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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Ninety-Three



"Who did he murder this time?" Nick questioned, as soon as he was out in the hall and he spoke quietly so that Ashley couldn't over hear him.


"It was a young girl that he met at a club. Her name was Hailey Steel and eyewitnesses in the club say that he invited her back to his place. They didn't get that far though, because she was found dead in a dark alley outside the club. She was shot twice and raped."


"Why would he go and murder someone completely innocent? And how do you know that it was him?"


"We believe that he did it to make a statement. We found a note on top of her body that read: now you've really pissed me off, Ashley. You better keep those bodyguards of yours close because you're next."


"Oh jeez…" Nick groaned, and he raked his fingers through his hair as he looked at Marcus who was standing there listening with a concerned expression written on his face. "Ashley is not going to take this well."


"I don't think you should tell her Nick. She's already having nightmares as it is."


"I can't not tell her Elliot, she'll throw a fit. The last time I tried to keep something from her she raised hell."


"Then just don't tell her about the note. That will be way worse."


"I'll try not to…but the reason we're so close is because we both can read each other very well. She'll know if I lie to her."


"Okay…well do what you have to do then. I must get back to work. I will talk to you later."


"Alright, bye." Nick replied, and he hung up the phone.


"What's going on Nick?" Marcus asked worriedly.


"Sean murdered another innocent person to make a statement. He left a note on the victim's body telling Ashley that she better keep her bodyguards close because she's next. Apparently he's even more pissed off then before."


"Oh, great…"


"Yeah…listen. I know its thanksgiving break and all, but is security coming with us to Kentucky?"


"Not all of us, but Laney, Q, and I are going. Everybody else has family to spend it with."


"Good because we need you big time…"


"Ashley will be perfectly safe I promise."


"Thanks Marcus…"


"No problem," Marcus replied, and Nick turned and went back into the bedroom and as soon as he did, Laney kissed Dakota's forehead and got up from the lazy boy chair, before setting her in it and handing her the book that he finished reading to her. After doing that he walked out of the room before shutting the door behind him.


"Nick what did — "


"After the kids are asleep," Nick cut her off, as he knows exactly what she is going to say and he is not at all ready to answer her question. She looked at him with a worried look on her face and he went over and sat next to her. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, smiled at her reassuringly, and he brushed his lips lightly over hers. When he pulled away he looked down expecting there to be folded clothes, but he saw that Ashley packed them all. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.


"I got bored just sitting here."


"What time is it?" He asked, and he glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw that it read ten thirty. He looked over at the kids to find the three of them playing with Barbie dolls.


"Kota, Sarah, its time for bed. Ellie sweetheart I bet Kevin will probably say the same for you. Why don't you go next door now and see?"


"I bet he wont's say the same thing." Elenore insisted challengingly.


"I bet you that he will, little miss. Infact I know that he will."


"But daddy it's still so early!" Dakota protested, as she turned and looked at her father and frowned. "You never makes me go to bed this early."


"Yeah but this time we have to wake up early. Remember the last time we had to wake up early and you had such a hard time?"


"But daddy…"


"Dakota Ann, it's bedtime. End of discussion." Dakota scowled at him and was about to open her mouth to protest more when suddenly Elenore beat her to it.


"No, we wants to finish playing with our Barbie's. That's the end of discussion." Nick raised his eyebrow at her and she stared back at him very seriously.


"Don't make me go and get Kevin young lady. You know he won't be very happy about you talking back." Elenore shrugged and went back to brushing her Barbie's hair, not having a care in the world whether he goes to get Kevin or not. Nick watched her for a couple of minutes, and then he got up and went to the door. He opened it up and went next door to Elenore's room and he peeked in there to see Kevin just finishing up on packing.


"Hey Nick…can you tell Ellie to come in here please? It's getting late and she's gotta wake up early so I want her to get settled in her bed now."


"That's what I've been trying to do. I want Dakota and Sarah to get ready for bed too, but Ellie is refusing to listen to me."


"Is that so?" Kevin asked, looking at Nick with a raised eyebrow.


"Yes it is. I've asked her twice now and after the second time I told her I would come and get you if she didn't cooperate. It didn't seem to phase her."


"Alright, I'll handle it then." Kevin replied, and he put the stuff in his hand down and followed Nick back to his room. When they got there, Nick walked in the room and Kevin remained at the door.


"Come on Ellie, it's time for bed."


"No." Elenore replied, not even looking up from her Barbie doll.


"Come on honey, come get in bed and we'll watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," Kevin bribed.


"After we finish playin' Barbies." Kevin was slowly beginning to lose his patience.


"No, now young lady. Or we won't watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at all and you can go straight to bed."


