Chapter Nine:
“So…you two are going to continue living in this Orphanage?” Brooke asked Nick curiously, after they had both signed the papers, Brooke signing them all the way through this time.
“Yeah…that is if you will let us.”
“Are you kidding me? This is your home Nick we wouldn’t have it any other way. To be honest, as much as I’ve been waiting on you to adopt Dakota I’ve also feared the day because I always thought that you were just here because of her. You’re one of my best employees…and a pretty good friend too and I don’t want you to stop coming here just because you’ve adopted Dakota.”
“Not a chance Brooke…I love this place too much I could never leave it. When I’m not on tour I spend more time here then I do at my house. I’ve been home maybe once since the day I came back. The kids are great…every single one of them and I’ve met some amazing friends here. And besides…if you think I could just leave Ashley like that you’re insane.” Brooke laughed.
“Yeah…but you didn’t always have Ashley. I’m talking about before she arrived.”
“And I honestly don’t know how I survived either.” Brooke laughed once more.
“Aww…Carter are we in love?”
“Noooo… I’m just saying the girl is excellent at advice. Sometimes I feel like we’ve switched roles. Her as the caregiver, and me the patient.”
“She is pretty good I was listening to your little argument yesterday. I came up to check on you and heard you talking so I stood outside her door and listened. But anyway I’m pretty impressed that you’ve gotten her to open up that much. Before you came a long we could barely get two words out of her and if we did she was shouting at someone and crying. She must really like you.”
“More than that’s. She loves him. And daddy loves her.” Dakota spoke up suddenly and Brooke smiled in amusement as Nick blushed.
“Is that so?” she asked.
“Uh-huh’s. He had Mrs. Allen make her a special breakfast the other day and he’s given her flowers twice so fars.”
“I was just being nice baby, that’s all. I was trying to earn her trust.”
“And her love.” Dakota insisted.
“Okay sweetheart, that’s enough out of you.” Nick replied after chuckling and he kissed the top of her head. Brooke laughed.
“I would listen to your daughter Nick. She’s a smart little girl and sometimes knows things you don’t.” Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door and Doctor Johnson peeked in.
“What’s up doc?” she asked, and Dakota giggled as she was suddenly reminded of Bugs Bunny her absolute favorite cartoon. Brooke smiled at her lovingly and then looked back at Doctor Johnson.
“Well there is a lady out here to see you. She’s…well…not the friendliest and she has a little girl with her named Elenore.” Doctor Johnson answered quietly so that only Nick, Dakota, and Brooke could hear him.
“Okay thanks, I will be right out.”
“Okay,” Doctor Johnson replied and he walked back out shutting the door behind him. Nick turned and looked at Brooke.
“Well Dakota and I will just be getting out of your way now…” He told her and he stood up and shifted Dakota so she’s sitting on his hip and she again wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder.
“Okay Nick. See you later,” Brooke replied. Suddenly Dakota slid from Nick’s arms and he looked at her curiously as she ran around the desk and over to a confused Brooke. She threw her arms around her and hugged her tight.
“Thanks for accidentally not signing those papers Brookie.” she told her softly.
“No problem sweetie…did you really think I was going to let them take you? Not a chance. You’re way too special to us.” Dakota smiled up at Brooke and Brooke smiled back and ruffled her hair. “Now go see your daddy. And take extra good care of him okay?” Dakota stood up straight dutifully, pretending to be one of Brooke’s employees.
“I wills, I promise! You can counts on me” Brooke couldn‘t help but laugh a little and Dakota turned and ran back to Nick. He scooped her up into his arms playfully and held her so he’s cradling her and she giggled loudly as he bent down and blew raspberries on her neck on his way out of the office. When they were gone Brooke became serious as she remembered what Doctor Johnson had told her.
“An unfriendly woman… great just the kind of people I love,” she spoke sarcastically to the empty room and she began to prepare herself to go out there.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When Nick walked out into the lobby with Dakota he saw Kevin, AJ, and Howie walking into the Orphanage. Nick grinned at the sight of his friends.
