PROLOGUE

April 5, 1999

"Shhh...sweetie it's okay. Your almost done. Your doing good." AJ Mclean murmed soothingly to his girlfriend Lindsey Magdelena, or as she is called Mags.

Mags said nothing. She simply glared at him, as she pushed. She was in labor with their baby. It was the 25th hour of her painful labor. In a moment, though, it would be all worth it. Mags put her chin to her chest and gave one final push. Within seconds, she heard a high pitched whiney crying of her baby. Right now it was the only thing she wanted to hear, but in a couple of weeks it would be the last thing she wanted to hear.
 
"It's a perfect, healthy baby boy!" she heard the doctor call.

Mags laid her head back against the pillow, and sighed in unison with AJ. She closed her eyes and thanked God.
When she opened her eyes, she looked up at AJ to see him holding their son.

"Do you want to hold him?" he asked quietly. Mags was too tired to respond, so she just nodded.

As AJ placed the baby in her arms he asked "Are you okay?"

Mags didn't even hear him. She was too busy staring at her beautiful baby boy. He had blue eyes like every other baby. His face was blotched. With the tiny amount of hair he had, it was obvious that he would have AJ's hair.

"He looks like a little old man." commented Nick Carter, scaring Mags half to death. She looked up and realized she was in a different room, surrounded by her friends. Nick, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, and Brian Littrell were all bandmates of AJ's. They all belonged to the infamous Backstreet Boys. With them was Nick's girlfriend, and one of Mags' best friends, Mandy, Brian's fiancée Leighanne who was also a good friend of Mags', Leah, Howie's wife, Mags' best friend Kylie, and finally AJ's mother, Denise. They barely fit into the room, that Mags hadn't even noticed she had been transferred to.

"Nick!" Mandy scolded, elbowing her boyfriend, while the others tried to hide their laughter. "Ignore them. The baby is beautiful."

Denise pushed through the crowd to Mags' bedside. She smiled down at her. "Do you mind if I hold him?" Denise questioned.

Mags returned the smile, but was reluctant to give him up 'Don't be silly. You'll have him for the rest of your life.' she reminded herself mentally. "Oh no. Go ahead." she replied, letting Denise take him out of her arms.

Denise watched the baby for a moment, before stating "He truly is beautiful. Just like his daddy." She handed the baby to Kevin, so she could reach up to pinch AJ's cheek.

"Mo-om!" AJ whined, his face reddening in embarrassment.

"What's his name?" inquired Brian.

"Tyler Bradley." AJ responded. He and Mags had chosen Bradley as their son's middle name as a tribute to Mags' older brother, Brad, whom Mags had been extremely close with. When she was 14, he had unexpectedly killed himself. She had taken it very hard and had tried to kill herself numerous times. Thankfully she had gotten herself back together.
 
"He's got your -" Howie began, but was interrupted.

"SSSSSSHHHHH!!!!!" whispered Leah, Kylie, and Leighanne. They pointed at Mags, who was out cold.

Three days later, everyone was posed in front of a camera waiting for Brian to finish setting it up, and quickly get back into the picture.

"Come on B-Rok! Let's go before Tyler starts to cry!" AJ called impatiently, as he shifted positions slightly, so that his arm rested comfortably on Mags' shoulder.

"I'm just trying to make it perfect!" Brian protested.

'Perfect.' Mags thought, as Brian finally took his place in between Leighanne and Kevin. 'That sums up my life.'
The camera flashed and took a picture of Mags, AJ, and Tyler, surrounded by family and friends.