It was the day of Arianna's third birthday and everyone was sitting in the living room while Arianna opened her presents. She tore through them like she had never seen a present before.
"Look Mommy!!" The little girl held up a lifelike baby doll that D and Nick had bought her. "I got a baby!"
"I see, sweetheart!" Dawn smiled then glanced over at AJ.
"What are you gonna do with it?" AJ asked her as he took it out of the box and handed it to her.
"Umm, I feed it, and dress it, and give it baths, and take it shopping…"
"Boy, that’s gonna be one busy baby!" AJ laughed.
"Yeah! And I take it in my sandbox, and swing on the swings…."
Everyone chuckled at the little girl’s plans for the doll, then AJ stood up to get a garbage bag for the discarded wrapping paper as Arianna put her doll gently in Dawn’s lap.
"Now, you stay here wif Mommy, okay?" She asked the doll as she kissed it on the forehead.
"Mommy, you watch my baby," she pointer her little finger at Dawn.
"Oh, yes Ma’am," Dawn chuckled as Arianna began to walk away. "I’ll take good care of him".
"No Mommy," she stopped and turned to Dawn. "My baby is a girl".
"Oh!" Dawn said as everyone in the room chuckled. "I’m so sorry!"
"What’s her name?" AJ asked.
"Her name is Suzie, Daddy," she told him matter-of-factly.
"Ohhhhh, Suzie," AJ repeated. "Very nice".
"Yeah, Daddy, Suzie needs new clothes. You go buy her some?" Arianna asked, staring up at him.
"Geez, what is this?!" AJ joked. "All these women want me to buy them clothes! What’s next? Jewelry?"
"Yeah, Daddy, Suzie needs her ears pierced, too".
AJ laughed and rolled his eyes.
"Women!"
Dawn sat on the chair and watched Arianna open her next gift. Suddenly, she got a fluttery feeling in her stomach. It made her jump slightly since she didn’t expect it.
She looked over at AJ who was watching his daughter tear open her present from Denise. She wanted to call him over, she knew what the feeling in her stomach was, but she wanted to see if it would happen again.
She placed her hand on her stomach and waited. Sure enough, not even a minute later, it happened again. Dawn couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
"Honey," she quietly called over to him and he glanced over at her. "Come here".
He got up and walked over to her. She took his hand and gently placed it on her belly, covering it with her own.
"What? Is he moving??" He asked excitedly.
"Sshh," Dawn placed her finger to her lips. "Just wait".
They waited a minute longer, smiling as they watched each other’s faces. Suddenly, she felt the flutter in her stomach she had felt before. AJ’s eyes got wide.
"Did you feel that?" Dawn asked.
"Omigod! He’s moving!" He gushed, kneeling between her legs and placing his other hand on her stomach.
Dawn smiled as she watched the amazement on his face at feeling their child move for the first time.
Everyone else in the room was watching Arianna, not noticing what was going on with AJ and Dawn in all the commotion.
"He moved!" AJ exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear. "I felt him move!"
"I know," Dawn smiled. "It was the first time I felt it".
"Will he move again?" AJ asked looking up at her.
"I’m not sure, we’ll have to wait and see".
She stroked his hair as he lay his head on her belly, his hands still in the same position, waiting for the baby to move again.
"I can’t believe it," he said in disbelief. "I wonder what he’s doing in there?"
"Well, not much," Dawn chuckled. "There’s not much room in there for him or her to throw a party or anything".
AJ rolled his eyes at her insinuation that the baby might be a girl.
"See, that’s why he’s moving around, he knows the party’s out here," he lay his head on her stomach again as he gently rubbed her tummy, waiting for the baby to kick again.
D glanced over in their direction and saw AJ kneeling on the floor with his head on Dawn’s belly and wondered what was going on. She got up and walked over to them.
"What’s going on?" She whispered. "Is everything okay?"
"He moved!" AJ looked up at her with a big grin. "I felt it!!"
"The baby kicked??" D asked surprised.
"Yeah, a couple times. I think it settled down and went back to sleep, though," Dawn answered.
"Aww, I wanna feel it kick," D frowned as she placed her hand on Dawn’s belly.
By this time everyone noticed what was going on and began to make their way over to them.
"Is the munchkin moving?" Kevin asked as he stood in front of them.
"Dude, he was. He stopped, though. I think he’s shy," AJ joked.
"Your kid, shy??" Brian teased. "Not in this lifetime".
"What did it feel like?" Leighanne asked.
"Kind of like when you have butterflies in your stomach. It’s hard to explain," Dawn smiled.
Suddenly, she felt it again and AJ’s head popped up.
