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Chapter Forty Four

There are several reasons I have absolutely no coordination. The first reason is that my almost monthly ear infections as a child left me with a slight balance problem. The second reason stems from my fear of hitting someone. When I was six, the neighborhood kids pulled me into a game of baseball. They gave me a metal bat and told me to hit a home run. Unfortunately for me, a little three year old snuck right up behind me and when I swung back to hit, I ended up knocking out his two front teeth. Even to this day I can still see the blood on the grass.

So, as I stood on the dance floor with my bouquet in hand listening to Beyonce's Single Ladies, these thoughts ran through my mind. Addy was at the front of the pack, over to the left. All I had to do was throw the bouquet lightly and pray the wind would help me do the rest.

"Are we ready ladies?" the DJ cried. A cheer rang up from the group assembled. Angel was crouched down ready to pounce. She had given me a conspiratorial wink as she passed me. There was determination in her eyes. I hated to disappoint her, but Nick, AJ, and Howie were watching me eagerly.

"On the count of three," the DJ continued. "One...two..."

I had a death grip on the bouquet. I took a deep breath.

"Three!"

I lifted my arms, ready to swing the bouquet backwards when my fingers slipped. I gasped as the bouquet went airborne in the wrong direction. It flew out of my hands and directly over the deck onto the beach.

Everyone was absolutely silent for a minute. I think I set a new precedent of bad bouquet tossing. It's one thing to throw like crap; it's a totally different story to throw the thing in the wrong direction. I looked over at the guys. AJ grinned.

"I got it!" he yelled out. His hands wrapped around the railing as he jumped over and down onto the beach below. His tie flapped behind him as he began to search the sand. Nick jumped over and began to search with him.

Two minutes later I saw AJ hold something up. "Got it!"

Nick and AJ ran back towards the deck.

"Are the ladies still ready?" AJ yelled up. I looked behind me. All the girls looked confused, except for Angel who was still in combat mode, but they were all still grouped together.

"Yes!" I yelled back down. Nick grinned.

"Stand back!"

AJ held the bouquet in front of him like a golfer holds his club when determining distance, direction, and velocity. With a little 'hee-ya!' he tossed it up.

The bouquet arched gracefully right over my head. I followed its downward path. It was a perfect throw. I saw Addy's arms reach up. Angel dived in front of her but the ribbons only grazed her fingertips. Addy's face broke into a smile as the bouquet landed safely in her hands.

AJ and Nick scrambled back up. Nick came to stand beside me. He leaned down next to my ear.

"We're going to have to get you some pitching practice."

I blushed. Nick laughed.

“Alright, can we have all the single men come out on the floor?" the DJ announced.

The song Brick House started playing. When Nick and I had reviewed the song list, I had been really tempted to be a smartass and suggest I Wanna Be Bad by Willa Ford for the garter toss, but I didn't think Nick found humor in his ex-girlfriends like I did. I saw AJ and Howie high five Kevin as he made his way with Andrew and Matt to the center of the floor. Angel brought over a chair for me.

"This should be fun," she said with a smile. It was nice to know she didn't take her bouquet loss too seriously.

I sat down and glanced up at Nick. He was giving me one of those wolfish grins again.

"You're going to be a gentleman, right?" I asked.

"Aren't I always?" he replied. He crouched down next to me. I gave him a look.

After all of the single men formed a mass on the dance floor, the DJ changed the music to just a loud instrumental that sounded like porn music. Nick's hands darted up under my dress. I held the material in my hands to not only help him, but to try to keep my modesty. I should have known that with Nick, all modesty flew out the window. His head dove under the fabric. Loud catcalls sounded. I felt Nick's lips making a quick path up my leg. When he reached my garter, his teeth nipped gently around it and he began to shimmy back out, but not before his fingers strayed even higher. I sucked in a breath; he chuckled. Before he could tease me more, Nick's head popped back out from under the fabric and he stood up, garter held between his teeth while I sat there extremely turned on.

Nick took the garter from his teeth and twirled it around on his finger. I saw his head turn slightly in Kevin’s direction. He made eye contact and then turned around.

"I'll try to throw it in the right direction," he said quietly for only me to hear. I stuck out my tongue.

Nick lobbed the garter over his head. Like AJ's bouquet toss, the garter flew in a perfect arc in Kevin's direction. However, Kevin had competition that was a little fiercer than Angel. Matt jumped in front of Kevin, his arms outstretched. Kevin did the same and they both seemed to catch it at the same time.

