The bus came to a halt right in front of the famous Palms Casino in Las Vegas, he couldn’t believe that it was exactly a month since he had been in Vegas. He trudged off the bus, he was exhausted to say the least. They didn’t even know if the show would go on that evening. Idaho had been canceled due to scheduling conflicts and Arizona’s, because Nick had a nasty cold.

“Man…I hate being stuffy!” Nick spoke, stuffing tissues up his nose. “I wish Sarah was here to make me feel better” he chuckled.

Howie wrinkled his nose, with disgust “Carter…keep those details to yourself. Don’t even think about telling me about your newly wed…experiments.”

Nick shrugged “What? I’m just saying…you’re the one that is implying that sex with Sarah would make me feel better. How would you know Howard? Huh? Huh?” the blonde poked at Howie’s ribs.

The annoying man, had already grown on him. So instead of feeling like smacking him upside the head, for being such a moron. He had learned the method of ignoring him and his childishness. “Come on…let’s see if we can get some sleep.”

“If we can? It doesn’t matter if you can or not…you still fall asleep.” AJ’s hoarse voice chimed from behind them. Howie glared at him “What? It‘s true, on a chair…floor…counter…any place you can bend that neck of yours.”

The three weeks spent altogether as a group again, had brought Howie and AJ back to their normal selves. “Oh shut up!” Howie gave him a shoulder shove as they entered the hotel.

Millie hovered over the toilet, it was disgusting and agitating how many times she had emptied her stomach in the past four hours. She wiped her mouth with a wet paper towel and washed her face. There was no way she could look this horrible, Howie would be back home tomorrow night.

They had discussed so many things over the phone in the past three weeks, and had come to the conclusion that she would be moving in with him, right after the baptism. She wasn’t the only one moving, her dad had also decided that he would have Rachelle, his girlfriend move in with him. Millie was happy for him, she hadn’t thought that her father would ever be happy again. He had proved her wrong.

“What is taking you so damn long woman?” Sarah asked, looking at Millie intently. She knew there was something wrong with her. “Your not pregnant are you?”

Her stomach flipped at the word mentioned “I don’t think so…I just got my period last week. It’s probably just a stomach flu or maybe I ate something bad.” not only was her stomach cramping badly, but the room seemed to spin a little. Holding onto the sink, she forced a smile “Well come on let’s go finish shopping. We can’t look horrible for the Thanksgiving dinner.” She shoved a glaring Sarah out of the bathroom.

Lucy came barreling into them, “Hold him…” she passed on Elijah to Sarah, who held him awkwardly “I’ve gotta go…” she whinced as she made a dash for the restroom.

“Ugh! It’s unbelievable how a child, can have a child. He is adorable though.” Sarah held him with both hands, far away from her.

“He doesn’t bite Sarah. Well, not yet!” Millie giggled taking the baby and cradling him in her arms. “Man, I do wish I was pregnant.” she mumbled, loud enough for Sarah to hear.

Her jaw fell open “You and Howie are trying to get pregnant…you sinners.”

Millie let out a laugh “Excuse me, you just got married…you were doing Nick way before that…” Sarah agreed with a shrug of her shoulders, just as Lucy joined them. The threesome resumed their shopping.

The place was crawling with fans, they still couldn’t believe, the turn out for the tour. It hadn’t been the same without Kevin, but it hadn’t been as bad as they imagined it would be. The foursome high-fived each other as they piled into the wardrobe room.

“Man I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last show for the US leg of the tour…” Brian breathed in deeply, taking a seat, next to Baylee.

AJ wiped the sweat off his forehead “I know…it kinda went by quick.”

“Yeah, well I’m gonna miss it and all, but I’m ready for that long break. I can use some good sleep in my bed.” he looked around at the rest of the guys.

Nick stared blankly at the ceiling “You know, I’m just glad that Kevin agreed to surprise the fans in Hollywood…I bet no one even imagines it will happen.” he snickered, imagining the fans reactions.

