"Ok, kiddo, here's your breakfast," Justin told Ariel as he placed a bowl of cereal in front of her.

"No !" she screamed as she threw the bowl in the floor. Justin sighed heavily. This was a scenario that played out every morning. Ariel refused to eat anything but toast and peanut butter for breakfast. Actually, that was all she would eat anytime. Justin had bought three containers of peanut butter and two loaves of bread in the week that Ariel had been staying with him. He had called Tabitha to ask her why Ariel wouldn't eat anything else, but Tabitha said it was just a phase and not to worry about it. She told him that a few months ago, Ariel ate only French toast for three weeks. She said that she wasn't worried so he shouldn't be either. Justin loved his niece, but he was glad that Tabitha would be back in a week. He had just put the bread in the toaster when the phone rang.

"Hello ?" he answered as he sidestepped the spilled cereal.

"Hey man, what's going on ?" Lance asked from the other end.

"Um, not much, just having some breakfast."

"Sounds like fun. I just called to remind you that we have an interview with People today."

"Today ?" Justin had totally forgotten about this interview. There would be no way that he could avoid taking Ariel with him. All the guys had to be there and Britney was out of town for a few days so there was no one to watch her.

"Yes, today. We talked about it yesterday afternoon, remember ?"

"Actually, no, but I'll be there. What time is the interview ?"

"Ten thirty." Great, it was already nine thirty and Justin hadn't showered or anything yet.

"Ok, I'll be there. Bye." Justin hung up quickly before Lance could reply.

Lance looked at the phone in his hand thoughtfully before hanging up. All the other guys had reacted strangely when he called, just like Justin did. He wondered what was going on. Everyone had been acting weird all week, but denied anything was wrong when he asked them. He hung up and shook his head. Maybe it was all his imagination.

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Justin anxiously looked in the rearview at Ariel while he drove. He was running late because it had taken forever to get her dressed. She had insisted on picking out her own clothes and nothing she was wearing matched. (that shouldn't be a big deal, no one in *NSYNC knows how to match their clothes anyway) He knew that Tabitha would kill him for taking her along, but he didn't have a choice. Justin prayed that everything would go well and that Lance wouldn't make a big scene. He smiled as Ariel babbled along with the songs on the radio.

A few minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot and was met by a security guard. Fortunately, the security guard didn't say anything about the 2 1/2 year old that was tagging along. Justin carried Ariel, much to her dismay. She kept kicking him, begging to be put down, but he knew if he put her down, she would run off somewhere and get lost in the enormous building. As he arrived at the meeting room, he saw Chris standing outside.

"Hey man, what is she doing here ?" Chris whispered.

"I didn't have anyone else to watch her so I had to bring her," Justin explained hurriedly.

"Lance is going to have a cow and so will JC."

"I know, but what was I supposed to do ?"

"I don't know. Couldn't your mom or somebody watch her ?"

"Look, if I could have found someone to watch her, she wouldn't be here. Now, chill out. Just act cool and everything will be fine," Justin admonished as they entered the room. Ariel wriggled out of his arms and started examining everything in the room. Justin and Chris winced as she started walking towards Lance, who had his back toward the door.

"What is Ariel doing here ?" Joey questioned.

"Joey, shhh," Justin stated through gritted teeth.

"Sorry."

"It's a long story. Chris will explain it to you while I get Ariel." Justin tried to reach Ariel before Lance turned around, but failed.

"Hey, who's this ?" Lance asked as he bent down to talk to Ariel.

"I Awil," Ariel said proudly as she pronounced her name the best she could.

"Ariel ?" Lance questioned with a raised eyebrow to the others. "This is Ariel ? Why do you guys have her ? Where's Tabitha ?"

"Ok, one question at a time. Yes, this is Ariel. We're watching her for Tabitha while she's on her honeymoon."

"Honeymoon ? When did she get married ?" Lance asked with confusion. He was still staring at Ariel, trying to process that this was his daughter.

"About three weeks ago."

"You've been watching her for three weeks and you didn't tell me ?"

"I've only been watching her for a week and I couldn't tell you because Tabitha wouldn't let me."

"That b..." Lance started, but Justin interrupted him.

"Hello, child present and I don't want to hear you call my best friend that anyway."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Look, I know this is a big shock, but you've got to act like nothing's wrong or Ariel will want to know what's going on."

"You're right, but I want to talk to you about this later." (they sound like quarreling lovers (: ) Lance shushed Justin as Laura approached.

"What's going on here ? Whose little girl is that ?" she asked as she looked at Lance and Justin in confusion.

"Um..she's Tabitha's little girl," Lance blurted out.

"Tabitha ? As in your ex-girlfriend Tabitha ?"

"Yeah."

"Why is she here ? Is Tabitha here ?"

"She's here because Justin is watching her while Tabitha is on her honeymoon," Lance replied nonchalantly.

"Ok. Why isn't someone in their family watching her ?"

"Tab doesn't have any family and I don't know why her husband's parents aren't watching here." Lance realized that he didn't even know who Tabitha had married.

"Ariel stayed with Darden's parents for two weeks, but Tabbers didn't want her to stay with them the whole month. I volunteered to watch her, especially since Tabitha and Darden are moving here after the honeymoon," Justin tried to explain things so that Laura wouldn't ask any more questions. Lance raised his eyebrows at the fact that Tabitha was moving back to Orlando, but made no comment.

Fortunately, this conversation was interrupted by JC. He announced that the interviewer had just arrived and everyone needed to sit down. Justin took Ariel by the hand and asked one of the bodyguards to keep an eye on her. He gave Ariel a few toys that he'd brought along and sat her down in the corner with them.

"Well, that was a disaster," JC commented with disgust as the woman from People magazine left. He looked around the table where everyone was glaring at Justin in anger and Laura was nearly burning a hole through Lance's forehead with her eyes.

"I'm sorry guys, I didn't think that Ariel would pay that much attention to us. I thought she'd sit down and play while we were talking," Justin apologized lamely.

"It's not your fault, Justin," Laura assured him. "At least you didn't lie about Ariel and you were honest enough to bring her with you, unlike SOME people I know."

"Laura, honey, let me explain," Lance started, but stopped as Laura got up from her chair and left the room, slamming the door behind her. He sighed heavily and followed her.

"I can't believe that Ariel came and sat on your lap during the interview," JC spoke up again.

"Well she was bored and I'm the only one that she's used to being around. It's not like she knew that it was a big deal. I didn't mean for it to lead to a big revelation about Tabbers and Lance."

"Well, it did and now people are going to be wondering what else we're hiding."

"It's none of their business anyway. The only big deal here is that it caused problems for Lance and Laura," Justin defended.

"Justin's right. Ariel didn't do anything wrong. She's only 2, JC," Chris backed up Justin.

"I know. It's just frustrating for people to take everything we do so personally and to want to know every minute detail of our lives," JC sighed.

"Hey, we all understand that, but let's not worry about everyone else. Look, I'm going to call Tabbers and tell here what happened just so that she won't be shocked when she sees the story in People," Justin told the rest of them as he picked up his cell phone. He dialed Tabitha's number as he walked to his car. He passed Lance and Laura who were having a heated argument inside Lance's 4-Runner. From the looks of things, it was not going to have a happy ending.