"That was one of the bumpiest flights! I think I hit my head on the overhead..." "Shhh!" Howie whispered when they entered the house to find Breanna sleeping soundly on the couch. Nick looked at Breanna with concern as he placed his luggage on the floor of the living room. Howie absent-mindedly placed his suitcase and duffel bag on the floor as he handed Nick his backpack before walking over to the couch. He softly sat down on the edge of the couch near Breanna's legs as he watched her sleep. "Didja Miss her?" Nick questioned. Howie glanced back at Nick with a "duh" look. Nick shrugged sheepishly before leaving the living room to find out where everyone was.

"Hey!" Nick greeted the den with surprise when he realized that everyone was crammed into the room. "HEY!" Natasha shouted back as she sat in the recliner. "I'd get up to greet you properly but it's too difficult so I won't even bother." Natasha stated as she rubbed her expanding waistline. "Um, you may not want to do that, Nat. That's how you got into the position you're in." Mya said. "In my opinion we've all greeted our men properly one too many times." Eve added as she nodded her head towards Jacob as he bounced happily in Kevin's lap. Izabel snickered while the rest of the guys rolled their eyes. "How was your flight?" Natasha asked as Nick leaned down to kiss her. "Bumpy." Nick replied. "Bumpy, eh?" Natasha asked back with a naughty glimmer in her eyes. "Very." Nick confirmed as the same look appeared in his eyes. "If you plan to greet him properly, please get a room." Mya stated. Brian burst into laughter while Thomas groaned. "That's sick." He stated. "And what would you know about this?" Izabel asked with one eyebrow raised. "You are talking about doing 'it'." Thomas replied. "They learn younger and younger." Kevin joked as he shook his head. "Hey, where's D?" AJ asked Nick. Nick stopped kissing Natasha long enough to answer AJ. "With Breanna in the living room. Where's Anna?" He asked back when Nick realizing that Anna wasn't around. "Her room." Kevin answered. "I'll be back." Nick told Natasha as he got up off the floor next to her recliner.

"Hey monkey!" Nick joked when he entered Anna's room. "His name isn't monkey. It's Adimantus Wolfgang Littrell." Anna stated as she stared at her monkey that Brian bought her. "I was talking to you." Nick stated. Anna quickly became defensive and turned around. "NICK!" She squealed as she ran towards him with her monkey. Nick kneeled down and swooped her up into his arms in a large hug. "Nice of you to recognize my voice." Nick joked. "Sorry." Anna whispered into his ear. Nick placed Anna down and grabbed her monkey. "Adimantus Wolfgang Littrell?" He questioned as he struggled to remember the monkey's name. "How'd you get that?" "Mommy helped me. Adimantus from her college phissy-ossy class." "Philosophy?" Nick interrupted. "Yeah. And mommy said Wolfgang wrote the song that he plays." As Anna spoke she turned the small silver key sticking out of the monkey's back. Once she let go it began to play a familiar song. "That's Twinkle Twinkle!" Nick pointed out. "No Nick. It's Vous Dirai-je, Mamanecho! But I wish that it played Fantasy in D minor." Anna stated. "Let me guess, your mom taught that to you." Anna nodded her head. "So you named your monkey after a philosopher and a classical composer?" Nick asked. "Nick, Adimantus wasn't a philosopher. He was one of Socrates' friends and Mozart was a genius!" Anna gushed. Nick stared at Anna with shock. "Are you sure you're three?" Nick asked. "Almost four!" Anna stated. "Not for a long time, kiddo." Nick said. Anna frowned at the thought of having to wait 6 more months until her 4th birthday. "Your daddy's home." Nick said hoping to make Anna smile. "He is!?" She shouted. "Yup, but he's saying hi to mommy. Give them a few minutes, okay?" Nick asked. "Yeah...I guess. She's probably sleeping again anyway." Anna said quietly as she stared down at the ground.

