Epilogue
Stephanie sat on the plane, exited and nervous. She was flying to Kentucky to be with Brian and his family during Thanksgiving. It would be their first time seeing each other since they'd started dating in June. The Boys had been on tour pretty much since then, or in the recording studio preparing for the album that would be out in February. Stephanie had started college at Georgia Tech in the fall. She was majoring in engineering, but was thinking of transferring her major to psychology.
"This is the Captain speaking to tell you that we will be landing in 15 minutes" came a male voice over the intercom.
Stephanie looked out her window and sighed. "You seem awful anxious to get there" came a friendly voice.
Stephanie looked at her seat mate, a thirtyish business woman, and smiled. "Yes, I am" she admitted.
"You meeting someone?" she asked.
"My boyfriend. I haven't seen him since June" Stephanie confided.
"I see" the woman smiled knowingly. "You two must have awful busy lives to have not seen each other in 5 months" she observed.
"Yeah, well, I started college this fall. And Brian's in a band, so he's always traveling."
"What college?" the woman asked. She wasn't interested in who the boyfriend was because she didn't listen to much music.
"Georgia Tech." Stephanie resumed looking out her window. Her mind was wandering again to thoughts of Brian.
"Good luck" the woman told her.
"With what?" Stephanie asked blankly.
"With both college and your boyfriend" the woman laughed, remembering what it was like to be young and in love.
"Thanks" she replied, looking out the window. Every mile she watched pass by brought her closer to Brian.
Minutes later, the seatbelt light came on. People began packing away CD players, walkmans, laptops, and cell phones. The plane began to descend and Stephanie brought out a compact to check her hair and makeup. She absently noticed that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling with anticipation. Her hair was fine, but she added another dab of lip gloss to her lips. Satisfied with her appearance, she put away the compact and waited for the plane to land.
Brian had been waiting in the terminal already for 25 minutes. Ten minutes ago, he had left his seat to stand by the window and watch. Now he was trying hard not to start biting his nails. Luckily, no one had noticed him yet, thanks to his hat and heavy coat. He'd been home for 3 days, and last night, he hadn't been able to sleep. The waiting room outside the gate was packed with people waiting for friends and family. Brian had staked out a place right near the door.
"Excuse me?" came a young girlish voice. Brian felt his coat sleeve being tugged on.
"Yes?" he asked, looking down to see a girl of about 8.
"Are you Brian of the Backstreet Boys?" she asked.
"Yep. And who are you?" Brian asked as he crouched down to the little girls level.
"I'm Lexi. Can I have your autograph?" she asked.
Brian reached into his pockets for a picture of himself that he carried to give away to the fans. He pulled out a pen and wrote a note to Lexi on the back of it. "There you go, Lexi. Who are you here to meet?" he asked.
"My brother Alex. He's coming home from college. Who are you meeting?" Lexi asked with curiosity. She hadn't thought that celebrities came to pick up people at the airport. They had servants to do that.
"My girlfriend" Brian said proudly.
"You have a girlfriend?" Lexi asked in surprise.
"Yep. Her name's Stephanie. We've been dating for five months. You want to meet her?" Brian asked.
Lexi's eyes lit up. "All right!" she squealed.
"Shhhhhhhhh" Brian whispered, holding a finger to his lips. ""You don't want anyone else to know I'm here, do you?" he asked, tugging a ponytail. At that moment, a woman walked up to Lexi, obviously the girl's mother.
Brian quietly introduced himself to her. She introduced herself. "Mary Bell" she said, holding out her hand. Brian didn't have a chance to explain that Lexi wanted to meet Stephanie because, one, Lexi beat him to it, and two, the plane landed. Brian watched the plane go around the runway and pull up at the gate. Five minutes later, passengers began to get off.
Stephanie had unbuckled her seatbelt as soon as the plane hit the ground. Stephanie's seat mate, who had finally introduced herself as Meghan Morant, kindly let Stephanie into the aisle first. Since she had been near the front of the plane, she was off in five minutes. She wanted to run up the ramp, but people were walking slowly, burdened with their luggage. Stephanie looked over an old lady's head and made eye contact with Brian, who was waiting right outside the door. As soon as the old lady had gotten out the door, Stephanie flung herself into Brian's waiting arms.
"Hey, baby," he whispered into her ear, "there's someone who wants to meet you." Stephanie pulled back, but Brian kept an arm around her as he introduced Lexi and Mary.
Lexi looked shyly up at the girl who looked no older that her sister Ashlie, who was 17. "Do you love Brian?" she asked solemnly.
Stephanie started laughing and bent down to give the little girl a hug. "You bet I do, Lexi!" she whispered into her ear. "Tell you what, Lexi" she started out, looking up at Mary. "If it's okay with your Mom, how 'bout you give me your phone number and I'll call you back later. We can talk all about the Boys!" she told her, throwing a laughing smile at Brian, who rolled his eyes.
"Don't listen to a thing she tells you, Lexi" he warned, smiling down at Stephanie.
Mary gave Stephanie their home number. "Hey, Lex, who's your favorite Backstreet Boy?" Stephanie asked, as Lexi, her Mom, and brother prepared to leave.
"Nick!" she said with a giggle. Then they left. Stephanie turned back to Brian, who promptly pulled her in for a kiss.
"I missed you" he whispered.
"I missed you too. Now let's get my luggage before it disappears!" Stephanie laughed. They slowly walked to get the luggage, holding hands and just catching up.
As Brian pulled his mother's car into the driveway, he warned her that his whole family, his brother's wife included, were eagerly awaiting to meet her. "Oh, yeah, and Kev's here, too" he remembered.
"By himself, or with his family?" Stephanie nervously asked as Brian pulled into the garage.
"He brought his mother" Brian told her, coming over to open her door. She got out. "It shouldn't be too bad" he comforted, kissing her as the door to the house flew open. "Hey, Mom, I'd like you to meet Stephanie" he introduced.
"Hi, Mrs. Littrell" Stephanie greeted her as Brian's mother hugged her.
"Oh, please, you're making me feel old. Call me Jackie. Now let's get you in the nice, warm house...." the petite woman told her, leading Stephanie into the kitchen.
Brian grinned as he watched them, then moved to the trunk to get Stephanie's suitcase. He stumbled into the kitchen to find Kevin, Harold, and his Dad smiling.
"Brian, I think you've just lost your woman" his brother greeted him.
Brian arched an eyebrow.
"I think what he's trying to tell you is-" started his father.
"Mom's brought out the baby pictures!" Harold finished. Harold, Sr. glared at his oldest son. Harold didn't even notice, cause he was laughing at the look of horror on Brian's face.
"Already?" Brian asked faintly. The other three laughed as the watched as Brian headed for the living room.
"This is going to be a long holiday!" Kevin announced cheerfully.
