Chapter Seventy Two
Kori looked at Doctor Johnson in silence for a couple of minutes as she is highly confused. The only guy who would be interested to see her that she knows of is Wiley and he's on his way back to New Jersey. She knows he is because she said bye to him and watched him leave and almost had a breakdown because of it.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know hon, he didn't tell me. He just asked me if Kori Mortenson was here and I told him yes and to wait there while I go get her."
"What does he look like?"
"He looks about 6'2 and has black hair that is cut short to just below his ears and it's kind of shaggy. He has dark blue eyes." Kori groaned upon hearing these descriptions as she knows exactly who this guy is and Ashley's eyes lit up as she does also.
"Great…" she muttered and she kissed Spencer's forehead and set him down.
"Spencer go play with Kota and Ellie okay? I've gotta go talk to someone…"
"But Momma I want to go withs you! Who is here?" Spencer asked, sensing his mother's uneasiness.
"Nobody important honey. Go play Ninja Turtles or something," Kori replied, and she turned and followed Doctor Johnson in the building, as did Nick, Ashley, AJ, Howie, and Kevin. When they got in there they found the man Doctor Johnson described and he only looks slightly older then Kori.
"SCOTT!" Ashley exclaimed happily and she ran over and greeted him with a hug. Scott chuckled and wrapped her in his arms for a gentle hug.
"Well hey there Ashley! You've grown up quite a bit. The last time I saw you, you were twelve years old." Ashley beamed.
"Well you've gotten pretty old there yourself," she replied just as Kori and the others had caught up. Kori unlike her sister didn't look at all happy to see him. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him with daggers in her eyes.
"What are you doing here, Scott?"
"I want to see my son."
"Well you can turn around and march right on out of here because I already told you no. How dare you show up here uninvited like this when you know very well that I have him here. What if he saw you?!"
"Would that really be such a horrible thing? I am his father, Kori!"
"You're no such thing! You gave up your father rights a long time ago. You didn't want him and you still don't want him! I'm not going to tell him who you are when you will only be in his life for ten minutes! It would kill him!"
"Please Kori, you don't have to tell him who I am. I just want to see him, PLEASE!"
"NO! Just leave!" Kori begged.
"But Kori that's not fair!" Ashley spoke up.
"You stay out of this, Ashley!" Kori snapped. "You're supposed to be my sister! Problems between us or not I can't believe you would take his side and not mine!"
"But he is his father!"
"He is NOT his fucking father!" Kori yelled this time. "He didn't want anything to do with him five years ago, he denied his parental rights! If he was his father he would've stuck with us no matter what!"
"Maybe I changed my mind!" Scott spoke up again.
"What do you mean maybe you changed your mind? Why would you change your mind after so many years?"
"Because I really want to try Kor…I mean it." Kori looked at him for a couple of minutes as tears fell from her eyes, and she shook her head.
"Scott no…I-I can't do this…" She told him and she turned and ran for the stairs not bothering to wait for the elevator and she ran all the way up to her room. Ashley sighed and went after her and Nick started to follow but Howie took his arm. Nick looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Let them be…she'll be fine. You know Kor would never let anything happen to her." He explained. Nick looked at Scott who was standing there looking very upset by now himself and he watched him uneasily. He knows he's not a bad man, otherwise Ashley wouldn't have gone anywhere near him but he has a feeling this man is only going to bring lots more drama into their complicated lives. Clearly Kori doesn't want him there but he can't very well kick him out either. Suddenly they heard the door to the playground open and they turned to see Dakota, Spencer, Elenore, and Josh come running in wearing their Ninja Turtle masks and a parade of puppies following close behind them. Dakota lead the way over to Nick and her uncles and the strange man who mysteriously looks very similar to Spencer.
"Daddy, Daddy!" Dakota exclaimed. Nick couldn't help but grin a little as he saw his baby girl coming and he scooped her up into his arms, though he kept a wary eye on Spencer, as did everybody else.
"Yes, my little Ninja Turtle?" He asked, placing his nose to hers and she giggled.
"We wants ice cream!"
"Okay why don't you four go outside and play for a little while longer and we'll take you in about an hour?"
"Kay," Dakota replied. Nick kissed her cheek, then he set her down.
"Come on you guys! We gots to go an' fights Shredder!" Elenore announced.
"Yeah!" Josh and Dakota agreed and the three of them turned to go but stopped when they realized Spencer was staring at Scott curiously and Scott was standing there staring back nearly in tears. He knows that is his son standing right there in front of him, he would recognize him anywhere. He looks just like him…minus the fact that Spencer has dark brown hair, and Scott's is black. Though Scott dyed his hair a long time ago. His hair is naturally dark brown.
"Spencer?" Elenore asked curiously.
"Who are you?" He asked the strange man curiously. Scott was suddenly lost for words. He has absolutely no idea what to say to that. He knows Kori didn't want him to see him, but what other choice does he have now?
"I'm…um…my name is Scott," he answered finally after a coupe of moments. "And you must be Spencer," He added gently, and he kneeled down in front of him.
"Yeah…how'd you knows that?" Spencer asked confused. "Do I knows you?"
"No…you don't know me. But I've heard a lot about you…I'm an old friend of your mom's."
"Momma never told me bouts you…." Spencer replied, eyeing the man skeptically.
"Yeah…she wouldn't. I'm a very old friend….it's been a very long time since her and I have seen each other."
