Chapter Sixty Four
By the time everybody had left that store Nick, Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin had bought at least two things for everybody in their group of kids who had been spread out all over the store looking at things. By the time they were walking out of that store and headed for another AJ met up with Brooke again.
"Hey Brookie…" he greeted her.
"Hey…" Brooke replied, immediately putting her guard back up.
"What'd you buy?" He asked her conversationally.
"A Winnie The Pooh Hoodie."
"That's neat."
"Yeah…"
"Well, I was looking through the store earlier and I spotted something that reminded me of you. So I thought I would get it for you," He replied, and he opened up his bag, pulling out a white square box and he handed it to her.
"Oh…Aje…You didn't have-"
"-I wanted to," AJ replied, smiling at her warmly. She looked up at him hesitantly for a moment, then she stopped walking and he did as well, causing the two of them to fall behind. She opened up the box and saw that whatever is inside it was covered in paper for protection. She unwrapped it revealing a little porcelain Winnie The Pooh, who is holding a red heart balloon in one hand, and a pot of honey in the other.
"Aww…AJ it's adorable!" AJ beamed, happy that she likes it and feeling proud of himself that he had impressed the girl of his dreams.
"I thought that maybe you could sit it in your office a long with all of your other porcelain things that you have in there."
"I'll do that. Right on my desk where everybody can see it." She told him, and she wrapped an arm around him and hugged him, before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. When she pulled away she wrapped the delicate pooh bear back up in the paper and closed the box and he held the bag open for her. She placed the box inside it and he handed the bag to her. She flashed him a shy smile before hurrying off to catch up with everybody. AJ stood there in sort of a daze for a moment, than he snapped out of it when he noticed Pluto standing there mocking him.
"What?? Haven't you ever seen someone in love before?" He asked, then he ran off to catch up with his friends. When he got into the store that they had disappeared in, he went over to Howie who was supervising his and AJ's group of kids in shopping. Meanwhile, over in the jewelry section, Ashley was walking around carrying Dakota with Nick and Laney close by her and Kori is with her also as she still holds Sarah. Spencer had run off with Elenore, Josh, and Brian because Elenore had begged him to keep her company.
"Daddy," Dakota spoke up suddenly, after looking at a pair of Minnie Mouse earrings
"Yeah baby?" Nick asked gently, as he turned and looked at her.
"Can I gets these earrings?"
"Honey you don't have your ears pierced. You have to have your ears pierced in order to wear earrings."
"Can I gets my ears pierced then?"
"No honey, I don't think so…you're a little young…and it hurts." Nick answered skeptically.
"But Ellie gots her ears pierced…an I bet it won'ts hurteds me anymore then Tom did…"
"But Ellie's parents didn't care if Ellie was in pain or not…I do baby, and I don't think you should get your ears pierced until you're a little older."
"But Daddy I WANTS to! Sarah has hers pierced too! Why can'ts I gets mine pierced??" Nick sighed, and then looked at Ashley.
"How old were you when you got your ears pierced?"
"I was six…" Nick looked at Sarah then.
"Sarah? How old were you?" Sarah scribbled five on her notepad.
"Did it hurt when you got them pierced?" Sarah wrote her answer down and handed it to him and he read it. Not too bad. Only hurt a second. Mommy didn't want me to do it…she was scareded it would hurt but I begged and pleaded. Nick looked back at Ashley then.
"Do you think I should let her do it? You're a girl, you've been through it…what do you think?"
"Well its up to you, really…you're her daddy and you know what's best for her. But if it were me I would let her do it if it's something she really wants to do… it didn't hurt me much when I got mine pierced. Only a second…but it's different for everybody."
"You will also have to make sure she takes care of them," Kori spoke up suddenly. "She'll have to clean them every day or her ears will get infected." Nick thought about it for a couple of minutes, then he looked at Dakota.
