Part 4

"Ok, so the food's all in the kitchen, no Nick you may NOT start eating now, the family room has been rearraged appropriately and all the gifts have been stacked in there, and all drinks are in the fridge. Anyone heard from Kel and AJ yet?"

"Stef, will you CHILL please? You're more of a control freak than Kevin sometimes," Dawn called from her spot lounging in a chaise lounge on the patio.

"Its Suzanne's surprise party and I'll be DAMNED if all this work to keep it a secret is gonna go to hell," Stephanie replied, carrying with her a list as she paced back and forth, checking things off. "Do you know how hard it was to keep Nick's mouth shut?"

"Hey! I can keep my mouth shut very well, thank you!" Nick exclaimed from the driveway where he was playing one on one with Kevin.

"Right, sure you can, and I'm the Queen of the Nile," Becky laughed, taking a sip of her soda. "You made sure all the alcohol is gone, right? Kel wanted me to make sure of that, she didn't want AJ to feel bad."

"Its gone, all locked up downstairs, and everyone knows that there won't be any at all," Stephanie confirmed, checking something else off her list. "Does anyone know when those two will be getting here? It's almost eight."

"AJ called when they landed, he said by quarter after," Kevin called from the driveway.

"Good," Stephanie said under her breath. She looked around the backyard, noting that a majority of the guests were there. It wasn't intended to be a large party, and it turned to not be really, the maximum number of people would be around twenty-five and it didn't even look like twenty were going to be able to make it.

"Car just pulled up, don't know who it is," Howie said as he walked outside with an iced tea in his hand.

Stephanie practically ran inside and looked out the kitchen window, a grin on her face as she recognized the person stepping out from behind the wheel.

"Heidi!" She called out the window. Heidi searched and finally saw her, waved, then started for the front door. Stephanie met her and the two shared a hug.

"God, girl, this place is awesome," Heidi commented as she walked in, looking around the large foyer.

"Isn't it? I love it here. Everyone's out back, we're waiting for Kel and AJ and then for nine o'clock to roll around," Stephanie explained as she led her friend through the house.

"What about Jeanine and Brian?" Lynne mentioned from her spot next to Dawn on another lawn chair. "I haven't heard from Neen in a WHILE."

"I think I passed them on my way here, at a light. She was bitchin' about the length of the light, I could hear it as I passed," Heidi explained, taking a seat across from Becky.

"Sounds like her. Why did he let her drive in the first place?" Dawn asked, leaning back and closing her eyes against the sun.

"You're asking me? I won't come within ten feet of the woman when I know she's getting behind the wheel," Stephanie said, letting out half a laugh before going back inside to check once more on the food.

*

Brian let out a heavy sigh as Jeanine finally put his car in park and killed the ignition.

"That," he paused. "That's the last time I ever let you drive my car," he managed to say.

"What? That wasn't all that bad," Jeanine said, unbuckling her belt and stepping out, careful to lock the door behind her.

"Wasn't all that bad," Brian said under his breath. He got out of the car and followed her up the walk to the house. "Wasn't all that bad?!" He repeated.

"No, it wasn't, this time I didn't skip nearly as many curbs," Jeanine said matter of factly, pressing on the doorbell firmly before looking at him. "Besides, I think it was rather good of me that I only skipped two."

Brian couldn't say anything, he just threw his hands in the air and screamed in frustration as the door opened.

"You let her drive?" Was all Stephanie said to him after Jeanine went inside.

"She asked to!" Brian exclaimed, following to the backyard. The party had more or less just gotten underway, various friends of Suzanne's floating around, waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

"Hey, wait, where's AJ?"

"He and Kel took a flight this afternoon from Minnesota," Nick replied as he came up behind his friend, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You let Jeanine drive?"

"She asked me to!" Brian repeated. Nick only nodded and walked away, taking a seat next to Becky at the large table by the door.

"Let me just check one more time, ok?" Becky started. "You LET Jeanine drive?"

"She asked to, what do you people want from me?!" Brian exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air again.

"I was just checking," Becky said calmly.

Brian shook his head and grabbed the basketball sitting on the end of the table, heading towards the driveway as he heard a loud whoop from inside the house.

"Never fear, AJ and KJ are here," AJ announced as he bounded outside, holding his girlfriend over his shoulder.

"I swear, if you don't put me down, your nonexistant ass is going to be so sore, you will not be able to dance for weeks," Kel threatened, her hand poised to spank him.

"Now Kel, honey, if I can't dance, that means we can't boogy," AJ reminded her.

"I can survive, you're the one that can't," Kel reminded him briskly, giving him a warning hit.

"Oh, kinky," AJ said as he let her down. She pushed him away before dragging him close and kissing him sweetly, then the two made their rounds around the party saying hello.

"You said nine, right Stef?" Lynne asked as she walked outside from the kitchen where she'd been getting a refill on her soda.

"Yeah, I told Suzanne to get here at nine sharp, no earlier or later," Stephanie said, giving the woman a weird look.

"Really? Well, looks like she's early for once, her car just pulled up outside," Lynne said, chuckling.

Brian simply laughed as Stephanie started to panic and Kevin tried to calm her down. What a nut.

BSB Fanfic
BSB Miscellania Index