Tabitha and Darden were eating lunch in their room when Tabitha's cell phone rang. She ran to pick it up quickly because she had told the guys to only dial her cell if it was an emergency.

"Hello ?" she gasped as she tried to catch her breath.

"Tabbers, is everything OK ?" Justin asked.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Sorry, it's not a big emergency, but there is something that you should know about."

"Is Ariel OK ?" Tabitha asked frantically.

"Yes, yes, she's fine. It has to do with Lance."

"What about Lance ?" This question was asked with complete nonchalance.

"He found out that I was watching Ariel while you were on your honeymoon."

"WHAT ??? How did that happen ?"

"I took Ariel with me to an interview today because I didn't have anyone to watch her."

"Justin Randall Timberlake, are you crazy ?"

"I'm sorry. I know that you didn't want Lance to see her, but I didn't have a choice."

"So, what happened ?"

"Lance got upset that you asked me to watch her during your honeymoon, but the worst part was that Ariel kind of crashed the interview and we had to end up telling the interviewer the whole story of you and Lance."

"Oh, great."

"Yeah, and unfortunately, Laura was there and she's really pissed at Lance for not telling her about Ariel."

"He didn't tell her that he had a daughter ? That's typical."

"Look, the reason I'm telling you is that People magazine is going to have all that stuff in the article. I didn't want it all to come as a shock to you."

"Well thanks for calling. I'll see you in a few days."

"Is that all you have to say about this ?"

"What else can I do ?"

"Good point. OK, I'm really sorry." Justin hung up, feeling really guilty. He wished that he could have done something to stop the damage, but nothing was going to help now.

"I can't believe that you would keep something like this from me !" Laura screamed.

"Look, I didn't think that it would come up because Tabitha and Ariel had been living in North Carolina and we didn't have any contact with each other," Lance explained.

"Didn't you even care that you have a daughter ?"

"I didn't at the time. I was too wrapped up in my work to care."

"So how do you feel about her now ?"

"I want to be a part of her life. I realize that I was wrong to leave Tabitha like that."

"Do you want to be a part of Tabitha's life too ?"

"No, of course not. She's married, I'm dating you, I have no interest in being a part of her life. I just want my daughter to know who her father is."

"You're not convincing me. I think that you still have feelings for Tabitha. How could you not ? She's the mother of your child. You're connected by Ariel and you always will be. I can't compete with that," Laura finished as she opened the door and got out of the car.

"Laura, you're wrong. You don't have to compete with anything. I love you, not Tabitha," Lance tried to convince Laura as she walked away. He watched as she stomped to her car and drove away. Tears started falling down his face, but he didn't even bother to wipe them away. He had to think of a way to get Laura back and keep his daughter in his life.

Lance pulled up in front of Justin's house and turned off his car. He'd been driving around for the past three hours trying to decide what he was going to do about Laura and Ariel. He wasn't sure how to get Laura back yet, but he needed to spend some time with his daughter. Justin probably wasn't going to agree to this, but he didn't care, he needed to see Ariel again.

"Hey Lance, what's going on ?" Justin tried to act casual, but he knew the real reason that Lance was standing on his doorstep.

"I want to see Ariel again. I want to spend some time with her," Lance stated as he moved to enter the house.

"Sorry man, but that's not possible."

"What do you mean ?"

"I'm not allowed to let you see her. Today was just a fluke because I didn't have anyone to watch her during the interview."

"Who told you that you weren't allowed to let me see her ? Tabitha ? She can't keep me from seeing my own kid," Lance retorted.

"Keep your voice down. Ariel is sleeping and I don't want you to disturb her. Why don't you go home and talk to Tabitha about it when she comes home from her honeymoon ?" Justin suggested.

"No! I want to see Ariel now and I don't want to wait."

"Too bad. I can't let you in," Justin responded as he closed the door in Lance's face.

Lance stared at the door in shock. He couldn't believe that Justin would just turn him away like that. He raced back to his car and grabbed his cell phone. He hoped that Tabitha hadn't changed her cell number since they had dated.

"Hello ?" Tabitha asked with a yawn.

"It's me, Lance. I have something I need to talk to you about immediately."

"Can't it wait until I'm NOT on my honeymoon ?"

