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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Twenty Eight



While Kevin worked on calming Elenore down Nick decided he would go check on Ashley and Dakota and have a talk with Ashley about why she freaked out earlier. He knows that she doesn’t get scared for no reason at all so it’s not a situation to be ignored. When he got into the Cafeteria he found Riley, Doctor Johnson, and fellow caregivers Jennifer Brinkmen and Casey Havoc entertaining the children with a very large game of Red Light Green Light. They had pushed all of the tables and chairs out of the way so that they would have room and other caregivers started to clean up the breakfast mess. They were all given orders by Brooke to keep the children in the cafeteria until the situation with the Ellerbee’s was taken care of. Riley who noticed Nick come in excused herself from the game and went over to him.


“What’s going on Nick? Is everything okay?” She asked quietly, as to not be over heard by any of the children.


“Mr. and Mrs. Ellerbee are gone now. They grabbed Ellie and tried to run off with her but they only got to the parking lot with her because Kevin, Brian, and I chased him down. Kevin and Mr. Ellerbee started beating each other up, I took Elenore from Kevin to get her away from the violence and Brian held Mrs. Ellerbee back in attempt to rescue her husband. I ran inside with Elenore after she had seen Kevin get hurt and started panicking so I don’t know what happened after that. I was in the lobby dealing with a hysterical Elenore who only wanted her Kevin.” Nick explained.


“Oh wow…are Kevin and Brian okay?”


“They seemed alright to me when they came in. Kevin was all beat up and stuff and Brian was holding Tyke and looked like he had been crying but other than that I think they’re gonna be okay…none of them have told me what went on out there though. Kevin is in the lobby dealing with Ellie and Brian headed toward the hospital wing.


“The hospital wing? Oh god… I need to go to him. Will you do me a favor and stay in here incase they need help with the kids? We’re supposed to keep them in here until Brooke says otherwise.”


“Yeah sure.”


“Thanks,” Riley replied and she kissed Nick’s cheek before turning and leaving the cafeteria. Nick watched after her curiously. Something is definitely going on between her and Brian because the two of them are acting very different today. Pushing the thought in the back of his mind until later he turned his attention on the children who were still playing red light green light. Ashley is also playing the game. She has Dakota’s hand as well as Holly’s - another child who is seven years old and she is leading them through the game. Doctor Johnson is the one calling out red light or green light and Jennifer and Casey are playing the game a long with the kids. He stood there watching the game and when it ended and Doctor Johnson was arranging to start another round, Nick went over to Ashley and Dakota.


“Daddy!” Dakota exclaimed as she reached up for him. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her close lovingly.


“Hi angel,” he greeted, and he kissed her forehead.


“Is Ellie gonna be okay daddy?” she asked eagerly.


“Mm hmm she’s going to be just fine.”


“An’ they’re nots gonna takes her?”


“No baby, they aren’t taking her. Kevin has her out in the lobby right now as we speak.”


“Can I go an’ sees her?”


“Mm hmm,” Nick answered. He kissed her cheek one last time before setting her on the ground and she hurried out of the cafeteria to see her friend. Nick turned his attention on Ashley.


“Come here baby….you and I need to have a talk.” He spoke gently and he took her hand and lead her over to two chairs that haven’t been stacked yet. She sat down in one and he sat in the other so that he is facing her. He scooted close to her and took her hands in his before gently squeezing them. He looked into her eyes concerned.


“What’s going on with my baby huh? Why were you scared of Mr. Ellerbee?”


“Don’t worry about it Nicky…it’s nothing. It was just me being paranoid about the opposite sex.” Ashley answered, darting her eyes away from Nick. But it was no use, he knows her pretty well by now and she knows it. He cupped her cheek in his hand and gently lifted her head so she’s looking up at him. He gently caressed her cheek.


“It is my job as your caregiver and boyfriend to worry about you. I can tell when you’re lying to me so how about you tell me the truth now?” he asked gently.


“Because I don’t know if I was over reacting or not, Nicky…it could be nothing and I don’t want to jump to conclusions…” Ashley replied softly, and he can see the fear in her eyes.