“Hey guys, what’s up? I didn’t know you were coming in today.”
“We were bored and just thought we’d come visit.”
“That’s cool.” Suddenly Dakota again slid from Nick’s arms and she ran over to Howie and hugged his leg tight. Howie chuckled and reached down and picked her up.
“Hello sweetie, good to see you too.” He told her, and he returned her hug.
“Guess what uncle D!”
“What?”
“Daddy finally adopted me!!”
“Did he really?” Howie asked, and three very confused but hopeful Backstreet Boys were now looking at Nick. Nick grinned and nodded.
“Yup just now!” Dakota answered, beaming proudly.
“What made you finally do it?” AJ questioned.
“It’s a long story. I will explain everything to you once we get into the playroom okay? Riley and Brian are in there.”
“Okay.”
“Elenore, stop staring!” a woman’s voice suddenly barked angrily. “It’s rude.” Nick, AJ, Howie, and Kevin all turned and looked where they heard the voice from to see a little girl standing near her mother and she was staring at Kevin in awe. She looks like she’s about Dakota’s age and she has dark brown hair - almost black, and hazel eyes. From where Nick is standing he can tell that the little girl has freckles across the bridge of her nose. When the little girl didn’t look away her mother became very impatient. She grabbed Elenore’s arm and sharply turned her so that she is facing her.
“What did I tell you?” she asked her.
“Sorry mother“ The little girl replied in such a tone that made it very clear she wasn’t sorry at all. The mother suddenly raised her hand as if she was going to smack the little girl and the little girl moved back ready to take the blow but the mother decided better of it and put her hand down.
“Just a little while longer…just a little while longer do I have to put up with this.” She told herself quietly and she let her daughter go. Elenore grabbed hold of her now sore arm and she began to rub it as she went and sat two chairs away from her mother and instead of staring at Kevin, she stared at the ground. Nick, AJ, Howie, and Kevin all looked at each other exchanging looks of worry. Suddenly the door to Brooke’s office opened and she finally came out of it. She looked to her right and saw the woman and little girl that she assumes is the not-so-friendly woman and Elenore sitting in the chairs outside her office.
“Elenore?” She asked kindly, and the little girl looked up from the floor and at Brooke with angry tears in her eyes that made Brooke very concerned.
“Yes, that’s my daughter. Are you Brooke?”
“Yes I’m Brooke. It is my understanding that you’re here to talk to me?” The woman nodded and stood up and she looked at Elenore with a firm look. Elenore took this as a hint and stood up too.
“Okay well then let’s go into my office where we can have some privacy,” Brooke replied, and she turned and walked into the office. As she did the woman looked at her daughter. Elenore cautiously walked ahead of her and into Brooke’s office and the mother followed her shutting the door behind her.
“I really hope Brooke gets that woman’s name. I wouldn’t doubt that there are bruises all over that poor little girl’s body.” Kevin announced to the rest of the guys, as he feels for Elenore. All she was doing was looking at him. What’s wrong with that? She must’ve just been a fan and had recognized him. She didn’t need to be yelled at for it. Kevin made a mental note in his head to have a talk with the little girl later; because he has a feeling he’s going to be seeing a lot of her.
“She will…Brooke always gets the names it’s required. Come on…let’s go into the playroom,” Nick reassured Kevin and he turned and headed toward the playroom as he now held Dakota again and the rest of the guys followed him. When they got in there they found Brian and Riley sitting on the floor in a circle with all the kids in the room and they were all just sitting there telling stories. Brian and Riley looked up when they heard the door open and they saw Howie, AJ, and Kevin walk in and Nick was behind them with Dakota in his arms. Brian and Riley smiled at this. While Riley was reading the kids a book Brian placed the little girl named Rochelle who was seated in his lap down on the floor beside him and he got up and went to greet his friends. He hugged Howie, AJ, and Kevin and they all returned it.
“Not that I am not happy to see you or anything, but what are you three doing here?”