"He moved again! He kicked me in the head!" He laughed.
"I felt it, too!" D exclaimed. "That’s so cool!"
"Make way, I want to feel my grandbaby kick," Denise said as she placed her hand on Dawn’s stomach, along with everyone else.
"Yeah, it’s my turn to feel," Nick said as he pushed his way through the crowd of people huddled around Dawn.
"Boy, a million girls would love to be me right now," Dawn chuckled. "I have all the Backstreet Boys hands all over me!"
"Mommy!!!" A little voice piped in and they all turned around to look at Arianna. "I open pwesents. You not watching!!"
"I’m sorry, honey. What did you get?"
"What’s in your tummy, Mommy?" Arianna asked, noticing everyone’s hands on Dawn’s stomach as she ignored Dawn’s question and walked over to them.
Everyone looked at Dawn and AJ, wondering what they were going to say.
In all the fuss over the baby kicking for the first time, they had forgotten that Arianna didn’t know about the baby yet. AJ and Dawn looked at each other, they could see the questions in each other's eyes.
"I guess now’s a good time," AJ said, knowing what Dawn was thinking. Arianna was standing in front of Dawn, patiently awaiting an explanation.
"Mommy!" She said impatiently. "I said, what is in your tummy??!"
"There’s a baby in there, sweetheart," she smiled as she gently rubbed her stomach.
Arianna looked at her with wide eyes. The expression on her face said it all.
"There’s a baby in your tummy??!!" She asked shocked. "Mommy! YOU ATE A BABY??!"
Everyone chuckled at the little girl’s confusion. Dawn pulled her onto her lap as AJ sat got up and sat on the arm of the chair next to them.
"No honey," Dawn began as she tried to think of an easy way to explain it to her.
"How did a baby get in your tummy, Mommy?" The little girl asked, dumbfounded.
AJ cleared his throat, breathed on his fingers, then polished them on his shirt, silently patting himself on the back. Dawn looked up at him, trying to stifle her laughter and smacked him on the arm.
He tried to be serious as he cleared his throat and looked down at Arianna.
"That’s where baby’s grow, honey. They grow in their Mommy’s tummy until they’re ready to be born".
She pondered his words for a moment then looked back up at Dawn.
"You want a baby, Mommy?"
"Yes, sweetie. Daddy and I want a baby".
She looked at AJ, then at Dawn, then back to AJ. She was quiet for a moment, seemingly like she was trying to figure everything out in her head. Suddenly, she jumped up off Dawn’s lap and picked up her doll.
"But, I don’t want a baby!" She yelled as she threw the doll and ran from the room.
Everyone stared after her, in shock at her sudden outburst. No one more shocked than Dawn and AJ. They looked at each other, a mixture of confusion and disbelief apparent on their faces as they tried quickly to figure out what to do next.
AJ stood up and walked over to the stairs that Arianna was quickly climbing.
"Arianna Denise!" He yelled. "You get back here, right now!!"
Dawn walked up behind him, placing her hand on his arm.
"Don’t yell at her, honey. Just let her go".
"We can’t let her act like that!" He said as he turned to face her.
"She’s confused. She’s just a child, she doesn’t understand".
AJ sighed, then turned and ran his hands over his face. He walked back into the living room and stood in front of everybody with his hands on his hips.
"Well, that didn’t go good, did it," he looked around at everyone in the room.
No one said a word as they all looked at him. They didn’t know what to say. No one had ever seen Arianna act like that.
"Someone should go talk to her," Denise finally said.
"I’ll go talk to her," Dawn offered.
"No," AJ turned to her. "I’ll go. I think I know what this is about".
He made his way past her on his way to the stairs, stopping to give her a gentle kiss and wipe away a teardrop that was slowly sliding down her cheek.
"Don’t worry, Angel, it’ll be fine," he caressed her cheek as she gave him a weak smile. "Like you said, she’s young, she doesn’t understand.
With that, he turned and made his way up the stairs to Arianna’s room as Dawn watched after him.
When he reached her door, he slowly opened it and walked in. When Dawn saw him disappear into their daughter’s room, she slowly crept up the stairs and stood outside the door, quietly listening to what he was going to tell her.
Arianna was sitting on her bed, looking down at her hands, like she was in deep thought. She looked up at AJ when she noticed that he was there.
"Hi Daddy," she said quietly.
"Hi jellybean," he replied, sitting down next to her on the bed and looking over at her. "Wanna talk about it?"
She was quiet for a minute, then asked the question that AJ knew she would.
"Daddy," she began. "Why you and Mommy want a baby?"
