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Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Seventy Seven



"Is that any way to greet your husband?" Chase asked rather tartly.


"You aren't my husband anymore. I signed my end of the papers, now why don't you hurry and sign yours?"


"Because maybe I don't want a divorce."


"You don't have a choice."


"Sure I do."


"No, you don't. Don't make me take this to court Chase, because I will if I have to. I don't want to be married to you anymore…and obviously you don't love me, so why stay married?"


"Because it tortures you." Riley felt the tears beginning to cloud up in her eyes and Brian saw it. He reached over and took her hand into his and he intertwined her fingers with his.


"Is there a reason you called me?"


"Yes, I want to know when you're going to come and get your stuff out of my house."


"When you aren't home. I don't want to see you anymore unless it's you handing over those signed divorce papers."


"I want you to come and get your stuff right now."


"I'm working right now, so you can just wait. You never dropped everything you were doing in the middle of work to do what I want, why should I?"


"Because I said so."


"Well here's the thing, Chase. You can't control me. I will get there when I can. Now if you don't mind, I really have to go." Riley replied, then she hung up. She looked at Brian then and he reached out and wiped away her tears.


"Are you okay? What did he want this time, Honey?" Brian asked softly, hating to see Riley cry.


"He expects me to go and get my stuff out of HIS house RIGHT this very minute," Riley told him finally, after a few moments of sniffling. She was starting to grow angry again. "HIS house! I paid half the bills too! And the dipshit is just gonna DRAG me along like a rag doll!? I think NOT!"


"Why is he refusing to sign the divorce papers?" AJ asked confused. "If he wants you out of that house so bad, why doesn't he sign the papers?"


"Because he is a jackass," Riley answered, shrugging her shoulders.


"Sweetheart watch your language," Brook reminded gently.


"Josh, why don't you and Ellie take Sarah and go play?" Brian asked, looking down at Josh who is seated in his lap and listening to Riley vent.


"Kay," Josh replied, and he got up from Brian's lap and held his hand out to Sarah's as she sat quietly in Howie's lap. She looked at him reluctantly for a couple of seconds before allowing him to take her hand. She has become very distant with the other children recently - especially her friends. She hasn't gone to play with them at all since she saw them on the tour bus on the way to Disney World. All she has wanted to do is cling to the nearest adult - or Ashley, who to her, is like an adult. He gently pulled her up and Howie handed her, her notepad and pen. Josh looked at Elenore then who wasn't so sure she wanted to leave Kevin yet.


"Come on Ellie - lets go play." Elenore looked up at Kevin hesitantly.


"Go on sweetie. I'll be here when you get back."


"Are you sure?" Elenore double checked.


"I'm positive."


"But what ifs my daddy comes an' steals me when you aren't looking?" Kevin went to open his mouth to reply when suddenly Josh beat him to it.


"Then I will scream an' yell an' everybody will hear me and come running over." He reassured. "I won'ts let him take you again, Ellie."


"What if he takes both of us again?"


"Him and what army, Ellie?" Q suddenly spoke up.


"Him an' Trevor make a pretty big army when togethers," Elenore pointed out softly.


"Not big enough to get through all of this," Q reassured, pointing to Laney, Raul, Marcus, and Drew.


"You go and play with Josh and Sarah honey and I promise you the five of us wont take our eyes off of you for even a second," Marcus added.


"Will you push us on swings?" Elenore asked, looking at Marcus hopefully. Drew laughed then.


"Yeah Marcus, will you push them on the swings?"


"I sure will," Marcus replied, narrowing his eyes at the other man. He got up from the ground then and he held his hand out to Elenore. Elenore smiled big and allowed him to take it and she dragged him off toward the swings with Josh following close behind protectively as he still has hold of Sarah who suddenly clung to him tightly at the mere thought of that very big man going with them. Kevin couldn't help but smile a little bit as he watched Marcus walk away with his Ellie. He's really happy to see that she is starting to feel comfortable with security.


"Anyway…" Brian spoke up when he remembered just exactly why he sent his brand new son off to play. "Ri if he's refusing to sign the divorce papers, then I think it's time you got a lawyer involved."


"Know any good ones?" Riley asked softly.


"Yeah, mine is a good one. Want me to give him a call?"


"Yes please…"


"Okay, I will first thing when we get home. I promise."


