Chapter Two-Hundred-Ninety-One
Meanwhile upstairs, Ashley who had gone up there hours earlier to work on her project that she started weeks ago for the children was sitting in the middle of the bed with Christmas stockings all over it. She was just finishing up on the last one when Marcus who had been lurking in the hallway walked in. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Finally decided to come join me instead of hanging out all by your lonesome in the hallway, huh?” Marcus chuckled.
“I was trying to respect your space as much as possible.”
“It’s okay super Marcus, I’ve officially given in to the fact that privacy doesn’t exist until Sean is locked up forever,” Ashley replied, and though she appears to be playful about the situation on the outside, Marcus can see the frustration on the inside.
“Super Marcus huh?” he asked, deciding that instead of calling her on it, he’ll try his best to cheer her up.
“Yeah,” Ashley smiled. “You’re my super hero, remember?”
“I’ll take that job,” Marcus replied, going over and sitting on the floor and leaning so his back was up against the bed. “Are you almost done sweetie? It’s almost time for Santa Claus.”
“I think I’m just a little too old to be sitting on Santa Claus’ lap now, don’t you?” Ashley teased somewhat. Marcus chuckled.
“No one is too old for Santa Claus. Isn’t there anything you want to ask him for?” Ashley thought about his question for a few moments, as she grabbed the glitter pen that she is using and began to write the name Bella on the last stocking. There are two things she would like to ask Santa for. One that he wouldn’t be able to give her and the second one…well, that will definitely take some Christmas Magic the way things are going right now. Deciding that she is already in a brooding mood enough as it is around the holidays, she decided she wouldn’t mention the first one.
“I would like to ask him to guide Kori in the right direction,” She replied softly, still looking down at the stocking in her hands. Marcus raised his eyebrow curiously, but otherwise said nothing, waiting on her to elaborate.
“As everyone knows, she is still running from her problems. She’s having a hard time letting go of what she did in the past and of allowing herself to grieve over mom and dad. Everytime I look at her I just know she is pushing it further away. I just really would like her to accept mom and dad back into her heart…you know? They deserve that much from her. They wouldn’t want her to think that they hate her it would really upset them to know that. She may have come home from Jersey…but she’s not home…not really…you know what I mean? Everytime I look at her all I see is her running.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean” Marcus replied gently, and he reached up and rubbed his hand over her shoulder.
“I just really want her to realize that going back to Jersey is a mistake. That this is her home…this is where she belongs. I just want her to be happy again…that’s all I want for Christmas.”
“Well…hang in there honey…I have a feeling you might get exactly that. It may come a little late, but that will be better then not at all right? I think Kori just needs to come to those conclusions all on her own.”
“Yeah,” Ashley replied softly.
“What else do you want for Christmas? That can’t be all you want.”
“Sure it is,” Ashley replied, casting Marcus an obvious fake smile. “But anyway, I’m about done here. Can you do me a favor and check on little miss grumpy pants over there?” she added, indicating toward Bella in her crib as she suddenly started to fuss again when she realized the world was no longer revolving around her at the moment.
“Yeah sure,” Marcus replied after eyeing her with concern for a couple of seconds, and then he got up and walked over to Bella who was very close to crying point by now.
“Hey, hey, what seems to be the problem over here?” he asked, suddenly turning into a total softy at the sight of the baby. “Is nobody paying enough attention to you? Huh?” he added, while gathering her into his arms and holding her to his chest as he supported her little head and he placed a kiss on her forehead. “How completely awful,” he told her dramatically and Bella made a cooing noise in response. Marcus flinched in surprise and he looked at Ashley with a big grin on her face and she giggled as she got up and began gathering all of the stockings up in her hands.
“She just started reacting to people yesterday. She’s becoming a big girl right before my eyes.”
“I can see that,” Marcus replied as he worked harder to control Bella’s head from flopping all over the place as she tries to examine everything in the room as if she’s never seen it before. He gently turned her around then so her back was to his chest and her head was rested against his shoulder so she could see everything better.
