JC looked to his right and saw the couple they’d been searching for. When he noticed they were having a moment, he waited to tell the guys. Josh, however, saw the same thing, but didn’t hesitate to interrupt them. JC tried to catch the boy and cover his mouth before he could say anything, but he just wasn’t fast enough.
“Mom! Dad!” Josh shouted to his parents.
The moment was ruined. Justin and Alexia quickly distanced themselves from each other.
JC followed the little boy to where the couple stood, with the rest of the guys behind him.
“Hey, man,” Joey called to them, “We’ve been looking for you.”
“I think we should go home now. It’s getting late and Josh needs to get to bed,” Justin suggested.
“But, Dad…”
“No buts…we’re going.”
~ At the Timberlake House, 12:30 ~ Alexia found herself unable to sleep. Guilt was weighing on her mind. I almost made Justin cheat on his girlfriend.
Finally, she decided to go down to the kitchen and get a drink. She heard Justin in the living room, talking on the phone.
Justin turned around abruptly when he heard someone moving around in the kitchen. When the noise stopped, he settled back on the couch and put the phone back up to his ear.
“Sorry, Mom, I just thought I heard something. Gotta watch out for my little boy and Alexia. Ya know?” Justin returned to his phone conversation with his mother, not really paying attention to what he was actually saying.
“I thought you were still upset with Alexia. Since when do you care about what happens to her?” Lynn inquired.
“I don’t. Where’d you get a silly idea like that?”
“You just said you had to watch out for her.”
“I did not. I said I had to watch out for Josh.”
“Alright, sweetheart. If you say so. It’s late. I’m just gonna go. I love you.”
“Bye. I love you too.”
Justin hung up the phone and slumped back in the overstuffed easy chair. He heard noise coming from the kitchen again, so he decided to check it out.
As he turned the corner, he saw Alexia standing in front of the stove, cooking something in a pot.
“What are you cooking at this time of night?” a voice from behind her asked in an annoyed voice.
“Jesus, Justin!” she turned quickly to face him, “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Alexia then turned back to the pot on the stove.
“Aren’t you gonna answer me?”
“I’m making hot chocolate,” she replied softly.
“At almost one o’ clock in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn’t sleep. What’s with the interrogation?”
“I just wanted to know why you were up so late.”
“Speaking of which… Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I was on the phone.”
“This late? With who?”
“Yes, this late. And is who really any of your business?”
Must’ve been his girlfriend. “I guess not.”
A deafening soundlessness engulfed the room, neither knowing what to say next. Yet the issue of what almost happened during the fireworks weighed heavily on their minds.
Finally, in attempt to rid the room of silence, they both began to speak at the same time.
“Alexia…”
“Justin…”
“I’m sorry. You can go first,” Alexia offered.
“No. You go ahead.”
“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what almost happened tonight.”
“Why are you apologizing? I was the one who made the first move.”
“I know. But I didn’t stop you when I should’ve. You have a girlfriend, and if we would’ve kissed, that would’ve been cheating on her.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Girlfriend?”
“Uh… yeah. Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Well… I just assumed. I mean… I heard you talking on the phone, and you said ‘I love you’, so I thought you were talking to…”
“I was talking to my mom.”
“Oh… but… but what about the ring.”
Justin paled, “What ring?”
“The ring you have in your drawer,” she said slowly and cautiously, afraid she’d said something she wasn’t supposed to.
“Are you going through my things?” he snapped at her.
“N-no… Why would you even…”
“I can’t believe you. What gives you the right? I want you to stay out of my room. I’d kick you out of this house if it weren’t for Josh. He’s the only reason you’re here. Don’t you ever forget that!”
Emotion clogged her throat, and tears began to cloud her eyes, though she tried to not let it show. Instead, she held her head high, “Ok. I’ll be sure to remember that.”
“Good!”
“Fine. Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go to bed now. I’m not feeling so restless anymore. Have some hot chocolate. It’s finished,” she said icily, then turned off the flame and walked out of the kitchen.
Justin watched her walk out, then turned to look at the pot of hot chocolate. He grabbed a mug and poured the hot liquid into it. Sipping it slowly, he sank down into a wooden chair at the table. “She always did make the best hot chocolate,” he reminisced. He set the mug on the table and stared at it for a minute. Holding his head in his hands, he mumbled, “She saw it. I can’t believe she saw it. Did she see it up close, or did she just happen to just glance at it? God, I just can’t believe she saw the ring… I gotta call JC.”
He picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.
“Hello?” a groggy voice answered the phone.
“JC?”
“Justin? It’s one in the morning. What do you want?”
“She saw the ring, Jace.”
“What are you talking about? Who saw what ring?”
“Alexia.”
“This isn’t just going to be a short conversation is it?” he asked rhetorically. “What ring did Alex see?”
