with tons of pictures of me and him together. I thought I would have a little show and tell." Ellie eyed the box eagerly and when Kevin saw that she could hardly contain her interest he reached into the box and pulled out a big zip lock bag of photos, and one photo album that seemed to have a feminine touch to it with lace and ribbon, and such making it perfectly clear that it had been something Ann had put together.
“This book here Ellie,” he began while placing the album gently between them as she leaned over the table readily. “Is a scrapbook that Grandma Ann started putting together before I was even born. It’s very old, but also extremely special as it holds so many good memories. It started out as something she made for herself to cherish all of her memories when she and your Grandfather were just young teenagers and just dating, and then later on down the road she added their wedding photos, and then eventually, she added photos of Jerald, Tim, and I growing up with our father. I like to sit down and look through it from time to time when I’m thinking about him,” He explained, and then opened the book up to the very first page and he flipped through the many different decorative pages telling her stories about the pictures and reading the captions to her. She saw pictures of her Grandma and Grandpa when they were Nick and Ashley’s age – very much in love just as they are. She saw the first kiss, school activities, prom, little vacations that they took together, hanging out with friends, and just plain pictures of them being together and being silly. She saw all of the photos of their wedding day, a few pregnant pictures, and then baby Jerry became part of the book. And of course, Jerry being the first born and all, Ellie got to see every single second of him growing up from the time he was born all the way up to the point when Tim was born and suddenly there were pictures of the two brothers together and eventually Kevin got added. There were camping trips, vacations, holidays, throwing a ball around with their father, horseback riding, priceless sibling moments, and everything else that was worth remembering. Ellie laughed, giggled, and was serious at all of the right times and listened with fascination to Kevin’s stories and after going through them all about an hour later, he looked at her curiously for a long moment, just watching her look at a page full of pictures of him and his father.
“You know Ellie I bet if you asked your Grandmother, she would love to help you make a special scrapbook of your own.”
“She would?”
“Oh yeah…I bet she would enjoy that so much. You could put any special pictures that you want in your scrapbook. I know that when I’m feeling sad or lonely I like to pull out this album filled with good memories of my dad and it makes me feel so much better. If you want to store your own memories of your own…whatever they may be in your own scrapbook sweetie, then you go right ahead.”
“Any pictures that I wants?” Ellie asked softly, and she suddenly placed her hand on her pocket again.
“Mhm.”
“An’ you won’t be mad at’s me for it?”
“Of course not,” Kevin answered gently and he leaned forward as his arms were folded over each other in front of him on the table and he gazed into her eyes gently.
“Memories are very special…especially the good ones. If we didn’t have good memories to hold onto honey life would be very hard. I know you’ve been through a lot for a five year old…if you have good memories that make you happy I want you to hold onto them okay? And I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me about them either. Cause it’s always special when we get to talk about them.”
“Did Ashee tells you about my pictures?” Ellie asked softly.
“She mentioned them,” Kevin answered casually. “But I was hoping to hear about them from you.”
“Did she tells you what they were pictures of?”
“Mhm. But she decided she would leave the actual storytelling to you. They’re your special memories baby…yours to tell.” Ellie stared at him warily for a few moments, and then reached into her pocket and pulled all of her pictures out, though she kept them face down so that he couldn’t see them.
“You’re going to be mad about how I got them...” she warned.
“You already know that it makes daddy unhappy when you see Sean or Trevor and don’t tell someone…but it happened and there is nothing I can do about it now…so I’m not even going to go into it again. But I will remind you that it is very important that you tell someone honey. I know he is your father, and I know what you want – and we’ll try our best to give you what you want but we need to get Ashley safe first. Okay?” Ellie nodded quietly, as she suddenly remembered the emotional conversation that she had with Kota earlier about Ashley and Kristin. She really is beginning to understand Kota’s POV…she knows that if it were Kristin in Ashley’s shoes…she would hunt her father down. Or at least she’d get Elliot to anyway…seeing as how she is five years old and all…and not a cop yet. She looked down ashamed then.
“Trevor gave them to me,” she informed softly. “Via Diego the dog.” Kevin arched his eyebrow curiously at this information, ignoring the fact that he is suddenly very annoyed with himself as he made the connection – the strange friendly dog in the park.
“Since when does Sean have a dog?” Ellie shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know, I always thought he didn’t like them for some reason...” Kevin thought about that for a moment, and then shook his head deciding that it isn’t really that important.
