"Do you see any of them, Dee?" Mike asked, looking around the airport the next day.

"No. Wait.... I think I see Kevin." Rae looked at the tall, dark-haired guy, who was also looking around. Their eyes met and Rae saw the green eyes light up. He looked behind him, pointed in her direction, and started walking towards her. It was then Rae saw AJ, Nick, Brian, and Howie.

"Daddy, they're over there," she said, dragging Mike with her in their direction.

Rae elbowed her way throught the crowd. Finally, she reached Kevin and he enveloped her in a big hug. When they stopped hugging, it was repeated four more times with AJ, Brian, Howie, and Nick.

"I missed you guys so much," Rae said, after everyone was done.

"We missed you, too," Brian said, smiling at Rae.

"How nice. Guys, this is my father, Michael Lopez," she said, walking over to him. "Daddy, this is Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, and Nick Carter."

"Hi, Mr. Lopez," they all said.

"Hi, and please, call me 'Mike'."

"Alright, Mike," said AJ. "Cool."

"Do you have any other bags?" asked Mike.

"Yes, full of birthday presents for your daughter," Howie said.

"Alright! Let's go get them," Rae said, heading toward the baggage claim. Nick walked with her, his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Mom, we're home!!" yelled out Rae as she walked inside the house.

Robbie came out to the living room from the backroom. She had been waiting to meet Rae's friends for weeks. As she walked into the living room, she saw Rae wasn't lying when she said they were some of the best-looking guys she'd ever seen.

"Hi, everybody. Welcome to our home," she said.

"Guys, this is my mother, Alberta Lopez, but people call her 'Robbie'," Rae said. "Mom, this is Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, and Nick Carter."

Rae's mom went to each one of them and gave them a hug. Then everyone sat down.

"How old are you boys?" Robbie asked, curious.

"I just turned twenty-two a couple of weeks ago," said Kevin.

"I'm twenty," said Howie.

"I'm eighteen," said Brian.

"I'm fifteen," said AJ.

"And I'm thirteen," said Nick.

"At least a couple of you are close to Dee's age."

" 'Dee'?" They all looked at her.

"Short for 'DeAnna'. My parents refuse to call me anything else," Rae explained.

" 'DeAnna' is the name on your birth certificate, not 'Raelene'," Verda said.

"Well, 'Robbie' isn't on your birth certificate, but everyone calls you that," Rae pointed out.

"She's got you there, hon," Mike said.

"How about we get you all settled?" Robbie said, changing the subject.

Everyone went to the truck to help bring in the luggage. Robbie took Brian and Kevin to their room, Mike took AJ and Howie to their room, and Rae took Nick to her room.

"Nice room," Nick commented, looking around. "That's a pretty big bed for someone as small as you."

"My older brother Phillip has one, too. It's not as big as mine, though."

"Your parents don't mind us sharing a room?"

"No. I used to share this room with Phillip, but I kicked him out when I reached third grade."

"Oh, I see. You got too old to share a room."

"No, it was the fact that one time he left his bottom dresser drawer open and when I later rolled off my bed, while I was sleeping, I hit my head on the drawer. So, a couple of days later, my brother moved out."

"That's a good trick. I'll have to remember that one."

"I didn't do it on purpose so I could get my own room!!"

"Yeah, right."

Rae ran straight toward Nick and tackled him. They started wrestling on Rae's bed. It was when Rae was sitting on top Nick, pinning him down, did Kevin, Howie, AJ, and Brian decide to walk in.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to barge in," AJ said, quickly.

"Don't even think those thoughts, AJ," said Rae, getting off Nick.

"Damn, your bed is huge," commented Brian.

"Can we all fit on here?" asked Howie, wonderingly.

"We can try," said Kevin.

So the rest of the guys lay down on the bed, side by side, to find they could all sleep on this bed comfortably.

"So, Nick, where are you sleeping," Brian, eying the bed on the other side of the room.

"In here," he said, with a sly smile on his face.

"Which bed?" Kevin asked, looking at Rae.

"That one over there. My parent's closet and my closet are connected. The inside wall doesn't quite reach the ceiling, so they can hear almost everything," Rae said.

"I guess we'll have to be quiet then, huh, Rae?" Nick gave her a wicked smile.

"Shut up, Nick!" Rae picked up pillow and hit him in the face with it.

"PILLOW FIGHT!!!" yelled AJ.

Everyone grabbed the nearest pillow and started whacking each other with them. Once they were done, Rae's bed was a huge mess and everyone's hair was looking funky. Rae's mom came in and looked at the messy bed, then at everyone else.

"I have to take a picture," she said. "I'll be right back."

They all looked at each other and started laughing. They looked like a pretty crazy sight. Robbie came back with her camera and took a picture of them and told them dinner would be ready in a little while. Rae got up and started to fix her hair. Pretty soon, everybody was looking normal again.

"Dee!" Robbie called out. "Julia's here!"

"I'll be right out!!" Rae yelled back. "Stay right here. I want her to be surprised."

"Did you tell her we were coming?" Brian asked.

"Of course I did. But she doesn't know what you all look like 'cause I haven't developed my pictures of you yet. Besides, she thinks you're coming tomorrow."

"Alright. We get your deal," said Kevin.

"Good." Rae walked out of her room and into the living room to go see her friend.