The next day the Brooks family made the long trek to Aspen Colorado. Jai drove Ariana's Lexus SUV since it was more spacious with the three rows of seats. The trip took a little over eight hours with lots of bathroom stops for both a pregnant Sharpay and a newly potty-trained Caitlin. Ariana alternated between the passenger seat keeping Jai company and watching Caitlin's favorite movies in the back with her (which also consisted of a little shut eye for both of them).
"Oh its beautiful," Ariana gushed as Jai pulled up to the large Aspen cabin they were renting. "And big too, I can't wait to get inside."
"Big house," Caitlin squealed from her car seat. "Ooo ahhh."
Jai laughed at his girls, "Well here we go," Jai parked the car.
After grabbing the bags, Jai led the girls inside. Caitlin was holding Ariana's hand as they entered the front door of their new 'home.' Ariana immediately fell in love with its rustic charm. She took a quick bathroom break before going on a very detailed tour of the place.
"Shouldn't Luke and Dianna be here already?" Ariana questioned as they all walked up the stairs.
"Yeah I thought so, maybe their flight was delayed. We should have picked them up from the airport, I feel bad that they were taking a cab."
"Lets call them," Ariana replied, "After the tour of course. I want to pick our bedrooms first."
"Well we're getting the master hands down; it doesn't make sense for either of them to have it when they're by themselves."
"Agreed," Ariana replied.
"I want a pretty room Daddy," Caitlin smiled as she climbed up the stairs.
"Maybe you'll like this one," Jai suggested as he swung open the door.
"Oh right there Di," Luke moaned.
"Look Uncle Lukie and Auntie Dianna are having a big sleepover!" Caitlin exclaimed. "Fun, fun! Me too! Me too!"
Nah caught Caitlin before she had the chance to join in on the 'fun', "Sorry," Jai tried to avert his eyes.
"Oh my god!" Dianna screamed in horror.
"I...I...," Ariana was speechless as Jai dragged his wife and daughter out of the very occupied bedroom.
+=+=+=+=+
Needless to say the next time that Ariana and Jai saw Luke and Dianna it was very awkward. Although the image of Luke and Dianna in bed had permanently scarred Ariana, she was thrilled that the two were now a couple. Jai was shocked but none the less happy for the two. And Caitlin was still upset that she couldn't have one big sleepover. The trip started out a little bumpy but everyone ended up having a good time. Jai and Luke hit the slopes every chance they got while Ariana and Dianna spent a significant amount of time at the spa. Caitlin even tried her hand at skiing a little bit but decided that it was a lot more fun to drink hot cocoa at the ice skating rink. The group even enjoyed a real sleigh ride to a fancy restaurant.
"More," Caitlin smiled at Dianna as she added more marshmallows to her hot cocoa.
"Kiddo I think that's enough."
"One more pwetty pwease Auntie Di," Caitlin gave her, her already perfected puppy dog face and Dianna was a goner.
"That's it," Dianna added not one but five more marshmallows.
"Thank you," Caitlin smiled.
Dianna grabbed Caitlin's and Ariana's hot cocoa mugs and decided to come back for her own. "Here Ari," Dianna handed a lounging Ariana her mug of cocoa once she and Caitlin went into the family room.
"Oh thanks Di," Ariana took a quick sip and put her mug on the coffee table. She winced as she sat back up.
"You alright?" Dianna asked concerned as she and Caitlin sat next to Ariana.
"My back is killing me," Ariana sighed as she leaned back into the couch, trying to get comfortable. "I think I need to lay down for a little bit."
"Go ahead honey; I'll keep an eye on Caitlin. The guys should be back soon from the slopes soon anyway."
"Thanks Dianna, I really appreciate it," Ariana replied as she slowly lifted herself off of the couch which was no easy task at this late stage of her pregnancy.
"Mommy feel better," Caitlin waved with a bright smile plastered on her face. "Bye baby."
Ariana smiled at her adorable little girl, "Bye honey, I love you. I'm just going to nap for a little bit."
"Otay, I already took my nap today," Caitlin responded afraid she would be dragged into another.
"I know honey you don't have to take another, wake me if you need anything Di," Ariana began to head out of the room.
"We'll be fine," Dianna answered her friend. "So kiddo, what do you want to do?"
"Can I have more marshmallows?" Caitlin asked innocently.
A few hours later and Jai and Luke were finally back from their day of snow boarding.
"Where have you guys been? I thought you'd be back hours ago," Dianna placed her hands on her hips as she glared at the two snow covered men.
"Yeah Daddy," Caitlin mimicked Dianna.
