I sighed as I packed the rest of Brayden’s things

and set the box to the side with all the others. I sat

down on his bed and for the thousandth time since

I convinced my mom to move back to Orlando

wondered if I had done the right thing. The past

five years were a complete blur and I wasn’t really

sure if going back to where it all started would be

better or worse. At first I thought if I went back I

could find closure and move on, but as I got closer

to moving back I was starting to feel more and

more apprehensive. What if I ran into him? What if

he recognized the resemblance between himself

and Brayden? But at the same time Orlando is a

huge city right? And his life has done a complete  

180 since the last time I saw him. He’s a famous

musician with a demanding career and I’m sure he

  doesn’t have a lot of down time to just hang out.

Plus who’s to say that if I did run into him that he  

would even notice me. Yeah, I would notice him, but

I’ve been following his career since my mom made

 me leave Orlando and move to my Grandmothers

in Washington. The funny thing was she wasn’t

punishing me for getting pregnant at thirteen, she

was protecting me. She never once made any

degrading comment or even got upset about the

situation. However, after seeing how upset I was

she decided that it would be best to move all the

way across the country so I didn’t have to face him

or anyone else that I knew. She gave me a fresh

start. She has been the most supportive and helpful

person a daughter could ever ask for. Then again

we’ve always been close since my dad died when I

was only five, so I shouldn’t really be surprised that

she was anything but supportive. Brayden’s my life

and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it

definitely was not the ideal situation for anyone. I

mean when you’re thirteen and completely

infatuated with a guy all you think about is being

with them and not any of the consequences that

could follow. Brayden knew way more about his dad

than he had any idea and that was fine by me, I

didn’t want Brayden to know who his dad was. It

would bring to many questions that I didn’t want to

answer. Just then I was broke from my thoughts

“Momma, come quick Nsync’s on TV!” Brayden

excitedly exclaimed as he ran out the room and

back down the stairs again. I sighed as I followed

him downstairs to see what was going on now. Sure

enough there he was standing with the rest of the

guys on the set of TRL looking just as handsome as

ever. I gave a weak smile towards Brayden as I sat

down on the floor beside him to see what the latest

was in his life. After finishing up their tour a couple

weeks ago the guys all decided to head home to

Orlando and take a six month break to get back in

touch with reality. HA! I thought. Back in touch with

reality…I’m sure that’s what they’re all concerned

with. Well actually they probably are. Well at least

J.C. and Justin. I’ve known them since I was ten

years old and they are probably two of the most

down to earth people in the showbiz I’ve ever met

and I have a lot of respect for them for that.

However, I was not expecting them to be in Orlando

for any extended period of time. Especially right

when I was getting ready to move back down there.

This might not have been my best idea. I couldn’t

tell my mom I didn’t want to go now though

because I’d been bugging her for the last five

months since I graduated high school to let us

move back. Not to mention that everything was

packed and the last U-haul was on its way to grab

the beds and the last odd items of furniture that

were left around the house. Well at least I would

have a week to wrap my head around the idea of

possibly running into him as we were driving down

instead of flying. Just then my mom walked through

the house with the movers showing them the last of

what they needed to pack and I sighed as I stood

up to go put the last few boxes in the back of my

blazer. “Brayden you ready to go?” I asked walking

back into the empty house where Brayden was

sitting playing with his stuffed Elmo. “Yeah

momma.” Brayden said as he smiled up at me and

ran outside to the car. I gave him a faint smile as

he passed by then sighed as I looked around the

empty house one more time. Now or never I

thought as I walked outside. “I’ll meet you at the

hotel.” My mom smiled as she got into her car.

“Yeah.” I mumbled as I strapped Brayden into his

car seat then climbed into the driver’s seat.

“You ready?” I asked Brayden as I finished tying his

shoe and stood up. “We’ve got to get going

Grandma Deb is already in Orlando. It will only take

us about four more hours to get there.”

“Yay!”Brayden exclaimed jumping up and down. I

smiled at him as I ushered him out the door and

towards the car. “Momma can we listen to Nsync?

Please! Please!”Brayden asked bouncing up and

down in his car seat. I smiled at him through the

rear view mirror. “Sure.” I said as I popped the c.d.

in and the familiar sounds of Tearing up my Heart

filled the car. I smiled as Brayden bounced around

to the music and started to sing along with it. The

closer and closer we get to Orlando the more I

rethink my decision to want to move back here.

Brayden may only be four but he’s definitely smart.

He made the connection that we were moving to the

same place as Nsync when he heard they were

going to be in Orlando and has already asked if we

could go see them. I had to explain to him that I

didn’t know where they lived and that they didn’t

want to be bothered, but what if I do run into one of

them? Brayden will definitely recognize them. Not to

mention he looks so much like his dad anyone

could make the connection. I don’t know what I was

thinking by moving back here but the closer I get

the worse of a feeling I get about the whole

situation.

I pulled into town and knew I’d be at our new house

within five minutes. I looked back at Brayden who

was sleeping peacefully holding onto his Elmo. I

smiled as I pulled onto our street. It was more of a

secluded semi-circle that only had three other

houses on it and I was glad that mom picked

somewhere away from the masses. I sighed as I

pulled into the driveway and saw that mom’s car

wasn’t there. Oh well I thought as I killed the

engine and got out and pulled a sleeping Brayden

out of his car seat. Ever since he was an infant it

never failed car rides could always make him fall

asleep. He didn’t stir as I removed him from the car

and his head immediately hit my shoulder and he

stayed there. I started to slowly walk towards the

front door when out of the corner of my eye I saw

someone from next door approaching me. I hadn’t

even made it to the house yet I was in no mood to

meet anyone new but he was headed straight

towards me. “Hey!” he smiled as he waved. Shit

okay I can’t ignore him I thought as I turned to

look at him. As I turned my heart stopped and I

almost dropped Brayden. I could not believe he was

standing there in front of me. There’s no way no

possible that this could be happening. He can’t

recognize me. This was a bad idea. No! No! No! No!

I thought as I just stared at him. “uh…hi?” I

stuttered as I looked at him and he just smirked at

me. Oh geez he probably thinks I’m some crazed

fan or something. Wait that’s good. If he thinks

that maybe he’ll leave me alone and I won’t have

to talk to him I excitedly thought. “My name’s J.C. I

take it you’re my new neighbor.”He said continuing

to smile at me. “Uh yeah.”I said. “I just got here

and I have no idea what my mom got set up and

what she didn’t since she was here yesterday so I

should really go see what I need to do.”I said

nervously. “Oh yeah that’s fine I understand. We’ll

if you need any help with anything just let me know

and if not you should stop by later and meet my

roommates.”He said. “Roommates?” I said a little

too quickly as my heart started to race again.

“Yeah.”He grinned at me. “I live with my four best

friends.” “Oh.”I laughed nervously. “Well uh yeah…

like I said I have to go.” I said turning away from

him and walking towards the door. “Hey wait! What’s

your name?”J.C. Called after me. Shit should I risk

it. I guess I might as well tell him there’s no way

around it he’ll figure it out eventually and I mean I

can’t exactly act like I didn’t hear him. “Uh…Abby.”I

said then hurriedly walked into the door. I laid

Brayden down on the couch and then starting pacing

back and forth. This cannot be happening. There is

no way this is true. Why? Why me? Out of all the

people who live in this damn town why do they have

to be my neighbors? I don’t suppose he has four

other best friends who aren’t Nsync? Damnit it has

to be them. What am I going to do? Well for

starters I’m going to make mom start looking for a

new house. But she loves this house she couldn’t

stop raving about it from the moment she looked at

it. I must admit it is pretty nice. But I cannot chance

him being my neighbor there is just no way. It can’t

happen. Shit. Shit. Shit.             Just then my mom

walked through the front door carrying a load of

groceries. I went to grab the rest and followed her

into the kitchen. “Mom!”I said dejectedly as I sat

the bags down. “What Abby?” My mom asked

confused. “Do you have any idea who our neighbors

are?” I screamed as I started pacing again. “Well

no but the realtor assured me that this was a very

secluded area for a reason and that we wouldn’t

have any problems with any of the neighbors why?”

My mom asked getting even more confused. “Abby!

Sit down and tell me what’s going on.” I stopped

pacing for a second and looked at my mom. “When

I got here our next door neighbor stopped to say hi

thankfully Brayden was asleep and didn’t recognize

him and thankfully he didn’t recognize me.”I said

as I started to pace again. “What? Who are you

talking about?”My mom asked as she stopped

putting groceries away to give me her full attention.

“Our neighbor. Our fucking neighbor is J.C.

Chasez…Oh and to make things worse he lives with

his four best friends he told me. Any idea who that

could be?”I yelled at her. My mom just gave me a

little smirk and said “Well is it really the end of the

world. Maybe now you can find the closure you were

looking for.”She said as she started to put groceries

away again. “What? NO!” I yelled. “There is no way

I can tell him. And we can’t just act like everything

is peachy either, it’s only a matter of time before

one of them recognizes me. Oh and what about

Brayden he’ll realize who they are the first time he

sees them!”I said still yelling. “First of all stop

yelling or you’ll wake Brayden up. And secondly

that’s a chance you’re going to have to take. Now

listen to me. I left here five years ago for you, not

for me, for you. You couldn’t handle it so we left,

BUT you are the one who begged me to come back

here and so here we are.”My mom said getting

frustrated. “I can’t believe this! You don’t care.”I

said as I started to pace again. “Honey, listen to

me. It’s not that I don’t care but we’re here and you

can’t keep running forever. You’re going to have to

face him sometime.” I sighed as I sat down and put

my head in my hands. I chose to move back here,

but nothing and I mean nothing could have

prepared me for this. “Abby listen you don’t have to

decide anything right now. Why don’t you go take a

shower while I start dinner.”My mom said as I

looked up at her with tears streaming down my

face. “Oh Abby it’s not the end of the world. You’re

a strong girl and you’ll figure this out. You have to

for that little boy in there.”My mom said as she

came over and hugged me. I just nodded as I

pulled away from her and headed up the stairs to

take a shower like she suggested.

“Hey guys you should meet our new neighbor she’s

pretty hot.”J.C. said as he sat down to eat with his

four friends. “Really? What’d she look like? How old

is she?” Joey asked with wide eyes. J.C. chuckled as

he said “I don’t really know she seemed really

nervous so she didn’t really talk much but I’d say

she’s about Justin’s age.”J.C. said. “Nervous? Like

she knew who you were?”Lance asked suddenly

apprehensive about the situation. “No…I don’t think

so I think she’s just shy.”J.C. said. “She did look

really familiar though, although I’m not sure

why.”J.C. said thinking about it. “Who knows.”Justin

said. “So whose she live with?” “Uhm I’m not

exactly sure I know she said her mom wasn’t home

right then, and she was carrying a little kid that

couldn’t have been more than four or five so I’m

guessing her mom and brother?”J.C. said absent-

mindedly. “Well we should go over and introduce

ourselves.”Chris finally chimed in as Justin and Joey

nodded in agreement. “Guys, maybe we should give

them a few days to settle in.”Lance said as

everyone just rolled their eyes at him but eventually

agreed. “Well you guys will have to tell me what

she’s like I’m leaving for New York in the morning

for a few weeks.”Joey said.             A couple days

later I pulled back up to the house after running

some errands and as I started to get Brayden out

of the car I heard him yell “Look! It’s Nsync!” My

breath caught in my throat at what he said but he

scrambled out of his car seat and ran out of the car

so I had to turn around and look. I nervously gave

them a half smile as I grabbed Brayden and said

“I’m sure they don’t want to be bothered let’s go

inside.” “Oh nonsense who is this little guy?” Justin

asked as he reached his hand out to Brayden. “I’m

Brayden.” Brayden said giving Justin his million

dollar smile as I sighed. “Hey Abby.” J.C. said

smiling at me. “Hi.”I sighed looking up at him.

“These are my friends I was telling you about.

That’s Justin. Lance. And Chris. And our other

roommate is out of town visiting family but I’m sure

you’ll meet him sometime.” “Oh yeah. Uhm

Brayden why don’t you go inside and put in one of

your movies.” I said as I sat him down. “Can I play

rockband instead?”He asked looking up at me with

huge puppy dog eyes. “Uh..It’s not unpacked yet.

Just put in a movie and I’ll find it when I come in.”I

said. “Fine.”Brayden said as he went to turn around

to go in the house. “Hey wait! We have rockband

you could come play with us.”Chris said.

“Yeah!”Brayden yelled as he jumped up and down

and the guys chuckled. “Uh.. I don’t know if that’s

such a good idea.”I said. “Oh come on.”Justin said

giving me the same smile that Brayden had only

minutes before “Besides you can come too.’’ Just

then my mom walked out of the house and must

have heard the last of the conversation because

she said “Abby I’m going out for a little while. Why

don’t you go and have some fun.” As she just

smiled at me. “I wouldn’t want to be an

inconvenience though.”I said glaring at my mother.

