Chapter Two-Hundred-Ninety
Later on that day, it was time for the Christmas Tree Decorating Party. The boys, Riley, Brooke, Kori, and Ashley had set up the cafeteria so that most of the tables are pushed to the side, except for two long rectangular ones which they had taped green and red paper on and put the cookies, candy, and sodas on. They have a Christmas CD playing in the background, and there is a couple of boxes of ornaments sitting out. They had already put the lights on before hand, so the kids can just get right to decorating.
“Where did Ashley go?” Aaron wanted to know, as he walked into the cafeteria suddenly. He had just arrived for the first time since he went to the station with Conner and Detective Stabler.
“She’s upstairs in our room finishing up a project of hers. She’ll be down shortly…why what’s up?” Nick asked curiously, as he pulled his little brother into a hug, and then Angel and Stacy next.
“Just wondering,” Aaron replied softly, and he slid his hands in his pockets. Nick raised his eyebrow but before he could ask any questions Aaron spoke up again.
“So what’s going on here? I heard Santa Claus is coming tonight.”
“Yeah he is…are you here to see him too?” Brooke teased.
“Hey man, you know how tight me and the man in the red suit are,” he replied, looking around and seeing a couple of young eyes on him. “I’m on top of his nice list for sure.” Stacy laughed.
“Is that right?”
“Yes it is,” Aaron replied, wrapping his arms around Stacy’s waist from behind and planting a kiss on her forehead. Nick shook his head smiling and he grabbed his digital camera, held it up pointing it at his little brother and his girlfriend. Stacy smiled a big cheesy grin then and Aaron leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek as Nick snapped the picture and he chuckled. Aaron smirked and brought his arm down under Stacy’s legs and lifted her up into his arms cradling her and he bent down and captured her lips with his in a soft kiss for the camera. Stacy giggled between kisses as she placed her hands to his cheek and kissed him back. Nick rolled his eyes and snapped another picture. Angel rolled her eyes too.
“Nick please, don’t waste your camera battery on him.” Nick laughed.
“Well then how about we just get some pictures of you?” He asked, turning on her and taking a picture of her with her arms crossed over her chest as she rolled her eyes at her twin.
“Ah yes, the classic Angel pose,” Brian chuckled, walking up behind Angel and pulling her into a hug from behind and she smiled up at him sweetly. “Scowling at her brother.”
“Hi Brian,” she replied, leaning up on her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek as Nick snapped a picture of it.
“Hi sweetie,” he replied, hugging her tightly. When he pulled away he walked off leaving Angel smiling after him. Whether he knows it or not, she’s had a secret crush on him for the longest time. Suddenly she noticed a flash and she snapped out of it and looked at her oldest brother to see him smirking at her knowingly.
“Should I call that the Angel crushing over Brian pose?”
“How about we have someone take a picture of me putting my foot in your ass and then we can call it the Angel kicking her brother’s ass pose.” Nick chuckled amusedly.
“Hey he’s gonna know sooner or later when he walks into that Brian Shrine of a bedroom of yours.”
“He’s never gonna go in my bedroom Nickolas – ever.”
“If you say so,” Nick laughed and he walked off to take more pictures and Angel rolled her eyes, telling herself she’ll get him later when there aren’t young and impressionable children in the room. She looked over at her twin and silently wished he would think of the children too. She rolled her eyes in disgust as she watched him suddenly sit on the floor with Stacy in his lap and slip further into planet Stacy and their make out session. Not being able to take the sight anymore, she looked around and suddenly spotted Conner lifting Rosalie up to hang an ornament on the tree. Looking back at Aaron who is so long gone by now, a grin formed on her face. As soon as he got home from the station the other day he had gone into her room and made it very clear that she is not to show anymore interest in Conner. That he is off limits – so clear, that he was shouting at her. But that only makes him all the more interesting to her. And she is not about to stand around and continue to be the third wheel either. Shaking her head at that thought, she stalked off over to the Christmas Tree where the boy she is slowly falling for is at. How could she not fall for him? Sure, he betrayed Aaron, she knows all about that…and that’s uncool, but still. He didn’t have a choice and he didn’t want this. He really is a good kid and he is extremely adorable with his sister. He may have made a bad choice, but Angel doesn’t care. She liked him long before she knew he made the choice. When she approached Conner he looked at her curiously for a moment, and then went back to paying attention to the tree and his sister.
“Come to tell me how much you hate me right now too?” he asked, as he put another ornament on a hook for Rosalie and handed it to her.
“I don’t hate you,” Angel replied as she too began to help children hang Ornaments on the tree. Conner raised his eyebrow.
“Why not? I betrayed your brother, I thought the first thing you would do when you found out was come smack me across the face and yell at me or something horrible like that…” Angel shrugged.