"Maybe if you're a good girl daddy will consider it okay? Be a good girl for the rest of the day and I will take you to the mall tomorrow to have them pierced - maybe."
"Kay daddy. I'll be a good girl - promise." She told him and she means it. She very badly wants her ears pierced - if Sarah could get hers pierced, she should be allowed to have hers pierced as well. She can handle it. She's already been through enough pain that most four year olds don't experience. She can handle a pinch that lasts a second. She and Ashley went back to looking at jewelry then. Suddenly Wiley came up behind Kori and kissed her cheek and Ashley rolled her eyes. Kori noticed this and eyed her for a moment, then she looked up at Wiley.
"That was Libby on the phone. She was wondering how things are going and she said to tell you that she misses you."
"How is the Diner doing?"
"Well the Diner itself is doing okay but she says a couple of annoying little brats have been in it a few times giving her and some of the waitresses a hard time." Kori rolled her eyes.
"Jerry and Lewis. Yeah I'm familiar with them…they're regular customers. They come in and annoy the hell out of me constantly."
"Why didn't you ever tell me? I could have gotten rid of them for you."
"Because I know how to handle them. They're like me…slowly heading in the wrong direction and the only reason I deal with their shit every day is because I've been trying to steer them away from it." Kori explained, shaking her head. "I've really gotta get back there…"
"You can't go back there, you promised Stabler you'd help catch Sean! You promised me," Ashley suddenly spoke up, the fear of losing Kori evident in her eyes. "You said you weren't going anywhere!"
"Not right now I'm not…" Kori replied. "Chill out honey I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. But you know I would like to go home some time…I have the Diner to think about, I have friends there…and as soon as everything is okay here I would like to get back to it."
"I see," Ashley replied indifferently and she kissed Dakota's forehead and walked away with her to look at the t-shirts. Kori sighed and then looked at Wiley and Nick with 'what now' looks.
"She's scared of losing her sister all over again…reassure her that you aren't going to disappear." Nick told her quietly.
"What's the point? No matter what I tell her she'll just find another reason to be mad at me."
"She still needs to hear that reassurance," Nick replied gently. Kori sighed and then went over to Ashley. Ashley looked at her for a moment, then back at the t-shirts.
"That doesn't mean I am going to disappear completely…I'll leave you my phone number to the Diner…you have my cell phone number too. You can call me anytime you want…you could even come visit me too. Who knows…maybe even move out there with me…."
"I'm not going to move away from mom and dad, Kor. Florida is my home. I would never dream of leaving it permanently."
"Honey, mom and dad-"
"-Are dead. Yes I know that Kori. Believe me, I know. I had to watch them die! I know better then anyone else. But moving away from Florida, from the home they built for us would be like letting them go and I'm not ready for that." Ashley explained. "I don't plan on leaving the Orphanage when I turn eighteen. I'm going to live there with Nick and Dakota like I'm already doing and I'm going to get a job there. If you want to leave, fine."
"Ashley why do you have to be like this?"
"Be like what? All I said was that I'm not leaving Florida and that I'm okay with you going back to your new life in Jersey. What is wrong with that?"
"It's clearly obvious that your not okay with it since you've got an attitude about it and all." Ashley looked at Kori with the most positive look she could muster.
"No attitude. I'm perfectly fine with it," She replied, shrugging her shoulders. "You go back to your Diner when all of this is done and I will stay here with Nick. He and Kota are my life now, I'm not leaving them. The people in the Orphanage are my family now. The people in Jersey are yours…and that's fine. I guess the saying is true. You really do create your own family. Maybe we'll visit you sometime though…cause that's what family does." Ashley smiled then, to make her see she's being serious. "Id really like to see what life is like in Kori's Diner." She then looked back at Dakota. "See any shirts you like sweetie?" she asked her. Kori stood there listening to Ashley talk to Dakota for a couple of minutes, then she rolled her eyes and walked away from her, wiping away the lone tear that managed to escape and she went back to Wiley who was standing there next to Nick and the two of them were just listening. She took Wiley's hand and pulled him away from them, needing to be alone with the only person who understands her. Nick sighed and then walked up behind Ashley and wrapped her in his arms and he kissed the back of her neck.