“Honey I know you don’t get scared over nothing. You have very good judgment and I trust you. I believed you the most out of everybody here that Doctor Adams wasn’t safe didn’t I? And I jumped through many hoops to prove you right. So why don’t you tell me and let me be the judge of that okay?” Ashley looked at him skeptically for a few moments.


“I - I think he might be Sean…” Nick’s eyes widened in shock. Sean?? He thought. He wasn’t expecting that.


“You think it was Sean? Baby you of all people should know if he was or not…you’ve seen him. You know what he looks like so wouldn’t you have recognized him?”


“Not if he was under a disguise… he wouldn’t come in here without one because yes you’re right I would’ve recognized him. But he has his eyes Nick…his dark scary eyes and he normally has a mustache too so he probably shaved it off. He was also wearing that long black jacket. Probably to hide his tattooed covered arms because I know each and every frightening tattoo on them…” Nick sat there thinking it over for a moment. Now that he thinks about it, he did look out of the ordinary.


“Okay…I believe you. Lets go find Riley and ask her what we should do.” He then got up and took Ashley’s hand and he brought her over to Doctor Johnson.


“Hey J, I’m going over to the hospital wing. Ash and I need to talk to Riley about something important and that’s where she is. Will you be okay or do you need my help?”


“No I’m okay. Is everything alright?”


“Yeah…we just have some suspicions to work over but everything is fine.”


“Okay well can you walk Kori back to her room since you’re going that way? She wants to call her friends.”


“Yeah sure,” Nick answered as he looked at Kori who was standing there next to Doctor Johnson. The two of them have become buddies over the past couple of days. Nick squeezed Ashley’s hand gently and began to walk toward the door to the cafeteria with her and Kori walked beside him.


“How are you feeling Kori?” Nick asked her, trying to get a conversation going.


“Much better. Doctor Johnson says that I can move down to the Orphanage today instead of the hospital. I was getting very lonely up there.”


“Really? Well that’s great. What room are you staying in?”


“The little girl across from you and Ashley just got adopted yesterday. So he’s going to ask Brooke if I can stay in that one.”


“Well that’s cool. It’ll be good for you to be closer to Ashley,” Nick replied, ignoring Ashley’s groans of protest.


“If you’re fine and everything Kor, then why stay here in the Orphanage? You’re eighteen…you don’t have to be here. Don’t you have a restaurant to run back in Jersey?” Ashley spoke up.


“Well yeah but I have a sister who lives here in Florida and she is more important to me right now. She needs me even if she doesn’t want to admit it. So the Diner will be just fine without me for awhile. My friend Isabel has offered to temporarily take over for me. So sorry sis…there’s no getting rid of me.” Ashley rolled her eyes. When they got to the hospital wing Kori went back to her room and Ashley looked up at Nick annoyed.


“Maybe if she’s closer to you honey and around all the time it will force you two to start getting a long.” Right after he said that, Brian and Riley came out of a room hand in hand, Brian holding Tyke.


“Hey Bri…is everything okay?”


“Yeah…Doctor Tray looked over Tyke for me to make sure he was okay.”


“Why? What happened to the little guy?” Nick asked worriedly, as he reached over and pet the Chihuahua in Brian’s arms.


“Mrs. Ellerbee threatened me with a gun so stupid Tyke here got protective of me and bit her hand, latched onto her so tight she couldn’t get him off of her so she was swinging him around a lot. Then the police cars were coming so Mr. Ellerbee panicked and pulled his wife in the car WITH Tyke. He grabbed Tyke by the collar, yanked him off Mrs. Ellerbee and threw him out of the car. Luckily I caught him so he couldn’t hit the ground.”


“Oh god…is he okay? It sounds like he was thrown around a lot and he’s such a small dog…that can’t be good can it?”


“Yeah he’s fine. The stupid dog is lucky no damage was done to him. Doctor Tray recommends some rest, lots of treats, and love from his daddy and he’ll be fine.” Brian answered, hugging Tyke close to him. Nick can tell even though Brian is calling Tyke stupid he doesn’t mean anything of it. He loves the dog more than life and he is grateful he was there. Who knows what would’ve happened to him if Tyke hadn’t protected Brian. Would she have pulled Brian in the car with her and drove off?


