Chapter Three-Hundred-Seventy-Eight
“So, Kev, we’ve come up with the greatest plan while you were gone” Brian began after eyeing him and Q for a moment when they walked out onto the playground together and deciding he wouldn’t linger too long on the drama. They seem to have made up, Q is back, that is all that matters here and now they need their kids back.
“A plan for what?” Kevin asked still recovering from the emotional conversation that he had with Ashley and the emotional apology that he and Q had.
“To get our kids back,” Nick answered. “That is, if you can handle having Ellie down here. You aren’t going to go off on her are you? Is everything okay?”
“Nick, don’t” Brian insisted.
“I was just making sure, am I not allowed to ask if my friend and bandmate is all right?”
“I’m fine,” Kevin jumped in gently before the two friends could carry on with their argument. “Ellie and I will be fine, if I can ever get her to come out from hiding.”
“Right and we have a plan for that,” Brian insisted in a much too chipper tone. It is obvious that if he has it his way they are not going to dwell on the Kevin and Q situation.
“So lets hear this plan,” Kevin replied while arching his eyebrow. One thing he knows for sure, he is definitely not used to his cousin playing the peacemaker. But then he supposes someone ought to fill in for Howie while he is gone. Brian reached down and gathered Tyke into his arms and grinned at Kevin.
“You are looking at him. I knew there was a reason I should let Chris talk me into bringing the puppies with us today.”
“Tyke…is the plan?”
“And Abbie, Lily, and Chance. They may not always be very helpful when it comes to alerting us when the baddies are near…though in all fairness they’re getting better at it with all of the doggy training that Nick, AJ, and Stabler have been doing. But they are pretty damn good at tracking down our kids we know that for sure.” Kevin thought about this for a moment, and then spoke up.
“If you let me run home really quick I can get Lil’ Rok. He’ll find Ellie in seconds…they’re inseparable.”
“Already ahead of you on that,” Ashley spoke up. “We sent Jerald to get him, he should be back any minute now.”
“Wow, you all really mean business don’t you?”
“Ashley and I are going to Jersey tomorrow with Kori and Wiley, we kind of need our kids back tonight.”
“Where is Sarah and Bella?” Kevin asked curiously. “Did Sarah escape too?”
“No, Brian took Sarah to Riley’s office and sat her in a chair next to her. She refused to be helpful when it comes to her sister, so I refuse to let her play. AJ took Bella and drove her down the street to Denise’s house so that Ashley and I can put our entire focus on finding Dakota.”
“Well, despite the circumstances you have to look at the bright side here. At least she and Dakota are working together again,” Brian pointed out.
“Yeah well, they need to learn how to work together without being mini juvenile delinquents in the process. I’ll be happy when my apartment is finally finished so I won’t have to be creative about time outs, I can just send them to their rooms.”
“That’s not exactly helpful when they’re going to be sharing a room,” Brian reminded.
“Well we have a spare room, that will do.”
“Did someone say something about Juvenile Delinquents?” a familiar voice suddenly spoke from behind them, and they all whirled around to see Aaron and Angel approaching them. They could hear their conversation as they were walking out onto the playground.
“Yes, but don’t worry we weren’t talking about you this time,” Nick reassured.
“Well that’s something new,” Angel replied while embracing her eldest brother in a hug and Nick returned it. “It is rare for the words Aaron and Juvenile Delinquent to not be said in the same sentence.”
“Ha Ha,” Aaron replied while rolling his eyes and then he looked around at everybody else. “Who were you talking about then?”
“Your nieces.” Aaron cringed.
“Uh-oh, what have they done that was so bad enough to be called my nieces in such a tone?”
“Your youngest niece started a riot this morning with Sarah’s little friends and when it became too much for her, batman came to the rescue and in order to keep her from getting into trouble, he whisked her off to hide. For awhile we didn’t know where they were, but then Q and Marcus were smart enough to keep watch on Ellie who unknowingly led us straight to them on cameras. They are up in the air vents and your oldest niece downright refused to tell me where they were at. That’s the story in a nutshell.”
“You left out the part where Sarah smacked Monica across the face and left a big red hand mark on it in result,” Ashley pointed out and Aaron and Angel gaped at them in disbelief.
“Why do you two look so surprised? Its not the first time she’s smacked someone on Dakota’s behalf.” Angel shook her head.