"There's like a blizzard Di!" Luke exclaimed as he began taking off his snow gear. "It took us forty five minutes to drive back," Luke explained when it usually should only take five; they were very close to the resort which owned their rental cabin.
"Oh my god, you're kidding," Dianna was shocked.
"Where's Ariana?" Jai asked as he too took off his wet coat.
"Mommy's sweeping, her back hurted her," Caitlin told her daddy.
"Is she alright?" Jai asked, concerned looking to Dianna for confirmation.
"Oh yeah she's fine Troy. I think she's just a little tired. We took Caitlin ice skating and she actually got out on the ice with her," Dianna replied.
"I no like the structor dude," Caitlin scrunched up her nose at the thought; she needed her mommy to help her ice skate too.
"Dianna!" Ariana's scream startled the group.
It didn't take long for Jai to respond to his wife, he ran down the hallway and up the stairs in his boots, not caring that he dragged snow everywhere. He burst into the room where Ariana was sitting up in bed clutching her back.
"What happened Ari?" he was by her side in an instant.
"I'm in labor," Ariana cried as she clutched her belly.
"What? But you're only thirty six weeks!"
"I know that!" Ariana screamed back, "But I'm definitely in labor! I thought I was just having back pains but they're real contractions. Jai, its too soon."
"Its ok Ari," Jai kissed her cheek and held her hand. "You're pretty far along, the baby will be fine."
"We need to get to the hospital, these contractions are coming really fast," Ariana felt the tears surface.
"We can do this honey," Jai helped Ariana up and out of the room.
"Wait, wait," Ariana cried out in pain as another contraction rocked her body, there was no way that she could make it down the stairs in the midst of all that pain.
Jai held her hand during the duration of the painful contraction, "Breath baby, breathe."
"Ohhh," Ariana breathed out as the pain subsided.
"Lets get you to the car fast," Jai continued to hold his wife's hand as he helped her down the stairs.
"Is everything alright?" Dianna asked as soon as she saw the two, she'd set up Caitlin with another movie in the family room hoping to distract the little one.
"Ariana's in labor, we need to get her to the hospital," Jai explained as he sat Ariana down on the closet chair to the back door. "Let me get your stuff."
"Okay," Ariana replied as Dianna rushed to her side.
"Uh Jai, you're not going anywhere right now," Luke grabbed onto his brothers shoulder.
"Luke come on, I've got to get her..."
"No seriously, look outside! Its gotten worse," the three other adults turned to the huge bay window and were shocked to see just how hard the snow was coming down. Jai couldn't even see the car in the driveway anymore.
"Oh my god," Dianna let out nervously. "Jai its not safe for you to drive in that."
"I'll call an ambulance," Jai turned to Ariana. "Okay honey?"
"Okay hurry Jai please," Ariana could feel another contraction coming on strong. Dianna opted to hold her hand as Ariana's pain increased.
"Damnit," Jai cursed as he hung up the phone after calling 911.
"What is it?" Luke questioned his twin.
"Apparently there was an avalanche on the main mountain. All the available paramedics have been dispatched to the scene. They're only going to emergency cases because of the avalanche. Apparently a pre-term labor isn't an emergency."
"Its alright Jai, we'll just drive then," Dianna said trying to ease the situation.
"Its going to take us hours," Luke replied.
"We'll have to do it, we can't just wait here. Ariana's not due for another month, something could be wrong," Luke bent down next to his wife. "We'll drive to the hospital alright Ari? You probably won't deliver for a few hours anyway."
Ariana clutched Jai's hand, "No Jai!"
"What? Ari really I don't think we should wait especially if its going to take so long," Jai responded as he rubbed her hand gently.
"No you don't understand, this baby is coming soon! I don't want to have her in the car!" Ariana cried onto her husband's shoulder, this was definitely not how she pictured her ideal labor. "What are we going to do?"
+=+=+=+=+
"Ugh, this corset is killing me," Ariana groaned as she attempted to get comfortable in her seat.
"No one forced you to wear it," Jai smirked at his wife as he pulled to a complete stop at a red light.
"It makes my costume so much more authentic," Ariana replied as she glanced down at her self. "And I look hot again now that I've lost all that baby weight. I just had to show off my post Mackenzie figure."
"You always look hot," Jai grinned, hoping to score some major brownie points with his wife. He wanted nothing more than to continue their date night in the comforts of their own bedroom. "And you lost the baby weight a long time ago honey."
"Oh please Brooks, you're just trying to get in my pants," Ariana giggled loudly, she'd had several cocktails at the Halloween party now that she was done nursing the baby. "Or my corset rather."
"Is it working?"
