Chapter Thirteen:
"Hey D.! How's this one look?" Howie groaned as he looked over at the younger man who was his best friend. They'd been in this one store forever, though this was their second shop.
"Great Alex. Now, c'mon. I'd like to get shoes sometime today. I mean, do you really need a half hour in a hat store?"
"Howie, you have to take great care when picking out the perfect hat or else it - holy shit, I think I just found it!" A.J. said, putting a black and blue striped cowboy hat on his head. "Sweet!" He smirked as he went over to pay the cashier, stuffing his old hat into the bag she handed him, then ripping the price tag off the one currently on his head. "Alright, let's go!" Howie stood in amazement, as his friend just walked past him and out of the store.
"Half an hour for just one hat?" He commented, as he followed A.J. out. "I've a feeling we're going to be even longer while picking out shoes."
"D., man, relax," A.J. told the older man, draping his arm over his friend's shoulders. "We're shopping and I'm not the only picky one. I mean, c'mon! You've only bought that elephant for your mother, and that was a process in itself."
"My mother deserves the best," Howie answered haughtily. "And only the best."
"I never said she didn't," A.J. stated, eyeing his friend a moment. "But that don't mean you don't deserve the best too. And Howie, for once in your life, splurge, will yah?"
"I'm not impulsive, Alex," Howie reminded him. "I don't see something I like and buy it right then and there. I look for the practically." A.J. rolled his eyes.
"Sometimes the practical things, are the boring things."
"Alex, everyone's different," Howie replied. "You shop how you want to shop, and I’ll shop how I want to shop."
"I'm just playin' yah, D. No need to get cranky," A.J. told his friend, giving his cheek a sloppy kiss just because.
"Alex!" Howie exclaimed, wiping his face. "And we wonder why 'gay' rumors get spread!" A.J. just laughed as he led the way into the shoe store they had found.
~*~*~*~*~
By the time Elenore finished trying on all the clothes she liked Kevin ended up buying her an entire new wardrobe. Kevin had her try on the clothes and come out and show him, Nick, Ashley and Dakota and she looked adorable but Dakota stated there was just way too much pink. So Kevin and Elenore ended up going back out and picking some blue and purple outfits out too. Dakota tried on a few clothes, but didn’t get nearly as much as Elenore.
“Are you sure that’s all you want baby?” Nick asked her as she had finished trying on the last of her clothes.
“Yeah daddy I’s sure. I wanna shop in Hot topic.” Nick chuckled.
“Okay,” he replied and he went and stood in the line to buy the outfits Dakota had picked out while Dakota waited with Kevin and Elenore. Kevin had finally gotten Elenore to let him put her down and she was standing there holding onto his pantleg as she looked around at things. She suddenly spotted a pink tutu in the dress up section and she stood there eyeing it longingly. She’s always dreamed of being a ballerina but she’s been told she’s not pretty enough. Kevin saw her looking at it and he grinned. He then reached down and took hold of her hand and also Dakota’s and he brought them over there.
“Do you like to play dress up Elenore?”
“I don’ts know… I never played before.” Dakota looked at Elenore in shock. Dress up is one of her favorite games! Especially when she manages to talk Nick into putting on makeup.
“You’ve never played dress up before? Not ever?” Elenore shook her head. Dakota looked up at Kevin suddenly.
“Uncle Kevy can we gets some dress up clothes so me and Elenore can plays?”
“Mm hmm. Do you want the tutu Elenore?” Kevin asked gently.
“Uh-huhs…please?” Kevin took the tutu off of the hanger and he grabbed the matching slippers as well.
“Why don’t you girls pick out three or four different outfits and I will go pay for them.”
“Okay,” Dakota replied happily and she offered her new friend her hand. Elenore looked at her skeptically for a minute but then took a hold of it and allowed Dakota to bring her further into the dress up clothes and together the two of them picked out clothes. Kevin stayed close by and watched with a grin on his face. He knows when Elenore finally gets comfortable with her she and Dakota are going to be inseparable.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“After this we’re going to go find clothes for you sweetie. What stores are you interested in?” Nick asked Ashley gently as the two of them stand at the cashier’s desk and he watched the cashier ring up all of Dakota’s clothes and fold them up and put them into a bag. He wrapped his arm around Ashley’s waist and pulled her close and he looked into her eyes.