“Well they invited you over and I think it’s rude not

to go.”She said smirking at me as she got into her

car. “I agree with your mom.”Justin smiled as I

sighed. “Fine.”I said as Brayden giggled and ran

towards their house chasing Chris. I followed a little

slower and Lance fell back and said “Don’t worry

about it they’re really not as intimidating as they all

look.” I just gave him a half smile as we entered

the house and sat down with the rest of the guys.

“Can I play guitar?”Brayden asked looking up with

Chris with a grin on his face. “Sure.”Chris said “You

and Justin can play guitar and I’ll play drums and

J.C. can sing.”Chris said looking at the guys as they

all just shrugged. “Make sure you put his on

easy.”Lance said from his place on the couch.

“NO!”Brayden said offended and I couldn’t help but

laugh “I play on hard.” This caused a chuckle from

all the guys. “Let the man play on hard then.”Justin

said disbelief in his voice and I just continued to

laugh. “Dude! I can’t believe that he’s actually

hitting all these notes.”Chris stated in disbelief.

After about an hour of the guys playing I decided

that it was time to go. Although I was grateful that

the guys were engrossed in their game and that

none of them were paying that much attention to

me besides Lance who was sitting beside me.

“Brayden it’s time to go sweetheart you need to get

washed up for dinner.”I said as I stood up and

stretched. “Okay.”Brayden said as he put the guitar

down and came and stood by me. “Thanks for

letting me play with you guys.”Brayden said. “No

problem. You can come over and play whenever you

want.”J.C. said. “Thanks guys.”I said as I started to

walk to the door. “You can come over whenever you

want too.”Justin said grinning at me. “Uhm yeah

thanks.”I said looking at the floor then quickly

walked to the door.             “You’re right she is

shy.”Justin said after we had left. “I told you. And

obviously she knew who we were because her little

brother did but she didn’t seem to acknowledge it at

all.”J.C. said a little dumbfounded. “Maybe just

Maybe there is someone who isn’t completely

infatuated with you JT.”Chris chuckled as Justin

threw a pillow at him. “I don’t know I think she’s

nice though.”Lance said. “I never said she wasn’t I

just think it’s a little odd and she still looks really

familiar.”J.C. said. “She does look kinda

familiar.”Justin said agreeing with him “Where’s she

from?” “I don’t know she doesn’t say much.”J.C.

said as the guys just nodded.

I went home and put in Aladdin for Brayden then

walked in the kitchen and started to make dinner. A

few minutes later my mom got home and after

saying hi to Brayden walked into the kitchen. “So?

How’d it go?”My mom asked with a smirk on her

face. “You didn’t have to do that.”I said giving her a

disapproving look “And it didn’t go bad, but they

were to busy playing their video games to really

notice me. Justin didn’t know who I was either and

no one commented on the resemblance of Brayden

either.”I whispered so Brayden didn’t overhear me.

“Well are you going to tell him?”My mom asked.

 “Honestly I was hoping to just ignore them all, but

I have a feeling that’s going to be harder to do

than I originally thought.”I sighed as my mom just

smirked. “Stop doing that.”I said. “Doing what?”My

mom asked playing innocent. “Stop enjoying this!”I

said “Brayden dinner’s ready. Come eat.” After we

finished eating I gave Brayden his bath then put

him to bed and went out on the back deck and sat

in the lounge chair deep in thought. Things had got

very complicated very fast and I didn’t know what I

was going to do about it. I chose to move back here

but I was in no way prepared for what had just been

thrust into my face. Sure neither J.C. or Justin had

recognized me which is definitely a good thing, but I

had a feeling that it wouldn’t last very long at all.

Once they realized who I am are they going to start

making the obvious connections and start asking

about who Brayden’s dad was? Ugh …this cannot be

happening. What did I do to deserve this? Oh right

I had sex one time five years ago. Fuck. I sighed

and slowly opened my eyes as I felt someone

 watching me. When I opened my eyes I saw Justin

standing over top of me smirking. “You looked

deep in thought I didn’t want to disturb you.”Justin

said offering me a smile. “Oh uh yeah I guess I

was.”I said looking down. “Why do you do

that?”Justin asked. “Do what?”I asked not looking

up at him. “That. Why don’t you look at people

when they talk to you.”Justin asked as he sat down

next to me. “Oh I don’t know.”I sighed glancing

over at him. “You have a beautiful smile you just

need to show it off a little more.”Justin said

grinning. I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach as

I remembered that he used to always compliment

my smile. I can’t do this. I can’t pretend I don’t

know him. “Uh thanks.”I said blushing and looking

down again. “Listen I was wondering if you wanted

to go to dinner or something tomorrow night.’’

Justin asked. “Uh I don’t really think I can.”I said

trying to think of a quick excuse that wasn’t I can’t

leave my four year old son by himself. Our four

year old son. Sigh. What am I going to do?  “Why

not? Do you have a boyfriend?”Justin asked

dejected. “What? Oh no!” I said shocked “I just

don’t know what my mom has planned and I can’t

leave Brayden by himself.”I said. “Well make sure

your mom doesn’t have plans and let me know

when you’re free we can go whenever.”Justin said as

I continued to think of a way out of it. “Abby!”My

mom yelled from inside. A few seconds later she

opened the screen door and stepped out onto the

porch. “Oh hey Justin.” My mom said “Abby when

you’re done Brayden woke up and wants you to read

him a story.” “Oh ok.”I said hurriedly and started to

get up. “Wait!” Justin said stopping me and my

mom before we went back inside. “I’m sorry Mrs…..”

Justin started. “Uh Clegg.”My mom said as I gave

her a death glare as my heart started racing again.

“Right.”Justin said “Anyways Mrs. Clegg would it be

alright if I took Abby out to dinner tomorrow night?”

“I think that’s a great idea.”My mom started. “But

mom what about…”I started before she cut me off

“Don’t worry about it. It’s all taken care of. Go have

fun.”She smiled as I sighed. Justin smirked at me

and said “Great thanks! I’ll pick you up around five

tomorrow Abby?”Justin asked as he turned to walk

away. “Uh yeah sure.”I said uncomfortably as Justin

turned and walked away and I followed my mom

into the house. “Mom! How could you tell him I’d go

to dinner with him?”I asked frustrated. “Abby you’re

a great mother but you have not been a teenager

since the moment you found out you were

pregnant. I can watch Brayden for a night. You’re

eighteen you need to have a little fun. Besides

Brayden’s a great kid but he needs a dad too, and

who better to be his dad than his dad.”My mom

said as I sighed. “I’m going to put Brayden to

bed.”I said dryly as I walked out of the room.

            Justin bounced down the stairs and into the

kitchen where J.C. was sitting eating a bowl of

cereal. “So I have a date with Abby tonight.”Justin

grinned as he poured himself a glass of orange

juice and sat down beside J.C. “I felt kinda awkward

because I asked her mom for permission and then

I realized I didn’t know her last name but her mom

just brushed it off and said ‘Clegg’ as if it was no

big deal and said we could go to dinner.”Justin

laughed as J.C. stared at him for a minute. “Clegg?

Abby Clegg? Abby Clegg? Abigail Clegg!”J.C. yelled.

“Huh?”Justin asked confused. “That’s where I know

her from Abigail Clegg. Her mom worked on the

Mickey Mouse Club. I’m surprised you didn’t

recognize after all you dated her or something.”J.C.

said still dumbfounded. “No! It can’t be the same

girl.”Justin said racking his brain trying to

remember. He remembered dating Abigail. Hell it

was the first girl he ever slept with, but it couldn’t be

the same girl. The more he thought about the more

of a resemblance heysaw but he still couldn’t

convince himself that it was the same girl. “I duno

J. I think it’s her.”J.C. said as he got up and walked

 away leaving Justin to his thoughts.

I woke up the next morning and after giving

Brayden his breakfast he begged and begged me

to let him go swimming. Finally I sighed and

agreed. Brayden was playing in the shallow end of

the pool while I sat on one of the lounge chairs

watching him. “Momma! Momma! Get in with

me.”Brayden yelled giggling from the water. “Maybe

in a little bit.”I said smiling at him. “But Momma I

wanna jump in the deep end.”Brayden begged as I

laughed. “Alright .”I said as I stood up and dove in

the deep in. When I resurfaced Brayden was already

out of the pool waiting for me to catch him. I

laughed as he ran towards the pool and jumped

 into my arms. He giggled wildly as I caught him

and I couldn’t help but laugh with him. “I love

you.”I smiled as I kissed his forehead. “I know

Momma I love you too.”Brayden said as he

squirmed out of my arms and back towards the

shallower end. I turned around to watch him as I

saw J.C. standing there with a very serious look on

his face. My heart stopped and I was frozen in fear

looking at him. Think Abby Think I chided myself.

“Uh Brayden why don’t you go inside and watch

some TV for a little bit.”I said. “I don’t

wanna.”Brayden protested. “Baby I don’t want you

to get too much sun go inside for a little bit and

after lunch you can come back out okay?”I said.

“Yeah.”Brayden smiled as he grabbed his towel and

made his way inside. I got out of the pool and

wrapped my towel around me sitting down avoiding

J.C.’s glance. “Abigail.”J.C. said with a reprimanding

tone. “So you figured it out?”I asked sheepishly.

“Yeah I did.”J.C. said “But what I can’t figure out is

why you didn’t tell us.” “I…I don’t know..It’s

complicated.”I stuttered looking for words. “I’d say

Mom.”J.C. said sitting next to me. “Yeah.”I said as

I smiled weakly at him. J.C. sighed “Abby I didn’t

want to notice it but after I figured out who you were

I can’t help but notice the resemblance between

Justin and Brayden.” J.C. said as I silently began to

cry not able to meet his gaze. “It is isn’t it?”J.C.

asked. “Listen J.C. you can’t tell him.”I said

between sobs. “Abby this is huge you can’t hide

this.”J.C. said getting agitated. “Stop! Just stop.”I

said crying harder “I’ve been over this a million

times. I left when I did for a reason. We’re doing

okay. Brayden is one of the most well behaved four

year olds I have ever encountered and I don’t need

anything complicating that. Not to mention Justin

has a pretty good life and he doesn’t need me

around to mess it up. I moved back here because I

missed it, but I never in a million years thought I

would even run into him let alone that he would live

next door. I tried avoiding you all, but you all made

it very clear that you weren’t going to let that

happen, and my mom has been pushing me to

hang out with you too. I think she thinks if I’m

around him again I’ll crack and tell him

everything.”I sobbed as J.C. cracked and moved

over and took me in his arms and I continued to

cry. “I’m sorry Abigail…Abby whatever…but listen to

 me you cannot hide this from him. Sure it’s not the

ideal situation, but it’s not the ideal situation for

you to raise Brayden by yourself either. You know in

your heart what needs to be done. I’ll be here for

you if you need anything though okay?”J.C. said

rocking me back and forth. “You haven’t changed at

all.”I laughed through my tears. “What do you

mean.”J.C. asked pulling back to look at my face.

“You should be mad at me. Hell, you should hate

me. Yet, here you sit hugging me telling me

everything will work out and that you’re here for

me.”I sighed as J.C. just grinned. “We were close

when we were younger. You gave us all a shock

when you just left and were  never to be heard from

again.”J.C. said as he brushed a piece of hair out of

my face. I smiled up at him “Thanks.”I said as I

started to calm down. “So you’re going to tell him

right?”J.C. asked. “I just need some time.”I sighed

“This is a lot to take in okay?”I said looking up at

him. J.C. nodded but said “You can’t put it off

forever but I’ll give you some time to figure it all

out.”

“So J.C. figured out who you were huh?”My mom

smirked at me as I was putting my make-up on

getting ready for the date that I dreaded even more

after J.C. figured out who I was. “Yes mom, and not

only did he figure out who I was he also knows

Brayden is mine and Justin’s son.”I sighed. “Well

the way I look at it this can only be for the

better.”My mom said as I gave her a disapproving

look through the mirror. “Look if J.C. knows the

truth and is okay with it then what makes you think

that Justin won’t be?”My mom asked as Brayden

 came bouncing in the room. “Shh.”I said looking at

my mom “Hey sweetheart. What’s up?”I asked as

he came over and hugged me. “Momma do you

have to go?”Brayden asked looking up at me.

“Baby I’ll only be gone for a little bit. Grandma will

be here with you.”I said smiling down at him. “Well

what if I came with you?”Brayden asked with hopeful

eyes. I smiled and said “How bout you and

Grandma watch a movie and when I get back I’ll

read you a story and tuck you in okay?”I said.

“Okay.”Brayden sighed as I smiled and hugged him

closer to me. I kissed the top of his head and said

“I love you.” He just grinned at me and kissed me

on the cheek than ran out of the room saying

something about picking a movie. “See what you

did. He doesn’t want me to leave and you’re

making me go on a date.”I pouted. “Sweetheart he

needs to learn that you will not always be around

especially since he starts school next year. It will be

okay.”My mom smiled as she walked out of the

room to go find Brayden.            There was a knock

on the door and I sighed as I walked to get it.

