Everyone was watching us. Us, being the new parents with not one, but two little girls. My pride and joy, they were truly mine. I pushed them out of me! Oh man did it hurt! But, having Josh there with me really helped. He was there the whole time helping me breathe and letting me break his hand. We had spent the entire day at the hospital. It was 10 o’clock but it felt much later. We have to call all of the relatives. My guess is they’ll all want to come out and see the girls. I’m really excited to see our parents though.
(JC’s point of view)
I am so proud of Riley. She was so brave. If I did half of what she did today, I would be a better person. When we started, she was so afraid but she did great. We have two baby girls now. Tomorrow we have to go shopping for more stuff. We need two of everything now.
I’m sitting here holding one of my new babies. I’m holding Melissa. She seems to be happy. Alexandra started crying but she stopped. I can’t believe that I, I mean Riley and I have made a creature so small and beautiful. I look at our home and its pretty much baby-proof right now. We know that they can’t even crawl right now but I think Riley was excited to display all of the baby stuff. I see Britney holding Derrick, he’s almost or he is 6 months old now. I’m not really sure. Now, she’s handing him to Justin. Oh, yup, she’s going for Alex.
Riley is really happy. “And then I’m like screaming because I was in so much pain. But,” she looked at me. “Josh was great. I almost broke his hand. So, I’m really scared and he’s sitting next to me and I’m screaming so I take his hand and squeeze.” She’s smiling. “I look over to him and his face looks so funny. He’s trying not to look like I’m hurting him but it didn’t work.”
“But Riley,” I say. “You did great! You didn’t even say any hateful words!” I told her. That was an achievement.
“Yeah,” Justin said. “When Brit was having Derrick she squeezed really hard and I would say something to comfort her but she would say something like Shut up or would you like to do this?” He was laughing. I looked over to Britney and she was blushing a lot. Alex seemed really happy.
“Justin, It hurt! I didn’t mean to.” She defended. “Really, come on, I told you I was sorry.”
“Yeah, when I had Mitchell was worse than having Bri, Joe was right there and I finally told him to go away. He was totally freaking out. It was really funny but I was mad at him. Having him nervous made the whole thing worse.” Kelly shared her story.
(Riley’s point of view)
We are sharing stories about when all of us went through the same thing. I’m having a lot of fun. Brit is holding Alex. Jace is still holding Melissa. They’re so beautiful, our little creations.
I’m getting tired. “Guys,” I start. “It’s been a long day so I think I’m gonna take the girls up and go to bed.” I look at Jace. “You can stay down here if you want.” I took Alex from Britney.
“Ya know, actually, we gotta get Bri and Mitchell to bed. It’s late. So, we’re gonna go.” Kelly said. “Right Joe?”
“Yup. We’re gonna go,” he said. “Come on Bri. Leave the baby alone.” He took Brianna’s hand. “Bye guys.” He waved bye and all four of them walked to the door.
“Yeah, I think we’re gonna go too.” Britney said. She hugged me as best she could because of the baby in my arms. “Bye Jace.” She waved to him. “Come on Justin.”
Madison, Chris, Lance, and Cassidy all said goodbye too. Today was a good day. Just a very long one. “Thank you.” I said to him.
“For what?”
“For being so great. Thank you for being here today, thank you for loving me so much, and thank you for being you.” I was truly lucky to be married to such a great guy.
“Well,” he looked blown away. “Its nothing I guess. And about being here today, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” I remembered we were holding the girls. “I think we should get them upstairs, what do you think?
“Yeah, that would be good.” He said. We walked up the stairs and turned the light on in the nursery. I lay Alex in the crib and JC put Melissa in to play pen. We really need to go to sleep. “Let’s go to bed.” He said. He turned the light off and took my hand. We walked to the room across the hall. I changed into pajamas and kissed JC goodnight.
“Night,” I said softly. “Thank you for everything you’ve done today. It really means a lot to me.”
“I know. And you’re welcome. Like I said before though, really, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” He said. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He kissed my lips. “Night.”
“Night,” he said.
I got to sleep for maybe an hour before I woke up to the sound of crying babies. I rolled over to find the other side of the bed empty. The crying stopped. I stood up and walked across the hall to the room with the door closed and the light peeking through the bottom of the door. I opened the door to find my sleeping husband sitting in the rocking chair with two little girls sleeping on his chest. I took one of my girls away from him. He woke up in a panic causing Alex to panic. She started screaming, also waking up the baby in my arms, Melissa.
“I’m sorry sweetie. I was just going to put her in the crib.” I said over the noise.