"Let go!" Kevin hissed.

"Not on your life!" Matt said.

Kevin had a couple inches of height on Matt. In the blink of an eye, he used his leg to trip Matt. Unfortunately, Matt had his claws in the lacy band. Kevin and Matt went crashing down to the floor.

"What's that stupid idiot doing?" Nick muttered. I knew he was talking about Matt.

Much to the amusement of the crowd, Kevin and Matt began to wrestle around on the dance floor.

"Get him daddy!" Mason cried out. He was wiggling in Leigh's arms, trying to get loose.

In the end, Kevin's strength was no match for Matt. After a good attempt, Matt finally relinquished the garter. Dusting off his jacket, Kevin stood and held it up, a big smile on his face.

Seeing that Kevin was the clear winner, Nick ran over to the DJ booth. As he walked back to me, the DJ’s voice came over the speaker system.

"Can we please have Kevin Richardson and Addy Selinski out on the dance floor for the catch dance?"

I stifled a laugh. I'm sure there was a better name for it than 'the catch dance,' but I had a feeling that was Nick's definition for what just took place. I saw Addy shaking her head no, trying to hide behind the large bouquet, but Kevin won out. She wore an innocent blush as they walked to the center of the floor. The first few notes of Clay Aiken's The Way began to play and they gracefully began to dance.

"Look at our guys."

I turned; Rochelle was standing beside me. She nodded towards the corner. Nick, Howie, and AJ were watching Kevin and Addy and giving each other quiet congratulatory pats on the back.

"Plan Backstreet was successful," I said lightly.

"Yeah, except I think Kevin almost broke Matt's arm."

I grinned. "Kevin wasn't going to let go."

"True. It's all for the best. I smell another wedding right around the corner."

I couldn't help but agree. The way Kevin looked at her...

It was a lot like the way Nick looked at me.

"Who's ready for cake?"

The guys had come up behind us while we were admiring the couple on the floor. I glanced over at our cake. It seemed like such a shame to cut it. It was a five tier boxed cake with turquoise stripes and yellow roses. At the very top were two dolphins, his and hers, their bodies curved so that they formed a heart.

I smiled. “Let’s do it.” Nick ran back over to the DJ. The speakers crackled slightly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please gather round as our bride and groom perform the ceremonial cutting of the cake."

Applause rang out as Nick led me over to the table. My mom was standing by the table, Mike at her side. Brooklyn was fast asleep in her arms.

"I didn't want to leave until the cake was cut," she whispered. "But I think I'm going to take peanut home with me soon."

I nodded. I felt like I hadn't seen my daughter almost all day. I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Her mouth opened, but she remained asleep. Nick smiled and wiggled her little stocking feet. She must have wormed her way out of the black dress shoes earlier in the evening. Even his touch didn't do the trick. She was determined to stay in dream land.

"Alright," Nick finally said. He grabbed the knife and looked at me. I placed my hand over his. A nice instrumental began to play.

We sliced into the cake, cutting two perfectly triangular slivers. My fingers squished into the buttercream icing as I lifted a slice. Nick did the same.

I've been to a lot of weddings, and I had always thought that messy cake feedings were a little juvenile. With Hunter, we had just carefully nibbled and that was that.

But, I didn't want to do that with Nick. We seized each other up; we hadn't talked about how we would do this part. Something told me he was going to be a cake smasher and I wasn't going down without a fight.

We lunged at the same time. I let out a gasp as icing dripped off of my chin and down my chest. I had hit Nick directly in the eye with my piece. Icing hung off of his eyelashes like Elmer's glue. With a grin, Nick leaned over and licked the cake off my chest. I heard someone, I think Howie, let out an ‘oh God.’ Others laughed or whistled.

Now usually, most people stop after the first exchange, have a good laugh, clean up and get on with it. Not Nick. While he was licking, he used his hand to pull out another chunk. Out of the corner of my eye I realized what he was doing and I quickly worked to defend myself. I backed away from him but he threw quickly. The second piece hit me right in the forehead. I grabbed a chunk and heaved it. The slice hit his cheek and dropped off onto his tie.

Baylee, who had been having fun out on the dance floor all night, suddenly rushed up and grabbed a slice of cake with his fingers. With a laugh that sounded eerily like Brian's, he tossed the cake through the air. It landed with a 'splat' right on the top of AJ's head. Mason was right on Baylee's heels.