Justin stood there grinning at me holding out a

yellow rose. “Abigail.”He said. “You remembered I

don’t like red roses.”I said giving him a slight

smile. He just smiled back as I set the rose of the

table and followed him out the door. “So why were

you being so conspicuous?”Justin asked as he held

the car door open for me. I sighed “I don’t know

Justin a lot has changed and I wasn’t even sure

you’d want to talk to me.” “That’s crazy. I mean I

want to know why you up and left with no warning,

and where you were and what you were doing, and

why you’re now back in Orlando, but of course I

would want to talk to you.”Justin said as he drove

down the road. I just sighed as I tried to think of

anything I could say to him to make him

understand. “Listen obviously there is a lot that

needs to be discussed but can we forget about it all

for a little while and just enjoy our dinner tonight?”I

asked hopeful. “Sure but you still owe me some

answers.”Justin said teasingly but it made me very

uncomfortable because I knew I did and I knew that

the answers he wanted were not ones he would like.

            Surprisingly the night went really well once

Justin stopped asking me questions about why I left

and we got caught up on some of the stuff we

missed, minus the stuff about Brayden. Now we

were standing outside my door and I felt like I was

thirteen again. Justin was the first boy I’d ever

kissed and as sad as it sounds he is the only one

I’ve ever kissed. It kinda depresses me

sometimes, but when I think about why I haven’t

been on a date in the past five years it doesn’t

 bother me as much. But, now here I stand in front

of Justin again with him grinning down at me and

my stomach is instantly filled with butterflies. I look

down and blush and hope that he doesn’t realize

how nervous I am. “I had a good time

tonight.”Justin said “It was good to catch up.”He

said putting his finger under my chin and forcing me

to look at him. I smiled up at him and said “I know

what you mean. I had fun too.” Justin just smiled

as he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to

mine. His lips were soft and sweet and I couldn’t get

enough. I reached up and wrapped my arms around

his neck pulling him closer. Justin pulled away

grinning and said “Goodnight Abby I’ll call you

tomorrow okay?” “Yeah.”I smiled at him forgetting

everything as I watched him walk across the yard

back to his house. I walked into the house smiling

and my mom just stood there smiling at me. “So

you had fun?”My mom asked bringing me back to

reality. “Yeah.” I sighed “But it doesn’t matter I

can’t lie to him forever.”I said. “No, but that doesn’t

mean everything can’t still be good between

you.”My mom said. “Mom I don’t want to talk about

this now. Where’s Brayden?”I asked looking around

the living room. “He went to bed and so am I, so I’ll

see you in the morning.”My mom said brushing by

me to go up the stairs.             The next day my

mom was out and I was making Brayden his lunch

when there was a knock on the door. I sighed as I

moved from the kitchen to get the door. I opened

and there stood J.C. “Hey.”I said wondering what he

wanted. “Can I come in?”J.C. asked looking around.

“Uh yeah…Let me just get Brayden his lunch and we

can sit down and I talk.”I said as I walked back in

the kitchen. I brought Brayden his lunch so he could

continue to watch his show and asked J.C. to follow

me into the kitchen. “Do you want some lunch?”I

asked motioning to the food on the stove. “No

thanks.”J.C. said as he sat down at the table “So

Justin has been raving about your date ever since

he got back last night.”J.C. said. “Well that’s a

good sign.”I said nervously. “Yeah he likes you

Abby, but that also means that you didn’t tell him

anything about Brayden either.”J.C. sighed. “I just

need some time.”I said sitting down. “That’s fine,

but don’t lead him on if you aren’t going to be

honest with him.”J.C. said. “You’re right.”I sighed

“Okay I’ll talk to him tonight.” J.C. smiled “Good. I

think it will go better than you give yourself credit

for too.” “I hope.”I sighed as Brayden came into

the kitchen with his empty plate ending our

conversation.

I paced out on the back deck as I waited for Justin

to arrive. I had called him earlier asking him to

come over so I could talk to him and he eagerly

agreed. If he only knew what he was getting himself

into. I stopped pacing when I saw Justin start to

walk across the yard to me. Justin smiled as he

walked over to me and placed a light kiss on my

mouth before sitting down. “So Abs what’d you want

to talk about?”Justin asked. I sighed and then

yelled into the house “Brayden come here for a

second.” I said as Justin looked at me confused.

Brayden came running out the door and over to me

 and jumped in my lap. I turned him so he was

facing Justin. “Justin what do you see when you look

at Brayden?”I asked as I ran my fingers through

Brayden’s soft blonde curls. “I don’t know. What do

you mean?”Justin asked looking confused. I sighed

as I kissed Brayden on the head then looked back

up at Justin “Notice his cute blonde ringlets and his

killer baby blue eyes?”I asked as Justin’s eyes

suddenly became wide with realization and he

instantly tensed up. “Baby why don’t you go back

inside and play.”I said as I kissed his forehead. “K

Momma.” Brayden said as he jumped off my lap

and back into the house. “Momma?” Justin said

very strained. “Justin listen to me…”I started before

he cut me off. “THIS IS WHY YOU LEFT? YOU WERE

RUNNING FROM ME?”Justin yelled as he got up and

started to pace back and forth. Tears slowly started

to run down my face as I stood to try and reason

with Justin. “Will you please just listen to me for a

second?”I softly pleaded as I stood in front of him

trying to get him to stop and listen to me. “NO! You

do not get to stand there and cry in front of me and

act like you’re the victim in all this.”Justin screamed

as Brayden showed back up at the door. “Momma.”

He said quietly looking from me to Justin not sure if

he should go past the threshold of the door or not.

This only made me cry harder as I saw the fear in

his eyes. “What baby?”I asked as I went over to

him and picked him up cradling him in my arms.

“Are you okay?” Brayden asked burying his head in

my shoulder. I went to glare at Justin for this, but

apparently seeing Brayden upset had melted his

exterior as he stood there speechless with tears in

his eyes. I gave him a soft smile as I kissed

Brayden on the cheek then whispered in his ear

“Yeah baby momma’s fine. I’m just taking care of

something. Why don’t you run upstairs to your room

and I’ll be up in a minute.” Brayden nodded into my

shoulder but only tightened his grip around my

neck. I sighed as I walked him over to the door and

set him down inside the kitchen. “I’ll be up in a

minute okay baby?”I asked as he nodded and turn

and ran into the other room and up the stairs.  “I’m

sorry.”Justin sighed “I didn’t mean to upset him.”He

softly said sitting down again. “Justin I’m not asking

you for anything and I don’t expect anything, but it

was not fair to you not to tell you the truth.”I sighed

sitting down beside him. “You should havetold me

the truth a long time ago.”Justin snapped. I tried to

hold in the oncoming sobs, but I couldn’t because I

knew Justin was right. I should have told him the

truth five years ago when I found out I was

pregnant. “Listen this is a lot for me to take in and

I don’t want to say anything else I regret. I’m going

to go home I’ll get ahold of you once I wrap my

head around all of this.”Justin said as he got up

and walked away leaving me curled up in a ball

sobbing to myself.            A few minutes later J.C.

made his way over and sat on the edge of the

lounge chair I was in and started to lightly rub my

back. “You did the right thing.”J.C. soothed which

only made me sob harder. “He hates me. He hates

me and he has every right to hate me.”I cried. J.C.

moved over and pulled me into his lap as he gently

rocked me back and forth. “He just needs some

time to cool down. He’ll come around I

promise.”J.C. whispered as he continued to rub my

back. J.C. sat there holding me for half the night

trying to calm me down before I finally thanked him

and went upstairs to bed. I immediately collapsed

on my bed and passed out exhausted from

everything that had happened that day.

The next morning I slept in later than I normally

would and Brayden came and jumped on my bed

waking me up. “Momma! Momma! I’m hungry.”

Brayden said jumping up and down on my bed. I

sighed the last thing I wanted to do right now was

get out of bed. “Is Grandma downstairs?”I asked

pulling Brayden down to sit beside me. “Yeah.”

“Okay will you do mommy a favor and go ask

Grandma to make you breakfast?”I asked.

“Okay.”Brayden said bouncing out of the room.

Sigh. I wish I had the carefree lifestyle of a four

year old. Why did everything have to be so

complicated. Why did I have to go and have sex

with Justin when I did. If we’d never had sex I

wouldn’t have any of these problems. I can’t say

that though. I love Brayden more than the world

and I would not change what happened for

anything. But why does Justin have to be such an

ass. He wasn’t even really an ass he was just upset

at me for hiding it from him. It’s really not his fault

at all, its mine. Just then my mom walked in to find

me curled up in a ball on my bed crying to myself.

“Abby what’s wrong?”My mom asked as she sat

down beside me and brushed the hair out of my

face. “I told him and he got mad at me. Not that I

can blame him but he yelled at me and then he just

left saying he needed time to wrap his head around

everything.”I whispered willing my voice not to

crack. “Oh Abby.”My mom said “You did the right

thing and I’m sure he’ll come around he just needs

some time. That’s a lot to take in and he didn’t

have nine months to prepare for it like you.” “But

whose fault is that.”I snapped as I turned away

from her. “You can’t beat yourself up over this

Abigail. You did what was best for you at the time

and honestly I think if you have to do it over you

would do that exact same thing. You have a chance

to make it up now and you need to make the best

out of the situation.”My mom said running her

fingers through my hair. I knew she was right but it

didn’t make it any less of a fact that I just wanted

to crawl in a hole and die right now. “Listen, I’m

going to take Brayden out for the day to give you

some time to calm down and figure out what you

want to do alright?”My mom said getting up off the

bed. I just nodded and waited for her to leave me

alone to my thoughts.             The next couple

days I walked around like a zombie trying to figure

out a way to make everything up to Justin. Despite

everything that happened my mom was right

Brayden still needed his dad. It killed me to think

that Justin could just walk away and not look back,

but after the other night I wasn’t sure I was going to

hear from him again. J.C. and my mom both told

me to give him time but I wasn’t sure that was

going to work. It had been three days and I still

had not heard a word from Justin and as time went

on I started to get more and more worried and I

started to distance myself further from the people I

loved most. Brayden even noticed something was

wrong even though I tried to put all of the energy I

had into making him think that everything was

okay. He calmed down a lot which was saying

something for him because he was never really a

hyper child. He would just kind of follow me around

and curl up into my lap. I can’t say that I minded,

but it killed me to know that my mood was affecting

him so much. Part of me knew I should just let it go

and not worry about it. Brayden knew nothing that

had happened and if he never got to meet Justin as

his dad then he wouldn’t notice the difference, but

the thing was I was. I would know and it would kill

me.             “Mom.” Justin sighed as his mom

walked into his house and he ran to hug her. “Hey

sweetheart how’ve you been?”Lynn asked pulling

away and saw how weary and ragged Justin looked.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”Lynn asked

leading Justin into the living room “Why did you

insist that I fly out here so quickly?”Lynn asked

sitting down. Justin sighed and rested his head in

his hands not sure where to start. Lynn started to

get worried as she watched her oldest son fall apart

in front of her. This was not like him and she had

no idea what could have possibly happened to

make him act like this. Finally Justin looked up at

her with tears streaming down his face. “Justin, talk

to me.”Lynn prodded as she took his hand into

hers. Justin wasn’t sure where he should start so he

figured the beginning would be the best place.

“Mom, do you remember Abigail from when I was

on the Mickey Mouse Club?” Justin asked wiping

tears off his face. “Uh…yeah.”Lynn said confused

not being able to fathom how any of this could have

anything to do with Abigail. “Okay well you know

how she just disappeared and no one knew where

she went?”He asked again. “Right. So what does

any of this have to do with her?”Lynn asked still

confused. “Hold on I’m getting there.”Justin sighed

“Okay so a couple weeks ago we had new neighbors

move in and it took J.C. and I awhile but we finally

realized that the girl was Abigail or Abby.”Justin

said. “Okay so she’s back? What’d she do to

you?”Lynn asked all of a sudden getting protective.

“Okay, so she was acting all shy at first because

she didn’t want J.C. or I to recognize her but we

 finally figured it out and then after figuring it she

felt the need to tell me the truth about some

things.”Justin sighed stopping again trying to regain

his composure. “And?”Lynn anxiously asked. “And

she introduced me to her four year old son.”Justin

whispered without looking at his mom. “So she

cheated on you?”Lynn asked her voice filled with

hope and a hint of confusion. “No mom.”Justin

voice cracked and he stopped as Lynn just looked

at him expectantly. “I don’t know what to do.”Justin

cried falling into Lynn. Lynn wrapped her arms

around Justin and just held him speechless. Finally

Lynn was the one to break the silence “Did she

come here looking for you?”Lynn asked very tight

lipped. “No mom she didn’t even know we were here

and when she realized we were she tried everything

in her power to avoid us, but when she realized she

couldn’t she felt she had no other choice but to tell

me what happened.”Justin sighed sitting up to look

at Lynn. Lynn sighed “Justin I love you more than

anything and you know that and I will always be

here for you no matter what and I can’t imagine

having a child that I didn’t get to see and interact

with.”Lynn started “I know that this all has to be

really hard on you, and I can understand any

resentment you might have towards Abigail, but you

cannot punish your son for this.”Lynn said her

voicing cracking when she said ‘your son’. “I know..

