"Well Michelle, this is it. The last week before the wedding."

"I know, I can’t wait."

It was June 9, exactly 7 days before Chris and Michelle were to be wed. ‘NSYNC had three weeks off. This week was for preparation, the second was for the honeymoon and the third would be spent getting ready to go back out onto the road again.

This week would be much different from what they were used to, but it would be busy all the same. The majority of everything was taken care of; it was just a matter of getting it all set up.

"Michelle, Chris, you have visitors!" Lance called from the other room.

Everyone was at Chris’ house for the afternoon.

"Ok, we’re coming." Chris and Michelle joined hands and went into the next room to see who had arrived.

"Krista!" Michelle let go of Chris’ hand and ran to hug her best friend. Krista had come to take Michelle to their last dress fitting.

"Aww, do you have to leave sweetheart?" Chris whined.

"Yes, hon, I do. You have a fitting this afternoon, don’t forget."

"I won’t."

Michelle looked at Chris. Knowing her fiancé the way she did, she said, "J.C. don’t let Chris forget."

"Aye, aye ma’am," J.C. said, just before the two girls left the apartment.

"Come on Michelle, we have to pick up Marlene and Erin before we go to the fitting," she said pushing Michelle out the door.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Welcome girls, please come with me." The four girls were escorted into a large room where tailors etc were waiting to get to work on their dresses. They were almost finished, since Mishi and everyone had taken time off in the weeks before for fittings.

"Michelle, your dress is almost done, but I need you to try it on and make sure it’s right. The bridesmaid dresses just need a few alterations, and they should be done by the end of today. You can take them home if you want to when you leave."

Michelle was brought to a smaller dressing room where her dress was hanging. She was told to change, and then come back into the larger room.

Mishi did as she was told. When she was done, Michelle admired herself in front of the mirror before going into the big room. The dress fit perfectly. Exactly how she wanted.

After twirling a couple times for herself, she went out to model it to her friends.

"Whoa, look at you," Erin said as Michelle walked in.

"Looks great Michelle," Mar added.

"I know, they did such a great job."

"Is Chris gonna see this before the wedding?" Mar asked.

"I don’t know, why?" Michelle asked.

"Don’t show him, I want to see the look on his face when you walk down the aisle."

"Ok." Michelle looked around, "where’s Krista?"

"She went to a separate fitting room to have the final alterations done on her dress."

"Oh, ok."

For the next three hours, the girls altered going into the little room to get their dresses finished. By the time they left, all the dresses were finished.

"Do you want to take the dresses with you, or would you prefer to pick them up later?" the tailor asked Michelle.

She looked at Krista. Kris shot her a look that said ‘If you leave it here Chris can see it when he comes to his fitting this afternoon.’

Michelle considered that. "No, we’ll take it with us," she finally decided. Mishi had no clue where she would put it to hide it from Chris in their apartment but it’d go somewhere.

The four girls collected everything, and turned to leave. They were just about at the door when Chris, J.C., Justin, Joey and Lance walked in.

"Hi." Michelle greeted them, "it’s not time for your fitting yet is it?" she asked.

"Yeah. Well, we might be a bit early. Ooh, is that your dress?" Chris couldn’t help but notice the large protective bag that took two of the girls to carry.

"Yes," Michelle replied.

"Can I see?" Chris asked, trying to peer through the opaque bag.

"No, you’re going to have to wait," Michelle said, pulling Chris away from the bag.

"Awe, I hate to wait," Chris complained.

"You’re so cute when you act like an 8 year old." Michelle kissed him, then gently pushed him back. "Go hon, its time for your fitting, the guys are waiting for you."

"Alright, I’ll see you at home later," Chris kissed Michelle and followed the guys into the same room Michelle and the others had just come from.

The girls left the building and went to Michelle’s car. Between the four of them, three bridesmaid’s dresses and Michelle’s monstrous gown, it just barely all fit into the car.

"Are we all in?" Michelle asked, closing her door.

"Yes," replied three voices amongst the masses of fabric.

Michelle started the car and they were on their way back to her apartment.

"Augh I'm so glad I already live with Chris," Michelle said when they were back at the apartment. "I don’t know what I’d do if I had to move all my stuff and get ready for the wedding."