“It’s ok. You just scared me. I didn’t know what to think.” He was rocking the baby in the chair. I was standing up rocking side to side.
“For being so small, they make a lot of noise.” I said jokingly.
“Yeah really,” JC laughed. He looked down at Alex. “Oh, yes, she’s sleeping!” He said quietly, making sure not to wake her. He stood up slowly and walked to the playpen and placed her in it. He waited for me to put Melissa in the crib. He turned the light out and we walked back to our room and crawled into bed. The rest of the night we got to sleep. I woke up at 4:30am to go check on my girls since they were crying. I closed the door so JC could sleep and I walked to get them. I picked both of them up and brought them down to the kitchen. I held one and put the other one in the high chair. I fed the girls and had then on the floor playing with them. JC walked downstairs at quarter after 9.
“We have to go into the studio today.” He said rushed.
“Oh,” I said. “Ok, well do you know when you’ll be back?”
“No, I have no idea. I’ll try not to be too late.” He said grabbing his keys. “I’m late. I’m never late.” He opened the door. I’m looking at him like ‘Ok, do I GET a kiss?’ He caught on. He walked to me and kissed my cheek. “Hey, if you want, you can stop by the studio later.” He stopped moving.
“I might,” I started. “I have to go get stuff for the girls. We need a new stroller. I don’t want to walk down the street with two strollers.” He laughed. “But really, we need to get another high chair, crib, playpen...we need two of everything.”
“Ok, but yeah, if you want, you and the girls can come by. I’d love to see you.”
“You see me right now.” I teased. “But yeah, I’ll come.” He kissed my cheek again. Then he kissed Mel’s forehead.
“Daddy loves you.” Then he walked to Alex, who was in the high chair, and kissed her forehead. “Bye girls.” Then he walked out the door.
“Ok girls, I guess it’s you and me. How ‘bout we go shopping?” I walked to the phone and called Madison. Hopefully she would be up. “Maddie?” I said when I heard her voice.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Do you wanna go shopping with the girls and I?” I asked. Hopefully she would. I needed to take a shower. I didn’t want to leave them alone.
“Yeah, sure. What time?”
“Maybe in an hour?”
“Yeah sure.” She said. “I need to take a shower first but then I’ll meet you at your house.”
“Ok, but um, do you think you could watch the girls while I took my shower?” I asked. “Please? Jace just left and I really need to take one. I don’t want to leave them alone. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
“Oh sure!” She squealed. “I’d love to! I’ll be right over!”
“Madison, you don’t need to come over right away I just was just asking because I remembered you liked them so I thought of you. You don’t need to rush.”
“Oh no, it’s ok. I don’t mind at all! I’ll be right over!”
“Well if you don’t mind. Thank you so much.” I said.
“Ok, see ya soon! Bye!”
“Thanks, Bye!” I hung up the phone. “So girls, what do you want to do right now?” I said looking at them. “Wanna watch some TV?” I picked them up and we sat on the couch. I grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. A half-hour later the doorbell rang and instead of getting up to get it I just yelled. “Come in!” Madison walked in and squealed.
“Babies!” She ran to me. “Riles, you are so lucky! I want a baby. I’ll have to wait a long time though.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because the way Chris is moving and talking, we’ll never get married!”
“Oh, really? What does he say?” I tried to play it cool. I really didn’t want to blow his cover. Maybe he would stop being so chicken and finally do it. He had led up to it so many times and Madison would get really excited but then it would never happen.
“I said something around your wedding and was like, I wanna get married. Her wedding was so beautiful. JC and her are going to be so happy. And then last night I said I wanted a baby.” She was going to tell all of it. She’s a big talker. “Then all he says is getting married is stupid. Why can’t you just be together and not get married? We could be like Julia Roberts. Then I said she also just broke up with that one guy.” She continued. Only now, she was holding Melissa. “Then he says, see you wouldn’t have to go through a divorce. Then I said, that’s why you get married because then you work things out better than when you’re just dating. Then when I brought up the baby thing, he just said that he was enough of a kid and that I didn’t need another one.” Then she turned really serious. “Riley, everything he says is totally against what I want. I WANT to get married and I WANT to have kids. JC totally supported you on everything you said. He knew how much getting married and having kids meant to you. I don’t think Chris does. I mean, we’ve been together for, like, 5 years and he has no clue. Riley, I want to get married. If that’s what Chris doesn’t want, then I guess I need to find someone who wants the same thing as me.” Oh no! This was bad. I had to convince her that she needed to stay with Chris.
