The plane landed in Florida at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. None of them had jet lag, when they got off. They had to move quickly when they picked up their luggage. Nick's family helped them out by getting a luggage carrier, and piling all the stuff on it. Then they wheeled the cart outside and around the corner to a secluded spot where everyone sorted out their luggage.

"Well... let's get together and give Theresa a baby shower, when her and Kevin get back!" Laura said to Alyssa, Kristen, and Mary Jae.

"Howie and I aren't gonna be here, though!" Mary Jae explained.

"Well...we'll think of something!" Alyssa said.

They all said their goodbyes, and Nick and Laura drove off with The Carter family. A.J. and Kristen loaded up A.J.'s car and drove off to his house. Brian, Alyssa, Brianne, Howie and Mary Jae, all piled into Alyssa's Jeep and drove to Howie's place first to drop him and Mary Jae off. Then they continued on to Brian's house, since it was closer than Alyssa's apartment. Brian unlocked the door, and the three of them stepped inside. Alyssa looked around. "Nice place!"

"Thanks!" Brian said "Too bad, I'm not here enough to really fix it up, though!" He smiled at her.

"Well... what you have done with it, looks good!" Alyssa said returning his smile.

"You should see my bedroom, it's EMPTY! Aside from the bed that is!" Brian said.

"Why Mr. Littrell are you hinting at something?" Alyssa playfully asked him.

"Maybe!" Brian replied with a sly grin.

"Don't forget, there's a three-year-old present!" Alyssa reminded him.

"There's always after her bedtime!" Brian hinted.

"Maybe..." Alyssa replied.

"Toys?" Brianne asked looking up at her mom.

Alyssa handed her her Cabbage Patch Doll, content, Brianne followed Brian and Alyssa into the living room, settled herself into her own little corner, and started playing quietly with the doll. Brian and Alyssa sat down on the couch.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Alyssa asked.

"Well... we never did call our parents and tell them...maybe we should do that now?" Brian asked.

"Sure!" Alyssa said, she could just imagine what her mother would say.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Brian picked it up and said "Hello... oh hey Howie!.....Really? You guys just landed..... oh well..... Brian laughed..... yeah! Well...have fun!" Brian hung up the phone soon after. "That was Howie, him and Mary Jae are flying to Spain tonight!"

"But we just got here!" Alyssa said.

"That's what I said, but they want to start their honeymoon right away! If you know what I mean..." Brian gave Alyssa a mischievious grin.

"Oh... I see!" Alyssa said nodding to show that she understood.

Brian and Alyssa spent the rest of the evening just playing with Brianne, and enjoying the peace and quiet. Her and Brianne spent the night over at Brian's house.

It was when Brian and Alyssa were lying next to each other on Brian's bed, when Brian sighed.

"What's the matter?" Alyssa asked him.

"I'm scared.... Alyssa, I didn't know when to tell you, but... I've got to have heart surgery soon...." Brian said as he sat up and looked at her.

"To fix the hole in it right?" Alyssa asked sitting up, and putting her arm around him.

Brian just nodded, and then tears started to fall down his cheeks. "I've never admitted to anyone, but I'm scared....I know the doctors are the best, but...."

"I know... ANY kind of surgery is scary...." Alyssa said rubbing Brian's back to comfort him.

"I love life...I love my family.... I love singing with the guys....I love yoo" Brian said looking into Alyssa's eyes. "I don't want to lose any of it"

Hearing Brian talk like that, Alyssa started to cry. "Please, don't talk like that Brian...you're scaring me! You're NOT GONNA DIE.... you're gonna be fine!"

Brian just nodded. "That's why I've been putting the surgery off...I was scared, and because of the tour too...mainly because I was scared though!"

"It's okay to be afraid Brian! But...I'm not gonna leave you...I'll be right be your side, like you were there for me, when I had my appendix surgery... I'm not gonna let you be scared....you've gotta be strong! Just keep thinking I'm gonna be fine, the surgery is gonna be a success.... and it will be Brian! Have faith in the doctors... I do..."Alyssa looke RIGHT into Brian's eyes.

"I love you..." Brian said again, and then he kissed her, and hugged her. They sat there in each others arms, just hugging.

Meanwhile Nick and Laura were spending their first day back just talking in Nick's boat.

"It's so beautiful out here..." Laura said gazing out at the endless blue ocean.

"Yeah...that's why I come out here..." Nick explained standing next to her.

"It's a good place to think about things!" Laura said.

"Like what kind of things?" Nick asked sitting on the side of the boat.

"Relationships...life...love!" Laura explained.

"Is there something on your mind?" Nick asked gazing up at her.

Laura looked down at him, how could she tell him, she couldn't lie to him, he'd be hurt. "Actually, there is!"

"So, tell me!" Nick said gesturing for her to sit next to him.

"Nick... I've had some really bad relationships in the past, that's why I have a hard time with serious relationships, I'm afraid of getting hurt, or hurting you, I don't want to do that!" Laura said gazing seriously into Nick's eyes.

