When Megan had told him, Justin felt like he had been punched in the stomach. It seemed that everything inside him was tied up in knots. It was the last thing he expected her to say. He wanted to run. He wanted to get as far away as possible, but he knew that it wasn't even an option. All he could do was sit there in shock. He wasn't going to run away just because he was scared though. Even if he wanted to he couldn't because Joey and his mother would break his neck if he left Megan. Justin had always wanted to be a dad and knew he was going to be good at it, but he wasn't ready for it when he found out that it was going to be so soon. He was 23 years old and it seemed like he was on top of the world. Megan being pregnant could very well bring his whole world down.
"Hi mom." Justin said hesitantly when she answered the phone.
"Justin! How have things been since you got back? JC stopped by and told me that since y'all were finished with the album you'd have more free time. Why haven't you come over yet? Is everything alright?" Another round of twenty questions... Justin thought. Might as well get to the point.
"Mom, Megan and I found out yesterday that she's 2 months pregnant." He said trying to get it all out in one breath. He heard her gasp. That answered at least a few of her questions.
"And you're the father?" He should have heard that one coming, but he didn't and he was angry that she could even ask such a question.
"Of course Mother!" He exclaimed. "Who else would be?! Joey?!"
"Well I just thought that maybe - "
"You've never trusted her, ever." Justin said angrily. "You've had your mind set on me marrying Britney since I was 13 years old and you can't stand to see anybody else in my life."
"Justin, I just want what's good for you and it seems to me that this other girl isn't." Lynn defended her motives. "This could just be a way for her to keep you in her life."
"Well, whatever the reason, Megan is going to be in my life for a long time now." He snapped. "I love her and we're going to have a baby together. I hope you understand that."
"I understand that you're making the biggest mistake in your life." Lynn snapped.
"That's what you said when I wanted to get into show-business!" He exclaimed. "But you were willing to let me make my own decision and support whatever decision I made. Why can't you do that now?"
"Justin your career isn't going to last forever. Having a child is something that will change your whole life."
"But my career has changed my life forever also." He said. "And I want to be able to share that with my child. I admit that it came a little sooner than expected but I'm not backing down on Megan."
"I've never kept you from doing anything Justin." Lynn said softly. "I just hope you're making the right decision.
"Thank you." Justin sighed. This conversation was getting too intense. "I'm sorry mom...I have to go. I love you." He hung up before she could say anything else. He spotted Megan standing in the doorway and smiled slightly. "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna come sit with me?"
"What did your mom say?" She asked knowing full well that he had called and told her.
"She said that having a baby right now is going to be the biggest mistake in my life, but that she wasn't going to try and stop me." He motioned for her to come to him and pulled her into his lap. "I love you so much Megan."
"I love you too."
"And we're gonna get through this together." He whispered. "I'm going to be there for you...we're gonna be great parents."
"Speaking of parents, I need to call mine." Megan said. "I don't know how they're gonna take it, especially my mom."
"Why?"
"Well my dancing career is over." She said. "That's the only thing that made my mom happy is when I danced." Justin's mind flashed back to when Megan first came into his life.
"You could start writing again." She tensed in his lap. "What? You're good at it."
"How do you know that I write?" His arms tightened around her waist.
"Don't get mad at me...you remember when you first came on the tour and we were fighting?" She nodded. "And you remember when I came in the back and asked you what you were doing on your laptop and you got all weird about it?...well, when you went to bed...I kinda stole your disk and looked at your songs." She turned around until she was straddling his waist and grabbed his hair. She twisted it in her hand until he winced in pain.
"You looked even after I told you not to?!" He nodded his head sheepishly.
"They were good though - Ow!" She twisted his hair more.
"That's not the point." She sighed and loosened her grip. "Do you really think they're good?" He nodded.
"JC does too - OW! Damn woman!" She twisted his hair in her grip so hard his eyes started to water.
"You showed them to JC?!" She screeched. He nodded his head again then raised his blue eyes, which were now wide with innocence, to hers.
"I'm sorry?"
"Did you show them to anybody else?" Megan asked looking into his eyes to make sure he didn't lie. He was caught and he knew it. He shook his head no. "You promise?" He nodded just as hard.
"OK." She climbed off his lap and walked toward the door. Justin's jaw dropped.
"That - That's all?" He asked. "You're not gonna...punish me?" She threw her head back and laughed at his choice of words.
"Baby, we can't have sex for 8 months. Isn't that punishment enough?"
"Nu-uh!" He called after her as she walked out of the room. "Joey's says we can until the second trimester!"
"You're being punished remember?" She laughed her evil laugh.