"Oh…" Spencer replied, and he reached for AJ's pantleg. AJ reached down and placed his hand on Spencer's shoulder, gently squeezing it to let him know that it's okay though he remained quiet.
"I see you like the Ninja Turtles. Those were my favorite cartoon when I was a little boy. Who is your favorite?"
"Mikey," Spencer answered and he pointed to his mask that he is wearing.
"Ah, yes, I see now… Mikey is cool. He was my favorite too," Scott replied. Spencer grinned and loosened up a little bit. Any adult who likes Michaelangelo is fine by him.
"What else do you like? Do you like sports? You look like someone who is a fan of soccer."
"I LOVES soccer! We haven't had the time right now but I'm planning on begging my momma to put me in soccer!"
"That's cool. What other sports do you like?"
"I like watching football and I likes Basketball too. Those are cool…" Spencer answered.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, upstairs, when Kori and Ashley had gotten to her room Kori ran in there and was about to shut the door on Ashley as she wants NOTHING to do with her right now, but Ashley put her hand out and stopped it before following her in there.
"GO away Ashley I want NOTHING to do with you right now!" She snapped.
"Well excuse me for trying to comfort you!"
"You want to comfort me? After being the back-stabber that you are and taking his side?"
"I am only looking out for Spencer's best interests, Kori!"
"Well the last time I checked, that was MY job! I am his mother so why don't you leave that up to me?"
"And I am his aunt and I am your sister and isn't it my job to wake you the fuck up when you're making a mistake?!"
"I think I know what's best for my son, Ashley!"
"Yeah but sometimes when you're upset over something you don't always see the bigger picture!"
"Like what? What am I not seeing since you seem to know it all!"
"That Spencer NEEDS his father!"
"Wiley can be his father!" Ashley scowled then.
"I thought you said that you two weren't dating!"
"Well….we aren't…but Spencer has known him his entire life so he is like a father figure to him. And he is very good with him too so I couldn't think of a better man then Wiley!"
"I could," Ashley insisted.
"Yeah of course you could. It wouldn't kill you to TRY and get to know him you know! He is not a bad person and he thinks very highly of you!"
"Spencer deserves to know who is real father is! Sure Scott is an asshole for giving him up in the first place but he is here now and he really wants to make it up to him! He really wants to try! Why can't you just give him a chance?"
"He had his chance five years ago Ashley and he blew it! He could have run away with us and started a family with us but instead he chose to stay behind! He chose to abandon his little boy and he chose to break my heart! His chance has gone out the window!"
"He was terrified, Kori! He was a terrified 14 year old boy what do you expect? I think you of all people should know what fear is like! What running away is like when you're scared! You keep begging me to give you a second chance because of it…well why shouldn't Scott be able to have a second chance too?"
"That's not fair!"
"How isn't it fair? You know it's true! And it's not fair to Spencer that he has to go through life without even knowing who his father is! He needs his father Kori! Having both of your parents is the most important thing in a child's life….we lost ours at a very young age and it kills me EVERY single day that I can't see them anymore. That I can't hug them anymore. That I can't talk to mom about Nick and have all of those wonderful mother daughter talks that girls usually get! That was ALL taken away from me at the age of twelve! The age when I needed them the most! What about mothers day, Kori? And father's day? I feel so damn empty on those days it's horrible! Parents are the most important things in a child's life. Just because he broke your heart and you have issues with him it doesn't mean Spencer should be deprived of him." Ashley argued, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You should give him a chance. For Spencer's sake….you don't even have to talk to him if you don't want to." She added, then she turned around and left the room and she headed downstairs as she very much needed Nick before she falls apart. Kori wiped the tears from her eyes and she followed Ashley as she knows she isn't supposed to be wandering the place alone. When they got downstairs to the lobby they found the kids standing there with the guys and Spencer and Scott engaged in a very lengthy conversation. Ashley went straight to Nick and she wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her face in his shoulder and she began to cry.
"Baby what's the matter?" Nick asked while wrapping his arms around her in return and he pulled her away from everybody so that they could talk.
"Momma your friend is really cool! He likes Ninja Turtles an' Soccer! An' he said that maybe someday he could take me to a football game!" Spencer announced excitedly. Kori rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of the tears the best she could so Spencer wouldn't notice and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"That would be fun for you…maybe he could," She told him softly and Scott looked at her suddenly smiling. Kori avoided his eyes. "Why don't you, Scott, and I go for a walk Spencer? Maybe we can find a playground or something…." She added. <BR>
"Okay!" Spencer replied cheerfully. Kori looked at Scott then.
"That okay?" Scott nodded, grinning even more. Kori scooped Spencer up into her arms and he took off his Michaelangelo mask and handed it to Dakota. Suddenly Nick and Ashley came back.
"Scott, Spencer, and I are going for a walk Ash…I'll be back okay?"
"Okay," Ashley replied, smiling some at this new information, and Kori followed Scott out of the Orphanage.
"So how about we go and get some ice cream?" Nick asked after a couple of minutes of silence.
"Yeah!!!" The kids all cheered.
"Someone needs to go and get Brian and Riley…we sort of left them out on the playground." AJ spoke up.
"Oh yeah huh," Nick replied, and they all went out onto the playground, ushering the kids a long. Ashley leaned down and took Abbie into her arms and she snuggled her close and kissed the top of her head. She loves her puppy ever so much and lately she's discovered that it feels good to cuddle with her when things get tough.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