"You're a meanie then." Elenore insisted.


"I'm not trying to be, but you aren't making it very easy." Elenore shrugged.


"Elenore Ellerbee, you will come get in bed right now. I am through with being patient with you."


"NO I will NOTS!"


"Fine. Then you won't watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tonight. And if you keep it up you and I will take my car to Kentucky instead of car pooling in a van with Dakota and Nick tomorrow."


"THAT is not fair!" Elenore suddenly shouted, and she threw her Barbie across the room in anger.


"Then get up and go to your room, now."


"Why don'ts you come and make me?" She challenged.


"If I have to do that then you've lost your movie for tonight, and your best friend for the whole trip to Kentucky tomorrow." Elenore glared at him, as angry tears fell from her eyes, and she stood up from her spot on the floor.


"NO. I will NOTS lose my best friend!" She shouted at him, and she stomped her foot to show him just how angry she is.


"Then go to your room and get ready for bed."


"NO!"


"I'm going to count to three, and if you don't do as you're told I will help you go into your room and you know very well now what will happen. One…" Elenore crossed her arms and looked away from him stubbornly. "Two…last chance Ellie. What's it going to be?" Elenore finally looked at him angrily.


"I HATES you!" she insisted, and she stormed past him and out of the room. Kevin groaned and looked over at Nick.


"I don't know what's gotten into her. She was fine until I suddenly said it was time to go to bed."


"It's not your fault, Nick. I knew it was only a matter of time before she threw another tantrum. It's been a while. If it hadn't happened soon I would've been worried." Kevin explained, and he walked out of the room to go tend to Elenore. Nick looked over at Dakota who innocently went back to playing with Sarah in hopes that in the middle of all the fuss over Elenore, her daddy forgot that he told her to get ready for bed.


"Kota, I believe I told you it's time for bed." Dakota looked up at him with a pout. "Come on baby, let's get you into your pajamas and then you can choose a movie to watch before bed."


"But daddy I don'ts want to," Dakota whined. Nick got up from the bed and went over to Dakota and he bent over and gathered her up in his arms.


"Well angel, we don't always get what we want." He informed her, and he carried her over to the closet. When he got in there, he went over to the dresser and pulled open her drawer. He got out some warm footie pajamas and sat down on the floor, before setting Dakota on her feet in front of him and he began to help her into her pajamas, though he was doing most of the work as she continued to stand there pouting.


"Come on sweetie…the faster you get to bed, the faster it'll be time to wake up and then we'll get dressed and leave right away for Kentucky. Don't you want to see Aaron, Angel, BJ, and Leslie? I know you've been anxious to see them for awhile now."


"Aren't we gonna eats breakfast before we leave?"


"We're going to stop at a Mc Donald's on the way. Your Uncle Kevin is crazy and insists that we should leave bright and early." Nick explained, as he zipped up her pajamas and he kissed her cheek and flashed her his famous Carter smile. "So trust me when I say…your gonna need some sleep. Go pick out a movie okay?"


"Is Sarah gonna sleeps with us again daddy?" she suddenly asked, and Nick noticed she was trying to keep a neutral look. She doesn't want Sarah to sleep with them again because then it would seem like she were part of the family. But then she doesn't want him to know that she's still a little jealous of her either.


"She is…but only because she's like you and can't sleep by herself, she gets scared."


"Oh…" Nick looked at her for a couple of minutes, just thinking and when he spoke up again he pulled her into a hug.


"But she can sleep next to Ashley and you can snuggle up next to me. How's that?" Dakota smiled at him and wrapped her arms around him, before returning his hug and he kissed her cheek. When she pulled away a few minutes later she walked out of the closet and went to go pick a movie. Nick got up from his spot on the floor and followed her and when he did he saw that Ashley was just finishing up on getting Sarah into her pajamas and lying her in bed and covering her up. When Dakota had a movie picked out, it ended up being Cinderella. She went over and handed the DVD to Nick, then she went and hopped up onto the bed and pushed herself between Sarah and Ashley before throwing her arms around her for a hug. Ashley slid her arms around Dakota's waist and hugged her back before shifting her so that she is cradling her and she bent down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, before continuing to talk to Sarah — Sarah writing her answers down of paper of course.


~*~*~*~


Meanwhile, in Elenore's room, Kevin had just finished putting Elenore in her pajamas — with no help or cooperation from Elenore what so ever, and he stood up and went and got her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD out and he turned to look at her to find her standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.


"Get in bed Ellie."


"NO." Elenore refused, and she looked away from him stubbornly. Kevin narrowed his eyes at her.