The whole bottom tier of our cake ended up being a part of a mass food fight. AJ smashed icing in Baylee's hair for retaliation and then Leigh hit the back of Howie's neck. The blobs that landed on the floor made the place deadly. Rochelle landed flat on her back only to have AJ stuffing cake down her throat while she laughed hysterically.

Fifteen minutes later, the more 'mature' guests were being served the other layers of our cake. I was in the bathroom with Leigh and Rochelle using wet towels to wipe the mess off of my face. My hair had amazingly stayed pretty much intact. I was glad that I had chosen to pull it away from my face.

"Your mom looked like she was going to have a heart attack," Leigh said as she reapplied her lipstick. I laughed.

"I think she was horrified at all the cake going to waste."

"It didn't go to waste. That was a blast. I'm going to smell like icing for a month though,” Rochelle said.

By the time we got out of the bathroom, my mom had bundled Brooklyn up. Tears sprang to my eyes as I realized I wouldn't see my daughter for ten long days. I covered her face in kisses. She let out a yawn and finally opened her eyes.

"Be good for grandmommy," I said. Nick kneeled down and touched her little pigtails.

"We'll bring you back a kangaroo," Nick said softly. He looked like he was about to cry.

"She's going to be fine," my mom assured us.

I sighed. I knew she was in great hands, but I hadn't been away from her for more than a night since she was born.

My mom hugged both Nick and I and then picked up the carrier. Nick and I walked with her all the way to the car, talking softly and giving kisses. Nick helped my mom load her car seat in the back. He hung onto the door and we looked in at her. She smiled at us.

"Love you Brookey," Nick said.

"Love you baby girl."

Nick closed the door and my mom and Mike got into the car. Mike rolled down the passenger side window and leaned over my mom.

"You guys have a great trip. If it makes you feel better, you'll have this retired FBI agent on duty the whole time. Brooke will be fine."

I smiled. I liked Mike more and more every time I saw him.

"Thank you."

Mom stuck her hand out the window and waved. Nick and I stood there until the car completely disappeared from view. Nick took my hand.

"Is it bad that I miss her already?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No. That's going to be the hardest part of this whole trip."

We headed back inside. My happy high from the cake was falling fast.

"How about we cue the DJ in for our last song and call it a night?" Nick asked. He glanced at his watch. "I'm thinking we could swing by the hospital with Baylee."

I leaned over at looked at his watch. It was eleven.

"Don't visiting hours end at eight?"

Nick smiled. "If we pull up in a limo I think they're going to let us in. Plus we're bringing their son up. I'd say we've got decent clearance."

I couldn't argue with his logic. I stood in the center of the dance floor as Nick went over to the DJ. After Play that Funky Music White Boy was done (in which AJ was the only one on the floor), the DJ took the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please gather round for Nick and Olivia's last dance."

Nick met me in the center of the floor. Everyone who was still there lined the perimeter. I had picked out the last song. I let out a little sigh as Savage Garden's I Knew I Loved You (Before I Met You) started to play. I melted into Nick's arms as he began to sing along.

It was the perfect way to end the evening. We spent another twenty minutes receiving hugs and kisses and then we walked to the limo. Baylee had fallen asleep about a half hour before, but Kevin had got him up and was walking him to the limo.

"I don't wanna go," Baylee whined.

"Of course you do," Kevin said encouragingly. "You can tell mommy and daddy all about the party."

Baylee sighed. Nick opened the door and we let Baylee crawl in first. I slid in right behind him.

"Thanks for the garter," I heard Kevin say to Nick.

"No problem. Good luck with your plan."

"I just hope it'll work."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"She's got a mind of her own."

"Don't they all?"

I didn't know exactly what the conversation was about, but I knew that Kevin was talking about Addy. I had a feeling that the 'don't they all' included me. I wasn't offended; I was glad I had a mind of my own.

Nick and Kevin whispered back and forth for another minute and then Nick slid into the limo beside me. He closed the door and tapped on the window separating us from the driver. The driver unrolled the window.

"To the hotel?" he asked. Nick shook his head.

"To the hospital."

The driver didn’t question. We took off into the evening and I sat back, Nick’s arm looped around my shoulder. Baylee pouted half the way there, but the closer we got I could tell he was at least partly excited.

As for me, I couldn't wait to meet the newest Littrell.