"And what about me going and getting my stuff? Chase is going to have a hissy if I don't go and get it out of the house soon…"


"We'll do that tonight also. We're taking Raul with us though…and I'm going to need someone to watch Josh while we do so too."


"I will…something tells me Ellie isn't going to let you take Josh home tonight unless she goes with…" Kevin volunteered, giving Brian a wary look.


"Yeah, and vise versa with Josh," Brian replied. Brooke couldn't help but laugh a little bit.


"Looks like Kevin is moving out of the Orphanage and into Brian's house now."


"Oh no we aren't," Kevin replied, laughing also. "No offence Bri, but I would rather live here then be down the hall from you two every night." Brian raised his eyebrow at his cousin and looked at him like he is on drugs.


"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," He replied innocently.


"Oh don't give me that bullshit," Kevin laughed. "You two couldn't keep from having sex here awhile back ago, and here you're trying to tell me you don't do it at home as well? Think again, cuz. I see those big ass smiles on your face every morning."


"WHAT?" Brooke asked, spitting out the dr pepper that she had just taken a drink of, causing everybody to laugh and Riley to blush.


"Oops…you didn't know?" Kevin asked and then laughed.


"No, I didn't know." Brooke replied, and she eyed Riley with that 'big scary boss' look. "What is he talking about, Riley and Brian? He can't be serious…" Riley gulped.


"Guilty…"


"You mean to tell me you two had sex here? when there are children around?!"


"It was in her office - you know, the extra one that she often goes in," Brian replied. "We had the door locked, and we were quiet I promise." Brooke shook her head smiling.


"You two are lucky that I love you guys and could never ever bring myself to firing you. If it were anybody else they would be gone." Brian looked at Kevin with narrowed eyes.


"Well I guess from now on we're going to have to make sure we clean ourselves up afterwards. That way big mouth cousins don't guess what we've been up to." Kevin snickered.


"Anyway, just exactly what are you planning on doing if you aren't going to sleep over at our house? You know Ellie isn't going to allow you to leave." Brian asked, changing the subject.


"I'll wait until she's fallen asleep. We'll tuck the both of them in bed together and let them have a little slumber party while us adults watch a movie and then after the two of them have fallen asleep I'll pick her up and bring her back here. She'll wake up in her own bed in the morning."


"That'll work. Cause by the time she wakes up in the morning she will find Josh asleep next to her in her bed. Ri and I always get here early in the morning before you all wake up anyway."


"You two are nuts…your going to spend the rest of your life doing that unless you get them to start feeling safe without each other again." AJ laughed.


"Well do you have any suggestions for us, McLean? I for one don't want to listen to Ellie's screams all night. And I'm sure Brian doesn't want to listen to Josh whining for Ellie all night either."


"Nope…no suggestions."


"Well okay then. I guess movie night at Brian and Riley's house is going to become tradition for us then."


"Or movie night here," Brian replied. "We could trade off from time to time you know. We could let Josh fall asleep here"


"Yeah," Kevin agreed. Everybody was silent for a few minutes, then suddenly Nick, Ashley, and Kori came outside, Nick holding Dakota so she is rested on one hip and he has a hold of Ashley's hand as well. They went over and joined the group.


"Where have you four been all of this time?" Howie asked curiously.


"Upstairs. Ashley fell asleep," Nick answered.


"Oh." Nick sat down in the grass Indian style with Dakota in his lap. Sarah who had seen him come out, suddenly abandoned her swing and she ran over to him. He smiled at her and pulled her into his lap.


"Hi sweetheart, how are you feeling?" He asked gently and Sarah scribbled her answer down on paper. She held it up to him for him to see and it read fine but I missed you.


"Aww…well I missed you too," He replied gently and he hugged her close to him. She smiled a little bit and cuddled close to him and he kissed her forehead softly. Dakota who still sat in his lap also, only scowled.


"Daddy will you come an' push me on the swings? Please?"


"Not right now honey, I'm going to sit here and get caught up with everybody for awhile, okay?"


"But daddy please? I want you to push me on the swings."


"I'm sure Marcus will be more then willing to honey, he's over there pushing Josh and Ellie."


"But I don't WANTS Marcus, I wants you!" Nick sighed.


