Dev was sniffling and wiping at her eyes. JC put his arm around her shoulder and rubbed her arm, “It’s ok Dev. I promise you this is all going to work out. I am not going to let anything bad happen.”

“Easy for you to say.” She sighed and looked down at Lyn sleeping soundly on the bed, “I don’t want to wake her up.”

“I’ll do it. You shut the door between your room and ours.” Dev nodded and walked across the room as JC sat on the edge of the bed near Lyn. He rubbed her back gently and whispered, “Sweetpea. Sweetpea you need to wake up.”

Her lashes fluttered open and she smiled, “Hi Snapdragon.” She reached up and caressed his cheek, “What’s with the worried face?” She noticed Dev moving out of the corner of her eye.

“Sweetie, you need to sit up.” JC forced a soft smiled, which only succeeded in making her more frightened.

She sat bolt upright, “What’s going on?” She pushed her hair back.

Dev crossed the room and sat next to JC, he took her hand in his and squeezed it, “Dev needs to talk to you about something.”

Lyn’s eyes ran over his features and then her sister’s, “What’s wrong Devony? Why have you been crying.”

Dev looked at JC, who nodded and then back at Lyn, “Al...sorry...Lyn...”

“Dev I don’t care! What is wrong?”

“I’m...I’m...pregnant.” The tears began to fall again.

“Whoa. OK. OK. OK. WOW!” Lyn blinked several times and then rubbed her eyes, “You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah.” Dev sniffled.

“OK. OK. So you’re pregnant. OK.” Lyn was beginning to stutter and JC cocked his head, “OK, OK, OK, OK...are you feeling ok? I mean are you sick? Why are you awake at four o’clock in the morning? You should be getting rest. OK, OK, so Ryan knows? Are you ok?” She rolled up on her knees and took her sister’s hand, “Dev, you don’t need to cry. Everything is going to be FINE!”

JC smiled, the moment Lyn’s brain kicked in, she was fine. She was going to be there for Dev no matter what. He knew she’d be fine, he had gotten a little worried when she started stuttering, but as soon as she was able to process the information, she was herself again.

“Al, how am I going to tell Ma and Da? He is going to kill Ryan.”

“Honey, he isn’t going to kill anyone. I’ll tell them with you. I’ll throw my body over Ryan if Da tries anything. Think about it Dev. A BABY. Lord...how is Ryan?”

“He is...he...he asked me to marry him.”

“Whoa. OK. OK. OK. WOW!” Lyn shook her head trying hard to clear it, “Holy cow! What did you say?”

“I said I had to think about it. I don’t want him to be asking because of the baby.”

Lyn nodded, “OK. OK. I can see that. That makes sense. Do you want me to talk to him?”

JC smirked, “I’ve already got that covered.”

“OK. OK. That’s fine. OK. OK. What do you need me to do? You name it and it’s done. Dev honey, do you want to have this baby?”

“Yes. I do. I wouldn’t dream of...I couldn’t...I want to have the baby.”

“Alright then. We need to make a doctor’s appointment.” She looked around the room, “My phone. Where is my phone?”

“Lyn, it is four something in the morning. The doctor won’t be in right now. We can call in the morning, besides...I sort of left your phone in Lance & Stasia’s room.”

“OK good point. No doctor right now. OK. That’s fine.” Lyn’s eyes were easily as big as dinner plates. She had not blinked in quite a while and JC was wondering if her eyeballs were drying out.

Dev looked at Lyn very seriously, “Is this going to destroy Ryan’s career?”

“I won’t let that happen. Lance and Stasia won’t let that happen. It’s going to be ok. Here is what I think we need to do. This is the only time in the next two days Lance, Stasia and I aren’t going to have cameras around. I’m going to have to talk to them about this before the MTV people wake up. Then JC needs to talk to Ryan, get a feeling for what he’s thinking. Later we need to make a doctor’s appointment to make sure you and the baby are both ok. Then, either you and JC are going to have to tell the parents and sisters without me...because we don’t need to explain this to MTV right now, or we wait until MTV is gone. Then we go from there. We have nine months to figure all of this out.”

Dev nodded, “I have to tell Ma and Da before they go back.”

“I’ll get Lance and Stasia to distract the camera crew then. I’ll be there if you want me to be.”