I just don’t know what to do I’ve missed the past

four years of his life.”Justin said. “Once again you

 can’t blame him for that. Does he even know

you’re his dad?”Lynn questioned. “No.”Justin sighed

“And last time I saw him I was fighting with Abby

 and I think I kinda scared him.” “You can’t expect

to be perfect overnight.”Lynn sighed “How about we

go to dinner and we’ll figure out what to do.” Lynn

said getting up. “Sure.”Justin agreed getting up and

following her to the door.

I was laying on the couch watching a movie with

Brayden laying in my arms sleeping peacefully when

there was a knock at the door. I sighed as I tried to

get up without waking up Brayden.  I opened the

door and froze when I saw Justin standing there

before me looking very timid and shy staring at the

ground. “Can we talk?”Justin almost whispered as

he finally looked up at me. “Uh…Yeah. Let me take

Brayden up to bed first.”I said as I stepped aside

letting him in and making my way back into the

living room. “Would it be okay if I took him

up?”Justin asked looking at me uneasily. “Sure.”I

said as I let Justin pick up Brayden and let him

upstairs to Brayden’s room. Justin laid Brayden

down and tucked him in and started to walk away.

“Uh…he needs his Elmo.”I said as I pointed to the

stuffed animal sitting across the room. Justin just

nodded as he grabbed it and placed it beside

Brayden on his bed. “And you have to turn his night

light on.”I said pointing to it. Justin did so then

quietly followed me out of the room and back

downstairs.             “So?” I said as I sat on the

opposite end of the couch from Justin. “Look this all

was really shocking for me and I can’t say that I’m

not still upset with you for running and hiding

because I am, but at the same time I can’t walk

away knowing he’s my son. I want to be in his life

and I want him to know who I am, but as for you

and I, I can’t trust you at this point and it’s going to

be hard for me to get past the fact that you felt you

couldn’t come to me with all of this when you first

found out.”Justin said as he fidgeted with his hands

and finally looked up at me. “I understand

completely. It was a really hard decision for me to

make when I did it and every day since I’ve

questioned whether I did the right thing or not.

Regardless I knew that when I ran into you again

that there was no way of keeping my secret

anymore and that I had to tell you the truth. I’m

glad you know and I’m glad that Brayden will get to

know his dad. As for us I completely understand, I

wish things hadn’t ended with us the way they had

when it did, and I wish things were different now.

Maybe one day we can move past all of this, but

until we do the only thing I ask is regardless of your

hatred toward me you cannot let it show around

Brayden.”I said begging Justin as I looked up at

him. “Oh Abs I don’t hate you.”Justin sighed as he

scooted over closing the distance between us and

pulling me into his embrace “I just don’t know what

I’m supposed to do. I can’t be with someone I don’t

trust. I mean you finally told me the truth, but what

if you’re hiding other things from me?”Justin said. I

looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. “I

can promise you that I’m not hiding anything else

from you…but I completely understand why you’re

apprehensive about me and the whole situation.”I

said looking back down. “Hey.”Justin said as he

lifted my chin to meet his gaze “Don’t beat yourself

up. You did what you thought you had to and even

though I don’t understand it I’m sure you had your

reasons for it.”He said as I just nodded. “Will you

come over tomorrow after breakfast and we’ll both

sit down and talk to him?”I asked. “Yeah that

sounds like a good idea, but I better go now.”Justin

said as he started to get up from the couch. “Yeah I

suppose.”I sighed as I walked him to the door.

The next morning I woke up earlier than normal

and couldn’t sit still. I cleaned the whole house

before Brayden was even up, and when he finally

got up I was happy to busy myself in making his

breakfast. Brayden sat at the kitchen table and

watched in amusement as I ran around the kitchen

cooking him any and everything he could possibly

ask for. Brayden giggled and I finally stopped and

turned to look at him. “What?”I asked exasperated.

“What are you doing?”Brayden giggled. “I’m

cooking you breakfast silly boy.”I said as I flipped

the pancakes over. “Momma I just wanted some

cereal.”Brayden giggled as I continued to cook. “Oh

you can eat a hot meal every once in a while.”I said

dismissing his comment as I continued to cook. I

set a plate down in front of Brayden with two eggs,

hash browns, toast, a couple pieces of sausage,

some bacon, and some pancakes on it. Brayden

just looked up at me with wide eyes “Am I

supposed to eat ALL that?”Brayden asked as I

finally realized how much food I just gave him.

“No.”I laughed as there was a knock on the door. I

ran to get the door and was relieved to see Justin

standing there but also felt the tension rise to my

shoulders at the thought of what I had to do. “You

want some breakfast? I kinda went a little

overboard this morning.”I said as we walked into

the kitchen. “I’d say you did.”Justin laughed as he

looked at the mound of food on Brayden’s plate

and then looked at the all the food that was still on

the stove. “Sure.”He laughed as he sat down across

from Brayden. I gave Justin a plate that was just as

big as Brayden’s and I sat down between them and

watched them eat. “Momma I’m full.”Brayden said

even though it looked like his food hadn’t even

been touched. I laughed as I took his plate away

and sat back down as Brayden went to get up and

go into the other room. “Brayden will you wait a

second Mommy and Justin want to talk to you.”I

said as I grabbed his arm. “K.”Brayden said looking

up at me with his big baby blue eyes. I smiled as I

pulled him onto my lap. “Okay Brayden do you

remember how you asked me who your daddy was

and I told you not to worry about it because he

wasn’t around?”I asked trying to make this as easy

as possible on Brayden. “Yeah, I wondered who it

was after Jamie, who used to live next door to us,

had a mommy and a daddy, but then I got to

thinking about it and I thought it didn’t matter who

my dad was because I have the bestest mommy in

the world.’’ Brayden said reasoning with himself in

his head. Tears welled up in my eyes as I heard his

explanation and I smiled at him as I pulled him

closer and gave him a kiss. “Thanks baby.”I said

“But what if you did have a daddy?”I asked. “Well I

guess that’d be okay, but he’d have to be pretty

awesome to be as cool as you.”Brayden exclaimed

as Justin and I laughed. “Would you like to meet

you daddy?”I asked as Brayden looked up

confused. “I guess. Where’s he at?”Brayden asked.

I smiled “What if I told you that your daddy was

Justin.”I said as I pointed to Justin. Brayden looked

at Justin then looked at me confused then back to

Justin. “Justin?”Brayden asked. “Mmhmm.”I smiled

down at him. “But I thought you said that you didn’t

know how to get ahold of him when I told you that I

wanted to meet Nsync.”Brayden accused giving me

an agitated look. I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Honey its complicated Momma knew Justin a long

time ago, but I left him before you were born, and

when we moved down here it was true I didn’t know

how to get ahold of him. I never dreamt in a million

years that he would live next door to us, but since

he does I thought that everyone should know that

he’s your dad.”I said trying to make Brayden

understand. I looked at Justin who had been

surprisingly silent this whole time and he said

“Brayden look here, I know you love your momma

and I can see why, but most kids have a mom and

a dad and I think you’ll really like having both if

you give me a chance.”Justin said.

“Whatever.”Brayden shrugged as Justin and I

exchanged a glance and just kinda laughed. “Can I

go watch TV now?”Brayden asked looking up at me.

I laughed “Yeah. Have fun.”I said as I kissed him

and watched him run into the other room. “Well that

was easy.”Justin said. “He’s four Justin, everything’s

easy with him.”I said as I started to clean up the

kitchen. “I guess.”Justin said. “Why don’t you stick

around today and spend some time with him?”I

suggested as I started doing the dishes. “Uh Yeah…

Actually my mom’s in town so I was wondering if it

was okay if I maybe took him out so my mom could

meet him?”Justin asked almost sheepishly. “Oh

your mom’s here.” I said “Uh…yeah he should get

to know his Grandmother.”I said as I gave Justin a

weak smile. “I won’t have him out to late I’ll bring

him back right after dinner if that’s okay.” Justin

said. “Sure. Brayden come here for a minute.”I

yelled into the other room as I dried my hands on

the dish towel. “What Momma?”Brayden asked

grinning at me. “Do you want to go out with daddy

today and meet your other Grandma?”I asked

kneeling down to meet him at eye level. “Are you

coming to?”Brayden asked hopeful. “No baby,

momma has some stuff she has to do. You and

daddy will have fun though.”I said running my hand

through his hair. “But, I want you to come.”Brayden

whined. “Baby I can’t you’ll have fun I promise.”I

soothed “Now run upstairs and find your shoes and

come back down.”I said as Brayden nodded and ran

up the stairs. “Justin he’s a good kid he’ll listen to

anything you say, but if he’s kinda distance don’t

take it personally. He’s never spent any significant

amount of time away from me, and if he was then

he was with my mom.”I sighed. “I know you’re

 worried about this, but I’m not going

anywhere.”Justin said getting up. “Fine, but don’t

tell me that, convince him of that.”I said turning

away from his as Brayden came back into the room.

“You ready?”Justin asked walking to him. “I

guess.”Brayden said running over to me and

hugging me. I smiled as I picked him up and

hugged him back. “I love you, be good today

okay?” I asked pulling back a little to look at him.

Brayden nodded as he kissed me and said “I love

you too.” I smiled as I set him back on the floor

and watched as he and Justin walked out of the

house together.

I sighed as l fell onto the couch full of more

emotions than I could comprehend at once. I’m

glad that Justin finally accepted the fact that he has

a son and is willing to try and have a relationship

with him, but Brayden has always been so sheltered

I’m worried about how he’s going to react to the

whole situation. Granted that’s my fault. Ever since I

found out I was pregnant my whole life has been

about Brayden and I have always done everything I

could to protect him and keep him away from other

people. It’s time he branches out some and who

better to do that with than his dad. This will

ultimately be a good thing for him, but what about

me? I mean sure I’ve thought of Justin since I left

five years ago. How could I not? He’s the father of

my son, but I thought I’d moved on a long time

ago. I never dreamt in a million years that when I

moved back here that I would run into him again,

and if I did I definitely didn’t think that I would start

to have feelings for him again. I never thought that

I could fall for someone in such a short amount of

time. I didn’t really though, I don’t think I ever

really got over him and seeing him again just

brought back all of those memories and feelings.

God, if anyone could hear me now they would think

I was crazy holding onto a crush I had when I was

thirteen years old, but this is different. I can’t

explain it but it is. I mean we left a lot of things

unresolved and yeah we’ve missed the past five

years of each other’s lives, but neither of us had

really changed, and no matter what we would always

have a common bond in Brayden.              I was

brought back to reality when the doorbell rang. I

sighed as I got up and made my way over to the

door. I opened the door to see J.C. standing there

smiling at me. “Hey you wanna go grab some lunch

or something?”J.C. asked. “Uh…yeah I guess.”I

said as I grabbed my purse and stepped out the

door. After we ordered our food J.C. finally spoke up

“So Justin finally came around huh?” “Yes and no.”I

said smiling weakly. “What do you mean I thought

him and his mom took Brayden out today?”J.C.

asked confused. “Oh they did, and he warmed up to

the idea of Brayden, but he said he doesn’t think

he can trust me and he doesn’t know where that

leaves us.”I said playing with my napkin. “Oh.”J.C.

said “Well I’m sure he’ll come around just give him

some time.” “I don’t know. I mean if the situation

was reversed I don’t know that I could forget that

someone hid my son from me for four years of his

life.”I said. “Well I would be a little freaked out if

the situation were reversed and Justin had given to

labor to a kid.”J.C. said grinning at me which made

me giggle a little. “You know what I mean.”I said

kicking him under the table. J.C. just laughed

“Seriously though I know him and he can’t stay mad

for long.” “I’m not really worried about that…”I said

letting my sentence trail off. “Then what?”J.C.

asked confused “Oh…OH! You still have feelings for

him?”J.C. asked. “I don’t know. Yes. No. I

shouldn’t.”I sighed not being able to make eye

contact with him. “It’s understandable.”J.C. said

reaching over and picking up my hand. I looked up

and smiled at him “Thanks.” “No problem.”J.C.

grinned as our food came.

I was sitting watching TV thinking to myself when

Brayden came bursting through the door followed by

Justin. “Momma!”Brayden exclaimed running over

to me. I smiled as I picked him up and hugged him

“Hey baby! Did you have fun?”I asked. “Yeah! We

went to the park, and we got ice cream and then

Grandma Lynn said we could go get pizza for dinner

and we did and guess what?!”Brayden said hurriedly

and excitedly. “What?”I asked. “Daddy sang for

me!”Brayden said giggling. “He did! Well it sounds

like you had a fun day.”I smiled. “Yeah ‘cept it

would have been better if you were there.”Brayden

said as I smiled at him. “Aww I’m sorry, why don’t

you go into the kitchen there’s some fresh cookies

in there.”I said as Brayden’s eyes widened and he

jumped out of my arms and ran toward the kitchen.

“So he seems to like you.”I smiled towards Justin.