“Thought we’d visit the two of you since you two never leave the Orphanage long enough to come visit us,” AJ teased. Brian smirked.
“Sorry man… it’s been pretty crazy around here.”
“Yeah so I heard,” AJ replied, and he turned and looked at Nick. “So where’s this long story about you adopting Dakota that you promised to tell us when we got in here?” Nick grinned and he looked down at Dakota in his arms as she looked up at him. He kissed her forehead and she slid from his arms and ran off over to Riley who was still reading that book she was reading and it just happened to be The Three Little Pigs. She crawled into Riley’s lap as Riley sat on the floor Indian style and she managed not to interrupt her reading. Riley smiled a little bit and rested her chin on top of Dakota’s head lightly and Dakota sat there looking at the pictures of the book and listened to the story while Nick told the guys his own story of how and why he adopted Dakota.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The entire time Brooke sat and talked to the lady that brought Elenore in she sat there observing the way Elenore behaved. She’s seen this behavior many times before from children who have been brought in and she knows the poor little girl has been abused for who knows how long. Probably for the past five years of her life. She’s wearing a long sleeved purple shirt and a pair of blue jeans and she’s sitting there with her arms crossed over her chest and she looks very tense. In her eyes Brooke can see so much pain and sadness in them not to mention they’re also pretty much screaming ‘help me’ at her every time she catches Elenore’s gaze.
“So you’re wanting to leave Elenore here? Is that what you’re telling me?” Brooke asked after listening to the woman’s list of complaints about how rotten her daughter is.
“Yes, that is if you’re willing to take her. She has a severe behavior problem and isn’t easy to take care of at all. I wouldn’t blame you if you turned away from her.” The woman warned.
“No…that’s quite alright I think its best she does stay here,” Brooke replied gently, as she looked at Elenore sympathetically. “What is your name ma’am?”
“Why?” the woman asked cautiously.
“It’s important that I know your name if you want me to take Elenore off your hands. It’s a requirement.”
“Shelly Ellerbee.” the woman replied shortly. Brooke nodded and she began to fill out the paper work asking Miss Ellerbee required questions.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time Nick had finished telling his story all four of his friends were hugging him and telling him how happy and proud of him they’re and that he made the right decision in adopting her. Kevin told him that he was stupid for even believing that he would be alone in raising Dakota and reassured him over and over again that him, Howie, AJ, and Brian would always be around to help no matter what. By the time they went to Riley and Dakota, Riley had finished reading the book and the kids were all one by one wandering off to do their own things again. Riley got up still holding Dakota and she went and sat at an empty table that didn’t have any of the kid’s activities on it and the rest of the adults followed her lead.
“Where is Ashley?” Nick asked curiously when he sat down in one of the chairs next to Riley and he reached over and stole his daughter from her and pulled her close to him affectionately.
“She insisted on going upstairs to take a nap. I tried to get her to reconsider and wait until you got back so that you could go up there with her but she said that she doesn’t want to talk to you unless you’ve got Dakota with you and she insisted that she would be fine. I was not about to let her throw one of her fits so I gave in. I’m really worried about her though.”
“I’ll go check on her,” Nick replied and he got up from his chair with Dakota cradled in his arms. “Kota and I need to go up there anyway and get settled back into her room. Into our room…”
“Okay,” Riley replied and Nick turned and headed toward the door to the lobby as he kissed Dakota’s forehead softly. She hugged him tight as she is still a little afraid of letting him go too far. Suddenly on his way out he saw Brooke on her way in with Elenore at her side holding her hand and she looks like she had been crying pretty hard.
“Hey Nick…where are you off to?” She asked.
“Gotta go check on Ashley. She went upstairs by herself against Riley’s wishes so I told her that I would go sit up there. And besides I want to spend a little time with Kota and maybe get her settled back into our room.”
“Ooh, okay.” Brooke replied. Nick nodded and he continued to head toward the elevator and Brooke continued to lead Elenore into the playroom. She brought her over to a curious Riley, Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin.