"Thank your lucky stars Michelle," Mar said.

"I do, everyday."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Hey sweetie, how was your day?" Chris asked, coming into their bedroom carrying a clothing bag that Michelle guessed was his tux.

"It was relaxing, but that’s soon about to end," Michelle replied. "For the rest of the week, we’re into another hectic schedule."

"I know, but it’ll be worth it in the end. By the end of this week we’ll be Mr. And Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Besides, we have tons of help," Chris said as he hung the bag in the closet.

"Thank goodness for that. With so many people flying in for the wedding, I don’t know if there’s enough hotels in Orlando to put them all in."

"It’s a good thing everyone has room to spare," Chris added.

There were friends and family of Michelle and Chris from both hometowns of Alberta and Pennsylvania.

"I feel guilty that we don’t have anyone staying here," Mishi said.

"Well my mom wanted us to have some time to ourselves before the wedding. And we do have people staying here some of the time."

"Oh yeah, Lance and J.C. are here tonight, right?"

"Yup. They should be here soon, they just wanted to drop their stuff off at their houses first."

"Ahhh, so that was your tux," Michelle concluded.

"Yeah, you wanna see?" Chris asked, jumping up and walking to the closet.

"Ok, but you still can’t see my dress."

"Why not?" Chris pouted.

"Because, I'm under strict orders from Marlene not to let you see it until I'm walking down the aisle."

"Well then I'm gonna have to have a talk with mar, I wanna see."

About half an hour later, lance and J.C. arrived. Their houses were full of Chris’ family so Michelle and Chris volunteered their place to Lance and J.C. for the night.

It wasn’t until about 12:30 that J.C. decided it was time for everyone to go to bed, which was unusual, considering he knew the busy day they all had the next morning.

After J.C. went to the guestroom and Chris went to go get ready to go to sleep, Michelle hung back to talk to Lance.

"Lance, can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Sure, what’s on your mind?"

"Well, as you know, I have no living immediate family, including no father, so I have a huge favor to ask you. Would you give me away?"

"Oh wow, Michelle I’d love to but out of all the people you could choose, why me?"

"Because Lance, you’ve always been like a brother to me, and if I couldn’t have my daddy give me away then I’d want me brother to. You’re such a great friend, please?" she finished.

"You can always count on me Michelle."

"Thanks Lance, this means a lot to me."

Lance nodded. "You better get some sleep, its nearly 1:00 and we’re up early tomorrow."

"I know, but I had to do this first." Michelle got up and lightly kissed Lance. "Thanks." Then she headed back to her room.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Morning hon, get up," Chris said to Michelle the next morning.

"Oh, do I have to?" Michelle asked, rolling over.

"Yep. We have a bust day today. We have to go to my mom’s house for a couple of hours to meet and greet family and friends so get up."

Michelle groaned. "You make it sound like we’re working," she complained but eventually gave in. going on her usual 6 hours sleep, she got ready to face the day.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Hey you two," Chris’ mom greeted them later that morning.

"Hi Bev," Michelle replied.

"Hey mom, I know we’re late, but we’re here."

"That’s ok, so far, only Aunt Janice and Uncle Joe are the only ones here besides your sisters."

Michelle and Chris followed Bev into the house to see everyone. Shortly after they had gotten through the door, Chris was attacked by his nephews and youngest sister. Michelle was able to avoid being attacked herself, and went into the living room.

"Hey everyone," Michelle said as she walked into the room.

"Hi Michelle," replied most of the people in the room. She did not know Chris’ uncle or aunt.

"Michelle, this is Janice and Joe, Chris’ aunt and uncle."

"Hi," Michelle said.

"So you’re Michelle," Janice murmured, "we’ve heard a lot about you."

"Where’s Chris?" Joe asked, "I haven’t seen him in years."

"Oh Joe, its only been a year or so."

Michelle laughed, "Chris got attacked by a heard of animals at the door, he’ll be in here in a minute, if he can manage to get free."

"I'll go help him," Molly, Chris’ eldest sister, volunteered as she left the room.

A few minutes later, Chris came in carrying Taylor, his youngest sister, in his arms, followed by Molly and his nephews.