"You have five seconds to get in bed before I help you get in bed and then I will put this DVD back and there will be no TV at all, young lady."


"I DON'TS want to go to bed!" Elenore shouted at him, before stomping her foot.


"Well we don't always get what we want. No matter how long you kick and scream. The sooner you learn that the better." Elenore stuck her tongue out at him and went over to her dollhouse that he bought her. She sat down in front of it and began to play with her dolls. Kevin stood there staring at her for a couple of minutes, as he can't believe the way she is acting. Sure, he knows she's temper-mental its just in her nature but she's got quite the attitude tonight that he's never seen in her before.


"Alright Elenore, you've crossed the line. There will be NO movie for you tonight." He told her, and he went toward her. Elenore looked up at him not having a care in the world at his threat, until she saw him coming toward her and the look of anger in his eyes. She suddenly began to cry and she began to quickly scoot away from him, only to find herself backed up in a corner. When Kevin finally reached her, he seized her hand and pulled her to her feet and he started to drag her toward her bed with her screaming and crying in the process. Memories of similar situations with her father flashed before her eyes and she dropped to the ground so that she is lying down and he has to drag her, though she put all her weight to the ground making that almost impossible to do.


"Elenore, get up!" He ordered, his voice nearing shouting point.


"NO Daddy, NO! I didn'ts mean to be bad, I DIDN'TS!" she sobbed. Kevin quickly let go of her hand suddenly and he looked at her confused and bewildered.


"Ellie what–"


"--I WANTS MY JOSHY!!!!" She wailed, and she jumped up and fled the room as fast as she could. The minute she got out into the hall Q and Laney looked at her confused.


"Ellie what the-"


"--WHERE IS JOSHY?" She shouted, and she took off running to Ryan's room where she knows he is at without waiting for either of the bodyguards to answer. When she got there, she ran into the room sobbing only to find that Josh was on his way out in a panic as he had heard her cries from all the way down the hall. "JOSHY!!!" She shrieked, and she flew into his arms nearly knocking him over. He hugged her close and looked down at her completely terrified.


"Ellie what's the matter? What's going on??"


"Kevy is being scary," she sobbed into his shoulder. Before Josh even had the time to respond Kevin appeared in the doorway. Elenore whimpered and tightened her hold on Josh.


"Ellie…I need to be able to breathe…" Josh informed her. Elenore loosened her arms some, but not much. Kevin went and crouched down in front of them and he combed his fingers through her hair as she looked away from him.


"Honey I didn't mean to scare you like that, I really didn't."


"Liar," Elenore accused. "You're just likes my daddy after all."


"No Ellie, I'm not. Look at me sweetie…" Kevin begged, and he took her hand and gently pulled her from Josh's arms.


"No…wants Joshy!" She begged and she reached for Josh, but Kevin gently took hold of her other hand and made it so that she is facing him and tears spilled out over her eyes. He wiped them away with his fingers and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I didn't mean to scare you. You were fighting with me and I lost my temper, that's all. I just wanted you to get into bed. I would never hurt you Ellie, ever."


"I don'ts believe you," Elenore insisted, and she once again made an attempt to reach for Josh, but Kevin held her tightly so she couldn't get away.


"Ellie please don't do this…we've come such a long way…please don't start pulling away from me again."


"Maybe you should've thoughts about that before you started acting like my daddy."


"I wasn't trying to act like your father, Ellie. I would never be like him ever. I love you too much to be like him. You mean the world to me."


"Then why were you being scary?" she asked softly, slowly starting to give into him. He knows that she is because she stopped struggling with him. Kevin once again dried her eyes, and he tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear as he gazed into her eyes.


"I made a mistake honey…even grownups do that once in awhile," he explained. "I was just so frustrated that you weren't listening to me…that I lost my temper. I was just trying to take you to your bed I wasn't going to hurt you baby."


"My daddy lost his temper a lots when I didn't listen to him, too…"


"Yeah, I know." Kevin replied, and he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead softly. "But that doesn't mean I'm like him. People lose their tempers all the time Ellie…not all of them are abusive like your father." Elenore looked up at him with a doubtful look still on her face. She wants to believe him, she really does. But she can't. Kevin recognized the look and sighed softly. "If I were like him…would I tell you that I love you every day? Would I cuddle in bed with you every night to a Disney movie of your choice before you fall asleep? Would I sing to you and give you hugs and kisses like I do? Would I keep you safe every day? Buy you clothes and toys? Allow you to fall asleep in my lap all the time? Or how about sit in your room with you during the time your supposed to be grounded so you won't get scared? Did he ever do any of that?"


"No…" Elenore replied softly.