“Yeah we had fun today.”Justin said. “Good.” I said

smiling “You know you’re always welcome here or

whatever he’s your son and he’s already getting

attached to you.”I said sighing. “I know thank you,

trust me I’m not going anywhere I will be around for

him.”Justin said “but I should go back to my mom.”

“Yeah.” I sighed “You should tell him bye first.”

Justin nodded as he walked into the kitchen to see

Brayden.             After Justin left and I got Brayden

to bed I laid in bed trying to figure everything out.

Well I’m no longer worried about Brayden getting

along with Justin. Ever since he got home earlier he

couldn’t talk about anything else besides how cool

his dad was and how much fun he had with his dad

earlier. It was a good thing and it made me smile

at the bond they were quickly forming, but it also

made me sad because we should be a family. It

should be the three of us spending the day at the

park and getting ice cream. Sigh. I don’t know what

to do. I mean there’s nothing I can do I can’t take

Brayden away from Justin now. I just want to be a

part of it. I mean I still have my time with Brayden

and everything will be fine there, but as the days

drag on I find myself yearning for Justin more and

more. Why did I have to leave, if I had never left

then Justin would be able to trust me right now, but

would we be here today if I hadn’t left? Why are

there so many what ifs in life? Why can’t things just

be simple for once and go my way?              Justin

sighed as he walked back into his house and fell

onto the couch beside his mom. “What’s going on

in that pretty little head of yours?”Lynn asked

patting Justin on the leg. “I don’t know mom. Every

time I look at Abby I have so many mixed

emotions I don’t know what to do.” “What do you

mean?” Lynn asked sitting up to look at Justin. “I

want to be mad at her, I mean I am mad at her

what she did was irresponsible, but I can’t help to

think about how great she looks and how much I

just want to forget my anger and kiss her.”Justin

said as Lynn smirked at him. “Honey, you may

think what she did was irresponsible, but maybe you

should look at it from her point of view. She was

thirteen and scared and wanted to protect her baby,

she probably thought what she was doing was the

responsible thing to do at the time.”Lynn said. “I

don’t know I mean I don’t know how long I can do

this. I want to be around for Brayden, but every

time we are in the same place I always feel the

need to get out as soon as possible before I either

yell at her or kiss her.”Justin said as Lynn just

smiled at her. “This isn’t funny!”Justin exclaimed

noting the smile on his mom’s face. “I know, but I

think you know in your heart what you need to do,

and I think you’re just being stubborn. But I’m

going to bed.”Lynn smirked as she got up and

 walked away leaving Justin trying to decipher what s

he just said.            The next morning I had just

given Brayden his breakfast when there was a knock

on the back door and Brayden exclaimed “Grandma

Lynn.” As he jumped up and went to let her in. I

took a deep breath and slowly turned around trying

to prepare myself for whatever she could possibly

be here to say. “Hey Brayden!”Lynn smiled. “Can we

talk?”Lynn asked looking up at me. I nodded

“Brayden sit down and eat your breakfast we’ll be

right back.”I said as I motioned to the patio and

followed her out the door shutting it behind me.

“Abigail, Abby whatever you go by now…”Lynn

started. “Abby.”I smiled weakly sitting down next to

her. Lynn smiled at me “Abby, I want you to know

that I have always liked you. I was hurt and

confused when you left too, mostly because I saw

how much it tore up my son.”Lynn started as I

looked at the ground. “Please look at me.”Lynn

said as I slowly brought my head up to look at her.

“Despite what you might think I am not mad at

you.”Lynn said as I looked at her confused but let

her continue. “You had your reasons for what you

did and as a mother I can respect that. You owned

up to it and that takes a great deal of strength and

courage. All the guys have commented on what a

wonderful mom you are and all day yesterday all

Brayden did was go on about how great his mom

is.”Lynn said as I smiled. “He really is a great kid. I

guess I lucked out there.”I said. “Luck has nothing

to do with it. You’re a good mom, I can see that

and I haven’t spent any amount of time with the

two of you.”Lynn said smiling. “Thanks.”I said

smiling at her. “Anyway I just wanted to let you

know that there are no hard feelings between us

and I would like to get to know you as well as

Brayden, and also I can see how much you are tore

up right now and my guess is that that has a lot to

do with my son, but I want you to know regardless

of his stubbornness he will come around

eventually.”Lynn said reassuringly. “I’m not so sure

of that, and besides I can’t really ask much more of

him than for him to be a dad to Brayden.”I said

sighing. Lynn grinned and said “I know my son

pretty well and regardless of what you think he will

 come around I promise.” “That’s what everyone

keeps telling me.”I said as Brayden came out and

announced that he was finished eating. “We’re

having a cookout later today would you like to

come?”Lynn asked. “Yeah! Can I mom?”Brayden

asked getting excited. “Of course sweetheart.”I said

smiling at him. “Oh you’re invited too.”Lynn said

 looking at me. “I’m not so sure that’s a good

idea..”I said as Lynn cut me off “Nonsense I’m

inviting, I want you to come, and I expect you to be

there.”Lynn said lightly as she got up and walked

back across the yard before I could protest further.

Brayden couldn’t stop talking about the cookout all

day, so as soon as he saw the guys come outside

he yelled into the house “Momma they’re there lets

go.” And was across the yard before I could stop

him. I shook my head as I followed him to find

Justin swinging him around in circles making

Brayden giggle. I smiled “I’m sorry guys he’s been

so excited all day that he’s been waiting on the

patio for you guys to come outside.”I said. “Don’t

worry about it you guys are welcome here whenever

you want.”J.C. said. “Thanks.”I said smiling at him.

“Well since you’re here you might as well stick

around.”Lance said as he caught the football Chris

threw at him. “I guess.”I sighed as Lynn walked out

into the yard. “Abby hey! Glad you could make

it.”Lynn said grinning at me. “Well I didn’t really

have a choice did I?”I said glaring at her making

her laugh. “Momma daddy and I are going to play

 catch come play with us!”Brayden exclaimed

running over to me. “Uh… Why don’t you play with

daddy and I’ll come over in a little bit.”I said

glancing up at Justin. “Okay.”Brayden said not

fazed by my hesitation. “Things still tense between

you two?”J.C. asked sitting down beside me. “Yeah,

I mean I know how I feel, but all I know about him

is that he said he was upset over the situation and

he didn’t know how long it would take him to get

over it.”I said quietly making sure Justin wasn’t

listening. “I really wouldn’t worry about it he’s

beating himself up over it.”J.C. said as I looked at

him in disbelief. “I find that really hard to believe.”I

said as Lynn jumped in “It’s true, he’s just

stubborn.”Lynn almost sang as she flitted by. I

shook my head as the conversation drifted to a

lighter subject.             A little bit later after the

guys had calmed down some and decided it was

time to start the food Chris exclaimed that the

steak and burgers were done. I reluctantly got up

and walked over to where everyone else was

standing. “Brayden what do you want?”I asked

turning around to see that Justin was already

getting his plate. “I got it.”Justin said. I just nodded

as I quickly turned around trying to find something

to busy myself with. “Here.”J.C. chuckled as he

handed me a plate. I smiled in thanks and turned

back around to get my food. By then time I was

done getting my food the only place left to sit was

beside Justin, and J.C. and Lynn just sat there

grinning at me. I swear if looks could kill they’d

both be dead right now. I sighed as I sat down and

tried to focus on my food and not Justin. He

seemed to be avoiding me too, but I wasn’t sure if

I was glad for it or more disappointed. I finished

eating and impatiently waited for someone else to

finish also so I had an excuse to get up. Finally

after what seemed like forever Lynn finished and

got up and started to clean up. I immediately

 jumped up and offered to help her. “Sure.”Lynn

smiled as we started to carry things into the house.

Just then Lynn’s phone started ringing. “Oh I have

to take this.” Lynn said “Justin will you come in here

and help Abby clean up?” Lynn yelled out the door

before disappearing into the other room. Justin

sighed knowing he couldn’t tell his mom no and got

up and slowly walked into the house. “Uh…I don’t

really know where anything goes.”I said not looking

up at him. “Yeah I’ll show you.”Justin said walking

over to me. I turned around from putting the plate

of burgers into the fridge and ran right into Justin’s

chest. “You better watch were you’re going.”Justin

smiled down at me as he caught me. “I …uh…

yeah.”I stuttered staring back up at him. We both

just stood there staring at each other until finally

after what seemed like a million years Justin slowly

brought his head down and captured my lips in a

kiss. I slowly reached up wrapping my arms around

his neck as I gave into him and kissed him back

deepening it. A soft moan escaped Justin’s lip as he

slowly pulled back. We stared at each other for a

minute before everything finally registered.

Suddenly Justin let me go backing away from me. “I

….I can’t….I…uh…gotta go.”Justin stuttered as he

turned around and bolted up the stairs leaving me

standing in the kitchen speechless with tears

forming in my eyes.  

Lynn walked back outside after she finished her

phone call and looked around confused. Justin and

Abby were nowhere to be seen and J.C. was holding

a crying Brayden trying to comfort him.  “What’s

going on? Where’s Justin and Abby?”Lynn

questioned the guys who all stood around looking a

little dumbfounded. “Well Justin kissed Abby and

then he ran off and then she yelled something at

J.C. about watching Brayden and ran home in

tears.”Chris said. “What? Oh I’m going to kill that

boy.”Lynn grumbled as she made her way back

inside to find Justin.             Lynn walked into

Justin’s room to find him lying on his bed a pained

and confused look in his face. “Justin what’d you

do?”Lynn asked as she sat down on the bed beside

him. “I don’t know she bumped into me and she

just look so cute all flustered like that I couldn’t

help myself I wanted to kiss her and so I did, and

then I realized that I’m supposed to be mad at her

so I had to get out of the kitchen before anything

else happened.”Justin sighed looking up at his

mom. “Honey, you don’t have to be mad at her. I

mean if you are that’s okay, but if you aren’t then

you’re not and you shouldn’t try to act like you

because you think you should be.”Lynn said. “I

mean I think I am. I just can’t believe that she

would just leave like she did, but every time I’m

with her I can’t seem to stay mad at her and that

makes me pissed at myself.”Justin groaned as he

pulled a pillow over his face. Lynn smiled

“Sweetheart don’t be upset with yourself because

you can’t stay mad at her, there’s a reason for that.

Why don’t you try talking to her and working

through everything. I think you’ll feel a lot better

about the situation.”Lynn said as Justin peeked at

her from under the pillow. “I don’t know.”Justin

sighed. “I think you will both feel better about the

whole situation if you just put everything aside for a

minute and talk about it.”Lynn said and then got up

and walked out of the room leaving Justin to his

thoughts.             Justin knew his mom was right,

but that didn’t mean he wanted to listen to her.

 Finally Justin sighed and got up to go back

downstairs. Justin walked back outside and saw

Chris playing football with Brayden and Abby was

nowhere to be seen. “Hey guys where’d Abby

go?”Justin asked sheepishly. “She went home.”J.C.

said dryly giving Justin a disapproving look that he

ignored. “Hey Brayden let’s go see momma.”Justin

said calling Brayden over. “Okay but I don’t think

she’s in a good mood.”Brayden said running over to

Justin. “Yeah I know.”Justin sighed as he and

Brayden started to walk across the yard. Brayden

led Justin into the house and into the living room to

find it empty. “Will you take me up to her

room?”Justin asked feeling stupid asking his four

year old son for help, but Brayden just shrugged

and started up the stairs with Justin following closely

 behind him. Brayden just pointed to the door and

then said “I’m gonna go play in my room if that’s

okay?” “Yeah, that’s fine.”Justin smiled at him as

he trotted back down the hall then knocked lightly

on the door in front of him.             “Mom I don’t

want to talk about it for the last time.”I yelled and

buried my face deeper into the covers. “It’s not your

mom, it’s me.”Justin timidly said as he cracked the

door and peeked in. “What do you want?”I

mumbled refusing to look at him and let him know

how much him walking away from me after that kiss

affected me. “Can we talk?”Justin asked slowly

making his way into the room. “You’re going to stick

around long enough to talk?”I mumbled

sarcastically still not looking up at him. I suddenly

felt the bed shift under Justin’s weight as he sat

down beside me. “I deserved that” Justin sighed

 “but seriously can we talk for a minute.”Justin

asked placing his hand on my back. “Fine.”I sighed

as I sat up to look at him. Justin brought his thumb

up and wiped the few remaining tears off my face

and pulled me into him chest hugging me. I sighed

as I breathed in his scent and finally relented and

let him hold me as I clung to him. “I’m sorry. I’m

so sorry.”Justin mumbled into my hair as he rocked

me back and forth. “I just don’t understand why.”I

said looking up at him fighting back tears. “I’ve just

been really confused and I think I thought I should

be mad about you for leaving but I couldn’t actually

bring myself to be mad at you and so every time I

was around you all I wanted to do was be with you

and I scolded myself for it.”Justin sighed as I just

looked at him willing him to continue. “I wanted to

kiss you. Every time we get close I want to kiss you,

but I felt like you owed me something and I didn’t

want to give in to you, but the fact is I can’t stay

away from you and I’m not mad at you.”Justin

sighed wiping the tears off my cheeks that spilled

out of my eyes. “So you don’t hate me?”I asked

looking down not able to meet his eyes. Justin

chuckled and put his finger under my chin to lift my

head until I was looking up at him. “I could never

hate you Abigail.”Justin smiled as he leaned down

and placed a soft simple kiss on my lips. He pulled

away and grinned at me and I slowly let a smile

spread across my face. “So what’s this mean?”I

shyly asked. Justin just grinned at me and said

“Well every time I see you I want to do this.”Justin

said as he leaned in and kissed me again this time

a little longer and slower. Finally he slowly pulled

away and finished “So I think that we should try this

out and see how things go.”Justin said searching

my eyes for an inclination of my thoughts. “Are you

sure?”I asked my voice raspy. This is what I had

wanted for the past five years since I left and now

he was sitting here telling me he wanted it too. It

was all too good to be true. “I’m positive.”Justin

whispered capturing my lips with his again. I

wrapped my arms up around Justin’s neck allowing

myself to get lost in the kiss and savor every

second of it. Justin started to pull away and I

reluctantly followed staring up into his eyes. Justin

smiled “Why don’t we put Brayden to bed and then

continue this?”Justin suggested as he stood up and

offered me his hand to help me up. I smiled at him

and nodded as we walked out of the room hand in

hand.

