| Title: For the sake of love Part: Part Thirty two By: Spanky Content Warning: Adult language, and content. Previously: Nicci has her first Ultra sound Authors Notes: Three weeks later Walking swiftly into the day room the men at station 51 stopped when they noticed a somewhat large envelope on the table, "Hmm, I wonder what this is?" Mike asked picking up the package." What ever it is, there's weight to it." " Not sure let me see it." Captain Stanley said as he was just as clueless as the rest" Thank you." He read the wording. Then opening it he as well as the rest was surprised when at least twenty tickets to the State Zoo fell out onto the table. " Capt, there's got to be a couple dozen tickets there, who sent them?" Roy asked " Scanning the evelope Captain Stanley confessed." Don't know Roy, there's no name." He then added." It's obvious it was sent be someone we rescued. Who ever it is must also have some connections with the zoo, How else would they get them, the last time I knew the tickets were at least ten bucks a piece and that was before they added the amusment rides. They must sell for at least fifteen maybe twenty bucks now." " Well what are we going to do with them Capt, there's no way Head Quarters is going to let us keep them." Mike Stoker reminded. With Mike's words Captain Stanley pondered the situation. Then looking around the room he spoke." We could go through the logs and try to find the person responcible and then return them." Looking at his Captain with the look of dread Johnny Gage spoke." Capt that would take forever, I mean there's no date, no name, no nothing . Hell it could have been somebody that we rescued a year ago. And I dont have to tell you that makes for a lot runs between now and then." " I know." Captain Stanley agreed then scanning his men, he asked" Any suggestions?" "We could keep them, I mean Head Quarters dont have to know everything." Chet blurted out. " Chet's right." Johnny agreed." Head Quarters probably dont know about them now. There's got to be at least four hundred dollars worth. If head quarters did know they would have been here quicker the flies are on shit." Looking over at his senior paramedic for his oppinion Captain Stanley asked" Roy what do you think?" He knew that Roy had a good track record for good advise. He often looked for Roy's oppinion to help him make the right disission. As Roy thought about his family, he knew that the last few weeks were especially hard on them. All the tears and sadness still lingered as the memories of Nicci's past still haunted them all. He thought about Jenny and how it seemed so long since he heard her laugh and Chris how he spent a lot of time with his friends not wanting to deal with the situation that had been place on him. He remembered looking at Jo during court and how she sat weeping into her hankerchief at the words of pain being said aloud. He then thought about Nicci and how she was trying so hard to be an adult even though she was still a child. " Well capt., I see no reason why we shouldn't. I can't speak for everyone, but I know that Jo and the kids could certainly use a little bit of fun. I've thought about doing something like this, but with the baby coming we've pretty much put entertainment on the back burner at least for now. As for Nicci, she's trying so hard to be grown up but lets face it she's still a kid and she's scared to death of having a baby. Besides the fact, she has years of abuse to deal with, it will take years for her to overcome it all. She's still bothered by nightmares, sometimes they're so bad that I and Jo spend half the night trying to calm her down and get her to stop shaking." Listening to Roys words, Captain Stanley became it deep thought. He too was still haunted by Nicci when she exposed her past in front of him and his crew during court. Adding to his thoughts he knew that it was quite possible that Head Quarters didn't know about the gift. Although he had never even given thought about going against regulations, he had to admit it was very tempting. He and his men had been working a lot of overtime and this would give them the chance to let loose and be themselves for a little while. He then thought about Sherry and how he would enjoy spending that time with her. Then thinking back to Roy and his situation he spoke. " Okay here's what we'll do, we have a three day weekend coming up in a couple of weeks and........." he started just as the klaxons sounded ........... After making her way through the empty bay, Sherry walked into the dayroom. Seeing the clutter on the table and the sink of dishes that was left behind, she knew that the men that occupied the station were working very hard and would come back tired and possibly sore. With that thought she decided to surprise them. As she began the task of cleaning off the table she got the strange feeling that someone was there with her. Looking up she spotted Nicci standing just inside the door. For a moment the girls looked at each other, neither one of them knew what to say to the other. Then