When Carey and Bailey got inside the Martin family suite after had Bailey grabbed her outfit from her room for a short detour, they spotted Maddie knocked out on the couch while Zack was trying to wake her up. Carey had a confused expression etched on her face but then Bailey had quickly explained to her that Maddie had offered to distract Zack from causing trouble while everyone else finished getting things ready for the dinner. Once Bailey had explained why Maddie was on the couch and theorized that she probably got bored and tired of Zack talking that she fell asleep on the couch next to Zack.

Carey left Bailey at the door and walked over to the couch to wake Maddie up since Zack failed to do so himself. When Maddie woke up, she asked what was going on. When Carey had explained what was going to happen, she got up from the couch and promised that she would come back to help her and Bailey finish up getting ready. Carey agreed with Maddie's suggestion and advised Zack to get ready and that he should stay in his room until Carey told him that it was okay to come out. Zack unenthusiastically agreed and dragged his butt to his and Cody's room to put on some nicer clothes for the dinner.

When Zack was out of the picture, Maddie rushed out the suite to go back to her hotel room to get her outfit ready. While they waited for Maddie's return, Bailey and Carey got ready for the dinner. Time passed in a snap and Maddie returned to the suite at the right moment to help touching up the ladies' outfits. While the women were bonding as females, Zack was laying on his bed. He was staring at the ceiling absolutely bored out of his mind waiting for his mom to give him the okay to come out. He did wonder when Cody would come up to get ready for the dinner. By the time Bailey, Carey and Maddie were done getting ready for the dinner, Carey called Zack out to let him know that he come out from his and Cody's room. He came out with black dress pants, black dress shoes, a crisp green button up shirt and red necktie. Carey looked over at Zack and was glad that he looked decent.

"Zack, you look nice."

"Thanks, mom. You all look nice. By the way, when do you think Cody will come back up to get ready?"

"Oh, no! I don't know where Cody is."

"It's okay, Mrs. Martin. Cody's in the kitchen helping Chef Paulo preparing the food for the dinner tonight."

"How did you know that, Bailey?"

"It's because Esteban asked him to cook with Chef Paulo and that Maddie was to distract Zack while I helped you set tables."

"Oh."

"Well, when Cody come back up, mom?"

"I don't know."

"Should Maddie and I leave? We can meet you guys downstairs."

"Actually that's a good plan. Bailey, you and Maddie should leave now so that when Cody comes in, he'll be surprised to see you two when we come down before the dinner."

"Okay, Mrs. Martin."

"Let's go now, Bailey."

"Okay. We'll see you guys down in the lobby."

Bailey and Maddie left the suite and went down to lobby. They were lucky that when they came out of the elevator to the lobby, Cody was already in the other elevator coming up to the 23rd floor. When he entered the suite, he asked if either Zack or Carey had seen Bailey or Maddie around and they shook their heads 'no'. Since Cody didn't know what was up, he didn't pay much mind to his brother and mother's response and just simply went into his and Zack's room to get ready for the dinner like everyone else. Cody donned a pair of crisp black dress pants, sleek, black dress shoes, a new and crisp red button up shirt and a green necktie. Then he quickly gave himself a small spritz of cologne that Bailey had got for him. It was ironically called Forest Frenzy which was cologne that had a pine scent. She picked it because she thought that pine smelled good on him and she wanted to remember the time that Cody had made-up the name when he tried to get her attention in class with a pine scent for a car that had hung around his neck. As soon as Cody was ready, he walked out of his and Zack's room. Carey and Zack turned their heads towards Cody to see that he was ready to go to the lobby.

"Ready, Code Red?"

"Yeah, Zack."

"Okay, guys, let's go down to the lobby."

With the simple yet direct words of Carey Martin, the majority of the Marin family left their suite and went down to the lobby where their extended family was waiting for them. The moment Zack, Cody, and Carey exited the elevator, they came face-to-face with not only Maddie and Bailey, but also with Esteban and Arwin. Surprisingly, they also saw Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller waiting on the couch in the lobby's relaxation area. The Martin family was happy to see the people that were in front of their view, their extended family.

Maddie and Bailey smiled graciously at the Martin family. Carey smiled back at Bailey and Maddie and embraced them both in her slender arms. She hugged the two young women firmly and warmly for a good minute before she had to draw back from the hug. Carey looked straight at Maddie and Bailey and saw how beautiful they looked. She then looked back at her sons and noticed that had permanent smiles etched into their faces. Zack was smiling because he was happy to see Maddie while Cody was smiling because he was happy to see Bailey and that he thought she looked breathtaking. Carey looked between the four young adults and knew she had to make her exit so they could talk to one another.

"Well, I think I'm going to go say 'hi' to Arwin, Esteban, Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller."

"Alright, mom. We'll see you at dinner", Cody responded while he still gazed at Bailey.

Carey left her sons with Maddie and Bailey and went over to her adult friends. She was planning to say 'hi' to all of them anyway. Carey was anxious to properly meet Miss Tutweiller and find out how she got Mr. Moseby to relax. While Carey was walking down the steps to greet Arwin and Esteban, Zack walked up to Maddie and struck up a conversation with her and Cody had a crooked smile stuck on his face which caused Bailey to have a deep red color running across her cheeks. As Zack and Maddie continued to have a conversation, Cody slowly walked up to Bailey and nervously scratched the back of his neck. Bailey was wearing a simple red dress that went past her knees with white trim on the short sleeves and a white collar that just covered her collar bone. She also had a green choker and miniature holly as earrings. As a finishing touch, Bailey had her hair half up and half down. The hair that was up had been tied up in a green satin ribbon.

"You look gorgeous tonight, Bailey."

"Thank you, Cody. You look handsome yourself, this splendid evening."

Bailey leaned in to kiss Cody but the stopped herself. She sniffed the aroma that hovered over Cody and noticed that it was Forest Frenzy. She smiled and then leaned back away from Cody.

"You're wearing the cologne that I got you."

"I thought I might use it. You know I like being reminded of the good times."

"But in the end, I ended up giving you a lederhosen wedgie in the front."

"Yeah but at least I found out that I should have been myself."

"Yep. Now, I'm sorry that I did that to you. I was your friend and I should have thought of a better way to show you that I was disappointed in you. If only I knew that you were only to do that to get my attention since you liked me more than just a friend."

"It's okay, Bailey. You didn't know and I should have known better not look up your answers."

"We did learn from that experience. The funny thing is that I only realized that I liked you back the way you liked me when we hugged at the Mulch Festival. Then I finally put the pieces together for those rare days of odd behavior after our very first date."

"How did you figure that out? What gave you the motivation?"

"When you excused yourself to go shout out 'my six month plan worked!'"

Cody rubbed his neck in an embarrassed fashion and blushed.

"Oh. You heard that?"

"Yeah but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that we're here….together", Bailey used a little sultry flare on the last word.

Cody's body twitched a bit and he blushed from Bailey's added tone at the end of her recent statement. He noticed that everyone else was heading towards the ballroom for the dinner.

"Uh, I think we should get going so we can be sure that we'll be sitting next to each other."

" I agree, Cody."

Bailey smiled at Cody and looped her right arm into his left arm. She then gingerly placed her left hand on the inside indent of Cody's elbow. Cody and Bailey walked down the steps and continued on their way into the ballroom to join everyone else.

I know that this story has taken longer to finish than anticipated but it will be done soon. I also want to say to anyone who celebrated the New Year that I hope you all will have good things coming your way. Here's to 2012 and to new beginnings.