"Honey please…Just let me sit here with the adults for awhile okay? I will be over there to push you in a little while." Dakota stared a him for a couple of minutes, feeling defeated.


"Maybe Sarah would likes to swing too," She spoke up after a couple of minutes. Nick grinned a little and looked down at Sarah.


"That's a good idea honey. Sarah why don't you go and swing with Kota? Wouldn't you rather go and play with the kids then sit here and listen to us adults talk about boring stuff?" Sarah snuggled into Nick more and she wrote her answer down on paper, then held it up for him to see. Ifs you push me Nick sighed. He thought for a couple of minutes and nodded.


"Okay…I will push you." He gave in. Dakota stood there gaping at her father, suddenly feeling even more jealous then she already was. He refused to push her…but when Sarah asks him he suddenly agrees to it? How is that fair? Nick stood up then and put Sarah down. He took hold of her hand and then Dakota's.


"Lead the way, ladies." He told them, and then allowed Dakota and Sarah to lead the way to the swings. Brian shook his head.


"Oh man…that's not good."


"What are you talking about, Bri?" Riley asked confused.


"Kota is feeling a little bit jealous of Sarah," Brian started. "It all started on the day we went to Disney World…ever since Nick and Ashley started paying a lot more attention to her."


"Why would Kota feel jealous? She is all Nick thinks about. She is his entire world…doesn't she know that?" AJ questioned.


"Because she's not used to sharing her daddy," Ashley spoke up. "Or me, apparently…I've known since Disney World too…I've been trying to give them the same amount of attention but it gets hard because they both demand it so much."


"Yeah, well I keep waiting for her to explode. She's been keeping quiet about it and dealing with it the best she can, but if Nick does what he just did anymore…"


"What'd he do?" AJ asked confused.


"Weren't you paying attention?" Howie asked, rolling his eyes. "She asked him to push her on the swings, he said no. Then when Sarah asked him, he said yes."


"Oh," AJ replied.


"Maybe you should warn him, Bri." Kevin spoke up after a long while of just listening. "He apparently, doesn't have the slightest clue."


"I thought about it, but I was kind of hoping Kota would get used to it…"


"Well obviously that's not going to happen unless Nick talks to her."


"Why do I have to be the one to tell him?" Brian whined.


"Because he's your best friend."


"He's your best friend too," Brian scowled.


"Yes, but you're closer to him. He listens to you better. Half the shit I say to him goes through one ear and out the other."


"Yeah because you lecture him about Ashley all the time."


"Well somebody has to!"


"Hey! I'm still sitting here you know!" Ashley replied, causing everyone to laugh.


"No offence honey. We love you, you know we do." Kevin replied, leaning over and hugging her.


"Yes, yes, I know." Ashley replied, rolling her eyes and smiling. Meanwhile, over at the swings, when Nick had gotten over there with Dakota and Sarah, Dakota scrambled to get the swing next to Elenore before Sarah could.


"Daddy push me first, pleeease?"


"Okay, Okay," He replied, and couldn't help but smile at his baby girl who he loves more then anything. He is so thankful that she is going to be okay - as far as her health goes. She may have lost her innocence, but he isn't going to let her lose her childhood.


"Under dog daddy, under dog!" She begged. Nick chuckled and then grabbed hold of her swing as she sits in it.


"Up…Up…" He started, as he pulled her swing back as she holds on tight, then he ran under her and out on the other side as he let go of her.


"And awaaaaaaaay!" Dakota cheered, as the swing went high up in the air behind him and she giggled insanely. He turned around and grinned widely as he watched her swing back and fourth, and then he went around to Sarah who was waiting for her turn patiently.


"What about you miss Sarah? Do you want an under dog too?" he asked her. Cautious little Sarah who was sitting there watching Dakota with wide eyes, as she is very astonished at how high she is swinging shook her head.


"Okie dokie, but you're missing out," Nick replied, and he began to just push her. "Under dogs are Kota's absolute favorite." He told her, completely unaware that Dakota was grinning appreciatively that Sarah had turned it down. Nick is right. Under dog is her favorite thing to do with her daddy.


"Marcus I wants an under dog too!" Elenore announced, after having watched Dakota and Nick and grinning widely, as it had looked like so much fun.


"Sure thing sweetie," Marcus chuckled, and he began to give Elenore an underdog too.