“She loves to be talked to. I could sit and talk to her for hours and she’ll just be happy as can be,” Ashley added as she walked out of the room with Marcus following. When they got downstairs they walked into the cafeteria where she found the children all sitting on the floor and Brooke talking to them while the caregivers all stood around and supervised incase they were needed. Ashley went over and sat the bag of stockings over by Bella’s carseat, which was placed on a table out of the way, and she went up behind Nick and slid her arms around his waist before resting her chin against his shoulder. He grinned a little before gently placing his hands on top of hers as they’re rested on his stomach.
“Hi baby,” he greeted gently.
“Hey.”
“Did you finish your project?”
“Mhm.”
“You can pass them out after they all see Santa.”
“Where is Santa?” Ashley asked while placing a soft kiss on his shoulder. “Marcus told me he was supposed to be here by now.”
“In another room with Mrs. Claus trying to get ready,” Nick explained, before gently pulling her around in front of him and hugging her close. “Why aren’t you wearing your ace bandage? I could have sworn I put it on you before you went upstairs.”
“I got annoyed with it.”
“Baby I know you’ve been given permission to take it on and off whenever you please, but it doesn’t help much if you don’t wear it at all.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well I do. Where is it?”
“I left it upstairs,” Ashley replied stubbornly, and Nick scowled.
“Well lucky for you I have the entire roll down here otherwise I would have Marcus march your little butt back up there to get it,” he informed before gently guiding her over to the carseat.
“No, no, no, no” Ashley protested, pulling herself away from him and starting to walk away but he slid his arm around her waist, pulled her back and lifted her up over his shoulder before continuing on his way to the carseat. When he got there he pulled out a chair, sat her down in it, and grabbed the ace bandage before sitting down in front of her and he began to wrap the ace bandage around her arm as she sat there scowling.
“It’s either this or I can always have Doctor Johnson put another cast on you. Take your pick.”
“I hope wherever Sean is at right now, he is suffering very deeply” Ashley informed, a pout now etched on her face. “Id like to put a bullet through his frigin’ arm. Maybe two. See how he feels about it.”
“After all the pain he’s put you through, you would go for the arm?” AJ asked incredulous, as he suddenly joined them.
“I’m not the murdering type if you haven’t noticed, Alex. I would much rather see him suffer a large amount of pain, and then stuck in a prison cell for a very long time. That’s my idea of revenge. I wouldn’t stoop to his level and kill anybody.” When Nick finished wrapping the ace bandage around her arm he gently cupped her face in his hands and leaned forward and kissed her nose.
“I’m sorry baby…I know this is a pain in the butt, but the more you wear this the faster you are going to heal. Okay?” Ashley rested her head against Nick’s chest then as she fought back the wave of emotion that threatened to consume her. She doesn’t know why she is so emotional lately…all she knows is she wishes it would stop. Nick wrapped his arms around her protectively as he exchanged looks with AJ and he kissed the top of her head softly. “I love you…I know you aren’t having a fun time, but it’s going to be over soon I promise. Just hang in there…” He sat gently rubbing his hand over her back in silence for a few moments, before looking at AJ and speaking.
“You are watching the kids tonight. Please and thank you,” was all he said, before getting up cradling Ashley and he walked away before AJ even had the time to protest. AJ watched him walk away incredulously for a few moments as Nick went over and stood where they would he be able to see Dakota and Sarah talk to Santa Claus the best at and he set Ashley down so she was standing in front of him. She slid her arms around him and leaned against him for support. AJ got up and walked over to him.
“Do you mind telling me why I’m watching the kids? I at least deserve that.”
“Because I want a kid free bedroom tonight so that I can take sometime to pamper my girlfriend. Is that okay with you?” AJ raised his eyebrow.
“Fine,” he replied, but Nick didn’t miss the ‘keep your dick to yourself’ warning look before AJ walked off and Nick rolled his eyes. As if he hasn’t gotten that warning enough already. Just then the children started cheering. Nick and Ashley turned their heads toward the door to see Jaime walking in, in a green elf costume with little pointy shoes that have bells on them, and a green pointy at.