“Well they might be hoping and wishing…but he hasn’t appeared on anything for a while, so it will be a nice surprise.” Brian added.

“Just like old times…” the room went silent, as all their minds reeled back to the good old days when Kevin was still part of the group.

AJ couldn’t wait to see his new girlfriend Rachel, their relationship had been more over the phone, than anything else. Even, though he hadn’t totally forgotten about Millie, Rachel did a hell of a job with keeping her out of his mind. They had so much in common, from their taste in food to the amount of tattoos on their bodies. He had to admit to himself, that he also couldn’t wait to see his other best friend, and catch up on what was going on with her.

The ceiling seemed to swirl slowly above her head, she couldn’t believe that the dizzyness hadn’t subsided, if not almost knocked her off her feet. “Hey there…I thought I might check your temperature.” Her dad, placed his hand over her forehead. “Your burning up Mill…” he sighed, sticking the thermometer in her mouth, like she was a child.

She tried to talk, but he gave her a stern look to keep the thing in her mouth. Rolling her eyes she gave his hand a ‘thank you’ squeeze. He smiled, caressing her head, a light beep let him know that, he could remove the temperature reader.

His eyes went wide as he stared at the stick “It’s really high…you should get in the shower, hun.”

Millie giggled “Dad I’ll be fine, I think I just need some sleep.” just then the phone rang. Without letting it ring again, she picked up the receiver “Hello”

“Hey there…” Howie grinned, just with the sound of her voice, he felt butterflies in his stomach. “How’s my girl?” he asked, already noting that her voice was low and a little raspy. “Everything ok?” he asked.

“Yes, everything is just fine. I have a cold, that’s all. Ugh! So I already asked for my days off…for Thanksgiving, the baptism AND moving out.”

“That’s great Mill, I’m so glad that your excited. So listen I just wanted to let you know that will be arriving in Los Angeles, really early. So I’ll just stop by your house, ok?” He knew it was more than ok with her, but he still had her dad to deal with.

“Of course…I’ll leave the spare under the rug, just in case I’m still asleep. Not that I plan on it, but with this…cold you never know.” she forced a giggle.

Howie knew that she wasn’t ok, and it worried him, she was sick in spurts “Alright I’ve got to go, everyone is waiting for me downstairs for late dinner. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.” he let out a sigh.

“I love you too Howie. See you tomorrow.” she waited till she heard the phone click. Her father was glaring at her “What? It could be a cold dad…it could be anything at this point. You know I’ve gone to the doctor…first it was vertigo…then I was pregnant…I’m not sure what it could be this time.” she shrugged. “I’m just tired dad…I’m gonna get some sleep” she turned her back to him, feeling his large hands rub her back tenderly.

“Alright kiddo…” he placed a kiss on the side of her face and exited the room.

The place was still spinning, her stomach churning and now her temples were starting to pound. Fear had settled in the pit of her stomach, as much as she wanted this to be another pregnancy, she had the hunch that it wasn’t. She would fight it, just like she did every time it came, she wouldn‘t let it defeat her. Not now that she was happy. Closing her eyes, she thought about seeing Howie tomorrow, it was something good to look forward too.

Howie walked absentmindedly down to the awaiting group, no one noticed the pensive look on his face, except for AJ. He stayed behind, nudging him with his elbow, he cocked his head to the side "Everything alright D?" he asked.

"Yeah...I guess...it's Millie. She sounded sick again. AGAIN!" he turned to look at AJ with concern in his eyes. "Was she ever this sick...I mean when you..."

AJ quickly nodded "No, she was fine. Although she did get that vertigo a couple of times. It came and went...but, not often.

"I guess I shouldn't worry..." Howie let out a sigh "Come on...lets get the rest of this night over with so we can get home already." AJ nodded in agreement as he squeezed Howie's shoulder and they walked into the crowded restaurant.