“I like Hot topic…I’m very into the whole rock thing. And then I like Tilly’s too…but Nicky I really don’t want you to spend your money on me.”
“Ash I told you it was fine. I want to buy you clothes it’s not a problem at all.”
“I just don’t want to be a burden on you….or a pain in the ass like I was to him…”
“You aren’t I promise,” Nick replied gently and he cupped her cheek in his hand and tilted her head back gently so she’s looking him in the eyes. “Far from it. You really don’t know how much I care about you and want to see you happy.”
“You buying me stuff isn’t the key to making me happy you know… just you being here with me will do the trick Nicky I promise.”
“Well maybe not… but that doesn’t mean I still can’t buy you presents from time to time. Everybody else is getting stuff I just thought maybe you should have something to leave the mall with too. And when was the last time you’ve been taken to the mall and just been completely spoiled hmm?”
“Since my mom was alive…” Ashley answered softly.
“That’s right. So today I am going to change that whether you like it or not,” he told her and he rested his forehead against hers as he suddenly had a silly grin on his face and she couldn’t help but giggle a little. Hearing her giggle only made him grin even bigger. He loves to hear her giggle and see her smile. He doesn’t know what it is but he is completely infatuated with her. Everything about her amazes him…and what he loves the most is she is completely different then his usual type of girls. How she is different… he’s not quite sure yet but she is. After a few moments of gazing into her eyes he looked back at the cashier to see him just finishing up on putting all of the clothes in the bag and he held it out to Nick.
“Thank-you,” Nick told him after taking the bag and he looked down at Ashley. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he walked over to Kevin, his baby, and Elenore. When they got to them they found Dakota and Elenore handing Kevin four sets of dress up clothes each. Nick raised his eyebrow curiously.
“What’s all this Kev?”
“Elenore and Dakota need more dress up clothes. So I decided I would buy them some.” Kevin answered, and he walked off to buy the clothes with Elenore now once again holding onto his pantleg. Nick grinned and looked down at Dakota who was beaming up at him happily. He suddenly gathered her up in his arms and he hugged her close and kissed her cheek. She slid her arms around his neck and he rubbed his nose lightly over hers for an Eskimo’s kiss.
“Dress up huh? I should’ve known you would con your uncle into buying some for you.” She giggled.
“They are for Elenore, Daddy. Elenore’s never played dress up before.”
“For Elenore huh? And I suppose Elenore was the one who asked him for the clothes right? Quiet little Elenore?”
“Uh-huhs she did all by herself.” Nick chuckled.
“You’re such a little trouble maker.”
“I Learn from the bestest though.” Nick laughed once again.
“That’s right baby you do.” He agreed. “But daddy needs to learn to watch himself more around you.” When Kevin finished up on buying the dress up clothes he lifted Elenore back into his arms and walked back over to Nick, Ashley, and Dakota.
“So where to next?”
“Ashley wants to go to Hot Topic and then Tilly’s.” Nick answered.
“Yay! Hot Topic!” Dakota cheered happily. Nick grinned at his baby girl in his arms and he rested his forehead against hers.
“Okie dokie… Hot Topic and Tilly’s it is then.” Kevin replied, and they headed out of Mervyn’s.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Riley walked over to the area where the bathrooms are and she leaned up against the wall as she listened to her husband on the phone.
“Business is going great. I miss you though… I can’t wait to see you.” he told her and Riley couldn’t help but smile a little bit.
“Really?”
“Mm hmm… I’m sorry about our little fight the other day. You reacted the way anyone would’ve reacted and I shouldn’t have been so mean.”
“It’s okay Chase… I miss you too. You’re going to be home on Friday right?”
“Yeah…will you?”
“Of course I will. I really want to see you…”
“Yeah same here. Maybe if you will give me the chance I can make up for that dinner I canceled?”
“With candles?” Riley asked, the excited tone evident in her voice.
“With candles, and music, and flowers…everything. All for my baby because I was such an asshole.” Riley once again smiled and she felt a single tear roll down her cheek.
“That would mean so much to me Chase…you have no idea.”
