Aj paced back and forth in the living room of his house. The other four Backstreet Boys sat around the room and watched him.
"Hey man, why don't you calm down and have a seat." Brian suggested. Aj looked up, as if he forgot the others were there. Aj slumped down into the nearest chair.
"When are they going to get here? I hope nothing happened to them." Aj muttered.
"Dude, they'll be here soon..." Nick started, only to be interrupted by Kevin.
"They are here now." He said, pointing out of the window. Aj ran to the front door while the others crowed around the window. They watched as the two girls stepped out of the car. One was tall with reddish-brown hair, the other not quite so tall and had light brown hair. They all decided they thought both of the girls were beautiful, but none of them could guess which one was Aj's new sister.
"Hey!" Aj called happily as he rushed from the house. "I'm Aj, nice to meet you both." He said shaking hands with them. "So which one of you is Michelle?"
"I'm Michelle", the taller girl said. Aj smiled at her before helping his mom grab the suitcases from the car. By the time Aj carried the suitcases in the house the other four guys were standing in the doorway.
"Which one is Michelle?" Nick asked. Aj pointed to the one leaning into the car. They all let out a little gasp of surprise as she pulled a little girl from the car.
"I didn't know she had a kid." Aj said, half to himself. The little girl appeared to be about 3 years old and had the same color hair and eyes as Michelle. They watched as Mrs McLean, Michelle, her friend and the little girl approached the house carrying the rest of the bags. They all crowed into the hall. Michelle stood in awe as she looked at her new home. The house was huge, AND it was beautiful.
"Michelle," Mrs McLean said, breaking her thoughts, "This is Nick, Brian, Kevin and Howie." She said pointing to each of the guys as she said their name. Michelle tried to memorize the names. Nick's the blond, Kevin is the tall one, Howie has the pony tail, and Brian is the short light haired one, she thought to herself.
"And this is Michelle, Marie, and Olivia." Mrs McLean said, she looked at Michelle and smiled. My new daughter, she though happily. "Why don't you show the girls to their rooms them give them a tour of the house, and I will go start dinner." It was nearly 4:30, the drive to the house was long, and not that close to the adoption center. The girls picked up their bags and followed Aj to the third floor and I to a large room with blue walls and a white carpet.
"You will have to share a room, the guys have all the other spare rooms." Aj informed them.
"No problem, me and Chelle are used to sharing a room." Marie said, reassuring Aj with a big smile. "Not that we plan to spend much time in it. I want to go out since this is my last night with Chelle."
"I don't know Marie, I can't just leave Olivia here." Michelle said, looking down at the little girl who had been desperately clinging to her leg since they had entered the house.
"Hey, we're all going clubbing together tonight." Nick said, putting his arm around Michelle's shoulders. "You two can come with us, and I'm sure Mrs. McLean won't mind watching the little girl for a while." Michelle gently moved Nick's arm from around her shoulder.
"I don't know, it's only my first night here and I wouldn't be comfortable leaving Olivia in a new house without me." Michelle said, trying to convince them she couldn't go out, even though she really wanted to.
"Well, we'll let you unpack. The offer still stands if you change your mind. My mom…our mom, is really good with kids." Aj smiled, then led the other four guys out of the room. As soon as they were out of site Marie punched Michelle in the arm.
"What is wrong with you! You have five really hot guys that are willing to take you to a club and you say NO. I'm sure Mrs McLean will be able to take care of Oliva." Marie said, then she turned to Olivia. "Liv, do you think it would be okay if mommy went out tonight? Mrs McLean will take care of you, and all your toys are here. I'm sure Mrs McLean would even watch Beauty and the Beast with you. Does that sound alright?" The little girl smiled and nodded. Then Marie looked at Michelle, as if to say, I told you so.
"Alright, we'll go, but I'm not promising you I won't worry." Michelle said, then started unpacking. Marie just laughed, she new her friend to well, then tossed her own bag on the floor. Marie helped Michelle unpack. Soon the room was filled with paintings and drawings Michelle had done. She sat on the bed and sighed, pulling Olivia into her arms. Marie sat down next to her on the bed and looked at the drawing of Michelle's family she was staring at.
"It almost looks like home, my art work, the blue walls, the white bed sheets, just like my old house." Michelle whispered, her voice cracking. "But it sure doesn't feel like home, no matter how long I stay here, this will never be home." She started crying and Marie hugged her friend, the tears falling onto her shoulder.
"Hey…" Aj started, but didn't finish. He had heard everything Michelle had said, and he didn't have the heart to walk in on her crying. Poor baby, he thought, I wonder what happened to her. Aj turned and walked back down stairs.
"Did you tell them dinner was ready?" Mrs McLean said as AJ walked back into the kitchen.
"Um…yeah, they'll be down in a little while." He lied. Aj took a seat next to Howie at the table, leaving the three seats across the table for the girls when they came down.