"Maybe," Ariana giggled once again, "keep the compliments coming and this could be your lucky night honey."
"Wahoo!" Jai laughed as he began to drive again, once the light turned green.
"I said maybe Jai, don't get too carried away."
"Did I mention that you're the most beautiful queen that I've ever seen?"
"Eh," Ariana shrugged and turned her head to look out the window; her big brown eyes focused on the many homes of their upscale community as they quickly flew by.
"You rocked the karaoke at the party."
"Is that the best you can come up with? God, I'm so tired," Ariana sighed as she leaned against the window, closing her eyes.
"No," Jai mumbled under his breath.
"What honey?" Ariana questioned, her eyes still closed, close to sleep.
"I didn't say anything," Jai replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "Did I mention that your hair looks beautiful, that cut is really working for you and your gold highlights frame your face perfectly?"
"Hmm."
"Not a good one huh?" Jai questioned out loud as he turned to his wife. "Ariana?"
"I'm trying to sleep Jai."
"Sorry," Jai muttered, there went his lucky night...yippee.
A few minutes later, Jai was driving up their long and curvy driveway and into the four car garage. "Ari," Jai shook his wife gently after putting his BMW in park. "We're home."
"Mmm," Ariana slowly opened her eyes. "Carry me."
"Are you serious?"
"I didn't think so," Ariana rolled her eyes and opened her door.
"You're more than capable of walking," Jai chuckled.
"You suck," Ariana pouted as she and Jai walked in the back door of their house.
"Do you think Maddie is in the family room?" Jai questioned as they walked farther into their house.
"Jai, she's always in the family room after she puts the girls to bed. I hope she gave Caitlin a bath; she was so filthy after her Halloween party. They actually bobbed for apples and went on a hayride. She had a lot of fun though."
"I bet," Jai replied. "I didn't get to talk to her much after practice."
"I'm sure she'll tell you all about it tomorrow."
"So are you still sleepy?"
"Jai," Ariana rolled her eyes at her horny husband as she walked into the family room. "Hi Maddie," Ariana greeted their babysitter who was engrossed in some reality show on the flat screen.
"Oh hi Mr. and Mrs. Brooks," the college aged girl stood up quickly.
"How'd it go?" Jai asked as he reached for his wallet in his back pocket.
"Good, Caitlin was a little upset after you left but she calmed down during dinner. We played for a little bit, I gave her a bath and then put her to bed," Maddie responded as she gathered her things.
"Oh great, did Kenzie give you any problems?" Ariana questioned, the eight month old baby had a very happy demeanor but could be extremely loud when she wanted to be.
"No, she was fine. I gave her those baby food jars of squash and chicken and a bottle before bed and I haven't heard a peep out of her since 7:45," Maddie told the two.
"Here you go," Jai handed her two fifties which the young girl gratefully took.
"Thanks so much," Maddie smiled.
"You're welcome," Ariana replied. "Let me walk you out." Ariana walked the babysitter to the front door while Jai turned off all the lights and the T.V. in the family room.
"Everything's all set down here," Jai came up behind Ariana as she locked the front door.
"I want to check on the girls before we head to bed," Ariana and Jai began their ascent up the stairs.
"How about you check on Caitlin and I'll check on Kenz?" Jai suggested as they made it up stairs.
"Sure," Ariana replied as she walked down the hallway, straight into Caitlin's bedroom while Jai headed into Mackenzie's.
Ariana carefully entered the dark room, the only light came from the little star nightlight in the corner. When Ariana made her way over to her daughter's bed, she was shocked that the bed was empty. "Oh my god!" Ariana was in full Mommy panic mode as she pulled down the covers before looking under the bed, no Caitlin. She also checked the closet and the bathroom and there was no sign of her daughter. Ariana hurried out of the room and down the hall into her own room. Jai must have still been checking on Kenzie because he wasn't in there and there didn't seem to be any sign of Caitlin either. Ariana raced across the hall and straight into her husband's arms. "Jai!" Ariana exclaimed, forgetting that there was a sleeping baby in the room.
"What is it?" Jai asked, knowing that Ariana was not alright.
"Caitlin's missing!"
"Ari," Jai began.
"She's not in her room and she's not in our room," Ariana explained, her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.
"Ariana," Jai was interrupted once again.
"Where the hell could she be?"
"Ariana," Jai gently shook her, "Calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down when my little girl is missing!"
"She's not missing," Jai smiled. "She's right here."
"What?" Ariana questioned as Jai turned her around and there in Kenzie's crib was the most precious sight in the world. Caitlin was laying right next to her baby sister with a protective arm swung over her. "Oh my gosh, what is she doing in there?"