seeing that Nicci was about to turn and leave Sherry spoke" Nicci you dont have to leave, our dads will be back shortly." Even though Nicci still pushed her away Sherry wanted nothing but to be friends with Nicci, and she wasn't about to give up on that idea. With Sherry's words still lingering inside her head Nicci slowly walked over to the table. Then lending a hand she quietly folded the scrammbled news paper that Chet left behind. When satisfied with the job they done, Sherry and Nicci without a word said between them washed and dried the dishes. Once the dishes were done, Nicci walked over to the table and took a seat while Sherry made her way over to the cookie jar. " Want a cookie?" she offered while placing two cookies in front of Nicci. Then after sitting two glasses on the table she walked over to the fridge. " I bet they got some milk." she said pulling open the door." See I told ya, dad's always making sure there's milk around, he freaks if a carton gets half empty." She chuckled at her words as she spotted the carton on the shelf. While pouring the white liquid into the glasses she added." I sware if I didn't love dad so much he'd drive me to the funny farm. " as she could remember all the times Captain Stanley asked her if she took her vitamins. Listening to Sherry's ramble Nicci didn't know what to think so needing answers she asked." Sherry, why are you being so nice to me? I dont get it." " Why wouldn't I be Nicci? I dont have anything against you." " That's bull shit Sherry, Don't tell me you forgot that I decked ya." Nicci said in disbelief " No Nicci I didn't forget, but I'm not mad at you for it either." Sherry said. " Besides it's like my dad says, life's to short to hold a grudge and he's right." Sherry ended. Hearing Sherry's words, Nicci still wasn't quite sure what to think, but deciding it best she pushed aside her suspicion and before she knew it she and Sherry were talking over milk and cookies. During their conversation they learned that they had much in common. They like the same music but more importantly they learned that they both thought Andy Gibb was to die for. After they touched on all of the latest teen beat gossip, Nicci all of a sudden got quiet. As she watched Sherry swallow the last drop of her milk, it accured to Nicci that she made a friend. But not just any friend Sherry was one of those special friends that only came once in a persons life. Then thinking back to what she had done to Sherry earlier she knew that she had to do the right thing. " Sherry, I'm sorry." She apologized " Sorry for what Nicci?" Sherry asked her eyes full of wonder. " You know, for hitting you. You were only telling the truth, I really was a bitch. I just couldn't see it for all the anger I had." She said in hopes that her new friend would understand. " I'm not a bitch anymore, and I'm not angry. The fact is I've had to come to terms with a lot of shit. Now that I'm going to be a mom, I have to grow up and think about whats best for my baby. I cant do that if I'm angry, I have to let it go." " Oh Nicci, I know and that's okay. Just remember, that even though I dont know one thing about becoming a mother, I'm still here for you and if you ever need to talk I'm here. Seeing tears form in her friends eyes Sherry took Nicci in her arms for a hug, in return Nicci did the same. ...........Three days Later........... After their last run the crew settled down at the table going over their plans for the day of fun. And although Captain Stanley was trying hard not to get his heart set, he found himself getting more and more excited as each day past." Just remember we still have a couple of weeks to go. So don't get your hopes up to high." He warned he could see the excitement building in his men's eyes especially Chet." But you know even if Head Quarters did claim them, Couldn't we go anyway? I mean does it really matter if we use these tickets or buy our own?" " I hate to say this but the Captain's right." Roy started." I think it would mean more at least to me, if I bought my famliy fun instead of it being handed to us for free." He ended Hearing Roy's words Chet didn't want to admit it but deep down he didn't feel right in keeping them either. " Let's give them back. We can still go, it's only twenty bucks." " Kelly's right, we can still go." Mike agreed With his crew behind him Captain Stanley decided that they would turn the tickets over. So making his way out to the truck he quickly grabbed the tickets and headed back to the dayroom. " Capt. There's still one problem." Johnny stated watching as Captain Stanley tossed the large envelope on the table. " There's no name. The tickets are probably going to sit on someone's desk for years because Head Quarters isn't going to know what to do with them either." " Junior has a point, What are we going to do with........" Roy started only to be interupted by Nicci " Hi dad." She greeted. Then seeing the anguish in their faces she asked" Am I enterupting something?" " Hey Nic, Have a seat." Roy returned while pulling out a