“I want you to be there...both of you...please?”

“Of course.” JC nodded, “Dev, you aren’t alone in this.”

Lyn nodded vigorously, “You are NEVER alone.” She glanced at the clock, “I better go talk to Lance and Stasia. Is it ok with you that I tell them Dev?”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

“You have a lot of choices Dev.”

“I know. But yeah, talk to Lance and Stasia...please don’t let this hurt Ryan.”

“You have my word.” Lyn stood up and walked to the door. “JC, take care of her.” He nodded and she left the room. She was shaking so hard by the time she reached her friends’ door, she was having difficulty even knocking. When Stasia pulled the door open she knew instantly that there was a problem. She stepped aside and locked the door behind Lyn.

Lance sat up and took a good look at Lyn, “What’s going on? Is someone hurt?”

Lyn shook her head, “Not exactly. We have a problem. OK...I have...crap...we have a problem.”

Stasia motioned to a chair, “Sit before you collapse. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know how else to say this without just flat out saying it, so that’s what I’m going to do.” Lyn took a deep breath, “Guys, Dev is pregnant.” She raised her eyes to Stasia’s and then Lance’s.

Lance swallowed hard, shook his head and then said, “Is she ok? She must be so frightened.”

Stasia nodded, “Has she seen a doctor? I could get some names. We’ll get her the best of the best Lyn. Don’t you worry.”

“But guys...Ryan is the father.” Lyn stared at them.

“I should hope so.” Lance smirked.

“You aren’t mad?”

Stasia’s jaw dropped, “About a BABY? The timing might not be the best in the world, but we’ll all help. You think Dev would want to work for us?” She turned to face Lance, “We could make her his road manager or something. Then they could be together all the time.”

“Not bad.” Lance nodded, “Or she could work at A Happy Place.”

“HUH?” Lyn’s head was whipping back and forth between them, “GUYS!”

“What?” Stasia cocked her head.

“My sister, one of my nineteen year old sisters, is pregnant. Ad you are wondering if she wants a job?”

“I was just thinking she’d like to be with him.” Stasia shrugged.

“I swear I think I’m still dreaming. I can’t believe this is all happening. My life is spinning out of control.”

“You have had a seriously crazy year, but you know what? No one is hurt. No one is dying. No one is going to jail. Everything is going to work out, and we can’t possibly be upset about a baby.” Stasia hugged her tightly, “You’re just in shock. Which is understandable.”

“You just put it all in perspective. But here is my concern, we are finding this out, with a whole bunch of MTV cameras floating around. Dev is going to have to tell my parents before they leave, and she has asked me to be there...I do not want that taped.”

Lance nodded, “OH! Good point, you don’t worry about it. I’ll break one of the cameras if I have to. How much can one of those cost?”

Lyn could help herself, she had to laugh, “Thanks guys. If you’re going to worry about anything, worry about Ryan. JC is going to talk to him.”

Lance shook his head, “I would not want to be in Ryan’s position.”

“Me neither.” Stasia agreed.

JC looked at his watch, “Four forty-five...yeah I bet he’s up.” He rolled his eyes and knocked on Ryan’s door. He had waited until Dev had fallen asleep, which had taken all of three minutes after she stopped crying. He was startled when the door practically flew open, “DEV?” Ryan’s hair was standing on end and it was obvious he had not been sleeping, “OH! JC, hey. What’s up?”

“Can I talk to you?” JC asked.

“Um...yeah, sure.” Ryan looked appropriately nervous, JC gave him credit for that much. He sat down in a chair and leaned his elbows on his knees, Ryan sighed, “You know don’t you?”

“Yeah I know.” JC nodded.

“I love her.”

“You sure as hell better.”

“I do. I wouldn’t have...we wouldn’t have...oh God.”

“OK, calm down for a second. First I have to ask, WHY didn’t you use protection? I mean, seriously...you are on a tour with a bunch of guys, it’s not like a condom would have been hard to find.” He shook his head slowly, “Dude, I’m just perplexed by that.”

“We made a mistake.”

“I guess so. She is like a sister to me. I have to admit, I have seriously considered killing you.” He was happy when Ryan’s eyes grew wide and he began holding his breath, “But that won’t solve anything and you are going to have enough problems when Da finds out.”