“Your kids are violent Nick you should do something about that.”
“They aren’t usually…Dakota…hasn’t exactly been herself lately, and Sarah…well…you just don’t piss her off when it comes to Dakota, plain and simple.” Just then, Jerald walked out with Lil’ Rok in his arms and the little pup was barking like crazy and trying to jump over Jerald’s shoulder.
“What is up with him?” Brian asked curiously as Lil’ Rok’s antsy behavior was getting Abbie, Chance, and Lily going.
“I think he already has Ellie’s scent, which means she was right above us when we walked in. He might have even heard her with his super sharp doggy ears.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Wait a minute, you’re going to use the puppies to track them down?” Aaron asked amusedly.
“That’s the plan, unless you can come up with a better one.”
“What are you going to do once they find them? How do you know the kids won’t just keep the puppies with them as they continue to hang out up there in their cool hiding place?”
“That’s a good question,” Kevin replied while looking at Brian to see if he thought about that.
“Well, now that you two are here…maybe you can be of some assistance,” Nick replied, thinking as he goes.
“How?” both Angel and Aaron spoke in unison and everybody but Marcus looked at him in curiosity.
“He’s right they could. I was thinking about sending Ashley up there after them because at the time she was the littlest adult here, but now we have you two who would fit up in those vents quite nicely.”
“Yeah, not only could we send the puppies up there but Aaron and Angel could each take a different vent on two different sides of the building and do a search as well.”
“That’s a good idea, but I’m still going up too” Ashley insisted, as she was sitting in the grass playing with Abbie. “I didn’t send Bella to Momma Denise for no reason, I want to help…and I’m hoping if I could just get to Dakota, maybe I could lure her down somehow.”
“Just don’t mention the N word cause obviously that word scares her off and causes her to start riots,” Nick warned gently.
“…What ‘N’ word?” Aaron asked while raising his eyebrow at his brother.
“Naptime, duh. What other ‘N’ word is there that has the ability to scare children everywhere?”
“Well, no can be pretty scary sometimes too…” Aaron pointed out.
“So anyway Aaron, Angel, Ashley, choose a vent any vent…and a puppy too. Ashley I strongly suggest the one upstairs in what used to be your room. You might be able to get into that one easier,” Marcus spoke up again, bringing everybody back to business.
“So I think the moral of this story would be to put some cameras up in those air vents, eh?” Angel asked while leaning down and picking up Chance and she giggled as he licked at her cheek.
“Hey know fair, I wanted Chance.”
“You snooze you lose twinny.”
“No, I don’t want cameras up there” Nick insisted. “As convenient as that would’ve been in this situation, they are still better off without them.”
“Why?” Aaron asked curiously.
“My gut feeling just tells me so that’s all.”
“So you are okay with your kids having a place in this building that you cant see them at?”
“If they disappear off of the camera radar again, we’ll know better” was all Nick said.
“I still don’t understand,” Aaron insisted as he followed his brother and everybody else into the building.
“Lets just say I’m happy that they have their own special little place that they can go to.”
~*~*~*~*~
“Are you sure you are ready to go inside?” Howie asked for the third time since breakfast as he and Lindsey stood outside the library with Ryan and Laila.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Lindsey insisted as she held Laila so she was rested on her one hip. The little one has advanced in the short time that she has been living with Lindsey again. Instead of not letting her hold her at all or simply throwing a gigantic fit the moment she comes too close to her, she now allows her to as long as Howie or AJ are in her eye sight at all times and if they seem okay with it. The moment they go too far or turn a corner without her though they always know because she instantly starts to holler and they come running back. This is actually the first time AJ hasn’t been around to help out too. Howie told him to disappear for awhile to see how Laila does with just Lindsey and so far she’s done pretty well.
“Momma if you aren’t ready to go in today we don’t have to,” Ryan insisted gently and Howie silently admired his understanding of the whole situation. He may refuse to be understanding of his sister’s situation, but he’s handling the one with his mother very well. “We can come back some other time, really. There’s no rush. I could even read one of my other books over again.”
“That’s really sweet of you honey but I really need to do this” Lindsey insisted after smiling down at him and gingerly placing her hand to his cheek and he tilted his head sideways as he leaned into it lovingly. He’s missed having his mother’s touch to look forward to every single day and he will be damned if he lets anyone take her away from him again. He has to help Howie take care of her. And most importantly, he has to make sure Howie sticks around always because he already has it set in his mind that he is the thread that is holding their family together at the seams. And if things go his way, Howie will be the one to put them right again.