“Hi boys and girls!” he greeted cheerfully, and he received a chorus of hi’s in return and he heard Brooke and Peyton laughing. “I’m Peppy the elf, and I am here to assist Santa this evening!” He explained.
“Where is he?” a little boy amongst the group of children asked loudly.
“Yeah! Where?” a little girl added.
“He’s coming, he’s coming hold your horses!” Jaime told them dramatically, causing some of the little girls to giggle. “BUT in the mean time, how about we play a game of Peppy says?”
“Noooo…we want Santa!” Josh’s friend Gabe exclaimed.
“I have candy canes for the winners…” Jaime bribed, holding up a bag of candy canes before Gabrielle the hyper kid could start a chant of ‘we want Santa’.
“CANDYYYYYY” some of the girls exclaimed.
“I wanna play Peppy says!” Dakota piped up trying to help the elf out.
“Yeah!” Elenore added, only having eyes for the candy canes. Boy is her Kevy going to love this elf. She looked over at the Backstreet Boy upon thinking about him and sure enough, there he was leaning against the wall eyeing the candy canes with much disapproval. Kevin noticed her looking at him in the corner of his eye and turned his gaze on her grinning a little causing Elenore to grin back hugely and blow him a kiss. Kevin made a real show of stumbling forward trying to catch the kiss before blowing one back and she giggled. When she turned her attention back on Peppy the Elf she realized he was organizing all of the kids into one line and he was almost to her. When he approached her he directed her to the line next to Sarah and then went onto the next kid. When everybody was ready he resumed his position in front of them all now that they were lined up and facing him and he began to organize a game of Peppy says. They played the game for ten minutes, and by the time they were finished two children named Samantha and Holly were the winners who had made it all the way to Peppy. They each received a candy cane and were told to go stand at the end of the big plastic candy canes where the line begins and they would be first to meet Santa. When they were there, he directed the rest of the children over there and told them not to be upset, because they will all get a chance to receive a candy cane and meet Santa. They only had to wait five more minutes before the door to the cafeteria opened and Harold walked in dressed as Santa Claus and every child in line began to cheer excitedly upon finally seeing the man they’ve all been waiting for. Peyton resumed her position in front of her camera that she had set up to take pictures of all of the kids with – a professional camera that Brandon had given her just because. She has on reindeer ears for the benefit of the children, and because that is just something she would do. When Harold made his way up onto the stage Peppy the elf was standing there waiting for him.
“Your chair Mr. Claus,” he announced, indicating toward the big red lazy boy chair that is used for Santa every year at the Orphanage.
“Thank you Peppy,” Harold replied as he sat down and he turned his attention on the children then.
“Ho, Ho, Ho! Who is going to come up and see me first?” He asked cheerfully and in his best Santa Claus voice and he suddenly recognized his grandson in the crowd and was pleased to see he didn’t seem to recognize him. He was most worried about Josh because he and the boy have developed a pretty close relationship shortly after they met each other. Chris on the other hand, not so much because they just recently met and still have yet to get to form a relationship. So he had Harry find him the beard that would cover up most of his face and he did just that. The only thing visible is his nose and eyes. Peppy the Elf beamed and skipped on down to Holly and Samantha who were waiting eagerly at the front of the line and he offered them both their hands and led them both up to Santa Claus.
“I have Holly and Samantha here to see you Santa,” he announced.
“Holly and Samantha! Ho Ho Ho, what lovely names! Why don’t you two come sit here on Santa’s lap?” Beaming shyly, the two girls went on over and crawled up into Harold’s lap so that they were sitting on each knee and he wrapped an arm around each of them and began interacting with them. All the while, Peppy the Elf stood there with a pen and notepad waiting to write down what they want for Christmas like Brian had asked him to. After Santa got done talking to each child they would look up at the camera and smile and Peyton would take a picture before telling them that they will get their picture back when it’s developed. They were each given hugs and candy canes from Santa, and then they crawled off his lap and walked off giving other children their chance. By the time Sarah was one child away from seeing Santa, she looked around for Ashley and spotted her near by. She made a mad dash for her and wrapped her arms around her before burying her face in her stomach.