“I can’t believe all of this.”

“Me neither. Here’s the thing, I need to know HONESTLY why you asked Dev to marry you.”

Ryan looked confused, “JC, I had already bought the ring. I was going to ask anyway. I can prove it.” Ryan walked over to a bag, dug around and pulled out a small black box and a slip of paper. He handed them both to JC.

He opened the box and found a beautiful diamond ring. Glancing at the receipt, he realized it was dated, ‘Paid In Full June 17, 2001'. “This is over a month ago.”

“I KNOW! But she is never going to believe that I asked because I WANTED TO!”

“Yes she will.” JC stood up and walked to the door, “You take good care of her. I am trusting you with the life of one of the most important people in my life.”

“I love her with everything I have.”

“Then I’ll make sure she says yes.”

“Thanks JC...for not killing me. I was afraid of your reaction.”

“Remember that fear, you ever hurt her, you’ll have something to be afraid of.” JC left the room, closing the door.

Lyn was in Stasia and Lance’s door, with Stasia hugging her tightly. They both glanced over and Lyn sighed, “How did it go?”

“Two good things. First, he loves her and REALLY wants to marry her. Second, he’s afraid of me.”

Lyn smirked, “That makes you WAY too happy.”

“He needs to be afraid. If he hurts her, I will kill him.”

Stasia grinned, “JC, you are SUCH a stud.”

“Thanks Stasia.” He sighed. “Well, it’s almost five...anyone up for a run?” They all groaned, but agreed to go.

Lyn bounced along next to JC quietly and he looked down at her face, which still looked confused, “Do you want to talk?”

Lyn glanced over her shoulder at the cameraman, riding on a moped behind them. “Yes, like you wouldn’t believe, but I don’t think now is a good time.”

“I don’t think the timing of this thing could have been any worse. I will find private time, I promise you.”

Lyn glanced up at him, “You have been amazing. Thank you for being there for Dev.”

He looked genuinely shocked, “Did you expect something else from me?”

“NO! It’s just that you were amazing and...and...”

“It’s OK Sweetpea, I know what you’re saying.”

Lance glanced back over his shoulder, “Millie, are they going to be ok?”

“Harry, they are going to be fine. He really pulled through for her today. He’s her rock.” She looked up at him, “Like you.” Stasia suddenly stopped running and stared up at Lance, he instantly knew what was coming and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He pushed the hair back off of her forehead.

Lyn and JC stopped right behind them and Lyn realized Stasia was crying. Before JC knew what was happening Lyn was in tears as well. He pulled her against his chest and whispered near her ear, “It’s ok. Shh. It’s all going to be ok. I SWEAR to you.” The dogs were tangling their leashes around their legs.

The MTV cameraman was staring dumbfounded, everyone had seemed fine when they left the hotel, and now both women were standing on a city street, sobbing, with security surrounding them. Don moved a step closer to Lyn, Dre turned his back on the couples and glared at the camera. Ron and Lonnie both ushered Lance and Stasia off of the sidewalk to stand near a small tree.

Ron picked up his radio and called Jay, “Jay, it’s Ron I need you to get a van out here right now.” He laughed, “No, we’re fine...the girls are just being...girly.”

Don moved closer to his brothers and whispered, “Does this happen often?”

Ron laughed, “This never happens. Something major is happening, and Anastasia IS GOING TO TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON, if she knows what’s good for her.” He said it loud enough for her to hear. When she lifted her head from Lance’s shoulder, stuck her tongue out at him and then put her head back down Ron smirked, “She’ll be fine. It’s just been a long week. Welcome aboard little brother.”

“What have you gotten me into?”

“The best job you’ll ever have.” Lonnie said seriously.

Lyn sniffled, “What is wrong with me? Why can’t I pull myself together?” She pushed at the tears running down her cheeks.

JC whispered, “You’ve had four hours sleep in three days. You’ve had a major shock, and had to deal with the deposition, which we still haven’t talked about. It’s just too much. You need some rest.”

“I can’t. I have to spend the day with the family, and we both know how much fun that is going to be once we talk to Da. JC, what are we going to do? He is going to go INSANE.”

“I’ll do my best to keep him calm. Dev HAS TO say yes to Ryan. He bought the ring more than a month ago.”

