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Chapter Nineteen - March 15 - Brooklyn's First Birthday, Part One (As Told, and Caught on Tape, by Olivia)

After living in Nick Carter's world for almost two years, one would think that he couldn't do anything that would really surprise me anymore.

Those people would be wrong.

I had just laughed a week ago when Nick proclaimed happily over breakfast that Brooklyn's first birthday was going to be a zoo. When I got my hands on one of the birthday invitations later that day, I realized that I had misunderstand.

Brooklyn's party was going to be at the zoo.

Nick had rented out the entire Lowry Park Zoo for the day.

"She's only turning one," my rational mind had pointed out. Nick just grinned.

"So? We'll do something even bigger next year."

That was what scared me.

So, at eleven o'clock on a beautiful Thursday morning, Nick and I put Brooke and Noah in the car and drove forty-five minutes to the Lowry Park Zoo. It was the first time I had taken Noah anywhere except the doctor's office. Now that he looked like that chubby Michelin tire guy, I was feeling a little better about exposing him to the world at large. He was decked out with some baby overalls, a giraffe t-shirt, and a little cloth hat that he hated with a passion.

I had picked out the perfect birthday dress for Brooke. It was a light blue sundress with a little white sweater. The blue matched her eyes perfectly. Much to her annoyance, I had tied up her pigtails with long curly blue and white ribbons. She kept tugging at them; her little face squished up and she sighed as they bounced through her fingertips. She kept looking over at Noah like it was all his fault that she had the stupid ribbons in her hair. At least she wasn't screaming. That was a plus.

After spending another fifteen minutes unloading kids, strollers, diaper bags, and presents,we were met at the zoo entrance by the event planner. I didn't even want to think how much renting out the whole zoo had cost, let alone how much the event planner charged for her time.

Nick carried Brooke proudly in his arms. A couple assistants came and got the presents. I walked beside Nick, pushing Noah in his stroller. We wove around the park until we came to the Wallaroo Station.

It immediately brought back pleasant thoughts of Australia. Nick turned to me and we smiled. Sometime's his ideas weren't completely crazy.

"We had seventy people RSVP," the planner was saying. "We've laid out enough space for eighty, just in case."

I fondly remember the birthday parties I had as a kid. Mom and dad set up card tables with paper tablecloths. Good china consisted of paper plates and plastic sporks. The ice cream melted in the heat before you even sat down. They were all great memories.

What I was currently looking at reminded me of a wedding reception; cloth table coverings, nice china, folded napkins...and juice boxes. Okay, so the juice boxes wouldn't be at a wedding reception, but still.

The party was scheduled to begin at 12:30. I pushed Noah's stroller into the shade and got him out. That produced a smile that made me melt into a puddle of goo every time. Of course Noah wasn't the only Carter smiling. Nick was grinning ear to ear; I daresay he was more excited than Brooke.

"There's a petting zoo and a koi pond," Nick said, pointing off into the distance. "Then there's the supial area..."

"The supial area?"

"Yeah with the koalas and stuff."

I smiled. "Marsupials?"

"All the cool kids say 'supials."

I rolled my eyes but let him continue to give me a run down of all the cool stuff at the zoo.

"We've got hot dog and pizzas for the grown-ups and the older kids. And of course the juice boxes."

"Can't forget the juice boxes," I said with a smile.

"Then we have the cake in the reptile house."

My eyes widened. "Reptile house?"

"It's just 'cause it's cool in there. They'll bring it out here when it's time."

That was good to know. There was no way I was going to witness my daughter blowing out her first birthday candle in front of a boa constrictor.

Fifteen minutes later our first guests headed through the gate.

"Are we tardy for the party?" Brian called out. Nick laughed.

"You're the first ones here."

At first I didn't realize that the tall lanky boy standing beside Brian was Baylee. I blinked in surprise. It hadn't been that long since I had last seen him. Right?

"Cool, juice boxes!" Baylee said.

"Geeeeee!"

Leighanne came up beside Brian. Kayleigh was strapped in the stroller, a huge pink floppy hat covering her curly blonde hair. Her arms were flapping a mile a minute as she hit the little playthings on her stroller tray.

I walked over to the stroller with Noah and knelt down. Leighanne crouched beside me.

"Hi Kayleigh," I said. She looked up at me and smiled. Her eyes crossed for a second and then focused on Noah. She leaned over the bar and touched his hand.

"Oooh."

"See," Leighanne said, nudging me. "They're perfect for each other."

I heard Nick and Brian groan.

"Not this again," Nick said.

"She hasn't even cut her first tooth and you're trying to get her a date," Brian complained. Leigh and I laughed.