“It was uncool of you to do,” she replied softly. “But unlike Aaron I spent a couple of days taking your side of the story into consideration. You didn’t want to do it – I know you are a good kid Conner.”
“No I’m not,” Conner replied. “If I didn’t get caught I would’ve led your brother right into trouble. Don’t you get that?”
“No you wouldn’t have,” Angel insisted. “You were a kid stuck with the wrong people…you were scared and was only doing what you thought was best for you and Rosie. But I know you didn’t really want to do it. Did you?” Conner shook his head.
“I made the mistake of becoming too close to my victim,” he answered softly. “I started slacking off big time the more I got closer to Aaron and I was getting more scared by the minute everytime Sean put pressure on me. I was scared for Rosie, I was scared he was going to kill me and no one would be here to take care of her – or worse, that he was going to kill her instead and I didn’t know what to do. I was secretly relieved when Kori found out. She saved me…even though I sure as hell didn’t deserve to be saved.”
“Maybe she saved you because she was once upon a time that kid too,” Kori suddenly replied, as she joined them in the Christmas Tree decorating with Spencer and Angel and Conner looked at her. “I know far too well what it’s like to be under Sean’s control Conner…trust me. He takes advantage of vulnerable thirteen-year-old kids. I made far more mistakes then you ever did buddy…huge mistakes, and I lost some people that I loved very much because of it. I didn’t want you to make those mistakes too,” she explained, gently placing a hand on Rosalie’s shoulder. Rosalie looked up at her, and Kori smiled at her some, before handing her an ornament. “Take care of your sister Conner…she is all you have and every decision you make will impact her the most. Just remember that.”
“I know that all too well…and I promise you every decision I make is for her. Even if they aren’t always the best.”
“Well, now that you are staying here you will have help in the decision making but just remember you are all she has left. So please take care of yourself Conner.”
“I will,” he replied sincerely. “I promise.”
“Good,” Kori replied, after looking into his eyes and seeing that he means it. She ruffled his hair and then walked off after making sure Spencer was content in decorating the tree and promising him his father would be joining him shortly. Conner looked at Angel then as she’s in the process of helping Rosalie out and he couldn’t help but smile a little bit at beautiful she looks with his sister. But then he frowned slightly as he remembered her twin.
“Aaron is going to kill you if he sees you with me.”
“Aaron is my twin Conner, not my keeper. He can’t control me,” was all Angel said as she hung up another ornament. “So quit standing there worrying and help me and Rosie out will you?” Conner couldn’t help but smile a little as he finally rejoined her and Rosie in decorating the tree too.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile Kori walked over to Nick who was standing there eyeing his little sister protectively.
“Give him a second chance Nick, you gave me one…” she told him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
“I know…and I’m trying, I really am. But he used my little brother Kor and look at my sister? She’s head over heals crazy about him and how do I know he wasn’t planning on using her also?”
“He wasn’t,” Kori replied, resting her head against Nick’s shoulder in a friendly way that she would normally do with a brother or something. “I happen to know for a fact that she tried her very hardest to get his attention and all he did was ignore her signals because he didn’t want to hurt her.”
“Right, like getting her twin brother killed wasn’t going to do the trick,” Nick replied sarcastically. Kori rolled her eyes.
“I know you are having a hard time with this…and you aren’t the only one, but I was that kid once upon a time Nick,” she explained, pointing toward Conner. “I just rescued him before he got himself in too deep that he couldn’t get out again. I just rescued him before he lost Rosalie the same way I lost my mom and dad. I know what it’s like to be controlled by Sean Nick. It can be a very terrifying thing. When he has you sucked into his black hole of bad things and death you don’t know which way is out. I didn’t have someone to throw a rope into that black hole for me when I needed the help. And the sad thing is, not many teens do and they lose their lives, or hurt other people and it’s horrible. All because they made a very bad choice and didn’t have anyone to guide them in the right direction again. Conner was a lucky teen – a very lucky teen who gets a second chance and I know he isn’t going to throw that second chance away.”
“How do you know that?” Nick wanted to know.
“Because like I said, I was him once…I know a good kid who just made one bad decision when I see one. And he loves Rosalie and wants to do what’s best for her – he just needs someone to point him in the right direction. I really believe he can turn it all around.” Nick looked into Kori’s watery eyes and he can just see that she feels strongly about this.
“You learned to love and trust me…” she replied softly. “Is there anyway that you could learn to trust Conner too?”
“In time maybe…” Nick replied. “Once I get over the fact that he tried to hurt my family, and when you think about it, my girlfriend.” Kori rubbed her hand over Nick’s back. “But you feel strongly about this, and I trust your instincts.”
“I tend to get very emotional and opinionated when I see a kid who is going through the same thing I did.”
