This story is dedicated to my awesome sister, who shall not be named –sorry, but I don't know you guys, so . . . But get this: she's gone from one of the most common last names in America to another very common last name. Heehee! I wasn't really allowed to do anything to help with the wedding until the day of, so this is my present to her! (Yeah, I'm a cheap gift-giver, so what? This took weeks to do and I know she hasn't gotten it before. It's a perfectly good gift.) So, dear readers, enjoy Chapter one: Five Days Before.

Chapter one: Five Days Before

Nina

"NINA!" Amber yelled, running over to me. I let out a happy sigh. Even though it had only been a month since she had last seen me, she acted like it had been forever.

"Hey, Ambs," I said as the blonde grabbed me in a tight hug.

"I can't believe you're getting married in five days!" she squealed. "This is going to be fantastic! I cannot believe you asked me to be your maid of honor!"

I laughed. "Well, who else was I going to ask? Definitely not Joy." We all knew that Joy still didn't like me, even though we hadn't seen each other in years. Amber laughed, but we both fell silent as we heard Patricia talking from behind us.

"That's not very nice to say about someone's best friend," the redhead said. Eddie laughed from beside her as he came over to give me a hug.

"Hey, sis," he said cheerfully. "So, excited for your big day?"

"Actually, I'm calmer than I should be. I mean, you hear about all of these brides freaking out about their wedding, but I'm not."

"Well, you have faced ancient Egyptian curses and crazed spirits," Amber said logically, "so a wedding shouldn't freak you out as much as it would a normal person."

"Thanks for calling me abnormal, Ambs," I laughed. "Come on, let's go to the hotel."

A half an hour later, the three taxis –Alfie and Kelly had shown up just before we had left –pulled up in front of the cute hotel I was staying at with Fabian. My wedding was being held in Florida, in a small town called Light Valley. Strangely enough, the hotel was on Darkness Avenue, which didn't really fit, but oh well.

Jember, Peddie, and Kelfie checked in, while I went ahead and went up to the room I shared with Fabian. He was lying on the bed, holding a book in front of his face. I knew he had no idea that I was there, so I decided to scare him.

As softly as I could, I walked over to my fiancé and –after trying to contain my giggles –screamed in his ear "SENKARAH'S BEHIND YOU!"

Fabian jerked away, rolling off the bed. I laughed at the frazzled look in his eye as he stood up. When he saw it was just me, he fixed me with a playful glare.

"That's not funny, Nina," Fabian said in a fake-hurt voice.

"Sorry," I laughed. "But you have to admit, it was pretty comical."

"Well, as the guy who fell into the portal with you, I would say it wasn't all that funny."

"Well, as the girl who was forced to jump in the first place, I still have to say it was hilarious."

After much explaining and much teasing, I finally got Fabian to agree it was kind of funny. I sat down beside him on the bed and looked at the book he had been reading. Egyptian Wedding Rituals. I groaned.

"Fabian!"I said in an exasperated tone. "I thought we agreed no Egyptian rituals?"

"I know, love, but I still had to read up on it. Did you know that the wedding flower was the lotus?"

"Yeah, you told me this last week, Fabian," I groaned. "Why do we have to have Egyptian things at the wedding? I mean, just a month ago, we were almost killed by an Egyptian ghost!" I was trying to cover up the fact that I had already planned a few Egyptian things for the wedding and didn't want him to know.

"But Nina, you have to remember something. I'm an Egyptologist. My entire work focuses on ancient Egypt. I can't help but be fascinated by their traditions."

I sighed. "Well, Amber already said something about lotuses being pretty, so I guess I could change my flowers," I compromised. It seemed to make Fabian happy, which was good enough for me.

An hour later, everyone who I had invited from Anubis House came into our room, smiles on their faces. Fabian laughed at the confused look on mine.

"Nins, did you honestly think we wouldn't come to see you?" Amber said in a hurt voice. "I'm offended."

I laughed. "Amber!"

A knock sounded on the door, startling us all. Who else was here? When Mara opened the door, a familiar sixteen year old rushed through the door and plopped onto the bed.

"Chloe!" I said cheerfully, giving my soon-to-be sister-in-law a hug. I had made a good choice by picking her as one of my bridesmaids. "When did you get here? I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow."

"Yeah, I wasn't supposed to be. Lucky for me I got an earlier flight," the teenager said, blowing a bubble with the gum she had in her mouth.

Fabian sighed. "Please tell me you aren't taking gum to the wedding."

Chloe gave him a mock-offended look. "I would never! Why would I risk ruining my sister's big day?"

"Aw, I'm your sister?" I asked, my heart warming up to what she said. She had started to be like my sister, too.

Once all the 'aw's were out of the way, we all got to talking about the wedding and everyone's parts in it. Amber was my maid of honor, Chloe and Patricia were my bridesmaids, Eddie was Fabian's best man, and Alfie and Fabian's friend Gordon were the groomsmen. Jerome didn't want to be part of the wedding, and Fabian didn't want to ask him to be.

With that settled, I made everyone leave. It was a little too crowded in there. Chloe was the only one who stayed for a few more minutes.

"So, looking forward to your big day?" she asked me.

"Yeah, Cleo," I told her, using the nickname I had given her a long time ago. "Now I think you have to go check in?"

"Oh! I forgot," she admitted, running out.

I laughed, sitting down beside Fabian. Wow, his sister was wired to the core. My fabulous fiancé wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer, holding a book in between us. I looked at the title: Flowers of Egypt.

Fabian was such a geek sometimes!

Okay, so first of all I have no idea if the lotus is the Egyptian wedding flower. It just sounded cool and I think I heard or read somewhere that the wedding flower is the lotus, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, this story shall be dedicated to my sister throughout the entire thing, so if it gets annoying that I say that so much, I am sorry. If she's reading this, LOVE YA LOTS CHICK! Thanks for reading!

~C