Nikki picked through the clothes in her closet and placed them in her suitcases. Howie sat on her bed watching her fold the clothes.

"Think I should bring my bathing suit?"

Howie nodded. "You might wanna go swimming at the hotels."

"I don't like this swim suit much though."

"Then buy a new one."

"I can't, I spent the last of my money at the mall yesterday."

"I'll buy you a new one then."

Nikki sighed and tossed the swim suit aside. "All right. We'll buy one after I lose some weight."

Howie stared at Nikki wide eyed. "Lose weight? Why would you want to do that?"

"To look better," she said, avoiding his eyes.

"Honey you look fine the way you are."

Nikki rolled her eyes and walked to the bathroom. She began gathering up her toiletry items when Howie came in. He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"I'm no model you know," she mumbled.

"What?"

Nikki turned around and stared at Howie. Her eyes were wet with tears. "I'm not skinny like a model. Or one of the dancers in your show."

Howie held her close and kissed her forehead. "Nikki you're beautiful the way you are. I fell in love with you the first day I laid eyes on you. And nothing could make me change my mind."

Nikki smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Howie said then kissed her.

"It's nice to know you fell in love with me when you were two," Nikki said with a chuckle.

Howie laughed. "Well, you were the cutest baby in the crib."

Nikki laughed again. "You're so full of it I swear," she said then lightly slapped him on the arm.

"I know," he replied with a smug grin.

"Come on help me finish packing."

"All right," she said as he followed her back into her room. The two of them were packing when Howie's pager went off. He looked at the screen then walked over to the phone. "It's Denise," he said as he dialed the number. "Hey Denise what's up?" Nikki walked over to Howie and listened. "Uh huh...I see...wow that's pretty bad. All right we'll see you in a little bit. Bye," he said then hung up.

"What is it?" Nikki asked nervously. "It's not Amanda is it?"

"No, Denise just found out some news about the tour. They postponed the first two shows."

"Are you serious? Why?"

"Hurricane Floyd is headed our way. They want us out of Florida. We've leaving for North Carolina tonight. We're supposed to be at the studio in an hour to board the bus."

"Well, I'm done packing. So I guess we should go get your stuff."

"Yeah, let's go," Howie said as he grabbed one of her suitcases.

The two of them left the apartment and went to Howie's. An hour later they arrived at the studio where the buses were parked. Denise came running out of one of the buses with her umbrella.

"Hurry up guys. Everyone else is here. Your bus is the second one," she said as she grabbed a bag from the trunk.

Howie and Nikki got their stuff loaded under the bus and went inside drenched. Nick, Kristin, Rachel, and Brian were sitting at the table. Kevin and Sarah were sitting on the couch at the back of the bus. AJ was sitting in one of the seats by the bus driver.

"Look at you two, you're soaked," Kristin said.

"And freezing," Nikki commented. "I'm gonna change," she said as she grabbed some clothes from her bag and went into the restroom. Howie changed his shirt and waited for Nikki. She came out in her pajama pants and a sweatshirt.

"Ooh sexy!" Howie joked.

Nikki smacked him on the arm. "Go change!" she laughed. Howie went into the bathroom and Nikki took a seat next to AJ. "Where's Amanda?" she asked.

"Sleeping," AJ replied, gesturing to the bunks.

"How is she doing?"

"Better, her fever's down. The doctor gave her some medication and told her to rest."

"That's good. So does she know about the baby?" AJ nodded. "How is she taking it?"

"Better than I thought she was going to. She's just in shock right now. It's probably best if we didn't mention the baby for a few days." Nikki nodded in agreement. Just then, Howie came out of the bathroom and sat down next to Nikki. Placing his arm around her shoulders, he looked over at AJ and smiled. "Think the US is ready for another tour of the Backstreet Boys?"

AJ snickered and slapped Howie a high five. "Let's knock'em dead."