FOUR WEEKS LATER
"Hey is anyone home?" Fulton returned to their apartment after what seemed like the longest day at the firm. He had to remind himself that it was all a part of his degree.
He now knew that the word 'intern' basically meant 'shit kicker'. Allie would find it amusing he thought with a smile as he trudged up the stairs throwing his suit jacket over his arm and loosening his tie.
He followed the sound of her voice to the room that would soon become the nursery. Pausing at the open doorway he leaned against the frame and watched her adoringly.
She had her back to him as she sat in a giant wooden rocking chair, her enormous belly in her hands as she stroked it whilst rocking back and forth.
Fulton smiled when she began singing absentmindedly. He loved it when she sang but it saddened him that she never sung in public anymore, not since Portman left the world.
She's got a smile that sings to me; Reminds me of childhood memories; Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face; It takes me away to that special place; And if I stare too long I'll probably break down and cry
Oh, oh oh Sweet Child O' Mine Oh oh oh oh Sweet Love of Mine
Fulton let her go on a little longer before he cleared his throat, drawing attention to the fact that he was there.
"Hey, how was your first day as the intern?" Allie smiled at her housemate as she tried to get up from the chair.
Fulton noted that she looked tired.
"You say that like it's a bad thing" Fulton laughed moving forward to help her out of the chair.
"Oh come on Fult, surely you've worked out by now intern means 'shit kicker'. So how many coffee's did you get today?" she teased him good-naturedly.
Fulton stared at her in shock.
How the hell does she do that? He wondered realising that this isn't the first time she's read his mind lately.
"What? You know I didn't mean it" Allie was horrified and now thought Fulton was upset with her.
"Huh?" Fulton snapped out of his daydream and frowned at the expression on her face before realisation sunk in.
"Oh no no no, I know what it means now, its just that what you said was exactly what I was thinking when I got home. Scary huh?" Fulton smiled to let her know he wasn't mad at her.
"Yeah, I think you've been hanging out with me for waaay too long now" Allie laughed pausing mid-step to hold her stomach.
"Damn it this one is as bad as its father, if it doesn't take up hockey then it'll play either football or soccer" she laughed rubbing the bulge that was the baby inside her stomach.
Fulton stared at her. It was the first time she'd made a reference to Dean without tearing up.
"Hey, come here you gotta feel it" Allie grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly.
Fulton sucked his breath in. he thought he'd gotten his feelings for her under control and then she goes and does something like this and makes him fall in love with her all over again. The sad thing is that she has no idea she's doing it.
"Wow" Fulton was at a loss when he felt a tiny nudge against his hand.
Allie looked down at him with a huge grin on her face as Fulton sank to his knees pressing his ear to her stomach to see if he could hear anything.
He really is sweet she thought as he moved his hand to gently touch another part of her pregnant belly.
Whoah wait a minute what the hell am I saying? Allie wondered with a frown.
"That really is amazing Allie" Fulton looked up at her and grinned snapping her out of her crazy thoughts and she couldn't help but smile back.
He was more excited about this baby than she was.
They locked eyes for a moment, neither of them were unable to look away. Fulton stood up slowly his eyes never leaving her face.
She inhaled softly not sure what was going on here. What the hell do you even want to happen? She asked herself.
I don't know the voice inside her head answered.
Fulton reached out and pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face as his palm gently caressed her cheek.
Allie continued to stare at him unable to move or speak.
Get a grip Allie you only lost Dean six months ago the voice inside her head was telling her but her body had other things on its mind. It still wouldn't move.
Dude, she's your dead best friend's girlfriend Fulton's mind was screaming at him but like Allie, his body had other plans.
Before anything could happen the phone rang sending its high pitched ring echoing throughout the apartment.
This was enough to make Fulton retract his hand and Allie to snap out of it.
"I'll get it" they both mumbled at the same time.
"It's probably for you anyway" Fulton said softly as he watched her rush down the stairs to get the phone.
"Hello?" Allie answered, any sign of her earlier discomfort was undetectable in her voice as she spoke.
"Oh hey Sarah what's up?"
Fulton cringed, he couldn't believe he was about to make a move on his best friend's girlfriend. Jesus, Fulton its only been six months you idiot! His inner voice was scolding him.
"Yeah it kicked today, I think it's gonna take after it's daddy" Allie was saying.