“Sweetie what’s the matter? Don’t you want to see Santa?” Ashley asked, kneeling down to her height and she gently took hold of her arms before pulling her back and looking into her eyes concerned. Sarah slid her arms around Ashley’s neck and rested her head against her shoulder and said nothing. Nick looked over at Dakota then who was watching curiously.
“Whats the matter with her Kota?” he asked, and Dakota shrugged, looking just as confused. Ashley noticed Sarah’s notepad sticking out of her pocket and pulled it out along with her pen and she handed it to Sarah.
“Will you write it down for me?” Sarah stared down at her notebook and then wrote: Santa won’t want to talk to me, cause I don’t talk back.
“Of course he would honey, Santa wants to talk to everybody,” Ashley reassured and she wiped away a falling tear on Sarah’s cheek. Sarah looked up at her doubtfully. “Especially to you because you are one of the sweetest little girls in this room,” she whispered. Sarah shook her head. “I mean it Sarah Lynn Carter. You have the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. Everything you do is for the people you care about even when it’s not something you should be doing, your intentions are always good” she replied, winking at Sarah knowingly, and she couldn’t help but smile back sheepishly. “A lot of terrible and unlucky things have happened to you in the past and it causes you to be so hard on yourself and that isn’t right because there are so many people in this room who love you Sarah and only want to see you happy.”
“Especially Santa Claus,” Nick replied as he also kneeled down to talk to her. “The good thing about the jolly old red man in the suit Sarah is that he cares about each and every person no matter what flaws they may have. He cares about the little girl that is in here,” he told her, gently taking her hand and placing it to her heart. “And everybody knows that the girl in here is something very special. How could you not be? You are my little girl.” Sarah smiled at him a little as a single tear rolled down her cheek and he slid his arms around her and hugged her close while kissing her forehead. After along while when she had calmed down he pulled back a little.
“Go see Santa baby, he’s anxious to see you.”
How do you know? she wrote, and Nick indicated toward Santa Claus behind her. Sarah turned and looked to see the kid in front of her has long since gone and Elenore had refused to go up until Sarah got her turn so he was just sitting there waiting patiently. He smiled at her sweetly and motioned her to him in a friendly way.
“Ho, Ho, Ho! It is my understanding that I still have yet to meet Sarah Carter. Santa sure wants to meet that sweet little girl that he’s heard all about” Harold announced gently still talking in his Santa Claus voice. Sarah looked up at Ashley then, biting her lower lip nervously.
“Do you want me to go up there with you?” Ashley offered while rubbing her hand over her back gently. Sarah nodded quietly and slid her arms around Ashley’s neck allowing her to stand up with her in her arms and she carried her on up the stage with her.
“Hi Santa, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. We just got a little nervous.”
“That’s all right, it happens” Santa reassured and Ashley gently placed the six year old upon Santa’s lap before stepping back just a little bit so that she was out of the way, but still there incase Sarah should need her.
“Well hi there Sarah, I’m happy that I get to meet you tonight” he told her in his cheerful Santa voice. “Have you been a good little girl this year?” Sarah didn’t know how to answer that. She did after all smack the girl at Mc Donalds very recently…and then of course today she distracted Laney and got Elenore’s note for her but she can’t say those things. She’s not one for lying either. If she hadn’t had Dakota at her side to speak for her at Mc Donalds, she never would have gotten away with what she did. She can lie, but she doesn’t like doing it. Her biological father taught her better then that. He was very big on telling the truth. So instead of answering, she looked up at Ashley worriedly.
“She may have done a few things she wasn’t supposed to lately Santa, but always with good intentions,” Ashley spoke up, immediately coming to her rescue. “Everything she ever does is always for the people she loves most. She has a very big heart and she is a very good girl.” Santa nodded and looked at Sarah.
“Well, that’s wonderful. Good girls must always be rewarded with toys. What do you want for Christmas Sarah?” Sarah thought about this question for a few moments, and then wrote her answer down on her notepad.
