"Hello! I know your home I can see you moving!" Chris yelled through an open window.
I emerged from the kitchen and unlocked the front door, then ran back to my plate.
"What are you guys up to?" JC asked hot on my heels.
I went through the swinging kitchen doors and over to the kitchen table. I smiled at Isaiah who lay in his basinet and threw a small piece of toast at Justin who stood infront of the stove, singing along to J.Lo on the radio.
JC followed me over to the table as the other guys crowded around the plates of food near J.
" Well don't you guys look like the happy little family," he said finishing my pancakes.
" Oh shut up you know it's not like that," I replied.
" Uh-huh. Hey J! You never called me to come get you last night,"
" I stayed here, so Em wouldn't have to get up with Isaiah," he walked over and tickled his tummy.
Isaiah laughed loudly and kicked his feet as he stared up happily at his father. Justin was really impressing me, he seemed genuanly intrested in being in Isaiah's life. And I was also considering our life together. Maybe he had changed for the better, maybe he was once again the man that I fell in love with.
" Oh yah?" JC continued.
" Where'd you sleep at?" he asked.
Everyone quieted down and looked at him.
" None of your bees wax," I said.
" Did you get some?" Joey asked in a whisper.
" He slept in the guest room, and that I can valch for," Bree said walking into the room.
" How'd you know? You were asleep," I pointed out.
" I woke up to Isaiah's cryin, I went to take him a bottle, but J had beatin me to it, I walked past the guest room on my way back to my room and saw the bed was unmade, plus you were sound asleep and snoring so loudly that I knew there was no way you could've been doing anything," she laughed.
" Oh thanks," I said putting my plate in the sink.
I walked over to Joey and put my arm over his shoulders.
" So what are you losers doing today?" I asked.
" We love you too Emilicous," Chris said.
" Actually we're not busy at all today, wanna do something in this small town you call home?" Joey asked.
" No clubbin," Justin said picking up Isaiah.
" Why not? We won't give her alcohol," Chris protested.
" We're going up to Memphis tomorrow to say 'hi' to my Dad and Lisa," he answered passing the baby to Chris's open arms.
" And then down to Florida to see his Mom and Paul," I added.
" Really? Introductions to the rest of the Timberlake clan? You nervous?" Lance asked.
" Oh yeah," I said.
" Don't be, they're gonna love you," JC reassured me.
" And if they don't, we'll kick they're butts," Joey laughed.
I laughed until I noticed the look on Justin's face. He wasn't upset by the comment, just pretending to be, once in a while he'd start to smile but quickly pull himself back together and continue to stare at Joey. Finally Carebear noticed the eyes on him and looked over.
" What?" he asked.
" You gonna beat up my family?" J asked.
" What? No I was just kid-,"
" You gonna beat up my Momma?" he asked stepping toward Joey.
Carebear backed up and pulled me in front of him.
" Hey, now Justin, calm down," I played along.
" No, he's gonna hit my Momma, I wanna know what he's gonna do," he said.
Suddenly he made a fake lung for Joey, who took off toward the living room. I moved out of J's way, he ran out after Joey. Seconds later I heard Joey scream 'help!' then someone running upstairs, then a highpitched scream.
" Was that Joey?" Lance asked with a smile.
I managed to nod 'yes' before falling over with laughter.
Justin laughed as he finished buckling Isaiah’s carseat into the backseat of a rented yellow Mustang convertible. I placed the baby in the seat, buckling him up tightly. The state-of-the-art carseat-which Justin had bought the day before along with a new crib, about a dozen little jumpsuits, and roughly a ton of diapers-had a sun visor, which I put down to cover the little face. I then gave the baby a big, smacking kiss and climbed in the passenger seat. Justin climbed in the driver’s seat. We waved farewells at Bree and the guys, who grinned and waved back.
The drive down to Tennessee was actually really relaxing. Isaiah slept the entire way, despite the fact that Justin had a hip-hop CD blaring with the bass roaring. When at last we reached Memphis, Justin pulled into the driveway of a nice house. He gave two toots on the horn, and immediately the door was thrown open and out sprinted a little ball of energy. He hurled himself down the sidewalk, nearly falling over from excitement. He reached the car before Justin and I even had our seat belts off, wiggling like a little puppy.
“Justin! Justin!” he called over and over.
“Hey, little J!” Justin yelled back, opening the car door and stepping out.
He wrapped his arms around his little brother’s waist and picked him up effortlessly into the air.
