Ashlynn grins and shakes the gift lightly.

Kevin smiles, holding up the video camera. "Open it, cutie."

Ashlynn giggles and opens it up. Her eyes go wide when she sees the prettiest Barbie she's ever seen in her life!

AJ chuckles softly.

Kevin smiles. "Hold it up," he prompts her knowing she's never done this before.

"It's pretty!" Krissy pipes up.

Baylee tries not to grimace. Barbies are so girly.

Ashlynn holds it up with a huge grin. She then sets it down and picks up the next gift. This one was from Baylee.

Baylee bites his lip. He hopes she likes the handheld Disney game inside.

Ashlynn opens it and squeals. She loved Disney games. She slides off her seat and moves the two steps she needs to take to reach him. She then throws her arms about him and hugs him tightly, as well as delivers a kiss to his cheek.

Baylee turns red for the umpteenth time today, but being ever polite and not sure if he likes the attention or not just returns the hug and smiles. "You're welcome."

All the adults chuckle while the smaller children make gagging noises.

Ashlynn smiles at him, then sits back down to open more. Soon, she's only three left.

AJ notices some of the children are getting antsy.

Kevin turns to the little ones for a moment. "Everybody wave and say Happy Birthday, Ashlynn!" he prompts.

Krissy and her friends wave and repeat him with enthusiasm, now that someone is showing them attention.

Ashlynn giggles, and opens the last three quickly. She beams at everyone once they're open, then slides off her seat again. She leans in to whisper to Baylee. "Tell 'em I'll be right back," she whispers softly. She kisses his cheek again, then runs out of the room to go and fetch something.

AJ looks confused. "Where's she going?"

Kevin shrugs.

"She said she'll be right back," Baylee says, relaying the message.

AJ nods. "Probably just had to pee."

Ashlynn returns moments later, with a gift of her own this time, in her hands. She goes over to Krissy and gives it to her - it was the Barbie she'd been hiding since Daddy had bought it for her to give Krissy. Attached to it was a card that read - in messy writing - "Kricee. Luv, Ashlynn."

Krissy looks at the gift and smiles. "Tank you, Ashlynn," she says.

Kevin moves over so he and the video can see. "That was very nice of you Ashlynn," he says beaming. She'd made so much progress in a week!

Ashlynn smiles and goes back to her seat to sit next to Baylee again. She waits impatiently for Krissy to open it.

"Well, whatcha get, Baby?" AJ asks.

Krissy opens the present and grins broadly. "A Barbie for me!" she squeals with delight.

Ashlynn giggles shyly. She'd hoped Krissy would like it - though she wasn't sure on her spelling and such.

AJ smiles. "That was very nice of you Ashlynn."

AJ cleans up some of the wrapping paper.

Krissy runs over and gives Ashlynn a hug.

Ashlynn smiles and hugs Krissy back.

"Wanna know how to write my name?" she asks.

Ashlynn blushes furiously. She was afraid she'd spelled it wrong.

Kevin looks at the card. "You were awfully close, Ashlynn," he says proudly.

Ashlynn sighs.

Krissy gets a pencil and piece of memo paper from the phone table.

Then she climbs up next to Ashlynn. "See? K - R - I- S - S - Y!"

Krissy's writing isn't better than Ashlynn's, though.

Ashlynn looks sheepishly at the piece of paper Krissy held - she felt embarrassed that her little sister could spell, and she couldn't.

AJ chuckles. "Not everybody can spell everything," he says softly.

Kevin shakes his head. "And Krissy knows how to spell her name because it's her name. Just like you can spell Ashlynn."

Ashlynn nods, her face still beet red. She slides off her chair again, and lightly tugs on Baylee's arm, trying to get him to leave with her.

Baylee shrugs and follows her.

Krissy goes back to her friends as the adults begin to talk amongst themselves.

AJ sighs, shaking his head.

Kevin shakes his head at AJ. "Maybe Baylee will help Ashlynn see that school isn't so bad," he suggests.

Ashlynn drags Baylee outside and back to the swing set. Once there, she smiles at him again. "Wanna play dare again?" She asks softly. "No more pool."

"I hope so," AJ says. "At this rate, she'll never learn a thing."

Baylee shakes his head. "Not really. My dad said no more of that game today."

"Oh..." Ashlynn says sadly. "Okay..." She thinks a moment. "Wanna play follow the leader?"

Baylee smiles. "Sure!" he agrees. "You wanna lead?"

"Yeah!" Ashlynn nods. She jumps up and starts leading him all around the outside of the house. They're soon in the driveway, and she's doing cartwheels. Once done the cartwheels, she heads for the front gate and squeezes through the bars on it and skips along the sidewalk outside of it.

Baylee didn't live in a gated house. Brian was rarely the object of obsessive fans these days so he doesn't see any harm in following her.

