"Good morning Toronto! It's nine thirty-four on this beautiful Tuesday morning...it's gonna reach a high of twenty degrees today, so make sure you get out and enjoy that beautiful sunshine! Now, on to the news...." the radio DJ announced.

Lauren sat in her car, listening to the radio drone on and on. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel of her car as she inched forward in traffic. "Damn it," she cursed silently to herself, "I'm gonna be late."

She tried to look over the mass of cars ahead of her to find the reason why she was going so slow, but couldn't tell if it was an accident, or just normal Toronto rush hour traffic.

Twenty minutes went by, and she finally made it off the highway, and arrived at her office right on time. "Hey Lauren," said her co-worker, Bailey, from her desk, "did you make it through the traffic alright?"

"Yeah, barely," Lauren said, putting her briefcase down on her desk, "it was hell out there! These damn drivers don't know what they're doing!"

Bailey just laughed. Lauren picked up her messages and things she had to do that day. "Ugh," she muttered to herself, "another day of the same old crap....why is my life so boring?!"

She found herself with a rather large amount of work to do that day....it seemed as though buyers for Holt Renfrew never got a break during the day; always filling out order forms for this or that. Lauren liked her job, and was ecstatic when she had been hired almost two years ago, but found it sometimes boring and repetitive.

The day went by, and Lauren found herself becoming more and more distracted from her work. Even Bailey noticed it. "What's up with you today?" she asked during their lunch break, "you seem so out of it today!"

Lauren shrugged as she chewed half-heartedly on her salad she had bought in its original clear plastic container. "It just seems like my life is going nowhere and I'm going with it!" she exclaimed.

At around two-thirty that afternoon, she stopped typing in order forms and inadvertently began to daydream. She wasn't thinking of anything in particular, but just about everything that had happened to her.

She was twenty years old, and the youngest employee in the offices of Holt Renfrew. She was born and bred in Toronto, and grown up with her mother, Joan, and no siblings. She didn't have a father either.

Of course she had had one at one point, but she didn't know who he was, or if he was still alive right now, but she had never met Mystery Dad' at any point in her life. She had always been very curious growing up, and always felt left out whenever the other kids her age would talk about playing baseball with their dad or Father's Day. Her mom always tried to make up for it, but there was just some aspect of it that couldn't be replaced.

Many, many, many times while she was growing up, Lauren had asked about who her dad was and if she would ever be able to meet him. But, her mom had always either changed the subject, or replied, "Maybe I'll tell you someday when you're older."

But Lauren had got this far without a Father figure, and she didn't intend on it changing her life in any way. She just sometimes wondered who it could be.

Lauren lived alone in a two-bedroom apartment in central Toronto, not far from her mother's house and the house she had grown up in. All in all, she had a good life: she went on occasional dates with guys she met, and even though she hadn't found someone she could even consider calling her "boyfriend", she was content. She had an active social life, despite her job, and still knew how to have a good time.

"Hello?! Earth to Lauren?!"

Lauren snapped back to attention when she saw Bailey waving her hand in front of her face. "Sorry," she giggled apologetically, "I kinda zoned out there for a minute."

"For a minute?" Bailey laughed, "sorry to tell you, but it was more than one minute!"

Lauren just laughed, and started back on her order forms. I might as well get this stuff over with,' she thought to herself, then maybe I can leave early...'

She recalled her mom saying something about them two going out for dinner that night, so she figured she had better finish early and call her mom for arrangements. Maybe that's just what I need,' she mused to herself, a nice, quiet dinner with Mom....that will definitely help me relax.'

"Can I take your order?" the waiter asked, as Lauren and her mom sat in the restaurant gazing at their menus.

The two placed their order, and handed him the menus. "So, how was work today, sweetie?" Joan, her mom, asked. Lauren shrugged, as she fiddled with the edge of the tablecloth. She didn't want to tell her mom that she was bored at times with her job...she knew that she would get a lecture about how lucky she was to have been offered this job at such a young age and she should be grateful.

"You seem quiet today," her mom commented, "is everything okay?"

"Yeah Mom, I'm fine," she said in her most convincing voice. However, twenty years of being her mom only came with experience. "Lauren, I know something's wrong...come on, you know you can tell me," Joan said.