Lyn and Stasia both looked up at him, “What?” Lyn looked over at Stasia who shook her head.

“He paid for the ring on June 17th. I saw the receipt.”

Stasia’s eyes got large, “LYN! We have to fix this!”

“I know! What are we going to do?”

Don rubbed his eyes and Ron shrugged, “They’re all better.”

“We should talk to Ryan. We’ll help him, Lord knows a man should not do this sort of thing alone...that wouldn’t be good.” Stasia said matter-of-factly.

“MILLIE!”

“Harry I’m not talking about you. You are exceptional.”

“Oh. Ok.” Lance smirked.

JC rolled his eyes, “You fell for that way too easily dude.”

“Noone is calling YOU exceptional.” Lance raised an eyebrow.

“He is VERY exceptional!” Lyn hugged him tightly, “Eww, and sweaty.”

“Love me, love my sweat.” He grinned.

“LOVE the sweat!” Lyn giggled.

The van pulled up and Stasia looked at Lonnie, “What did you do?”

Lonnie held up both hands, “Hey don’t talk to me, talk to my brother.”

She rolled her eyes, “Which brother?” Lonnie motioned with his head toward Ron, “RON! Why would you drag poor Jay out here at five thirty in the morning.”

“Maybe because you were being a blubbering fool and I didn’t want to carry you back to the hotel.”

She stood chest to chest with the huge man, “OH YEAH?”

“YEAH!” He fought to keep from smiling.

“You are a low down, nasty, pain in my butt.” She leaned up on her toes and poked him in the chest.

“You are a big mouth, big attitude, runt.” He leaned down until their noses were touching.

Don leaned over to Lyn and whispered, “Are they going to throw down?”

Lyn burst out laughing, “Throw down? Lord NO! The good part is coming up.” Just then, Stasia jumped up, kissed the top of Ron’s head. Ron scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder and dumped her into the van.

Lonnie pointed to the van and Lance ran over and climbed in next to Stasia. JC and Lyn followed and Security climbed I and Ron smirked down at Mark and his camera, “We’d be happy to give you a ride, but we can’t fit your little moped into the van. I guess we’ll see you back at the hotel.” Lonnie slid the door shut and laughed, “Whatever y’all need to tell us...TALK FAST!”

Stasia glanced over at Lyn who nodded and sighed, “OK, I’m telling you this BEFORE my family knows, so you need to keep it very quiet. Guys, Dev is pregnant.”

Lonnie’s jaw dropped, “Oh wow.”

“Yeah. We JUST found out, so it’s still sinking in, she wants JC and I to be there when she tells my parents and sisters later, so we need to figure out a way to get rid of Mark.” Lyn sighed.

“OK. Lance, I assume we are going to try to keep this quiet for a while, but I don’t want to have a pregnant lady walking around without security, so what I think we need to do for a while is, she can’t go anywhere without one of you four. That way, one of us is with you...and her.”

Lance nodded, “Good idea.”

Don looked over at Lyn, “Are you going to be OK?”

Lyn smiled at him, “Yeah. Thanks. Once the shock wears off, I’ll be just fine.”

Jay glanced back over his shoulder, “What happened to the good old days where the biggest personal problem we had to deal with was Justin getting a zit?”

JC shook his head, “We aren’t teenagers anymore Jay.”

“I wish you’d go back. I think we need rules.”

Lonnie and Ron both nodded their head, “You’re right. No more sex.” Ron narrowed his eyes at the two couples.

JC held up his hands, “DON’T LOOK AT US!”

Don patted him on the head, “Good boy.”

Dre yelled, “No getting hit on the head!”

“LIKE I WANTED TO!” Stasia rolled her eyes.

“It’s a rule now. Don’t do it again.”

“Hey! That counts for Lonnie too!” Stasia pointed.

“Don’t go there Feisty!” Lonnie growled.

“Hey the same FREAK OF NATURE wacked me.”

“OK, the rule stands, NO GETTING HIT ON THE HEAD!” Dre laughed.

“I think one of the rules should be Justin doesn’t get grabbed on stage anymore.” Ron offered.

Jay nodded vigorously, “I like that rule. Is anybody writing these down?”

“I’ll get on it.” Lyn giggled.