“Hey Brookie…who is this?” Brian asked curiously.
“My new little friend Elenore…she’s going to be staying here with us from now on. Elenore this is Riley. You’ll be seeing a lot of her around here. She’s a very friendly person and will always be here to help you if you should need it. Okay?” Elenore nodded quietly.
“Why don’t you see if maybe one of these nice guys will take you over to the toys for awhile, while I talk to Riley?” Elenore looked at the four guys she recognizes as four fifths of The Backstreet Boys. Her favorite group ever. She looked at Kevin the man she had first recognized in the lobby and had been staring at before her so called mother nearly smacked her for it.
“I’ll do it,” Kevin immediately offered when he noticed her looking at him.
“Thanks Kev,” Brooke replied and Kevin got up and offered the little girl his hand. She cautiously took a hold of it and he walked off with her toward all of the toys.
“She’s awfully quiet….is she alright? Why was she crying?” Riley immediately asked when Elenore was out of ear shot.
“Her mother just dropped her off here after giving me a horrible list of the reasons why her daughter is so rotten and she just can’t handle her anymore. Before this when I had first invited her into my office I asked her if maybe it’d be better if Elenore waited in the chairs in the lobby. The horrible woman insisted that her daughter should stay in the room and hear everything though. After signing all the papers and answering all of my questions she left without so much as a single good bye to Elenore - she didn’t even look back. When she was gone Elenore flung herself to the floor and just cried hysterically for ten minutes straight. When I had gotten her to finally calm down I brought her in here…”
“Wow…that’s really horrible,” Howie replied softly.
“Did you happen to get the name of this woman?” AJ asked curiously.
“Yeah of course…it’s required that I do. Shelly Ellerbee. Why?”
“Kevin was concerned about it earlier…he said that he wouldn’t doubt if there are bruises all over Elenore’s body.”
“Oh yeah there is…trust me. I know how to spot abuse a mile away by now. I was planning on informing the police right away as soon as I got done bringing her in here.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“So…Elenore, How old are you?” Kevin asked curiously after bringing her over to the empty play dough table. Kevin sat playing with the play dough in hopes that Elenore would join in but she only sat there and watched him.
“Five…”
“That’s cool. You’re just one year older then my best friend Nick‘s daughter. She’s four… I bet you two would get a long great. I’ll have to introduce you to her later. Would you like that?” Elenore nodded quietly. Kevin sat there in silence for a couple of minutes trying to think of something else to say.
“Are you a Backstreet Boys fan?”
“Yeah…” she answered softly. “Since I was three.”
“That’s cool…who’s your favorite Backstreet Boy?”
“Brian! Loves Brian lots an’ I like you lots too. You’ve been my protector for two years now.” Elenore answered, suddenly going from upset to excited in not even a minute. Kevin can tell the Backstreet Boys mean a great deal to her.
“Oh yeah? How is that?”
“Just…because.” she answered, suddenly going back to her quiet and sad self.
“Do you have a favorite Backstreet Boys song?” He asked, wanting so badly to know why he’s been deemed her protector but also not wanting to force it out of her as he can tell it’s a sensitive subject.
“Yeah I likes I’ll Never Break Your Heart.“
“Awesome…that’s a very good choice.” Elenore nodded quietly, finally cautiously making a move to pick up the play-dough in front of her. She eyed Kevin a moment to ensure he wasn't going to get mad, and silently began to squish the blue play-dough between her fingers. Kevin watched her, wondering what her mother and possibly her father as well, had done to her to make her so unsure and quiet. Elenore played in silence, until some of the play-dough fell to the floor. She suddenly went into panic mode. "I's sorry! I's sorry!" She exclaims, quickly diving to pick the play-dough up. Kevin gently reached to comfort her, grabbing her arm gently - only to have her start screaming bloody murder.