Breanna opened her eyes slowly when she realized that someone was staring at her. "Ohmigod!" She whispered loudly as she sat up quickly on the couch, throwing her arms around Howie's neck. "I've missed you." He said as he buried his face into her hair, smelling the sweet fragrance of cotton candy from the shampoo that Breanna shared with Anna. "I thought you weren't supposed to be home until tomorrow!" She said with glee. "We had a press conference and a meet n' greet today so afterwards we decided to get on the first flight possible." Howie explained. Breanna pulled back out of the embrace and stared at Howie with a smile. "What? You have the cheesiest grin. What are you hiding?" Breanna laughed slightly, "nut n' honey! I'm just happy to see you." "Right. Okay, so? Where's Anna?" Breanna pointed towards the ceiling. "Probably playing alone." Howie sighed slightly as he shook his head. "She's definitely different." He commented in a daze. "Yeah." Breanna agreed. "So? Where are the rest of the guys? I wanna see them!" Breanna stated happily. "You mean you haven't seen them? They left on a flight that was 6 hours ahead of me and Nick." Howie said in shock. "Well, I saw Brian but that's about it." She stated. "Well, let's go find them." Howie replied as he stood up and stretched. Breanna admired his rock hard body with a slight twinkle in her eyes. In mid-stretch, Howie glanced down at Breanna and laughed, "What!?" before letting his arms fall softly to his side. "Just admiring the view." Breanna stated. Breanna gave him the once over before looking up into his eyes wiggling her eyebrows. Howie shook his head with a laugh. "You're terrible!" He commented. "Hey! A few years ago if I had done what I just did you would have been on top of me having your way." Breanna commented. "Oh trust me, I want to have my way with you but *ahem* our daughter has been watching us for the past few minutes." Howie said under his breath. Breanna looked up towards the top of the staircase and saw Anna leaning against it. "You can come see your daddy, Anna." Breanna stated. Anna smiled as she ran down the stairway after her mother gave her permission. Howie met her half way as he picked her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. "Hi daddy." Anna whispered into his ear as she clung to him, her eyes closed tight as she enjoyed the warmth of his arms. "Hi, pumpkin. I've missed you so much!" He replied. Breanna watched as Howie walked slowly back down the stairs with Anna leaning her head on his shoulder. She pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her head on them as she continued to watch them.

"Hey Bree, I hate to interrupt this happy moment but can I talk to you?" Brian asked as he poked his head around the corner of the doorway that connected the living room and den. "Hmm? Oh, yeah." Breanna replied in a daze as she stood up and walked over to Brian. "What's up, Bri?" Breanna asked as she yawned. "You slept 6 hours and you're *still* tired?" Brian jokingly asked with a smirk on his face. "Yeah, a little. So, what's on your mind?" "I'm just curious but when is Natasha due? Are you sure it's not for another 2 months because I don't remember Izabel being that large when she was pregnant with Michael. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing you that large with Anna or Eve with Sarah or Jacob or Mya with..." "I get your point, Bri." Breanna interrupted with a laugh. "So?" Brian asked. "Women are different. I carried Anna in my back so I hardly showed. Natasha is just different. She carries the baby all in the front. Don't worry, I went with her to see her doctor while you guys were gone and he said that everything is fine. She's right where she needs to be." Breanna said as she tried to assure Brian. "Oh, okay. I was just really curious because, well, she's HUGE. I mean, she looks like she's carrying twins!" Brian said with a laugh. Breanna tried to laugh as well but Brian knew something was wrong. "You okay?" He asked. Breanna forced a fake smile as she nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worn out trying to keep this house clean and all the kids happy. I know I have help with the housework and the kids have their own mothers but I have a bad habit of trying to take on everything just to prove to myself that I can, ya know?" Brian nodded his head while he watched Breanna's face. Brian turned around to walk back into the den before Breanna called his name. "Hey Bri?" "Yeah?" He asked back as he turned to face her. "I'm glad to have you home." She replied. Brian glanced down for a moment with a shy smile on his face before he looked back up. "Yeah, me too, Bree." He made an 'I-love-you' hand motion before joining the others again.