Jonathan screeched in delight. I got out as well, then pushed the black leather seat forward and unbuckled Isaiah. I lifted him out. He shifted sleepily, then opened his large blue eyes and yawned in my face.
“Ooh. Is that my new little… brother?” Jonathan guessed, looking curiously up at Isaiah once Justin had set him on the ground.
“Nope, nephew, dude,” Justin answered.
“He’s my son. Jon, meet Isaiah.”
“He’s so little,” Jonathan breathed.
“He’s even littler than Steven!”
“Well, Steven used to be this small,” Justin reminded his little brother.
“Are Daddy and Lisa around?”
“Yeah. They’re in the kitchen,” Jonathan answered.
He grabbed Justin’s hand.
“C’mon, Justin! C’mon, Emerald! C’mon, Isaiah!” He pulled Justin toward the house.
I followed, grabbing Isaiah’s diaper bag and throwing it over my shoulder.
“Justin!” his father called, grinning as Jonathan dragged him into the kitchen.
“How’s it going? …Is Emerald here? Did you bring her?” He looked in confusion at the absence of anyone after Justin.
“I’m here,” I answered, walking in the kitchen.
“I dropped his pacifier in the hallway and had to pick it up…”
“Oh, he’s so precious!” Lisa exclaimed, standing up and walking across the kitchen to where I stood with Isaiah.
“May I?”
“Sure,” I answered, handing the baby to Lisa.
“We’ve decided to call him Isaiah.”
“Oh, Randy,” Lisa said, carrying Isaiah over to where Justin’s dad sat at the table.
“Isn’t he perfect?”
“Now don’t tell me you want another one,” Randy laughed, though admiring the baby.
“My first grandkid,” he said, mock-sentimentally.
“Oh… someone bring me a tissue. Now, you, Mister,” he said, pulling Jonathan into his lap.
“Don’t get any ideas from your blockhead older brother, okay? No having kids til you’re 35.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Jonathan answered.
He peered at Isaiah again.
“Was Steve really that little once?”
“Jon, you were that little once, too,” Lisa answered.
“I remember that,” Justin said.
“The first time I held you, you were that little. And look how big you are now!”
“Was Justin ever that little?” Jonathan persisted.
“Believe it or not, little guy, we all started out that little. Even I was that little once,” Justin answered.
“So was I, and Daddy, and Lisa.”
“You were that little?” Jonathan clarified, looking closely at Isaiah.
“And you?” he continued, looking at his father.
“Yup. We all were, hun,” I answered.
“So where is Steven?” Justin asked.
“His bedroom,” Lisa answered.
“Taking a nap. I’m sure he won’t mind being woken up by you, though.” Justin left the kitchen to get his littlest brother.
“Steve copies everything Jon does now, and that includes idolizing Justin,” Lisa told me with a smile.
“It’s really cute.”
“I am not cute!” Jonathan cried indignantly.
“Boys aren’t cute.”
“Well, Justin’s cute,” I answered, grinning at the little boy.
“He’s the cutest guy I know.”
“Well, maybe I’m a little cute,” Jonathan allowed.
“But not a lot!” He slid off his father’s lap just as Justin came bounding in the room, carrying a half-asleep Steven.
“Justin! Emerald says you’re cute!”
“Yeah? Well, I say Em’s cute too,” Justin answered.
He snuck a look at me, I flushed and looked away. Randy laughed at the little flirtatious display.
“Son, you’re making her uncomfortable,” he said.
“Oh, she likes it,” Justin answered.
He leaned down and looked in my eyes.
“Right?” he asked softly, suddenly unsure.
“Right,” I answered just as softly, peering back in his eyes.
Our lips got closer and closer until they met, just for a second.
“Ewwwww!” Jonathan screeched.
“Daddy, Justin’s kissing a girl!”
Justin, laughing, put down Steven and kneeled on the floor next to where Jonathan stood.
“Jon, let me tell you something.” He got really close to the little boy and whispered something in his ear.
“What’d you tell him?” I wondered.
“The Code of the Guys,” Justin answered.
“Brother passes it on to brother. My honorary brother Ryan Gosling from the MMC, heard it from his honorary brother, JC. And now Jonathan’s gonna have to tell Steve when Steve is old enough. And Steve will pass it on to Isaiah. It’s a never-ending cycle, passed on for centuries.” He leaned really close to me and whispered to me.
“And maybe Isaiah will have a little brother to pass it on to.” I opened my mouth in surprise, then, laughing, smacked his arm.