"Yeah I miss you too sweetie, maybe you could come visit us. I'm sure Fulton would love that just as much as I would"
Fulton smiled, he hadn't seen Sarah since the funeral when her mother left her in the care of a relative after Kate had been hauled away by security.
"Aw honey I'm sure she doesn't mean that" Allie was saying.
"WHAT?" Allie suddenly screeched.
Fulton rushed down the stairs to see if she was okay.
"No honey listen to me, pack your bags and get to the airport, you're on the next flight to Boston. I'll pick you up"
Fulton was starting to become worried. What had happened to his deceased mate's little sister?
"Don't argue with me Sarah, I'm not having you put up with that any longer, Dean would never ever forgive me"
"Okay, promise you'll call when you get to the airport?"
"Right, I love you too sweetie, see you soon" Allie hung the phone up and immediately began dialling another number.
"Yes, I'd like to reserve a seat on the next flight to Boston from Minneapolis"
Fulton placed his hand on Allie's arm giving her a questioning look.
"My name's Allie Taylor but the passenger will be Sarah Portman"
"Yes and what time does that arrive in Boston? Ten thirty, excellent"
Allie then gave her credit card details.
"Thank you so much for that, have a nice evening" she said before hanging the phone up.
"Allie what's wrong?" Fulton asked when he recognised the very pissed off look that crossed her face.
"That fucking bitch! Her boyfriend's been abusing her daughter and she doesn't give a damn" Allie exploded.
"Hang on what?" Fulton asked leading Allie to the sofa where he sat down next to her.
"Kate's gone and got herself a sleazeball boyfriend who thinks its okay to creep into Sarah's room at night and hurt her, I could fucking kill someone" Allie laid the facts out on the table for Fulton to ponder over.
"Damn it I'm going to kill that bastard, you stay here" Fulton got up off the couch.
"Fulton, honey seriously we're in Boston, they're in Minneapolis" Allie was the voice of reason for a change.
Fulton stopped dead when she called him honey.
"So what do you plan on doing?" Fulton asked sitting back down. At this stage Allie could have asked him to do anything in the world for her and he would gladly do it.
"Sarah's coming here to stay for a while, I hope that's okay" Allie suddenly realised she hadn't even asked Fulton if it was okay with him.
"Of course its okay, are you going to call the police?" Fulton asked.
Allie shrugged "I guess we'll see when she gets here"
"Allie you have to promise me you won't do anything stupid. You're about to have a baby very soon" Fulton pleaded.
"Fult, I have to make sure she's okay. Dean would want me to" Allie's eyes started tearing over, they way they always did whenever she talked about Dean.
"I know and I promised Dean I'd look after you" Fulton said firmly.
"You are Fult, more than you'll ever know" Allie replied softly. "But I have to do this" she added.
"Come on, I'll make up the spare room" Fulton sighed getting up off the couch again and headed up the stairs.
"And you are staying right there young lady" Fulton turned around and pointed at Allie who stuck her tongue out at him.
Fulton reached the top of the stairs and hid around the corner. He knew Allie wouldn't stay on the couch like he asked.
One, two, three, four he counted in his head and was amused when he heard her get up and head towards the stairs.
He waited until she got right up to the top then grinned as he stuck his head around the corner.
"You never do as you're told do you?" he laughed.
"Jesus! Fulton you scared the crap out of me, don't do that!" she scolded swatting him on the arm.
Fulton laughed as he skipped off towards their little guest room.
"Come on, the quicker we do this the quicker I can take you out for dinner" he called.
"Fulton I can cook you know" Allie tried to protest. She hated it when he spent his hard earned money on her when there were plenty of other things he could buy for himself and other girls he could take out to dinner.
"I know you can sweetie and you're a good cook but you haven't cooked anything for dinner and I'm getting rather hungry" Fulton argued in a manner that wouldn't set the pregnant girl off on a rant.
"Fine but you are so not paying" Allie entered the room and threw a pillow at his head.
"We'll talk about that later" Fulton wished that just for once she would let him take care of her like he promised he would.
Allie was shifting nervously in her seat tightly gripping Fulton's hand.
She didn't know what to expect when Sarah stepped off of that plane.
"She'll be fine Allie, she has us remember?" Fulton whispered squeezing her hand a little tighter for comfort.
