"Hello?" Madi's voice cracked with sleep.
"Good morning gorgeous. I didn't mean to wake you up," AJ sang into the phone.
"Mmm, it's okay. I actually kinda like hearing your voice first thing in the morning. You sound awfully chipper for so early in the morning," Madi commented as she stretched and began to get out of bed.
"I was hoping you didn't have any plans for the day?"
"Why? What do you have in mind?"
"I was kinda hoping I could get you and Kaiden for the day. Oh, and Holly...I have a little something for her, too."
"Something for Holly, huh? Do I have reason to be jealous?" Madi laughed.
"Not unless you're using me to get to Nick."
"Not a chance. What did you want to do?"
"Disney."
"Disney?"
"Yes, Disney."
"We could go back and forth like this all morning, so I'm going to ask...what do you mean?"
"Has Kaiden been before?"
"Actually...no. It's been a long time since I've been. You want to go today?"
"Yeah. If you didn't already have plans. You told me you had the week off while you're parents are gone. I was hoping Holly would be available, too. Nick and I wanted to treat you all to a fun day at Disney."
"Kaiden would love it. Not sure about Holly though. She's got her little sisters this week-her parents are with mine."
"Not a problem. The more the merrier."
Madi and AJ set up the plans and an hour later the girls had the kids ready to go. Just in time, too, because the doorbell rang, signaling Madi that the guys had arrived. She hadn't told Holly the whole story...she wanted it to be a surprise.
Holly ran to open the door, expecting to see AJ standing there, "Hello Mr. Backstree-" but instead she found a tall blond person standing there. Her jaw dropped and her words caught in her throat.
Madi walked up a few seconds later to take over, "Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention that Nick was coming, too?"
"Hey gorgeous," AJ smiled, kissing her hello as the guys walked into the house. Before he realized what had happened, Kaiden had run over and attached himself to AJ's legs.
Holly still stood there, mouth slightly open, still not having said a word.
"Hol, close your mouth before you drool on my floor and someone slips. AJ thought you and Nick would get along, so these two hatched a plan to get us all out."
Holly finally snapped out of it, gave herself a little mental shake, closed her mouth and smiled, "Hi."
"Hey, Holly. Man, you were right, this is gonna be awesome!"
The group got into cars and were on their way. It was definitely going to be a fun-filled day! They had decided that because Julia and Kaiden were too small to ride the "big" rides, they would take "little kid shifts". This way all four had the opportunity to take their turn on the "big" rides. AJ and Madi would take first shift, leaving Holly and Nick to get better acquainted since they only had to keep track of the older of Holly's younger sisters. At lunch, the groups would switch and AJ and Madi would have their turn.
It was definitely the hottest part of the day, the sun beating down hard. Michele had dragged AJ and Madi to the Splash Mountain line yet again. About fifteen minutes into the wait AJ's cell phone began to ring, and since ignoring it wasn't working, he finally answered it.
"What do you want Nick? You're turn isn't up yet. I thought you'd be having fun with the kids?"
"Why the hell didn't you answer your phone?!? Where are you guys?" Nick asked frantically.
"In line for Splash Mountain. Why?"
"We got a problem. Meet us at the entrance."
"What kind of problem?" AJ asked.
Madi's head snapped up when she heard the word problem, "What's wrong? Did someone get hurt?"
"We kinda...lost someone..." Nick said. AJ could hear Holly panicking in the background.
AJ grabbed Madi's hand, signaling for her and Michele to follow him out of the line and towards the entrance, "Who?"
"Who what?" Madi asked, getting more and more concerned and scared as the seconds passed. Her hand tightened on his as the various scenarios ran through her mind.
"He was right here...I don't know what happened..." Nick was obviously upset.