"There you are, I guess you survived the stampede?" Michelle asked as Chris sat down next to her, putting Taylor between them.

"Oh, I’ve been through worse," was all he said.

For the next couple of hours, family and friends came and went. The pile of gifts at the house was growing quickly.

Chris looked down at his watch. They had been at his mom’s for almost 5 hours.

"Hon, we should go," Chris said, looking at his tired fiancée.

"Alright," she agreed and got up to leave. After saying good bye to everyone, they together, left the house.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Hello?"

"Krista? Its Chris. Can you come over? There’s something wrong with Michelle."

"I’ll be right there," Krista hung up the phone and rushed right over to Chris and Mishi’s apartment.

"She’s locked herself in the bathroom and she won’t come out," Chris said, after he opened the door for Krista.

What’s wrong with her?" Krista asked, coming in and going straight towards the bathroom.

"I don’t know, she won’t tell me," Chris replied in a panic.

"Michelle? Its Krista, can I come in?"

After a minute, the door opened a little bit. Krista looked and Chris and then walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Michelle, what’s wrong?" she asked, looking at Michelle, who was crouched in the corner crying.

After Michelle didn’t answer, Krista knelt beside her.

"Mishi, what’s wrong?" she asked again. "Its ok, you can tell me."

Mishi continued crying, but after a minute, she looked up at Krista and handed something to her.

Kris looked down at what was resting in her hands. It was a pregnancy test.

"I'm pregnant," Michelle whispered through her tears.

"Oh Michelle," Kris hugged her, "why are you crying? Babies are a wonderful thing."

"Not when you have thousands of teenaged girls obsessed with the father."

"Michelle, don’t be upset. Everything will be ok, but you have to tell Chris."

"I know, but I'm so scarred. I still worry about his career after we get married, now I'm going to have a baby," Michelle confessed, still crying.

"Come on, Chris needs to know."

"I know," she agreed. After taking a deep breath, Michelle got up from the floor and opened the door.

"Michelle," Chris sighed, running over to her, "what’s wrong honey?" he asked, seeing she had been crying.

"Chris, I have something to tell you," Michelle said, the tears coming back into her eyes.

"Ok hon, come sit down," Chris said, pulling her over to their bed and the two of them sat down. Krista silently slipped out the front door. She’d call Mishi later.

"Now tell me, what’s wrong, why are you crying?"

"Chris, I-" Michelle stopped and took a deep breath. "Chris, I'm-"

"Michelle, what is it? Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad."

Michelle couldn’t bear to tell Chris the news. She got up and retrieved the test from the bathroom. As she had done to Krista, Michelle thrust the test into Chris’ hands.

For a moment, they sat in silence while Chris looked down that the test. The only sound in the room was Michelle’s soft sobs.

"You’re pregnant?" Chris asked.

Michelle nodded; not looking up at Chris as the tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Oh Michelle," Chris sympathized, "this is great, why are you crying?"

"You mean, you’re happy about this?" Michelle asked, finally raising her head to look at him.

"Of course I am. Why, aren’t you?"

"Well yeah but…" she lowered her head again. "I don’t know, I mean-"

Chris took his hand and placed it on her cheek. He ran his finger down her face and rested it under her chin. Lifting her face up gently so she was looking into his eyes.

"Michelle, why aren’t you happy about this?"

"Well, I was worried enough about your career with us getting married. Now we’re going to have a baby, this is going to be detrimental to your career."

"Honey, don’t worry about it, we’ll find a way to deal with it. This is more important then my career, we’re starting a family."

"So you’re not mad?" Mishi asked him.

"Of course not, I'm happy. I just wish you were too."

"I am happy, I was just worried about what you would think."

"I think it’s great," Chris reassured her. "Now dry those tears and come here, I want a hug."

"Ok," Michelle wiped her eyes and hugged Chris, but instead of letting go right away, she held on for a while. Chris did the same. It seemed they both needed some comfort. No matter how much Chris said he was happy, he also knew it would affect his career too.

"So when are we going to tell everyone?" Michelle asked, letting go.

"I don’t know. I think we should wait though."

