Chapter Three-Hundred-Sixty-Two
“That was so amazing!” Ashley exclaimed happily, speaking slightly louder than usual because her ears were still ringing from the concert. She threw her arms about Nick and hugged him tightly as they made their way through the crowded parking lot. They got to meet Slash earlier that day during the sound check and it’s now ten thirty at night and the concert just ended. Nick chuckled and enveloped her in his arms as they walked, Marcus trailing close behind them carrying Ashley’s most prized possession and ‘guarding it with his life’ at her request. He had met up with them just before the concert by AJ’s request and Nick despite his annoyance with AJ had to agree that it was what was best for Ashley. He could just see Sean taking advantage of the crowded atmosphere of the concert, hence why he got an extra ticket for Marcus the day he bought them.
“Nicky I love you so much for taking me to this. The concert was awesome, and meeting Slash was like a dream come true and no one will ever be allowed to mess with that guitar. Its going straight on the wall first thing when we get home,” she rambled still full of energy which only made Nick all the more happy.
“I’m glad that you had fun, now I can rest well tonight knowing I accomplished my goal for the day,” Nick told her gently and he cupped her chin in his hand before tilting it up and brushing his lips lightly over hers. “I will develop the pictures the moment I get a chance baby okay? Then you can relive meeting Slash over and over again with anyone willing to listen.”
“Which had better be everybody!” Ashley insisted perkily. “We have to blow some of them up and frame them Nicky.”
“Yes we do,” Nick agreed while lightly caressing her cheek and gazing into her brown eyes in adoration and she melted into him when she saw something else in his eyes as well. Something that’s been in them all day long…lust, longing, want, and the list goes on. When they finally made it to the car she moved so that she was standing in front of him allowing him to slide his arms around her waist possessively. He kissed her forehead softly as Marcus opened the door to the backseat and lay her autographed guitar safely on the seat. He shut the door and looked at Nick and Ashley as the passion between them was clearly getting stronger, which is no surprise to him. He’s noticed they haven’t been able to keep their hands off of each other all day long and there’s been a lot of kissing too. Which is nothing new with Nick and Ashley, but considering the day, he’s noticed it a lot more. And the later the day gets, the more lovey dovey they seem to become.
“I will be at the Orphanage if you need me Nick,” he informed and without waiting for an answer knowing it wouldn’t come he set off for his own car. Nick gently pushed Ashley backward and lightly up against the side of the car before resting his forehead against hers and gazing into her brown eyes that mirrored his want for her. He let his fingers delicately dance over her cheek before sliding his arms down and around her waist. He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose softly before bringing his lips down to the front and side of her neck leaving little kisses over it.
“Nicky…home…” She managed to say as she slid her arms up and around his neck.
“We might as well stand here for a few moments, there’s too much traffic,” he murmured in her ear before lightly nibbling on her lobe causing her to tighten her arms around him.
“Traffic…yes…” she breathed. “Stand here, no…” She reached behind her and felt around for the door handle. When she found it she pulled the door open before sitting down on the seat with her arms still wrapped around his neck and she lay back sideways on the seat pulling him with her. She placed her feet up on the seat with her legs spread apart as he lay between them and he slid his arm under her head as a cushion as she lay her head back on the middle arm rest. As soon as she was situated he placed his other hand to her chin, tilted it back, and he bent his mouth down onto hers claiming her lips as his own. He silently fought to control himself before he claims everything else that is hers as his own right there and then, which he could so easily do if it weren’t for the retreating AC/DC fans that he could hear outside.
~*~*~*~*~
“Is that Gramma’s plane??” Elenore asked Jerald for the fifth time as her little hands and nose were placed to the glass window near the right gate and she was watching with amazement as every plane came in or took off.
“No baby,” Jerald told her patiently. It was cute after the first two times, but after the other three times she asked he was starting to get slightly irritated with his little niece. “Remember what Uncle Jerry told you? Grandma and Jackie don’t get in for another ten minutes and you asked two minutes ago.”
“Oh yeah…” Elenore replied softly and she looked up at her favorite uncle a little nervously. “I’m sorry Uncle Jerry, I forgots.” Jerald noticed the slightly frightened look in her eyes and sighed softly.
“Its okay sweetheart I know you are just excited to see Grandma,” he told her gently before leaning over and gathering her into his arms. “Why don’t we go pick out some candy and a soda?” he asked while narrowing his eyes at his brother, daring him to protest.