“No sweetie, Chris does want the same thing. He just isn’t ready. Just give him time and keep hinting to him that you DO want to get married and that you DO want to have kids.” Please work! “Ok, well just watch the girls while I take a shower. I’ll be right back!” I ran upstairs and did my shower really fast so I could go and get stuff for the girls. “Ok, I’m done. We can go.”
“Ok,” she said. We walked out the door. We went to all sorts of stores and found stuff for us and for the girls. We came back with a lot of stuff.
(JC’s Point of view)
“Hey guys.” I said, walking in the door of the studio. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Hey, it’s ok. We were just messing around anyway.” Lance said.
“Yeah, plus, we expected you late. Just because of the girls, ya know, since you were up all night.” Justin said. “I remember doing that. I still do it.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. They’re really good. Melissa started crying last night at like, 11 so I went to their room to get her. Since she was crying so loud Alex woke up. I held both of them and rocked them to sleep and Riley came in and took one and I freaked out. That made Alex start to freak out and cry and Mel started again.” I was really excited to have baby stories of my own. “But, we got them to sleep again. They slept until like, 4. That’s when Riley woke up.”
“Cool,” Lance said while nodding.
“Well, we do have to get this track done today,” Aimee said. “Would you mind starting now?”
“Sorry, yeah, we can start.” I said. We got a lunch break at 2:30 and I still hadn’t seen Riley. Maybe she was just doing something else. I called home to see if she was there. No one answered. So I called Britney, Cassidy, Kelly. None of them had seen her today. So I called Madison. No one answered there. Where ever they were, they were together. I called her cell. She answered in a laughing fit. “Hello?” Then she let out a laugh.
“Riley, are you ok?” I ask. “Where are you?” I began to panic.
“Oh! Josh!” Then I’m guessing she pulled the phone away from her ear and said something to Madison. “It’s Josh!” They started laughing again.
“Are you ok?” I ask again.
“Oh yeah! We’re fine. We just went to the wrong studio. And Madison started laughing at the place. It was really funny.” She could finally make sentences. “So, we’re at the place and we have the girls and they’re making weird noises and Madison starts laughing. And I’m talking to the lady at the desk and I talking on and on and on then she cuts me off and says ‘Lady, I don‘t care who you are. *NSYNC is not here. They are on the other side of town. You might want to try there.’” She said in a mock-lady-at-the-desk voice. “I was blown away with her rudeness and I was like ‘Fine! Thank you for your help. You were very kind.’ Then I say ‘Come on girls!’ and we leave! It was really funny so when we got in the car, I just started laughing really hard then you called.” She took a deep breath. “So, yeah, we’re on our way now.”
“Oh.” I say. “So the lady was mean?”
“Not really, it just seemed like she hates her job and she wasn’t exactly nice or she was having a really bad day.” She said. “Oh well. Oh, we’re just pulling in the parking lot so we’ll be up in a second.”
“Ok.” I said. “See ya in a minute. Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up my phone.
Just a little bit after I hung up Riley and Madison walked in the door. “Hi everyone!” Madison said. She walked up to Chris and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
“Hi!” Riley said.
“Hi” I said. Then I bent down to look at Melissa and Alexandra. “How are my girls?” I got a smile out of both of them. That only made Riley smile and me.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*Time is passing~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~~*~*~*~
(Riley’s point of view)
Josh is on tour again. That is what sucks being married to a guy in this business. Oh well. He just left close to a month ago. Give or take a few days. The girls are four and a half months old now. They’re a lot of fun to watch. When I look at them I know that they’re learning something new. It’s a miracle happening right in front of your eyes. It’s amazing. I love it. Oh, hold on, the phone’s ringing. It’s probably him.
“Hello?” I asked. The caller ID said it wasn’t JC. I didn’t recognize who the caller was.
“Hi,” it was a female. Who was it? “May I please speak to Josh?” It sounded more like an order than a question. Why is a woman calling MY husband? He’s not cheating on me is he? No, he loves me. He would never do that. Right?
“Uh, he’s on tour.” I had no idea what to think. All I wanted was to make sure he wasn’t cheating on me. “Who is this?”
“This is Emma,” she sounded very rude. Who was she to talk to me like this? “Who are you?”
“Riley,” I said just the way she said her name to me. “His wife.” I hissed. I usually was never ever mean to people. I was even shocking myself.
“Oh, well I’ll just try his cell.” She said. Completely blowing off the fact that I was his wife. “Bye.” Then she hung up.