“Are you sure?” Howie asked again. “You just got out of the hospital…maybe you need just a little more time,” he insisted, wanting to protect this woman more then anything from any pain that threatens her path. He knows its his job to help her move forward but he didn’t know just how hard it would be to see the grief ridden looks in her eyes everytime he helps her take that step. He realizes he can’t shelter her from the cruel world forever, but he sure as hell would like to try.
“If I don’t do it now its just going to be much harder when I actually do try,” Lindsey replied and she reached out and gently grabbed his hand. “Just hold my hand okay?” Howie gently squeezed it.
“I won’t let go,” he promised and Ryan grinned from ear to ear as he followed his mom and Howie into the library. As soon as they stepped foot inside the foyer the first thing they saw was the big portrait of Rick hanging up on the wall above the doors to the library and underneath it in big words it reads In Loving Memory of Rick Sawyer. Howie and Ryan both glanced at Lindsey then as Howie had feared this part most of all not knowing how she would react to seeing the picture of her husband the moment she walks in. She can barely look at a wallet-sized photo of him, let alone a big portrait of him that can’t be missed. Lindsey gasped upon seeing it and stopped short where she was and her hands flew to her mouth as she gazed at it and Howie sighed softly as tears pooled her eyes. He slid his arms around her and pulled her into a warm hug and she leaned into him while never breaking her gaze.
“Are you okay? Its not too late to turn around.” Lindsey shook her head.
“No, I’m fine…I’m okay. I need to do this.” When Howie realized that she was temporarily paralyzed where she stood and on the verge of a meltdown he gently took Laila from her and handed her over to Ryan before he even had the chance to protest.
“Why don’t you take your sister and go on ahead into the library buddy while I help your mother?”
“But—“
“-Ryan, now!” Howie interrupted while giving him a stern look and before Ryan could scowl Lindsey suddenly dropped to her knees and Howie turned to help her before she could hurt herself. Seeing the importance of him taking care of Laila right now, he set Laila down on her feet without another protest and grabbed her hand and he turned and led her into the library. Now that Laila was no longer watching with concern, Lindsey let herself go and broke down into sobs and Howie dropped to his knees in front of her, gently slid his arms around her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. Deciding there was nothing he could really say to comfort her right now and that she just simply needed a good cry he silently combed his fingers through her long shoulder length blonde curls as he let her use his shoulder. He noticed a few people around them staring at them and giving them confused or weird looks and it annoyed him.
“What? Can’t you let a woman grieve in peace?” he snapped at them all, causing them to instantly go about their business. Meanwhile in the library, when Ryan got in there the first thing Laila caught sight of was the children’s area. She turned in that direction while yanking on her brother’s hand expecting him to want to go in there with her simply because its what she wants to do. When Ryan patiently tugged her forward in the opposite direction she began her protests.
“Laila goes play!”
“Not now Laila, in a few minutes. I need to go into the adult non-fiction section first.”
“Laila wants now!” she insisted while still making her failed attempts to pull her brother in the direction she wanted to go.
“If you don’t stop it right now we won’t go over there at all!” Ryan snapped raising his voice just a tiny bit. Laila screeched, tugged, and pulled toward the kids’ room to no avail and was eventually practically lying on the floor wailing when Ryan had enough.
“Laila Marie, KNOCK it off!” he demanded firmly and she dropped completely to the floor, threw her hand over her face dramatically and sobbed and Ryan groaned. He reached down and gathered her up into his arms with her head rested against his shoulder and as she cried out the Niagra Falls onto his shoulder he stalked off in the direction of the Non-Fiction books. It wasn’t long until she broke out into her long drawn out wails for Jay amidst her sobs and Ryan did his best to tune it out a long with the people around them who were either reading, or typing away on their computers. As soon as he reached the non-fiction area, he read the signs on the side of the shelves that listed, which books were where and which numbers could be found in what isle. When he found the isle he was looking for, he turned into it and began to scan the books for the specific one he was looking for. After a couple of moments when he realized Laila wasn’t going to let up anytime soon and her screams were interfering with his searching, he sighed irritably.