“Actually Jer, why don’t you let Kevin take her?” Brian spoke up and Jerald looked at him like he has two heads. “He hasn’t spent time with his little girl since this morning after all, I’m sure he misses her” Brian added giving his cousin a look that he would understand before looking at Kevin. “And I bet it would make Ellie very happy to receive love and attention from him – and even candy.” All eyes were suddenly on Kevin who was suddenly very much put on the spot. He was standing a couple of feet away, keeping his distance from everybody, as he knows he isn’t exactly their favorite right now. He turned and looked at them in return and his eyes fell on one person only – his little princess. He may be hurt and frustrated by Brian and Jerald’s tough love, but he can’t deny that Brian was right – he does miss her. But everytime he goes to hug her and cuddle her she pulls away from him sharply and he still doesn’t understand why. Either that, or Summer is usually around and she insists that he only makes her tantrums worse by giving her unnecessary attention. And lately, all she ever seems to be doing is throwing tantrums.
“She won’t let me touch her. Everytime I try she jerks away. So tell me how in the world I am supposed to do that Brian and I will.”
“You haven’t really tried though, have you Kev?”
“Of course I ha—“
“No you haven’t, because if you did you would have succeeded.” Kevin opened his mouth to protest only to have Brian interrupt him for a second time. “The Kevin I know and love used to be the only one she could ever trust.”
“That’s right,” Jerald agreed. “It was you who knew just how to hold her. It used to be us she pulled sharply away from remember? It was you God sent her to, and it was you who said she was the most important person in your life. So what happened?”
“You really don’t want to know what I think happened…” Kevin insisted while looking away.
“I already know what you think happened because I know you, and all I have to say about that is you are sadly misguided and really need a reality check. Some soul searching would really do you some good right now.”
“I’m not the one who is misguided, God is. He really made a huge mistake.”
“God doesn’t make mistakes,” Brian informed Kevin firmly.
“No he does not,” Jerald added. “He does everything exactly the way he means to,” he told him before stepping closer to his little brother. “Which is why I am handing over your daughter now so you can put right back into your place.” Kevin shook his head.
“Take her.”
“No,” Kevin protested, looking away.
“Damnit Kevin, NOW!”
“No Jerald, just BACK OFF! I don’t WANT her okay?” With those words being said, Elenore broke down into sobs and she turned and threw her arms about Jerald. Brian stared at his cousin as if he doesn’t know him at all anymore and Jerald tightened his arms around Elenore just a little bit and hugged her close.
“Damn you Kevin, how could you?” he whispered. Kevin turned his head and looked at his brother and daughter once more ready to yell at Jerald when he caught sight of his little girl crying as if the whole world around her has fallen apart. “I don’t know you at all anymore Kevin. That bitch of a girlfriend of yours has really changed you and until you break things off with her and wake up and smell the damn coffee you are dead to me. You hear me Kevin dead to me.” With that being said, Jerald turned and walked away needing to get his niece as far away from the cause of her tears as possible. Elenore wanting to be as far away from everybody as possible, slid down from Jerald’s arms and she made a mad dash in the other direction.
“ELLIE get back here!” Kevin demanded, suddenly reacting in only a way that a father would. His stomach lurched in panic as the realization hit him that she is so upset that anything could happen. Anything. She could get hurt. Someone could grab her and take her away and he would never see her again. Sean could decide he doesn’t deserve her anymore and take her away from him and that he couldn’t handle. The world stopped around him, his breathing stopped, and all he could feel was his heart pounding inside him as all of the worst scenarios popped up in his mind. “ELLIE BABY, PLEASE STOP! I DIDN’T MEAN IT!” he pleaded tearfully before finally finding the strength in him to run after her. “ELLIE STOP!!!” He shouted as he chased her through the airport and she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her not hearing – or not wanting to hear him past this point. Once they reached the big crowd of people Kevin weaved in and out of them as he tried to keep sight of his little princess. They looked at him and Elenore slightly concerned and got frustrated with him when he accidentally bumped into them but otherwise didn’t try to stop them as they were all just in a hurry to get where they needed to be. After a few more moments of chasing her and calling out for her to stop he suddenly realized where she was headed and his heart did somersaults in his chest. She knows not to run across those moving walkways, right? She’s big enough to know better right? And what if she decides to run down the one that goes the opposite way? oh god…
“ELENORE EDNA REENA IRENE ELAINA RICHARDSON! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!” He roared out of sheer fear. Elenore paused upon hearing her full name as she has not heard it in a very long time but she knows when she does she is in BIG trouble but it was much too late. She had stopped right on the moving walkway, and just as Kevin feared, it was the wrong one. The floor moved and her eyes widened as she realized her mistake.
“DADDY!!!” She cried just as her feet were in the air and she started to go down.