Mark was sitting out in the hallway with Sue, recapping earlier events while everyone was showering and getting ready for another long day. Sue was feverishly taking notes and only stopped when her phone rang, “Yeah.”

“Hey Susie girl! It’s Carson, how’s it going?”

“Carson? Things are fine...what can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to make sure my friends are taking good care of you guys, because if not, I’ll talk to Lance and Stasia.”

“Oh NO! They’ve been really cool. Mark was just telling me Stasia and Lyn had some sort emotional breakdown earlier, we’re going to try to find out more about that. That should be very interesting.”

“Can I give you one piece of advice?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t push them. That is one tight knit group, you push the wrong button and your career as far as NSYNC, Free Lance, FuMan Skeeto, and probably even Jive is all over. They don’t take attacks well.”

“Who said anything about attack?”

“Sue, I’m just telling you how THEY might look at it, you do what you want. My next suggestion, that you didn’t ask for is watch Lance, if you’re going to far, it will show in his eyes.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“OK. Well, you get back to work girl.”

“I will, thanks for that call Carson.”

“Hey, anytime. You know where to find me if they are giving you a hard time.”

“Thanks.”

Lyn had gotten in the shower and was inhaling the steam filling the air. She lightly rubbed shower gel over her arms. She was rinsing the conditioner from her hair when she heard the door open, “OK, so talk to me Sweetpea. I need to know what happened yesterday, how you’re feeling about Dev, and what you need from me.”

The hot water had started to ease some of her aches and pains, she had gained a few bruises in the basketball game and trying to function on such a small amount of sleep was starting to take it’s toll. “I think I may cry again.”

JC rubbed both hands over his face, “Sweetpea, you have every right to cry. I would never tell you to hold that back, but I really would like to know what happened yesterday, because that way I might be able to help.”

Lyn leaned her forehead against the shower wall, letting the water beat on her back. She took a deep breath, “I wasn’t worried before we got there. I mean I had talked to you, Justin sent me flowers, I had Stasia and Jess with me. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about, until we walked into the conference room with Reagan and Powers.”

JC rested his elbows on his knees, “Why did you start to worry then?”

“I FLIPPED OUT when Reagan introduced us to Powers, who also just happens to be his STEPFATHER!”

“His WHAT?”

“Yeah, apparently Reagan’s mother is married to Mr. Freak.”

“How did we not KNOW that?”

“I never met his family. Never in a million years would I have thought that THIS was even a possibility.”

“Why would you? Why would you ever think that? Holy crap! What does that mean for the case?”

“Who knows? Jess didn’t seem the least bit upset, neither did Stasia.”

“You got back a lot earlier than I thought you would. You weren’t supposed to be back until after the game and maybe not even until AFTER the party.”

“Yeah well, Jess cut the whole thing short and we left.”

JC looked over at the closed curtain and squeezed his eyes shut, “Do I want to know why you left early?”

“You’re going to find out sooner or later, might as well be sooner.” She pushed her wet hair back off of her forehead and sighed, “When Reagan asked if you and I were having sex, Jess flipped out.”

“He asked WHAT?” JC’s eyes flew open and his jaw dropped, “Please tell me you are not serious, because now I have to fly to Florida to kill the son of a....”

“Oh stop with the cave man act, Snapdragon. He is a fool, and was just doing it to see how far he could push us, they didn’t let him push us at all. I on the other hand, sat there with my mouth hanging open like a big idiot. I expected him to try to push my buttons, but the whole thing with Powers being his stepfather, and then all of the questions somehow relating back to you, and then the topper was him asking if we had, and I quote, ‘sexual relations’ I was really thrown. But Jess was excited, she thinks they don’t have anything.”

“Well I could have told them that, without you having to sit through that stupid deposition.”

“At some point today, I’m supposed to sit down with Jess and Stasia. I have a feeling that this is going to be the longest day of my life.”

“I hate to remind you of yet another thing we have to deal with, but how are we going to deal with Dev? Ryan honestly loves her, they SHOULD be together.”

The water running over her body was starting to get cold, “I know. Stasia and I will help him, she’ll say yes.”