A really pretty collectors doll…
“Ohh…very nice. Anything else?”
A Wagon full of teddy bears, She added, looking up at Santa and smiling.
“Ho, Ho, Ho!” he laughed. “That’s right. Santa heard you are very big into teddy bears.” Sarah blushed sheepishly, wondering if he knows about her begging Nick to take the Hotel’s teddy bear for her.
“What kind of teddy bears? Let me guess, you go for the really big ones don’t you?” Sarah nodded.
But small ones are nice too. I love them all.
“Anything else Sarah before I give you your candy cane and we give your friend Ellie a chance?” Sarah thought about this question for a few moments, as she hasn’t really given much thought as to what she wants. Lately she’s only had thoughts of teddy bears and baby dolls. And if she wasn’t thinking about teddy bears and baby dolls, her thoughts have been consumed of Ellie and helping her. And of her biological father who was so wrongfully accused of something that he was too kind and loving to ever think of doing. All he ever wanted to do was help people, not hurt them. It’s so unfair the way he died, and that man who accused him is still out there. Not even he knew who it was. She would really like to know who the man is. She would really like for him to be locked up forever. He shouldn’t be living so freely when her father doesn’t get to live at all. She wouldn’t even ask for him to get the same treatment as her father had. Her father wouldn’t want that, no. If he got prison for life that would be good enough for her. That would be enough to avenge her father’s death. Deciding what she wants to tell Santa, but not wanting Ashley to see it, Sarah leaned up and whispered quietly into his ear.
“I want to find out who framed my real daddy for murder an’ have him caught an’ put in prison for life where he belongs.” When she pulled back and looked up at him, Harold had a shocked look written all over his face and he became speechless. After a few moments when he found his voice to speak he nodded.
“Well Sarah, I will see what I can do about all of the things you asked me,” he told her, being sure to emphasize the word ‘all’ as he looked into her eyes seriously. “In the meantime you continue to be a good girl, and please no matter how good your intentions are, please try to stay out of trouble. Okay?” he asked gently, and she nodded. Santa pulled her into a gentle hug before handing her, her candy cane and she hopped down from his lap. She looked at Ashley who took hold of her hand and Ashley threw Harold a curious look as to what her last request was, and he held her gaze with a serious one for a moment before she walked off. Harold looked at Peppy the elf then, and he grinned and bounded on down to Elenore in such a goofy way that it made her giggle.
“Well Miss Elenore, I believe it’s your turn next” he told her, holding his hand out for her and she was suddenly astonished.
“How did you knows my name?”
“I work with Santa silly,” he told her. “Santa’s elves know everything.” Elenore gaped at him. Ever since her daddy had posed as Santa at the mall she had been having her doubts on whether or not these Santa’s who go to the mall and visit orphanages to see children were real. But if their elves suddenly know her name, then what does that mean? Peppy took hold of her hand and led her through the candy cane path up to Santa Claus and she crawled up upon his lap. She gave her a list of three toys that she wants, sai being on top of the list – of course. And then just before he handed her, her candy cane and gave her a hug and sent her on her way, she told him quietly so that nobody would hear that she wants to Kevin to adopt her. After Elenore went up, the next few kids in line were all of the Backstreet kids. Dakota asked for the new Christmas Cabbage Patch Doll, a bicycle, and a big dollhouse. Josh stated that he wants to learn how to ride a skateboard. So he wants a new skateboard and a ramp to go with it. He asked for a basketball, and last but certainly not least, he asked for Ellie to be his cousin. Chris asked for a skateboard as well, a puppy like Chance except he wants a black lab instead, and all of the Batman comic book collection. AJ went up with Laila after that and she asked for a few toys with help from AJ. After Laila, it was Ryan who mostly asked for books, a new notebook, and for his mom to get better. Last but certainly not least of the Backstreet Kids, Spencer went up and he whispered his request in Santa’s ear and he only had one. He refused to tell anybody else what it is afterwards, and Harold isn’t about to either.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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