Isaac waited quietly on the couch, the TV turned off. He stared blankly out the window while Mackie played cheerfully at his feet.

"Here comes the train! Choooo! Choooo!" Mackie ran the tiny train over Ike's boot. "Aw, I broke your foot," he giggled. "Ike, I broke your foot!"

Isaac continued to gaze out the window.

"Isaaaaac! I broke your fooooooot!"

"That's nice Mackie," Isaac said blandly. From outside he heard a car pulling up the driveway. He jumped up sending Mackenzie's train flying from his hand. "She's here."

"Heeeeeeeeeey!"

Isaac scrambled to the door, almost knocking Taylor over on his way. "Watch out!" he yelled to his confused younger brother.

"Chill, Ike. What's up your butt?"

"Somebody's at the door."

"I didn't hear the doorbell..." Just then the doorbell rang. "...ring. I gotta see who this is."

Taylor followed Ike to the front door. By the time he got there he saw Ike face to face with Amy, the non-stop chat queen who also happened to be Ginger's best friend. Her smile covered her entire face. From the moment she stepped inside the house she began to relay the finer points of her life since she last saw the brothers. Unfortunately, Taylor felt that the "finer" points were bound to take 2 hours to relay.

"Come on in Amy," Ike said as he motioned her inside.

"Oh, this is so wonderful that you called. I was so excited when I got on the phone. I thought, 'oh my god, like Ikey is calling me?' I mean since you haven't called since... well... I don't think you've ever called. But we haven't seen each other in such a long time. Goodness, so much has happened I don't know where to begin. First there is... oh my god!!!" she screeched. "Tay! It's so good to see you!" Amy lunged forward, grabbed Taylor around the neck and proceeded to choke a hug out of him.

"Uh... good to... " Taylor coughed for breath. "...see you?" He gently patted her on the back, hoping that it would satisfy her enough to let go. He threw Isaac a panicked look.

"Um, Amy, why don't we go into the kitchen." He peeled her off of Taylor. Once removed, Tay breathed in the fresh air. Isaac led Amy into the kitchen. Although there was nothing worse he could imagine than to sit through one of Amy's talking fits, Taylor couldn't help but wonder why Ike was so anxious to see her.

"Would you like something to drink, Amy?" Ike said in the most pleasant voice he could muster.

"Do you have any V8?"

"Uh, no... we have orange juice, water or cola."

"Do you have any Yoo Hoo?"

"Uh, no... we have orange juice, water or cola."

"Do you have any non-alcoholic brew?"

"We have orange juice, water or cola."

"Oh. Water, I guess."

Ike forced a smile. "One water coming up." Isaac grabbed a bottled water out of the fridge and noticed Taylor lurking around the corner. "Oh, Tay! Why don't you come in and talk with Amy for awhile."

Taylor rolled his eyes. He smiled weakly as he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the far-end of the table. "Say, Ike, since you're up why don't you get me something to drink."

Isaac gritted his teeth. "Sure, Tay. What would you like, oh brother of mine?"

"Cola, please."

"Sure." He grabbed a cola and slyly shook it up before throwing it in Tay's direction. Taylor reached up one hand and grabbed the flying soda.

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm feeling a little tention in the room. Are you two having family problems... a little bit of sibling rivalry, maybe?" Amy layed her hand on her chin inquisitively. Ike and Tay just stared at her. "I mean, I've studied a little bit of psychology in school and siblings that are around each other a lot can sometimes get on each other's nerves."

"Really, Amy," Taylor said sarcastically. "I would have never thought that."

Isaac kicked his brother in the shins. "That's interesting, Amy," Ike said cheerfully. Amy seemed oblivious to Taylor's obvious crack at her.

"Oh, yes. You guys may need to take some time to be by yourselves... maybe seperate and learn to be alone."

Tay just sat with his mouth open. He popped open his soda and the fizz spurted out onto his hand and the table.

"Now how did that happen?" Ike asked. He sat down across from Amy. "So... Amy. I bet you're wondering why I called you over here."