Lyn turned off the water, and JC grabbed a big towel and placed it in her outstretched hand. She pushed the curtain back and stepped out of tub. JC quickly stood up and pulled her against his chest. “I love you.” He kissed her lightly on the temple, “There is nothing we can’t get through together. As long as we are together, we will get through everything, and end up on top.” He kissed the top of her head and caressed her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too. We are all going to be just fine.” She kissed his neck and he pulled her tighter against his chest. His lips found hers and she sighed, “I needed that.”

He increased the pressure of his lips on hers. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers dove into his hair. She was craving the comfort he was offering her. The bathroom was still filled with steam and the scent of her shower gel and shampoo. JC inhaled deeply and her fingernails bit at his shoulders. His tongue lightly caressed her lower lip, until her lips parted for him. His tongue caressed hers and she moaned again. He answered her by picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom. He laid her on the bed and settled next to her. His hand ran up her leg, settling on her thigh and her arms tightened around his back.

Lyn hadn’t had a clear thought since JC’s lips had first covered hers. She was getting lost in the emotions that were flooding her senses. Her entire body was on fire and she was enjoying every second of it. She nearly screamed when someone began pounding on their door. JC growled, “WHAT?”

“Guys? It’s Stasia. I have an idea. Can I come in?”

“Anastasia, if you value your life you’ll come back later.” JC yelled, before lowering his lips to Lyn’s collarbone.

“Um...thing is, I have...um...cameras and stuff with me out here.”

Lyn rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, “I’ll be in your room in FIVE MINUTES!”

“Yeah, OK...five minutes is cool.”

JC sat up, “We need a vacation.”

“We need to stay in a different hotel.”

“NOW THAT is a good idea.” He stood up, “I guess I should get in the shower.”

“I better get dressed, and make it look like I’ve been dressed for an hour.”

“I would like to mention the fact that the towel...yeah, you might want to wear more than that around me.”

She smiled the biggest smile he had seen out of her in weeks, “OH YEAH? Why is that?”

“Because this is a little too hard to resist.” His hand settled on her thigh.

“Don’t you get started. Mark is out in the hall waiting for me.”

“Then you get dressed, or I might not let you.”

“JOSHUA!”

“WHAT? I can’t help it! My girlfriend is hot!”

“Flattery will get you everywhere!” She kissed him, before carefully scooting off of the bed and digging around in her suitcase. She glanced over her shoulder, “JC, you’re watching me.”

“Uh huh.” He nodded.

“STOP! Go get in the shower!”

“You are NO FUN!”

“I am too! But we HAVE to get moving. You and I will have fun LATER! After we get my sister engaged, AFTER I talk to Stasia and Jess, AFTER we tell my family about Dev and AFTER we leave Las Vegas.”

“Are you talking about getting freaky on the bus?” He asked as he walked toward the bathroom, pulling his t-shirt over his head.

“Not freaky...but, apparently...the bunks aren’t quite as small as they look.”

“I don’t want to know how you got that information, but I’m glad you did!” He winked as he pulled the door closed.

She quickly dropped her towel and began dressing, “We need to get you out of the shirt more often.” She smirked as she dug around for her sneakers. Blarney ran over and licked her cheek, Lyn noticed a piece of string hanging from the puppy’s mouth, “What did you get into?” She realized Tipperary was very quiet, “Tippy. Where are you honey?” Lyn crawled across the floor to find the second puppy, under the bed with her sneakers which had been torn to shreads. “OH NO YOU DIDN’T! BAD! YOU WERE BOTH BAD DOGS!”

“WHAT HAPPENED?” JC called from the shower.

“THE BRATS ATE MY SNEAKERS!” All she heard was his hysterical laughter, “FINE! YOU CLEAN IT UP! I’LL BE IN STASIA’S ROOM!”

“I’VE GOT IT!”

She made her way down the hall to Lance and Stasia’s room in her track pants, t-shirt and socks. When she walked through the open door, she couldn’t stop her laughter. Laying on their stomachs on the bed, staring at the TV, they were having one of their bonding moments. Everyone on tour knew better than to speak when Iron Chef was on. “Eel ice cream. Why do they always make some sort of nasty ice cream? WHO thiks to make eel ice cream?” Lance covered his mouth.

“It’s always the Challenger. They panic because they know it’s next to impossible to win, so they make some NASTY thing hoping it will be good.”

“This is going to make me sick.” Lance shook his head.

“Harry honey, you don’t have to eat it.”

