"So are we settled on everything?" Amanda asked. "Everyone's dress fits? Shoes fit? Everyone knows what time to be ready to get their hair done?"

"Yes sir!" Leighanne saluted her friend, causing Amanda to toss a glare in her direction. "Sorry," she mumbled, sheepishly. Do not mess with a woman right before her wedding day.

The other bridesmaids nodded affirmatively while Amanda noticed the one in the corner of the dress shop. "Kate? You okay?"

"Huh?" Katelin turned her head to look at her friend. "I'm sorry, Manda. What'd you say?"

"Just wanted to make sure we were all set for Saturday," Amanda replied. "No big deal, though. Everything fits, right?"

"Oh yeah." Katelin forced a smile on to her face. "Everything's fine."

"Okay," Amanda gathered her things together. "Then I'll see you all at the rehearsal dinner on Friday. Hair appointment is at 11:30 a.m. sharp at my house. Be there on time or I'll kill you. Simple as that."

"Jesus," Leighanne giggled, leaning over towards Katelin. "Never thought I'd ever see Amanda as a drill sargeant. Totally not her thing." She glanced at her friend, seeing that Katelin had barely paid attention to anything that she had said. "Something wrong, Kate? You've been kind of out-of-it today."

"Nothing's wrong," Katelin replied, albeit a little too quickly. "Just kind of preoccupied, I guess. I haven't seen my children in a week. I guess I'm just excited for them to come home."

"I'm kind of surprised you let him take them," Leighanne commented as they walked towards their cars in the parking lot.

"What can I say, Leigh?" Kate questioned. "I mean, they are his children. I can't really tell him no."

"I guess you're right." Leighanne shrugged and checked her watch. "Want to go grab some lunch? I'm starving."

The thought of food made Katelin almost want to throw up right there in the parking lot. "No thanks. I don’t feel so hot all of the sudden."

"Yeah, you look kind of green," Leighanne said, concerned. "What time does Nick get in?"

"Not until after 5 or so," Katelin replied, her hand coming to rest on her stomach, hoping that the nausea would disappear. "Shit, I don't feel so good. I'm gonna go home."

"Alright," Leighanne replied, slowly. "Go home and take a nap. I'll call you later to see how you're feeling."

Katelin nodded and, gingerly, climbed into her car, trying not to further disturb her stomach. She barely made it inside the house before she emptied the contents of her stomach into the nearest toilet bowl. When everything was out, she somehow managed to drag herself up the stairs and into her bed. Praying that she would feel better by the time the children got home, she fell asleep.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Kate?" Nick called, letting himself and the three children into the house. "You here?"

"Mom?" Aaron yelled. The house was completely silent and completely dark. Due to bad weather, the flight from Syracuse had been late in getting in and it was now going on eight o'clock at night. Nick was surprised he hadn't heard from his soon-to-be ex-wife. It had been a good three hours since he had promised her that he'd have them home. And not one phone call.

"Go take your things up to your rooms, guys," he instructed the three kids. "I'll find your mom." He walked back into the kitchen, not seeing her anywhere. After checking the rest of the downstairs and the back deck, he decided to go on upstairs. The door to her room was opened a crack and he peeked his head in. He saw her sprawled out on the bed, still in her clothes from earlier, with a trashcan at the foot of the bed. "Must not feel well," he said, quietly, to himself. He walked over and placed his hand on her forehead, causing her to stir.

"Nick?" she mumbled, squinting her eyes. "That you?"

"Yeah," he replied, taking his hand away. She didn't feel hot to him. "You alright?"

"No," she groaned. "I feel like shit. What time is it?"

"Five of eight," he answered, quietly. "I'm sorry I didn’t call. We hit all sorts of delays."

"It's fine," she whispered, trying to sit up, as a wave of nausea hit her. "Shit…" She waited for it to pass. "Where are they?"

Nick stood up and walked into the bathroom, grabbing her a glass of water. "Putting their stuff away." He glanced around the bathroom, his gaze lingering on the trash can. He made a face as he stared at it and then proceeded to fill up her glass with water. "Here you go." He handed it to her and then walked towards the doorway. "I'll tell them to come in. You want me to take them with me tonight? Until you feel better?"

"No." She closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling of nausea to pass.

"You sure, Kate?" Nick was genuinely concerned. She really looked awful. "I mean, you're don't look like you can really deal with them right now."

"I haven't seen them in a week, Nick." She opened her eyes and looked straight at him. "I don't want them to leave again."

"How about I stay here, then," he suggested. "That way they'll be here but you won't have to run around after them."

She sighed. "Whatever." The discussion was dropped as all three of her children ran in and jumped on the bed, excited to see their mother again.

Later that night, after Aaron, Brian, and Kayleigh were all tucked in, Nick stood in the doorway of his old bedroom, staring at his wife. She had stayed awake for about an hour earlier. Enough to talk to the children about their trip, to change into some pajamas, and to eat some chicken broth that Nick had made. Then she had crashed again. Nick could barely remember the last time he had seen her like this. Probably almost three years ago. He sighed and looked towards the bathroom, remembering what he saw earlier. When was she going to tell him, he wondered. Was she going to tell him? And how the hell would he react? He, himself, wasn't even sure of that. He loved her. He knew that he did. He was positive that she knew too. Especially since Beth was finally out of the picture. But it was about her loving him. He wasn't so sure that was even true anymore.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. Mr. McLean, you may kiss your bride." The church erupted into applause as AJ, with a ceremonial flair only he was capable of, grabbed his new wife and bent her backward over his arm, kissing her with everything in him. "Ladies and gentleman, Mr. And Mrs. Alexander McLean." AJ and Amanda made their way down the aisle, their wedding party on their heels.