“Bri don’t call him stupid. If it wasn’t for him you may have not been standing here right now.” Riley lectured and she slid her arms around Brian’s waist.


“I know…but I was just so scared for him Riley…you have no idea…”


“I know honey…I can imagine you were. I know you love this dog very much and I don’t blame you. He is a great dog.”


“Yes he is…” Brian replied and he leaned down and kissed the Chihuahua affectionately.


“And he deserves a treat right now and he deserves to go and play with all of the children like he’s been anxious to do all morning.”


“And you can take him down to the children in a little bit Bri…but first we need to talk about something important.” Nick replied, bringing the conversation to another serious topic.


“What’s up?” Riley asked dutifully.


“Well…earlier I had to take Ash and Dakota to the cafeteria before the whole situation even started because the minute she took one look at Mr. Ellerbee she was clinging to me like she would’ve done if Doctor Adams was in the room and she wouldn’t let me go anywhere near Mr. and Mrs. Ellerbee. So I asked her what was wrong and she told me she didn’t trust him at all. That there was just something about him and she begged me not to make her go near him. So I took her to the cafeteria. Well after the entire incident was over I went into the cafeteria to talk to her about it….and it turns out that she thinks Mr. Ellerbee is Sean.” Brian’s jaw dropped in shock at this new bit of information.


“Sean? Seriously? But how?” Riley asked confused. “If it was Sean wouldn’t she have known for sure? I mean she’s the only one who knows what he looks like.”


“She says he was under a disguise.” Nick replied, and he looked at Brian. “Bri think about it. Didn’t the man look a little out of the ordinary to you? He was wearing a long black jacket. Ashley says it was probably to hide his tattooed covered arms. She also says Sean has a mustache but he probably shaved it off before he came. He had on a hat, and she says he has Sean’s dark scary eyes.”


“But Elenore’s father? Isn’t that a little weird? How does that connection work out?”


“Nothing is impossible with this guy…I’m beginning to figure that out. There is a lot about him we don’t know. A lot about him that I don’t think Ashley even knows.”


“Kori might,” Brian replied.


“I think maybe we should ask Ellie what home life was like….besides the abuse.” Nick replied.


“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea Nick. She is already traumatized as it is.”


“Maybe we could have Dr. Huang come talk to her… he’s a psychologist he knows how to talk to her without traumatizing her. I can call Detective Stabler and tell him we need him.” Riley offered.


“But she only trusts Kevin.” Brian pointed out.


“Okay, so Kevin and Doctor Huang can talk to her.”


“I still say we should talk to Kori about it. She has a history with Sean…I bet she knows a lot of important stuff.” Brian replied.


“We’ll talk to Elenore first, than Kori.”


“I think Dr. Huang should question her,” Ashley suddenly spoke up and Riley, Brian, and Nick looked at her curiously.


“That way he can sense if she’s lying or not.”


“Actually that’s not such a bad idea,” Nick replied. “She’ll do anything to protect herself from getting into trouble - she has a son to think about.”


“In fact, maybe you should have Detective Stabler take her down to their station and interrogate her like they do to criminals.” Ashley replied bitterly. “You might find LOADS of information that way.”


“Ashley that’s going way too far. Your sister is not a criminal.” Nick scolded gently.


“Anymore,” Ashley added.


“Exactly…anymore. She is trying to become a better person. You wouldn’t want your nephew to lose his mother would you?”


“No…I guess you’re right. I couldn’t punish the poor kid for her mistakes. I lost a mother once…I don’t have the heart to make him go through that.”


“Mm hmm,” Nick replied and he looked at Riley and Brian.


“So we’re agreeing to the Dr Huang idea? He’s going to come by here to talk to Ellie?”


“And Kori,” Ashley added.


“And Kori?”


“Yeah, I’ll call Stabler now.” Riley replied.


“Okay,” Nick replied.


