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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
One-Hundred-Twenty-Six



Meanwhile, out in the backyard, when Ashley got outside with Dakota everybody looked at her and Marcus grinned at Dakota lovingly.



"Hey there Kota…I'm glad you decided to join us after all," he told her gently, and Dakota rested her head against Ashley and held on tight. Ashley looked over at Josh, Elenore, and Sarah who are playing jump rope.



"Why don't you go and play jump rope sweetie?"



"You promised not to leaves me," Dakota reminded.



"I know I won't." Ashley insisted, and she knelt down and set Dakota on the ground, so she is standing in front of her, and she wrapped an arm around her, as Dakota clung to her tight like a magnet stuck to metal.



"I will sit here and watch you the whole time. I promise. Dakota looked over at her friends, who had stopped jumping and were suddenly watching her.



"Come on Kota, come play with us," Josh pleaded.



"Yeah Kota, please?" Elenore begged. Sarah just stood there quietly, as she would prefer it that she didn't join them. Dakota looked up at Ashley and Ashley smiled down at her encouragingly.



"Go on sweetheart. It'll be fun I promise." Dakota finally released the strong death grip she has on her and she sheepishly walked over and joined her friends, as if they were complete strangers that she was just meeting for the first time.



"Can I jump withs you Ellie?" she asked softly.



"Actually Sarah and I were in the middle of jumping — but you can the second time around," Elenore answered gently, as she knows that for some odd reason, Dakota is in a very sensitive mood. Dakota stared at her best friend then in disbelief. First her daddy, and now her best friend too? What is going on here? Dakota turned around and headed back toward Ashley as her eyes were beginning to cloud up with tears. Ashley immediately got up and scooped Dakota up and she brought her back over to her friends.



"How about the three of you jump together, huh?" she reasoned.



"That sounds like a good idea to me," Marcus agreed.



"But we were doing a two person rhyme," Elenore insisted.



"I know honey, but how about you do a three person one instead?"



"But I don'ts know any!"



"I know one," Ashley reassured, and she went over to Josh's end of the rope.



"Hey Josh, may I take over with turning the rope? All of you can jump to this." Josh nodded happily and handed the rope over to Ashley, and he went over and stood next to Dakota. He slung an arm over her shoulders and wrapped his other one around her too for a gentle hug, and she hugged him back gratefully, as she truly needs one.



"Go stand next to Kota and Josh you two and I will explain the game," Elenore and Sarah went over and joined the other two and they looked at Ashley expectantly.



"Okay — I am going to say the rhyme, and Marcus and I are going to turn the rope as I do. When Marcus calls your birthday you get to run toward the rope and jump in okay?"



"Okay!" Elenore agreed, smiling excitedly. Ashley looked over at Dakota.



"Does that sound good to you Kota?" Kota smiled slightly even though there are stray tears rolling down her cheek and she nodded.



"Sweet…okay here we go," Ashley replied, and she and Marcus began turning the rope.



"Strawberry Shortcake
Huckleberry Fin
When Marcus calls your birthday,
Please jump in!"



"January, February, March…" Marcus began calling out birthdays, and everytime he landed on one of the kid's birthdays, they would run and jump in and he would count up to the day of their birthday. If they messed up before then, they were out and he would carry on calling out months.



~*~*~*~*~*~



After the grownups finished up talking in the kitchen, Kevin got up and grabbed his cell phone from the counter and he left the kitchen to go make a couple of phone calls — AJ, and then his brothers. Nick looked at his own brother and his sisters, who were sitting at the table still — Angel, Leslie, and BJ are talking with Riley, Brian, and Howie and Aaron is just sitting there hugging his legs to his chest and silently thinking about things. Wiley and Kori have suddenly disappeared — no doubt they are most likely hiding from Ashley even though she is outside. They seemed a lot closer than usual during the meeting…which got him wondering just exactly why their door was locked last night. He knows all hell will break loose if Ashley finds out they were up to no good. Laney and Q had gone upstairs to watch the video cameras. Brian sat there thinking for a few moments, and then he got up with Tyke and he looked at Nick.