The truth was he was scared stiff too. He knew Sarah meant the world to Dean and if he were alive to see what had happened to her there would be hell to pay. Heck Allie knows what's going on and Fulton had no doubt in his mind that the bastard that did it to her was going down.
Allie saw the girl walking towards them and she felt her anger rising up again.
Gone was the bubbly, happy girl that was just having a bad day that she'd been the last time Allie saw her at her brother's funeral and in its place was what looked like a shell of what Sarah used to be.
Her eyes were sunken, her face hollow and her skin had taken on a sickly grey tinge to it. Anyone could see this girl had been through hell.
"Oh my god" Fulton sucked in a breath as he too was horrified by what he was seeing.
"Shh, we cant let her see we're shocked, we have to treat her the same as usual" Allie whispered to him before plastering a smile on her face for Sarah's benefit.
"SARAH!" Allie waved her arms over her head.
Sarah's eyes lit up for a brief moment when she recognised her "almost sister" as she'd once put it. Allie had told her to get rid of the "almost" crap and just say that they're sisters.
"Hey sweetie" Allie enveloped Sarah into a big bear hug.
"Allie you're gonna squish your baby" Sarah replied glancing nervously at Fulton.
"Well don't I get a hug?" Fulton asked pretending to be hurt.
"Um, okay" Sarah replied cautiously as she reluctantly stepped into Fulton's arms.
Allie and Fulton exchanged worried looks. Fulton tried not to take it personally, the bastard who'd hurt her had done this to her and now he was going to pay.
"So have you eaten? Are you hungry? Man I could kill for a rump steak right now!" Allie ignored the horrified look of Sarah and the laughing Fulton.
"You'll get used to it Sarah, she eats about 90 percent of the time now" Fulton said softly to Sarah who flinched at the sound of his voice.
Fulton retracted slightly feeling a little hurt. He knew it wasn't his fault or anything but his heart was breaking for the young girl.
"Allie your boobs are huge!" Sarah actually cracked a smile as Allie quickly covered her chest with her overcoat.
"Shut up!" Allie replied laughing.
Fulton was so embarrassed he didn't know where to look.
"Can we go now?" Sarah asked.
"Sure, do we have to get any suitcases or anything?" Allie asked the girl who shook her head.
"Nope I had to leave before mom and Doug got home" Sarah spat the man's name out with an obvious venom.
"Its okay, you can wear some of my stuff, you know the stuff before I got enormous boobs!" Allie joked as Fulton took Sarah's small duffel bag pretending he hadn't heard anything.
The trio made their way out to the car that was Allie's BMW convertible that she lets Fulton drive around to make him look like the lawyer he was studying to be.
"You didn't have this car in Minnesota" Sarah observed as she climbed into the front seat.
"No it was too hard to get it over here so I sold that one and bought this" Allie replied from the backseat.
"This ones way nicer anyway, the old one was ugly & made you look like an old person trying to be young again" Sarah commented.
"Gee thanks Bear" Allie replied rolling her eyes.
Sarah grew quiet again and Allie mentally scolded herself for using the nickname her brother had given her.
"I miss Bean" Sarah suddenly blurted out turning around to look at her "sister".
"I know honey, I miss him too" Allie replied feeling the tears welling up again. Damn these stupid pregnancy hormones.
The rest of the drive was in silence. Every often Fulton would glance across at Sarah in the front seat or look in the rear-view mirror to check on Allie.
Both girls had a sad, faraway look on their faces and it didn't take a genius to work out what they were both thinking about. He was thinking about it too.
"Here we are" Fulton announced as he drove past the security gates to the apartment building and parked in their private underground car park.
Fulton was extremely glad Allie had let her father splash out on a safe and secure apartment complex for his only daughter to live in.
He was also very grateful that Allie and Portman had asked him to move in with them when they first found the apartment.
It was just sad that Portman never got to move in.
"You okay in here?" Allie softly knocked on the door to Sarah's room.
"Yeah for the first time in months I feel safe" Sarah admitted as she pulled the comforter around her shoulders even tighter.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you honey" Allie apologised wishing that she'd known about this sooner so that she could step in and do something before it got to this stage.
"How could you have known? I didn't exactly tell anyone about it" Sarah hung her head.
"Hey, its okay, the main thing is that you're safe now. If anyone tries to hurt you again Fulton and I will go all 'psycho murderer' on their ass" Allie struck a kung-fu pose that had Sarah in stitches. Mainly because Allie couldn't kick her leg any higher than her knee before the belly got in the way.