"Run girl." He warned running to the door. He glared at her from the bottom of the stairs. "Run like you've never ran before." She screamed as he chased her up the stairs and into the bedroom.
"God dammit!" Megan slammed the phone down and threw herself back on the bed. She slowly rubbed her temples in an attempt to kill the horrible headache that had manifested itself into her brain. Justin slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder lightly.
"What's wrong baby?" He mumbled.
"Venezuela." She said incredibly. "They're in fucking Venezuela." He giggled as her thick New York accent was stronger when she was mad.
"Baby, it's ok. We have plenty of time to tell them." He assured her.
"Well it just sucks that I had to tell the maid before I got to tell my own parents." She complained.
"I know, but she was happy for us right?"
"Oh yeah. She even asked me to name the baby after her if it was a girl." She said with mock excitement. "Olga Timberlake." She laughed. "It has a nice ring to it."
"Not even an option." Justin said laying back on the bed. She smiled and snuggled against his chest.
"Justin...You're still gonna love me when I'm all fat and my shoes don't match and I start wearing those big ugly K-Mart maternity clothes right?" She asked suddenly. He laughed lightly.
"First of all, there's a difference between fat and pregnant. And second, you won't be wearing ugly K-Mart maternity clothes." He said.
"But you'd still love me even if I did, right?"
"Baby, I'd love you if you had a desise that made your hair fall out and your skin turn green." He said kissing her forehead.
"Yuck! I wouldn't." She mumbled.
"Me neither, I just thought it might make you feel better if I told you that - OW!" She twisted some available chest hair and bit his shoulder. He started tickling her and she was about to fight back when the phone rang. Megan swatted his hands away and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" She asked still laughing at Justin's assault to her stomach.
"Megan?" Came her father's deep voice. He didn't sound very happy.
"Oh...hi Daddy." Justin acted like he shot himself in the head and fell dramatically on the the bed. Megan suppressed a giggle and covered the mouthpiece on the phone. "Shut-up!" She mouthed. "Um...I thought you were in Venezuela?"
"Has Olga been getting into the Brandy again or is it true what she says about you being pregnant?" Megan's smile faded at his words. He never did like to beat around the bush.
"Um...well, yes, but - "
"Because I didn't raise my daughter to get pregnant when she didn't have a husband and a stable enough lifestyle to take care of her and her baby." His voice was even more angry.
"But Daddy, Justin does take care of me." Megan insisted. "We're gonna be great parents - "
"You might be good parents when you're older and married but not any sooner!" Her father yelled. "Now I want you to get on the next plane to New York so we can take care of this as a family."
"What do you mean take care of it?" Megan asked. Justin looked at her worriedly. "I'm not gonna - "
"We're going to figure out the safest way to get rid of it. Your mother says that there's a pill you can take that - "
"NO!" Megan cried. "I'm not getting rid of my baby!" Justin's jaw dropped at her words. He shook his head and pulled Megan close to him. His soft, reassuring whispers helped her relax a little but not entirely.
"It's not an option Megan." He said firmly. Kevin Ardini had a reputation for being a very intimidating man when he was mad. "Now do as I say. I'll make a call and wire you money tonight. You'll be on the earliest flight here in the morning."
"NO DAD!" Megan yelled. "I'm staying right where I am. I'm having my baby and there's nothing you or mother can do about it!"
"You are only - "
"I'm 21 years old and I'm old enough to make my own decisions!" She insisted. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Now Daddy, I have to go. Please try to understand me...I love you." She said as she placed the phone back on it's cradle. As soon as it was down, she burst into tears.
"Aww, baby!" Justin pulled her on top of him and let her cry into his chest. "Shhh...It'll be alright." He whispered stroking her hair.
"How?!" She sobbed. "How is it going to be alright? My father hates me and my mother is probably never going to speak to me again! My own parents aren't going to be there during the most important time in my life."
"But I'm here, and Joey and the guys, too. Hey," He placed a finger under her chin and brought her face to his. "We're going to be fine. I promise." She nodded and sniffed a little. "Oh, my poor baby." He wiped a tear away and kissed her lightly. "My grandmother used to say: 'this is only one chapter in your life, so turn the page and start a new one.' This is the next chapter in our lives...and it's going to be the most exciting and probably the hardest one to finish. But we're going to do it together. We love each other and that's all that matters." He smoothed her hair back and gave her a reassuring smile. "Trust me?"
"I trust you." Megan smiled. She laid back next to him. "I trust you..."
"Justin! Will you please come on! We're gonna be late!" Megan called up the stairs. When she got no answer she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Justin!"