"Well, I kinda just thought you wanted to talk... you know, catch up on old times..."

"Old times! You guys have only known each other..." Ike once again kicked Taylor in the shins. "You know that hurts Ike."

"What?" Ike said innocently.

Just then, Zac walked into the room whistling. He saw the trio at the table and turned to leave the room. But before he could make his escape Amy jumped up and grabbed him around the waste and proceeded to kiss him on the cheek. "Zac! You are just so adorable! It's so good to finally meet you!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Zac screamed. Amy continued to hold tight to the boy. "Isaaaaaaaaaaaac!"

Taylor jumped up and pried Zac away from Amy. "He's a very... sensitive child."

"He's soooooo cute!" She pinched his cheek.

"Oooooooooow!" Zac pulled away from Taylor and lept out of the room.

"I just love little kids!"

"He's 12," Taylor said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah... little kids!"

Taylor couldn't help but roll his eyes again. Zac was, in fact, two inches taller than Amy. "Um... I gotta go..."

"No!" Ike didn't want to be left alone with the girl.

"What's going on? All of a sudden I feel, I don't know... unwanted."

"Wh...why would you think that?" Ike asked.

"I'm not stupid, Isaac."

A pang of guilt swelled up inside of Isaac. "I'm sorry, Amy. I just... I need to talk to you about Ginger. That's why I called you."

"Oh." She got quiet all of the sudden and looked down to the ground. For a couple of minutes nothing happened. Then, tears started flowing out of Amy's eyes. She covered her face and began to sob. Taylor and Ike looked at each other in confusion. Ike motioned for Taylor to do something. Taylor mouthed a 'no' and indicated that it was Ike's job to comfort her.

Isaac sighed. He walked over to wear she was standing. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Um... there, there... don't, uh... cry."

"Oh, it's just that... I broke up with... I... broke up... with..." She started to hiccup. "... my boyfriend today and... I just feel so rejected and used and... now you guys are using me and..."

"No... um... no, no... we're not using you! No! We just wanted to know when Ginger's... um..."

"Birthday!" Taylor piped in.

"Yeah, we just wanted to know when her birthday was because we wanted to throw her a sur..."

"Surprise party!" Taylor yelled again.

"... yeah. And we wanted you to plan it because we..."

"...know how great you are with that kind of stuff."

"Really?" She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, yeah!" Isaac smiled. He knew that he wasn't going to get anything out of her now. He was hoping to ask her about Ginger's mom and her relationship with Barry Bobo, the man accusing Taylor of assault. But with Amy freaking out, he didn't think that she would be any use. He just hoped that Ginger's birthday was far away so that he wouldn't get roped into throwing a huge party for somebody that might have backstabbed him.

"Well that is so great!" Amy yelled ecstatically. "Her birthday is next week!"

"What?!" Ike tried to hide his dissapointment.

"Yes, oh, my gosh! This is going to be so great! We can have it here!"

"Here? Like, in my house?"

"Well, yeah... it's got a huge back yard and it would be perfect! I better get home and start calling up people. Oh, Ike you are so thoughtful! You are definitely the best boyfriend Ginger has ever had and boy, has she had a lot!"

"Boyfriend?" Ike whimpered. Before he could put a stop to the freight train he just started Amy had bolted out the door.

"Ike?"

"Yeah, Tay," Ike said, stunned.

"This is gonna suck."

The next day marked the day that the new baby was to return home. Both Avery and Jessie were excited and couldn't sleep. Isaac, Taylor and Zac slept fine, though... so used to the "new baby" thing. At about 7:00 am that morning the phone rang. Zac was awoken from an excited cry from the living room. He kicked Taylor with his foot.

"Tay. Are you awake?"

"No."

"Did you hear that? I think Dad's on the phone."

"No, I didn't hear anything. I am asleep."

"Yeah, right. Let's go see what's up."

"No."

"What the heck is going on?" Ike moaned from the top bunk.

