Chapter Three-Hundred-Seventy-One
“Not bad for our first shower together since your kidnapping,” Nick commented the next day as the couple stood together in the bathroom. He has an oversized towel that fits two wrapped around them as she is nestled against his chest. He leaned down and kissed her nose softly.
“I guess it’s a lot easier for me to face the water with you in there with me. It usually takes me at least ten minutes to win the every day battle with myself.” Nick’s finger lightly traced over her cheek before going down to her chin and he gently tilted it up before brushing his lips over hers with the softest touch as if he were afraid he might break her.
“I love you baby girl, you are getting so tough.”
“I love you too.” Just then they heard his cell phone ring from a distance and Ashley sighed. “At least it’s not while we’re trying to sleep this time I’ll give Brian credit for that.” Nick chuckled amusedly planted a kiss on her forehead and pulled away.
“You go get dressed and I’ll get the phone,” he told her before turning and hurrying out of the bathroom and up the stairs where he knows he left his phone lying on the desk. Ashley shook her head and walked out of the bathroom too headed in the opposite direction to their bedroom. Meanwhile upstairs, Nick looked down at the caller ID and when he saw that it was Detective Stabler, he walked across the way to the upstairs bathroom, went inside it and shut the door behind him before answering.
“What’s up Elliot?”
“I’m not interrupting anything am I? I figured two days would be enough.”
“Your fine,” Nick chuckled. “Whats going on?”
“Well I was wondering if you were still up for our plan,” Detective Stabler answered and the grin on Nick’s face faded as he ran his fingers through his wet hair.
“I don’t know about this El…”
“It has to be done Nick.”
“I don’t know if I like keeping it a secret from her though.”
“If you tell her about it then what will be the point?”
“I just feel like…I don’t know…like I’m betraying her. She trusts me Elliot…with her whole life and for me to agree to this…”
“She’ll understand eventually that we are only doing what’s best for her.” Nick sighed heavily and leaned his back up against the wall.
“Things are so great with us right now Elliot, I don’t want her to think of this as a betrayal and be upset with me.”
“If we play our cards right she won’t even have to know that you were apart of this.”
“Great, so then I would just be lying to her all this time then is that what you are saying?”
“If we don’t do this Nick then all of the time we put in teaching her will be for nothing. How will we know if she really learned anything? How will we know if she truly is ready for anything?" Meanwhile downstairs, just as Ashley slipped some panties on and was pulling out a bra from her drawer the house phone rang. Sighing she closed the drawer again and walked on out to the kitchen to get it.
“What is this…call Nick and Ashley and see how long we can distract them day?” She muttered quietly to herself. When she approached the counter where the phone was, she picked it up, glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Kori. Rolling her eyes she hit the talk button and placed it to her ear.
“Yes sis?”
“Don’t act like I am interrupting anything, because I know Detective Stabler already has. I know he’s talking to Nick on the phone right now.”
“What do you want Kori?” Ashley asked ignoring her comment.
“Are you two ever going to come out of that house and face the light of day again? You have kids who need you, you know.”
“Something tells me you didn’t call me to bitch about how much our kids need us though,” Ashley told her with an amused smirk as she walked across the way to the bedroom, went inside, and lay back on the foot of the bed.
“Well it was one of the things…”
“And what was the other?”
“I was hoping you would make yourself available sometime soon to go on a little trip with me.”
“What trip?” Ashley asked curiously as she noticed Nick quietly appear in the doorway. He looked at her curiously and Ashley mouthed Kori to him. He quietly crossed the room to the bed and he crawled onto the bed and lay next to her. He slid an arm underneath her causing her to turn and face him and he lightly kissed the corner of her mouth before tucking a strand of her wet hair behind her ear. He brought his hand down to her stomach where he delicately traced his finger over it and listened to her talk. She talked to her sister for ten minutes and then told her she would see her in a couple of hours where they could talk about it some more before hanging up.
“What did Detective Stabler want?” Ashley asked curiously and Nick raised his eyebrow.
“How did you know it was Detective Stabler that called me?”
“Apparently him and Kori are in the same place.” Nick shrugged his shoulders.
“Its nothing important. What did Kori want?”
“She got permission from Detective Stabler to take me to Jersey for a couple of days. You would be going of course, and the kids, and even Detective Stabler himself. She asked me if I wanted to go.”
“Do you?” Nick asked, highly intrigued by this information.