"It wouldn't kill you to try and understand her you know."
"What are you talking about? I think I was being very understanding."
"Hardly. I love you baby and I am on your side…you know that. But if you ever want to regain a relationship with her you've gotta listen to her…and stop shooting everything she says down."
"I was listening to her Nick. I listened to her. I said it was okay if she went back to Jersey. I listened to every word she had to say. I told her my opinion afterward. I'm not moving away from you and the Orphanage. You should be happy about that."
"Yeah…but you had an attitude about it and it's clearly obvious that you aren't okay with it. You also basically accused her of forgetting about your parents and the life they created for you two here…without actually saying it."
"I'm perfectly okay with it, Nick. I don't know how many times I've gotta tell you two that. She has a life in Jersey now….mine's here. So she's going to go back there when this is all done and over with. Fine…it's nothing I'm not used to."
"Why don't you just admit that you don't want her to go instead of making things so complicated? She is your sister, she loves you. She might move out here if you really want her to."
"You heard her. She has friends in Jersey. She has the Diner to think about and she would really like to get back there when this is all done and over with."
"I'm sure that if she knew her sister loves her and doesn't want her to go anywhere she would bend over backwards to see that you're happy."
"Well, if I was being that obvious about not wanting her to go, she should know that without me having to tell her. Since I'm so obvious and all."
"Maybe she needs to hear you say it." Ashley shrugged her shoulders.
"Look Kota - Ellie, Spencer, and Josh are over there looking at the stuffed animals. Lets go and look too. We still have yet to get you a stuffed Mickey Mouse - and Winnie The Pooh - and Donald too." Ashley said, walking off with Dakota. Nick groaned and then followed her after making sure Laney was too. They spent a little while longer in that store, then suddenly Kevin walked up to Nick, Ashley, the kids, and Brian.
"Hey guys, there's going to be a parade in ten minutes and our kids want to go and see it - so does the kids in your group Bri - and AJ and Howie's. So we're all going together."
"Cool - just let me pay for Kota's stuffed animals first," Nick replied, and he walked off toward the cashier desk with a Pooh Bear, a Mickey Mouse, and a Donald Duck in his hand as well as stuff Sarah wanted which were a Mickey Mouse, a glow in the dark wand that has all of the princesses on it, and a notepad and pen. Ashley carried Dakota and Sarah over to the entrance to the store and Laney followed close behind her, as did Riley and Brian. Kevin had Elenore's hand in his, to hopefully keep her and Josh from fighting - though, they still seemed to find ways to annoy one another. He was surprised they were still behaving quite nicely, all things considering. Soon enough, everyone was headed in the direction of the parade area, each child carrying a bag or souvenir in their hands. And of course, all of them were wearing their hats that Brian had bought for them. Elenore felt happy, as she carried her stuffed Donald Duck in her handcuffed hand. He was very special to her, as it was Donald Duck, and Kevin had bought him for her! Josh was in a pretty good mood as well, also carrying his Donald Duck in his handcuffed hand. For once, he didn't care that Elenore had copied him in which toy to carry - he was just happy to actually have the toy!
"Kevy, we's gonna sees Donalds again?" Elenore wanted to know, as she'd never seen a Disney Parade in her life! Nor had most the children there.
"Yes we are," Kevin smiled down at her. "He's always in the parade, and so is Mickey and Minnie and Daisy & Pluto and Goofy and everybody!"
"Wow!" Elenore exclaimed, feeling even more excited than before. They all reached the Parade area and joined the crowd that was all ready there.