“What’d you tell her, Justin?” Jonathan wondered.
“The Code of the Lovers,” Justin answered.
“Which hasn’t been passed on to me by anybody, but every young couple in love knows it anyway.”
“Will you tell me when I’m old enough to be in love with somebody?” Jonathan wondered.
“Little bro, when you’re in love enough to know it, you’ll already know it. It’s right here,” he said, tapping his brother’s chest above his heart, “and it’ll come out when the time is right.”
“The time is right?” I whispered.
“Yeah. It is.” Justin leaned up and kissed me softly again. “It is.”
“Should we go say goodnight to Daddy?” I asked him, picking him up out of the cradle and rocking him.
Slipping on my slippers, I padded down the wooden-floored hallway, past Jonathan’s and Steven’s rooms, to Justin’s. The door was open, and he was sitting on the bed with his back to me, on the phone.
“Justin?” I called softly.
He turned, saw Isaiah and I and grinned.
“I gotta go, okay? …Yeah, see ya later. Bye,” he said to the person on the phone.
" Hey," he said.
" Hey, we came to say goodnight," I explained.
He lay the phone on the bed and got up, walking over. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the way his white wifebeater clung to his body in all the right places. His muscular arms encircled the us both. He kissed my forehead, then bent and kissed Isaiah’s.
“Goodnight, you two,” he said softly, looking me in the eyes.
I felt an unusual happiness bubbling up and over as I peered back into his ocean blue eyes, which were calm and excited at the same time.
“Have I ever told you how sexy you look in those pajamas?” Justin whispered huskily in my ear.
“No, you haven’t,” I breathed back, closing my eyes and just enjoying the feeling of him being near her.
“You look damn sexy in them,” Justin whispered, pulling Isaiah and I into another tight hug.
“Em, I’m so in love with you.”
“Justin, I-,” I began.
" No Em, listen. I know I said before that if you didn't want to be with me, I could understand and except it. But I lied to you again. I couldn't except that. I couldn't except that you suddenly stopped loving me and I would spend the rest of my life trying to get you back. I love you more than anyone else in this world, well, not Isaiah, but your the one for me, and I can't just let you go," he said.
" Justin-," I paused letting suspence build up in him.
" I completly understand. I tried to hate you and be upset with you. I wanted to just snatch you up by the collar and throw you out the door. But I couldn't, I just loved you to much. And when you did all that stuff about Isaiah, I thought I stopped loving you. But the moment I saw you again, not only did I find out it was still there, but it tripled. I couldn't think of a person I love more than you, except Isaiah, and I couldn't image me spending my life with anyone other than you," I said.
Justin stood calmly, a look of serinity over his face and shock in his eyes. Suddenly he grabbed me and pulled me into a kiss, I twisted alittle to keep from squishing the baby. Finally he pulled back and hugged me tightly.
" You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear you say that," he whispered.
Suddenly and rapidly, the moment was broken.
“JUSTIN!” It was Jonathan, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“You never came to say goodnight to me or Steve!” He pouted.
Standing behind him, wobbling, was Steven, who just looked dazed and confused.
“Oh, sorry there, J Jr.!” Justin said.
He leaned down to his little brother and gave him a big hug. He hugged Steven too and gave them both kisses on their foreheads.
“Night, guys. Better get a lot of sleep! We’re gonna have an awesome time tomorrow, I was thinking maybe… the zoo… Sound good to anyone around here?”
“Monkeys!” Jonathan screamed.
“Yes! C’mon, Steve! Let’s go sleep!” He ran back down the hallway.
Steve toddled after him.
“ Well, it's off to bed for you Isaiah,” I smiled down at the infant.
“Wanna come?” I asked Justin.
“Yeah,” he answered.
We walked down the hallway to my room, where I placed the baby in his bassinet and pulled the blanket up to his little chubby chin. He went right to sleep. Justin leaned over and started laying sweet kisses along my neck, down my shoulder. I remembered in great detail the last time he had been doing this. I turned around, facing him and starting kissing him back.
“My room,” Justin said softly.
We walked down the hallway, it seeming twice as long as it really was until we finally reached his room. Justin shoved the cordless phone off his bed and motioned to it for me.
“Your chariot, my Princess,” he said.
I giggled at his statement and laid down. I immediatly became nervous, but looking in Justin’s eyes, all my nervousness disappeared. He climbed on top of me and whispered: “Whenever you want to stop, we will.”
I nodded, then pulled him to me, kissing his sweet lips.
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