"Its good to see you smile Sarah" Allie sat down on the edge of the bed.
"It kinda feels good but at the same time I feel so guilty"
"Why?"
"Because I'm still here trying to have a good time and Dean's down there not able to do or feel anything"
"You know sometimes I feel guilty too but then I remember that having a good time was what Dean loved the most about life and he'd hate it if we were all mopey and sad"
"He loved you so much Allie"
"He loved you too Sarah, he'd do anything for you"
"I know and that's what made me feel so special and then he went and left me and now I have no one"
"Hey that's not true, you have me and I know for a fact that Fulton would do anything for you. I would too and so would all of the Ducks and Linda and we all know that Linda is one scary lady"
"Its not really the same though"
"I know"
The girls sat in silence each running out of things to say.
"Hey Allie, there's a message on the machine I think you should hear" Fulton's dark head appeared in the doorway.
Allie frowned when she saw Sarah tense up considerably.
"Thanks Fult, I'll be down in a second" Allie replied.
"Its okay Sarah, its only Fulton and he wont hurt you" Allie tried soothing the nervous girl.
"I know its just that its hard to trust anyone anymore" she replied.
Allie looked sadly at the girl. Twelve years old and she'd been through too much already.
"I understand, I think Fulton would understand too" Allie patted the girls arm.
"Come on lets get you to sleep and I'll go see what Fulton's going on about" Allie replied.
"Thanks Allie, for everything"
"No problem. I love you" Allie said kissing the girl on the forehead when she got settled in the bed.
"Love you too" Sarah replied sleepily.
Allie waited a few minute before heading down the stairs to where Fulton was sitting on the couch.
"She's afraid of me isn't she?" he asked sadly.
Allie's heart broke at the look on his face. She took a seat next to him and put her arms around his shoulders.
"Its not you, its just that she's afraid of males right now and unfortunately you've got that Y chromosome" Allie explained.
"Yeah I know, its just so damn hard seeing her like that. She's like my little sister as well" Fulton's voice had an edge of tiredness to it.
"Yeah I know but just give her a little bit of time, I'm sure she'll come around sooner or later"
"I hope so, it fucking sucks to see her like that" Fulton replied angrily.
"So what's this message I need to hear?" Allie tried changing the subject before Fulton blew his stack.
"Oh yeah, you're not gonna like it though" Fulton warned walking over to the answering machine and turning the volume right down so that Sarah couldn't hear it.
Allie stood next to him as he hit the playback button.
"You fucking little whore did you honestly think you could get away with stealing my child? You take my husband, then my son and I'll be damned if you think you're gonna take away my daughter" Kate Portman's voice was heard.
"Bah let her have the little slut, I was getting bored with her anyway" a man's voice was heard and Allie assumed this was "Doug".
"Keep the little bitch but don't think I'm gonna be paying you a single cent for her" "Doug's" voice was heard louder before they hung up.
"Get me your best lawyer Fulton, I'm getting custody of her" Allie ordered through clenched teeth.
"I guess I'd better save this then" Fulton said taking the small tape out of the machine.
He opened the drawer underneath the table to find an envelope and a pen. He placed the tape inside the envelope and marked it "Kate's doom".
"Come into the office with me tomorrow, I'll make sure we get something sorted out" Fulton promised rubbing Allie's shoulder as she yawned.
"Bed now missy!" Fulton didn't waste the opportunity. He looked at the clock and realised that it was almost 1am.
Allie didn't argue as she allowed Fulton to lead her up the stairs towards her bedroom where he pulled the covers back ready for her to climb in.
"Night" Fulton kissed her forehead.
"Fult?" Allie asked sleepily.
"Yeah" he turned around.
"Would you stay with me?" she asked not wanting to be alone tonight.
Fulton hesitated "Um okay, I'll be back in a minute" he exited the room with his heart in his throat. The last time he'd spent the night holding her was right after Portman's funeral.
Fulton made his way towards his own room where he undressed; leaving his work suit laid across his bed and put a pair of pyjama bottoms and an old t-shirt on.
When he entered Allie's room she was already in bed wearing the green silk maternity pyjamas Julie had bought her as a gift.
"Are you okay?" Fulton asked sliding into the bed next to Allie.