“Wow, he better not be cheating on me.” I said out loud. “Because if he is, I have no problem raising these girls on my own.” I was panicking. I hoped that what I was thinking was wrong. I called Britney. She was the first person who popped in my head. “Britney?”
“Oh my god, Riley, what’s wrong?” She asked quickly.
“Some girl named Emma called,” I was crying now. I cut myself off with that hiccup sound that you make when you are trying to control yourself from crying. “She,” hiccup, “She was looking,” hiccup, “She was looking for Jace.”
“Riley, you need to calm down.” She said calmly. “He loves you. There is no way he’s cheating on you.”
“How d-do you know?” I asked.
“Do you remember when Justin had a bunch of random girls calling?” I nodded as if she could see me. “And remember how I thought he was cheating? Well they were just fans calling bitching me out because I was dating an untouchable. Someone they could never have.”
“So you think this Emma girl is just a fan? And she’s just calling to freak me out?”
“Yes. Riley, it’s no big deal. If it really bothers you though, they haven’t gone on stage yet so you could call him if you wanted.”
“Ok,” I said. “Thank you.”
“No problem. If you need anything, just call. Bye sweetie.”
“Bye.” We hung up and I called JC.
“Hello?” He said.
“Jace?” I asked.
He must’ve sensed something was wrong. “Yeah, what’s wrong?
“Um, some girl,” I started. “Some girl called just a few minutes ago asking for you.”
“Did she leave a name?”
(JC’s point of view)
I’m talking to Riley on the phone right now. She told me that some girl called.
“Did she leave a name?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. She sounded kinda mad. “Emma.”
‘Oh crap’ I thought. “What did she say?”
“Great Josh,” she sounded mad now. “Who is she?”
Ok, I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking the same thing as Riley. And no, I’m not cheating on her. I promised Riley I would stay true to her. I promised it in front of our family, friends, and God. There was no way I was going to mess up her life, my life, and my girls’ life. If I was cheating, and Riley found out she would take Alex and Mel away from me and I wouldn’t see them. There is no way I would ever do that. “Riley, it’s not what you think.”
“Oh, really?” She snapped at me. “How would you know what I think? You’re never home.”
“I’m not stupid. Whenever some girl calls one of us you girls freak out and immediately think we’re cheating. Riley, I made you a promise that I would NEVER do that. Every promise I make I plan to keep.”
“Then who is she?”
“I can’t tell you.” I winced. What was she thinking now? Probably something against me. ‘Great. Just great.’
“Oh, that makes me believe you. Good job.” Then she paused. I knew she needed to get all of it out. I heard her take a deep breath. “Oh God.” She took another deep breath. “Why can’t you tell me?” Her voice was shaking. She was about to break down. She probably already had earlier. “What is it? Please tell me. You can tell me anything. Jace I love you, please tell me.” She was crying.
“Chris told me not to tell anyone. Only us guys know.” I heard her sigh and take a deep breath and the hiccup sound. “Fine, Riley, you wanna know? You really wanna know?”
“Yes! I really do.” She was really worked up. She probably thought that I didn’t trust her enough to tell her.
“Fine. Ok, Chris is going to propose to Maddie. Finally, he is really gonna do it.”
“That is what Chris told you not to tell? That’s it?” She asked like it was nothing. But it was something. I broke our circle of trust between the guys and me. Maybe it was for the best though. Yeah, it was. I could’ve lost her.
“Yeah. That was it. I just feel like I just broke our circle of trust though. You know, between the guys and me.”
“Yeah, I guess. But what does this Emma girl have to do with anything?”
“Well, Chris didn’t want the Emma, the ring designer, to call there just in case Madison got curious or angry. So, I volunteered. I didn’t think it would bother you. I guess it did though. So, Riley, I’m sorry I never told you. I wish I did earlier.”
“So Chris got the ring custom designed and you told him that he could put down our number so when it was done she could call here? And you did that because Madison might’ve gotten mad at Chris and assumed the same thing I did? Or she would’ve asked what she wanted and then totally ruined his plan?”
“Yes. You’re right.” I said. Justin was looking at me pointing to his wrist meaning that it was time for us to go on stage. It was getting close to crunch time. “OK sweetie, I gotta go but I’ll talk to ya later and give Mel and Alex a kiss for me. I love you.”
“I love you too. Bye.”
“Bye.” I said and I hung up.