Brayden was thrilled that Justin was there to tuck

him in and made Justin read him three different

stories before I finally told him he had to go to bed.

However, when we finally got Brayden to bed and

were back in my room Justin just grinned at me

evilly. “What?”I asked giving him a strange look.

“Let’s continue where we left off.”Justin grinned as

he came over and lightly pushed me back onto the

bed than sat down beside me and quickly crashed

his lips onto mine. I moaned into Justin’s mouth as

I slightly opened mine letting him slide his tongue

in. As the kiss deepened Justin ran his hand up my

leg and started to slightly rub my thigh driving me

insane. I shifted slightly so my leg was in between

both of Justin’s and slightly gasped feeling how

excited he was. Justin moved his hand u and slid

under my shirt and up as he started to slowly

massage my breast. I pulled away from the kiss

and Justin didn’t miss a beat as his lips quickly

found my neck and he started to slowly kiss and nip

at it. “Justin wait.”I whispered as I pushed him away

slightly. Justin sat up and looked at me confused.

“What’s wrong?” “I…well I haven’t done this in a

while…well since we…..”I let my voice trail off as I

fidgeted with my hands refusing to meet Justin’s

gaze. “Since we?....OH!”Justin said his eyes

widening in realization. “I’m sorry…it’s just that I

didn’t really have time…and I didn’t really want to…

and..”I mumbled as Justin forced me to look at him

and smiled at me. Justin leaned in and lightly

kissed me then said “Abby don’t worry about it. I

understand. We don’t have to do this if you don’t

want to.”Justin said brushing my hair behind my

ear. “No…I want to…I just..”I started as Justin cut

me off. “Okay slow.”Justin grinned at me causing

me to smile back at him. Justin leaned down and

started to kiss me again this time however cupping

my face with his hand instead of my breast. I clung

to Justin’s shirt wanting to be close to him but

scared of being too close to him too fast. This was

all so surreal and I wasn’t sure what to think. I’d

been dreaming of this forever. Having him there

wanting me needing me like that, but I didn’t

actually think I would ever get to experience these

feelings again. I sighed needed to be closer to him

and I tugged at his shirt willing him to take it off.

Justin chuckled “I thought we were going slow.”He

smirked at me. “We are.”I said still tugging at his

shirt. Justin just laughed as he pulled it over his

head letting me lead him and went back to kissing

me as I ran my hands up and down his chest and

over his chiseled abs. I moaned feeling his rock

hard body beneath my hands and I wrapped my

arms around his neck pulling him closer to me

deepening our kiss. I pulled away just long enough

to slip my shirt over my head and Justin started to

kiss down my neck moving slowly until he reached

my collarbone. When he got that far he looked up

at me to see if he was moving too fast or not, but

when I just smiled at him he continued to kiss down

my collarbone and he reached into my bra and

cupped my breast. I moaned slightly leaning into

him and Justin took that as the okay to remove my

bra. He quickly reached behind me and undid and I

slid it off throwing it carelessly to the floor wanting

to feel Justin close to me. Justin took my nipple

into his mouth and started to slowly suck on it and

roll his tongue around the tip of it as I threw my

head back and moaned in pleasure. Justin grinned

as he moved to the other one and did the same

thing as I ran my hands up over his shoulders and

down his back. When Justin was satisfied with what

he’d done he moved back up and started to kiss

me again. I gladly responded needing to feel that

closeness to him and ran my nails up and down his

sides making him shiver. Justin slid his hand over

my shoulder, down over the hump of my breast, all

the way down my stomach and stopped when he got

to the hem of my jeans and broke our kiss to look

at me asking permission to remove them. I

hesitated for a moment but then nodded and Justin

wasted no time in undoing my jeans. He quickly

stood up and slid them down my legs then undid

his and let them fall to the floor before crawling

back up the bed to me. “Stop me at anytime.”Justin

whispered in my ear as he placed little kisses on it

and ran his hand all the way up my thigh. I gasped

slightly when Justin’s fingers found their way to the

hem of my panties and inside but let him continue

as I placed little kisses on Justin’s neck and

shoulder. Justin started to slowly rub my clit making

me squirm beneath him in shock and pleasure. I

threw my head back and moaned as I thrust my

hips towards Justin’s had making him chuckle. “Slow

baby girl.”Justin whispered removing his hand from

my throbbing center and gently caressing my face.

“I’m sorry.”I said as I smiled at him sheepishly

making him grin even further. “No problem.” Justin

said as removed my panties in one swift motion.

Justin slid down my body and spread my legs

further apart so his head was in between them. He

grinned up at me before quickly dipping his head

down and tasting my throbbing center. I gasped at

the sensations Justin’s tongue was sending through

my whole body. Justin reached up with his hand and

started to gently massage my clit again as he

plunged his tongue into the depths on my folds. I

began to pant slowly moving against Justin and he

pulled away and sat next to me. “Why’d you stop?”I

pouted as Justin laughed at me. “All in good time.

We’re nowhere near done.”Justin smiled as he

pulled his boxers down letting his erect member

stand free. I grinned at him as I wrapped my hand

around him and started to pump my fist up and

down along his length. Justin moaned as he leaned

over and captured my lips in an intense kiss. I

giggled as I pulled away and ran my thumb over

the tip of Justin’s cock wiping off the pre-cum that

had formed. I brought my hand to my mouth and

licked the cum off of my thumb tasting Justin.

Justin groaned as he moved in between my legs

and positioned himself over top of me. I felt

Justin’s rock hard member pressing against my

entrance and the heat radiating off his body and

couldn’t imagine a better feeling in the world. “You

ready?”Justin whispered his voice raspy. I nodded

slightly wanted to feel as close to him as possible.

Justin slowly pushed himself into me and I gasped

as his throbbing erection slowly filled me up. Justin

groaned my walls tightened around him and he

quickly pushed himself the rest of the way in

causing me to gasp in pain. Justin’s eyes widened

as he stopped “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t

 thinking.”Justin said brushing the hair out of my

face and placing little kisses all over my face and

neck. I laid there perfectly still not breathing for

what seemed like forever willing the pain away until

it finally started to subside. I let out a breath and

the tensed look on Justin’s face lessened some.

“Do you want to stop?”Justin asked looking into my

eyes with nothing but concern. “No it’s okay.”I

sighed as I gave him a weak smile. Justin nodded

as he slowly pulled out of me then slowly filled me

completely up again. Even though the mass of his

cock hurt inside me the pleasure that was coursing

through my body was the only thing I could focus

on. Justin started to slowly speed up as he thrust

himself in and out of me. I moaned wanting to be

closer to him and I lifted my hips to meet his every

thrust. Justin smiled down at me as I matched his

 rhythm and dug my nails into his back clinging

onto him. Justin bent his head down and stole a

kiss as he moved his hand to my lower back

holding me up as I thrust with him. I pulled away

from the kiss and threw my head back as waves of

pleasure started to wash through my body. I

moaned as Justin rocked me back and forth with

each thrust sending me into a deeper sensation

than before. Justin grunted as he sped up smacking

my hips against his. “Justin.”I groaned as I went

over the edge and my body shook with my orgasm.

As my walls tightened against Justin’s hard member

he let out one more groan before going over the

edge himself and shooting his hot load into me.

Justin sighed as he collapsed on top of me trying to

catch his breath. I smiled as I reached up and ran

my fingers through his silky curls. Justin groaned as

he rolled off of me slowly pulling out of me in the

process. I curled up into Justin’s arms and he

wrapped the covers around us and kissed my ear.

“Goodnight Abby.” “Goodnight Justin.”I whispered

back as I snuggled closer to him and closed my

eyes.

The next morning I woke up earlier than I normally

would have and just laid in bed watching Justin

sleep smiling to myself. I had waited so long for

things to be like this. I had dreamt of Justin being

Brayden’s dad and there for me, with me, ever since

I found out I was pregnant. Ever since I moved

back down here and found out he was my neighbor

I’d been so stressed out that I had trouble focusing

on everyday things, but it seems like now after one

night it all went away and everything was falling into

place the way it should be. Of course that made me

have my doubts too. It was one good night, but did

that mean that everything was magically better?

God, I hope so, for my sake, and for Brayden’s.

Brayden’s becoming attached to Justin quickly and

although I’m glad for it, I really hope Justin meant

it when he said he was planning on sticking around.

I sighed as I looked at the clock. I better get up

before Brayden does and comes barging in finding

Justin and I here together. I smile at the thought of

that as I slowly creep out of bed and put on some

clothes. I give Justin one more glance before

sneaking out of the room to let him sleep. I

bounced downstairs humming to myself as I made

my way into the kitchen to see my mom sitting at

the table reading the paper an amused smirk on

her face. “Well you seem to be in a better

mood?”My mom questions as I sit down beside her.

I just grin not being able to hide it. “Justin and I

talked last night and I think everything’s okay with

us now.”I beamed up at her as she set her paper

down giving me her full attention. “Oh really?”She

questions still smirking at me. “Yes.”I roll my eyes

at her. “I told you he’d come around.”My mom

laughed as she got up and put her coffee cup in the

sink. “Yeah…Yeah…You and everyone else…”I

sighed as Brayden came into the kitchen. “Morning

sweetheart.”I said as I kissed his head and got up

to get his breakfast. “Morning Momma. Can I have

some cereal?”Brayden asked looking up at me.

“Sure.”I smile at him as I went to get his cereal

ignoring the ‘I told you so’ looks from my mom.

Just then Justin groggily makes his way into the

kitchen with a half grin on his face too, as my mom

just turns to me with raised eyebrows and an ever

bigger smirk on her face. “Dad!”Brayden exclaims

momentarily forgetting his cereal and jumping up to

greet Justin. “Hey.”Justin smiles as he picks

Brayden up and spins him around. I smile at the

two of them before interrupting. “Would you like

something to eat Justin? Brayden just wanted

cereal, but I can make you something if you’d

like.”I said as Justin sat Brayden down in his chair.

“Cereal’s fine.”Justin grins as he sits down beside

Brayden and I nod. “Well I’m off to work.”My mom

calls to me still smiling as she floats out of the

room and I shake my head at her. “You’re really

lucky that your mom works so you can stay home

with Brayden all the time.”Justin noted as I handed

him his cereal and sat down with my two boys. “Oh

yeah I guess.”I said dismissing his statement “She

really just works because she wants to. My dad left

us a great deal of money when he died.”I shrugged

as Justin looked up at me. “Oh? I mean I knew he

died when you were younger, but your mom has

always worked so I didn’t realize..”Justin started

before I cut him off. “Yeah, she just gets bored

easily.”I laughed. “She didn’t really work while we

were in Washington. She stayed home with Brayden

so I could finish school.”I said as Justin nodded.

“That was nice of her.” “Yeah. She just wanted me

to have as normal of a life as possible. She still

feels guilty that I had to grow up without a father

and so I think she was trying to make up for it all.”I

sighed “She even tried to get me to date and stuff

while I was in high school, but besides having no

desire to I couldn’t picture going out when I got to

see so little of Brayden anyway.”I said as Justin

studied me intently.We sat in silence for a minute

before Brayden spoke up. “I’m done! Dad do you

want to come play with me?”Brayden asked with

wide eyes as Justin and I both smiled at him. “In a

minute.”Justin said as Brayden just nodded and ran

out of the room. “Knowing how guilty your mom felt

about you not having a father how could you do the

same thing to Brayden?”Justin asked as my heart

fell. Things were finally starting to get good with us

and now this. I sighed “I don’t think any of that

really registered with me at the time. I was so

shocked over the situation; I just wanted to do

whatever I could to protect him. Granted looking

back on it, running from the situation wasn’t the

best thing I could have done. Honestly that’s the

biggest mistake of my life.”I said looking down

choking back tears. “What was? Me and you? I

mean obviously it wasn’t the ideal situation, but

look at Brayden, how can you say that?” Justin

asked confused as I looked up with him with a

small smile on my face. “Not that. I mean I thank

God for him every day, the mistake was leaving and

not telling you about him as soon as I found out.”I

said looking down not able to meet his eyes. Justin

reached across the table and took my hand in his.