"You okay?" Howie asked Breanna as Anna flew past them up the stairs. "Don't run, you'll break your neck!" Howie and Breanna both shouted at the same time. Anna groaned as she walked the rest of the way up the stairs while Breanna and Howie snickered under their breath. "So?" Howie asked. "So what?" Breanna asked back with a smirk as they sat back down on the couch for a moment. "That look on your face when Brian reminded you that he loves you. You looked sad." "I feel sad, just a little." Breanna said quietly. "You miss his friendship?" He asked. "No," Breanna sighed, "I miss the crazy, kinky sex we used to have when you weren't around" she said nonchalantly. "Oh cut that out!" Howie replied as he laughed. "Honestly? I just miss them. When we're all back home in Orlando we never see each other. We all have different friends, different families, and just different lives to lead. We used to spend all of our time together and now? I don't know. It's like we only get together on the holidays or on someone's birthday. I talk to the girls more than I talk to the guys. Brian used to be my best friend. He and I used to spend hours on the phone planning and plotting against you, Nick, and Izabel. AJ still manages to call to make sure I'm okay but it's getting less frequent as time goes on. Hell, I didn't even know about Alex until Mya was 6 months pregnant! Eve used to be my best friend in the beginning but I know even less about her than I do Izabel or Natasha. Kevin's more like a 'hi, how ya doing' type of friend and we used to be so much more than that. I used to just spill my problems out to him and he would listen and sometimes give advice if I asked. Nick's my best friend out of all of us except for you and he and I never even had a decent conversation 4 years ago. I know that this is just part of life and I know that we all have different lives to lead but I miss everyone. I miss my family back home and I miss my brother. I just feel lost right now." Breanna finished as Howie took a deep breath before letting it out. He didn't know how to comfort her but he knew that she didn't want comforting. She just wanted someone to listen to her.

He shifted his weight on the couch to face Breanna and was amazed at how different she looked. It had only been a few weeks since they had seen each other last but something was different. Her dark hair had more shine and her eyes danced. Her full lips looked as if they had just been kissed and her fair olive skin looked almost porcelain. As he studied Breanna face, she too, studied his. His hair was shorter than it had been years before but it was still long enough to pull back. The ringlets reminded Breanna so much of Anna when she was a baby. She looked at his lips and felt the air catch in her throat. His lips were her weak spot. She had to use all of the will power she could muster not to kiss them but save them for later when they were alone. She knew if she started then she wouldn't be able to stop. She watched as the florescent lighting cast different hues of darkness across his more noticeable cheekbones. She felt him staring at her intensely as she looked into his eyes. His warm caring eyes seemed to pierce her heart as he searched her soul. He knew something wasn't right just by glancing at her and she knew it, too. Breanna broke the stare coming from Howie and quickly looked behind her shoulder when she heard laughing coming from the other room. Howie knew Breanna was trying to avoid something. "Hey." He said quietly. When Breanna turned back around to face him she was biting her bottom lip. 'She's nervous about something.' He thought. "You okay?" He asked. Breanna sighed and blew at the bangs in her eyes. "That's the second time you've asked me and for the second time, I'm fine!" Breanna stated as she leaned over to give him a slight peck before getting up and joining the others. Howie sat on the couch thinking he did something wrong but was quickly put to ease when Breanna stood behind the couch and leaned down to whisper warmly "I love you" into his ear.