(Back to Riley’s point of view)
‘I can’t believe that I actually thought he would go behind my back.’ I thought. The girls were in bed right now so I was downstairs watching TV. Nothing that I really wanted to see was on so I put in a movie.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time is passing~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*
Since Jace was on tour I taped the girls taking their first step. Now they’re all over the place. The house is completely baby-proof. They’ve been walking for a while now. They turn two in a few days. JC doesn’t have to go on tour for another 4 and a half months. Since they’re getting older they have lives back home and it’s really hard on all of them. Chris proposed to Madison. She was so excited. Chris said that for the first few minutes she didn’t say anything. She just sat there. Then he was like, is that a no? Then he said she freaked out and was like, No! That’s a yes! Chris, I love you! Thank you. He also said he didn’t get the thank you part but everyone else did. That’s ok though.
“Ma ma” Alex said but she didn’t say it to me.
“No sweetie,” Karen said. JC’s parents are here. I love it when they come. “Grandma.”
“Dad.” Mel was on the floor with Roy. Alex had walked from Karen to the next chair over to JC.
“Alex.” He said. Alex shot her arms up in the air. JC picked her up and spun her around. She had a huge smile on her face. She was squealing.
“Josh,” Karen said to her son. “Put her down. You’re going to make her sick.” JC put her down and Alex tried to walk. She was really dizzy and fell down on the floor. I picked her up and put her with Melissa.
“They’re so cute.” Karen said. “I can’t even tell where the eyes came from.”
“You say that every time you see them, Mom.”
“I know but they have really blue eyes. Just like both of you.”
“They look like Riley. With the curly hair. That is totally Riley.” JC said.
“That’s not true.” I said. “You get curls too.”
“If they had Justin curls I’d be worried.” He laughed.
“Me too.” I said back.
The phone started ringing so I stood up to answer it. “Oh I’ll get it dear.” Karen said standing up to get the phone instead
“Ok,” I told her and sat back down.
“Hello?” She said into the receiver. “Oh yes. Hi Kelly. It’s Karen.” She listened what to what she was saying but then Mel started crying. Alex took the toy she was playing with away from her.
“Alex, give it back.” I bent down and took to toy away and gave it back to Melissa and she stopped crying. Only now Alex started crying because she didn’t get her way. “Here, have this one.” I handed her a different toy and she stopped.
“Yes dear. How about all of you guys come over here. We can celebrate Melissa and Alexandra’s birthday.” “All right. We’ll see you around 3:30.” She hung up the phone and looked at everyone in the room. “The guys are coming over later. Is that all right?”
I looked at JC and gave him a look like ‘It’s up to you.’ “Yeah, that’s fine.” He said.
JC and I put the girls down for their nap so they would be up when everyone arrived and they would be rested and not crabby. “Mom, no.” Alex said. She got my hyperactive personality. She was loud and always happy. Mel was usually quiet. Just like JC. Not that that was bad, it was just was a night and day difference between the girls. JC and Riley had opened up to each other and JC didn’t seem so quiet to her as he was at the very beginning of their relationship.
“Alex, yes. You need to take a nap.” I told her.
“No!” Mel screamed. JC laid her down on her back and she started squirming. Then she started crying. He looked at me wondering if he should just pick her up but I shook my head. We left them to cry. We both hated it but they needed to take a nap and pretty soon they would give up and go to sleep. They know they’re tired they just don’t feel like sleeping.
They slept for almost 2 hours. I went upstairs and changed them. I put them in different clothes because somehow they managed to get food all over the other pair. The doorbell rang and the girls ran to the stairs. They sat down and raced down the stairs on their butts. JC beat them to the door. “Derrick!” Both of them yelled at the same time.
He ran in the door. “Bye Mom.” Alex, Mel, and Derrick all ran to the basement.
“Slow down!” I yelled to them.
Everyone showed up eventually. All of the kids played together. They had a great time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time is passing~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Mom!” Melissa said, walking in the door from school.
“I’m in the kitchen!”
“Dad!” Alex yelled.
“He’s downstairs in the studio, Alex.” They were both in the kitchen with me and as soon as I told Alex she would run downstairs and share the daily gossip from school.
“Mom! Guess what!” Melissa said excitedly.
“What?” I said still wiping down the counters from when I had just made cookies so when the girls got home they would be done.
“Derrick has a girlfriend!” She squealed.
“Really?” I said sitting down at the table, placing a cookie and a glass of milk in front of her. “Who is his girlfriend?”
“Alex!” Her smile was huge. It was so funny to think that Alex was really Derrick’s girlfriend because they were only in first grade. “He kissed her when we were swinging! Then she chased him! It was so funny!”
“I bet it was.” I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing for her to have a boyfriend so young but then again, they probably didn’t know better.