"Where're we going?" he asks as he mimics her every move.

Ashlynn shrugs. "For a walk, I guess." She skips down the sidewalk until she reaches the road.

AJ glances out the kitchen window. "Uh...does anybody know were Frick and Frackette disappeared to?"

Baylee skips behind her. "Isn't this a skip?" he asks with a grin that makes him look even more like his father.

Ashlynn giggles. "Maybe!" She grins. She skips into the road, not knowing you're supposed to cross with an adult or at least look first.

Nick laughs. "And it's not my daughter," he says victoriously.

AJ whacks Nick upside the head for that.

Baylee on the other hand stops. "Ashlynn, I'm not allowed to cross streets without adult."

"Whoops!" Ashlynn says, and skips back onto the sidewalk, starting to go around the block a teeny bit.

Kevin looks through some of the other windows and then checks out front. "I dunno... " He says perplexed. "Maybe the garage?" he wonders aloud and opens the door to the garage. "Nope."

AJ starts to look too. "Where could they've gone?"

Brian looks at AJ and Kevin worried.

Baylee still won't follow. "Um...maybe we should go back and ask if we can go around," he suggests knowing that he's supposed to stay within sight of his house in his own neighborhood unless he's asked beforehand.

Ashlynn shrugs. "Kay." She skips back down and passes the house, though still on the same street.

This is okay with Baylee so he follows her happily.

Kevin sticks his head outside the front door just in time to see Baylee's head disappear beyond their privacy hedge. "They’re on the other side of the hedge," he tells AJ and Brian.

Ashlynn reaches the other end of the street, and stops again. This time though, she gives him another kiss. "You're gonna be my best friend - after Sammy!" She tells him.

"What are they doing outside the gate?" AJ says.

Baylee grins. "Okay," he agrees, though he doesn't say it back. He's got a best friend at school and isn't sure if you can have two.

Kevin shrugs. "I don't know. I didn't get the memo, but they haven't crossed the street from what I can tell."

Brian shakes his head. "Baylee wouldn't," he says confidently.

Kevin jogs down to the end of the driveway and opens the gate. He looks down to the end of the street where Ashlynn and Baylee are standing. "Hey guys! Come on back!" he calls waving them back.

Ashlynn, not hearing Kevin, finds a ball then, and starts to kick it about. It rolls out into the street and she quickly follows it - again not looking for cars.

Kevin's heart stops. "Ashlynn, come back to the sidewalk!" he calls sprinting down to her as fast as he can.

Baylee hasn't left the curb.

Ashlynn scoops up the ball and looks up just in time to see a car coming straight for her. She stares at it shocked a moment, then goes to move, but drops the ball again. She grabs the ball, and looks up once more still wide-eyed.

AJ's come outside to see what's taking so long.

He freezes to his spot when he sees Ashlynn standing in the road.

Kevin reaches the curb and runs towards Ashlynn, scooping her up and continuing to the other side of the street.

The car speeds on by, as Ashlynn looks up at Kevin in shock.

AJ breathes a huge sigh of relief.

Kevin holds her tight and then sets her down, making sure she wasn't hurt. "What were you doing in the street?" he asks her worriedly. "That's dangerous, Ashlynn!"

Ashlynn looks worried, as she shows him the ball she'd found. She'd only gone to rescue it.

AJ's muttering curses through his teeth.

Kevin hugs her again. "Didn't you look to see if a car was coming?" he asked.

Ashlynn looks at him confused. She didn't know you were supposed to look. She shrugs slightly, though she looks sheepish.

"I'd blister her frigin' backside," AJ mutters. "Scare the shit outta us like that...damned kid...."

Kevin takes a deep breath. "No one has ever told you *not* to go in the street or to look for cars before crossing?" he asks

Ashlynn shakes her head no. She always ran out into the street - always.

Kevin swallows. "Okay, well then Daddy's here to teach you how to be safe. That means that you don't go into the street without a grown up," he says. "Do you understand me?"

Ashlynn nods yes. She wasn't sure if it was lying or not, to say no, when Baylee had told her he wasn't allowed to go without an adult.

Kevin takes her hand and turns back to cross the street. "Now, when you do have a grown up, always look both ways and make sure no cars are coming," he tells her. "Can you do that?"

Ashlynn nods and looks to make sure there's no cars.

AJ grumbles and heads back inside, still looking quite pissed off.

Brian looks confused at AJ. "What?" he asks.

Kevin nods. "Any cars?" he asks.

"Guess who was out playing in the road," AJ snaps slightly.

Ashlynn shakes her head no.

Brian immediately looks worried. "Baylee knows better," he says.

Kevin nods. "Then it's safe to cross," he says and returns to Baylee who's waiting.

Baylee looks at Ashlynn with concern. "You okay?" he asks.

"Your son has a brain. It was the child without a damned brain who was in the road," AJ answers.