“The engagement ring,” Justin said dejectedly.
“Wh... engagement ring? What engagement ring?”
“The one I got for her.”
“Whoa. First you don’t like the girl, then you almost kiss, then you ignore her, and now you’re gonna propose to her? Am I missing something here?”
“Yes. I got the ring for her before she left me,” he admitted for the first time. “I had planned on kidnapping her and taking her away for that weekend. I was gonna make it special and find some really romantic way to ask her to marry me. I wanted to spend my whole life with her, JC, and she left me. After four and a half years, she just walked out, like I never meant anything to her.”
JC could hear the raw emotion in Justin’s voice, the heartbreak he’d been feeling, and he knew the tears that were probably rolling silently down his cheeks.
“She was my everything. I would’ve given her the world if she asked me to. I loved her more than life itself. And then she was just… gone. But I kept the ring. I don’t know why. Maybe I always hoped she would come back. Now, here she is, and I keep hurting her. I don’t know why…”
“Maybe…”
Justin cut his friend off and continued, “Maybe I want her to hurt as badly as I do. Maybe I’m just trying to keep myself from getting close to her again. I can’t get close to her again. I can’t give her another chance to leave me. I won’t go through that another time.”
“I think…”
“I’m tired. I’m gonna go now. Thanks for listening to me. I’m sorry I kept that from you guys for so long. But I think you understand. Night, JC.”
“Night, Justin.”
As Justin made his way up to his room, he heard sniffles and crying coming from Alexia’s room. He quickly went to his room and crawled into bed, crying tears of his own. “Why do I keep doing this to us?”
Weeks passed and Justin continued to keep his distance from Alexia. Justin spent as much time in the studio as he could, trying to stay away from Alexia. In his attempts to avoid Alexia though, he didn’t realize he was avoiding his son as well. Until one night when he came home as she was putting Josh to bed.
“Mommy, when’s Dad gonna be home. Can’t he tuck me in tonight?” Josh’s young voice questioned.
“He’s still working right now, and you need to get to sleep. I’m sorry, sweetie. He’s just been really busy lately,” Alexia tried to explain.
“He used to spend time with me though. Why doesn’t he anymore? He doesn’t have time for me.”
“Honey, that’s not it at all. I’m sure he could spend time with you if he could.”
“Yeah. Ok. Whatever.”
“Why don’t you go to sleep now? We can talk more about this in the morning.”
“Ok. Night, Mama.”
“Night, Josh.”
Alexia turned off the light and walked out into the hallway.
Justin, who’d been listening at the door, quickly ducked into his room before she saw him.
She paused after closing Josh’s bedroom door. “Justin, I hope you make some time for your son soon, before he starts to resent your job,” Alexia whispered to no one. Then she went to her room.
~ The Next Morning, 9 AM ~
“Josh, buddy, wake up,” Justin roused his sleepy son.
“Huh?” the tired boy struggled to awaken. “Dad?”
“Come on. You need to get up, he picked Josh up and set his feet on the floor.
“What?”
“We’re gonna go to the park today.”
“Who?”
“You and me.”
“What about mom?”
“Uh… She can come too.”
“Ok.”
~ At the Park ~
Justin sat on a bench and watched as Alexia pushed Josh on the swing, even though the boy could do it on his own. Seeing them together brought back the memory of when Alexia had told him she was pregnant.
**Flashback**
They’d been together only ten months. Just recently, they’d exchanged ‘I love you’s and made love for the first time. Justin had just gotten home late from working in the studio with the guys. He found Alexia waiting for him on his front porch, and it was nearing 11 o’ clock. He brought her inside because she said she had something very important that they had to talk about.
At first, he was scared to death that she was going to break up with him. However, the news she delivered instead still managed to shock the hell out of him. When he didn’t say anything in response, she became frantic and started yelling at him, telling him that she couldn’t believe his reaction.
Slowly, it sank into his brain, and he fully realized what she just told him. He walked over to her as she paced back and forth. He grabbed her gently around the waist and turned her to face him.
“What?” she asked in frustration at his silence, tears began to cloud her vision.
He just put a hand to her stomach and looked at it in awe. When he looked up at her face, he saw the tears running down her cheeks.
“Please say something, Justin,” she pleaded.
He continued to stare into her eyes for a moment, then his gaze returned back to his hand on her stomach. That’s when he spoke. “What’s inside you… are pieces of us, made into one.” He looked back up into her eyes. “One being that we will love as much as we do each other. You’re going to have my baby, our baby, Lexi. And I wouldn’t want it to be anyone other than you.” He leaned in and kissed her gently and lovingly. “I love you so much, Alexia.”
**End Flashback**
Their son, Joshua Christian Timberlake, was born eight months later. He was named after his godfather. It was one of the happiest days of their lives.