Lauren and her mom had been very close with each other over the years....they were really all each other had. Joan had dated a couple times, but never remarried. She hadn't really even had a serious relationship.

But Lauren just shrugged again. Joan gave her an unsatisfied look and shook her head. "Ya know," she countered, "sometimes you are just so stubborn......just like your father."

Lauren, who had just been taking a sip of her water, stopped mid-sip and stared at her mother. "My father....?" she trailed off, her eyes not blinking.

Joan nodded calmly and folded her hands in her lap. "My father?" Lauren said, more loudly this time, "what do you mean?"

"I mean that your father was stubborn too, so I was just saying...." her mom started, but was immediately cut off by Lauren, "I KNOW what you said, Mom, I was just wondering why, after twenty years of me being alive in this world, you picked this exact minute to talk about my father!"

Joan shrugged calmly, as a faraway look in her eyes appeared. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think it's time you knew who your father was," she said.

Lauren nodded and swallowed hard. This was the moment she had been waiting for, for as long as she could remember. Now, the only thing going through her head was, Maybe it's better that I not know.'

Her mom looked her straight in the eye and asked, "Are you sure you're ready for this, Lauren?"

Lauren nodded again as her hands began to tremble. Then, her mom continued: "Well, honey, when I was 24 years old, I lived in Florida because that was where I was attending University at the time....one day, I met this charming man, around my age, whom I began to date.

"We were inseparable, and it seemed as though we were in love, and everyone knew it, including us. Things were going great until my doctor told me I was pregnant."

"Here are your orders...enjoy," the waiter said, suddenly appearing from the kitchen and placing their food in front of them. Lauren jumped at the sound of his voice, but kept her eyes locked on her mom. "Okay, so then what happened?" she asked, and her mom carried on: "So, I was pregnant and I wasn't about to have an abortion or anything like that.....and I had to tell your father.

"So, I told him that I was expecting a child, but he wasn't exactly thrilled. In fact, he blew up at me, telling me that he couldn't take on the responsibility of a child and that I had to have an abortion. But, I plainly refused. There was no way I was going to do that, and I told him so. I told him I was going to have this baby, no matter what.

"So, after this whole ordeal was over, he told me he was leaving me, and at that point I wanted the same thing too. He packed up and moved out of the apartment we shared, and I did the same. He moved back into his parents' house, and I moved up to Toronto to be with my parents, your grandparents, so they could help me raise this child."

"Whoa, wait a sec," Lauren interrupted, "this guy...my father...what was his name?"

"His name was Robert.....I think he still lives in Florida, but I haven't spoken to him since the day he moved out. I told him I didn't want him liable for child support or anything...I just wanted him out of my life forever....and he has been," her mom finished, sighing.

Lauren was shocked. This was the moment she had been waiting for her whole life, and now that she knew, she only felt more incomplete. "But....but...." Lauren stuttered, "where is he now?! Does he know about me at all?! He doesn't even know I exist!"

Joan gave Lauren a half-smile. "I KNOW he doesn't know anything about you.....that's why I told you about him....I figured after I told you all this you'd want to try to contact him," she said shyly.

Lauren just sat there, not knowing what to say or do. She wasn't sure if she wanted to contact Robert or not....he hadn't been in her life for almost twenty-one years....why should he start now? Maybe she was better off without him...maybe she would have been better off not knowing at all.

"Would you like some more coffee, miss? Miss?"

"Oh, yeah, um sure, thanks," Lauren answered, handing her cup over. She glanced quickly at the young man sitting next to her and wondered if he had a father. She wanted to ask him what he looked like, and what kind of things he liked to do...but she figured if she did, she'd look like a huge weirdo.

After much deliberation and sleepless nights, she had finally decided to go to Florida. Her mom had given her as much information as she knew, which wasn't much. She had told her boss at Holt Renfrew that she needed a little while to figure out who she was. He had been really understanding and told her that she could take as much time as she needed, and she could always come back to her job.

Leaving her mom was the hardest of it all. Just before she had left, her mom had said, "I just want you to know, that I really hope you find what you're looking for out in Florida....but I don't want you to be disappointed."

The look in her mom's eyes was one that Lauren would never forget. It was sadness and sympathy all rolled into one.

