Usually while Zak was out of town filming for Ghost Adventures with his crew, Brianna would take care of Brock all by herself. However, due to the fact that he had a few days off, Zak decided that he would spend some quality time with his little boy.
Brock was up at the crack of dawn, bursting with energy as he raced up and down the hall. Zak, who was looking forward to a lie in, wasn't too impressed by the fact he had been woken up at 6:30am. No matter how much Zak had tried, Brock would not fall back to sleep. Instead, he reluctantly made his way down the stairs with his small son.
"Jeez Brock, how comes you're up so early?" Zak yawned, as he carried the little boy on hip. "It's still dark out."
Brock shrugged. He had no idea why he was awake so early.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Zak wondered, approaching the sofa.
Brock thought to himself. He was very hesitant to answer. Alternatively, he stayed quiet.
"I understand if you don't wanna talk about it, bad dreams can be scary, but I want you to remember that no matter what, Daddy is here, and I will always protect you. All right?" He promised, not taking his eyes off his little boy as he spoke.
"-kay D-addy..." Brock responded finally, still feeling a little apprehensive.
Since it was too early to make breakfast, Zak decided to put on the TV and find a suitable programme for the two of them to watch. Since a lot of the kids' tv channels hadn't started for the day, he concluded that perhaps it would be a lot easier to find something to watch on Netflix instead.
After a while of debating between a movie or a tv show, Zak went with The Muppets Movie thinking it would be something that Brock would enjoy.
"Ready to sit down and watch the movie, Brock?" Zak spoke, hoping that the little boy would sit still for at least ten minutes.
"Yeah!" Brock cheered at the top of his voice, as he climbed onto the sofa and jumped up and down with excitement.
"Shh! Not so loud, it's still early! And besides, Mommy's still sleeping." Zak hushed, placing an index finger on his lips.
"Oh." Brock mouthed, copying his Daddy.
The only way that Brock could relax and enjoy the movie was for Zak to lay down on the sofa beside him. However, Brock preferred to snuggle up to his daddy and lay his head on his chest.
The little boy was able to concentrate on the movie for a little while, but the lack of sleep soon caught up with him. Yawning, Brock rotated so he was lying on his tummy and so that he was facing his daddy. His eyelids grew heavy, the sound of the Muppets' voices gradually zoned out as Brock fell into a deep sleep.
As he was unable to move from the sofa, Zak decided to try and catch up on some work. However, he realised that this would be impossible with a two-year-old sprawled across him. Instead, Zak took this opportunity to catch up on some well-deserved sleep.
"See you later, babe." Zak heard someone whisper in right ear. His eyes shot open, thinking he had imagined something or someone nearby until he heard a faint chuckle. "Don't worry, I won't be gone for long." The same voice spoke.
Zak looked up slowly, his eyes were still trying to adjust to the brightly lit living room which was now filled with sunshine. "Huh?"
"I'm off to visit my parents, remember? I'll be back on Sunday evening." Brianna mentioned, smiling warmly.
"Ah yes, sorry, I must've-" Zak began, rubbing his eyes before looking around the room to check if the TV was still on.
"It's alright, don't worry. You're going to need all the sleep you can get because you know full well that Brock is an early riser." She reminded him, checking her watch which showed that it had just gone 9 am.
Zak sighed. "I have no idea how I'm going to cope with early mornings, I'm not really a morning person."
Brianna smiled weakly at her husband. "Don't worry I'll be back before you know it, but until then I recommend going to bed around 10pm."
"10pm?! You've got to be kidding me." Zak raised his voice a little before realising that Brock was still fast asleep.
"Trust me, by the end of the day you'll be glad to go to bed early." Brianna finished. "Anyway, I've got to go, or I'll miss my flight, but I'll see you soon, okay?"
Zak smiled weakly. "Don't have too much fun without me."
"Of course not, I'll miss you though." She admitted.
"I'll miss you more." He responded with a jokey pout.
"Awww-" Brianna spoke, before leaning in to kiss Zak goodbye.
She turned to Brock, who was still out cold. She watched his chest slowly rise and fall with every breath he took.
"I'll miss you baby boy, see you soon." Brianna whispered, as she planted a small kiss on Brock's chubby, rosy cheeks. "Be good for Daddy."
Upon feeling his mother's touch, Brock began to stir in his sleep. Turning on his side, the little boy stretched his arms out as he yawned deeply.