"It looks like she gave her a bottle," Jai replied, there was an empty bottle at the bottom of the crib and they had left Maddie strict instructions not to let Kenzie sleep with a bottle. "I didn't think she knew how to climb up into that crib."
"Why would she give her a bottle? Maddie should have done that if she woke up."
"Maybe she heard her crying," Jai suggested.
"But Maddie should have taken care of that."
"You know, it kind of looked like the baby monitor was unplugged in the family room when I was turning everything off."
"You don't think Maddie would intentionally turn it off, do you?" The thought of their trusted babysitter doing something so foolish made her sick to her stomach. What if something truly serious had happened to Kenzie, she wasn't even one years old yet.
"God, I hope not," Jai was feeling the same as Ariana, anything could have happened.
"They look so adorable," Ariana couldn't take her eyes off of her beautiful girls. "I almost don't want to move her."
"Then don't."
"Jai, it's not safe for Caitlin to sleep in here. There's not enough room and one of them could get hurt," Ariana could go on forever on the dangers of crib safety. "Please bring her back to her room."
"Alright, alright," Jai walked over to the crib and carefully picked up his older daughter causing her to wake in the process.
"Daddy," Caitlin mumbled as she dug her head into his shoulder.
"I got you baby," Jai said reassuringly as he kissed her head before heading out of the room, with Ariana quickly following.
Jai laid Caitlin down in her own bed before taking a seat on the edge while Ariana sat behind him. By now Caitlin was a little bit more aware and Ariana wanted to know exactly what had happened.
"Sweetie, what were you doing in Kenzie's crib?" Ariana asked her little girl.
"She cried for a long time," Caitlin explained. "Maddie never came upstairs so I went downstairs. She didn't see me by the door because she was talking on the phone."
"But couldn't she hear Kenzie crying?" Jai questioned.
"No, the baby monitor wasn't on when I went in there," Caitlin replied as she shifted in her bed.
"What did you do after that sweetie?" Ariana asked another question.
"I went to the kitchen and got Kenzie a bottle from the fridge and then I put it in the microwave," Caitlin continued to tell her story. "Then I came to her room and climbed in her crib and fed her all by myself."
"Butterfly how did you get into the refrigerator by yourself or the microwave?" Jai was astonished that his three and a half year old was this resourceful and responsible, as opposed to their babysitter.
"I used the chair."
"And Maddie never heard you?" Caitlin shook her head 'no.' "Honey, why did you do everything? You should've gotten Maddie," Ariana said as she reached for her daughter's small hand.
"But I'm Kenzie's big sister, you said I should always help her Mommy," Caitlin smiled as did her parents, they were proud of the way she had stepped up.
"That's true honey, but you could have gotten hurt standing on the chair or climbing into the crib. It's a grown up's job to watch a baby all the time," Ariana responded, "but thank you so much for feeding your baby sister."
"You're welcome Mommy; she was super duper hungry too. She drank her bottle all up and burped two times!"
"She did?" Jai laughed. "What a little piggy."
"Daddy," Caitlin laughed, "She's not a piggy, just a baby."
"Oh sorry," Jai grinned and bent down to kiss his little girl on the cheek. "Its late butterfly, you need to get back to sleep."
"Daddy's right honey, you have a big day tomorrow," Ariana gave Caitlin a kiss too and tucked her back in as soon as Jai moved out of the way.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" Caitlin asked, followed by a nice, big yawn. She couldn't remember if they had any special plans.
"Well we are doing something special for you because you're such a great big sister," Ariana grinned; she definitely thought that Caitlin needed a little treat for everything she had done tonight.
"Really?" Caitlin yawned again.
"Really, now get some sleep," Ariana stood up and as soon as she did, Caitlin's eyes closed, sleep already overcoming her.
"Can you believe that?" Jai questioned as he and Ariana walked back to their own bedroom. "I mean could we have been blessed with a better kid?"
Ariana smiled, "I know, she's so wonderful. I know all parents say that but we've got the best kids, hands down."
"Oh definitely," Jai nodded his head.
"Hopefully they'll stay so wonderful after they hit puberty."
"I'm not even going there," Jai shuddered at the thought. "I want my little girls to be young forever."
"Wishful thinking honey, but they're going to grow up and I'm sure they'll still be daddy's little girls," Ariana giggled as she kissed him lightly. "I know I still was."
"Still am honey," Jai corrected Ariana to which she stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm sure your dad thinks you're wonderful, I know I do."
"Are you still trying the compliments to get a little action?"
"Maybe," Jai chuckled. "Is it working?"
"Maybe."