"But I do every day and I'm going to continue to do that for the rest of your life. So there is no reason for you to doubt me…ever." Kevin told her, and he looked into her eyes sincerely.


"Do you promise?" Elenore asked softly, as her voice cracked. He can tell just by looking into her eyes that she's trying her very hardest not to cry.


"I cross my heart," Kevin answered seriously, and he pretended to draw an X over his heart. Elenore looked at him skeptically and he pulled her into another hug. After a few moments she finally returned it, and she rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry I scared you…can you forgive me?" he asked her, as he pulled away and looked at her once again. She nodded quietly and he smiled at her. "How about we go get in bed…hmm?"


"Can I watch my movie? Please?"


"If you promise to go to your room and get straight into bed. Do we have a deal?"


"Only if Joshy can come gets into bed withs us."


"I don't know baby…I think Brian wants him to help pack when he gets back."


"Then he can watch the movie an' when he gets back he can go an' help." Kevin looked at Josh who was standing there watching Elenore protectively.


"I guess…if Josh wants to. I think he was playing a game with Ryan over there."


"Josh wants to," Josh insisted, as he took hold of Elenore's hand. Kevin chuckled.


"Well okay, I guess that's settled then."


"Yeah, and besides, Ryan should be getting in bed too." AJ replied, as he walked in with Laila in his arms, her head rested upon his shoulder and she is finally asleep after he had walked around the whole orphanage with her. It was either that, or take her on a car ride, and that he didn't want to do unless it was his last resort. Howie followed him in there as he was walking around with him. Kevin laughed once again, though quietly as he doesn't want to damage the hard work AJ had done.


"Wow Aje, you look like quite the natural there. Does Ramsey have itself another caregiver?"


"I was just telling him the same thing," Howie replied, as he pried Ryan away from the video games and handed him some pajamas and lightly pushed him toward the bathroom. "I was wondering why he was so good at taking care of her when he was raised as an only child."


"It's called four years of experience, D." AJ replied, as he motioned toward Nick's room. "And what about you? You seem to be doing a pretty good job also," He pointed out, as he watched Howie tuck Ryan into bed after he had come out of the bathroom dressed in his Batman pajamas. "You were the baby so everybody took care of you."

"I've got nieces and nephews," Howie bragged. "One of those nieces includes Dakota."


"Are you two taking them to Kentucky with you?" Kevin asked, after shaking his head smiling.


"I don't think I have much of a choice," AJ replied, as he lay Laila down beside her brother and covered her up as well.


"We've already asked Brooke if we could. She said it might be good for them if we took them."


"Cool…good thing we rented a very big van to fit all of these kids…."


"You got us two vans, right? Cause I don't think we're gonna fit everybody into one van." Howie questioned.


"Yeah I did. Anyway, I need to go see if Elenore kept her side of the deal. She and Josh took off to her room. I told her if she got right into bed Id let her watch her movie."


"Kay, night Kev." AJ and Howie replied in unison, and Kevin walked out of the room. When he did, he went down the hall to Elenore's room and when he walked in there he found both kids sitting up in the bed waiting patiently for their movie to start — both of them holding their Donald Ducks close to them.


~*~*~*~*~


Meanwhile, in Nick and Ashley's room, the two of them had both managed to get the kids to go to sleep and had just settled at the foot of the bed together. They're both lying on their sides face to face, and Nick has his arms wrapped protectively around her, and his forehead rested against hers.


"Sounds like Kev finally got Ellie to calm down…"


"Yeah," Ashley replied softly. She gazed into his eyes for a few moments, and he tucked a strand behind her ear as she lay there quietly. "Nicky? What'd you and Detective Stabler talk about?" She asked softly. "You said you'd tell me after the kids were asleep." Nick lay there contemplating on whether he should tell her or not. He just knows if he doesn't she's going to keep asking and eventually they'll have another fight like last time. And he really doesn't want another repeat of last time.


"Sean murdered another innocent person…" Nick finally revealed, and he immediately regretted it when he watched her eyes widen in fear. "At a club…he himself did it, not one of his lackeys…"


"How do you know?" Ashley asked softly. Nick looked into her eyes for a couple of minutes before answering.


"Nick?"


"Because he raped her before he killed her…and the DNA on her matched his…" he lied, and he hoped to god that she can't see right through him. Ashley didn't reply, she only scooted closer to him and rested her head against his chest, and he could feel a teardrop fall onto his chest. He rubbed his hand over her back and kissed her forehead softly.


"Does everybody else know? Brian, Howie, AJ, Kevin, Brooke, Kori and Riley?"


"Not yet, no…unless Detective Stabler called them too. I haven't had the chance to tell them."