Chapter Three-Hundred-Fifty
“Ash, what’s the matter?” Nick wanted to know when he caught up to her. He found her sitting on the floor leaning back against the chair with Bella lying comfortably against her legs which are slightly bended with her arms wrapped around her knees. She has her forehead rested against Bella’s as she cuddles with her. Bella lay there comfortably sucking on her pacifier and all snug and warm under her blanket, clearly loving the fact that her mommy has her.
“Nothing.”
“Which is why you are sitting in here pouting?”
“I’m not pouting, I’m just cuddling with my baby is that not allowed?”
“Honey you know I don’t like it when you keep your feelings from me.”
“It’s not important. I just had another stupid fight with Kori about her stupid boyfriend. We have the stupid fight all the time so please don’t worry about it. Please don’t let it keep you from having fun. I just want to sit in here with Bella for awhile okay? I’ll be out there in a little bit.” Nick silently walked over and sat next to her and he began rubbing his hand over her back in a slow circular motion in attempt to let her know he is there for her. He didn’t bother trying to talk her into cheering up or ask her to talk about it. He knows better then to push her when she isn’t in a talking mood and he already knows what happened. Ashley kissed Bella’s forehead softly and rubbed her finger delicately over her smooth little hand allowing her fingers to grasp Ashley’s one finger in that amazing tight little hold that babies tend to have on you. While sitting there holding her baby girl that god had been so kind to bless her with Ashley felt that unconditional love that she knows Bella has for her and the anger inside of her began to slowly disappear. But how could it not when in the presence of something so pure and innocent in the world? Ashley has witnessed so much anger and hate in her 17 years of living and has experienced so much heartache and pain but when she sits there holding Bella as Bella holds onto her in return, for a short while, all of that just doesn’t seem to matter. Maybe that’s why Bella was given to her in the first place. Maybe God decided that she needed a break. She couldn’t be anymore thankful.
~*~*~*~*~
“Kevin can we go inside and sit down for a little bit, please?” Summer asked lightly grabbing hold of his arm and looking up at him with hopeful eyes after he had finished a round of pool with Howie who has Laila sitting up on his shoulders.
“We all should go in and maybe get the cake and presents for Nick taken care of,” Riley pointed out.
“And I still have to make the kids their cool drinks that I’ve promised them,” Brooke added.
“Yeah Brookie, we been waiting veeery patiently” Dakota announced rather cutely and Brooke laughed.
“Well then lets go, you can help Brookie make them” Brooke told her while lifting her up in her arms and walking into the house with her and everybody followed suit. When they got inside Kevin took Summer’s hand and brought her over to the couch and sat down pulling her next to him and he went to wrap his arm around her when suddenly Elenore crawled up into his lap.
“Hi daddy,” She greeted while sliding her arms around him and resting her head against his shoulder.
“Hi princess,” Kevin replied and he kissed the top of her head and rubbed his hand over her back. Elenore smiled and nestled into him, taking in as much of his snuggles as she could.
“What’s going on? How come you all decided to come inside?” Nick questioned as he continued to sit there idly playing with Ashley’s hair as she continued to cuddle with her baby.
“Because we all wanted to come in and rest,” was all AJ said, leaving out the part that Summer wanted to do it. He can see his sister already seems to be pouty enough.
“Oh,” Nick replied and AJ went into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Brooke and he whispered softly in her ear.
“Anything I can help you with baby?”
“Yeah, will you go in the dining room and get the cake ready?” Brooke whispered back.
“Mhm,” AJ answered before leaning forward and planting a kiss on her cheek and he went into the dining room. Peyton who had been nearby with Brandon followed him deciding he might need help. Meanwhile in the living room, Kevin sat there quietly watching Elenore snuggle with him and Summer sit next to him silently staring off into space as she held her drink. He sat there thinking for a few moments, and then he spoke up.
“Ellie how would you like it if Summer and I took you to lunch tomorrow?” Elenore looked up at him with a small smile.
“I would loves to go to lunch with you,” she told him in that sugary-sweet tone that Kevin instantly saw as angelic. She looked to Summer who was eyeing her warily.
“We will haves so much fun getting to knows one another, won’t we Summer?”
“Oh you bet,” Summer told her faking excitement. “I’m just dying to know all about the sweet little Ellie I’ve heard so much about.” Elenore smiled at her sweetly.
“An’ you wills. You’ll gets to know me very well I promise,” she told her. “Cause after all, I just wants my daddy to be happy” She added while looking up at Kevin and batting her eyes.
