"Trick or Treat!"

"Happy Halloween!!!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the look on Brian's face when he arrived to answer the front door moments after we'd knocked. He laid eyes on the sight of our family and a huge grin spread from ear to ear as he flung the door open in greeting and ushered us quickly into the foyer and out of the crisp night air of a California fall.

"Y'all look absolutely adorable," he chuckled as he lifted his camera from the table in the hall and snapped a few quick photos of the three of us dressed in our Halloween costumes -- Aj as Popeye, me as Olive Oyl and Matthew of course as Sweetpea, carefully bundled in his snugride, his tiny sailor's cap askew on top of his wrinkled little head.

"Hey Leigh!" he yelled up the stairway as we followed him into the den and past the hallway full of pumpkins and bowls of Halloween goodies, "Jess and Jay are here!"

He quickly rearranged the pillows on the couch where Baylee had obviously just finished making his very own "Fort Littrell" and motioned for me to sit down. I thanked him as I settled into the soft cushions of the comfy sofa and watched as Aj fiddled with the buckle's on Matt's infant seat -- a feat he'd yet to master considering we'd only used it a total three times. I watched as he continued to work at getting them loose, not wanting to step in and do it myself for fear of embarassing him or putting down his manlihood. I couldn't help but smile when Brian finally walked over, slid in beside him and with a quick "Oh I hated these things, let me help you out bro," unbuckled the now squirming Matthew and cradled him quickly to his chest.

Aj smiled on in appreciation, clearly thrilled to see his best friend interacting with his son. I silently thanked God that Aj had Brian in his life. It had been a hard few weeks for Aj, not having a father of his own to turn to when he had questions to ask or things to talk about... experiences to share... new and wonderful milestones. I had my mom there to share all of my motherly feelings with. All of my fears and my worries and all of the little joys... but Aj was missing that one person who should have been there with him, who should really understand what it's like to be a father and share that with him. And then, like some called upon angel, Brian had showed up one morning a week after Matthew's birth and the two of them had sat down together and talked for hours. I'd listened from the quiet solitude of the nursery as they'd hung out together in the office down the hall and shared with one another all of the stories that needed to be shared. They'd talked about the pure joy of holding their sons in their arms for the first time. They laughed about being peed on during diaper changes. They joked about getting the boys together and going to football games. They talked about being madly and deeply in love with their little sons.

"God I miss this," Brian whispered as he situated himself in the armchair across the room. I couldn't help but grin as I watched him cuddle Matthew to his chest, our little guy putting up a small fight and giving a tiny squawk of displeasure for being disturbed before he quickly curled back into a peaceful slumber, nestling his teeny face into the crook of Brian's neck and sighing deeply.

"He's pretty cool huh Bri?" Aj asked as he leaned over and tugged off the sock that was barely hanging onto our son's foot.

"He's totally cool Aje," Brian whispered back as he leaned down and brushed his nose through Matt's hair.

"Is he heeeeeereeeee dad!?" Baylee screeched as he burst down the hall and skidded into the room in his sock feet, nearly toppling over the houseplant Leighanne had strategically placed in the corner of the room.

"Bay, shh!" Leighanne shushed him as she quickly chased after him into the room, carrying his Halloween costume in her arms and apologizing profusely for their boisterous entrance, "Sorry, sorry... someone (and here she gestured to Brian), let him have WAY too much candy at his Halloween party this afternoon."

Aj and I couldn't help but laugh as Baylee proceeded to dance through the room, avoiding at all costs Leighanne's attempts to wrangle him into his Superman costume.

Aj caught him in his arms as he ran around our side of the couch and scooped him up onto his lap, giving him a big raspberry under the neck and making him laugh hysterically. I poked him in the ribs for getting him even more riled up and rolled my eyes along with Leighanne. Men could be such a pain in the ass when it came to getting the kids in trouble. As the roar of Baylee's laughter continued, Brian began to shake his head, "Dude... I am so not paying for those designer jeans when he lets loose a river of pee right there in your lap."

Baylee's laughter continued but Aj stopped tickling him abruptly, "you don't have to pee do you little man?" He asked, a look of concern spreading across his face.

"Nope!" Baylee bellowed before falling quickly back into a fit of laughter.

"Hey Bay," Aj said when Baylee'd finally started to settle down in his arms, "you wanna meet your new little cousin?" He pointed towards where Brian was holding the baby and Baylee bounced up off his lap and dashed over towards his dad.

"Cool dad!" He whooped as he leaned in close to take a look, "he's so cool!"

Brain placed a finger to his lips as he pointed to where Matthew was now stirring wildly in his arms, clearly disturbed by all of the chaos, (I didn't mind though... if he was going to be a 'Backstreet Baby' he was going to have to get used to the noise), "remember what mommy said about not screaming when the baby gets here?"

"Oops!" He whispered placing a hand quickly over his mouth and stiffling a giggle. "Sorry baby... um... what's his name again?"

"This is Matthew," Brian answered holding him up a little bit so that Baylee could get a closer look.

"And he's Uncle Aj's little boy?" Baylee asked giving Aj a questioning glance, "like I'm your little boy?"

"That's right Bay," Aj and Brian both answered at the same time and then looked at each other laughing as Baylee seemed to ponder the whole idea in his young mind. He didn't seem quite too sure about the whole thing.

I couldn't help but think about how Baylee's life was totally going to be flipped upside down in the coming months. He was going to go from being the one and only Backstreet baby (now child) for 6 straight years to being one of three. By the time the new tour began in the spring, not only would I be joining Aj with Matthew, but Leigh would be joining Howie with baby Dorough as well. It was going to be louder, more hectic, and a whole lot crazier... for all of us. But especially for Baylee. He was used to having all of the attention, used to the fans doting on him and only him. It was going to be totally different now that there'd be three kids on board.

"Can I hold him dad?" Baylee asked as he reached out and gently touched Matt's hand. "I wanna hold him." Brian looked towards Aj and I for approval and we both nodded our heads. We'd already talked about it and decided that Baylee should be treated a little bit like a big brother. He would have to live with Matthew a lot... a whole lot in the coming months and in our opinion we wanted him to get to know Matt as someone he could love and have fun with and grow close to... not as something untouchable.

"Sit up there on the couch by uncle Aj," Brian motioned as Leighanne helped him up onto the couch and Brian and Aj together shuffled Matthew into his arms.

"Don't drop him if you hear the ice cream man okay little dude," Aj giggled as he looked on adoringly at his two favorite children. Aj wasn't big on kids, but it was no small secret that these two totally had his heart.

"You're silly Jay!" Baylee laughed as he leaned down and softly stroked Matthew's cheek, whispering to him, "hi Matt, I'm Baylee and I'm gonna be your big cousin. We can play baseball together and soccer and maybe even wrestling with daddy and Jay, okay." It was adorable, especially when Matthew opened his big brown eyes and looked up at Baylee in what appeared to be admiration and awe. "Your baby's pretty cool aunt Jess," Baylee whispered as he leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, "you're pretty cool baby."

Aj caught my eye from above Baylee's head and smiled, leaning over quickly to give me a kiss on the lips.

This parenting thing was far more amazing than either of us could have ever imagined.