Now, he sat there watching them. They were happy again. Excluding him, of course. Not wanting to think about the memories anymore, Justin walked over and asked Alexia and Josh.
“Hey, how ‘bout we go for a walk?” he suggested.
Josh ran ahead as Alexia and Justin walked calmly behind him. Only the sounds of their feet hitting the pavement and people around them could be heard, as neither of them knew what to say.
“This was a good idea. Josh seems to be having fun,” Alexia said, breaking the silence between them.
“Yeah. I haven’t been able to spend much time with him lately. I’ve just been busy.”
“Too busy for everyone it seems. Including Josh.”
Justin was shocked by her comment, and didn’t hesitate to let his anger show. “I’m never too busy for Josh!”
“Right, Justin. This is the first time you’ve spent any time with him in how many weeks?”
“I’ve been really busy!”
“You just said you were never too busy for your son. And that’s bull anyway! You’ve been making yourself busy so you could avoid me. But you’re neglecting him and punishing him in the process.”
“That’s ridiculous! Why would I need to avoid you? I can always just kick you out of my house if I don’t want to see you. Josh is the only thing giving you that roof over your head. Remember?”
“I remember quite vividly, thank you. I don’t need your reminders,” Alexia looked ahead of them again to make sure Josh didn’t hear them. However, confusion set in when she no longer saw him. “Oh my God, where’s Josh?”
“What are you talking about?” Justin said in an annoyed tone, turning his head to see what she was seeing.
“He’s gone.”
“What?” Justin asked, confused. “Josh?” he called. When he didn’t get an answer, he began to panic. “Josh!” he yelled. “This isn’t funny!”
“Joshua!” Alexia called out, beginning to look around. “Don’t just stand there, Justin!” Alexia screamed at him, “Start looking for him!” She ran over to the sandbox, frantically searching the area, calling out his name, and asking people if they’d seen her little boy.
Justin followed suit, heading over to the jungle gym area and looking for him.
After what seemed like an eternity to them, but was in actuality only about 10 minutes, Justin found Josh hiding in a large metal box plaything of some sort.
“JOSH! Oh my… Thank God I found you!” Justin exclaimed.
Alexia immediately ran over to the pair and started hugging her son. “Oh my goodness! Don’t ever do that again! What possessed you to hide from us like that?”
“We were so worried. Don’t do that to us. You scared us to death!” Justin hugged Josh close to him, afraid to let him go again.
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to hear you fighting over me anymore.”
The words hit them hard, and their eyes turned from their son to each other, then quickly went back to Josh.
“I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. It’s time to go home,” Alexia suggested, standing up.
~ That Night ~
“Justin, we need to talk,” Alexia said, walking into Justin’s room without bothering to knock.
Justin looked at her from his place on his bed, where he sat in only his boxers. He quickly grabbed a blanket and pulled it over his lap. “Don’t you ever knock?” he asked.
“Sorry. It’s not like I haven’t seen you in your boxers before. In fact, I’ve seen you in a lot less than that.”
“But it’s different now.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Well how would you feel if I walked in on you in just your underwear?”
“I would hope you wouldn’t be wearing my underwear to begin with.”
“Ha, ha,” Justin pretended sarcastically to laugh, “You know that’s not what I meant. What is it that you wanted again?”
“We need to talk.”
“Agreed.”
“You have a problem.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. You have a problem with me. Why do you keep avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding you. That’s absurd!”
“It is not. Ever since that night in the kitchen after Disney World, you’ve been avoiding me.”
“I don-“
Alexia cut him off, “And in the process, you’re neglecting Josh.”
“I would never neglect my son. I love him more than anything.”
“I never said you didn’t love him. I just said that you’re not seeing him enough.”
“I don’t think that’s for you to decide.”
“Excuse me, but I’m the one who has to hear all his questions about where you are and when you’re coming home and if you can tuck him in at night. So don’t tell me that I don’t know when you’re not spending enough time with him.”
“Yeah, well I’m not the only one with a problem.”
“I know. We are getting careless about our arguing. Josh is starting to hear it.”
“What he said in the park today… I felt like somebody had slapped me.”
“It must be hard for him to know his parents don’t get along.”
“Yeah.”
“Then again, that was the reason I left.”
“What?”
“It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to put up with the fighting anymore. I didn’t want to subject our son to it. I knew it wasn’t going to stop, so I left.”
Justin just stared at Alexia for a moment, slowly walking towards her.
“Justin? What are y-“ she was silenced by his lips landing on hers in a soft, gentle kiss.
Alexia froze in shock at first, until Justin’s arms found their way around her waist. She soon gave into the embrace, as his lips became more demanding. She snaked her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss while he walked her backwards to the bed they once shared. Gently, he laid her down and moved over her, never breaking their contact. A dam seemed to break in both of them and they lost themselves in the feelings that had been held in too long.