"NO!!!!! I'S SORRY!!!!! DON'TS HURTS ME!!!! LEGGO!!!!! LEGGO!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!" Elenore shrieked. "I'MA BE GOOD!!!! I'MA BE GOOD!!!!!!!! I SWEARS!!!!!!!!!!" Kevin looked perplexed, not knowing what to do other than let her go - but he had to calm her down. Soon as he'd let go of her arm, Elenore shot off like a rocket straight for the door. She needed to hide! She had to hide! Before somebody hurt her for dropping the play-dough. Kevin quickly got up and went after her, gently scooping her up, only to have her scream even more hysterically, as she began to wriggle and writhe about in his arms, midst kicking and flailing her arms. "NO!!!!!!!! LEGGO!!!!!!!!!!" Elenore sobbed. "LEGGO!!!!!!!!! I'S DIDN'TS MEANS TO BE BAD!!!!!!!!!"
"Hey-hey," Kevin said loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to scare her. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not mad. I promise." When talking didn't seem to work, he did the only thing he could think of - he started to sing, while rocking her gently - despite her struggles to break free. Elenore slowly began to calm down, upon hearing the voice that always calmed her when she was scared or hysterical. She hiccupped and whimpered softly, midst sniffles. "There we go," Kevin smiled, sitting down on the floor with her, right where they were near the playroom door. "No one here is going to hurt you, Sweetie. We're all here to keep you safe. You don't have to be scared anymore. I know you probably won't believe me, but if anybody does hurt you, I'll take care of it and make sure they never do again." Elenore snuggled close, wincing slightly. Kevin frowned.
"Where's it hurt, Little One?" Elenore whimpered, pointing to her tummy. "Can I look?" Kevin asked carefully, and upon seeing her nod, lifted her shirt up some. He gasped upon seeing the huge bruise on the little girl's stomach, and all the little ones surrounding it. It almost seemed as if her whole body was just one big bruise. "Brooke! Riley!" He called urgently. "I need you both to come here a moment!" Brooke, Riley, and his band mates looked over at Kevin to see Elenore in his lap and that she had been crying. Concerned, Brooke and Riley went over there.
“What’s wrong Kev?” Riley questioned.
“Look what I found,” Kevin answered and he again pulled Elenore’s shirt up so they could see her bruises. Brooke gasped.
“Oh my god…” she replied softly. She knew there were bruises but she never imagined that they were that bad. She kneeled down before the little girl and Kevin.
“May I look Elenore? Please?” she asked gently and Elenore nodded quietly. Brooke carefully lifted her shirt all the way up and over her head and not only was she covered in bruises, but she saw that a long her arms there were deep razor cuts.
“Sweetie….did you do this to yourself?” Brooke asked, indicating toward the cuts and Elenore shook her head as fresh tears rolled down her cheek.
“M-My m-mommy did.”
“You can tell it was her mother Brooke, you can see them all through out her body, not just there.” Kevin spoke up and he carefully pointed them out for Brooke to see. Brooke suddenly looked over at Brian who a long with Howie and AJ had followed Brooke and Riley over to Kevin and Elenore.
“Bri do me a favor and go get Doctor Johnson. We’re going to need him to take her over to the hospital so they can look her over and maybe heal some of this.”
“Okay,” Brian replied and he got up and walked out of the playroom.
“I’m going with him to the hospital. I’m not leaving her,” Kevin insisted and Brooke looked at Kevin and noticed just how much he cares about this little girl. It’s almost as if he feels like this little girl is all of the sudden his responsibility.
“Okay that’s fine,” she replied gently. “I’m sure Elenore would like that a lot. She seems comfortable right where she’s at anyway.” And it was true. Elenore was ready to scream and protest the very minute anyone tried to take her from Kevin. Her protector. For two years all she had was the sound of his voice on all of her CDS and the posters on her wall to help her feel safe. But now she has the real thing and she is determined to keep it that way. She had been so upset when she realized that her mother was leaving her there. Abandoning her and walking out of this building as if she were nothing to her. But then again she couldn’t be any happier. Her mother did her a favor because little did she know she had made her daughter’s dream come true. She would have never met Kevin if she hadn’t left her there.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