“So Trevor gave you the pictures,” he prompted gently. “How did you get into the Orphanage with them that day? I watched Q check you.” Ellie looked up at him then, suddenly looking sheepish.
“I put them in my underwear every time we goes to the Orphanage – he can’t look there.” Kevin stared at his daughter in amusement, trying really hard not to laugh.
“Clever...but now I will be checking before I take you over there from now on young lady.”
“Humph.”
“Don’t you humph me little one.” She looked down at her pictures in her hand then and after a moment he spoke up again, gently.
“Can I see them honey?” She eyed him for a couple of moments, and then turned her pictures over though she still held onto them protectively and she showed him each of them, having her show and tell now and Kevin listened with interest just as she had for him and she for the first time ever, really shared with him what that last time with her father meant to her.
"Are you going to put them in your scrapbook?" Kevin asked gently and he reached over and gently rubbed the back of her hand with his finger.
"The first part of it," Ellie answered, nodding her head some. "But that's just the first chapter of my story daddy" she added softly. "The best part begins with you." Kevin's eyes flooded with tears then upon hearing those words. It is almost like she sensed his jealousy and wanted to reassure him. She couldn't have picked a better time to say them.
"Even after I've been such a lousy daddy as of late?" he asked softly, not letting himself forget how rocky their relationship has been since the beginning. Sean trying to take her away from him - twice. The second time, actually succeeding at it. Kevin feeling guilt ridden after her first kidnapping and trying to leave her, all of their arguments due to her tantrums, the whole Summer ordeal...its amazing that she still loves him after all of that.
"Every good story has some complications along the ways," Ellie insisted rather smartly. "Not everything can be perfect but in the end...it eventually turns out okay. You telled me we were going to be okay daddy...an' I believes you. We're gonna haves a happy ending." The tears that had flooded Kevin's eyes spilled out over his cheeks and he reached over and gathered her in his arms and he pulled her into an affectionate hug as he noticed Jerald standing in the doorway suddenly, and he was having a hard time controlling his tears upon hearing Ellie's logic too.
"That we're baby...that we're..." Kevin agreed softly.
"When did you become so smart beautiful?" Jerald spoke up suddenly and he crossed the kitchen and sat in what used to be Ellie's chair. Ellie looked at him.
"When I became Sarah's friend. She's the smart one."
"Kota told me that a couple of times too," Jerald replied. "I can believe it. She's so quiet and reserved, I bet she spends a lot of time thinking. I’d like to sit down with her one day and just hear what she has to say about everything."
"Me too," Kevin replied while hugging Ellie closer, and the three of them all sat there continuing to look at pictures.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Q, can you do me a favor and check where Angel is at please?" Nick requested while suddenly walking up to security with Rosalie in his arms. He had come out of his room with her when he no longer heard the two teenagers talking in his living room. Assuming they must've gone to Conner's room, he went down the hall to check and when he didn’t find them there, he became confused - and slightly annoyed too.
"Sure thing Nick," Q answered, and then turned and looked on the television screens. When he didn't find Angel anywhere, he looked up at Nick.
"Either she is in the bathroom, or up in the air vents...because she's not on here." Nick narrowed his eyes, thought about that for a moment, and then decided that it has to be the latter because she is with Conner. Unless she dragged Conner into the girl’s bathroom...which is unlikely. She knows that young and impressionable children could walk in there and see them making out. Or god knows what.
"Will someone take Rosalie into the playroom please?" he asked.
"I will," Laney volunteered, and then gently took her from him and he carried her off to the playroom. While he did that, Nick pulled his cell phone from his pocket, flipped it open, and dialed Angel's number before placing it to his ear and he waited. When he didn't get an answer, he scowled and then hung up and dialed Aaron's number.
"What?" Aaron asked bitterly.
"Do you hear Angel?" Nick demanded.
"No," Aaron answered begrudgingly.
"No? What do you mean no? Why wouldn't you be able to?"
"She shut me out, that's why. You know she does that when she really doesn't want me to know something."
"When was the last time you heard her?"
"When she was talking to Conner - then she kissed him and she was gone."
"What was on her mind before she shut you out?"
"Needing Conner very badly and the fear of having very little time. See what you can make out of that," Aaron answered, and then hung up before Nick asked anymore questions. He does not want to tell on Angel because then she will tell on him. Nick hung up too, and he let out a low dangerous growl, causing Q to gently grab onto his arm as if fearing he might do something stupid.