chair." You wasn't enterupting nothing, we were just talking about some tickets to the state zoo that were given to us and what we should do with them." Then seeing that Nicci was holding onto a envelope he asked" What's that you're holding?" " I don't know but it's from the court." She answered " I think it's the settlement." " Well open it up and find out." He urged with a smile in hopes that it was. With her hand shaking, Nicci held up the envelope studying it. She knew that whatever was inside would change her life forever. Then loosing what little bit of nerves she still had she turned to Roy and said."I'm not going to open it Dad, you open it." With a smile Roy took the envelope from Nicci's hand and carefully opened it. An even bigger smile found him as he realized that it was indeed the settlement. " Don't leave us hanging like this man, is it?" Chet asked Glancing at his daughter and seeing the wonder and want in her eyes he spoke" Well it is the settlement paid in full." He said taking out the check. Then reading the official letter he added" It says here that we are to send all receipts to the court, in turn they will bill Roger and remburse you. This includes all meds both over the counter and prescriptions. It also includes all tests and proceedures." " Oh man, the judge really know's how to get to a guy. " Chet said " Yeah she sure does, Mr. Oakes said that she didn't mess around." Roy said as the Klaxons started going off. .........Two hours later........ As the guys sat around the table after their last run, they started once again to talk about what they should do with the tickets. " I don't know what to do with them. What do you guys think?" Captain Stanley asked Not seeing the tickets where they had left them Chet spoke" I got a better question." Chet spoke as he looked around the table and the surrounding floor." Where'd they go? they were here when we left." With Chets words it accured to the rest that the tickets were not sitting on the table where they had in fact been. So beginning their search they all began to look around. Not having any luck Johnny spoke." I don't know, but they couldn't have gotten up and walked out by themselves." " You don't think that Head Quarters got wise do you?" Marco asked " I don't think so, they never did before." Chet teased " Chet's got a point." Captain Stanley added. " Well we got to find them they're worth a lot of money." " What's up dad? What are you guys looking for?" Nicci asked walking into the dayroom seeing that the guys were searching for something almost in the state of panic. " We're looking for the tickets, they were sitting here on the table when we left." Roy said. Then watching as Nicci's eyes darted around the room, he knew by that look that she had something to do with the vanishing item." Nicci did you have anything to do with this?" He said without a responce he added." Nicci what'd you do with them." He demanded to know " Well.....I took them" She said. Hearing her words all search for the missing tickets stopped. " Nicci why did you take them?" Captain Stanley asked. " Because, you guys didn't know what to do with them, and I figure you guys have enough to worry about. So I took care of it." She said " Nicci what did you do with the tickets?" Johnny asked Avoiding Johnny question she said" I went to the bank and deposited the check from the courts. At first they wasn't going to let me with out dad being there. But they did with a little persuasion and the fact that I told them that they wasn't the only bank and I would just move my account elsewhere." "Nicci that's all well and good that you put the money in the bank, but you still haven't told us what you did with the tickets." Roy said now sitting on the corner of the table with his arms folded in front of him. " I donated them dad." Nicci stated." I gave them to the S.H.F.A.C ( Safe House For Abused Children) You see, when I was growing up I would have given anything in the world to have the chance to go someplace like this. To a kid that doesn't no that kind of pain it's fun but to those that do know, it's more then fun, it's away for them to let go and be the kid that they are. Even if it's just for a little while. I didn't tell the lady where they came from when she asked me. I just told her that they were a gift for the kids from someone who cared.There were only twenty four tickets and there were thrity kids so in order for all the kids to go I bought six more with a discount from the bank." She ended then hanging her head, she ended then hanging her head she asked." Are you mad?" Silence surrounded the room as the men listened to Nicci's thoughtful words. With his daughter's words echoing in his head, Roy stood. Then taking Nicci gently by the arms he said. "Nicci we could never be mad at you for thinking of someone else. And you know I cant think of a better place for them tickets to be. I also know that I'm speaking for everyone when I say that I'm very proud of you for doing what you did." He ended taking Nicci in for a fatherly hugs. TBC |