"Yeah I agree," Michelle replied, perking up a little bit. "We still need to get used to the idea."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Everyone had just come from having lunch at the country club. Michelle, Chris, Justin, J.C., Joey and Lance had come back to Chris and Michelle’s apartment. The guys had gone upstairs, but Michelle ran into a neighbor she knew and stopped to talk.

"Chris, is something wrong?" J.C. asked, "you and Michelle are acting awfully strange and you’ve been treating her like she’s made of glass all day."

"Guys, sit down, I gotta tell you something before Michelle gets up here."

"Why before Michelle gets up here?" Justin asked.

"Because you guys aren’t supposed to know yet."

"Oh." They sat down and Chris began pacing, trying to think of a way to tell them. Finally, he just said it.

"Michelle’s pregnant."

"She’s what?" Joey asked in disbelief.

"Pregnant," Chris said again. He heard the bell on the elevator. "Please don’t let Michelle know I told you, we agreed that we’d wait to tell everyone."

Michelle opened the door. "Hi guys."

"Hi Michelle," they greeted, returning to their regular selves as much as possible after the news they had just received.

"It’s a beautiful day outside, why don’t we go play some basketball?" Michelle suggested later that afternoon.

"Are you sure you want to Mishi?" Justin asked.

"You’re never one to turn down the opportunity to a game Justin, are you ok?"

"Well its just-" Justin looked at Chris, "Nevermind, yeah sure, lets play."

Everyone got their stuff and went out to play at a nearby park. The teams were Lance, J.C. and Michelle verses Joey, Justin and Chris.

"Ok guys, lets play."

The game started and went on for quite a while. After about two and a half hours, they called the end of the game. Chris’ team won 14-12.

"Ha ha ha ha ha, we won, we won!" Chris chanted on the way upstairs.

"Oh well, we’re tied now," Michelle defended.

"That’s ok, I forgive you," he said, opening the apartment door.

"I didn’t know I needed to be forgiven," she joked, leaning in for a hug. "Oh wait," she said, stopping, "I don’t wanna hug you, I'm all sweaty."

Chris laughed, "I don’t care, so am i. Come here."

Michelle walked into Chris’ arms, returning the hug.

"Ew, I'm all sticky," Michelle complained. "I'm going in for a shower."

Later that night, when Chris and Michelle were getting ready for bed, Michelle brought up the day’s events.

"Chris, do the guys know?" she asked curiously.

"Know what?" he asked.

"Come on Chris, they’ve been acting funny all day. Justin even questioned a game of basketball. Do they know?"

Chris said nothing. He was wondering weather or not to tell Michelle the truth.

"Chris?" Michelle asked again.

"Ok, yes, they know," Chris admitted.

"Why? We agreed we wouldn’t tell anyone till later!"

"I'm sorry, I had to. The guys needed to know."

"What did they say?" she demanded. She was furious that Chris did this to her.

"They didn’t say much of anything, there really wasn’t anytime for them to react."

"When did you tell them?"

"This afternoon after lunch. You were downstairs talking to Mandy."

"So I wasn’t even twenty meters away when you told them?"

"They needed to know!" Chris exclaimed.

"I don’t care, I wanted to be there, they’re my friends too!"

Chris sighed. "Can we just forget this and go to bed?"

"No, I'm not in the mood to speak to you right now, I'm going to bed, you’re going to the couch."

"What?" Chris asked.

"Go," Michelle said, pulling a pillow and the extra blanket from their bed. Putting them into his arms, she pushed him out the door and closed it in his face before he had a chance to say anything else.

"Michelle come on. I'm sorry, I never should have told them," Chris called through the door.

"Go to bed Chris, we’ll talk about this in the morning."

Michelle waited for a reply from the other room but when there wasn’t one, she gave up and went to bed.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

"Michelle?" Chris called.

Mishi rolled over. "What?"

"Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry hon, but we need to talk. I don’t think we should be fighting three days before our wedding day."

Michelle groaned but got out of bed anyways. She opened the door and came face to face with Chris.

Both of them went onto the living room and sat down on the loveseat.

"Look Michelle," Chris started, "I was way out of line yesterday. I should have never told the guys."

"Chris it doesn’t bother me that you told the guys, I figured we’d end up telling them soon anyways, but what bothered me was that you didn’t let me be there when you did and then you didn’t bother telling me after you did."]

