[chapter twenty-two]

"You have to be kidding." Caitlin looked skeptically at the scarf JC held in his hand.

"I want it to be a surprise. Come on now..." JC said with a grin.

"You're just using this as an excuse to live out some bondage fantasy, aren't you?" Caitlin said with a grin.

JC looked down at the ground with embarrassment. "Damn. I was hoping you wouldn't catch on." He said with a straight face.

Caitlin laughed out loud. "Alright, alright. Tie me up, big guy."

JC stepped behind Caitlin and stretched the filmy scarf in front of her. He carefully laid the fabric across her eyes, and then tied a knot behind her head, careful not to catch any of her hair in the scarf. He leaned down and lifted her hair off her neck, then planted a soft kiss on her smooth skin. Caitlin smiled at the contact. "Taking advantage of me already?" She asked.

"Mm-hm." JC mumbled as he lightly kissed her neck again, then walked around until he was facing her. Kissing the tip of her nose, he tested the scarf for tightness. "Is that too tight?"

"Nope. And I can't see a thing." Caitlin said.

"Promise?" JC asked.

"I promise." Caitlin replied.

"Ok, then let's go!" JC said, taking her hand and leading her to his jeep. He opened the door for her and helped her inside. Smiling to himself, he hopped into the driver's seat and started the jeep. He pulled out of the driveway and onto the neighborhood streets. He could see Caitlin trying to concentrate on where they were going, so he deliberately drove around the neighborhood making strange turns until he assumed she was confused.

"Alright. I give. I'll stop trying to figure it out." Caitlin said with a smile.

"Good. Then I'll head over there." JC said, grinning to himself. "You should really learn to enjoy surprises more!"

"I'm just not a great 'spur of the moment' kind of gal. Come on, I'm a LIBRARIAN!" Caitlin lamented.

"And a damn cute one with that scarf over your eyes." JC said. "I'm having all kinds of kinky bondage fantasies now."

"Oh great. Here I am, vulnerable, blinded by a scarf, at the mercy of a crazed pop star that is driving randomly all over Orlando. I feel safe." Caitlin said sarcastically.

"Hush." JC replied. "We'll be there in a minute, and I promise it's not scary."

Caitlin smiled. She really was flattered that JC seemed to be making such a big deal about her birthday. And the blindfold was too much--she could tell how excited he was about the adventure, and as a result, she was getting swept up in the excitement as well. "Why are you making such a big deal about this?" She asked, voicing her own thoughts.

"Because I can." JC replied lightly. "I like spoiling people I care about, and I plan to let you have free reign in the spoiling department tonight."

"I can do that." Caitlin replied with a grin.

"Ok, we're here. You ready?" JC asked.

"I guess so." Caitlin said skeptically. JC walked around to the other side and helped her out of the passenger seat. With a grin, he stood her facing the building, then stood behind her so he could untie the blindfold. He carefully undid the scarf, and it fell away from Caitlin's eyes. JC felt a momentary panicwhat if she thought he was a dork for picking this place? What if she didn't get it? What if she wanted to go somewhere lavish?

All his fears melted away when he heard Caitlin's reaction. She immediately burst out laughing, then turned around to throw her arms around his neck. She planted a huge kiss on his lips, and then started jumping up and down. "CHUCK-E-CHEESE! We're going to Chuck-E-Cheese!"

JC laughed with her, thrilled that she was excited. JC had called the Love Shack days ago, trying to think of a 'different' place to take Caitlin for her birthday. Alex had told him that Caitlin never really had a birthday party, and that she had always wanted to go to an arcade or pizza place for her birthday. The light in JC's head went off, and he immediately called Chuck-E-Cheese to set up a party for her.

Caitlin looked up at the storefront again, and laughed again when she saw the huge banner that was directly beneath the Chuck-E-Cheese sign. 'Happy Birthday Marian' was flapping in the breeze, and Caitlin couldn't be any happier than she was at that moment. "Can we go in?"

"After you, my lady." JC said with a half-bow. Caitlin hurried up to the front doors, and flung them open. An empty restaurant, save the numerous employees who were floating around, greeted her.

"Uh, it's empty." Caitlin said with a puzzled look at JC.

"Not anymore." JC said, pushing her through the doorway. "Now we're here."

"You rented the whole Chuck-E-Cheese for us?" Caitlin said, incredulous.

"Yep." JC said. "Happy Birthday sweetie." He said, kissing the top of her head.

Caitlin stared at him a moment longer, then grabbed his hand. "Can we play skeeball?" She asked excitedly.

"We can play anything you want. You hungry?" JC said, gesturing to the table covered with pizzas.

"Ok, that can't be all for us!" Caitlin said, eyeing the pizzas.

"Well, a couple of slices are for you, the rest is for me." JC said with a wink.

"The human garbage disposal..." Caitlin said, shaking her head. "I want a slice of sausage!"

JC and Caitlin hungrily dug into the pizzas on the table, and laughed while watching the animatronic characters dance and sing on the stage. Caitlin couldn't stop smiling and laughing, and JC found the laughter infectious. After consuming numerous slices of pizza, JC turned to Caitlin. "So, what should we play first?"

"Skeeball!" Caitlin squealed.

JC walked over to the counter and collected a pocketful of tokens. Shoving several into adjacent lanes, he gestured for Caitlin to pick up the wooden balls and start playing. "Loser has to give a massage to the winner."