(JC’s point of view)
“Dad!” I heard. Alex ran inside the door to the studio to tell me something very important I’m guessing. “Guess what!”
“What?” I said, spinning around in the chair.
“Derrick is my boyfriend! Isn’t that cool?!” She said excitedly.
“Really?” I wonder if Riley knew? “Are you sure?” How dumb does that sound?
“Yeah! Me, Mel, Julie, and Haylee were all swinging and he came up and kissed me! Then I chased him. He said that I was his girlfriend!” Her smile was huge. She was really excited.
“Alex!” Riley yelled down the stairs.
“Let’s go upstairs,” I said. We walked up the stairs and I looked at Riley. Oh yeah. She knew. There was no way Melissa could keep this a secret even if she tried.
Alex sat down at the table next to Melissa and ate her cookie. Riley and I went into the living room. “Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked. I guess I didn’t like that fact that my little girl already has a boyfriend. Even if it was one of my best friend’s son.
“I don’t really see what the-” the phone cut her off. “I’ll get it.” She walked to the phone in the kitchen. “Hello?”
(Riley’s Point of view)
The phone rang when I was talking to JC so I answered it. “Hello?”
“Riley?!” There was a panicked voice on the other end
“Brit, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Are you ok with this?”
“Alex and Derrick?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, ok, I was just talking to Jace about this. He was freaking out too. It will be ok.” I said calmly. “They don’t understand what having a boyfriend or girlfriend means. It will be ok.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Brit, it’s ok. There is nothing to be panicking about.”
“Ok, well I guess I’ll let you go then. Bye”
“Bye.” We hung up. “Girls, can you go upstairs for a few minutes please?”
“Yeah Mom.” Alex and Melissa said.
(Alex’s point of view)
“What do you think Mom and Dad are talking about?” I asked my sister.
“You.” She told me.
“I didn’t do anything! Why are they talking about me?”
“Because you have a boyfriend and Dad is worried maybe.”
“Ugh! It’s not a big deal!”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time is passing~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Riley’s Point of view)
“Mom!” Melissa ran inside crying.
I panicked and ran to her. “Liss what’s wrong?”
“C-C-C-Cameron b-broke up with m-me!” She let out another sob.
“Mel, if he didn’t see how great you were then he wasn’t worth your time!” Alex quipped. She had been trying to help the entire way home.
I looked at Alex then I looked at Melissa. “What happened?” I asked. “What did he say?”
Melissa ran upstairs and slammed her door. I looked at Alex. Maybe she would know. “What happened?”
“Where’s Mel?” JC asked coming upstairs.
“She’s in her room. Do NOT go up there and talk to her! It will only make it worse.” Alex said. “I will tell you all of it right now. Sit down.” She pointed to the chair next to me. He sat down. He looked really surprised though. “Ok so in the hallway after 2nd hour, we were walked together to our lockers when Cameron walks up to her and is like Alex can I talk to you for a minute?” She was talking fast. What 11-year-old girl didn’t? “I was like oh ok? I didn’t know what he wanted so I was totally unsure and Mel was looking at me. I just was like I don’t know and we walked away. He told me that he like ME and not Liss anymore.” I must’ve looked horrified. “No! Don’t worry! I didn’t do anything. She’s my sister and my best friend; I would never do that! I was like, go talk to Melissa. Do not do anything stupid.”
“Is that when he did it?” I asked. I wanted to know the whole story.
“No, he did it at the end of the day. Right before 7th hour. Mel and I were walking down the hallway together to art. I don’t know why we’re in that class. We don’t do anything and the teacher’s crazy but anyways so he walked up to her and was like ‘I don’t like you anymore. Alex is better than you are.’ And I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes but she wasn’t mad at me. Then he kept talking. He was like ‘Melissa I hate you. I must’ve been drunk when I asked you out.’” I looked over at JC. His eyes were practically popping out of his head.
“Why would he say that?” He asked.
“Dad! You’re not helping.” She said looking at him. “Then she’s like ‘Come on Alex. We’re gonna be late.’ She was gonna cry so she had to get away from him as fast as she could. As soon as we turned away, tears were falling down her face. We walked to class and she was sobbing. When we got to our seats everyone was looking at her and people were coming up and saying oh are you ok and finally I was like ‘Ugh! Go away! She doesn’t want all of this attention! GO AWAY!” She kept talking. “So, yeah, that’s what happened and she’s been crying since then.” I felt horrible. My baby’s heart was broken.