"Mommy?" He mumbled; his eyes fluttered open but quickly closed due to the fact it was a lot brighter.
"Mommy's here, Brocky. I've got to go now but I'll see you on Sunday, alright?" Brianna told him gently.
Amidst hearing this news, Brock frowned. His lip began to tremble as tears welled up in his eyes. "N-no Mommy, don't go..."
"I know this may be hard for you baby, but I'll be back home before you know it. You've got Daddy and Gracie." She reassured him, embracing her little boy.
"P-pwomise?" He sniffled, still feeling a tad bit sad.
"Of course, I promise." Brianna smiled, placing her hands on her son's shoulders.
Brock gave a watery-eyed smile in return.
Zak followed Brianna to the front door with Brock, who wanted to wave her off, perched on his hip.
Brock wasn't used to his mommy going out of town, especially without him. This was the first weekend Brock would spend without Brianna by his side, her goodnight kisses and bedtime stories. Brock felt a little emotional again as he watched his mommy hop into the taxi cab and pull away from the drive.
"Mom-my..." Brock whimpered, reaching his arms out to where his mommy had stood not too long okay, thinking that he could bring her back just like that.
"Aww Bud, please don't cry. Everything will be just fine." Zak comforted his little boy who's bottom lip was trembling.
"How about we plan our weekend for just the two of us...Oh! And Gracie of course!" He continued, carrying the little boy into the kitchen and sitting him down on the counter in front of him.
Brock hesitated, still feeling a little upset, however soon nodded in response.
"Alright, so since it's going to be warm this weekend, how about we go and play in the pool? We could go and visit Aaron-" Zak listed.
"Un-cle A-won?" Brock stuttered, trying to pronounce these words to the best of his ability.
Zak smiled. "Of course, Uncle Aaron."
Brock smiled wider.
"Or we could go to the mall and pick you out a toy? Maybe we could go to the store and pick out a slip 'n' slide..." He continued, thinking to himself.
"Sli-de?" Brock questioned, tilting his head to the side.
"Yeah, but it's not the same as the slides in the park. It's a water slide." Zak informed his son.
"Oooh!" Brock giggled, kicking his legs against the kitchen counter with excitement. He loved slides, especially the ones at the park.
"Then that's settled, after breakfast we can head out before it gets too warm and pick up a slip 'n' slide for the backyard and we can have a pool day. How does that sound?"
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Brock chanted. He was no longer feeling sad.
To start off the boys' weekend, Zak thought he'd ought to make pancakes. To make them somewhat healthy, he added a handful of blueberries into the mixture.
Brock was sat on the kitchen counter next to his daddy, watching him pour the pancake batter into the pan. Every so often, he heard the sound of it sizzling.
"Want to help me flip the pancake, Brock?" Zak asked his little boy who was very eager.
Brock nodded his head vigorously, however, didn't quite understand how they were going to both flip the pancake when the pan was too hot for him to touch.
"Do you want to make the pancake flip by using magic?" Zak asked Brock, who gasped excitedly.
"Mag-ic?!" Brock squealed, clapping his hands together before covering his mouth with them.
"Yes, all you've got to do is point to the pan and say the magic words-"
Brock thought about this for a moment. But what exactly could the magic words be? The only one he knew was please.
"Do you know what the magic words are, bud?" Zak continued, looking over at his puzzled son.
Brock shook his head.
Zak bent down to whisper into Brock's ear, "All you've got to say is abracadabra and point to the pancake. Do you think you can do it?"
"Yeah." Brock whispered, copying his daddy.
"Alright, on the count of three...one...two...three!" Zak began.
"Ab-wa...ca-ba!" Brock recalled, before pointing to the pancake. Although he couldn't pronounce the word properly, he tried his absolute hardest to repeat the word.
As if by magic (or with a bit of Zak's help) the pancake flipped over and landed perfectly on its other side.
"Good job, Brock!" Zak praised the little boy as he held his hand up for Brock to high five him.
Brock giggled, feeling really proud with himself. He did magic. He could do it.
Once they had finished flipping and cooking all of the blueberry pancakes, Brock helped his daddy lay the table. Since Brock was only two, he wasn't able to use big forks and knives so instead, he had his own array of colourful plastic cutlery. He wasn't too fussed, at least he was able to use them.