“Well…yeah, actually. I want to be apart of her life as much as possible…and whether I like it or not, Jersey is it. I would really like to look whatever is taking my sister from me in the face.” Nick gently pulled her closer to him and he leaned down and brushed his lips lightly over hers.
“When does she want to go?”
“Tomorrow night. I told her we are planning on going to the Orphanage later and we would talk about it some more then.”
“Okay,” Nick replied while sliding both of his arms around her waist and moving so he is lying on top of her. He buried his face in her neck and placed feathery light kisses as she slid her arms around him in return and closed her eyes comfortably.
“Whats this, hmm?” he murmured as his hands found her panties and he rubbed his hand over the front of them making her squirm underneath him.
“We should probably get dressed and prepare to go get our kids Nicky.” Ashley told him trying to hold onto the little bit of reality that she could before Nick manages to get her to slip back into their own little world that they’ve been living in for the past couple of days. He trailed his kisses down her neck, slowly over her chest until they reached her breasts and he slid his tongue over her one nipple in a slow torturous manner making her whimper softly. “Nicky…” She pleaded with him as he closed his mouth around it and sucked on it. He placed his hand on the other and squeezed and teased it between his fingers. Ashley closed her eyes and ran her fingers through his blonde hair and after a few short moments he was trailing his lips down to her stomach.
“I want you all to myself for just a little longer is that such a crime?” he murmured against her skin before taking her belly button ring into his mouth and playing with it with his teeth and tongue and just with that simple little act alone, he had her. Whatever reality she was holding onto was gone and she surrendered to him completely. He slid his hand inside the front of her panties and down between her legs where he went right to work on pushing all of her buttons until all of her thoughts on getting dressed seemed preposterous to her.
~*~*~*~*~
“Uncle Brian…” Dakota whimpered a long while after one of her daily episodes.
“Kota?” Brian asked carefully as he looked at his niece who was lying on the floor. That’s where she’d been having her fit and knowing that there was nothing he could do to calm her he let her lay on the floor and scream and cry until the episode had passed. He had sat there near by watching her making sure she didn’t do anything that would cause pain to herself while feeling helpless and at a complete loss. He isn’t used to not being able to sooth her.
“Can I call mommy?” she asked him weakly and she looked up at him causing Brian to shudder in surprise as he stared back at the little girl that looks nothing like his niece at the moment. Her face is pale, her cheeks are caked with tears, her eyes are bloodshot and she is trembling.
“They’re coming to get you in a couple of hours baby,” Brian reassured gently and he held his arms out to her. “Come here…come see Uncle Brian.” Dakota regarded him for a moment, and then she got up and walked over to him. He gathered her into his lap so he is cradling her and he bent down and kissed her forehead softly before enveloping her in his arms protectively and resting his forehead against hers. “Is there anything I can help you with? Why don’t you tell me what goes on in these nightmares?”
“I don’t want to,” Dakota insisted tearfully before sliding her arms around Brian’s neck and holding onto him with all the strength that she has in her. Brian sat there quietly holding her and he looked at his mother helplessly.
“Why is she so pale mom? She doesn’t look good right now at all,” he asked her worriedly. “Surely a nightmare wouldn’t have this much affect on her.”
“Well, for one, I think she is just homesick and misses Ashley” Jackie began gently. “She’s not used to being away from her for this long. And two, I don’t think its just everyday nightmares that she is suffering Brian” she added and she gave Brian a look that he would understand. Brian looked back down at Dakota and once again rested his forehead against hers and he hugged her close to him feeling terrified for his niece. Night Terrors? That makes the whole situation even scarier for him. None of their kids have ever suffered a night terror before and he doesn’t even know where to begin in helping her. He doesn’t know anything about them and the thought of his niece going through them breaks his heart completely.
“I love you Dakota Ann,” he whispered, deciding that was all he could do for her at the moment, is let her know that she is loved and that she is safe.
“Loves you too Uncle Brian,” she whispered back, while tightening her arms around him.
~*~*~*~*~
“Hey Brandon, it’s me” Doctor Johnson spoke up into the phone when his brother finally picked up.
“No shit sherlock I read your name on caller ID,” Brandon joked and Doctor Johnson rolled his eyes as he poured himself some coffee and sat down at one of the tables. “What do you want?”
“Well, I was wondering how you would feel about a few visitors coming up there to see you?”
“That would be great!” Brandon answered enthusiastically. “You must’ve been reading my mind, I was just thinking about how lonely it is here. Who is coming?”