"No" Allie replied truthfully pulling the covers back up to her chin.
"Wanna talk about it?" Fulton asked.
"Nope" Allie replied putting her head on his shoulder.
"Okay" Fulton agreed turning the lamp off.
"Night" he whispered squeezing his arm that was around her.
"Night" Allie replied snuggling deeper into the curve of his neck.
Fulton smiled when he heard her soft snoring a few minutes later. He couldn't have asked for a better end to a shitty day.
Fulton woke to the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked.
He peered across at the sleeping form of Allie next to him and smiled. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world as she slept.
He carefully got out of the bed hastily rubbing a hand through his tangled hair as he made his way to the bathroom.
Once finished in there he made his way down to the kitchen to find Sarah cooking up an enormous breakfast.
"This looks good" Fulton commented taking a seat at the counter.
Sarah whipped around "Oh Fulton, sorry I didn't see you come in" she said a little too coolly.
"Something wrong?" Fulton asked noticing the glare she was giving him.
"You tell me" Sarah replied cryptically.
Jeez she's just like her brother Fulton thought.
"Can't think of anything off the top of my head but I just woke up so my brain's not functioning" Fulton tried joking.
"But I guess the rest of you was functioning pretty well last night huh" Sarah was mad about something.
"Sarah what are you talking about?" Fulton asked wishing she'd just get to the point.
"I'm talking about you and Allie, together. You're not fooling anyone with the 'just friends' act you know" Sarah shot back at him.
"What? We are just friends though" Fulton felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest. He took a sip of the orange juice that was in front of him
"Right so is that why you two were sleeping together" Sarah accused.
Fulton spat the juice over the counter "WHAT!" he boomed.
Sarah was startled.
"No, no that's not how it is Sarah, she's been through a lot lately, with Dean and then the baby and the other stuff too" Fulton didn't know how to bring up the topic of Sarah's situation.
"What's with all the yelling?" Allie entered the kitchen rubbing her eyes.
Sarah quickly turned away and busied herself with the rest of the breakfast.
"Sarah thought we were, um, you know in your bed last night" Fulton blushed and immediately became fascinated with something on the front page of yesterday's paper.
"Huh? Oh" Allie realised what Fulton meant and she too blushed a little.
"So its not true then?" Sarah said in a small voice.
"No its not true" Allie replied going over to give the girl a hug "I just didn't want to be alone last night" she explained.
"Sorry guys, I'm such a dill-hole" Sarah said sheepishly looking down at the floor.
"Hey don't worry about it, it runs in your genes remember?" Allie laughed.
"Yeah and my mom's the Queen of the Dill-holes" Sarah declared making Fulton choke on his juice.
"Sarah we need to talk to you about something" Allie suddenly became very serious. She'd wanted to ask Sarah about the custody issue before she saw a lawyer.
"Okay" Sarah removed the pan from the cooktop and turned the heat off.
She took a seat next to Fulton.
"Its about the situation with your mom" Allie began wondering if that was the best way to go about it when she saw Sarah's head drop.
"We just wanted to ask you, if the Judge lets us, if you wanted to live with us and we'd be your guardians" Fulton finished the sentence.
Sarah's head snapped back up "Are you serious?" she asked hopefully.
"If the Courts will let us then yes we're deadly serious" Fulton told her.
Allie glanced at him realising how proud she was of him. The unruly Bash Brother she'd met all those years ago was a distant memory now.
"Oh my god!" Sarah became excited.
"There is one thing and I know this is going to be one of the hardest things you've ever had to do" Allie thought it was best to be upfront with her rather than springing things on her.
"What?" Sarah suddenly became suspicious.
"We have to go to the police and tell them everything your mother's boyfriend has done to you" Allie said softly.
"I….I…..can't" Sarah's bottom lip started quivering.
"Sarah, if we don't then there's every chance you could be sent back to Minnesota" Fulton tried reasoning.
Sarah didn't say anything. She hastily wiped a stray tear away.
"Okay" she finally whispered.
"Can you make an appointment for me at your firm?" Allie asked Fulton.
"Of course" Fulton replied nodding.
"Don't worry Sarah, we'll fight for you ever step of the way" he added trying to reassure the young girl.
God I hope he's right Allie thought knowing this was going to be a long hard battle.
A/N - sorry it took so long to update, thanks for the reviews.