“Aww…that’s really sweet Ellie,” Kevin smiled and he leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead. Elenore beamed and looked over at Ashley who was looking over at her in return and Ashley winked at her. She taught her well. She knew if she took her outside with her to meet Summer and played sweet and sour in front of her Ellie would catch on. She needed to get her to stop being upset and do something about it because one of them had to do it. And since Ashley can’t do anything about it without getting in trouble by Kevin it has to be Ellie and that devil child side of her that she knows she can have when she wants to. She just has to work on teaching her how to use that side of her without getting in trouble as well. But she can do that. Maybe she’ll go out and rent Parent Trap…and It Takes Too…and even Problem Child. But then there is that whole you are setting a bad example for her and she is going to turn around and use those skills for something else and get in trouble. She’ll have to make a deal with Ellie. She’ll have to make sure she realizes that this is for a special cause and if she uses these for anything other then getting rid of Summer, Ashley will stand there and watch her get punished and she won’t help her get out of it.
“Daddy,” Elenore spoke up suddenly, looking up at Kevin.
“Yeah baby?”
“May I bring a friend too?”
“If Josh wants to come, he may.”
“No I wants to bring someone else.” Kevin raised his eyebrow, slightly surprised. He was so sure that she would drag Josh the ‘security blanket’ a long.
“I wants Kota to come,” Elenore elaborated.
“Oh well that’s a great idea,” Kevin insisted with an approving smile. He has noticed that Dakota and Elenore hasn’t been spending much time together lately and he doesn’t like it.
“Yes, I couldn’t agree with you more” Sarah added happily. “Dakota will go with you Ellie. She’d love to.” Kevin looked over at Nick and Ashley then.
“Well its up to the parents, really.” Sarah looked to Nick and Ashley.
“Kota wants to go daddy! She can go right?” Nick chuckled.
“Why do you suddenly care what Kota wants to do angel, huh? This wouldn’t by any chance having anything to do with her following you and your friends around all the time and the fact that you two are almost wearing the exact same clothes is it?” Sarah scowled, her narrowed eyes darting toward the kitchen where her sister was helping Brooke. Dakota looked back at her with identical narrowed eyes. Sarah sighed in exasperation.
“I cant even narrow my eyes without her copying me, daddy!” Nick, Kevin, and even Ashley laughed at this.
“I can understand how frustrating that must be,” Nick told her, his eyes flashing toward Aaron who looked back at him indignantly.
“Me too,” Kori added from the kitchen but she didn’t even bother looking at Ashley, and Ashley went through great lengths to avoid looking at her in return.
“Face it Sarah baby, you aren’t alone” Nick told her sympathetically. “All big brothers and sisters go through it and it doesn’t end. The younger ones will always love and admire you.”
“Sometimes,” Ashley muttered.
“Well, I’m not going through with it tomorrow. Cause Kota is going with Kevin an’ Ellie to lunch, right daddy?” Sarah asked hopefully. Nick chuckled.
“If Kota wants to baby.”
“A’course I wants to,” Dakota insisted knowing her best friend would be crushed if she turned her down. She’ll miss out on a couple of hours of keeping an eye on Sarah and her friends but for Ellie it will be worth it. She doesn’t get much Ellie and Kota time and she’s secretly worried about her best friend. Especially since she’s seen her talking to herself recently and when she asks who in the world she is talking to, she tells her that its her new friend. But when she looks around she doesn’t see anybody so Dakota suspects she is trying to hint that she misses her. Either that or she’s found a very clever way to communicate with Sean again and if that’s the case then she definitely needs watching more then Sarah does. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, Elenore saw Summer bring her drink up to her lips and take a very long gulp at the news that not only will Kevin’s little brat be joining them for lunch, but the brat’s little friend too. After a few seconds she pulled her drink back, made a face and spit it out causing everybody to look at her confused.
“Summer? What in the world?” Kevin was the one to ask as he watched her bring her drink up so she could examine the bottom closely.
“There is CHOCOLATE in my drink!” She exclaimed indignantly.
“Why would there be chocolate in your drink?”
“I don’t know you tell me!” Summer snapped and her eyes flew on Brooke, the one who made her drink in the first place.
“You know I didn’t put it in there sweetie, you stood there and watched me make it” Brooke told her calmly. Summer’s eyes flew to Elenore next who was sitting there with a shocked look on her face.
“Maybe it was one of the kids. My drink was sitting out there on that table.”
“Next to the chocolate syrup that my clever self accidentally left out there,” Denise added.
“And Elenore was standing there if you remember Kevin” Summer added. Kevin looked down at his little girl then.
“I didnts do it Daddy, I wouldn’ts” Elenore told him innocently while mustering up the best sweet face she could get.
“I don’t know Ellie, you are known to pull stunts like that…”
“I didnts daddy! You hafta believe me. I wouldn’ts do that to Summer because I know it wouldn’ts make you happy.”
“Then who did it Ellie? That chocolate syrup didn’t pour itself into Summer’s cup.” Elenore opened her mouth to argue when Ashley spoke up.
“I saw her go over and play with Sarah and Dakota,” She announced. It wasn’t a complete lie because after pouring the chocolate syrup she’d run off and played with the girls.
“Is that true girls? Was she playing with you?”
“Uh-huh,” Sarah nodded. “We played duck duck goose.”