“Me,” Doctor Johnson answered simply as if that answer should be obvious.
“You?” Brandon asked in surprise. “You are going to take time off from work to come visit me? My god, what is happening there Steve? Has there been an alien invasion? Is this even my brother that I am speaking to right now, or is it an alien who has taken over his body?”
“Oh very funny,” Doctor Johnson replied amusedly.
“I’m not being funny, I’m being serious. Really, what’s the occasion? There has to be an occasion for you to decide to take time off of work and come see me instead of the other way around.”
“No occasion, I just feel like coming to see my brother.” Brandon was silent for a couple of seconds on the other end as he took this all in.
“You said a few visitors. Who else is coming?”
“Well, if she’ll agree to it…I was hoping to bring Anna and Julie along. I want a few days alone with them without work getting in the way and I figured after all of the times you’ve gone out of your way to come see me, its high time I returned the favor.” Brandon was once again silent for a couple of seconds and when he spoke again Doctor Johnson could hear the amusement in his voice as he just figured out what really has him doing crazy things like taking time off of work for a vacation.
“I’ll let you three come up here on one condition.”
“And what is that?”
“You bring my girlfriend too. I miss her.” Doctor Johnson chuckled.
“I’m already on that bro. She figured out where I was going when she found out I asked Brooke for time off and tracked me down and cornered me until I agreed to bring her along.” Brandon laughed.
“I can believe that. That sounds so much like my Peyton.”
“So it’s okay then? I can bring Anna and Julie home?”
“When should I be expecting you?” was all Brandon said knowing Doctor Johnson would see that as a yes.
“I’m hoping to leave tomorrow night. If Anna agrees to go she’ll need sometime to talk to her boss about it and Julie’s school.”
“Alright. So I’ll see you the next morning after that then?”
“Mhm.”
~*~*~*~*~
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into that,” Ashley informed moments after their round two of love making for the day and Nick chuckled softly and cupped her cheek in his hand.
“It’s not like I gave you much choice, did I?” he told her softly before brushing his lips lightly against hers.
“Butthead,” she muttered between kisses and he just smirked against her lips.
“I love you,” he told her innocently when he pulled away.
“Yeah, yeah…you’re lucky I love you just as much if not more.” Nick grinned triumphantly and rolled over so she was lying on her stomach on top of him. She rested her head comfortably against his chest and he leaned down and placed soft kisses on her tattoo on her shoulder blade.
“I can’t believe you managed to keep this secret from your mom all of this time. She had to have seen it. Denise sees all.”
“If she did she hasn’t said anything. I don’t know how she could have though, since I’ve completely given up tank tops for this very reason.”
“Well, you don’t have to hide it anymore. You are eighteen now.”
“That doesn’t matter. I got it when I was seventeen that’s pretty obvious seeing as how it’s completely healed and all. She’ll crucify AJ just for the very reason that he let me get it when I was under age without her consent.” Nick leaned down and placed soft kisses on it.
“She’ll get over it. She eventually did when AJ got his first tattoo. She loves him way too much to stay mad at him for too long.” When Ashley didn’t reply Nick went on. “And besides, can you blame me for wanting you to show it off to the world?”
“It doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Ashley told him amusedly. “You’d like me to show off anything that clearly states I belong to you.” Nick tightened his arms around her possessively and he planted a kiss on her forehead. “Nicky can we please get dressed now? My mommy-radar is going off inside me like crazy. Kota needs me right now, I can feel it.”
“Mhm,” Nick answered becoming serious again at the mention of Dakota needing Ashley. He knows the bond between his girlfriend and daughter has gotten pretty strong over the last four months and if she says Dakota needs her right now, then it must be true. Ashley rolled off of him and grabbed up her underwear before slipping back into them and he lay there watching her as she gets dressed, loving the fact that she already has mommy-radar for not just her baby, but for his kids as well. When she was nearly finished, he finally rolled out of bed and began to get dressed as well.
~*~*~*~*~
“Daddy can we snuggle on the couch an’ watch a movie together?” Elenore asked hopefully when she, Jerald, Kevin, and Ann had just finished eating breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen.
“What did you have in mind princess?” Kevin asked while gathering her and her teddy bear into his arms and placing soft kisses on her forehead.
“Sleeping Beauty.”
“Well that’s a new one. We hardly ever watch that movie.” Elenore beamed at him and he kissed her nose softly. “How about you, Jerry, Grandma and I all watch it together?” Elenore turned her attention on her uncle and grandmother then with a hopeful gaze and Jerald smiled at the offer.