Nick just nodded "Go on"

"This one guy I REALLY had feelings for, his name was Brad, and well... I thought he loved me, but I found out he didn't when I saw him with another girl. I was really hurt, sometimes, I had thoughts of ending my life right there, but I didn't. I never could bring myself to suicide. I love my life too much. Even now, I think about Brad and I! I trusted him so much, I confided in him, EVERY secret I ever had he knew, and then he dumped me for some blonde girl... he hurt me Nick, not just physically, but mentally, when I saw him with that girl, I thought oh I'm ugly, that's why he dumped me, or I'm fat, he must like skinny girls... I tortured myself with thoughts of my looks. I finally realized though, that Brad was the stupid one! It took me awhile to gain my confidence back and start dating again, but here I am!" Laura smiled at Nick, but Nick was frowning.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered

"Why?" Laura asked him

"That you had to go through that! Laura, I like you, not that I'm gonna marry you tomorrow, maybe when we're older if we're still together, but I know this isn't just a crush! I'd NEVER hurt you Laura...." Nick said taking her hand in his.

"Oh Nick... I like you to, but... I'm not ready for a serious relationship right now..." Laura said.

"So... you're breaking up with me?" Nick asked with tears in his eyes.

"No! I like being your girlfriend Nick..." Laura said, she didn't know how to explain what she was saying, so she stopped talking.

"Oh!" Nick said, and then he kissed her. They sat on the boat talking for the rest of the night.

A.J. and Kristen spent their first night back together just hanging out at home.

They were kissing on the couch, when the phone rang. A.J. picked it up and said "Hello?" Kristen tried to guess who it was from his side of the conversation. "Oh hey Howie! What's up?.....Really?......Uh-huh.....well.... you guys have fun.....bye!" Then he hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Kristen asked.

"Oh that was Howie, him and Mary Jae are flying to Europe for their honeymoon!" A.J. explained.

"Oh!" Kristen said, and then her and A.J. went back to kissing.

Somewhere over the Atlantic, Howie and Mary Jae were sitting together on an airplane bound for Europe. They attracted quite a few passengers, who could tell the two were newlyweds by their little romantic actions, like holding hands, or nuzzling each other's noses. They landed in Paris at around 4 Parisian time, and stepped off the plane. They collected their luggage and went to check in to their hotel. The first thing they did was call everyone they knew to tell them they had arrived safely. Then they went down to the hotel restaurant and had an early-romantic dinner. When they finished eating Howie took Mary Jae to the Eiffel Tower, where they stood at the top and just looked down on the beautiful lights of the city. They shared a romantic kiss, the lights twinkling below made a beautiful picture perfect scene. Their kiss was interrupted by the flash of a camera, a teenaged fan, took a quick snapshot of the teen idol, and ran off. Howie and Mary Jae just laughed, knowing stuff like that was bound to happen, and they went back to kissing.

Kevin and Theresa headed to Disneyland. They spent the day just having fun riding the rides. Theresa couldn't go on the rollercoasters, but they still had fun. They watched the Mulan parade, and Kevin reminisced of the days when he was Aladdin in the parades at Disney World. He smiled when he thought of all the happy children looking up at him with awe and admiration. He hugged Theresa closer to him. They headed to their hotel after the park closed. When they went up to their room, Kevin decided to call Brian. So he pulled out his cell phone, and dialed his cousin's number. After the third ring someone picked up the phone, and said "hello?"

"Hi, is Brian there? This is Kevin!" Kevin said.

"Oh! Kevin hi! It's Jackie!" The voice said.

"Hey Aunt Jackie! What are you doing there at 4 in the morning?" Kevin asked.

"Well... our plane just got in. Brian's going to have the heart surgery this Friday! Thank goodness!" Jackie said.

"REALLY?!" Kevin asked

"Yes... I'm quite happy. You know how upset I was when he delayed it from the first time?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah... I remember!" Kevin said.

"I'd put Brian on the phone, but he's sleeping!" Jackie said.

"Who let you in?" Kevin asked.

"Oh... Brian gave us a spare key the last time we were here. Oh, him and his girlfriend look so cute snuggled up together!" Jackie explained.

"They do!" Kevin said, figuring Brian and Alyssa hadn't told either of their families the news yet. "Well... I've gotta go now, Aunt Jackie!" Kevin said.

"Alright dear... it was great talking to you Kevin!" Jackie said. "Bye"

"Bye!" Kevin said and then he pushed the off button on his cell phone.

"Well?" Theresa asked.

"Brian was asleep, but I talked to my Aunt Jackie! Brian's going in for his heart surgery this Friday!" Kevin explained.

"Really?" Theresa asked sitting down next to Kevin.

"Yeah...." Kevin's voice trailed off as he choked back tears. He really wanted to be their for his cousin.

Theresa saw how upset Kevin was, so she said "You want to drive back there? We can, I don't mind! I saw what I wanted to see!"

Kevin looked at her, she always knew what he was thinking. He hugged her and gave her a kiss. "You're sure you don't mind?" He asked.

"Positive!" Theresa replied.

Kevin and Theresa checked out of the hotel, and rented a car. They started driving back to Florida that very night.