Tay sat up and wiped his eyes. “That was great.”

I stood up from the floor and looked at him. “No, it wasn’t,” I said softly, shaking my head.

From beside me, Isaac gave a long sigh, trying to stop laughing. “You know, I never realized how cute Zac really would be as a girl,” he said.

I turned and glared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding,” I snapped. “Didn’t you see the look on his face?”

“Yeah!” Tay said, standing as well. “That was classic! I wish we would’ve had the video camera!”

Turning to him, I narrowed my eyes. “You know, Tay, for such a sweet guy, you can sure be a jerk sometimes.” Pivoting on my heel, I started for the boys’ bedroom.

“Jaye?” Taylor began. “Jaye, wait. I . . .” He paused. “Hey, wait. Jackie -”

I ignored him. I came upon the closed bedroom door and paused before knocking on it softly. “Zac? It’s Jaye-Jae. Can I come in?”

From inside the room, I heard a sniff. “Whatever,” came the soft reply.

Slowly, I took the doorknob in my hand and turned it. I pushed the door open slightly and poked my head in. Zac was laying on the bottom bunk, his face buried in a pillow. I made my way inside and shut the door behind me.

“Zac?” I asked again.

“What?” he asked, his voice muffled by the pillow.

I crossed the room and knelt by the bed. Running my hand over his hair, which was sticking up at an odd angle from being in the pony tail, I murmured, “Zackey, I’m sorry.”

The blond boy shifted uncomfortably but said nothing.

Sighing, I added, “It was really bad of all of us to laugh at you like that.” I paused, thinking of how to word what I wanted to say next. After a moment, I said, “I won’t lie to you; you looked . . . well, funny. But, that doesn’t make it right. And Tay’s comment about the video camera . . .”

“That wasn’t it.” Zac took his head out of the pillow and slid down next to me on the floor. “It wasn’t Tay or you guys laughing or anything . . . It was . . . I dunno - everything. I mean, I’m always crazy and having fun I guess because I’m so shy.” He paused, clumsily wiping his cheeks with the back of his hands. “But . . . that just wasn’t fun. I don’t know if that makes any sense or . . .”

I nodded slowly, putting my arm around his shoulders. “It makes perfect sense, Zackey,” I assured him quietly.

Softly, Zac rested his head on my shoulder. For the next few minutes, neither of us said a thing. At length, with one final sniff, he wiggled out from beneath my arm and stood up. “Okay, I’m ready,” he announced.

I stood up as well. Not entirely sure what he meant, I cocked an eyebrow at him and slowly said, “Okay.”

Either not noticing or not paying attention to the puzzled look on my face, Zac started for the bedroom door. After opening it, he turned to me. “Coming?”

I nodded. “Of course.” I joined him at the door and the two of us continued into the living room together.

Zac turned to me after entering the room. “Do you see what I see?” he asked suddenly.

I looked into the room. Indeed, I did see what he saw. Sitting on the couch were Ike and Taylor, a pony tail positioned atop each of their heads. “Yeah, I see it,” I managed to say.

Grinning, Zac turned back to his brothers and ran to them. He jumped up and landed with his body across Tay’s lap and his legs across Isaac’s. “It’s a good look. You both should do this at the next photo shoot.” After shooting both of his older brothers a hammy smile, he put on a serious face. “Nice try, guys.”

“You mad at us?” Tay asked.

Zac gave a small smile. “Can’t be,” he replied simply, slugging Taylor in the shoulder. He then sat up and slugged Isaac in the shoulder. “I feel so loved!” he cried.

Ike and Tay both slugged Zac in the shoulders. “You always do,” Ike observed, pulling the pony tail holder out of his hair. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to find a brush.”

“I think I saw one in your guys’ bedroom the other day,” Evie said. “I stepped on it . . . And then, I kicked it across the room.”

“Great,” Ike muttered.

Evie smiled. “I’ll show you where it is.” She led the way to the guys’ bedroom.

Lynnie spoke up from her spot in front of the television. “Hey, Zac. Do you wanna finish up that game?”

Zac grinned and leapt to his controller. “Prepare to bow to the King of the Sony Playstation!” he announced.

Lynnie smiled as she un-paused the game. “Prepare surrender that title to the Queen,” she advised.

As Zac and Lynnie resumed their game, I made my way to the couch Taylor was sitting on. Reaching over to take the hair tie out of his hair, I said, “That was sweet for the two of you to do.”

Tay smiled. “Well, when you’re a sweet guy like me . . .”

I smiled too. After successfully removing the pony tail holder from his hair and straightening it somewhat, I asked, “Why did you call me Jackie?”

He shrugged. “It is your middle name, right? Jacqueline? I remember Ike telling me the other night, but I was kinda half-asleep . . .” He shrugged again. “I guess I needed something to call you with more than one syllable.”

“Oh,” I said slowly.

“Hey, if it bothers you, I won’t call you that,” he assured me.

I bit my lower lip momentarily. “Tell you what: You can call me by my middle name if I can call you by your first one.”

Taylor debated this for a minute. Finally, he said, “Okay. Deal.” With a small smile, he added, “Jackie.”

I smiled too. “Jordan.”