"Deal." Caitlin said, her face screwed up in concentration. About six games later, Caitlin held a handful of tickets and JC held 2. "You owe me major massages, mister."

JC grinned and shook her hand. "Alright, alright. I promised. You name the time and place..."

"I'm going to save them for a rainy day I think." Caitlin said with a grin. "Wanna play Lethal Enforcers?"

"Absolutely!" JC said, walking over to the arcade games. He and Caitlin played almost every game in the arcade, and JC beat Caitlin numerous times at air hockey. They couldn't stop laughing, and the youthful atmosphere of the restaurant merely added to their giddiness. The employees merely shook their heads at the two 24 year olds who were clearly enjoying their foray into acting like 7 year olds. The employees stayed out of sight, except to refill coke cups or replenish the pizza supply. JC and Caitlin were virtually alone, and enjoying every minute.

"There's a Ferris Wheel??" Caitlin shrieked as though she were 8 years old.

"You can't ride it." JC said, his face stern.

Caitlin pouted. "Why not?"

"Because you weigh more than the 30 pound limit." JC said. "I wanted to ride it too, but that's the only thing the employees forbade us to do. I guess they don't want us to break the precious wheel."

"Hrm. I'm not sure I want to anyway. It looks creepy. Like those commercials for the chairs that go up and down stairs." Caitlin said. JC laughed, and grabbed her hand and pulled her across the restaurant.

"Take off your shoes." JC demanded.

"Uh. Why?" Caitlin asked, puzzled.

"Just trust me." JC said, pulling off his own shoes. Moments later, they were both standing in stocking feet, and JC ran up a small flight of stairs. Caitlin hesitantly followed, then shrieked when she saw the huge bin of brightly coloured plastic balls.

"Oh! Yay!" Caitlin said, gleefully jumping into the huge bin, JC right behind her. The jumped around, playfully threw balls at each other, and generally reverted back to being children.

Caitlin stood up then leaped over until she was sitting right next to JC. She pressed her lips to his, then pulled back to smile into his eyes. "Thank you."

"For what?" JC asked innocently.

"For what!" Caitlin replied, tickling JC. He pulled away with a giggle. "For all of this, you dork." She smiled again. "I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. This was perfect."

"I'm glad." JC said, obviously pleased that his idea had been a good one. He placed his hands on either side of Caitlin's face and leaned his face close to hers. He rained soft kisses onto her eyelids, nose, forehead and cheeks before finally resting his lips on hers. As the kiss deepened, they wrapped their arms around each other and closed the distance between them. Caitlin's hands roamed up and down JC's back, and she moaned in earnest when JC began kissing her neck. He slowly leaned against her until she was lying on her back, buoyed by the plastic balls surrounding them. He lay across her, never losing contact between his lips and her skin. His lips returned to hers and his tongue began exploring her mouth. Caitlin gripped his shirt and pulled him closer to her, until he was lying on top of her. The plastic balls shifted and made popping noises, but they two people lying among them were totally oblivious to everything but each other. The kiss continued, and JC shifted slightly to get more comfortable.

At that very moment, the precarious balance of the balls shifted, and they tumbled downward into the bin, balls flying everywhere. There was a stunned silence, then Caitlin's loud laugh echoed around them. JC immediately began laughing as well, and they both sat laughing until tears sprung from Caitlin's eyes.

"You know, I'm convinced. Every time we start something, we seem to get interrupted by the
stupidest things!" Caitlin managed to gasp out. "It's a conspiracy!"

"Agreed!" JC said. "Frustrating as hell, too!"

The laughed a few moments longer, then managed to disentangle themselves from the balls surrounding them, and waded over to the entrance to the bin. Still laughing, they went down the steps and began putting on their shoes again. "Right. Now what?" Caitlin asked, standing up.

"You tell me. It's your birthday." JC said.

Caitlin looked around, and then sighed slightly. "I think our gracious guests are ready to get out of here. Apparently several hours of being in your famous company has lost its luster." Caitlin teased lightly.

"You know, for an *Nsync fan, you are certainly flip about our famousness." JC said with a teasing grin.

"Just trying to keep you grounded, love." Caitlin replied. "How about another game of air hockey, and then we change venues?"

"Perfect." JC said with a smile. After soundly beating Caitlin again in air hockey, they gathered their jackets and collected the leftover pizza to take home with them. JC stopped by the register to settle up the bill while Caitlin took one last look around the restaurant. She still couldn't believe that JC had brought her here, and reserved it all for her. Her heart swelled just thinking about the thought that went into thishe could have been unoriginal and taken her to a fancy restaurant or the opera, but instead, he brought her here. It was perfect.

With a smile, she linked arms with JC and they slowly walked to the parking lot. Caitlin took one last look at the storefront, and tsked when she saw her sign was gone.

"Relax. I put the sign in the car." JC said, reading her thoughts.

Caitlin leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you." She said with a smile. "So, where are we off to?"

"Your call." JC said easily, hopping behind the wheel of the jeep. "Dessert? Dancing? Driving?"

"Dessert sounds good." Caitlin said.

"Actually, dessert is at my place." JC said softly. "I got you a cake."

"You did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! I swear!" JC defended himself.

"Ok, birthday cake it is." Caitlin said with a smile. JC put the jeep in gear and smiled at Caitlin as he took her hand. She smiled in return, and with a contented sigh, settled into the seat for the trip to JC's house.

chapter twenty-three