After the receiving line, the whole crowd piled into their limos and cars and made their way the short distance to the Four Seasons Hotel in Orlando where the reception was to be held. Nick and Katelin rode in the limousine with Brian and Leighanne. The four of them arrived not too long after Howie, Claudia, Kevin, and Kristin. And the four Backstreet Boys waited for their fifth member to arrive at the reception with his new wife in tow. None of them ever thought that this day would come. The day when AJ McLean would settle down.

"You feeling better?" Leighanne asked, as she and Katelin sat at the table watching everyone dance. Nick and Brian were off with the rest of the guys doing God-knows-what. "Nick told Brian that he came home the other night and you were sick as a dog."

"Yeah," Katelin replied, sipping her water. "Much better."

"Champagne?" The waiter offered, stopping next to their table.

"Sure!" Leighanne grinned and turned to Kate.

"No thanks," Katelin replied and then turned back to her friend. "Must have been the flu or something. I feel ten times better now."

Their conversation was interrupted by Brian and Nick appearing back at the table. "May I have this dance?" Brian asked his wife, in a horrible, fake French accent.

"Of course." Leighanne stood up and allowed Brian to lead her out to the dance floor, leaving Katelin and Nick all by themselves.

"You wanna dance?" Nick finally asked, after a few moments of silence. A slow song had just started and Nick thought that this was the perfect opportunity.

Katelin shrugged, nonchalantly, although inside she was screaming. This was not something she had expected. "Sure." She stood up and allowed him to lead her out to the dance floor. Both were completely oblivious to the looks of shock that they were receiving from around the ballroom. Nick pulled Katelin close and she wrapped her arms around his neck. They swayed in silence for a few minutes, Nick knowing exactly what he wanted to say but not knowing quite how to phrase it. He didn't want to scare her but he needed to know. He had every right to know and if he began to wonder if she was ever going to tell him about it.

"So, how long have you known?" He finally questioned, stopping his movement and looking straight into her eyes.

"Known what?" she asked, looking at him confused.

"Don’t pull that shit with me, Kate," he warned. "I saw the test in the trashcan. Were you ever going to tell me?" Katelin just stared at him, shocked to her core. When the hell had he seen it and why was he staring at her with such hatred? "Don't you think I had a right to know, Kate? I mean, Christ, you're having a baby. How do you think that's supposed to affect our lives? What the hell are we supposed to tell our children?"

Katelin just continued to look at him, beginning to understand where his anger was coming from. He didn't think it was his baby. Her heart felt like it was shattering into a zillion pieces all over again. How could he even think that? Who else's would it be? Brendan's? Their relationship was so not near that level it wasn't even funny. Katelin resisted the urge to slap him across the face and, instead, just glared at him. "How dare you? God, Nick, do you even know me at all? Unlike you, I didn't jump into bed with the first person I saw after you walked out. Unlike you, it physically hurt me to see you with someone else. Unlike you, I'm stuck with the ramifications of one night of complete and utter stupidity on my part. A night that never should have happened. A night that you even told me never should have happened." She watched as recognition dawned on him. "Yeah, genuis. You got it. I figured after all you had said that next morning, that you wouldn't even want any part of this so I didn't know how to tell you. But fine, Nick, we're having a baby! I'm pregnant. You happy now?"

Neither one of them had noticed but the music was not so loud that the surrounding couples had heard the entire exchange and were now staring at them, mouths open wide. The surrounding couples included Brian and Leighanne, Kevin and Kristin, Jane and Bob Carter, and BJ Carter and her boyfriend, Chris. They all stared at them expectantly, waiting for Nick's next move. Before he could make any, Katelin spun around on her heel and fled the ballroom.

Nick made a move to go after her but Jane and Leighanne both stopped him. "Wait honey," his mother told him. "Let Leighanne and I go, okay?" Nick nodded, numbly, and stumbled over to his table, Katelin's confession still running through his mind. A baby. Their baby. Another one. Part of him wanted to jump for joy. Maybe this was just what they needed. This could be their second chance. But the other part of him wasn't as encouraged. He didn't think that Katelin would ever see it this way.

"Kate?" Leighanne approached quietly, Jane right on her heels. Katelin was seated on the edge of the fountain, her face buried in her hands. "Mind if we join you?"

Katelin's response was to sob into her hands as she nodded her head, slightly. Leighanne and Jane sat down on either side of her, each wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "How could he even think it wasn't his? He was just as aware of what happened that night as I was. How could he?"

"My son is an idiot, Kate," Jane laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "How many times have I told you that?"

"What am I going to do?" she cried, glancing back and forth between the two of them. "Another baby? Four kids all by myself? I don't think I can do this."

"Yes you can," Leighanne said, firmly. "You've done a wonderful job with the others. You'll do perfectly fine with this. Maybe this is what you guys need, Kate. This is your second chance."

"We'll never have a second chance, Leigh." Katelin wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "I thought that Christmas Eve was our second chance. Boy was I wrong. Nick doesn't love me anymore. He never will."

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