“ELLIE!!!” Kevin cried in return as he rushed forward but it was much too late. Elenore fell flat on her stomach and the next thing he heard was her wails. He heard a few gasps and ‘Oh my gods’ from a few people around him and a man who happened to be walking down the same moving walkway toward the incident leaped out and picked her up.
“Oh my gosh that was such a terrible fall! Are you okay?” he asked her anxiously as she continued to shriek for her daddy. When Kevin finally reached him he gently took her from the strange man.
“Oh Ellie, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!” he sobbed himself, holding her close to him with all his might as relief washed over him. She may have gotten hurt and that’s terrible but at least he has her, at least she’ll be safe. Elenore tightened her arms around Kevin with the tightest death grip he has ever received, buried her face in his shoulder, and cried her heart out. Kevin dropped to his knees on the floor and just held her not caring in the least bit about the scene they must be causing.
“Is everything okay?” the strange man who had come to Elenore’s rescue asked worriedly. “Would you like me to call an ambulance for her or something? She hit the ground pretty hard…” Elenore’s eyes widened in fear at the mention of that.
“NO!!!” she shrieked, gripping Kevin even tighter. “NO DOCTORS, NO!!!”
“Ellie! Ellie baby…shhh…its okay, its going to be okay,” Kevin soothed rocking her gently in his arms and he looked up at the man that he was very much grateful for at the moment. “No thanks, I think she’ll be okay once I get her to calm down…thanks for picking her up for me. I know a doctor personally, so if it comes down to it I’ll just have him look her over.”
“Are you sure everything is okay? Why was she running through here looking so upset?”
“She was mad at me…I was upset and said some things I could never ever mean,” Kevin answered, looking down at Elenore and telling her more then the strange man, needing her to understand. “But everything will be okay, I just need to calm her down and have a talk with her is all” he added hoping he would take that as an okay to leave.
“Well okay then, if you say you are all right…” the man replied. He cast Kevin one last look and when he saw he wasn’t going to budge and have an ambulance come check Elenore out he walked off.
“Thanks for helping.”
“No problem Mr. Richardson,” the man replied, causing Kevin to flinch slightly and raise his eyebrow. He watched the man go for a couple of seconds and then looked down at Elenore who still clung to him tightly and cried. He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly before getting up and carrying her toward the bathroom. When he got in there he sat her on the counter and she looked up at him warily and still crying slightly.
“Are you okay baby? Does your tummy hurt?” Elenore shook her head while sniffling and she wrapped her arms around her stomach.
“Its o-o-kay…”
“Are you sure?” Kevin asked skeptically and she nodded while sniffling and hiccuping. “I don’t know princess, I think I better take a look…”
“No!”
“Why don’t you want me to look? That’s what’s scaring me, Ellie…”
“Cause I’m fine,” Elenore insisted tearfully.
“If you were fine, you would let me look.” Elenore looked away from him stubbornly, still holding her shirt down firmly so he wouldn’t try. He eyed her with great concern for a couple of moments, and then sighed and went and grabbed a handful of toilet paper before returning to her and he gently dried her tears. When he finished he carefully picked her up from the counter, his fatherly instincts suddenly returning to him and telling him he needs to be gentle. He doesn’t exactly know why he needs to be gentle, but every fiber in his being is telling him that he does. Where had these instincts gone to for the past few weeks? He snuggled her close to him and placed soft kisses on her forehead as he carried her out of the bathroom.
“I love you Ellie…and I do want you so very much. You are the most important girl in my life,” he whispered softly in her ear. “My little princess…and I’m so sorry I hurt you…you’ve gotta know how sorry I am. Can you ever forgive me?” Elenore didn’t answer but she nestled into him and kept a firm grip on him and he decided that was as good as an answer that he will get for now. He won’t push it. He walked in silence while gently rubbing his hand over her back and when he returned to his beyond angry brother and his cousin he looked concerned.
“Where are mom and Aunt Jackie? Haven’t they arrived yet?”
“Their plane is a little delayed,” Brian answered shortly while Jerald shook his head and walked over to the window and he stared out at it in silence.
“Oh…” Kevin replied softly as stared at his brother’s back.
“Is Ellie okay?” Brian asked after sighing heavily. He is having a very hard time with ignoring Kevin the way Jerald is. But then Jerald has been angry with him for a lot longer about this whole situation, so he’s had practice. Kevin hugged Elenore close to him protectively and even kissed the top of her head.
“I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. Jerald turned slightly in curiosity but rather then looking at his brother he looked at the ground.
“She tried to run across the moving walkway – in the wrong direction I must add and she fell flat on her stomach…she wont let me look to see if she’s all right and that worries me.”
“Really?” Brian asked pretending to be surprised and he gently combed his fingers through Elenore’s hair.