Five hours had past as Breanna and Howie checked on Anna before heading to bed themselves. They walked hand-in-hand down the hallway and was greeted by Brian. "Hey you two, do yourselves a favor. Stay away from Izabel, I think she caught the flu." He said. "Oh, no. Is she okay?" Howie asked with deep concern. "She's okay for right now." Brian replied. "I think you brought it home with you from the tour or from your fans." Breanna teased. "I hope not." Brian said quietly. "Bri, I'm teasing. It's been going around town so it was only a matter of time before it hit us. Well just keep an eye on the kids and give Izabel all the rest she needs to fight this thing." Breanna said. "Yeah, well, you're not lookin' so hot. Maybe you should get some rest yourself." Brian replied with a slight frown. "I'm fine, just tired." Breanna said. "Starting tomorrow, you ladies get the week off from the kids while we men take care of them!" Howie said with an egotistical smile. Brian laughed, "yeah, we men can do anything" while flexing his arm muscles. "I'd laugh and shoot you both down but I honestly don't have the energy so I'm not going to bother." Brian stopped joking around and looked Breanna over before looking at Howie with a questioned glance. "Off to bed with you! You need your rest." Howie stated as he quickly picked Breanna up into his arms. "Howie, I can walk. You're going to break your back." Breanna giggled. "Nope! Let's go." Howie stated as he marched down the hallway with Breanna towards their bedroom as she continued to laugh. Brian laughed slightly as he watched them. Howie fumbled with the doorknob while Breanna looked back at Brian giving him the same 'I-love-you' sign that he gave her previously that day. "G'nite, Rok!" Howie said quietly as not to wake the rest of the house. "Night." Brian said back.

The next morning Izabel still had symptoms of the flu but was feeling better because the men had taken the children out for the day. "I don't know how they do it after being on tour. They didn't even sleep in. None of them, not even Nick!" Eve said as she and Breanna made breakfast for the other three women. "They're just men. 'They can do anything.'" Breanna said as she imitated Brian from the night before. Eve smirked as she grabbed a pile of French toast and placed it on the table for everyone else. Breanna grabbed a pitcher of orange juice and walked over to the table. "Hey, where's Mya?" Breanna asked as she filled 5 glasses. "She went to the drugstore. She should be back by now." Natasha said as she glanced up at the clock on the wall of the kitchen. Breanna picked at her food while everyone took occasional glances of concern at her. "I'm fine, guys." Breanna stated without even looking up. Five minutes past when she heard the front door open and slam. Mya walked briskly through the living room until she got into the kitchen. She grabbed one of the untouched glasses of orange juice and slammed it before placing the glass back on the table. "AJ's woman." Izabel said as the others laughed. Mya smirked then quickly glanced at Breanna. "You. Up. Bathroom. Now." Breanna didn't argue as she stood up and followed Mya to the bathroom.

By dinnertime, the men and children were back after spending the day at the zoo and a pool hall where AJ insisted that the boys learn the sport of billiards early. Everyone sat around talking and laughing like old times and it was apparent to Howie that Breanna was feeling better. 'This is all she needed.' He thought to himself as he watched her use that quick tongue of hers to shoot down AJ for the 5th time that night. "Oh you did not use that line on some girl, did you?" Mya asked in shock at Nick. "Yeah, he did, the freakin' moron." AJ replied. "What line?" Howie asked. "The line 'there are 260 bones in the human body, want one more?'" AJ replied. "Sounds like the type of line you would use, AJ." Breanna smirked while AJ rolled his eyes. "Well, that line couldn't be worse than what AJ tried to use on me." Mya stated. "Oh, you're not bringing that up again, are you? I thought you would have forgotten about it after all these years." AJ whined. "What line?" Breanna and Eve asked while Brian was almost rolling on the floor from laughter. "He told me 'My name is AJ. Remember that, you'll be screaming it later." Mya said. "And were you?" Izabel asked with a smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know." AJ mussed.

Everyone was in high spirits after putting the children to bed but Natasha sat quietly occasionally giggling when it was appropriate. "Hey Nat? What's wrong?" Eve asked. Natasha quickly looked at Breanna who in turn looked at Mya. "Something's weird, here." AJ noticed. "Are you okay?" Nick asked. "Well, yeah, I guess I'm okay." Natasha said as she beat around the bush. "Tell him." Breanna mouthed as Natasha nodded her head. "As long as you're not calling off the wedding then tell me what's the matter." Nick stated. "Relax, she's not calling off the wedding. You haven't even set a date yet." Mya said. Nick sighed with relief. "Good! I don't think I could handle it if you called off the wedding." He replied. "Nope, no wedding until these guys are outta here." Natasha said as she pointed at her stomach. AJ laughed a bit until he noticed Brian's eyes and how wide they had become. "Dude, pop your eyeballs back into their sockets." AJ smirked. "Wait a minute!" Kevin spoke out. "These guys?" Brian asked. "Plural?" Howie questioned. Mya, Breanna, and Natasha nodded their heads. "As in, more than one?" Brian asked. "Yes babe, more than one." Izabel smiled. "I don't get it. Twins? Triplets? What?" Nick asked with fear. "Twins." Natasha confirmed. "In the words of my beloved son, 'another baby?'" Brian joked as the rest of the room congratulated Nick and Natasha.