I walked up the stairs to her room. I heard her crying still. I also heard her slam the phone down back on its cradle. I knocked. “Go away!”
“Sweetie, its Mom. Please let me in,” I pleaded.
She walked to the door and opened it. I noticed her eyes were all red and puffy. “Mom, what did I do to make him hate me?”
I walked in the door, and then I shut it behind me. I hugged her. Cameron was her very first real boyfriend. He broke her heart. I remember my very first real boyfriend. “Liss, you didn’t do anything.” I told her. We were sitting on her bed now. My arms were around her.
“Then why did he say that Alex was better?” She asked pulling away. “We are twins. We do everything together. Why doesn’t Cameron like me still? I loved him!” She started crying again.
(JC’s point of view)
I feel like my girls are growing up too fast and we’re growing apart. When Alex told me what happened today at school, I could’ve killed Cameron. He was a nice guy too. He had been over a million times. I liked that kid. “Alex,” I started and she looked at me from the couch. “Do you have homework?”
“Dad,” she said, shocked. “It’s Friday. Even if I did have homework I wouldn’t do it until Sunday. But no.” She told me.
“What are you doing tonight?” I asked.
“Dad, how come you’re acting so weird?”
“I’m not acting weird, am I?” I didn’t think I was.
“Yeah, ever since I told you guys what happened today you’ve been really quiet.” She was sitting next to me now. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just you guys are growing up too fast. I feel so bad for Melissa and I just don’t want to miss anything.” I said.
“Dad, I’m sorry.” She said and then she hugged me. “I won’t go out with my friends tonight. It wouldn’t be fair for me to go out when Mel’s sad. It’s ok. We can do something together. Ok? How does that sound?”
“Yeah, if that’s what you want. But it sounds like a plan to me.” I smiled.
(Melissa’s point of view)
Cameron, my boyfriend of 6 months, just dumped me for my sister. People would say I should be mad at her but I’m not. It’s not like she had control over it. I was- we were so happy. We were the cutest, happiest, most popular couple in the 6th grade. I’ve been crying for what seems eternity. Mom’s up here in me and Alex’s room talking to me about Cameron. Alex probably told Mom and Dad the entire story. “Melissa, he’s the one missing out. There are a bunch of other guys that would love to have you as their girlfriend.” She told me. “Or you could wait for someone very special.”
“Mom,” I said weakly. “Can you send Alex up for a minute?”
“Yeah.” She said standing up. “She’ll be right up.” She was at the door now. “Can Dad come up too after her? He was really worried. He’ll wanna see you.”
I just nodded. “Mom?” I said quietly. “Thank you.” She really calmed me down. I owed her a thank you.
“Your welcome, sweetie.”
“Liss?” Alex said walking in. I stood up and we hugged. I loved having a sister. Then there were times I hated her. But this was a time when I was happy to have her. Dad always told us how it was great to always have someone. Since he was in *NSYNC he was always with Derrick’s dad or with Mitch and Brianna’s dad or with Devin and Kyleigh’s dad or with Claire and Adam’s dad. We see them all the time. We’re like family. When we were littler Alex was Derrick’s girlfriend.
“I’m sorry.” I told her and she let go.
“For what? I was surprised that you didn’t hate me.” She sat next to me. “I had no control over what he said. I’M sorry.”
“I hate this Al, I do. We were perfect. I loved him. For real loved him. Not just little kid love but really.”
“I know.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~Time is Passing~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Riley’s Point of view)
~^~^~^~^~A few weeks later~^~^~^~^~
“Mom! I need you to do my hair!” Alex said.
“Me too!”
“Girls, you need to calm down. The dance isn’t for another 2 hours.”
“Mom it’s our first dance! It needs to be perfect!” Alex said excitedly. Then she looked to Melissa. “We’re meeting Jake and Ben there right?”
“Yeah. Oh my gosh! I’m so excited!” She squealed. “I wish Dad were here though.”
“No you don’t” I said. “He wouldn’t let you go. He doesn’t like the fact that you are growing up.” I laughed to lighten the statement I had just made. JC was back on tour. All of the guys decided that they all missed being on tour.
“Yeah, that’s what he told me when I told you guys what happened that one time with Cameron.” Alex said.
“Oh God, don’t remind me,” Melissa sighed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time is Passing~*~*~*~*~*~*`*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Hi girls!” I said from the kitchen because they had just come home from school. They stopped running home to tell me everything that had happened. This is when I missed them. I wanted to have my little girls back.