He sighed and pulled her into his lap. She resisted at first, then finally gave in.
"Remember how I said that babies grow in their Mommy’s tummies until they’re ready to be born?"
She shook her head.
"Well, when a Mommy and Daddy love each other so much, angels send them a baby from heaven to share their love with".
"Babies are from heaven, Daddy?"
"Yes they are, just like you were sent to Mommy and Daddy by the angels in heaven".
"I was?" She asked with wide eyes. "I came from heaven??"
AJ smiled and kissed the top of her head.
"You sure did".
"Daddy, why you call Mommy ‘Angel’?"
"Because Mommy is Daddy's angel. She makes Daddy very happy, and Daddy loves Mommy so, so much".
She sat and thought for a moment, then looked up at him, her blue eyes full of doubt and uncertainty.
"Daddy, when baby comes, you still love me?"
"Of course I will, honey," he hugged her tight. "Daddy will always love you, and so will Mommy. We have enough love for both you and the new baby, and you’ll always be my little jellybean," he stroked her hair.
Dawn stood outside the door, tears sliding down her face. She had never loved AJ as much as she did at that moment.
She hated to admit, but when he first said he was going to talk to Arianna, she had her doubts about weather or not he’d be able to explain this to her so she could understand it. She knew he had always been good with words, but she was amazed at how well he handled this.
She wiped her face as she slowly pushed open the door, AJ and Arianna both looked up at her. AJ held out his hand as she made her way over to them, took his hand, then sat down on the bed next to them.
"Hi honey," she smiled as she stroked her daughter’s hair.
"Mommy, Daddy tell me babies are sent by angels," she said, her blue eyes wide again.
Dawn chuckled.
"I know, just like you were".
"Yeah, angels send me, too."
Dawn and AJ looked at each other and smiled. He leaned over and gave Dawn a tender kiss on the lips.
"Is that how the angels know when to give Mommys and Daddys a baby? When they kiss a lot?" Arianna questioned. "Cuz you and Mommy kiss all the time!"
Dawn and AJ both laughed.
"Yeah, something like that," AJ chuckled as he put his arm around his wife.
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"When is baby gonna be done growin'?" Arianna asked, her mind still flooded with questions.
"Well, it takes nine months for a baby to grow in Mommy’s tummy. When it’s big enough, the angels decide that it’s time for the baby to be born," AJ answered.
"Is that a long time?"
"Kind of," Dawn said. "There’s a lot of things we have to do to get ready for the baby, though. Like paint it’s room, and set up it’s bed. You can help Mommy and Daddy do all of that, would you like that?"
"Yeah!" Arianna jumped up, her blue eyes sparkling.
Dawn felt the baby kick again as she smiled.
"Arianna, do you want to feel the baby kick?"
"Baby is kicking you, Mommy?" She asked with a frown.
"Yes, but it doesn’t hurt. This is just the way the baby talks to us until it’s born."
She took her daughters hand and placed it on her stomach. AJ placed his hand on her stomach as well. The baby was still kicking.
Arianna gasped and looked up at her with a big smile on her face.
"Baby’s talking to me!!"
"What’s it saying?" Dawn asked as she chuckled.
"The baby say that it wants to sleep in my room".
AJ and Dawn both laughed.
"Oh, I don’t know about that, but how about you help Mommy and Daddy take care of your new brother or sister when it’s born".
Okay!" She smiled. "Know what else the baby say?"
"What honey?"
"The baby said that it wants some of my birfday cake," she said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I think that’s what the baby’s saying, too," Dawn laughed as she looked over at AJ.
"I’m go tell eveyone the baby talk to me!!" Arianna exclaimed as she got up and ran out of the room, down the steps.
AJ and Dawn both stood up and began to follow their daughter when Dawn stopped him and placed her arms around his neck.
"You are amazing," she smiled as she looked into his eyes. "You’re an amazing husband and you’re an amazing father."
He blushed and looked away when he heard her words. He had never thought of himself as ‘amazing’. He handled it the best way he could, and he was glad that it worked out as well as it did.
"Hey," Dawn stroked his cheek as he looked back at her. "You are, you know that, right?"
"I couldn’t have done it without you," he smiled as he rested his forehead against hers.
"No, you did that all on our own".
They stood there in each other’s arms for a moment, then Dawn pulled away from him.
"This," she patted her stomach, "you couldn’t do on your own," she smiled.
"Yeah," he laughed. "That wouldn’t have been any fun".
Dawn took his hand as they made their way down the steps to join the party again.
"I’m going to go get the cake," she told AJ as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
She gave him a kiss and headed into the kitchen, where she found D putting candles on Arianna’s cake. She looked up when she heard Dawn come into the room.