But here she was, on the air plane, on her way to try to find her dad. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of paper in which Joan had written his name, and phone number where he had last been at. It was at that very moment that Lauren realized that finding Robert may be impossible.

"This is your captain speaking......we are scheduled to land in Orlando within the next twenty minutes....please return your tray tables and seats to the upright position and fasten your seatbelts...thank you," the Captain announced.

Butterflies swarmed around in Lauren's stomach. She began to fidget anxiously as she felt the plane slowly descend. In twenty-five minutes, they had taxied to the gate and began to unload.

She walked like a stranger into the airport. No one was there to meet her; no one even knew or cared that she was there.

She soon hailed a cab to the hotel which she planned to stay at. She arrived, and dropped off her suitcases. "Oh God," she said out loud, sinking down onto the bed, "what am I doing?"

Lauren looked around the foreign room, feeling like a stranger in a strange land. "Well," she sighed, to an empty room, "I may as well get started....if I'm going to be disappointed, I may as well find out now rather than later!"

She called information, and asked if they had any listings for her father's name. They had only one listing, and she got the address and phone number. "Thank you," she said, as she hung up the phone. ‘I guess I'll be on my way,' she said to herself.

She clasped the paper in her hand as she hailed another cab outside the hotel. "1425 Westover Street," she told the cabbie.

Within 10 minutes, she arrived outside the house. She waited a minute before she got out of the cab, soaking in this whole experience. She stepped outside, and the cabbie drove away, leaving her all alone.

She took in a deep breath, and started for the front door. It was a nice house; old-fashioned looking, but medium sized. There were flowers planted in the front garden, and many exotic looking plants lined around the house. All in all, it looked like somewhere a family could live.

Before she rang the doorbell, she took in another deep breath. Her hand shook, as she reached for the doorbell. ‘Maybe he's not home,' she thought to herself, trying to calm down, ‘maybe it's the wrong guy named Robert and this whole thing will just be a learning experience.'

But as she rang the bell, she got this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. The door suddenly opened, and there stood a man, holding a remote control to a TV.

"Can I help you?" he said, looking somewhat disturbed.

Lauren just stood there, not knowing what to say. She wasn't even positive that this guy was the Robert she was looking for, but something told her it was. "Uh...I, uh......I'm looking for Robert?" she finally managed to say.

"Yeah, I'm him," he answered, looking confused, "what is it you want?"

Lauren took in another breath to try and steady her breathing. "The, uh, Robert who used to date a woman named Joan?" she said, her hands shaking.

Robert's face went white. His eyes were now fixed on Lauren, and his breathing, too, became unsteady. "Yeah..." he answered softly.

Lauren bit her lip as her eyes glazed over with tears. "I'm your daughter," she finally said.

Roberts eyes got wide, as he grabbed onto the doorpost for support. "You're my.....my...what?" he stuttered, his eyes shifting from left to right.

"I'm your daughter," she answered, her voice quavering, "Joan is my mother."

Robert was speechless. He clasped his hands together, as all he could whisper was, "Oh my God..."

Lauren didn't know what to do either. She just stood there, shaking, tears forming in her eyes. Here he was, her father, the man who had partly created her, and all she could do was cry. The tears started flowing down her cheeks as she blubbered, "I'm...I'm sorry......I didn't mean to come and scare you..."

"No...no....it's okay....that just shocked me...I'm still a little shaken up...do you wanna come in?" he finally was able to say. Lauren nodded and entered the house. It was quaint, with pictures all over the place and nice furniture all over the various rooms. It was also kinda awkward, as the both sat down on the couch in the living room in complete silence.

"I'm really sorry to come here and disturb you like this, but I came all the way from Toronto where me and my mom live now, so..." she started, hoping that he wouldn't hold it against her.

"It's okay," he said again, moving next to her on the couch. "I'm Lauren, by the way," she added. "Hi Lauren," he said softly, and then said, "Oh God.... I can't believe you're here...honestly I never thought I'd ever see or hear from you again...God, I think about you every day."

Lauren smiled and looked down. "My mom told me about you only about a week ago...until then I never knew who you were, but I thought it might be good if I found out," she said.