“Hey, look at me.”Justin urged and I did so, not

able to ignore him. “I don’t like the fact that you

ran, but there’s a part of me that knows that you

had a reason for it and I can’t be upset with you

over it. The only thing I can do is make up for lost

time now, and I plan on doing just that.”Justin said

staring at me with those gorgeous blue eyes and I

couldn’t help but to believe him. “So do you want to

do something today? Just the three of us?”Justin

asked grinning at me. “Well actually I promised

Brayden we’d go find him a Halloween costume

today, but you’re more than welcome to come.”I

 said as Justin just grinned. “I totally forgot

Halloween was coming up. I have to get my

costume too!”Justin exclaimed making me giggle.

“Oh you have to get one too!”Justin said grinning at

me. “What? No.”I said dismissing his comment.

“Yeah. The guys and I are throwing this Halloween

party and you can’t come unless you’re in

costume.”Justin teased as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Oh really?”I asked amused. “Exactly, and if you

don’t believe me you can ask the other guy’s they’ll

back me up.”Justin said as I just shook my head at

him.

I laughed as I followed Justin and Brayden into the

huge Halloween store Justin had drug us too after

listening to him and Brayden excitedly discuss

different costume ideas all morning. The boys ran

in front of me and I shook my head as I took off in

a jog to catch up with them. Finally catching up to

them I giggled watching them “Justin I think you’re

more excited than Brayden.”I giggled. Justin slowly

turned to glare at me with an evil grin on his face

and I started to slowly back up. Justin was quicker

however and caught me around the waist and

started to tickle me as I started to laugh and

Brayden watched us giggling. “Justin stop!”I yelled

in between laughter squirming in his arms trying to

break free. Finally Justin stopped tickling me but

refused to let me out of his grip, and I couldn’t help

but smile listening to Justin and Brayden’s laughter.

Justin leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my

lips before saying “So? I happen to like Halloween.”

I just laughed as I pulled away from him and went

to search through some of the costumes with

Brayden.Brayden found a ninja costume that he was

really excited about, and although Justin didn’t out

rule it right away he did insist that Brayden keep

looking until he found one he was 100% sure

about. I just laughed as I followed them around

watching their enthusiasm. Granted Halloween was

probably my favorite holiday, but I did not see any

sense in me getting dressed up for the occasion.

“Come on Abs I’m telling you, you have to find a

costume or you’re not allowed coming to our

party.”Justin teased as he continued to browse

through racks and racks of costumes. “Yeah

momma.”Brayden piped still clutching his ninja

costume, but also now holding a batman one as

well. “We’ll see.”I sighed not really having any

intention of getting a costume, and then I suddenly

came upon a yellow gown that was the exact replica

of the dress Belle wore in the end of Beauty and the

Beast and immediately fell in love with it. I studied

it in awe for a minute thinking it over. I would have

to get a brunette wig, but I mean it was Halloween

so why not?  By the time I was done marveling at

the dress and thinking it over Justin and Brayden

had made their way all the way down the aisle.

“Justin, would you be opposed to dressing up as a

couple?”I asked as I approached them dress in

hand. “Nah, that could be cool. What’d you have in

mind? Something like Adam and Eve, Tarzan and

Jane?”Justin asked wiggling his eyebrows at me.

“No.”I laughed as I held up the dress “how about

Belle and the Beast?”I asked looking up at him.

“Well it definitely involves more clothes than I

thought….”Justin started stopping when he saw the

look I was giving him. “Do I really have to dress up

as a hairy monster?”Justin whined. “I mean not if

you don’t want to, but I think it’s romantic and I

LOVE this dress.”I said admiring it again. “Well I

mean I guess if you really want to.”Justin said as I

just grinned at him. I went to show Justin the

costume they had for the beast and realized that

they had a whole set of different costumes from the

movie. As Justin was looking at his costume I

happened to stumble across a little Chip costume

and immediately got an idea. “Hey Brayden, How

would you like to dress up with mommy and daddy

and be Chip?”I asked holding up the teacup outfit

for him to see. “Oh NO way! My son is NOT dressing

up like a teacup!”Justin exclaimed looking at me

like I was crazy. “What’s wrong with it? I think it’d

be cute.”I said turning to look at him. “Cute? Oh

yeah real cute. The boy’s going to look like a

fruitcake!”Justin exclaimed as I giggled. “Jus, he’s

four it’s okay for him to dress up like a teacup. Plus

I think it’d be cute if we all dress up together like a

family.”I said my voice trailing off at the end. “I…

Well…Okay, BUT only if he wants to.”Justin said

instantly agreeing. I looked at Brayden waiting on

approval and he just shrugged and said “Sure.” as I

smiled. It was amazing how easy this boy was to

get along with at times. Justin just shook his head

as he grabbed all three of our costumes and we

made our way to the front of the store to pay for

them.           We paid for the costumes and made

our way back to the car at a much slower pace than

we had when we entered the store. Justin strapped

Brayden into his car seat before getting into the

driver’s seat and saying “So I was thinking I would

take you guys out to dinner? I mean if you don’t

have anything else to do.”Justin quickly added

turning to look at me. “I would love that.”I smiled

at him as he just grinned back. Things were

definitely starting to fall into place with Justin. I

never dreamed in a million years that I would be

here with him acting like a family, but I definitely

was not going to complain about it. Brayden adored

him and it was obvious that Justin had instantly fell

in love with Brayden as soon as he met him. I

smiled as I listened to them bicker back and forth

about where to go for dinner happy that there was

finally some normalcy in my life. This is the way

things were supposed to be and I couldn’t be

happier. We pulled into the restaurant and I looked

back to see Brayden with his arms folded across his

chest pouting because we weren’t eating at

McDonalds and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on

and stop pouting or you’ll go to bed as soon as we

get home.”I said getting Brayden out of the car and

setting him on the ground. “Fine.”He grumbled as

he started to slowly walk toward the entrance.

            Out of nowhere Justin ran up and picked

Brayden up spinning him around and making him

giggle uncontrollably and complete forget why he

was pouting in the first place. I smiled at how easily

Justin got along with Brayden. Most guys our age

had no clue how to act around little kids, let alone

be so at ease after finding out that they had a four

year old. Maybe things were meant to work out with

us after all. I just grinned at Justin as he walked

over carrying Brayden in one arm and wrapping the

other around me as we entered the restaurant.

On the way home after dinner last night Brayden had fallen asleep in the car and after Justin insisted on taking him to bed, he then decided to stay himself. Not that I can say I mind having Justin around all the time, especially in my bed because I don’t, but I awoke this morning to his mother frantically pounding on my door. I grumbled as I got out of bed and made my way downstairs to find a very frantic Lynn at my door.

“Is Justin here? Please tell me Justin’s here.”Lynn said as soon as I opened the door.

“Yeah he’s here. What’s wrong?”I asked becoming more alert at her panic.

“He’s supposed to take me to the airport and I’m already running late and I can’t miss my flight I have things I need to do tonight at home…”Lynn said her voice trailing off.

“Hold on, I’ll go get him.”I said as Lynn just nodded and I turned and made my way back upstairs.

I crawled onto my bed and straddled Justin’s body and leaned over so my face was right next to his ear.
“Babe.”I sighed as I kissed his ear to no avail. I rolled my eyes this boy could literally sleep through anything.

“Jus, you gotta get up.”I said this time sucking his earlobe in my mouth and biting gently down on it. This caused Justin to stir and he grinned as he flipped us over so he was on top of me.

“Woman what are you trying to do to me?”Justin growled as his lips crashed down onto mine making me groan a little. I reluctantly pushed him away and he looked at me confused.

“As much as I would love to continue this your mom is downstairs in a panic you’re supposed to take her to the airport.”I chided.

“Shit! I totally forgot.”Justin said immediately getting up and pulling his jeans on.

“Do you wanna come with me?”Justin asked flashing me that killer smile that never fails to make my heart melt.

“No that’s okay Brayden will be up soon and if I don’t feed him right away he’ll be cranky til he eats, kinda like his dad.”I said smiling at him as he just laughed.

“Alright I’ll be back in a little bit then.”Justin said leaning down and kissing me one more time before walking out of the room.

Just like he promised Justin returned not even two hours later, having went home and showered after dropping his mom off. I was laying out in one of the lounge chairs as I watched Justin and Brayden playing catch in the yard smiling to myself. My mom was right Brayden definitely needed his dad.
“Momma come play with us.”Brayden yelled over to me. I smiled and started to decline when Justin piped in “Yea Momma come play with us.”Justin said grinning mischievously at me.

“You’re bad.”I said getting up and walking out into the yard grinning back at him.

“Well maybe you should put me in time out then.”Justin said as he dropped the football and sauntered over towards me.

“Mmm.”I sighed as Justin’s hand wrapped around my waist and he pulled me to him instantly kissing me. I got caught up in the kiss and was completely oblivious to everything around me until I heard Brayden start to giggle.

“Daaaaad.”Brayden laughed tugging on Justin’s shirt. Justin and I pulled away from each other laughing and looked down at Brayden.

“Sorry.”Justin said sheepishly almost as if we were thirteen again and his mom had caught us kissing and not our four year old son. I laughed to myself as I pulled away from Justin “It’s okay you guys play for a little bit longer I’m going to go start lunch.”

I said as I stared to walk away but Justin quickly grabbed me around the waist and stopped me.

“No.”He pouted holding onto me. I just rolled my eyes at him and wriggled out of his grasp. I gave him one more soft kiss before turning and making my way into the house.

The next couple weeks were great and everything seemed to be falling into place nicely like everything was how it was supposed to be. Justin spent nearly all his time at our house only going home briefly to shower, and half the time he just grabbed a change of clothes and came back showering at our place. Brayden loved all the extra attention he was getting and loved having his dad around to do ‘guy things’ as Justin called it. I just loved watching my boys interact and get along so well and I loved the fact that Justin finally trusted me and everything with us was better than it had ever been. The guys complained some because Justin wasn’t around as much, but they ultimately all understood why Justin needed this time with me and Brayden and didn’t really say much although they were constantly popping up at the house for surprise visits and I quickly realized that with Justin I was also stuck with his four best friends. Not that I really minded J.C. and I were still close and Brayden loved Chris’s antics since he acted like he was four also. Needless to say there was never a dull moment around my house anymore. Plus the fact that Halloween was tonight and everyone was excited for the party that they had been planning for almost a month. I did admit the more I heard about it the more fun it sounded and Justin was ecstatic to get to take Brayden trick or treating beforehand.

Justin was more excited to get the events of the night started than Brayden was. Justin actually had been walking around in his costume all morning and after seeing his dad all dressed up Brayden had been begging me to put his costume on also. I finally convinced Justin to take his costume off until it was time to go knowing that Brayden would inevitably get something on his if he wore it all day. Come to think of it I’m surprised Justin hasn’t got anything on his yet either.

Just then Chris and Joey came barreling through the door arguing over something yelling for Justin to come be the deciding factor. I loved these boys to death but they had absolutely no manners and after about a day none of them felt the need to knock anymore, and half the time they were somewhere in the house when I wasn’t even home. Upon listening closer I realized they were arguing over c.d.’s to play at the party. I shook my head as the three stood in the hall debating on music and made my way past them up the stairs to take a shower while I had a chance.

I stood in the shower enjoying the hot water that was cascading down my body and started to relax when I heard the curtain shift and two strong arms wrap around my waist. I smiled as he pulled me to him pressing his body against mine.

“Where’s Brayden?”I asked turning to face him.

“With Joey and Chris.”Justin mumbled before feverishly kissing me. God, I loved the way he made me feel and how he could so easily make me completely melt. Not another word was said during the rest of the shower as we completely ravished one another reveling in each other and the things we were doing to the other. Justin never ceased to amaze me, as he thrust himself into me repeatedly each time hitting just the right spot and making me scream for him. He loved knowing he turned me on so much and I think he did things purposely just to hear my yell his name, but I didn’t care. Just as long as he kept doing what he was doing he wasn’t going to hear any complaints from me anytime soon.

After finishing our shower Justin and I slowly made our way downstairs to find Joey and Chris on the floor in front of the t.v. playing a video game while Brayden sat on the couch watching. “Glad to see you guys are paying so much attention to Brayden.”I said as I sat down pulling Brayden onto my lap and kissing his head as he giggled.

“He’s fine.”Chris mumbled focused on his game.

“Come on guys we need to finish getting stuff ready for the party before dinner.”Justin said throwing a pillow towards them.

“Can I help?”Brayden asked jumping up.

“Sure.”Justin laughed as he picked him up and followed Joey and Chris out the door. I just shook my head as I got up to go start dinner.