“Tyke and I are going down to see the children,” Brian replied and he began to head toward the Orphanage. Riley pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and began to follow him. Nick took Ashley’s hand and began to follow them as well. But then on their way past Kori’s room they saw she was getting ready to leave. Curious, Ashley went in there.


“Where are you going?” She interrogated.


“Out for a while. Doctor Johnson says I’m better enough that I can come and go as I please. So Isabel, Wiley, Chris and I are going shopping. They’re bringing Spencer here but I was hoping you would baby sit him for me. I want to spend the afternoon with just my friends.”


“I’m not doing you any favors,” Ashley replied, crossing her arms over her chest.


“Fine…then do your nephew a favor how about that?”


“How do I know that you’re not planning on leaving here and never coming back?”


“And leave my son here? Trust me Ash, I’m coming back.”


“Hmm… I used to trust you once upon a time. Then all of that crushed when my favorite person in the whole world abandoned me.” Kori sighed heavily as she forced herself to hold back her tears. She’s venting. Just let her get it all out and she’ll eventually let you in. She reminded herself.


Please Ashley can you just watch Spencer for me and I will be back later on today? If you won’t do it for me can you do it for Spencer? He doesn’t know his aunt. He needs to get to know her now that she is going to be a big part of his life.”


“And whose fault is that again?”


“Please Ashley,” Kori replied, forcing herself not to get angry. Ashley sighed. Just then Isabel walked in with the two guys that Ashley now recognizes as Wiley and Chris. Wiley is the tall lanky looking one with the dark brown hair and Chris is the other one. Ashley looked at her nephew in Isabel’s arms and the angry look on her face softened. He really is such an adorable little boy. She could never take her anger over her sister out on him. And she really does want to get to know him. She did after all miss out on five years of his life. She looked back at Kori just then and Kori was looking at her with hope in her eyes.


“Okay…for Spencer…” Ashley told her softly. She noticed Nick smiling at her proudly in the corner of her eye. Kori smiled too and looked at her friends.


“Hey guys, Ash is going to watch Spence for me.” She told them as she went to Isabel and gently took Spencer from her arms.


“Cool,” Isabel replied, smiling at Ashley. Ashley gave her a shy look. She doesn’t know Isabel yet. She seems nice enough though.


“Is that okay with you Spencer? Can I leave you with Auntie Ashley for a little bit while Libby, Chris, Wiley and I go out?” Spencer rested his head against Kori’s shoulder and he looked at Ashley skeptically. He doesn’t know her all that well. His Momma never talked about her to him and it’s just a little weird to him that he’s just meeting her now. Plus he heard his Momma talking to Wiley, Chris, and Libby. She doesn’t sound too nice.


“Help me out here Ash… he’s a little shy. He doesn’t know you all too well yet.” Kori said, and Ashley bit her tongue, forcing herself not to say something sarcastic to her sister as she went to her aide.


“Can I watch you for a little while Spencer?” She asked him gently, putting on that certain charm that she has with kids. “It’ll be fun I promise. I can take you down to the playroom where there are a bunch of neat toys. Or the playground…that would be a lot of fun. And I know a couple of little girls who would help you feel right at home. They’re real nice. They even like the Ninja Turtles.”


“Okay,” Spencer replied softly. Kori smiled at him and kissed his cheek before handing him over to Ashley. Ashley shifted him so he’s rested on her hip.


“I’ll leave you my cell phone number in case you need it,” Kori told her and she went and got her notebook out of her backpack that Detective Fin had found lying on the beach just minutes after the ambulance had drove off with her. She also got out a pen and she opened it up to a clean page and wrote her number on it before ripping it out of the book, folding it up and handing it to Ashley.


“When are you coming back?” Ashley asked, not even looking at her. She kept her gaze on her nephew instead. Her nephew that she was already beginning to love.


“I don’t know, sometime in the late afternoon. What time is dinner around here?”


“Six O’ Clock,” Nick answered.


“I’ll try and make it back before then.”


“Kay,” Ashley replied softly.


“Thanks Ash, this means a lot to me you know.”


“Anything for Spencer,” Ashley replied. Kori looked at her for a couple of minutes, than she walked out of the room with her friends following her.