“Hi Mom,” the said. Alex walked in the kitchen. “Is Dad home yet?” She asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “He’s in the studio. As usual.” He kept wandering downstairs just to sit in the studio. Everyone in this family was growing apart. Even JC and I.
---Later that Night---
The girls went out with their friends tonight. What 13-year-old kid wouldn’t? It’s just JC and me. “Jace?” I asked.
He looked at me. “What?”
“Why are we like this?” He looked confused. “Why does it seem like we’re distant from each other?”
“I don’t know.” He said. I sat next to him on the couch and he took my hands. “I feel it too. I don’t like it. We used to be so close, now it’s like we never see each other.”
“Yeah. I miss what we had.” I hugged him.
“Me too.” He said not letting go. “We need a night to ourselves every week so we can still talk. Don’t you think?” He asked, it was a rather good idea.
“Yeah.” I said nodding. “I like that idea.”
Every week JC and I got to spend alone time together and we got closer because of it. Melissa and Alex were happy being 8th graders and talking about boys with their friends. Our house was usually crazy and full of people. If it wasn’t us having the guys over with their kids it was the girls bringing friends home or having people over for school ‘group projects’. Either way, all of us were happy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time is Passing~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~
(Alex’s Point of view)
We’re at the beach right now. Mel, me, Haylee, Kyleigh, Claire, Adam, Devin, Mitchell, Brianna, Julie, Megan, and a lot of other people. Oh, plus my boyfriend! I love him so much! Dan. Dan is my boyfriend.
“Alex,” Mel said. “Wanna go in the water with us?”
“Um,” I said. “No, that’s ok. I only swim in pools remember?”
“Oh yeah!” She said, walking away. “You’re messed up like that.”
“Shut up!” I told her. She walked down to the water with everyone in front of her. It was just Dan and I. He’s a junior. And since I’m only a sophomore it’s pretty cool. I don’t think my dad likes that idea though. Oh well, I like him. That’s all that counts...right?
“So, Alex,” He said in his super cute voice. “You don’t like ocean water?” What kind of a question is that?!
“Yup.” I said propping myself up on my elbows. “I hate it. It has all of those stupid fish and crap. It’s sick. I hate it. Plus it scares me. I hate fish.”
“I didn’t know that.” He said.
I smiled. “Oh, well now you do!” I smiled again. I wait a few seconds before I say something else. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” I say seductively. Ha, that’s a funny word. I don’t think I said it like that. I just kinda said it cool...
(Melissa’s Point of view)
Alex is sitting with Dan. She really likes him. I’ve given up on guys. They suck. There’s this one guy. Well actually he was my ex-boyfriend from like 6th grade but we went out later too so I guess it works. Cameron. That’s all I have to say. He’s so confusing. I hate it. It’s like one day he’s all nice and stiff then he’s like all mean and stuff. So right now I don’t have a boyfriend but I don’t mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time is passing~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Riley’s Point of view)
The girls are growing up but that’s life. JC and I are still very much in love. I love my life. I have for a long time. Wait, Alex is home from college.
“Mom, Dad!” She yelled dropping her bags on the ground in the hallway.
“Hi Alex!” I said hugging her.
“Hi Mom,” she said. “It’s been a while.”
“Hey Alex,” JC said. Alex let go of me and walked to her father.
“Hi Daddy.” She said, hugging him. “I’ve missed you guys.” She let go. “When’s Mel coming home?” She walked farther into the house. “Oh guys! The tree is beautiful! Do we get to put the ornaments on?”
As you can tell, yes, it is Christmas. “Mel’s coming tomorrow.” I say.
“Mom, Dad I have a surprise for you.” She said taking our hands and walking to the couch.
JC and I looked at each other. We followed her. We sat down and she spoke. “Mom, Dad, you know Mike,” what was this leading to? I wondered. “And we’ve gotten very close and our relationship is getting pretty serious.” Oh God. “Last week he asked me to marry him!”
For a moment, Neither one of us said anything.
“Mom? Dad? Say something.”
(JC’s point of view)
“What do you mean he asked you to marry him?!” I yelled.
“Dad, its just how I said it. I’m marrying Mike.”
“Josh,” Riley said. “Please calm down. She’s not a little girl anymore. She can make her own decisions.”
I sat down again and thought about it. “Are you sure you love him?”
“Yes Daddy! I really do.”
“Then I guess you made the right decision.” I told her with a smile and she smiled back ad gave me a hug.
“I love you Daddy.”
“I love you too,” I said. “I love you too.”
*_X_*
These are the times you love your life. Being in love, having great kids.... This is my life. I still have a long time to live.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send 'em my way!