"Nick…come with me for a moment please," he spoke, and then walked out of the kitchen. Nick raised his eyebrow in confusion and then got up from his chair and followed suit. When he walked out of the kitchen he noticed Brian waiting for him by the front door.



"What's going on Bri?"



"I want to test Tyke…but I don't want to go out there by myself. As protective as Tyke can be I don't think he would be able to save me from danger — though I know the little guy would sure as hell try."



"Why don't we try some of the other puppies too?" Nick suggested. Brian nodded his head in agreement and Nick went over and gently scooped up Lil Rok who was lying on the couch resting. Abbie, who was lying in her dog bed next to the lazy boy chair, lifted her head up. When she saw Nick holding some other puppy she jumped up and went running over to him. Nick chuckled a little and bent over and picked Abbie up too.



"Where is Lily?" Brian asked curiously, as he noticed she was missing and he hasn't seen her all day. He knows Chance is upstairs with Spencer because he saw him take him up there.



"Kota has her — didn't you notice? She's in the pocket of her hoodie, just like her Uncle Brian does with his Chihuahua." Brian laughed a little and shook his head and then he opened up the front door and walked outside with Tyke and Nick followed with the other two puppies. When they got outside Nick left the door wide open just incase he would need to yell for someone and he and Brian set the dogs down acting like they are just taking them outside to run around and go potty. They hung back and watched them carefully, the two of them sitting on one of the steps to the porch. The puppies all sniffed around the yard, barked and chased each other around, went potty, and other things that dogs do, and eventually Brian got up and picked up one of their toys and he began to play fetch with Tyke and Lil Rok. Abbie remained sniffing around the yard as if she were on a mission or something and Nick sat there watching her curiously. After awhile, she eventually ended up at the gate. Tyke who noticed this suddenly became alert and he ran over to her barking and growling as if he were suddenly in 'daddy-mode' and telling Abbie to get the hell away from that gate. Abbie turned right around and began barking and growling back as if she isn't going to take anything from no one. As soon as she had moved away from the gate he stopped and Abbie went back to her sniffing, though she went elsewhere. Nick and Brian both exchanged meaningful looks with each other. Brian walked over and picked Tyke up. He kissed Tyke's head and stroked his back lovingly and he pulled his handy remote out of his pocket and pointed it at the gate. He opened it up and carried Tyke out and Nick watched protectively and curiously. When he was standing outside the gate he set Tyke down. Just as he suspected, he went straight for the bushes that Elenore said the guys were hidden in her dream — straight toward the bushes that he was sniffing around yesterday before their walk. Brian went over there and peeked in, around, and behind the bushes. He didn't see any guys hidden in them but he did spot footprints. Whoever was spying on them was dumb enough to step in the mud. Brian looked over at Nick who was standing there waiting for Brian to tell him what's up.



"So what's the verdict Rok?"



"Whoever was hiding in these bushes wears a size 9." Nick looked at Brian confused.



"They were stupid enough to step in the mud and leave footprints."



"Ah…got'cha…" Nick understood. Brian bent over and picked up Tyke.



"You are such a good guard dog, yes you are he told him in his Donald Duck impression and Tyke licked his cheek affectionately as he carried him back inside the yard and closed the gate.



"I think two doggie treats are needed for such good guard dogs, mhm," he added and Tyke suddenly jumped from Brian's arms and went running toward the house in excitement. As soon as he got to the door he turned and looked at Brian to see if he was following, his little tail wagging eagerly. Brian laughed.



"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he reassured, and Tyke turned and dashed on into the house where he knows where the dog treats are kept. When he got into the kitchen he went over to the counter where they are kept and sat down looking up at them eagerly, his little tail still wagging. Everybody looked at him curiously and Kevin chuckled a little.



"Brian must have told him he was getting a treat." Just as soon as Kevin had said that Brian walked in and Tyke looked at him pleadingly. Brian shook his head smiling and went over to the counter, opened up the container of treats, and he grabbed two, and he knelt down and allowed Tyke to take them out of his hand. As soon as he ate them Brian pet him affectionately.



