Part 2

Kel couldn't help but grin as she picked up the little stuffed animal. She loved toy stores. She loved stuffed animals. And she LOVED frogs.

"Kermit THE Frog here." A puppet was pushed in front of her face and she jumped, then laughed, carefully running a finger along Kermit's chin.

"Well hello, Kermit, nice to see you," she played along, dipping her head in a bow and holding back a laugh.

"And nice to see you too, Kel, DAYUM, you look nice today." Kermit's voice disappeared and was replaced with her boyfriend's low rasp in her ear.

Kel laughed and turned to look at friendly brown eyes and a slightly scruffy face that was inches from her own. "Found me, I wasn't sure if you'd even noticed I left."

"Baby, I found a jacket and turned to show you and you were gone, I knew right where to look," AJ replied, putting down the green puppet and taking her hand. "Besides, how could I miss you? The most beautiful and talented woman in the entire world?"

Kel laughed and dragged him with her to another pile of stuffed animals. "You flatter."

"Love you," he said in her ear, holding her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder.

Kel smiled and kissed his nose. "Very much. Look, Kermit!" She exclaimed, picking up a small stuffed frog that posed on the end of the table.

"It ain't easy bein' green," AJ sang as he moved the doll to make him dance. Kel giggled and added it to the pile already in her arms.

"How many are we buying today?" AJ asked as he walked awkwardly behind her, the two ambling to the next section filled with talking and singing dolls.

"However many I want," Kel said definitely, nodding once to solidify her answer. She handed her pile over to AJ and hurried to a display, pressing a button and grinning as the Kermit doll said 'it ain't easy bein' green'.

"I love Kermit," she said.

"I know you do, but can we go? We have to be at the airport in an hour, Suzanne's party is tonight, remember?" AJ reminded her, struggling to hold on to all the stuffed animals he'd been given.

"Oh, that's right! I have to get her something too...think she'll like this?" Kel asked, holding up a ceramic Kermit and Piggy cookie jar.

"She'll adore it because it came from you, now let's go," AJ said, dropping two Kermits and an unknown stuffed frog on the floor.

Kel sighed and bent down, picking them up. "Honestly, AJ, can't you hold on to a few stuffed animals?" She said as she led him to the check out register.

"Baby, I can handle you, I can handle stuffed animals, but you and stuffed animals at the same time is proving to be difficult." AJ struggled to NOT trip over a two year old as he ran by and barely managed to keep all the animals on the counter as they reached it and not on the floor.

"That's nice, hon, I'm just gonna run across the hall to the Disney Store real quick, just don't forget all of them, ok?" Kel said hurriedly, giving him a quick kiss before jogging out of the store. She smiled to herself as she walked in the glass doors and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to the tune playing overhead.

"What would I give if I could live out of these waters, what would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand..." A skip finding its way into her step, Kel perused the store, singing along with the musak as it played all the familiar songs.

*

Dawn let out a sigh as she filed away the last of the paper work. Now she could get ready to party.

Being as an assistant to Howie Dorough wasn't at ALL what she'd expected. She'd originally just taken the job as a friend, they'd known each other for a while and he knew he could trust her, and she knew that if he pushed her in the wrong direction, she could always remind him of all the horrible things that NO ONE ever wants anyone to know. In short, if he got her angry, she'd be sure to let his date of the moment know something she wasn't supposed to. But over all, it was a great job. She got to travel, see her friends a lot, and didn't lack for a social life. Hanging out with Howie D. of the Backstreet Boys sure brought in its benefits, though she hated to take advantage. Their friendship was a lot stronger because they had each other around a lot, and Dawn didn't mind that she got to see his best friend at times. Not to mention the whole 'friends with benefits' part of their relationship....

Everyone who was anyone knew that Dawn liked AJ. If they didn't, well, they were certainly NOT living in the same world as everyone else. AJ's girlfriend Kel thought it was a riot, watching AJ squirm over some of the things Dawn dared to say to his face was always a laugh. AJ played along at first, but then he found out how serious she was and...well, he found a new reason to take Kel out of town for unexpected trips when Dawn was working.

Running into the two of them in Chicago while she and Howie had been searching for new business partners had been brilliant, Dawn herself wouldn't have been able to plan it better. Kel was excited, she and Dawn hadn't seen each other for a few weeks, and Howie and AJ just never crossed paths outside of work. The four had started talking over lunch, but when Howie and Kel conspired and left Dawn and AJ alone, Dawn couldn't help but think it was absolutely comical when AJ couldn't sit still as she started off with casual conversation. She offhandedly made a double-faced remark and AJ bolted, grabbing Kel out of the line she was pretending to stand in with Howie and left. When she'd later talked to Kel on the phone, she was reminded about Suzanne's party, at which point AJ walked in the room and heard that Dawn was going to be there. Both Dawn and Kel were laughing at his reaction of hysteria.

And today was the day. Suzanne's surprise party was that night, everyone would be there. All the guys, of course, their girlfriends, and various other friends of the entire group. Some had traveled a long way, this was going to be one hell of a party.

"Dawn? You ready to go yet? I thought you said you had to stop home before we could go."

Dawn smiled and locked up her office, crossing the hall to Howie's, where he was standing in the doorway, fixing his watch.

"I'm ready, are you?" She asked him.

Howie nodded and pulled his office door shut. "Yeah, let's go."

Walking down the hall and out of the building together, they raced back to her house, which she won once again, and met him inside the foyer.

"I swear, you cheat," he was saying as she kicked off her heels and carried them in her hands, starting up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Do not!" She tossed behind her shoulder. She pushed the bedroom door shut behind her and tossed her heels in the direction of her closet, struggling to unzip her dress as she headed for the bathroom.

"Do too," Howie whispered in her ear, making her jump. She shoved him away from her and half-laughed, going back to trying to reach the zipper, only to feel Howie's hands beat her to it. When his hands made their way into her dress and around her hips, she knew he hadn't rushed her out of the office because she had mentioned having to stop home.

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