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Chapter Sixty Eight - March 28

After I flew back to rejoin the guys, we traveled to Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. Finally, we made it to Italy. AJ, Howie, and I were all camped out at the airport Malpensa waiting impatiently for our families.

"I can't wait to see them," I said. Howie and AJ both looked over at me.

"You took off on us and flew home two weeks ago," Howie said.

"It was Brooke's birthday!"

"You left me and I was dying," AJ said. I grinned.

"Well, I didn't get sick," I said sweetly.

AJ just rolled his eyes.

Before he could say anything else, I heard an unmistakable voice breaking through the throng of people walking towards us.

"OUT OF MY WAY! I NEED -- MR. J!!!"

AJ knelt down and held out his arms. A second later Shelby was clinging to his neck.

"YOU LOOK BETTER!"

AJ laughed. "I feel better."

"Can we get pizza?"

"D-d-d-d-d."

AJ looked down at Ally and Joe. Joe was so close to saying 'dada' it wasn't funny. Well, maybe it was. AJ looked like he was going to faint. I slapped him on the back.

"Oh, so close."

J glared at me. I smiled down at the cute little chubby faces peering up from the carseats.

"Aww, I want one. Can I have one?"

"Hey, Carter, you've got two right here!"

I looked up. Liv was walking towardsme trying to juggle Brooke and Noah. Brooke was wailing at the top of her lungs.

"DON'T CRY!" Shelby yelled. She snapped her fingers. Then she snapped them again.

I hurried up and took Brooke from Liv. Her eyes widened and she sniffled.

"Daddy?"

"Hey booger butt." I kissed her cheek and then leaned over and kissed Noah.

"Dada!"

Leigh wasn't far behind with James. Howie ran over to them.

I kissed Liv. She smiled.

"Miss us?"

I laughed.

"You have no idea."

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"This was well worth the flight, Nick."

We were standing in front of the leaning Tower of Pisa with the kidlets in our arms. Liv's eyes were wide in amazement.

"Pretty cool, right?"

A smile played on her lips. "Never in a million years did I think I'd be in Italy with you standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa."

I laughed. "Life's funny that way."

"WOW! SOMEBODY SCREWED UP!" Shelby yelled. Liv and I laughed.

"Think Brooke's going to be like her at that age?" Liv whispered. I grinned.

"It sounds stupid, but I kind of hope so."

We took a tour and then Liv insisted on taking everyone's picture.

"It's your turn!" I finally said. She shook her head. Sam grabbed the camera.

"You've tortured everyone. Now it's your turn."

I pulled Liv towards me and wrapped my arms around her. She leaned back into me.

"At least you'll make the picture look good," she whispered. I smiled and kissed her softly.

After the pictures, we all went to a little cafe for pizza. Noah picked off the cheese and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Mmmm!"

We took the train back to Milan and checked into the hotel. Brooke ran right up to the bed and crawled up.

"BIG GIRL!"

I laughed. "You are a big girl." I picked her up and headed towards the roll-a-crib.

"Daddy! No baby bed!"

I bit the inside of my lip. It's not like they had any roll-a-big-girl-beds at the hotel.

Liv walked out of the bathroom from Noah. His little blonde hair was spiked up.

"DINO! ROAR!"

He held up his hands and snarled. I grinned.

"Woah!"

In the end, Brooke and Noah ended up sandwiched between Liv and I. Noah was still roaring like a dinosaur and Brooke pressed her nose right up to mine.

"Daddy, love you," she whispered. I smiled. "I love you too, buggy."

I fell asleep with a smile on my face and a bed packed with bodies.

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March 29

"Are you going to grow up and sing like daddy?"

Noah was walking up the stage steps. Brooke and Kayleigh were sitting on the edge of the stage blowing into two of the microphones. Every so often they would stop and giggle. Directly to the left of the stage, I saw Leighanne and Liv doing the same thing.

"It will be fun to see who does end up doing some type of performing," Kev said. He was watching Mason and Shelby. They were sitting in the front row tossing popcorn in the air and trying to catch it.

"I always thought Baylee might, but now I'm not so sure," Bri said. "But Kayleigh..."

"Maybe it will be the Backstreet girls," I said with a laugh. I glanced over at Howie. "That means Leigh better be popping out a How-ette."

Howie rolled his eyes. "What about Kev?"

"Oh yeah."

Kevin laughed.

"We'll see what Addy and I get."

I was about ready to tell Brooke not to eat the mic when I looked at him in surprise.

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah. We told Mason this morning. He told me he wants a sister."

"Who wants a sister?" AJ asked. Jonah was holding onto his neck.

"Mason," Kevin said. "He has a fifty-fifty chance of getting one around Thanksgiving." AJ broke into a grin.

"Well, congratulations."

"Thanks."

Another another hour of playtime, we got the kids off the stage and got ready for VIP. Liv smiled and took Noah.

"You lucked out when you came home for Brooke's birthday," she said.

"Why?"

"My mom wanted to talk to you. She about had a heart attack when I told her about the baby. You left for the airport about an hour before she came over."

I laughed. "I'm glad she didn't have a heart attack. I don't to make Mike a widower so soon."

Liv's mom and Mike had gotten married a couple days after we found out Liv was pregnant. It was a small courthouse wedding but it was nice to be the only guests. They had immediately left for a honeymoon in Tennessee and we hadn't wanted to break the news then.

"She isn't going to come at me with scissors when I see her, right?"

It was Liv's turn to laugh. "I don't think so."

"Alright, good to know."

I gave her a kiss and grabbed a couple bottles of water. It was time to switch gears.

"Who's daddy's girl?" Bri was asking Kayleigh. She pointed at herself. He grabbed her hands and kissed them.

"That's right!"

"Who's Nicky's boy?" I asked him. Brian turned and pointed at himself. I grabbed his hands but he pulled them back.

"You kiss my hands and I hit you," he said with a grin. I dropped his hands and tossed him one of the water bottles.

"You ready to rock?"

"No, but I'm ready to roll."

I twisted open my bottle and took a drink. From the stage, I could hear our group of VIP gals lining up.

It was show time.