"Wow, two treats? What'd he do to earn that?" Howie asked curiously, as he watched Nick walk in with Lil Rok and Abbie and he went over and got them treats too just because.



"He was a good guard doggie that's what he did," Brian answered proudly, and Kevin raised his eyebrow.



"What? You mean he caught the guys?"



"Well we now know one of them has big feet," Brian answered, as if that's a very important fact right there. Everybody looked at him weirdly. "Whoever was hiding in those bushes outside were dumb enough to step in the mud and leave prints behind. Nick and I took the dogs outside for a little test. We were out there playing with them acting like everything was normal, that we just took them out there to run around and go potty. Well while we were playing with them Abbie went sniffing around the gate and Tyke didn't like that too much and went into father mode. He ran over and started barking and growling at her as if he were telling her that's the danger zone and to get away right now. Abbie talked back a little, but eventually listened. So that right there proved that there was something wrong here." He elaborated.



"So Brian picked up Tyke and took him outside of the gate and set him down to see where he would go, and he went straight for the bush that Ellie told Q the bad guys were hidden in, in her dream. Brian checked it out and saw size 9 shoe prints in the mud."



"What if they were prints of someone around here?" Aaron asked skeptically.



"No one around here wears a size 9 Air," Nick answered.



"And anyhow, what business would any of us have being in the bushes?" Aaron shrugged his shoulders and suddenly Q walked into the kitchen.



"Find anything interesting in those bushes?" he questioned. Brian gave him a confused look at first and then he remembered the cameras and realized Q and Laney had been watching him the whole time.



"Just size 9 footprints. Whoever was there stepped in the mud," Brian answered.



"Hmm…"



"Anyway, I'm going to get Ashley and bring her in. The two of us need to get dressed and be on our way," Nick spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence. "So I hope you are all prepared for the kiddies to come in."



"And for Kota to have a fit? That's going to be fun…" Leslie replied.



"Bring it on," Brian replied bravely. "I'll deal with it." Nick chuckled and then walked out into the backyard and as soon as he did all eyes were suddenly on him.



"DADDYYYYY!" Dakota exclaimed happily, and she dropped the jump rope and ran over to him. Nick laughed and knelt down before holding his arms out to her and she went flying into them. He closed his arms around her and hugged her affectionately.



"Hi baby girl," he told her, and he kissed her cheek. "Are you having fun playing with your friends?"



"Uh-huhs — Ashee knows lots of fun jump roping rhymes! We are going to keeps on playin' cause it is fun."



"Actually I need to steal Ashee away for awhile, okay? But you can keep on playing," Nick replied, knowing he's pushing it. Dakota frowned.



"Why?"



"Because, her and I need to go upstairs and talk."



"Can I goes an' talk withs you?"



"I'm afraid not sweetheart. Daddy needs to talk to her alone for awhile. But you were having so much fun playing with your friends…don't let us stop you." He told her encouragingly and he stood up and looked at Ashley. Ashley went over to him and he took her hand. She leaned down and kissed Dakota's cheek.



"I love you Kota. I promise I will play with you later okay?" Nick smiled at Dakota and ruffled her hair.



"And as soon as I'm done with Ashley you and I will go to the park. Okay?"



"You promise?" Dakota asked softly.



"I promise.



"Kay…" Nick turned and led Ashley into the house and Dakota went over and continued to play with Josh, Elenore, Sarah, and Marcus, though she was still very upset. They played for a few moments later, and then Brian peeked his head out of the door.



"Who wants Popsicle's?" he asked, grinning big.



"MEEEE!!!" all four kids exclaimed, and Elenore dropped the rope in her hands as the four of them ran into the house. Marcus chuckled and followed. When they all got in there they found Spencer and Ryan already sitting at the table and Brian was getting Popsicle's from the freezer. He looked over at Dakota, who even at the excitement at Popsicle's still looked depressed. As soon as he handed them out to everybody but her, he went over and picked her up and he kissed her cheek and sat down in a chair with her in his lap and he handed her a Popsicle. He told Nick he'd deal with it…and he meant it. A little bribery and diversion never hurt anybody — he just hopes Nick and Ashley leave quietly and don't ruin it.