"Dad's talking really loudly on the phone," Zac replied. "I think something happened."

"With the baby?"

"No... I don't think so. I'm gonna check it out." Zac sprung up from his trundle bed and made his way into the hall. Isaac followed, intrigued by his little brother's excitement.

"Shhh," Zac hushed.

"Hey, Tay, you coming?"

"No."

"Your loss." Zac made his way into the front entrance of the living room. He and Ike watched as their father walked back and forth talking on the phone and smiling.

"This is just amazing. The guys will be thrilled... alright... alright Christopher. Talk to ya later. Bu-bye." Their Dad clapped his hands together and laughed. He swirled around to find two of his son's staring at him, their hair mussed up with confused looks on their face.

"What's happening?" Zac enquired, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"We got it!"

"We got what?" But Ike already knew. They knew it was a long shot, but it was something that they had been hoping for.

"Three!"

"Three what?!" Zac pressed.

"Nominations, bud. Three Grammy nominations!"

"Three! Oh my... the nominations came out this morning?" Ike couldn't hold his smile back any longer. "I can't believe this!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Zac started jumping on the couch cusions. For once, his father didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah, this morning! Go get Taylor and Jessie and Avery... aw get your Mom and Mackie too!" Walker seemed more thrilled than his sons. But Isaac didn't need to go get the rest of the family. The yelling had already brought them all out into the living room.

"What is going on?" Taylor sluggishly plopped himself down onto the couch as Zac continued to jump beside him.

"Tay, get this... we got 3 Grammy nominations. Can you even... I mean... comprehend that?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Of course I'm not kidding. Right Dad?"

"Alright guys... Best Performance by a Rock/Pop Duo or Group, Best New Artist and Record of the Year."

"Holy... "

"Taylor," his mother warned.

"... cow, Mom. Holy cow."

After the mandetory 10 minutes of hugs and jumps occured the family settled down for breakfast, although the combination of the nominations plus the fact that Zoe was due home was enough to wipe all their appetites away.

"Dad, does this mean that we get to go?" Jessie asked.

"To the Grammys?"

"Yeah. Do we get to dress up and stuff and meet Madonna?"

"Well, I don't know if Madonna will be there, but I'm sure that the whole family is invited, honey."

"I want Puff Daddy to be there!" Mackie yelled.

"Since when do you listen to Puff Daddy, Mack?" Zac asked as he stuff a peice of bagel in his mouth.

"I like Puff Daddy." Mackie said matter-of-factly.

"I think he just likes saying the name," Ike replied.

"No! I like Puffy Daddy. Puff Daaaaaaddy. I like him."

"Do we have to wear a tux?" Zac asked.

"I don't think so... I hope not. They don't all wear tuxes and stuff. These are musicians... rock people. I think only people like Kenny G have to wear tuxes. I can't imagine any member of the Wu Tang wearing a monkey suit." Taylor continued to butter his uncooked strawberry pop tart.

"We could wear leather or something," Ike suggested.

"You always wear leather," Avery added.

"Do not. Sometimes we wear... other stuff." Taylor bit into the pop tart and let out a satisfied 'mmmmm.'

"Will Zoe get to go?" Jessica asked.

"Um... well, sometimes these award shows aren't for babies."

"Yeah," Ike laughed. "What if she started crying in the middle of Celiene Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On.' Wouldn't that be an awesome Grammy moment."

Taylor proceeded to pinch his noise and talk in a whiny voice. "Excuse me Hanson. Would you please shut your baby sister up so that I can continue with my lengthy ballad tribute to Leonardo Dicaprio." He started to laugh at his own joke.

"Hey, Leo is cool," Jessica whined.

"I can't help it if you have a crush on the skinny dweeb."

"You're calling Leo skinny? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently?"

"Okay, that's enough you two. This is a day of celebration." Their father tried to calm the overexcited bunch. "One great thing has already happened today and we still have one more very special thing. We are so blessed..."

Zac grinned. "Yeah." He took another bite of his bagel and chuckled quietly.