"Stay close everyone," Brooke informed them - mostly the children. "We don't want to lose anyone." Nick, Kevin, Brian, Howie and A.J. all repeated the message to their groups, to ensure that everyone had indeed heard the message. The kids all pushed their way to the front of the crowd, so that they can see. They don't want to miss a thing! Elenore and Josh pushed their way to the front, as did Spencer and Chris. Dakota and Sarah stayed glued to Ashley, and Nick stayed glued to them. And Laney to Nick. No sooner had everyone finally gotten settled - though, all were standing - than did the music begin to play and suddenly, you could see Mickey and Minnie on their way. The kids cheered with delight, as the two big mice headed their way - they were thrilled to see Mickey twice in one day! As they were watching, Josh and Elenore began to fight once more - after they had seen about five or so floats.
"Belle will so comes before Peter Pan!" Elenore insisted. "I bets Peter Pan's nots even in the parade!"
"He is too!" Josh argued. "And he'll come before Belle, because he's more important than some stinky ole Princess!"
"Dakota's a Fairy Princess, and you like her just fine!" Elenore snapped. Josh glared, as his eyes darted around to ensure nobody had heard.
"You quit that, Elenore!" He ordered. "Or I'll tell Spencer you like him!" Elenore's eyes went wide, and she shoved Josh back some, unknown to the adults who were all watching the parade as well.
"Shuts-up!" Josh smirked.
"I can play this game too, yanno," he told her, shoving her in return. "I know you like him. You look ats him like I look at Kota." Elenore smirked back.
"You just saids that aloud, Joshy!" Josh's eyes went wide, and he shoved her - hard - once more.
"Shut-up!"
"Make me!" Elenore challenged, finally shoving him again - this time hard enough to cause him to stumble back and take her with him. Unknown to the two fighting children, they'd managed to shove themselves back and away from their groups and the safety of security and BSB. And to top it all off, the adults watching them were completely unaware as well. Josh and Elenore continued to push and shove one another, until they both fell to the ground, emerging from the huge crowd gathered to see the Parade. They both yelped, and struggled to get back up, looking in shock as they realized what had just happened.
"Way to go, Stupid," Josh said. "You knocked us out here, and now we're gonna miss the Parade!"
"I'm NOTS stupid!" Elenore yelled. "And it's YOUR fault! I'ma miss Belle an' Donalds now!"
"We better NOT miss Donald!" Josh growled somewhat. "He's my favorite!"
"Mine too, Dummy!" Elenore reminded him. Josh smacked her.
"I'M NOT A DUMMY!" He yelled. Elenore's eyes filled with tears, as she rubbed her face where she'd been hit.
"I'm tellin'!" She declared, trying to will her tears to stay back and unshed. Josh's eyes went wide.
"No! Don't do that! Brian will take my toys back!" It was then they both noticed, that they'd each dropped their stuffed Donalds in the midst of pushing and shoving one another.
"I lost Donalds!" Elenore wailed. Josh groaned, though he too felt like crying - just a little bit.
"C'mon! We gotta find them, and Brian!"
"I wants Kevy!" Elenore declared. "He'll find Donalds!"
"And then we'll hafta explain why we lost 'em!" Josh pointed out. "We can find them ourselves, then go back to Brian and them!"
"Kay," Elenore sniffled, agreeing readily, as she wanted to find Donald and get back to Kevin as soon as possible. A man approached them then, the two completely unaware of his presence. He'd been watching them all along and had realized they were handcuffed - which would make his task a little more difficult, but it wasn't something he couldn't handle. He snuck up behind then and quickly grabbed them from behind, covering their mouths with cloths that contained chloroform. Josh and Elenore both struggled like crazy, but ended up passing out anyways - no one noticing, as they were all highly distracted by the Parade that was still going on and no where near being finished. The man scooped them both up into his arms, and proceeded to quickly carry them out of the Park. This was too easy - and if anyone asked, his children had fallen asleep and he was taking them home - though, he hoped not to be spotted, as he had seen the television broadcast, that had made his boss furious.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