"How old are you?" he asked, trying to do calculations in his head. "I'm twenty...almost twenty-one," she answered, studying her father's face. It made her realize how she could have ever thought that this man wasn't the right Robert she was looking for. His eyes matched Lauren's almost identically, and some features were so similar...some of the things that Lauren had wondered about before; why hers differed from her mom's. Now it was all becoming clear.

"Wow...." he muttered, "Twenty years old....you're almost the same age as my son."

That moment was the very point when Lauren noticed exactly who was in all the pictures around the house. There were pictures of this boy as a baby, and most recently as a teenager. Robert noticed Lauren looking at the pictures, and said, "Yeah...that's him....that's my son...he's nineteen now."

"Your son," Lauren repeated, "my half-brother."

Lauren hadn't even taken into account the fact that Robert might have remarried and had other children, but now it was finally hitting home. "Yeah," Robert said sheepishly, "his name's Alexander James....but everyone calls him AJ."

"AJ," Lauren repeated, picking up the framed picture. This particular picture looked like a school picture, and AJ looked about fourteen. This was all going a little too fast for Lauren; a week ago she only had her mom, now she had a dad AND a brother.

"Does he live with you?" Lauren asked, still staring at the picture, noting the remarkable similarities between her and AJ. "No," answered Robert, shaking his head, "when he was four, his mom, Denise, and I got divorced...I don't see him much at all.....these pictures are really all I've got."

She continued to stare blankly at the picture. ‘My brother,' she kept saying in her head. "I've always wanted a brother," she said out loud, putting the picture down and looking at her father. Robert nodded and smiled, "I'll give you his address and phone number.....but you just have to promise that you wont give it out to anybody."

"Why not?" asked Lauren, totally confused.

"Because," answered Robert, "there are just some people out there who would want to get their hands on his number."

"Why? I don't understand....." she began, just as her eyes drifted over to a framed article. "BACKSTREET BOYS BREAKING OUT ALL OVER THE WORLD" it read, with a picture of a group of five boys, one which definitely was AJ.

"Backstreet Boys?" she asked, even more confused, "where have I heard that before?"

"AJ is part of a singing group called the Backstreet Boys....they're quite popular in Canada, so I figured you would have heard of them," her dad answered, smiling proudly.

Lauren nodded, taking all of this in. It was getting to be all too much, but one thing she knew was she had to meet AJ.

Lauren and Robert talked for a while longer, and then Lauren said she had to go. She called a cab to his house and stood by the front door waiting. "Lauren, I...." started her dad, as he stood waiting with her, "I....just wanna say that I'm really glad you decided to come today...and that I'm really sorry about whatever hardships this whole ordeal has put you through....I never wanted you to grow up without a father, but it kinda just happened that way....for the last twenty years I've though numerous times about tracking you down, but I figured it would be better if we kept our distance..."

She smiled. "Thanks....that means a lot to me," she said, hesitant on what to call him. It sounded weird calling him Robert, but it sounded even weirder calling him Dad.

As if reading her mind, Robert answered with, "I know it must be awkward, but I'd love it more than anything in the world if you could call me Dad....I know we just met 20 minutes ago, but it'd just mean so much."

Lauren smiled as those same tears glazed over her eyes, as she said, "Okay Dad."

‘What am I doing here?' Lauren asked herself, as she gazed across the street at the building. She sat in a coffee shop, trying to build up enough courage to enter the building.

Lauren had gone to AJ's house, according to the address Robert had given her, but a woman who said she was his cleaning lady told her that AJ wasn't home, and wasn't due home for hours. "Well, do you know where he is?" Lauren had asked, somewhat agitated.

The woman was reluctant on telling Lauren at first, but after assuring the woman she was a close friend, she told Lauren he was "dancing", and given her the address where he was.

So, here she was, staring at this studio, deciding whether or not it was a good time to go in. "Well," she said quietly, "it's now or never."

She stood up and walked across the street, trying not to show any fear. As soon as she entered, she could hear loud beats through the floor. There was no one around, but there were many rooms with the door shut. She had no idea where to go.

She peeked in one room, and saw it was empty. She opened the door to another room and saw it too was empty.

By this time, Lauren's palms were sweating and butterflies were dancing around in her stomach. She walked farther down the hall to where she thought the music was coming from and opened the door.