"Da-ddy?" Brock began, just as Zak was lifting him to seat him on his boaster seat at the table.
"What is it, Bud?" He responded, placing Brock's plate of blueberry pancakes down before him.
"Can-dy!" Brock exclaimed, before pointing to his pancake.
"You don't put candy on pancakes, Brock." Zak responded. "Especially not first thing in the morning."
"No! Can-dy!" Brock whined, feeling a little frustrated that his daddy couldn't understand what he meant.
"Do you mean toppings? Did you want to put something on top of your pancake?" Zak wondered, trying to understand what his little boy meant.
Brock nodded vigorously. "Sau-ce!"
"Ohh! Chocolate spread?" Zak questioned.
Brock nodded once more. He loved chocolate spread.
"Since we don't usually have pancakes for breakfast, I'll let you have some chocolate spread on your pancake. But not too much, alright?" Zak continued.
"-kay Da-ddy!" Brock agreed, he didn't mind as long as he could have some.
Zak walked over to the kitchen cupboard where they stored all the syrups and sauces. It took a moment to find the chocolate spread because it had been placed right at the back of the cupboard. Alongside this, there didn't seem to be a lot left.
"Here we go, Brock." Zak spoke, bringing the chocolate spread over to the table.
Brock made a lunge for the chocolate spread but Zak grabbed it before he could.
"Hey, I don't want you eating the spread out of the jar, so I'll spread it for you, okay?" Zak told his son, who now wore a frown.
Brock continued to make grabby hands but no matter how many times he did so, Zak didn't give in to him. This only made Brock more frustrated. He began to whine and kick his feet against the table.
"Brock, if you're gonna act up at the table then you won't get any chocolate spread." Zak spoke sternly. He was beginning to lose his cool.
Brock ignored this and whined even more than before, kicking his legs against his chair and banging his hands against the table.
"Brock, you're going to lose your pancakes if you carry on." Zak continued, feeling agitated.
It wasn't easy for Brock; he didn't quite understand but knew that he had to behave. He was hungry after all and just wanted to eat.
"So, are you gonna calm down or do you want to sit on time out?" Zak uttered.
Brock stayed quiet.
"Good, I know you're hungry, but you've got to be patient, Brock." He told the little boy, who looked rather sad.
"Sowwy Da-ddy..." Brock murmured.
"I accept your apology, now, here's your blueberry pancakes and your chocolate spread." Zak added.
Since they weren't in a rush to head out anywhere, Zak and Brock took their time to eat their food. Brock ended up abandoning his cutlery and used his hands to eat his pancakes. Zak, on the other hand, used his cutlery.
By the time they had finished, Brock was covered in chocolate spread. Although he didn't have a lot, he still managed to get it all over his face and on his hands and lower arms.
"All done?" Zak asked the little boy whose plate was now empty.
Brock shook his head, lifting his plate up and licking the reminisce of the chocolate spread off of his plate.
"You managed to wear more of the chocolate than eat it." Zak chuckled, looking over to his small son who seemed to be proud of this.
Because of the fact that Brock was nearly head to toe in chocolate spread, Zak thought it would be a good idea to give Brock a bath, not only to clean him up but also so he'd be ready for the day.
Zak carried Brock upstairs, he didn't want Brock bouncing on the bed or running off and getting chocolate spread on furniture.
"After your bath, we can go to the store and get the slip 'n' slide, does that sound good?" Zak spoke, carrying his little boy into the master bedroom bathroom.
"Yeah!" Brock agreed, lifting his hands in the air, a smile plastered on his face.
Bath time took a lot longer than normal, due to the fact that every time Zak attempted to scrub the chocolate spread off of Brock's body, Brock would squirm and fidget. The little boy didn't have any interest in sitting still, he'd much rather play with his bath toys.
"There, all clean." Zak smiled, as he turned back around to his cheerful son, holding up a bath towel. "C'mon Brock, it's time to get out-"
But Brock had no interest in doing so. He was enjoying his time splashing around and creating gigantic waves, watching as the sailing boat struggled not to capsize with all the ducks that were onboard.
"C'mon Bud, the water's getting cold." Zak continued, trying to get his son's attention.
Brock pretended not to hear his daddy and started splashing the water all around the bathroom.
"Hey, that's enough, Brock." Zak told him, pulling the plug from the tub.