“Sure thing squirt, we’ll watch Sleeping Beauty with you. Why don’t you take your daddy into the living room and I will make us all some drinks and get some blankets.”
“You make the drinks and I’ll get the blankets,” Ann insisted, and soon enough they were off doing their tasks and Elenore slid down from Kevin’s arms, took his hand and pulled him into the living room just as Jerald told her to do. Soon enough they had the movie in, Jerald had the drinks, Ann the blankets and they were all snuggled up on a couch – Elenore between Jerald and Kevin when she insisted upon them sharing a couch, and Ann sitting curled up in the loveseat. Elenore smiled up at her father and Uncle feeling lots of pride in herself for having managed to get the feuding brothers together for a movie. They may not like each other very much at the moment, but they would do anything for the little girl sitting between them. Jerald and Kevin smiled at her in return and soon enough the movie began having them all absorbed in it.
~*~*~*~*~
“ASHEE!!!” Dakota exclaimed gratefully upon seeing her and Nick walk in the door. Brian had just got her out of the bath and was in the process of getting ready to dress her.
“Dakota Ann, hold on a minute!” Brian exclaimed when he saw what she was about to do, but it was too late. She was already running out of the bathroom and across the living room completely naked.
“UGH! Kota!” Josh exclaimed irritably, his hands flying to his eyes and he turned and made a mad dash back into the kitchen where he had come from.
“ASHEE, ASHEE, ASHEE!” Dakota continued to chant while not paying Josh any mind and Ashley knelt down as the naked four-year-old came flying into her arms.
“Well hi there,” Ashley laughed as Dakota flung her arms around her and hugged her tightly.
“Oh mommy I’ve missed you so much!” Dakota cried instantly upon Ashley’s touch, her happiness at seeing her disappeared and the fear that she’d experienced earlier that morning coming back to her. Ashley hugged her in return while looking up at Brian concerned as he came walking out of the bathroom.
“She had another nightmare,” Brian explained while crossing the room to join them and placing Dakota’s towel over her. “She’s been asking me all morning if I was sure you were okay and that you were really coming to get her.” Ashley sat down on the floor indianstyle right where she was and held Dakota close to her in that special protective way that she does causing her to instantly relax and her cries turned into whimpers.
“I let her throw her fit on the floor in here for twenty minutes this morning. It was all I could do because she wouldn’t let me anywhere near her until she was fully calmed down and awake. Mom doesn’t think its everyday nightmares that she is experiencing,” Brian explained to just Nick alone now as he was standing right in front of him but Ashley still sat there listening quietly.
“I don’t think it is either,” Nick admitted softly.
“What are you going to do about it? How do we handle this Nick? None of our kids have gone through this before.”
“I’ve made an appointment with Doctor Johnson. I’m going to take her to see him when we head over there in a little bit. He is all I can think of at the moment…hopefully he’ll be able to tell us what’s up and suggest who I should take her to afterwards.”
“Where are Sarah and Bella at?” Ashley asked as she slowly swayed from side to side with Dakota who stood there leaning into her.
“Riley has them and the other kids outside. She is sitting out there with Bella watching them play,” Brian explained. “I’ve been spending all morning with Kota trying to keep her reassured and happy. It was taking all of my effort.”
“I’m sorry Brian, we should’ve come a lot sooner,” Ashley replied while casting a look toward Nick who threw an innocent one right back.
“Its fine,” Brian replied in amusement as he had not missed the looks.
“Are her clothes in the bathroom then?”
“Mhm, I was just about to get her dressed when you two came in.”
“I’ll do it,” Ashley insisted while getting up with Dakota and cradling her as she is wrapped in her towel. “Take a break Bri, you’ve done so much for us. Go spend time with your fiancée. Nick why don’t you go take Bella off her hands?”
“You might have to fight her for her first,” Brian chuckled. “Riley has hardly put the baby down since she got here.”
“Bella will do that to you,” Nick replied amusedly and he stepped forward, planted a brief kiss on Ashley’s lips and then cupped Dakota’s cheeks in his hands and leaned forward and kissed her forehead before heading out to the backyard while Ashley carried Dakota back to the bathroom. When Nick got outside he gazed up at the gray clouded sky and wondered quietly to himself just how long it was going to look like that until it finally storms, before capturing the attention of a certain six year old and receiving hugs and kisses from her.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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