“Laila shut up!” he ordered firmly only causing her screams to intensify.
“JAAAAAAAAAAAAY! LAILA WANTS JAAAAAAAAAAY!” That did it. Not being able to hold his frustration in any longer, Ryan growled. He turned around and set her down behind him in front of the big cemented cylinder shaped wall that the bookshelf was leaning up against, and she plopped down onto her diaper padded bottom, looked up at him, and continued to scream.
“SHUT UP ALREADY LAILA, JUST SHUT UP!” he shouted at her, not caring where they are at. “I AM SO SICK OF YOUR TANTRUMS! IF YOU DON’T LET ME LOOK FOR WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR, YOU’LL NEVER GET TO SEE YOUR PRECIOUS JAY AGAIN, IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? QUIT TRYING TO RUIN EVERYTHING!” and with that, he whirled around and stormed into the next isle leaving her there in her corner. Laila flung herself to the floor, buried her face in it and instead of screaming now, she laid there and just plain cried except now it was her wounded cry. By the time Howie and Lindsey found them, Laila was just lying there whimpering and sniffling.
“Ryan what happened?” Howie asked sternly when he caught sight of him in the next isle. He walked over to Laila and gathered her in his arms and she slid hers around his neck tightly and buried her face in his shoulder instantly. “We could hear her crying and you yelling all the way out in the foyer. So you had better get to explaining right now young man!” He ordered quietly after walking around the corner so that he was standing in front of him.
“She was being a spoiled little brat and I took care of it. That is all!”
“That is not an explanation.”
“She wanted to go into the children’s area and I told her I would take her there after we went here, but she wouldn’t have that!”
“I asked you to take care of your sister, did I not?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So you couldn’t go to the children’s area for just a little bit until I came and got her?”
“This was more important.”
“What is?”
“None of your business.”
“If you are going to have that attitude with me young man you can go straight to the car and wait there until we come out. Do you not realize where we are at? This is a library! I would think you would have the common decency not to upset your sister to the point where she’d throw a raging fit and then scream at her and cause an even bigger disruption.”
“This is my library I can do whatever I damn well please in it and I will NOT go to the car because you are NOT my father!” Ryan snapped angrily and he whirled around and stormed off. But not before Howie saw that he had a book hidden under his shirt. Howie scowled and kissed the top of Laila’s head before starting to go after him when Lindsey grabbed at his arm. He looked at her curiously and saw that she was glaring at him through tears.
“What?”
“You didn’t have to yell at him like that.”
“Oh I didn’t? So what was I supposed to do just let him get away with causing a scene in a library?”
“He is a child who just lost his father, he is grieving! He is going through a lot and he was on the edge of snapping at Laila any second. It’s not easy for him to have to remember that he is the big brother who has to be careful around his baby sister when all he wants to do is scream and cry himself a lot of the time. You could have handled it in a whole different way.”
“Well I am sorry but I’ve been dealing with him and his attitude all of this time while you were away and talking calmly to that kid just doesn’t cut it.”
“It works just fine for me,” Lindsey shrugged.
“Well, fine then you know what? Now that you are back why don’t you handle your kid from now on?” Howie snapped somewhat. “I wont help you out with him anymore. Will that make you happy?”
“I just don’t want you yelling at him when it isn’t necessary, that’s all.”
“Well seeing as how the kid doesn’t listen to me when I don’t then I guess I better not say anything to him at all” Howie told her irritably. “You go deal with him, I’m going to go rock Laila in the rocking chair and read to her in the kids section.”
“You told me you wouldn’t leave my side,” Lindsey reminded softly.
“Yeah well, seeing as how you think you can handle everything better then I can then making your way through a library full of memories should be a piece of cake for you,” Howie replied harshly. “You are on your own.”
“Don’t you make this into a bigger deal then it really is!” Lindsey snapped becoming irritated now. “All I did was ask you not to yell at my son is that really a reason for you to act like this?”
“He’s your son, you’re the boss. I’ve only been taking care of him all this time and doing a real good job at it, why should I care?” He asked while shrugging his shoulders. “I was only his foster parent after all…what would I know?” he added and then walked away. Lindsey watched him as he walked across the library and disappeared in the rows of fiction bookshelves where the back entrance to the children’s area was just behind it. She sighed heavily and forcing back her need for another emotional break down, she set off to find her son.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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