Brock looked down at the tub and watched the majority of the water drain away down the plug hole. It wasn't long until his teeth began to chatter.
"Here Bud-"
Before Brock could speak, he felt his Daddy lift him up and out of the tub. Teeth still chattering, Zak wrapped the warm and cosy towel around his son and swaddled him like a baby.
"I remember when you used to be absolutely tiny, now it's hard to cradle you." Zak spoke, but mostly to himself, reminding himself of Brock when he wasn't more than a year old.
Heading back into the bedroom with Brock still cradled in his arms, Zak began to tickle him.
Brock let out a belly laugh, squirming in his Daddy's arms as he did so.
Zak sat the little boy on the bed and continued to tickle him until he was laughing so hard, he couldn't stop.
"I love you Brocky." Zak spoke. Although he couldn't remember the last time he actually said those words of sorts, Zak still showed he loved his son with all his heart as much as he could.
"-ove Da-ddy." Brock replied, smiling widely before crawling across the bed and over to where his daddy was laying.
For some reason, hearing those words from Brock made him tear up slightly. Perhaps because of the fact that when he was away travelling to and from lockdowns, he didn't get to see very much of his little boy – only over facetime.
"Da-ddy -kay?" Brock asked, tilting his head slightly to the side before stretching his arms wide to hug his daddy.
Zak smiled weakly. "Of course, I'm fine. Thank you Bud-"
He embraced the little boy with open arms and kissed his cheek. Brock snuggled into his daddy, closing his eyes. He missed this.
-
Zak talked to Brock as he got him ready for the day. To his surprise, Brock sat relatively still as his daddy helped him into his clothes and listened closely to what his daddy had to say.
"-And after the store we can go to Uncle Aaron's for lunch, he's expecting us." Zak smiled, as he helped Brock with his socks.
"Yay!" Brock cheered. It had been a while since he had properly seen 'Uncle' Aaron. The last time was when his daddy and Aaron were setting off to another location for lockdown.
"All set and ready to go to the store?" Zak asked his little boy.
"Yeah!" Brock exclaimed, squealing as he did so. He was very excited to play on the slip 'n' slide.
"Alright, let's go then-"
The journey to the store took a little longer than usual. There was the usual pile-up of cars, however, the traffic was barely moving an inch.
"Finally-" Zak sighed, as the engine came to a halt. It had felt like forever since they had left home.
Brock, who was usually very fussy on car journeys, had managed to tire himself out and slept the whole way. Zak was very grateful for this.
Once inside the store, Zak decided to keep Brock on his hip. It was very busy considering it was only Friday morning.
He also knew that Brock would run off and potentially get lost. This was the last thing Zak wanted to happen.
It wasn't long until they reached the isle with all the fun backyard toys and inflatables. They had everything a little kid could dream for.
"Ooh!" Brock began, as he made grabby hands for the biggest inflatable he could see, which was up on the highest shelf.
"That's only for display, Brock, we can't get it down." Zak told his little boy who automatically frowned.
"Wh-y?" Brock whined, as he attempted to grab the massive inflatable.
"Because you're not allowed to play with it, it's just to show what the product looks like inside the box and the scale of how big it is." Zak responded.
Brock tilted his head to the side; he didn't understand what that meant.
"Hey, how about we look at the backyard toys instead? They're easier to reach-"
Zak was right; there were loads of backyard toys including bowling pins, buckets and spades, water balloons and so much more.
"Dow-n." Brock spoke, beginning to wriggle out of his daddy's grip.
"Brock, if I put you down, you must not run off because it's very busy in the store and I don't want you to get lost. Alright?" Zak began, as he held the little boy on his hip.
"-kay D-addy!" Brock agreed, more so because he was excited to 'play' with all of the toys in the isle.
Staying within the isle, Brock ran over to the corner which contained sand pits and accessories. "Ooh!" Brock awed, reaching out for a bucket and spade.
Gripping the bucket with his right hand, Brock made a reach for a sand wheel which operated when sand was poured through its funnel and held it in his left.
"Need any help, bud?" Zak asked the little boy who seemed to be struggling to hold more than one item at a time.
Brock shook his head and continued to browse the outdoor toys isle in hope to find some more new toys.
"Oooh!" Brock gasped, as he spotted something magnificent. "Spi-man!"
