Chapter Eighty-Five
After playing almost every board game in the entertainment center the kids cleaned up their mess and crawled back over to their sleeping bags. As Josh crawled back under his blankets, Chance went over to him and immediately started tackling him and seeking for attention. Josh laughed and enveloped the playful puppy into his arms, before sitting up and petting him. Dakota smiled some as she watched him and she remembered Lily. She wishes she hadn't left her back at the Orphanage. She is probably very lonely in their bedroom and she misses her. After thinking for a couple of minutes she got up and headed toward the door, only to be stopped by a very protective bodyguard.
"Dakota Ann, where do you think you're going?" Marcus demanded, and she turned and looked at him.
"To talk to my daddy," she answered, looking at Marcus with an 'I dare you to even try stopping me' kind of look. Marcus knows that he couldn't even if he tried. When Dakota has it set in her mind that she wants her daddy there isn't anyone brave enough to stand in her way. There's only one man who's treid and Nick would've killed him if it weren't for the whole 'manager thing', and four bandmates standing between them. It happened when he brought her to a concert performed in Florida when she had just turned three years old. He was out onstage performing and he left her backstage with Laney. Laney turned his back for one minute and she started for the stage. Lou Pearlman saw her and stepped in front of her and he told her she isn't allowed out there. He told her that Nick is much too busy right now to be playing with whiny little brats and she would only be in the way. Dakota of course, started crying and while Laney was shouting at Lou, Dakota ran out on the stage and a concerned Nick gathered her in his arms and hugged her close and at the sound of his voice and being in his arms he managed to calm her down. In between songs she told him Lou was mean to her and when he was able to go backstage...all hell broke loose. After that night it was made perfectly clear that if Dakota wants to go to him for whatever reason it is, she can. It doesn't matter what he is doing or where he is at because she is his top priority. Lou of course threw a fit but was over powered when Kevin, Howie, Brian, and Aj agreed with him and that was the end of it. Nick wouldn't have minded so much if Lou had handled it in a better way, but the way he treated Dakota pissed him off. To this very day Dakota is frightened of Lou Pearlman and refuses to go within two feet of him.
"Okay..." Marcus replied, backing off and Dakota turned and left the room. When she got downstairs she found the grownups watching some kind of movie. She went over to the spot that she saw her daddy sitting at with Ashley - which is on the floor and Nick looked at her curiously, as did everyone else. Brian paused the movie.
"Kota what are you doing down here?" Nick asked, looking concerned and he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close.
"Daddy I miss Lily. We lefted her all alone back at the Orphanage..."
"She'll be okay baby, I promise."
"But what if she's lonely daddy? An' what's about Abbie? We lefted her there too...an' Lil' Rok!"
"They'll be just fine baby. We're going back in a little bit anyway. So why don't you go on back upstairs and try to go to sleep and you'll be home with Lily before you know it."
"Can I take Tyke up there withs me?" She asked, looking at Brian as he is sitting on the couch holding Tyke in his lap and Riley is sitting next to him with her arms wrapped around his waist and her head rested against his shoulder. "I'm used to having a chihuahaha sleeping withs me...it just feels weird when there isn't..."
"That's up to Brian honey," Nick replied and he also looked back at Brian.
"Of course you can angel. I'm sure Tyke will have more fun up there with you kids anyway." Brian replied and Dakota smiled some. She looked at Nick again and he smiled at her and kissed her cheek as she hugged him tightly.
"I love you daddy."
"I love you too baby. Go back up there and get some sleep okay?"
"Kay," Dakota replied, and she went over to Brian and he handed Tyke over to her.
"Thanks Uncle Brian."
"No problem angel," he replied, and he leaned over and kissed her forehead, before letting her hurry back up the stairs. When she got back up there she went back into the game room to find Marcus and Laney sitting on the couch near the windows where they're out of the way of the kids but can see them. They've completely given up on trying to get them to go to sleep. They know that no one ever really goes to sleep at a sleepover anyway. As long as they aren't getting into trouble they're fine. Chris and Spencer are playing checkers, Josh is sitting next to Sarah and having a conversation with her - her writing on paper of course, and Elenore is sitting near by listening to him. Dakota went over and sat next to Elenore with Tyke in her lap and Elenore reached over and pet him.
"What did you want to talk to your daddy about?" She asked curiously.
"I wanted to tell him that I miss Lily."
"Oh," Elenore replied. "I miss Lil' Rok. I should've brought him withs me."
"An' I should've brought Lily." The two of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes while they watch Josh talk to Sarah.
"What is withs him?" Dakota asked, motioning toward him. "Why is he bein' so nice to her all of the sudden?" Elenore shrugged.
"Because thats the way he is now...nice. It's kinda cool...i'm starting to gets used to it."
"Me too but why does he gotta be nice to her?" Dakota whined.
"I know you don't likes her Kota, but she's not that bad..." Elenore reasoned. Dakota scowled.