Inside she saw exactly what she was looking for. There were five guys, all dancing, with a woman who looked about 25 teaching them and counting them through all the steps.

"1 and 2 and 3 and 4......and up and down, around and step," she yelled, keeping to the rhythm. The guys struggled around, but all in all they looked pretty good.

She studied all of the guys while they were dancing. The one farthest on the left had brownish hair and was fairly short. He looked the most awkward out of them all when it came to the most complicated steps. Then, there was a tall blonde, two guys with dark hair, and one guy with spiky brown hair with fire engine red tips. "AJ..." Lauren whispered to herself, recognizing him immediately. Even though he looked nothing like he did in the pictures at his dad's house, she noticed him right away.

Suddenly, the music stopped and they all stopped dancing. "Good job boys," the woman announced. At that moment, all six of them noticed Lauren standing at the door. ‘Oh shit,' she thought to herself, ‘I can't back down now.'

"Um okay guys, 10 minute break," the woman said, as she walked into an adjoining room and left Lauren alone with the strangers.

"Hey," said the guy with brownish hair, "what's up?"

"Hi," Lauren finally was able to get out, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Somehow, ‘AJ, I'm your sister,' seemed too out of the blue.

"Do you wanna come in?" asked the blonde, while the other guys stood waiting to see what she would say. "Um, sure," she replied, walking slowly into the big room, "sorry to interrupt you guys, but..."

Before she could finish, she looked directly at AJ. ‘My brother,' she thought, but then said, "...but, I, um, well, I heard the music, and I thought it'd be okay if I just peeked in to see what was going on....and I saw you all dancing and....well...you guys are really good!"

"Thanks!" beamed the one with brownish hair, "by the way, I'm Brian.....this is Nick, Howie, Kevin and AJ." He pointed to them all as they smiled and nodded.

"Hi guys," she said, "I'm Lauren....I know I'm probably taking up your time, so I guess I'll just..."

"No, that's okay," interrupted the woman, who had just walked back in the room, "they're finished for the day! Oh, by the way, I'm Fatima, their choreographer, nice to meet you." She held out her hand and Lauren shook it. "Good work boys, see you same time on Wednesday!"

Fatima grabbed her gym bag and headed for the door. "So, Lauren, what brings you here?" asked AJ, bending over and tying his shoe. "Well....I um....I was here trying to find someone but I never got the chance," she finished.

"Oh, so you didn't come here just to watch our wonderful dancing?!" exclaimed Nick, laughing at his own joke. "Jeez Nicky, shut up, will ya?!" replied Howie, reaching over and punching him lightly on the shoulder. Lauren smiled and giggled. "Well, I have to say that you guys are really good! I mean, I know you guys are Backstreet Boys and all......."

All five of the guys smiled shyly. "I didn't know you knew who we were," confessed Nick, "it's just that most people don't."

"Oh, well, I um......I, well, saw, um, you guys in a magazine once," she said, trying to cover up. There was a short moment of silence, but it was quickly broken by Howie saying, "Hey, Lauren, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, you wanna come with us and grab something to eat?" asked AJ. "Um, sure!" answered Lauren, feeling that surge of nervousness again. "I hope you like Mc Donalds!" AJ added, laughing, "cause that's really all we eat!"

Lauren laughed nervously, "Of course!"

They all piled into Kevin and Brian's cars and headed out of the parking lot of the dance studio. ‘I can't believe I'm in a car with him,' she thought anxiously to herself, ‘sitting here with my brother.'

"So, Lauren, you never told us where you're from," commented Kevin, as the six sat in a booth in Mc Donalds. "Yeah," chimed in Nick, "I mean, we barely know anything about you, and we've been sitting here eating with you! I mean, you could be some weirdo or something!"

"Good one Nick," remarked AJ, "remind me never to take you when we go and pick up chicks!" Lauren laughed and chewed on her french fry. "Well Nick," she said, "If you must know, I'm from Toronto and I'm here visiting." This wasn't a lie, but a feeling of uneasiness washed over her while saying this.

The boys nodded, as Lauren fiddled nervously with the straw of her drink. She tried to think of something else to say to fill the emptiness. "So what are you all doing after this?" she asked, hoping that this would start a conversation.

