Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am

"Do you need a drink sweetie?" Ape asked Elle again but the blond little girl simply shook her head.

"Where is Bam?" Jenn asked again. Ape had been able to avoid her questions thus far but apparently no longer.

"With the girls and Johnny." She didn't wanna give out too much information.

"Oh." Jenn didn't seem to happy with the answer but that's all she was gonna get.

Soon DiCo came down the stairs in a pair of PJ pants and an old T-shirt. The little hair that he did have on his head was extremely messed up. He stopped briefly when he saw Jenn. "Morning Ape," he started walking again. "Jenn."

"Hi DiCo," Elle said softly.

DiCo smiled and ruffled up her hair with his hand. "What's for breakfast Ape?"

"Nothing," Ape smiled at DiCo's reaction. "You missed it, breakfast was about four hours ago."

DiCo wasn't comprehending.

"Everyone has already ate and gone," Ape filled him in. "You even lent the girls your bronco."

He half laughed. "I didn't give them shit."

"Well Ferin stole the hummer, I wouldn't put it past her to steal DiCo's vehicle."

"She didn't steal it," Ape reminded her firmly. "Besides I believe Natasha was the one with the keys."

DiCo began digging through the fridge. "I really don't give a shit who took it."

"Took what?"

"Bam!" Elle leaped down off the stool and hurried towards him.

"Hey Elle." He patted her on the back awkwardly as she hugged his legs tightly.

"Can I take her?"

"Where?" Jenn asked sternly, it sounded like she was expecting them to all go out as a 'family'.

"Out, I promise I'll have her back by supper."

"Here or my place?"

"I can bring her back to your house." Bam caught Ape's glare out of the corner of his eye. He really didn't want Jenn coming back to his house if he could prevent it. Jenn seriously looked like she was going to protest, but she finally gave in and left.

"Go get your shoes on Elle."

When the girl disappeared around the corner Bam caught Ape still giving him 'the look'.

"What are you doing Bam?"

He thought for a moment then threw his hands in the air. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."

***

Bam parked the new hummer on the lawn near the front door causing a giggle to escape Elle's lips.

"What are we doing here Bam?"

Bam shrugged and opened his door. "Probably what the girls tell us to do."

Elle smiled. "Because girls are always right?"

Bam smirked. "Your mother tell you that?"

Elle nodded and opened her door.

"Figures," Bam muttered when she was out of earshot.

"Bam can you bring in the..." Tash stopped dead in her tracks and Bam offered her a half smile.

"Painting stuff," she finished before smiling at the girl. "Hi, Elle."

Elle beamed. "Hi, Natasha."

Bam headed to the back of DiCo's jimmy and snagged what he assumed was the paint that Tash and Ferin had bought while he had went to see what Jenn wanted.

"Thanks," Tash smiled at Bam then held her hand out to Elle. "Want to come see my new house?"

Tash and Elle walked through the kitchen and passed Ferin along the way.

"Who's that?" Ferin took the paint brushes from Bam so he wouldn't drop the paint.

There was no avoiding this one. "Elle...Jenn's daughter."

Ferin's eyes widened slightly. "Oh." She turned and headed down the hall, past the room they had previously decided to be the master bed room and into the last room on the left. "So you're a baby sitter now?"

Just what he needed, a pissed off girlfriend. "Ferin it's not...."

"Don't tell me it's not like that Bam," she looked him in the eyes. "You could have told Jenn no."

"And deny Elle?"

"Deny Elle what Bam?" Ferin rolled up the sleeves to her old sweater and picked up a scraper, it was her job to remove the hideous flower wall paper boarder. "She's not your kid."

Bam frowned. "Yeah, but it's not her fault that Jenn and I broke up either."

Ferin's arm dropped her side and she glared at him. "Maybe it wasn't, but you can't keep Elle hanging in the middle, going back and forth from her mom's house to yours. Jenn wants you back and that's the bottom line."

"It's hard on her too Ferin. You can't just forget seven years in two weeks."

Ferin knew he was right but it still pissed her off. If that was how he felt, there was no way he should've asked her out. But she was equally as guilty because she'd said yes. Neither of them were really ready for this.

"You're right," Bam frowned. "I'll just go grab Elle, take her back to her mom and tell her that she can't see me anymore."

Ferin closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She didn't wanna fight with Bam, mostly because he was right. It was Jenn she was mad at, and she was taking it out on Bam.

"I'm sorry," she admitted softly but never turned around to look at him.

"Don't be sorry," he popped the lid to one of the paint cans open. "I know it's hard on you to."

A few moments of silence passed before it was broken by Natasha. She and Elle were now standing in the doorway.

"Can we help paint?"

Ferin smiled softly at the little girl then up at Natasha. "Sure the paint brushes are in that little bag."

Ten minutes into it, Dunn, Raab and Knoxville had joined and everyone was now covered in blue paint. It was just what Bam and Ferin needed to ease the tension.

Elle was standing behind Dunn shaking her paint brush at him causing splatters of paint to cover his back.

"You have to get his butt to," Natasha urged Elle, but Elle just giggled and hurried to dip her paint brush again.

"I say we leave the room this way." Knoxville wrapped his arm around Natasha's waist.

She smiled and looked at the blue paint splattered walls. "Yeah, it looks kind of cool."

"Yeah, besides I ain't doin' anymore work." Raab dropped his brush and it landed in the paint can, covering the handle and everything.

"Way to go Raab." Ferin pushed him lightly and he grinned.

"So is anyone hungry?"

Everyone looked at Tash. "We can order pizza," she grinned. "First supper in our new house."

"As long as we're outta here and at Kildare's by ten," Dunn reminded everyone, he wasn't going to miss this date.

Bam looked at Elle. "You want Pizza? Or do you wanna go home now?"

"Pizza," she beamed up at him, blue paint splattered over her cheeks.

"You're mom is going to kill me," Bam muttered as Tash ushered everyone out of the room, carefully down the hall, and outside into the backyard.

Tash phoned and the pizza arrived half an hour later. They ate quickly then Bam covered the seats in the new Hummer with garbage bags, it was time to take Elle home.

"I'll meet you at Kildare's?"

Ferin nodded and waved at Elle. "Bye Elle, it was nice meeting you."

Elle smiled and waved back.

Bam dropped a set of keys into her palm. "Drive the lambo home please."

Ferin nodded and he drove around and across the lawn back onto the driveway to the road before he disappeared.