Distracted by the Spider-Man related toy, Brock dropped the toys he was holding and reached out for the Nerf gun.
The bucket, spades and sand wheel made a loud sound as they hit the floor with a clatter.
"Careful Brock!" Zak warned, as he crouched down to pick up the mess.
The nerf gun was situated on a shelf that was out of Brock's reach. While his daddy wasn't looking, Brock decided to take it upon himself to climb up onto the shelf to reach the toy. He was determined to have it.
Balancing on top of the larger boxes of toys, Brock held on to the shelf above him for support, trying to climb his way up. He could see the toy on the shelf.
However, being short, Brock had to try harder to reach for the toy. It wasn't long until his left foot slipped off of the boxes, leaving him dangling in mid-air.
"Brock, what are you doing?!" Zak spoke, startled.
Before Brock could answer, he felt his fingers slipping.
Thankfully before anything could happen, Zak caught his son and held him close.
"What do you think you were doing?!" Zak asked, a matter of urgency in his voice. He was alarmed and worried by Brock's actions.
"Spi-Man..." Brock pouted.
"Brock, you should've asked for help to get to the toy down or at least asked me to carry you." Zak continued, "Don't ever do that again, you hear?! You could've really hurt yourself!"
It became apparent that Zak's mix of emotions were overpowering him. His overprotectiveness and anger bubbled inside him.
Brock's lip began to tremble as he listened to his daddy raise his voice. He didn't like it when his daddy was angry.
"When we get home, you're going on time out. Do I make myself clear?" Zak finished, sternly.
Brock didn't know how to react. He hated anyone raising their voices, even if it wasn't at him. Feeling very overwhelmed by the whole situation, he burst into tears.
It wasn't until this happened that Zak realised; he may have pushed Brock too far. Although Brock was only two years old, he was very mischievous and wanted to do things independently.
"Oh Brock, I'm sorry..." Zak trailed, feeling a little guilty.
By this time, Brock was wailing which made other passers-by's turn around.
"Calm down Brock, it's okay, I've got you." He soothed, slowly rocking his son back and forth.
It wasn't often he felt he had to do this, however, Zak thought this was the only way in which Brock would truly calm down.
When Brock's cries faded leaving only a sniffle, Zak cuddled his small son close.
"Hey, I'm sorry I raised my voice, Brock, it wasn't kind of me. Do you forgive me?" Zak continued, speaking in a calm and more soothing voice.
Brock sniffled once more, nodding in response.
"But I must say one thing, if you ever need help reaching something or doing anything in the future, please just ask me, alright? I don't want you to fall or get hurt." Zak spoke.
"-kay D-addy...sow-wy..." Brock frowned, still upset about the whole situation.
"I accept your apology Brock but for the rest of our shop, you're gonna have to sit in the shopping cart, alright? I just don't want you getting hurt or lost or potentially breaking something." He finished.
Brock hesitated for a moment or two but nodded in agreement.
Walking back to the front of the store with Brock still in his arms, Zak grabbed a shopping cart and lifted the little boy into the cart, settling him down on the seat.
Returning to the backyard toys isle, Zak picked up the toys that they had left including the Spider-Man nerf gun.
Not wanting to spend his whole day in the store, Zak quickly made his way around the various toy isles, picking up little things he thought would be fun to use for their weekend.
He found a variety of toys such as a bubble machine, a toy waggon and some ball pit balls. Finally, Zak found the main reason for their shopping trip – the slip n slide.
Making his way to the check out, it became quickly apparent that Brock was bored. There was quite a queue in front of them which started to worry Zak, mainly due to the fact that Brock was rarely one for sitting or keeping still.
Seeing as there wasn't anything else to do while waiting, Brock began to whine and kick his feet against the cart, hoping to get some sort of attention from his daddy.
"Hey Brock, don't do that." Zak muttered, just loud enough for his son to hear him.
Although stopping his actions, Brock decided to be a little more mischievous and attempt to climb out of the cart. He pushed his hands underneath him as he wriggled in the seat, trying his best to free his legs. However, there was something that was stopping him escaping, the seat buckle. Brock wailed in defeat.
"Brock, stop." Zak spoke, feeling agitated. This wasn't the first time today that Brock had 'acted up' in the store.
Despite knowing there wasn't a way out, Brock continued his attempt until he felt frustrated and began to cry.