"Something with you, of course!" said Howie, winking at Lauren. She smiled happily. She hadn't even known these guys for an hour, and already she had impressions of them all. Howie was the charming ‘ladies' man', Nick was the cutesy smiley one, Kevin was the quiet reserved one, Brian was the goofy one, and AJ was the outrageous one.

She had examined AJ on the car ride to Mc Donalds. She had marveled at the color of his hair, but was amazed at all his piercings! He by far had the most earrings in the group, and even had a tatoo! She wondered how many tatoos weren't visible to the eye!

"How old are you guys?" she said suddenly, even though she already knew how old AJ was. "I'm 23," offered Howie, then was followed by Brian, "I'm 22." AJ quickly added, "I'm 19," followed by Kevin saying, "I'm 25," and Nick saying, "and I'm 17!"

"Cool..." said Lauren, nodding her head, but then did a double take. "Whoah, wait a sec! Nick, you're 17?! You're only 17?!"

Nick nodded proudly. "Yup!" he exclaimed, puffing out his chest, "I know I seem much more mature and all...."

"Nicky, don't push it!" warned Brian laughing. They all laughed, as Kevin asked, "Lauren, how old are you?" Lauren answered, "I'm 20." The guys all nodded and continued eating. Lauren watched AJ out of the corner of her eye. She was beating herself up inside for not telling him they were brother and sister before, but now hardly seemed the right time. It also seemed weird that they could be related! He seemed so different, yet something was very familiar.

"So are you up for it?" asked Howie, as Lauren suddenly snapped back to reality. "Um, what?" asked Lauren sheepishly.

"She's in la-la land!" laughed Nick, his blue eyes sparkling. Lauren blushed and shrugged. "Will you let us give you a grand tour of the city?" asked Howie again.

"Of course," answered Lauren, this time smiling confidently. She glanced at AJ, who replied with, "Good," as he winked. Those same butterflies reappeared in her stomach. She wasn't quite sure what she was getting herself into.

"It's settled then," said Brian, "we'll pick you up tomorrow at eleven thirty in the morning...you better be ready!"

"Eleven thirty?" AJ whined jokingly, "how will I ever have time to fix my hair?!" Lauren burst out laughing, as AJ proudly patted his head.

The meals were soon finished and Lauren and the boys went their separate ways. "Remember, we'll be at your hotel at eleven thirty!" called Brian to Lauren, as she got in her cab. She nodded, smiled and waved.

As soon as she was out of sight, she let out a huge breath that she seemed to have been holding. ‘Oh no,' she thought to herself, ‘why am I getting into this? Maybe my mom was right....'

But then she thought of her mother back in Toronto, and how she had told her about her long lost family for a reason. ‘I came here for a reason,' she concluded, ‘and I don't intend to come home to Toronto without having a father AND a brother.'

Lauren looked in the mirror, about two minutes before AJ, Howie, Kevin, Nick and Brian were scheduled to pick her up outside the hotel. "Why am I so nervous?" she said aloud to her reflection, "these are just normal guys!"

But the fact was, she was scared to death. It wasn't Nick or Kevin or any of the other guys she was scared of....it was AJ. She was scared to tell him....but she decided today would be the day.

She grabbed her purse and headed out the door to the elevator. On the way down she glanced again in the mirror on the wall of the elevator, this time examining her features.

When she had gotten back to the hotel from her outing with the boys, she had done a little research. She had gone across the street to the convenience store and seen, on the magazine rack, a couple magazines with their pictures on the cover. She felt ridiculous buying "Tiger Beat" and "SuperTeen", but she did, and took them back to her room.

There, she read all the Backstreet Boys articles and studied them carefully. "Nick's favorite food is pizza.....AJ owns 250 pairs of sunglasses...." these were just some of the facts the magazine dished out which Lauren found hilarious!

But there she was, looking at herself in the mirror in the elevator. For Lauren it was so apparent they were related; the more she looked at herself and AJ, she found more and more similarities. She had the exact same eyes as AJ did.....as well as Robert.

She got off the elevator at the lobby and walked outside to the driveway. As soon as the warm Florida sun hit her eyes, she saw the guys standing beside two cars. ‘Well, here I go,' she thought to herself, as she took a deep breath and started toward the cars.