“You certainly did go through a lot.”
“Yeah…and so many other young teens have too…and it has to be stopped.”
“I agree with you, but you can’t save everyone.”
“No, but just saving one kid makes all the difference in the world,” Kori insisted. “You know how Ash wants to work with kids who have suffered some sort of abuse like she has?”
“Mhm,” Nick replied, nodding his head.
“Well…I’ve been thinking a lot lately…that I might want try and help more kids off of the street. I think it would feel really good going to bed at night knowing that you’ve saved one more child from joining a gang. one more child from doing drugs or making a wrong decision, you know?”
“That’s a really good idea Kor,” Nick replied, deeply impressed by this idea.
“Conner kind of inspired it.”
“I think you should go for it,” Nick insisted and Kori smiled some.
“I just might. I have to think about it more.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Jerry,” Elenore spoke softly, as she climbed into the lap of her favorite uncle who was sitting at the table helping kids frost cookies.
“Yeah baby?” Jerald asked while smiling down at her lovingly and he slid his arms around her before hugging her close to him.
“I need your help,” she told him as she hugged him back and he looked down at her with eyes full of concern.
“With what pumpkin?”
“I want to write a letter to the president,” she told him abruptly after making sure neither Kevin nor any of the rest of the Backstreet Boys was around to over hear. Jerald raised his eyebrow. He remembers Kevin telling him about her showing interest in the president on their way back from New York.
“What for?”
“I wants to ask him a favor…”
“And what favor is this?”
“That he won’ts gives my daddy the death penalty ifs he gets caught,” she told him while looking up at him with tears rolling down her cheek and it suddenly dawned on Jerald what has been bothering her all this time. What the real reason behind her wanting to learn to read and right is all about. But the real question here is…how in the world did a five-year-old get knowledge of something so grownup as the death penalty? She shouldn’t know about this stuff. She shouldn’t be worrying about all of this.
“Oh Ellie…is this what’s had you so upset lately?” he questioned, and Elenore nodded quietly, before sliding her arms around Jerald’s neck and burying her face in his shoulder and she clung to him tightly as she began to cry.
“He can’ts die Jerry, he just can’ts. He may have been a mean ol’ man who never treats me right, but he’s still my daddy an’ I never wanted him to die.” Jerald got up then and he carried the five-year-old out of the cafeteria and out into the hall so they could talk alone and be unheard.
“Ellie…honey…I get what you are saying, and I can see you are really broken up over this but your father has done some very bad and unforgivable things…”
“I don’ts care!” Elenore sobbed. “Nobody deserves to die likes that no matter how bad they were!!! Would you have me killed for all of the bad things I’ve done?”
“No sweetheart, of course not.”
“Then why is it any different for him?!” Elenore wanted to know as tears slipped down her cheek. “He’s my daddy, Jerry! An’ he’s nots a bad man, he’s just made lots of very bad choices! Why does he have to die because of that? It doesn’t makes sense to me. He gets punished for killing people, an’ then the president turns around an’ kills him. How does that teach anybody anything? We shouldn’ts be able to decide who lives an’ who dies! I thought that was gods decision!” Jerry gaped at him in surprise, not knowing what to say. All he can think about is how in the world is his five year old niece standing here telling him all of this? How does she know so much about a grownup’s issue?
“How do you know so much about this Ellie?” He asked softly, when he found his voice to speak.
“I listen,” Elenore replied softly. “My mommy an’ daddy fought about the death penalty a lots before they gaves me up. An’ I knows about god from Brian who tolds me that god has a plan for everybody. I know what will happens to my daddy if they catches him if I don’ts put a stop to it an’ saves him – an’ I haves to save him Jerry, I just haves to!” Jerald didn’t reply, he only wrapped his arms around Elenore and pulled him into an affectionate hug and she buried her face in his chest as he rubbed his hand over her back.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“When is Santa Claus coming Brian?” Brooke whispered while walking up to Brian and Riley.
“He’ll be ready in ten minutes,” Brian answered, as he was busy setting up a Candy Cane path leading the way up to Santa’s chair on the stage.
“I thought maybe after they saw Santa they could have hot chocolate and cookies while they watched a Christmas movie. Is that okay?” Brian questioned while looking at Brooke. “My mom has volunteered to make the hot chocolate.
“That would be neat. What movie?”
“I rented The Santa Claus.”
“Okay, cool. Who is going to be Santa’s elf? Have we made that decision yet?”
“Your brother” Brian replied with a smirk. “We’ve made a very heavy disguise for him so even our children won’t recognize him. But we don’t think they will, seeing as how they don’t really know him that much.” Brooke laughed.
“Oh this is going to be so great,” she announced, before walking off to get the children ready for the visit of Santa Claus, whom they are all overly excited and anxious to meet.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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