"Is everything ready?!" Regan asked, running around the reception hall.
''Where is the cake? I gotta put the bride and groom dolls on it!" Kristin cried.
"Where's Ashleigh? I can't tie a bow tie!!" Nick whined.
"Who is picking them up?!" Judi cried.
"No one. They are going to their house where Illianna is waiting for them," Denise said. Everyone was running around in the reception hall in the hotel where the wedding reception was supposed to be. Everyone decided to throw Gwen and AJ a surprise party with all their friends and family there. All the bridesmaids were wearing their dresses and the ushers were wearing their tuxes while everyone else was dressed up.
''I hate tuxes," Kevin complained.
"I hate bow ties! Where is Ashleigh?!" Nick cried.
"Cool it pal, where is Leigh?" Brian called out.
"Ash-Leigh? I dunno! I'm trying to find her!" Nick said.
"Not Ashleigh, you dork. Leighanne!" Brian said.
"Guys, what if their plane is late?" Regan worried.
"It better not be or else I'm going home," Whittney said. She had been hearing her parents argue with Ashleigh for the past week and she was getting sick of it. Ashleigh ran into the huge room and found Nick stumbling with his tie. She sighed and ran over to him.
"Where were you?" Nick asked, as she tied his tie.
"I left my VIP pass in the car so they wouldn't let me in," Ashleigh said, making his tie straight.
"Did you tell him?" Nick asked, about her dad.
"No," Ashleigh said, looking away.
"Ash, tell him before I do," Nick said, getting sick of Ashleigh avoiding her dad.
"I will I will," Ashleigh said.
"Promise?" Nick asked.
"Promise."
"Okay, now say it like you mean it," Nick smiled. He knew her too well.
"Fine! I promise!" Ashleigh said, laughing.
~~at Illianna's~~
"Tony, don't move from that window...I gotta go to the bathroom," Illie said, running to the bathroom.
"Ya know, if they pull up and see us both sitting at the window waiting for them...they are gonna think something is up," Anthony said.
"Maybe they'll just think we are waiting to see them after they eloped!" she cried out from the bathroom. Anthony shrugged and looked out to see AJ's black Mercedes pull into their driveway.
"THEY'RE HERE!" he screamed.
"AHHH!!" Illianna screamed, running out of the bathroom before zipping her pants. She held them up and ran over to her husband.
"Okay...act normal...don't do anything weird or seem nervous," Illie paced. Anthony laughed and grabbed her. He zipped her pants and kissed her forehead.
"Calm down baby," he said.
"Okay, do we have everything? Did you make up an excuse?" she asked. She looked over at Anthony who looked surprised.
"...excuse....?" he asked. She screamed and threw her arms up in the air.
"I asked you to come up with something to get them to the hotel with!!" she screamed, smacking her forehead.
"It's okay...we'll...we'll come up with something when we get there," he said, grabbing their keys as they ran out the door.
~~~~~~~~
AJ and Gwen walked into their house and threw down their bags.
"Home sweet home," AJ said, taking in a deep breath. Their dogs ran to them.
"Mommy and daddy are home!" Gwen said, picking up JD and Rex.
"Yes we are," AJ said, kissing her neck. The doorbell rang and surprised them both.
"Damn, the press are here already," AJ said, looking through the window. "Nah, its Tony and Illie." He opened the door and the couple ran in.
"GUYS!" Illie and Tony screamed.
"AHH!" Gwen screamed, running to hug Illie.
"Girl, you look great! I'm so happy for you!!" Illie screamed.
"Ahhh thank you!!" Gwen screamed.
"Congrats man," Tony said, shaking AJ's hand.
"Thanks! Hey, where is everyone? Gwen's parents didn't leave already did they?" AJ asked. Tony's eyes lit up and he smiled.
"No, actually, they decided to stay at the hotel. They thought you guys would need privacy," Tony said.
"Lemme see this rock," Illie said, looking at Gwen's ring while Tony talked to AJ. Illie over-heard Tony tell AJ about the hotel.
"Yeah!" she chipped in. "They actually just called and said they wanted you guys to come see them when you got back," Illie said, smiling at Tony.
"Ok...well where are they staying? We can go see them later tonight," AJ said.
"Well, actually, they said they are taking the girls shopping tonight...so maybe we could go now?" Illie asked.
"Oh the girls can go shopping whenever they want...I need to take a nap," Gwen said.
"Honey, we could just go for a little bit and come back early," AJ suggested.
"Sound like they're married already," Tony mumbled to Illie. Gwen sighed.
"Okay, let's go now. Where are they staying?" Gwen asked.
"The Hilton downtown," Illie said. "We'll come with you if you don't mind...I need ALL the details of the wedding!"
"Okay, that's great!" Gwen said, as Illie rushed her outside while they talked about the wedding.
~~~~~~~~~~~
In the mist of all the commotion, Howie managed to find Regan.
"Hey baby," he said, hugging her.
"Hey," she said, kissing his cheek. Howie has been dating Regan for over 4 months and he really, really liked her. She was different than all the other girls he dated before. But there was something about being the second oldest Backstreet Boy and seeing AJ getting married before him. Sure Howie admitted he wasn't completely ready to settle down, but it was his turn in line next. He stood there and watched Regan laughing at Maddy and Whittney who were twirling around in their dresses. She turned her head at him.
"What?" she smiled.
"They're cute aren't they?" Howie asked, about the girls.
"They are adorable," she said. Howie and Regan never really talked about anything serious but Howie wanted to bring the topic up.
"Can you imagine having little girls like that running around?" Howie asked. Regan's eyes grew wide and clouded over. She froze and felt her heart stop. Howie looked at her and rubbed her arm.
"You okay honey?" he asked.
"Yeah...," Regan lied, coming back into reality.
"What?" Howie asked.
"Nothing, I was just thinking...."
"About what?" he asked. He could feel she was hiding something but wasn't sure what it was.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," she said, putting on a fake smile. She had to fight back all her tears and it killed her to lie to him. Suddenly, their train of thoughts were interrupted by a cell phone.
"SHHH!!" Ashleigh said, calming everyone down. She answered her cell phone and nodded her head. "They are in the hotel!" she shouted. Everyone rushed to their places and Brian rushed over and dimmed the lights.
~~outside in the hall~~
''Why are my parents staying in the reception hall floor?" Gwen asked, as they walked down the hall.
"I dunno...but when I called to say we were here, they told us to meet them here," Illianna said. AJ shrugged and opened the door to the reception hall and saw a pitch black room. Anthony reached over and flipped the lights on.
"SURPRISE!!!" everyone screamed.