“Millie EEL ICE CREAM!”

“I know honey. I know.” She hugged him.

“Hey guys.” Lyn smiled.

“Hey! Come on in, they are getting ready for the tasting.”

“Cool.” She flopped down next to Stasia, “Stasia, can I borrow a pair of sneakers?”

“Sure. Why?”

“Puppies.”

“Eww. Sorry about your luck on that one.”

“Yeah. I’m thrilled.” Lyn rolled her eyes, “And by the way, I’m with Lance on this one. Eel ice cream is just wrong.”

“Thank you.” Lance nodded.

Lyn waited patiently while the winner of the of the match was announced. After Lance celebrated that fact that, once again nasty ice cream had been defeated. “So I hear you have a plan?”

“OK, it’s not really an original idea, and I can’t take credit for it, but I can vouch for the fact that it works.” She looked over at Lance who kissed the tip of her nose, “It worked for us.”

“What worked for Lance?”

“The whole, romantic, song singing, candlelight and flowers thing. We set up the ballroom down stairs, he sings to her. She cries, says yes and then...and this is the best part...we get to help her plan a wedding.”

Lyn smirked, “We get to help plan a wedding!”

Lance smiled, “Are my girls about to get girly?”

“Yes we are. Harry honey, can you go talk to the people downstairs and then fill Ryan in?”

“Sure. You guys will take care of getting her there?”

“It’s done. I promise.”

He smirked, “On an official note, we have stuff to look at for the movie.”

“Lyn and I will look at it. Don’t worry Harry, we’ve got a handle on it.”

“Why don’t I doubt that.” He turned and almost walked into a cameraman, “Sorry. Forgot you were there.” The cameraman just nodded and followed Lance out of the room.

Dev walked through the door, “Good morning.”

“MORNING!” Stasia jumped up, “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

Dev grinned, “No. Just tired.”

“So are the sisters up?” Lyn asked as she made room for Dev on the bed.

“Yeah.” Dev glanced at the cameras, “That’s why I came down here. We were hoping to have a family breakfast.”

“Sure. No problem.” Lyn nodded.

Stasia stood up and said, “Lyn, you need my sneakers right?”

Lyn studied her carefully, Stasia had a distinctly evil glint in her eye, “Um. Yes, I need to borrow your sneakers.” Stasia bent over and suddenly tripped and did a freakish somersault into Mark, sending him falling backward, and his camera slamming to the floor. Lyn jumped up and Dev ran over, “OH MY GOD! Are you OK?”

Stasia grinned up at Lyn, “Yeah. You know what a huge klutz I am.”

Lyn helped her up and said, “Mark? Are you OK?”

“I’m fine, but this camera is toasted.”

“OH GOD! I’m so sorry!” Stasia covered her mouth with both hands, “How soon can you get another one?”

“I can get one out her in two hours.” Sue said from the hall.

“I’ll tell you what, this is actually perfect. Lyn is just going to have breakfast with her family, so the cameras can hang out with Lance and I, and then pick up Lyn after breakfast. I am SO SORRY about this Sue! I am such an idiot!”

“No. That’s ok, accidents happen. You’re right though, I think we should keep a camera on you.”

Lyn held out her hand and Dev took it, “Let’s go little sister.”

Dev took a deep breath, “Ryan wants to come to breakfast too.”

“I’ll give him credit, he’s a brave guy.”

JC and Ryan were each walking out into the hall as the girls got to their parents door. They could hear laughing and talking coming out of the room. JC smiled, “I’ve asked Dre and Don to keep the hall clear for a while, I thought that might be wise.”

“So um...how do you think this is going to go?” Ryan looked at each of them.

JC smirked, “We’re here for you guys.”

“THAT did not help JC.” Ryank ran his hand through his hair.

“Sorry. I think they are going to be upset, after all, Dev is nineteen and this is only like the third time they’ve met you.”

“Again, dude, NOT Helping.”

Sorry. I’ll keep my mouth shut, I just want you to be prepared.”

“I don’t think there is anyway to prepare for this conversation.”

“It’s going to be ok.” JC patted Ryan’s back.

Dev offered her hand to Ryan who gladly accepted it, “Here we go.”

The four of them made their way into room and Don and Dre moved to stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the door.