"I'm coming!" Justin yelled. Megan squealed in surprise as he he ran down the stairs and placed a kiss on her lips. "Are you ready for this?"
"I'm ready, I just don't know what to expect." She said nervously.
"What exactly are we going to find out at this thing?"
"Dr. Cambell told me that we'll find out how many we're having and if it's a boy or a girl." Megan said climbing in the car.
"What do you mean how many?" Justin asked. "Like, we might have more than one?"
"Well, it is a possibility, Justin." She noticed the change in his demeanor and gave his hand a slight squeeze. "What's wrong?"
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
She pulled her hand away. "Are you saying you don't?" Megan answered his question with one of her own.
"No!" Justin exclaimed. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. "No...I'm just...I worry about you, AngelFace. That's all."
"I had a dream last night." Megan said looking out her window. She didn't really want to hear Justin's "I worry about you" speech, again.
"What about?" Justin asked paying more attention to the road than to her now.
"About what our life was going to be like once we had the baby." She looked over at him and smiled. "We're gonna be fine."
"That's my girl." He said pulling into the parking lot of the doctor's office.
They walked holding hands, Megan wearing glittery hip hugging jeans and a baby tee that had "It's OK, I'm with the band" scrawled across the front, a birthday present from Chris while Justin wore baggy jeans, and a plain white tee shirt. He, of course, wore a beanie and sunglasses to hopefully slim his chances of getting noticed by fans. Now that his relationship with Megan was so high profile, they had to be more than careful when they went out into public alone.
"I hate hospitals..." Justin mumbled. "I can feel the germs in here."
"You didn't have to come." Megan said. "I told you to stay home if you didn't want to be here."
"I know but I want to see our baby." He said wrapping his arm around her waist. "I love saying that, you know."
"So do I." Megan smiled up at him. He kissed her gently.
"I love you." He whispered as they approached Dr. Cambell's office.
"Here we go..." She opened the door and saw Dr. Cambell behind her desk.
"Hello Megan! I was wondering when you were going to get here." Dr. Cambell said picking up her files as she rose out of her chair.
"Sorry we're late, SOMEBODY," She looked at Justin. "Took forever to get ready."
"Hey!" Justin poked her in the side. "We're here now aren't we?"
"Well let's get this started then." Dr. Cambell smiled.
"And there's your baby."
Megan gasped and gripped Justin's hand. "Justin look!"
"That's our baby..." Justin breathed looking closely at the screen. "My baby..."
"And you can hear his heart beating too." Dr. Cambell said.
"HIS?! We're having a BOY?!" Justin said excitedly.
"Wait what's that other noise in the background?" Megan asked. They all listened carefully and a big smile broke out on Dr. Cambell's face.
"Two." She said simply.
"Huh?" Justin and Megan asked.
"Two heartbeats..." She leaned over to look closer at the monitor. "There you are you little sneak." She pointed to another figure on the screen. "That's your other baby boy."
"Wait...we're having twins?" Justin asked.
"That's right." Dr. Cambell smiled. "The other one was just hiding behind his brother but the two heartbeats give it away."
"Omigod...Megan we're having twins!" Justin exclaimed.
Dr. Cambell sensed a family moment coming so she decided to give them a moment alone. "I'll be right back." She said, quietly sneaking out of the room.
"They’re perfect, Meg." He smiled kissing her temple. "We made two perfect babies." Justin slid over her and lifted her shirt over her slightly bulging stomach.
"Hey babies, it’s your daddy..." He said to the growing children in Megan’s tummy. "So you’re the one’s that have been making all that trouble." Megan giggled and ran her hand through his hair. "I can’t wait for you to come …it’s gonna be the best thing that’s ever happened to me, except meeting your mommy that is. Now all I have to do is get her to marry me and it’ll all be good." He looked up at her and winked. She rolled her eyes and smiled.
He had been trying to convince her to marry him for a month. He didn't’t want his child (or children now) to be born without their parents being married. But she kept telling him that just because she was pregnant didn't’t mean they had to get married. But to him that wasn't’t the only reason. He loved her and he thought they were both ready for the commitment, especially since they were already going to have kids together. It seemed logical enough to him, but convincing her was a different story.
"But your mom’s a stubborn one," He continued talking to her stomach. "It’s gonna take a lot more than sweet talk to convince her that I’m the perfect man for her…maybe you guys can knock some sense into her for me, huh?"
Justin placed a kiss on her stomach and pulled her shirt down. He lay next to her and pulled her on top of him. She rested her head on his chest and sighed. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her head and then leaned close to her ear.
"I’m going to marry you someday, Megan Ardini." He whispered. "And when that day comes, you’re gonna make me the happiest man in the world…I promise."