"Hey! I hope you don’t mind me getting this ready. Ari was getting impatient and I didn’t know what guys were doing up there," D smirked.
"Not at all, and do you really think Alex and I would have sex during my daughter’s birthday party?" Dawn asked with a laugh.
"Hmmmmm……let me think. You had sex right there on the kitchen counter while Nick and I were in the other room so yes, I think you’re capable of having sex while there’s a party going on," D smiled.
"Not for my daughter though," Dawn corrected her. "That’s just not right. I have some morals you know."
They both laughed and lit the candles on the cake.
"So, how did it go?" D asked, referring to their talk with Arianna about the baby. "She came down here talking a mile a minute about the baby talking to her and how the baby is going to sleep in her room".
"Yeah," Dawn chuckled. "She’s fine now. Alex explained everything to her. I stood outside the door and listened".
"Wait," D looked at her surprised. "You let AJ explain babies to Arianna??!"
Dawn laughed.
"Yeah, but he did such a great job, D. You should have heard him. He told her that babies are a gift from heaven and when Mommys and Daddys love each other so much, the angels send them a baby to share their love with".
"Aww, that’s so sweet!" D gushed.
"Yeah, I know, it made me cry, just listening to him explain it to her," she smiled as she thought back on it.
"Alright, let’s get this show on the road".
Dawn picked up the cake and carried it into the dining room and everyone sang Happy Birthday to Arianna. She blew out all of the candles and AJ cut it, passing out the slices to everyone.
"Mmmm…this is really good," Nick mumbled, mouth full of cake.
"That’s attractive, baby," D chuckled.
"Shut up!"
Nick put his finger in some of his icing and dabbed it onto D’s nose. Arianna pointed a D and laughed hysterically.
D narrowed her eyes at Nick and took her piece of cake and shoved it into his face. The room erupted into laughter as he stood there with a shocked look on his face.
"Oh, you are so dead!" He threatened, wiping the icing off.
"Am I now?"
"You better run," Nick warned, picking up two more pieces of cake.
"Oh shit!" D took off running and Nick followed laughing evilly.
"What are you laughing at?" Dawn asked AJ, who was practically rolling on the floor.
Before he could answer she shoved her cake right into his face.
"Oh, you did not just do that!" He yelled, grabbing his piece of cake and holding it up over her.
"No, Alex! I’m a pregnant woman!!" She told him with a laugh, backing up slightly.
"Get her, AJ!" Brian egged him on.
Leighanne tapped him on the shoulder and smashed her cake in his face. She screamed and tried to run away when she saw him grab his cake. He caught her before she got too far and he shoved it into her face.
Howie and Kevin stood in the corner of the room watching everyone turn the house into a disaster area. Kevin just shook his head in disbelief, laughing every so often at a cake-filled person that he couldn’t make out, running past him.
All of a sudden, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Without thinking, he turned around and instantly was greeted with a piece of cake in the face.
"Hey cuz," Brian laughed. "Loosen up!"
Kevin just stood there in shock as Brian took off running. Howie looked at him, laughing hysterically.
Kevin looked over at Brian standing in the doorway, then back at Howie who wasn’t able to stop laughing. Kevin looked back at Brian and gave him a nod. Brian knew exactly what he meant by it.
Kevin reached over and grabbed a slice of cake off the table as Brian did the same. Howie suddenly stopped laughing when he realized how quiet it had gotten. He looked at his friends who were both coming at him with cake in their hands.
"Oh no," he shook his head.
"Oh yes," Kevin smiled as he got closer.
Suddenly, both Kevin and Brian bombarded Howie with strawberry cake and cool whip frosting, smearing it across his face.
"Not the hair!!" Howie screamed as his friends made him pay for laughing at them earlier. "NOT THE HAAAAIIIIIIRRRR!!!!"
Arianna was watching everyone, laughing hysterically, enjoying the show immensely. AJ noticed and came at her with his icing covered fingers.
"What are you laughing at, little girl?"
She giggled and started to run away but he snagged her, wiping icing on her face. She fell onto the floor in a fit of giggles.
Denise walked into the kitchen, not knowing what she was getting herself into. She looked around the kitchen, seeing Kevin and Brian torturing poor Howie, and AJ wiping frosting across Arianna’s face as she tried to get away from him.
AJ looked up at her and rose to his feet, smiling as he approached her.
"Alex, don’t you dare," she warned.
"Aaw, come on, Mom. Give your son a nice big hug," he stepped closer to her.
She kept backing away from him, her hand on his chest pushing him away. Finally, she turned and started to walk faster away from him.