Ashlynn smiles at him, to answer his question.

Baylee smiles in relief.

"Come on, you two," Kevin says to them as he ushers them back to the house.

Brian breathes a sigh of relief.

Ashlynn goes along quietly, not sure if they're in trouble or not.

"Yeah, lucky you," AJ says. "I'm ready to blister someone's behind."

Nick pipes up. "Maybe we'd better take off. Little Man's getting pretty tired."

"Thanks for coming," AJ says. He's pacing angrily.

Ashlynn looks at Baylee worriedly.

Nick nods and claps him on the shoulder. "Patience, dude. Adopting a child isn't easy and no one said it would be."

Becky gives AJ a hug.

AJ returns Becky's hug, then resumes pacing. "I'm losing patience with her. She knows shit - might as well be a damned toddler - hell, even toddlers know more."

Baylee smiles at her.

Ashlynn returns his smile and takes hold of his hand.

Howie approaches carrying a sleeping Caroline. "Then you get to teach her."

"How not to sit," AJ snaps. He sighs heavily. "Sorry D."

Howie shakes his head. "It's understandable," he says. "But remember that at best she knows nothing and at worst she's been taught completely the wrong thing."

Kevin ushers the two children into the house. "We're back!" he calls.

"You're probably right, D," AJ says, giving him a small smile. "But it's still so frustrating."

Ashlynn drops her newfound ball in the hallway, and drags Baylee off to the living room.

Brian intercepts them. "Don't get into anything new, Baylee. We're getting ready to go," he explains, but he's smiling.

Ashlynn looks upset She leans to whisper into Baylee's ear again. "Wan' you to stay."

AJ escorts Howie and Caroline out, making sure Caroline gets a party bag.

Baylee looks from Ashlynn to Brian. "Um...Ashlynn wants me to stay, Dad," he tells Brian.

Ashlynn nods.

Brian looks at Kevin.

AJ's re-enters and goes back to pacing.

Kevin looks at Ashlynn. "For how long?" he asks.

Ashlynn hugs Baylee, and whispers to him. "Always."

AJ's still grumbling quietly.

Kevin looks over at AJ.

Baylee chuckles. "I know I can't stay forever."

Ashlynn frowns. "Tonight?" She asks him quietly.

AJ looks at Kevin, shakes his head, and stalks off muttering. "Had my way, she'd be in corner right now."

Baylee looks up at Kevin and Brian. "Tonight," he tells them.

Ashlynn nods again, still clinging to Baylee.

Brian shakes his head immediately. "Not tonight, guys," he answers. "Bailey has to go to church in the morning."

Kevin nods. "Yeah," he agrees. "Maybe this coming Friday if you're a good girl."

Ashlynn looks like she's about to cry. She hugs Baylee tighter. "Now!" She whispers to him. "I go Church too!"

Baylee's a little uncomfortable about being the center of this and her grip is getting tighter and tighter.

Ashlynn hides her face into Baylee's shoulder.

AJ comes over to them again. "He's going home," he tells her firmly. "And that's the end of it!"

Ashlynn starts to cry softly, still not letting go of Baylee...Her birthday, and she couldn't even have a sleepover.

Kevin nods. "We talked about throwing tantrums," he reminds her. "You can see Baylee on Friday."

Ashlynn was getting confused. She hadn't screamed or said a naughty word once - how was she throwing a tantrum? She cries still.

"Just - get upstairs!" AJ finally yells, having lost patience.

Baylee looks more than a little freaked out by this.

Ashlynn can't help but still cling to Baylee...She was getting scared.

Kevin sighs. "Ashlynn, good girls obey, remember?" he asks. "You asked your question and we gave you an answer. By making a fuss, you're throwing a tantrum," he explains. "So let go of Baylee and Uncle Brian and I will arrange a play date for next weekend."

Ashlynn hiccups, as she throws a glare Daddy AJ's way. She still didn't get it - what was so wrong with being upset. She sniffles, gives Baylee a kiss, then disappears up the stairs and flops down on her bed to sob.

AJ mutters some more nasty things, and storms off again.

Kevin sighs.

"Sometimes I don't know if I have 2 children or 3 these days," he says to Brian as Baylee goes to join his mom and siblings.

Ashlynn's still upstairs, upset and confused. Why couldn't Baylee stay? They both had Church anyway.

AJ heads upstairs, and into Ashlynn's room. "Corner!" He barks, smacking her bottom once, when she doesn't move right away.

Ashlynn yelps loudly and practically dives for the corner.

Brian nods. "I know. Call me if you need to rant or something," he offers as he and his family head out the door."

AJ proceeds to yell at her for running into the street, then having the nerve to ask if Baylee can stay.

Ashlynn's frightened - especially since Sammy's still in the dryer - and she backs herself into the corner as much as she possibly can.