“That still doesn’t explain how the chocolate syrup got in her drink. Maybe she did it before going off to play with the girls – she was seen standing there.”
“Maybe Laila did it” Ashley replied knowing the baby wouldn’t get into any real trouble. “You know two year olds and how they like to get into things…”
“She does have chocolate on her hands” AJ added after narrowing his eyes slightly at Ashley knowing right off that she is covering up for Elenore. That is all fine and dandy but does she have to accuse his little angel? He made a great deal of checking her hands nonetheless though he knows it’s from eating his mother’s strawberries but Summer doesn’t.
“That’s probably it,” Kevin agreed, he too not knowing the real truth. “She’s just a baby Sum, I’m sorry. I’ll go make you a new drink how’s that?” he offered while taking her damaged drink and getting up.
“Haven’t you ever heard the rule Summer?” Ashley asked sweetly, making herself sound like a concerned friend to Kevin but Summer could hear the sarcasm. “You should never leave your drink unattended – especially when there are children around.”
“Yeah honey, I probably should’ve warned you that’s my fault” Kevin replied while going into the kitchen. “We have lots of children around here varying in different ages so you might want to watch your drinks and stuff.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Summer replied, her eyes still on Elenore. I know it was really you, you evil little brat she thought to herself. AJ went over and sat next to Ashley then and he gave her a look. Ashley looked back at him innocently and he leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“Next time you use my little girl like that and I’ll kick your ass,” he warned. Ashley giggled quietly.
“You and I both know that you are all talk. You couldn’t hurt me even if you wanted to.” AJ scowled.
“Seriously. No more using Laila to get back at the wicked sea urchin okay?”
“Aw come on Alex you have to admit its pretty good. She’s two so she can’t get into any real trouble.” AJ narrowed his eyes at her for a couple of moments more before wrapping his arm around her and kissing her cheek.
“Are you okay? You seemed kind of pouty earlier.”
“Yeah I’m better now. Ellie cheered me up” Ashley told him with a small smile and AJ chuckled.
“You little brat,” he whispered playfully before hugging her.
“A brat I may be but you still love me.”
“You are lucky I do.”
“Yeah, I’ll agree to that. I am pretty lucky” Ashley smiled as she nestled into AJ but still held Bella. AJ wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“I think I’m the lucky one here. I was missing out until you came a long. You need to stay my little sister forever okay? Let’s just skip your birthday and every birthday to come and you can stay seventeen forever.”
“You can pretend its not going to be my birthday in a week all you want Alex but its not going to stop me from doing what I’ve been waiting to do all of this time,” She told him while smiling up at him.
“Well you can’t blame a brother for trying. Can’t you wait until marriage? That’s a much more special time then your eighteenth birthday isn’t it?”
“For one, life is too short to wait for your wedding day – that may be okay for people who don’t have Sean hell bent on killing you, but I do so I’m not waiting another minute come the evening of February 4th. Two, to make Nick wait any longer after all of this time of telling him that it would happen on my birthday would be cruel.”
“Yeah I guess you are right,” AJ sighed, recalling all of the moments where Nick’s been tortured by Ashley unintentionally. He’s been waiting respectfully and patiently for her and as much as he would like to, he can’t deny him the evening. Ashley hugged him tightly and rested her head against his shoulder comfortably.
“But don’t worry Alex, no matter how old I get, I am always going to be your baby sister.”
“You promise?”
“With all of my heart.” Ashley felt him tighten his hug and took it in as much as she could. “And I’ll prove it to you too. On my wedding day its you that I want walking me down the isle in place of my daddy. Will you do that Alex?”
“Pshh…are you kidding me sweetie? I won’t let anybody else have the job,” AJ told her with a small grin and he wiped away the lone tear rolling down his cheek.
“He’ll be walking you down the isle, standing at my side as three-fourths of my best men, saying a speech at our wedding reception…he’ll be doing it all” Nick added.
“See Alex? Always the most important in my life.”
“I feel honored to take your father’s place in walking you down the isle. I only hope I do it justice,” AJ told her softly, managing to keep the water works at bay.
“I think that if he were here right now in spirit witnessing this conversation, he would be grateful that its you whose been given the job” Ashley replied, not being so lucky with the water works. AJ wiped away her tears.
“Cheer up sis, you know I don’t like it when you cry.”
“I’m not unhappy,” Ashley insisted. “I know he would’ve loved you and Nick, and the rest of the boys and that makes me happy,” she told him while smiling up at him some causing him to smile in return.
“I believe that,” AJ replied. “I don’t know the man, but he did raise you…he must be pretty amazing.”
“I second that,” Nick agreed while also wrapping his arms around her deciding it was okay now and that he won’t be ruining the brother sister moment and he kissed the back of her head. The three of them sat there together quietly with Bella for awhile as they amusedly watched everybody laugh, socialize, and play, until suddenly the lights were turned off and Brooke and Peyton walked into the room holding a birthday cake lit with candles beginning the traditional happy birthday song.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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