Several shoppers in the line turned around and glared as Zak tried to comfort his son.
"Finally..." Zak muttered under his breath as he pushed the cart. They were now at the front.
Zak sighed in relief as they exited the store, not only had he managed to make it out of the store before Christmas, but it had seemed that Brock had tired himself out once again. Although sat up right, Brock had fallen asleep; his head rested against the shopping cart.
Zak had no trouble lifting Brock out of the cart and settling him down in his car seat. His son was well and truly out. At least the drive to Aaron's was going to be peaceful.
"Hey dude, how are you?" Aaron smiled, as he welcomed his best friend.
"All good, and you?" Zak responded, smiling also.
"Wow, Brock's out cold!" Aaron continued, as he looked down at the small toddler who was snoring lightly. "Busy morning?"
"You could say that..." Zak trailed, remembering their trip to the store.
"I know that tone anywhere, what happened dude?"
Zak began to recite the morning, from when Brianna left to the mayhem at the store. As he explained Brock's actions in the toy isle, Aaron too found them hard to believe.
"Wait so he seriously climbed up there?" Aaron gasped.
"Yep, had my back turned for a few seconds if that and I found him like that." Zak sighed, placing his right hand on his forehead. "He could've fallen if I hadn't noticed..."
"But he didn't, did he? Knowing you, you were right there and stopped anything serious from happening." Aaron spoke. "I wouldn't be too hard on yourself; he's a kid and things like this are to be expected, especially the tantrums."
"Yes but he's two, he shouldn't know how to climb up and onto shelves..." Zak frowned. "I'm such a bad parent!"
"Hey, stop being so hard on yourself, seriously dude! You're an amazing parent, it's not your fault that Brock is mischievous for his age, some kids just are." Aaron comforted him. "And you didn't let him get away with it either, you took action and told him what he did was wrong and pulled through. You didn't back down."
"I guess you're right, it's just hard sometimes." Zak sighed once more. "I don't know how Bri does it alone..."
"C'mon dude, you've got this."
It wasn't long before Brock began to stir from his sleep. He was no longer being cradled in Zak's arms, but was sprawled out on the sofa covered with a soft and fuzzy throw blanket.
The little boy's eyes fluttered open, taking in the bright light which filled the room. Rubbing his eyes, Brock sat up slowly. "Da-ddy?"
Brock slowly turned his head to look around the room, he was in someone's living room, but it definitely wasn't his. Not only this, but he couldn't see his daddy anywhere.
He decided to get up and investigate.
"Are you sure you don't mind setting up the slip n slide in your backyard?" Zak asked. He didn't want to feel like a burden.
"Of course not, it'll be fun dude! I can't remember the last time I've been on one of these things!" Aaron laughed.
"Da-ddy?"
Zak turned his head to see his little boy standing in the doorway clutching his shirt.
"Hey bud, did you sleep well?" He began, reaching his arms out.
Brock didn't reply, however, allowed his daddy to pick him up.
"Whilst you were sleeping, Uncle Aaron and I set up the slip n slide, would you like to see it?" Zak continued, holding his son close.
"Ye-ah." Brock responded, feeling a little more awake.
Zak carried Brock out to the backyard on his hip. As they came closer and closer to the slip 'n' slide, Brock's smile grew wider and wider.
"Oooh!" He squealed, grinning from ear to ear.
"We're going to go on it after lunch, then we can all play." Zak smiled at his extremely excited little boy.
"-kay Da-ddy!" Brock agreed.
As time went on, Brock's excitement grew and grew. He had never been on a slip 'n' slide before and he was thrilled to have the chance to do so.
Once they'd had lunch, Zak took Brock to change into his swimwear.
"Da-ddy?" Brock began.
"Yes Bud?" Zak answered, as he helped Brock into his swim shorts.
"We p-lay?" Brock asked, eagerly.
"Of course! Once you have your bathing suit on and daddy has his own on, then we can play." Zak told him.
Thankfully, it didn't take too long to get ready. Brock's excitement made it quicker than normal – mainly due to the fact that this was his first time playing on a water slide.
"Ready?" Zak began, taking a hold of his son's hand.
As they approached the slip 'n' slide, Zak could hear shrieks and the splashing of water.
"Weeee!" Aaron exclaimed, as he raced across the slip 'n' slide, tumbling out the other end.