“What time do you get off of work on Friday sweetie?”
“Well I have to work all day and do the night shift too so I probably won’t be home until 10:30.”
“Okay perfect then I can spend all day at home planning our romantic evening together. I’m off that day and everything. But right now I’ve gotta go baby… I’m due for a dinner meeting with my boss in 30 minutes and I still need to get ready.”
“Okay I will let you go then. Bye Chase… I love you.”
“Love you too,” Chase replied and he hung up. Riley did the same and she happily went back over to Brian where he was still sitting at the table eating his ice cream. She sat down and took her own ice cream in her hands and she began to eat it too.
“So…what’d he want?” Brian asked, trying to suppress his jealousy and be supportive of her.
“He just called me to tell me he misses me and to apologize for being such an ass the other day.”
“Yeah?” Brian asked, and he looked back down at his ice cream and concentrated on the colorful sprinkles.
“Yeah and he’s going to make up for the candlelit dinner that he canceled out on. He says he’ll be home the entire day Friday so while I am at work he is going to spend that time planning it and will have it all ready by the time I get home.” Brian forced a smile upon his face as he looked at her.
“That’s wonderful. I’m glad the two of you worked things out.” He told her, and he stood up and went to the garbage can to throw his now finished ice cream away and as he had his back turned he blinked back his tears and made sure that they stayed back before turning back around.
“Shall we go find another store to look in? You can finish eating that while we shop.” Riley looked at Brian confused for a couple of minutes at how weird he’s suddenly acting, than she nodded and stood up. He offered her his hand and she took it and allowed him to lead her away from Cold Stone.
~*~*~*~*~
“So…Ashley.” Nick started as he followed her around Hot Topic as she has Dakota rested on her hip and he watched as the two of them picked out clothes together. Kevin had decided he would take Elenore and go get them all some drinks since the food court wasn’t that far away.
“Hmm?” Ashley asked as she was going through the children’s clothes looking for something in particular that she knows would be cute on Dakota.
“You said you were into the whole rock thing earlier. What are your favorite bands?”
“Well I like a lot of pop punk bands… like Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Fall Out Boy, Green Day… and then I also like New Found Glory, The Ramones, Ozzy, Metallica, AFI, All American Rejects, Nirvana, Atreyu, HIM, My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, The Used…and then of course I LOVE the 80’s too. Like Guns N Roses…they’re my absolute favorite right now. I’m very infatuated by Slash’s guitar playing like you wouldn’t believe. Def Leppard, Cinderella…basically all of the big hair bands from back in the day.”
“Wow… I never had you down as someone who listened to punk/rock music. You just seem so quiet and shy I just assumed you were more into pop music and such - especially since you‘re a Backstreet Boys fan.” Nick replied, as he stood there watching her in amazement as she listed her favorite bands. He can tell that music is one of the greatest loves in her life just by the way she talks about it.
“You would’ve seen a whole different person if you had gotten to know me when my parents were still alive and none of this had ever happened. Yeah I love the Backstreet Boys but I grew up with my sister for 12 years of my life so I couldn’t help but get into every punk/rock band there ever was. She’s the one who got me into it all. Her and I used to shop together in this store all the time…”
“It sounds like you and your sister were really close…”
“Yeah we were… she was the whole world to me. I looked up to her and idolized her so much sometimes I wanted to be her. She was my big sister and I went almost everywhere with her. Unless of course it was with her friends… then that was a whole different story. I was never allowed to hangout with her and her friends and I never understood why. It wasn’t like I was an annoying little sister or anything…and I wasn’t that much younger then her either so we were like best friends. But that part of her life was always off limits to me and I always got really angry about it but she kept saying it was for the best.” Ashley explained, and she looked back down at the clothes rack in front of her. She suddenly pulled down a red and black plaid skirt that would fit Dakota and she showed it to her.
“What do you think of this skirt Kota? I think it would look very adorable on you.”
“I likes it a lot Ashee. Can I try it on? Please?” Dakota asked eagerly.
“Mm hmm but why don’t we find you a cool shirt to try on with it?”
“Okay,” Dakota replied happily and Ashley carried her over to the big wall that has all of the band t-shirts displayed on it and then there are many different shelves with the t-shirts in them that come in different sizes.