"Yes she is. I wish she would just disappear."
"Why? What's wrong withs her?"
"She's trying to steal my daddy from me."
"She is not."
"Is too. She is a daddy stealer. But I won'ts let her steal mine."
"Maybe she just wants somebody to care about her..."
"Well then she can find somebody else's daddy to care about her." dakota replied selfishly. "She only likes him cause he's Nick Carter. I hear the way she talks about him withs her friends..."
"Yeah, but Kota she isn't likes that withs us...She's totally different when they aren't around. Haven't you noticed? An' she doesn't ever plays with them anymore either."
"That's because they were smart an' ditched her. Now we're stuck hangin' out withs her. An' why does Josh hafta be nice to her? just because he's nice now it doesn't mean he's gotta be friends with her." Dakota replied, the last part in an annoyed tone.
"I don'ts know, maybe he likes her." Elenore suggested.
"What do you mean likes her?" Dakota snapped somewhat, though not in a harsh way and she looked at her best friend incredulously.
"Maybe he thinks she's a good friend."
"That's all?" Dakota interrogated.
"Yeah...what did you think I meant?"
"I don'ts know...you two are close these days an' all, maybe you know something I don'ts. He just likes her as a friend?" Dakota double checked.
"Ye-aah..." Elenore replied, eyeing her friend curiously.
"Good...because...that would be very gross if he like...had a crush on her or something."
"Oh yeah...very gross." Elenore replied, now smiling some as she is catching on to the unsaid words being spoken by her best friend. The words only she can hear. "Don't worry Kota, Joshy doesn't likes Sarah that way at all, I promise. That I know for sure."
"How do you know for sure?"
"Because I know Joshy. Trust me he doesn't."
"Good...because he can do so much better." Dakota insisted.
"Yes he can," Elenore agreed, and she wrapped her arm around Dakota and hugged her close to her and Dakota hugged her back. Elenore looked over at Josh and smiled a little. Josh noticed her in the corner of his eye and turned his head around toward her.
"What?" He asked her curiously and Elenore smirked.
"Nothing Joshy, nothing. You just continue having that conversation over there." Josh looked at her confused for a couple of moments, then he went back to talking to Sarah. Marcus and Q who were sitting near by secretly listening in on the girl's conversation looked at each other with raised eyebrows and Marcus shook his head smiling.
"Since when do kids start having crushes so young?"
"I don't know dude, times have definitely changed thats for sure. Kota has had her heart set on Josh since she could talk. Her entire four years have always been about getting him to appreciate her. Why do you think she always wanted to play with him so bad?" Marcus replied.
"Because she was lonely and didnt have friends," Q shrugged.
"Well, that too." The kids played for an hour, then when they finally got tired they settled down in their sleeping bags and watched the movie that marcus had started over and by the time they were all asleep and had been for an hour, Nick, Kevin, Ashley, Kori, and Brian snuck in quietly. They looked over at Q and marcus who got up and went over to them.
"How long have they been asleep?" Kevin asked curiously.
"For an hour," Q answered. "They spent a lot of time playing until they finally crashed." Brian rolled his eyes while grinning.
"I figured they would," he replied. Nick and Kevin then went over to Dakota and Elenore, and Kori over to Spencer. Nick carefully gathered Dakota into his arms so he is cradling her. She felt his touch and opened her eyes slightly.
"Daddy?" she asked softly.
"Shh...baby go back to sleep," Nick whispered and he leaned down and kissed her forehead before rocking her gently in his arms. She stared up at him with tired eyes for a couple of minutes, before closing them again and he covered her up with her blanket and shifted her some so that her head is rested against his shoulder and he looked at Ashley and motioned toward Sarah. Ashley went over to her and carefully took her into her arms managing not to wake her up and she followed Nick over to Brian and Kevin who has Elenore cradled in his arms too.
"We better get going before Ellie wakes up and realizes she's not with Josh anymore," Nick whispered to Kevin.
"Yeah," Kevin agreed.
"I'll bring Josh up to Ellie's bed bright and early when we arrive at the Orphanage tomorrow," Brian whispered. "That way she can wake up to him by her side at least."
"Kay thanks," Kevin replied, and he followed Nick, Ashley, and Kori out of the game room and down the stairs and the four of them got in their cars - Kori in Wiley's, and they headed back to the orphanage, and by some miracle they were able to put all of the kids in bed without any problems. As soon as they were gone Brian went over and skillfully scooped both Josh and Chris up into his arms without waking either of them up either and he carried them into Josh's room. When he got in there, he lay them in the queen size bed and covered them up and he crawled into bed next to Josh after pulling Chance onto the bed with them and he lay there watching him sleep for awhile as he played with his hair and he smiled to himself. He still can't believe that he is a father to this boy. He lay there next to Josh for a half n hour, nearly falling asleep when suddenly Riley walked in. He looked at her and she smiled a little bit.