"I know Michelle, and I'm sorry, I really am."

"I know you are."

"Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" Chris asked, dropping to his knees.

Michelle laughed. "Of course I can, get up."

"Honey, help me," Chris plead that afternoon. "My stylist just called and she suggested we take the braids out of my hair for the wedding. What do you think?"

"Do whatever you want," Michelle replied.

"Do you have a preference? Do you think my braids would be too wild for the wedding?"

"Chris, if I didn’t like your hair, you would know it by now. Besides, they’re a part of you. If you’re comfortable with them, keep them in."

"But I know my mom would prefer me to not have them in."

"Chris, do what makes you comfortable," Michelle reassured him. "You’ve never been one to change yourself based on what other people think."

"Ok, braids it is then. Thanks babe."

"Anytime sweetie."

The rest of the week flew by and before they realized it, it was the day before the wedding and they were getting ready for a busy day. Rehearsal and other wedding events would take all day to accomplish.

"I’ll be so glad when this is all over and done with," Michelle admitted, rubbing her temples getting into bed. "This wedding is stressful."

"I don’t want you to do anything else sweetheart," Chris replied, "it’s not good for you or the baby."

"Chris, I appreciate the concern but the wedding is tomorrow and most of everything is done. Plus Chris, I'm not made of glass, I can take a little stress."

"I know you can, you’re a strong person, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you and I only want the best for you."

"Aww hon, I love you too but it’s almost over. One more day."

"I know, are you nervous?" Chris asked, jumping under the covers.

"Not really," Michelle replied. "You?"

"Yeah. I don’t know why but I am."

"Don’t worry," Michelle reassured, taking Chris’ hand. "Everything will be ok."

"I know," Chris replied. He kissed Michelle and turned out the light."

"Do you have everything?" Chris asked Michelle urgently the next morning. They had overslept and were running late. They were supposed to meet everyone at the church in fifteen minutes.

"Yes, lets’ go."

They sprinted out the door and down to the car. Chris’ tires squealed as they pulled out of the parking stall. The drive took about twenty minutes so they were about five minutes late but not everyone was there yet anyways. Chris and Michelle were taken to separate sides of the church to get ready.

"Ok, I know I said before that I wasn’t nervous, but now I am," Michelle said anxiously. "I can’t believe I'm getting married in thirty minutes," she confessed.

"Relax Michelle, it’ll be great," Mar said, "now hold still, I have to finish doing up your buttons."

"Um Michelle, we have a little bit of a problem," Joey said, coming into the room. "None of the guests have showed up."

"What?" Michelle exclaimed. "That’s impossible. Where are they?"

"I don’t know, but the only people that are here are the people who were at rehearsal with us yesterday."

"Did we put the wrong date on the invitation?" Michelle wondered aloud.

"Uh, no Michelle, but there is a mistake," Erin cut in. "This is the First Alliance Church, right?"

"Yes."

"Well it says the wedding is at the First Assembly church."

"Oh my god, they’ve gone to the wrong church? This is awful!" Michelle exclaimed. "We need to get everyone to this church, the wedding starts in twenty minutes!"

"Don’t worry Michelle, I’ll take care of it," Joey said, doing his superman impression and charging out of the room.

"Oh, out of all the things that could go wrong, why this? Couldn’t it just rain or something?" Michelle cried, sitting down on a chair. "I have the most unbelievable luck, it’s not even funny."

"Don’t worry Michelle, it’ll be ok. Joey’s gonna take care of it."

The wedding went on a temporary pause until everything got sorted out. Just as Joey had said, he handled everything and got everyone to the right church and everything was only delayed by half an hour.

"Alright Michelle, this is it, are you ready?" lance asked, offering his arm out to her.

She took hold of it and sighed. "Yes Lance, I'm finally ready."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today under the eyes of god to bring together these two people in holy matrimony. Do you Chris, take Michelle to be your lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live?"

Chris looked at Michelle. Tears were streaming down her face and all he wanted to do was hug her. "I do," he replied, smiling.

"And do you Michelle, take Chris to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Then by the power vested in me, and in the power of God, I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."