“What kind of bands are you into Dakota?” Ashley asked her. “They have shirts displayed right up there. You choose what you want and I will help you find your size.” Dakota looked for a few minutes and she suddenly saw a black Green Day t-shirt with a zip down American Flag coffin on it and it says ‘Green Day’ in white bold letters. Dakota grinned. She loves Green Day! And Good Charlotte, and Simple Plan and Nirvana.
“I wants that Green Day t-shirt, Ashee” She announced, and she pointed to the particular t-shirt that she wanted. Ashley looked up at it and saw that it was the third t-shirt from the top so she went to that shelf and looked through the different sizes of shirts until she found Dakota’s size. She pulled it out and handed it to her before looking at Nick.
“Nicky Dakota wants to try these on. Can we go and ask someone to let us in one of the dressing rooms?”
“Mm hmm,” Nick replied, and he took her hand and brought her over to the counter with him.
“Excuse me but can we get a dressing room please? My daughter wants to try some clothes on.”
“Sure thing,” the man at the counter answered, and he came out from behind the counter and began to lead the way back to the dressing rooms and Nick and Ashley followed. When they got back there the man unlocked the door for them.
“There you go,” he said.
“Thanks,” Nick replied and the man walked away. Ashley put Dakota down and Dakota went into the dressing room and shut the door. She knows how to dress herself and doesn’t need help. Nick knows she’ll need help with the zipper on the skirt though but he can do that when she lets him in to see.
“So Kori went out with her friends a lot then?” Nick asked, continuing the conversation from earlier, hoping Ashley isn’t too upset to continue it and hoping that the question was innocent enough that she wouldn’t suspect anything.
“Yeah all the time. She was always out really late and sometimes snuck out to see her boyfriend a lot too. Her and our parents fought a lot because she always broke curfew.”
“What was her boyfriends name? Did you know?”
“Scott Hayden…why?”
“Just wondering. Just trying to make conversation is all,” Nick answered innocently.
“Oh,” Ashley replied. “Well yeah he was the only one out of all her friends that I actually knew. He was pretty much part of the family...” she added and Nick was relieved to see that she didn’t suspect anything. He decided he would drop the subject though just in case.
“Kota baby, are you almost done in there?”
“Yeah daddy I am. Can you come in here and help me with the zipper?”
“Mm hmm,” Nick answered and he opened the door and walked in there to help her. When he finished he opened the door all the way and looked at Ashley and so did Dakota.
“How do I look Ashee?” She asked her and Ashley smiled at her.
“Like the cutest little punk rock kid ever,” Ashley answered and Dakota giggled.
“What do you think daddy?”
“I think you look adorable just like you always do, Angel.” Nick answered and she beamed happily as she looked herself in the mirror.
“Can I gets it daddy?”
“You sure can. Why don’t you change into your regular clothes again and then you can meet me and Ashley back out there. I’m going to go with her and help her find some clothes for her now okay?”
“Kay,” Dakota replied and he kissed her cheek. He got up and walked out of the dressing room and Dakota shut the door. Since she knew her daddy wasn’t going to be standing there guarding the door anymore she locked it as well. Nick took Ashley’s hand and brought her back out into the store and she began to find clothes for herself now and he stayed close to her and watched and every now and then would give her an opinion. Both of them were unaware that someone other then their security was standing there watching them. He-who-shall-not-be-named was hiding on the other side of the store pretending to be looking at stuff but also making sure Ashley doesn’t recognize him. He’s not planning on attacking them or anything. Not yet anyway. He knows that he won’t be able to make it past those huge security guards that are keeping a close watch on them - Ashley especially. Nah… that would have to be when the time was right. All he wanted to do was watch them, listen to their conversation, and see just exactly who he is up against. Just by listening to Ashley and Nick’s conversation he knows exactly what his next move is going to be. He knows exactly what he needs to do. Why didn’t he think of this before? He could just kick himself for being so stupid. He then turned and left the store and he left the mall. He needs to get home and call Doctor Adams.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter
It was co-written with Lenni
Enjoy =)
It was co-written with Lenni
Enjoy =)