Seeing his 'uncle' Aaron being silly made Brock laugh. Zak smiled at this.
"Would you like to have a go, Brocky?" Zak asked the little boy as he crouched down to his height.
Brock nodded vigorously, feeling his daddy let go of his hand.
He ran up to the slide and sat down, waiting for it to do something. When he didn't feel himself moving, he made a face.
"Oh Brock, you have to run up and then slide down on your front." Zak informed him, chuckling to himself.
Brock, however, was confused. He didn't seem to understand.
"Here, let me show you!" Aaron smiled, making his way back to the slide and showing Brock how it was done.
Once again, Brock giggled and clapped his hands as he watched his uncle Aaron fall off of the slide.
Brock tried a few tactics to go down – or across – the slide. He tried sitting down again, using his arms to scoot and move around. This, however, didn't get him very far.
Next he attempted to walk on the slide, until he made it to the end where the water was spraying and sat down.
"Need some help, Brock?" Zak asked the little boy who appeared to be struggling.
Brock nodded his head in reply.
"Alright, would you like to go down the slide with me?" He continued.
"Ye-ah!" Brock exclaimed, feeling slightly happier. He knew with his daddy's help; he could do anything.
Brock enjoyed the slide a lot more than he imagined he would. It was fun to slide down on his daddy's lap.
Zak went down the slide a variety of ways, making sure that Brock was comfortable. Brock's favourite way to go down the slide was on his daddy's back, his arms wrapped around his neck.
After several rounds of this, Brock decided that he wanted to do it himself.
Zak was a little hesitant, however, thought that he should at least have a go.
"Remember Brock, run and slide on your front. Got it?" Zak reminded him.
"Ye-ah!" Brock called, as he took a running start.
However, when his feet came in contact with the slide, he didn't stop running. He continued to run along until he lost his balanced and slipped.
Zak gasped, ready to catch his son at the bottom who was obviously startled by what had happened.
"You okay, Brock?" Zak asked his little boy, who pulled a face. He couldn't tell whether his son enjoyed it or was about to cry.
Brock hesitated for a moment, blinking. "Ye-ah!"
Aaron laughed. "You weren't expecting that, were you?"
"No actually, I wasn't." Zak agreed.
"A-gain!" Brock chanted, as he ran back over to the start of the slide.
After a few times, Brock began to get the hang of it, however, he was still a little hesitant about running before sliding. Zak decided to help his little boy out, making sure that he was sliding on his front rather than falling and landing on his back.
Brock was having more fun than Zak originally thought he would.
Zak, Aaron and Brock all took it in turns to go down the slide.
A little while later, Zak and Aaron decided to take a break from sliding and continue their conversation – catching up on all the stuff that happened in the last week, also mentioning now and again about Ghost Adventures.
Brock slowly made his way over to Aaron's pool, wanting to play and splash around. However, before he was able to make his way down the steps, he heard his daddy calling him.
"Brock? Where are you going?"
Brock turned around to see his daddy approaching him.
"S-wim!" He exclaimed, pointing to the pool.
"You can't, we didn't bring your floaties." Zak told the little boy, bending down to his height and taking his hand.
Brock pouted.
"Hey, who says you need arm bands? Why don't we all go in the pool? Then you can hold onto Brock." Aaron suggested.
"I don't know dude..." Zak trailed, thinking about what could go wrong.
"Ye-ah!" Brock exclaimed once more, jumping up and down on the spot.
Zak sighed. "Oh, alright."
The rest of the afternoon at Aaron's was spent playing and splashing around in the pool.
"Da-ddy go h-igh!" Brock spoke, pointing to the sky.
"You want me to throw you up in the air and catch you?" Zak wondered, trying to understand what exactly Brock meant.
The little boy nodded, smiling widely.
"Hey, but before you do, I want to film this." Aaron joined in, getting out to dry off. "And take some photos too."
Zak smiled at his small son whose excitement could burst.
"Ready? 1...2...3!"
Zak threw Brock up into the air.
Brock giggled, reaching his arms up to the sky. "Sup-r M-aan!"
"Superman!" Aaron laughed, watching the little boy fist punching the air.
As he always did, Zak caught Brock.
"Aww dude! That was amazing!" Aaron awed, looking through his camera at all of the adorable snaps he caught.
Zak smiled over at his best friend, then back at his little boy who was giggling with happiness.