About ten minutes after Brian and Leighanne arrived, everyone else poured in. By one o'clock the Wallaroo Station was packed with people. Older kids darted around everywhere. At one point I saw Mason sneak up behind Baylee and squirt him with the straw from his juice box. Baylee turned around and threw a piece of pepperoni from his pizza in retaliation.

There were so many people that hadn't seen Noah yet that I felt like we should have sold tickets for them to stand in line. My face hurt from smiling so much. I think I was more overwhelmed today than I was on my wedding day.

"It looks like you could use a break."

I looked to my right to see my mom standing there. I smiled gratefully and handed Noah over. I felt guilty as he started to cry.

"Give him five minutes and he'll be fine," mom assured me. I touched her arm and kissed Noah's soft fuzzy head.

"Thank you."

I went off in search of Nick. I had brought my video camera to capture the day, and hadn't even turned it on yet. Luckily I bumped into Sam on my search.

"Woah there. You look like you need a map," he said teasingly. I smiled.

"I'm looking for my husband and daughter."

"Ah, I believe your beloved is right over there."

I followed Sam's pointed finger. Sure enough Nick was standing by Brian. Brooke was standing on Nick's tennis shoes, clinging to his hands as she stood all by herself. She bounced a little bit and laughed.

"Thanks, Sam."

"No sweat. Great party."

I gave him a little wave and weaved around the guests. Nick smiled as I walked up.

"I was looking for you," he said. "I thought the Littrells and Carters could take a little trip around the zoo before presents and cake."

I smiled. "Sounds good to me."

"Where's the little dude?" Brian asked.

"My mom's giving my arms a break," I said. I held up my camera.

"Uh-oh. You still let her carry one of those?" Brian teased. Nick shrugged.

"She's armed and dangerous," he explained. He knelt down and in one swoop, picked Brooke back up.

"Let's go!"

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It's funny the little things you learn when you're in a new place with small children. The first thing we noticed was that Brooklyn loves slimy creatures. Her little hands pressed against the windows in the reptile house and she kept pointing at the glass and looking at Nick. I zoomed in on her even as the little creature scurrying around in its cage was giving me goosebumps.

"That's a gecko," Nick told her. "They sell car insurance."

I heard Brian's laugh reverberate through the room. He was kneeling down with Kayleigh on his lap as Baylee read the sign next to a humongous komodo dragon. Leighanne was keeping a safe distance away from everything.

"Can we go see something a little fuzzier?" she finally asked.

"I agree," I said. Nick and Brian looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Okay," Nick said.

Five minutes later I was shoulder to shoulder with Leigh, my camera on zoom. I wasn't taking another step farther.

"This isn't what I meant," Leigh explained.

Brian and Nick were showing the kids a disgusting tarantula that was the size of my fist.

"Dada boo!" Brooke squealed. I was beginning to doubt she was my daughter; no girl should have that much love for such ugly creatures.

"There's a...spider on KayKay's leg, on her leg!" Brian sang. He ran his fingertips up and down her leg. Kayleigh and Brooklyn giggled. Baylee rolled his eyes; obviously he was getting to the age where dad's cool factor was dropping.

"There's a....spider of KayKay's stomach, on her stomach!" He tickled her. She leaned forward, her face crinkling up in delight.

"There's a...spider on Brookey's face, on her face!" Brian reached over and drummed his fingers on her cheek. She tried to slap him away, but she was delighted.

"There's a...spider on Nicky's forehead, on his forhead!" Brian slapped his palm hard against Nick's head. Brooklyn and Kayleigh's laughs rose to high pitched squeals. Nick smiled but I could already see the wheels turning. It was never a good sign. Brian just grinned.

"There's a...spider on daddy's head, on his head!" Brian brought his fingers to the top of his head. "Oh there's a spiddddderrr on my headddddd," Bri was giving the performance of his life. "I think mommy would fall over dead; there's a spider on my head, on my head!"

Brooke and Kayleigh clapped. Brian stood up and took a bow. As gross as the actual thing was in the case, he had managed to bring a smile to not only my face but Leigh's. She tossed her hair and clapped her hands.

"Can we move on now?" she asked sweetly. Baylee came over to join us; I think he was in agreement. Brian scooped Kayleigh up.

"Alright, moving on!"

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After a quick visit to the monkeys, tigers, bears, and alligators, we stopped at the pens holding the kangaroos and the llamas.

Out of all of the animals in the zoo, I have always loved the giraffes. I remember going to the zoo with my class on a field trip in fourth grade and learning that you could actual adopt a giraffe. For weeks afterwards I had tried to mark off a spot in my backyard next to our tree. I didn't realize that your 'adoption' was only a donation to the zoo.