"Coming to bed honey?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah sorry...I got distracted," Brian replied, and he crawled out of bed before kissing Josh's forehead and he turned and followed Riley out of the room before closing the door just a crack.
~*~*~*~
The next day, just as promised when Brian and Riley arrived at the Orphanage at five-thirty in the morning Brian carried Josh who is still asleep and in his pajamas, up to Elenore's room. When he got in there he found Kevin and Elenore still asleep. He brought Josh over to the bed and carefully lay him next to Elenore. He covered him up and kissed his forehead and he lay his donald duck next to him, then he left the room and met up with Riley in the hallway.
"Did you lay Chris in his bed?"
"Yeah...i'm going to see if Brooke is in her office okay?"
"Yeah you do that. I'm gonna go see if any of the early risers are up and playing yet." Brian replied. He kissed her cheek and went off in one direction and Riley headed for the other. When she got downstairs to the lobby she went to Brooke's office. She knocked first, then peeked her head in and Brooke looked up from her paperwork momentarily, and then back down at it. Riley looked at her in shock as she could just see the bags under her best friend's eyes.
"Have you not gone to bed at all, Brooke?" She asked, and she shut the door behind her.
"I...I got very busy with my work and by the time I realized I hadn't gone home yet it was 4:30 in the morning and I thought there was no point seeing as how I would've had to be back in a couple of hours anyway."
"That is what the bed in your office is for, Brooke!" Riley replied, indicating toward the door that leads to the small bedroom connected to Brooke's office. She often sleeps in there when she doesn't want to go home. "You could have just gone to bed here."
"I wasn't tired."
"Then how do you explain the bags under your eyes?" Brooke shrugged, and didnt look up from her paperwork. Riley went over and sat in the chair on the other side of her desk.
"Come on Brooke...talk to me. What happened on your date last night? Aje told me you had a breakdown..."
"It wasn't a date! And he didnt tell you why did he?" Brooke snapped, and sounded somewhat panicked all at the sametime.
"No...he said it wasn't his place to tell me. He said that I would have to ask you." Riley answered, and she watched as Brooke calmed down and continued what she was doing. She sat there watching Brooke expectantly for a couple of minutes, and when Brooke didnt say anything, she spoke up again.
"Well?"
"I'm busy Ri. I don't have time to talk right now."
"You've been doing that all night, I'm pretty sure it's okay if you take a break and talk to me."
"I don't want to take a break." Brooke replied rather firmly. "I want to be left alone. Don't you have a cafeteria to set up? Breakfast is in a couple of hours."
"I am your best friend, Brooke. When are you going to stop trying to push me away and realize that I am not going anywhere?" Brooke didn't reply, she only continued to look down at her papers, now fully ignoring Riley in hopes that she will go away. "Why is it, that you were able to tell Aje what's wrong, but when it comes to me you can't tell me a damned thing?"
"If I had it my way, I would've never even gone on that stupid....friends night out thing with AJ in the first place! I wouldn't have told him anything!"
"AJ told me you enjoyed yourself. You don't think the date was stupid in the least bit."
"Well I am glad the two of you had such a good time talking about me behind my back."
"We weren't talking about you behind your back. We asked him how his date went when he showed up at Brian's house and he told us what happened. We were concerned for you. I was concerned for my best friend for crying out loud Brooke!"
"Well don't worry. I'm fine."
"Yeah right, Brooklyn. I wouldn't exactly call having a break down, fine. Why can't you just tell me what the problem is? I'm your best friend...you would think I would be the first person to know!"
"Because...it's none of your business." Brooke insisted, and Riley noticed her tense up some.
"When something is terribly wrong with my best friend that i've known since first grade...then it becomes my business." Riley insisted gently.
"I don't want to talk about it, Riley, please." Brooke replied softly as she is becoming weak.
"Why not? Why can't you talk about it?"
"Because...I-I feel ashamed..." Riley stared at Brooke for a few minutes, studying her behavior and it suddenly dawned on her, as she recognizes the same behavior that Ashley had not too long ago and still sometimes has to this day.
"Brooke...did something happen during our senior year? Something terrible?" She asked softly.
"No...Riley please...just drop it."
"No I won't drop it. Honey I have to know..." Riley insisted, and she got up and moved her chair around so that it's next to Brooke. She took Brooke's hands into hers and turned her to face her, and she looked into her eyes to find tears falling from her cheeks. She had not noticed them before, because Brooke was doing her very hardest to hide them. "What happened? You can tell me...you don't have to feel ashamed. I'm your best friend and you should know that I will always love you no matter what. Nothing in this world could ever change that." Brooke didn't reply, she only broke down into sobs, and she threw her arms around Riley, buried her face in her shoulder. Riley wrapped her arms around her and hugged her close and she rubbed her hand over her back in slow circular motion.
"Shh...it's okay...i'm here. I will always be here..." Riley whispered softly in her ear. "I love you..." She reassured her, and she sat there continuing to hold her close to her, as she lets her cry it all out.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