"Well it could have if your honeymoon didn't last a whole damn month," Lance retorted.

"What the hell is your problem ? Oh wait a minute, I know, you're an asshole who doesn't even care about his daughter until he finds out that his ex-girlfriend is married."

"I didn't know anything about her because you moved away as soon as she was born."

"What did you want me to do, Lance ? You dumped me because I was pregnant. After that, I wasn't exactly thrilled to spend another minute in Orlando, but I couldn't leave until after Ariel was born. I hadn't talked to you since the day you dumped me, so I didn't exactly think you'd want me to call you up and tell you about her being born. I just wanted to get as far away from you as possible."

"I know that I screwed up, but I want to fix things now. I want you to let me see Ariel. Isn't that my right as a parent ?"

"It would be, except that you aren't legally Ariel's father."

"What do you mean by that ? Did Darden already adopt her ?"

"No, but he's going to. What I meant was that your name isn't on her birth certificate."

"Are you crazy ? Why would you do something like that ?"

"Oh excuse me. I was completely alone and I'd just been through the most painful experience in my life. I was angry at what you'd done so I decided that you didn't deserve to be a father to someone as wonderful as Ariel. When they asked about Ariel's father, I told them that I didn't know who he was."

"Can you change her birth certificate ? Will you let me see Ariel anyway ? You know that I'm her father."

"I know that, but I'm not changing anything. I don't want her to know anything about you. I want her to grow up with Darden as her father. She will never remember you, only Darden."

"You are a vindictive bitch, aren't you ?"

"Yep, too bad you didn't realize that when we were dating," Tabitha retorted as she hung up the phone.

"What was that all about ?" Darden questioned as he pulled Tabitha into his arms.

"Just Lance, trying to claim fatherhood of Ariel. I'm not going to let him be in her life. I'm NOT!"

"Shhh, calm down. It's OK. Do you want to go home ?"

"No, we still have a week left. I don't want this to ruin our honeymoon. I'm not going to let Lance ruin my life again."

"Look, we've had a wonderful three weeks together and we have our whole lives to be together. I think we need to go home and get this thing straightened out. I know you'd feel better knowing Ariel was in your arms and away from Lance."

"Are you sure ?"

"Of course. Let's get packed and I'll call the airline to change our tickets."

"I love you, honey."

"I love you too."

Tabitha showered quickly and packed their belongings. She couldn't wait to get home and have Ariel in her arms. She had missed her daughter so much even though she had talked to her nearly every day. As soon as she had zipped up the last suitcase, Darden came back into the room.

"All right. Everything is set. We leave in an hour. Do you want to call Justin and tell him we're coming home early ?"

"Yeah, I'd better. I want to make sure that he doesn't let Lance in the house."

"OK. I'm going to shower and then I'll be ready to leave."

Tabitha dialed Justin's house, praying that he was home and not at rehearsal or something. He picked up on the first ring and surprised her.

"Hey, Tabbers, what's going on ?"

"I guess I don't need to ask how you knew it was me."

"Well caller ID helps, but I also just talked to Lance, so I knew that you'd be calling me soon."

"What did that bastard have to say ?"

"That you didn't put his name on Ariel's birth certificate and that you wouldn't let him see Ariel."

"Well at least he can tell the truth once in a while. I'm calling to tell you that Darden and I are flying back to Orlando in an hour. I can't spend another day without Ariel. I miss her too much and I want to make sure that Lance doesn't come near here."

"Tabbers, are you sure that this is a good idea ? Maybe it isn't such a bad idea for Ariel to get to know her father."

"Justin, I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. You know how I feel about Lance. Darden is her father now and she doesn't need to know that he isn't her real father."

"She's going to find out someday," Justin pointed out.

"I know, but she's too young to find out now."

"Can't you just tell her that he's one of her uncles ? I mean, she's seen him around the rest of us at the interview and stuff. She's going to ask questions soon enough."

"I'll think about it, but right now, I don't want Lance within a ten-mile radius of her."

"OK," Justin sighed, "have it your way. I'll see you when you get home."

"Bye." Tabitha couldn't understand why Justin was starting to defend Lance on this matter. She thought he would understand why she was still hurt by what Lance had done. She had struggled to make a life for her and Ariel and she wasn't going to let Lance back in so he could ruin it.