Madi was rudely awoken the following morning by none other than her son...happily jumping on the bed and her in the process.

"Kaid, what time is it?" Madi mumbled.  This was one of those moments that Madi wished her son would sleep in!

"Witta handson a, momma," Kaiden exclaimed, letting Madi know it was somewhere around eight o'clock, "Zoo!  Up momma!" Kaiden begged.

He stopped jumping and climbed on top of her, straddling her stomach, taking her face in his little hands.  When Madi didn't get moving fast enough Kaiden reached up to open her eyes for her.

"Babe relax.  The zoo doesn't open for at least an hour.  We've got plenty of time."

"Momma, g'up!" Kaiden pleaded.

"Okay, okay.  I'm up.  Go find aunt Holly and Juji and Chele.  Momma will be right down."

Kaiden squealed with joy and quickly climbed off of his mother.  Running as fast as his little legs would take him, he found the others.  Madi could hear them happily rejoicing the day at the zoo.

A few minutes later Madi made her way down the stairs and to the kitchen.  Holly already had the kids at the table eating breakfast.  Well, they were supposed to be eating breakfast, but Julia and Kaiden were mostly discussing (arguing) about the zoo.  Holly was watching the two children in amusement, Michele was rolling her eyes, and Madi went to work on lunches.

"What d'ya want for lunch Hol?" Madi asked, pulling out bread, peanut butter and jelly for the kids sandwiches.

"Hmmm...how about a nice steak, maybe a baked potato...oh, and some kind of veggie," Holly smirked, waiting for her friends sigh before giving her real answer, "How about we get something at the zoo.  I'm not so much in the mood for p, b and j."

"Easier on me.  Here, you make the sandwiches, I have to cut up apples or Kaid won't eat ‘em."

"Julia won't either," Holly commented as she pushed herself up from the chair to help with the sandwiches.

Just as Holly was putting the sandwiches into little plastic baggies the doorbell rang.  Holly shot Madi a curious look.

"Oh, right, AJ is coming with.  I forgot to tell you."

Holly went to let him in while Madi finished with the apples.

"Hello there, Mr. Backstreet Boy.  Nice of you to join us," Holly smiled as she led AJ into the kitchen.

"It sounded fun," he commented as he saw Madi at the counter and the kids eating at the table, "Good morning beautiful."

Madi smiled to herself before turning around to say hi, "Good morning.  Apple?" she laughed, holding up the plastic baggies of apples slices.

"She's been smiling like that since she walked in the door last night," Holly piped in, earning a dirty look from Madi, "I haven't seen her like this in...years!"

"Thanks, Hol," Madi said in that ‘stop it now you big freak' voice.

Holly decided to give in and went to get the kids cleaned up and dressed, and to leave the two disgustingly cute love birds alone for a minute.

AJ went over to Madi and wrapped his arms possessively around her in a ‘good morning' hug, which she, of course, returned.  It didn't last nearly long enough, but Madi still had to get dressed, and if they postponed this trip to the zoo any longer than necessary she was going to have one upset toddler.

They finally arrived at the zoo-about three minutes after the gates opened to let guests in.  Madi smiled to herself, thinking how right this all felt.  She and AJ held hands almost the entire time.  A simple gesture like that might not seem like much, but it felt so intimate to her.  When they weren't holding hands, it was only because AJ was being one of the kids.

He spent a lot of time talking to Kaiden-well, trying, his toddler speak can be difficult to understand without a mommy translator-and chasing him down the sidewalks or holding him up to see the animals.  And when Kaiden got tired of walking for a little while, AJ carried him piggy-back style.

Madi hung back at one point, signaling Holly she needed girl talk.

"Look at them!" Holly squealed, laughing as AJ swung Kaiden up in the air to the utter delight of the child.

"He's just a big kid playing with them like that.  I've never seen Kaid laugh like that before!  I don't know about this..."

"Madi, what the hell is the problem here?  It's totally perfect!"

"Yeah, now...what if he leaves?  What happens then?  I can't let Kaiden get all attached and then deal with that."

"Are you falling for him?"

"You know I am."

"He's obviously smitten on you and the little punk.  It's a risk you have to take.  But I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about.  Do you really think he's the kind of guy to do something like that?"

The group finally decided to stop for lunch.  They picked out a nice shady table and got everyone situated.  While Madi got the kids' lunches set, AJ and Holly went to get food for the adults.

"You look like you're having fun with Kaiden," Holly fished around to see if what she saw was real.

"He's a great kid!  I haven't had so much fun in a while," AJ answered, smiling at Holly.  She knew it was perfect then, and she had to make sure this all worked out.

"Madi's scared, though, you know?"

"Why?"

"She'll kill me if she knew I was talking to you about this...she's just trying to look out for Kaiden."

"Completely understandable, but she's got nothing to worry about."

"So...you're falling for her?"

"It's not obvious?  Nick told me this morning that I looked like I'd been smacked in the head by cupid.  He's such a fuckin' weirdo."

"Smacked in the head by cupid?  Isn't cupid supposed to shoot an arrow in your ass?"

"It's Nick, I have no idea...whatever.  I'm definitely falling for her.  And for Kaiden."

"Good.  She's just afraid to let Kaiden get too attached.  Just in case you leave.  I told her she had nothing to worry about.  I think she's a little worried about her heart, too."

"I'm not going anywhere any time soon.  I'm hooked," he smiled, glancing over at the table holding his girl and her son.

The hours past and the group covered just about every inch of the zoo.  The kids were obviously exhausted by the end of the afternoon.

Stopping for a quick dinner on the way, they made it back home without any major melt downs.  Kaiden had actually fallen asleep in his seat, and the girls were like zombies when they tried to get them out of the car.

AJ helped the girls get the kids into the house, then made his way to back to the door.

"Kaiden had so much fun with you today.  I've never seen him so happy like that.  Thank you," Madi smiled, kissing AJ's cheek.

"I had a lot of fun with him, too.  He's an amazing kid.  I'd love to spend more time with you both."

"I think he'd like that."

"And you?"

"I would definitely enjoy it."

"I'll call you tomorrow then, and we can set something up."

AJ lifted his right hand up to cup Madi's face, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek.  Raking his fingers through her messy hair, he pulled her gently towards him.  At the same time he moved closer to her, leaning down to press his lips to hers in an earth shattering kiss.

Madi's lips parted allowing him to deepen the kiss.  Her hands wove around his waist, pulling his body flush against hers, crushing her breasts against his chest.  She wondered briefly if he could feel her heart beating it was so loud and fast.

Then the kiss was over.  It seemed like an eternity, and an instant at the same time.  Neither had wanted to let go, but they both knew they had to.  With that, AJ turned and opened the door, headed for another drive home he didn't want to make.