"Oh Mommmmmmmmmm, come heeeeeeerrre," he teased.
Just then Dawn turned the corner and saw him taunting his mother with strawberry cake. It made her laugh to watch Denise try to get away from him.
AJ turned and looked at Dawn when he heard her laughing. He motioned for her to pick up a piece of cake and go around the other way so they could catch Denise. She winked at him, picked up some cake, and slowly crept the other way.
Finally, they cornered her and she had nowhere to go. She looked at them both with a horrified look on her face.
"Don’t you dare," she warned them both.
They looked at each other, then back at Denise as they shoved the cake in here face at the same time.
Meanwhile, Nick was chasing D around the pool outside. She stopped behind one of the lounge chairs, out of breath. Nick stopped on the other side, breathing heavily. He had chased her all through the downstairs and they had taken several laps around the outside of the pool.
"Nicky, baby. Put the cake down," she pleaded.
"No way," he shook his head and held up the cake with a grin.
He leapt over the chair, taking her by surprise, and shoved the pieces of cake all over her face. He stood back and laughed at her as she sputtered and wiped the cake off her face. She looked up at him with her hands on her hips.
"Are you happy now?"
Nick laughed again and nodded, pulling her to him, then bent down and licked the icing off her cheek slowly.
"Mmmmm, you taste good," he told her, licking the other cheek just as slowly.
D let out a soft moan, licking the icing off of his neck. Nick sucked in his breath and she could feel his excitement growing. She smiled to herself and bent his head down to hers. She kissed him passionately as his hands slid down her sides to her ass. He pulled her closer, grinding against her.
She smiled to herself as she started moving them backwards towards the pool edge. She pulled away and looked up at him, smiling evilly. She gave him a quick shove and he flew into the pool with a yelp. He surfaced and looked up at her in surprise.
"What did you do that for?"
"You needed to cool off, Nicky. You were getting a little hot and bothered."
Nick pouted for a second and then got an idea. He lunged forward and grabbed her ankle, pulling her into the pool with him.
"I’m gonna kill you, Carter!" She screamed.
Nick laughed and dodged her. They wrestled around for awhile before he grabbed her and held her to him.
"I love you," he told her, brushing her hair out of her face.
"I love you too." He kissed her deeply and she put her arms around his neck.
They pulled apart when they heard someone clear their throat. They looked up and saw AJ and Dawn smiling at them.
"Okay kids. Time to get out of the pool." AJ joked.
Nick and D reluctantly got out and Dawn handed them towels.
"Wasn’t it you that was talking about me having sex at a party?" Dawn whispered to D as they walked back into the house.
"We didn’t have sex, we were just kissing. Besides, she’s not my daughter, and I have no morals." D pointed out, laughing.
Dawn slapped her arm and laughed back. They walked into the living room to find everyone standing around with cake all over them.
"See what you guys started," AJ said, pointing to his friends.
D and Nick just shrugged with a smile.
"We should get going since we’re all wet." D turned to Dawn. "Do you want any help cleaning up?"
"No," Dawn laughed. "You just go home and clean that boyfriend of yours off".
D smiled then winked at her then turned and gave Arianna a hug and a kiss.
"Happy birthday, sweetie."
"Aunt D all wet!"
Everyone laughed.
"Happy birthday, squirt," Nick said, giving her a high five and a kiss on the top of her head.
"Tank you for Suzie."
"Oh, your welcome."
They waved goodbye to everyone and left.
"We better get going, too. We have to get up early tomorrow," Leighanne said as she put a couple plates in the sink. "Are you positive you don’t want any help cleaning up?"
"No, it’s alright. We’ll take care of it. Thanks, though," Dawn smiled giving her a hug.
"Okay, you take care of that baby," she patted Dawn’s stomach.
"Baby talk to me!" Arianna exclaimed with a big smile on her face.
"I know! Cool, huh?" She smiled as she stroked the little girl’s hair.
"Yeah, cool!"
Brian and Leighanne left with Kevin, Howie and Denise following soon after.
"Someone needs a bath," Dawn announced, looking Arianna over.
"Me sticky, Mommy."
"Yes you are. Now run upstairs and get ready for a tubby."
Arianna grabbed Suzie and the stuffed dog she got from Kevin and ran upstairs.
"I think she had a good time," AJ said, looking around at the destroyed living room.
"So did everyone else apparently," Dawn chuckled. "What good role models we are for our daughter".
"I’ll clean up while you’re giving Ari a bath," he laughed. "After I’m done we can clean up each other," he winked at her before picking up glasses and taking them into the kitchen.