Leighanne and I sat on a bench with Kayleigh and Brooklyn on our laps. My camera was taking a well deserved rest. Baylee was reading off the information about the giraffes.

"Baylee's gotten so tall," I whispered to Leigh. She sighed sadly.

"He's growing up," she said. "This is the first time he's not looking forward to going on tour. He's complaining about missing his friends and sports. Bri and I are discussing the possibility of sending him to summer camp. He's been pouring over a brochure for weeks now."

"Really?"

"We've kept him in a bubble for as long as I think we can. I don't want him to grow up and regret not doing things other kids do."

I could understand that. Baylee finished reading and leaned against the railing. Nick and Brian were talking; I couldn't hear them well enough to figure out exactly what they were saying. Finally, I saw a giraffe walk up to the fence. Brooke was the first to spot him.

"AH! AH!" she cried out. She pointed.

Brian stood up on a rock and grinned. I saw something in his hand. I heard Nick start singing Unchained Melody, the song from the movie Ghost. I saw the giraffe's neck begin to bow. Juggling Brooklyn I turned back on my camera.

It played out like a really stupid video sent in to America's Funniest Home Videos. Brian held out what looked like a leaf. The giraffe leaned down; its black tongue flicked out. Bri placed the leaf on the giraffe's tongue and went in for a kiss. Instead, the giraffe grabbed onto his hand and yanked him into the pen. Brian screamed which in turned freaked Kayleigh out. She began to cry. Brooklyn followed suit. I set the camera aside, but I found out later it was still rolling.

After staring dumbfounded for a couple seconds at the spot Brian was standing, Nick decided to save the day (even though I think it was probably his dumb idea to begin with). He scrambled over the fence and grabbed a bunch of grass.

"Here Geoffrey. C'mere. Get the grass! Let go of the Backstreet Boy!"

I saw one large giraffe eye turn towards the grass. A moment later Brian was free as the giraffe lumbered off to the next dumbass human that wanted to bother it today. Bri held up his hand in disgust; it was covered in thick giraffe saliva.

Once Nick realized Brian was safe, he tossed the grass and took off at a run back to the fence. Bri was already halfway over. Nick grabbed his ass and pushed him the rest of the way. Nick was halfway over when the giraffe spotted him. I've never seen a giraffe run so fast. One minute Nick looked like he was safe; the next minute the back of his baggy jeans was being gnawed on by a horny giraffe.

"What the--HELP!"

Brian came to the rescue and began to tug on Nick and toss leaves up at the giraffe's head. If Brooke was freaking out before, it was nothing to when she thought the giraffe was eating her dad. Her little hands were balled into little fists and she was screaming her head off. I turned her around, but I think she's probably going to hate giraffes for the rest of her life.

Finally Nick's pants slipped to his knees and he went crashing to the ground with Brian. The giraffe tossed its head and took off with the pants.

Leighanne and I both walked over to the guys. Brian was wiping some of the giraffe spit off in Nick's hair. Nick was lying there in his tighty whities.

"I know it's a dumb question," I said. "But did you bring an extra pair of pants?"

Nick looked up at me like I was crazy. Brian raised his spit covered hand.

"I have basketball shorts in the car."

I glanced at my watch. We had been gone way longer than we should have.

"Are you okay?" I asked Brian. He grinned.

"Sure. It's not the first time a giraffe's tried to eat my hand."

I raised an eyebrow. He laughed.

"Just kidding. It was the first time."

Baylee walked up to Brian and touched his sticky hand. He held the stretchy spit between his fingers. An appreciative grin lit up his face.

"Cool."

Nick followed Brian to the bathroom. Leigh and I walked away from the giraffes in order to calm the girls down. Fifteen minutes later Brian and Nick came back. Nick was wearing a pair of basketball shorts. He kept tugging at the waistband.

"I thought you wore these loose," he complained. Brian laughed.

"I do. You're a fat guy in little shorts."

Nick gave Bri a push and the two acted like five year olds all the way back to the Wallaroo Station.

Unfortunately, the good mood didn't last long. Nick stopped and pointed at something. Brian followed his line of sight and frowned.

It was kind of like a boxing match. In one corner we had AJ and Rochelle. Both were wearing deep frowns and seemed to be having an intense discussion. In the other corner was my mom and Jane and I could almost see the steam billowing from their ears. Bob was holding Noah. Mike was standing beside him. Both men looked trapped.

Neither situation looked good. I glanced over at Nick.

Even if Brooke didn't remember her party, I was pretty sure it was going to turn out to be an event that Nick and I never forgot.