"See Nicky? Unlike you and Nat, the next time we have a kid, we're gonna do it the old fashioned way. We'll be married first." Howie stated. "But dude, Nat and I were engaged before she got pregnant so we still got you beat." Nick joked a few hours after the news of the twins was announced. Mya looked at Breanna and nodded her head. "Um, Howie?" Breanna questioned as Howie laughed at Nick. "We still haven't set a date." Breanna replied. "Well, that's up to you. I'm willing whenever you are." Howie commented as he kept talking to Nick. "Well that's good because if you want to do it the old fashioned way then we're gonna have to get married sometime in the next 7 or so months." Breanna said. Nick and Howie stopped talking while Kevin videotaped everyone hanging out. Brian was listening to Breanna while AJ talked to his mother on his cellphone. "At the risk of sounding redundant, wait a minute." Kevin said as he quoted himself from earlier that evening. "Why 7 months? And what about old fashioned?" AJ asked as he clicked off his phone. "Woah!" Nick shouted when he put the puzzle together. "Another baby!" Brian shouted as Mya walked into the room with a pregnancy test. "Here ya go, pops. You're gonna have another one." She added as she handed Howie the positive test. Howie stared at it in shock. "How did this happen?" He questioned quietly. Breanna's heart sank when she read the tone of his voice. He wasn't happy. "How did it happen? Well D, it's like this..." "No AJ, I *know* that. I mean, how did I not notice that Breanna was going through so many changes. You've been acting weird, always sleeping, always moody. You haven't been yourself. How come I didn't notice that you were pregnant?" Howie felt bad because he felt like he had neglected Breanna. Breanna realized that he wasn't upset about the baby but at himself. Breanna knelt down in front of him and took one of his hands and smiled. "Don't feel bad, Hun. I didn't know until today." She said smiling.

"I wanna get married today!" Howie said out-of-the-blue as everyone made phone calls to friends and family to tell them about the news. "Woah there, Tonto!" AJ joked. Breanna smiled but shook her head no. "I want our wedding to be perfect. I want it to be planned, and large, extravagant, and expensive. The front-page news! I want to go all out. But, not until we have this baby first." She explained while Howie smiled slightly. "Hey." Breanna whispered when she noticed that he wasn't going crazy like she thought he would. Howie glanced up at Breanna when he heard her call him. "This time you get to go through this with me from day one. From the morning sickness to the mood swings to the weird food cravings and all the doctor visits and the buying of baby items. And you get to massage my feet and feed me ice cream in bed and cater to my every need!" Breanna gushed while Howie smiled.

Before long Howie started to laugh. "And what's so funny?" Breanna asked. "I just realized that I'm living in a fantasy world. All of my dreams have come true. It's a fantasy. All of this! You, my daughter, my soon-to-be-born baby, my friends, my family, and my career. Everything's perfect. This can't be real." Howie stated as Breanna sat herself down in Howie's lap. The others had since left the room giving them a chance to be alone. "But it's not a fantasy. It's real." Breanna said. "It has to be a fantasy. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and you're going to be gone." Breanna kissed him softly while Howie placed his hands on her lower stomach. "Hun, I may leave at times, but I'll never be gone for long. I may even go back out on tour but I'll never be without you.  I love you. You'll always be with me and I'm always gonna be with you until you're sick of me." Breanna said. "I don't think I can get sick of you. I love you." Howie said. "Baby, even love gets sick of love." Breanna stated. "Just shut up and kiss me." Howie replied with a smile as Breanna wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him closer to her.

After being together for six year they felt like they had the first time they fell in love. To Howie, the news of another baby was like falling in love all over again.