As we finished up dinner I watched in amusement as Justin and Brayden chattered excitedly about the upcoming events of the night. “Alright Brayden run upstairs and wash your face and hands so we can get you into your costume.”I said as his eyes lit up.

“Finally!”Brayden exclaimed as he ran out of the kitchen towards the stairs.

“Does that mean I can put my costume on now too?”Justin asked grinning at me.

“Yes.”I laughed as Justin got up and kissed me on the forehead and said, “Thanks”, before walking out of the room behind Brayden.

I put the dishes in the sink and followed the boys upstairs to get ready myself.
I’m not sure who had more fun trick or treating; Justin or Brayden. I had to practically run to keep up with the two of them the whole time. By the time we got back to the house Brayden was so worn out he went straight to bed and Justin was in complete party mode and was ready to rush next door and start the party.
“Come on Abs were going to be late!” Justin whined as he grabbed my hand to pull me towards the door.

“Justin you can’t be late to your own party.” I laughed “Just let me tell my mom Brayden’s asleep and that were leaving.”

“Fiiiine.” Justin whined as I shook my head at him and walked into the other room to talk to my mom.

“Okay I’m ready.” I said returning a couple seconds later.

“It’s about time.” Justin said as he ushered me out the door.

The party was just started to get busy as Justin and I walked in. We were immediately greeted by Joey who placed drinks in both of our hands. “I wasn’t really planning on drinking tonight.” I said looking up at them.

“Oh come on, how often do we get a chance to drink and have a little fun?”Justin asked.

“I know, but I am more of thinking that there is a four year old next door who will be up at eight tomorrow whether mommy is hung-over or not.” I said handing Justin my drink.

“It will be okay; you can have a couple, and worse comes to worse I will get up with him.” Justin said handing me my drink back.

“Promise?” I asked skeptical.

“Of course, now take a drink and lets go dance.” Justin smirked. I just smiled knowing there was no arguing with him and followed him out onto the make shift dance floor the guys had put up. Justin was right after a couple of drinks I did start having more fun and started mingling more talking to all the people who were there most of who I didn’t know. The party didn’t start to wind down until about three that morning and I literally had to drag Justin next door and make him go to bed reminding him the whole time that he promised to get up with Brayden the next morning.

The next morning I woke up and rolled over and cuddled up next to Justin, knowing I needed to get up, but not wanting to. Justin instinctively wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer. I snuggled into his chest, with no intention of moving, when Brayden suddenly burst thru the door and came running towards the bed, “Momma! Momma! Get up! I wanna watch the parade!” I sat up just in time to catch Brayden as he jumped up on the bed, causing Justin to groan and slowly wake up.

 “What’s going on?”Justin groggily asked squinting his eyes.

 “Daaaad, get up! I want to watch the parade!”Brayden exclaimed giggling.

“Baby, why don’t you give us a couple minutes, and we’ll be right down?”I suggested trying to get a moment alone with Justin.

“But Mommmmma….”Brayden whined.

“Brayden go downstairs now! We’ll be down in a few minutes.”Justin said sternly, causing Brayden to hang his head and jump off the bed and make his way towards the door.

“You really need to be nice to him, especially after you punished him last night.”I sighed laying back down on Justin’s chest.

“I’ll go talk to him in a minute, I just wanted to see you first.”Justin groaned as he rolled me over so he was hovering over top of me.

“Mmm.”I mumbled as I pulled Justin down and kissed him.

“Don’t start something, you’re not going to finish.”Justin mumbled against my lips as his fingers brushed against the outside of my panties causing me to squirm beneath him.

“Oh, I’m going to finish it, but let’s go to the shower and save some time.”I whispered as I tried to roll us over.

Justin just chuckled as he climbed off of me and offered me his hand to help me up, “I’m not sure how much time that’ll save, but we can try.”He grinned at me, leading me towards the bathroom.

Justin and I finally made our way downstairs to see Brayden sitting in front of the t.v. totally entranced in the parade. I nudged Justin in the side and motioned towards Brayden, noting that no one else was around. Justin nodded and moved towards Brayden, “Hey Bray, what’re you watching?”Justin asked sitting down beside him.

 “The parade.”Brayden shrugged not looking up from the t.v. “Oh yeah? What’s been your favorite part so far?”Justin asked.

“The jungle book song!”Brayden exclaimed, finally looking up at Justin and grinning.

“I love the jungle book!”Justin exclaimed as I smiled and made my way over to them settling myself in between them. I leaned back against Justin, while Brayden laid his head in my lap and continued to watch the parade.

Lynn made her way into the living room and saw the three of us sitting on the couch watching the parade, “Oh Abby, you’re up! I thought you might like to help me in the kitchen!”Lynn exclaimed excited as I looked up at her.

“Of course.”I forced a smile as I grabbed Justin’s hand and squeezed it as I started to slowly get up from the couch. I followed Lynn into the kitchen, with Justin hot on my heels.

“Justin, what are you doing? We are trying to get things ready for dinner.”Lynn asked noticing Justin hovering in the doorway.

“I’m hungry.”Justin shrugged as he made his way over to the pantry and pulled out a box of cereal, then pulled the milk out of the fridge, before making his way over to the table pretending to ignore us. I smiled weakly in his direction and mouthed, “Thank you,” as he just nodded and continued to eat his cereal.

Lynn and I were busy making sure everything was in order for dinner later, as she was telling me about some of Justin’s antics when he was younger, causing me to relax and forget why I was so apprehensive about the day. Justin was sitting at the table, rolling his eyes at his mom and giving me his goofy grin, while silently protesting to the things his mom was saying. Whether he was doing it on purpose or not, Justin had completely set my mind at ease, causing me to relax for the first time in probably twenty-four hours. That feeling was short lived as I heard Sadie exclaim, “Happy Thanksgiving!” as she walked into the kitchen. I instantly tensed up as I watched her hug Justin, and move over towards Lynn. I immediately walked around the counter avoiding her and towards Justin, “I’m gonna go check on Brayden.”I whispered as I made my way out of the room with Justin hot on my heels.

“You okay?”Justin asked as he caught up with me and wrapped his arms around me waist.

“Not really, but I will be.”I said forcing a smile that Justin could instantly see thru.

“Don’t lie to me.”Justin mumbled nuzzling my neck.

“Daaaad.”Brayden giggled as he looked up from the t.v. at us.

“What?”Justin asked chuckling at him.

“Stop hugging Momma.”Brayden said still giggling.

“I don’t want to.”Justin pouted back at Brayden, causing me to giggle.

“Aha, there’s my girls smile.”Justin teased as he looked back down at me and placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth grinning.

“Daaaaad.”Brayden whined again looking up at us.

“Whaaaat?”Justin asked again.

“Stooooooop!”Brayden exclaimed exasperated.

“Alright, how about we go outside and throw around the football?”Justin asked as I just hugged him tighter.

“Yes!”Brayden exclaimed as he jumped up and ran upstairs in search for his shoes and football.

“Jus?”I questioned looking up at him, not wanting to go back into the kitchen by myself.

“We need a referee, come on.”Justin grinned pulling me towards the stairs with him.

“Well I didn’t picture Brayden being there when I played referee.” I mumbled as I broke away from Justin and went to pull one of his hoodies over my head.

“What’d you say?”Justin growled in my ear as he came up behind me and caught me.

“You heard me.”I giggled as I wiggled my hips against Justin, before turning around and sitting down to pull my shoes on.

“Just wait to later.”Justin groaned as he slipped his shoes on also.

“Is that a threat or promise?”I teased.

“Both.”Justin quipped without a second thought, as Brayden came bouncing into the room and jumped on the bed with his football.

After we all were dressed we made our back downstairs, and were walking towards the kitchen to go out the back door, when Justin grabbed my hand grinning at me. I smiled slightly at him, hoping to get thru the kitchen as quickly as possible. Brayden made it to the door and pulled it open and was outside, before Justin and I even made it half way thru the kitchen. “Abby, you don’t want to go outside with them, it’s cold, why don’t you stay in here and help us?” Sadie said looking up from the pot she was stirring.

 “I, uh….”I stammered looking for something to say, but having no idea what.

“Brayden asked her to come out with us.”Justin said quickly, ushering me thru the door and shutting it behind him.

“Thank you.”I sighed looking up at him.

“No problem.”Justin grinned as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my mouth before running off after Brayden. I settled down in the grass, watching Justin and Brayden playfully chasing each other around the yard, and throwing the football back and forth, and couldn’t help but to smile to myself.

A little while later Lynn stuck her head out the door and told us to come in and get cleaned up for dinner. I slowly stood up as Justin and Brayden made their way back over to me and smiled weakly up at them. Justin offered me his hand to help me up and as soon as we walked inside I immediately shuffled Brayden up the stairs to wash up, so I could put off the inevitable as long as possible. I got Brayden changed and I started to make my way to the bedroom we were staying in, as Brayden made his way to the bathroom, when Justin came up behind me and put his hands on my waist scaring me causing me to jump. “Hey! It’s just me.” Justin whispered as he ushered me into the bedroom closing the door behind us.

 “Sorry, I’m just a little on edge.” I sighed as I pulled away from him and pulled the hoodie I had on over my head and thru it on the bed.

“Hey, come here.” Justin said softly as he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. I melted into him at his touch and just let him hold me.

“It’ll be okay. I told you I talked to my Gram, and I took care of it.” Justin said trying to soothe me.

“I just can’t get over the look of hatred she gave me.” I said my voice cracking as I looked up at Justin with tears in my eyes.

“Oh Abs, she doesn’t hate you.” Justin sighed hugging me into his chest. I started to respond but Justin shushed me, “I promise dinner will be fine, I promise nothing will be said, and there will be no looks of hatred and then after dinner we can do whatever you want, just you and me.”Justin said rubbing my back.

“Can we go home?” I asked my voice muffled my Justin’s shirt.

“If dinner is that bad, I promise we can leave in the morning.”Justin said sighing, not wanting to cut his time at home short, but also knowing how upset and uncomfortable I felt.

A couple minutes later we finally made our way downstairs, just as everyone was gathering around the table getting ready to sit. I made my way over to Brayden with Justin behind me and made sure that I was sitting in between the two of them. William led us all in grace, before the food started circling the table, and I busied myself with making Brayden’s plate. “I don’t want that!” Brayden exclaimed as I picked up the broccoli casserole. 

“I know baby.” I said smiling at him.

“It won’t hurt him to eat a little.”Justin said over top of me.

“Jus, it’s fine, he’ll eat some corn.”I said nodding to him, causing him to throw his hands up in defeat and drop the conversation.

“Abby is that all you’re eating?”Lynn asked as she looked at the small amount of food on my plate.

 “I’m not really hungry.” I shrugged looking down not wanting the attention on me.

“You feeling okay?” Justin whispered as he placed his hand on my leg reassuringly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I nodded up at him. He nodded, but kept his hand on my leg rubbing it comfortingly.

“Should we all go around saying what we are thankful for, Justin why don’t you go first, since I know there was something you wanted to say.” Sadie said grinning at Justin.

“Not now Gram.”Justin warned shooting her a sideways glance.

“Why not? Now seems like the perfect time.” Sadie said still grinning.

“No.” Justin said firmly hoping to drop the conversation.

“What is going on?” Lynn finally asked causing Justin and Sadie to look up from their staring match.

“Nothing.” Justin said hoping to drop the entire conversation.

“Oh, Justin don’t be silly, say what you have to say.” Sadie prompted.

“Gram I said not now.” Justin said firmly staring Sadie down.

“Justin watch your tone.” Lynn exclaimed, “Now what is going on?”

“Justin and I had a talk last night and came to an agreement and I just think it’s time he follows thru.” Sadie said never taking her eyes off Justin.

“It’s not going to happen today. Now drop it.” Justin said raising his voice as he stood up, as everyone else just looked on baffled.

“Justin, sit down.” Paul finally spoke up glancing at Justin. I sat there completely baffled and reached for Justin’s hand not wanting him to leave me alone with his family. Justin looked down at me and his face softened and he lightly squeezed my hand as he sat back down.

“Gram, it’s not going to happen today, now please drop it.” Justin pleaded.

“I don’t see why not, now seems like a perfect time, you agreed and you have everything you need and the whole family is here.” Sadie said as everyone else just stared on speechless.

“I never actually agreed and I definitely didn’t say when.” Justin said getting frustrated again.

“Will one of you please stop and tell us what is going on!” William exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air frustrated.

“I gave Justin a ring last night and he agreed to propose!” Sadie finally exclaimed exasperated as the whole room went silent as everyone just looked on dumbfounded.

“Wha….at?” I stuttered finally breaking the silence.

“Jesus Christ Sadie! Leave the two kids alone, they’re fine, they’ll get married when they damn well please!” William bellowed as tears started to slowly fill my eyes.

“E…excuse me.” I mumbled as I slowly stood up and made my way out of the room completely baffled and not knowing what else to say or do. I made my way upstairs and closed the bedroom door before I finally collapsed on the bed and let the tears start to flow.