“Yeah…I just don’t know what it is, but every fiber of my being is telling me that I need to be gentle with her. My father instincts…god knows where they’ve been, but they’re back now…I guess it just took her running off for me to get them back…”
“Or, there isn’t anybody here to block them…” Kevin and Brian both heard Jerald mutter as he turned back around and looked out the window again.
“Why don’t you let me take her and you go get her some candy and soda?” Brian offered. Kevin hugged Elenore close to him for a few seconds more not wanting to give her up just yet. When he mustered up the strength to though he looked down at her.
“What kind of candy do you want sweetheart?” he asked gently.
“Kit-Kats…” she whimpered. “An’ gummy bears, an’ tootsie pops, an’ M&M’s, an’ sour gummy keys…”
“And a soda?” Kevin asked not having it in his heart to tell her just one candy. She can have whatever she wants right now. He would take her all the way to the moon if she asked him to.
“Root Beer…”
“Okay, go see your cousin Bri for a few minutes then all right?” Elenore nodded quietly and allowed herself to be handed over. Kevin got candy and soda orders from the other children who are all sitting in the chairs where Brian put them. After doing that he walked off to buy it all and Brian carried Elenore over to the chairs next to Josh and sat down with her in his lap and Jerald was at his side instantly.
“Can I take a look sweetheart?” Brian asked and Elenore nodded tearfully. Brian looked toward the store Kevin went into and when he saw that he wasn’t paying attention he grabbed hold of Elenore’s shirt and lifted it up just far enough that he could see her stomach. “Well…there aren’t any new bruises, but I’m sure that still hurt an awful lot huh?” he asked and Elenore nodded and sniffled. Jerald shook his head irritably.
“If Kev wasn’t such a jackass the whole thing could’ve been prevented.”
“Jer, not now” Brian insisted when he saw Elenore’s eyes flood with tears. He gently pulled her close to him and she nestled into his chest with her head rested against his shoulder. She popped her thumb in her mouth and took in his snuggles. Jerald heaved a heavy sigh and he turned and looked toward the sky wishing his mom would hurry up and arrive so she can fix things.
“At least he’s finally sensing something is wrong. Maybe if he gets worried enough we won’t have to put Ellie in danger just to get proof” Brian pointed out.
“He’ll just blame the whole thing on me.”
“Not if we tell him the right way. I just…the more I think about it, I don’t want to make Ellie be a victim to Summer anymore then she has to be.”
“So what do you suggest we do Bri? Cause Kevin is beyond reasoning with if you haven’t noticed.”
“What if we do an…intervention, sort of?” Brian suggested after a couple of moments. Jerald raised his eyebrow in curiosity. “We’ll get him into a room by himself where he can’t be influenced by Summer and everybody he loves will be there surrounding him and we’ll all tell him how it is together.”
“He’ll just point his finger in my direction and accuse me of beating her myself.”
“None of us will let him believe that for long.”
“And what if he tries to arrest me?”
“We’ll have Detective Stabler there on our side. We’ll tell him all about it.”
“I don’t know Bri…lets just wait and see how mom handles the situation okay?” Brian opened his mouth to reply when suddenly he noticed Kevin coming back and closed it again and he watched in sadness as his favorite cousin handed out the candy and soda. Jerald turned his back again sticking to the angry words he had said to Kevin earlier.
~*~*~*~*~
When Nick and Ashley arrived back at their house finally, Nick parked the car in the driveway and the two of them got out meeting each other around in front of the car. Nick placed his hands at her hips and brought his lips down on hers for a deep kiss and Ashley kissed him back sliding her arms around him as he carefully backed her up toward the house. As soon as they reached the door Nick paused in their kissing just long enough to unlock it before resting his hands on her bottom and lifting her up causing her to wrap her legs around his waist. His lips met hers hungrily as he brought her inside and kicked the door shut behind him with his foot. He then proceeded to carry her down the hall and as soon as he reached their closed bedroom door, he lightly pressed her back up against it before grabbing the hem of her shirt.
He pulled it up and over her head dropping it to the floor and brought his mouth down to the front of her neck where he placed light kisses. Ashley titled her head back against the door giving him better access and he slid his hand down over her bare skin to the zipper of her shorts making her whimper with need. He’s been touching her all day long and if she doesn’t get more then that very soon she really believes she’ll go crazy. He pulled the zipper down, pulled her away from the door, and he turned the knob pushing the door open before sliding his hands back behind her, inside her shorts, and resting them on her bottom as he carried her into the room. As soon as he reached the foot of the bed he lay her on it before covering her body with his before capturing her lips with his own and kissing her with burning desire.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