"Nick, cool it."
"My sister is up there in that air vent where I can't see her, Q!"
"You are the one who wanted to keep the cameras out of them."
"And with good reason."
"Then I don’t want to hear you complain about it," Q told him simply.
"If she is up there doing anything stupid with Conner..."
"Oh you know she is," Kori spoke up, suddenly coming into the lobby and overhearing the last couple of things that were said. Q and Nick looked her way to see that Scott was a few feet back keeping a good enough distance to respect her space but not completely leaving her alone. They both look like they've been arguing. "I don't think she would bother going up there unless she was." Nick glowered and Q eyed her warily.
"You are not helping." Kori shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm just saying, if they are anything like Scott and I were...you're in trouble Nick. As a friend, I thought I should warn you."
"Where is the other piece of your triangle at?" Nick asked curiously, swiftly changing the subject as he glanced at Scott who had joined them but continued to keep a slight distance.
"He is the only one listening to me and staying away at the moment," Kori answered as she too looked at Scott, but out of the corner of her eye instead of entirely. Scott rolled his eyes.
"I haven't been obeying your orders to stay away from the very beginning, why should I start now?"
"How about because I asked you to? Because I want you to?"
"When I see that you really want me to...then maybe I will. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't want me near you Kori. Do it." Kori suddenly really looked at him then and she looked into his piercing blue eyes only to have her breath knocked right out of her. She saw the slight fear in them when she looked into his eyes and suddenly she wanted to pull him into her arms and make it go away. No! She can't. She won't. She will tell him to go away right now. Would he really listen to her? It can’t really be that easy. She opened her mouth to say the words but then she saw how vulnerable and innocent he looks right then as he waited for the painful words to slap him. She closed it again and quickly darted her eyes away from him. Scott moved closer to her then until he was standing right beside her and he spoke quietly in her ear.
"The day you are able to look me directly in the eye and tell me that you don't love me and want me around anymore...and really make me believe it is the day I will back down from this fight of mine and walk away."
"Will you go check on our son please?" Kori asked softly while still looking away from him. She really needs him to go away so that she can finally breathe again. Having him near her is intoxicating. She feels like a drug addict locked in a room full of heroin.
"He's fine, I was just with him. He's playing pirates with Chris."
"Well then, can you go and do something with yourself please? Your cologne is making me crazy."
"Then give into it baby," Scott whispered softly in her ear and Kori shuddered.
"Do you want an angry brit to come down those stairs and beat you to a pulp? Because there are two of them up there who would just love to do it - and you are treading dangerous waters here." Scott ignored her warning and slid his arms around her waist before pulling her near and he placed his forefinger and thumb to her chin and gently tilted it up so she is looking up at him.
"We'll go where they can't see us."
"The air vents are already taken."
"Let's get out of the Orphanage entirely," Scott insisted and Kori arched her eyebrow at him and gave him a look like he is on something.
"Scott..."
"Please?" Scott pleaded and he unleashed the full force of his eyes on her again. "You know you want to. I know you want to. I can see it..."
"Wi will come looking for me," Kori insisted, neither admitting nor denying it though she couldn't hide the longing in her eyes.
"Then we will just have to hide ourselves really good won't we?" Scott whispered.
"Spencer..." Kori pointed out, managing to say his name coherently though it was a challenge.
"Will be fine…Nick will watch him."
"I'm already baby-sitting the child that belongs to the other spontaneous couple that ran off," Nick spoke up begrudgingly as he still stood there with Q. Scott looked at Nick then, pleadingly and Nick sighed.
"Go on...get out of here." Scott looked back at Kori then who was still surprisingly trying to fight it. How she still can, Nick doesn't understand it.
"Where would we go that they couldn't find us at? He'll send search parties."
"We'll worry about that when it happens. At least we aren't in your small town anymore...be spontaneous with me." Kori gazed into Scott's eager blue eyes for a couple of moments and when he saw resignation in them, he took her hand, gently squeezed it, and pulled her out of the Orphanage, planning to relive all of the things they did when they were young as a couple and remind her of all the good things about their relationship before he stupidly screwed things up. Tonight will be a walk down memory lane for her…for the both of them. And then hopefully...it will help her to stop fighting with her heart.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
