When they finished dinner, the three men told BJ to go sit in the den and relax while they finished the dishes. Lance loaded the dishwasher as Justin boxed up the leftovers. JC cleared off the table and help put things away, casting glances at Lance.
“What’s up, C?” The deep voice pulled the older man out of his musing.
“Oh, nothing. Just relaxing and enjoying my time here. It’s good to be home again.” He smiled at both men.
Lance nodded, closing the dishwasher door. Turning, he studied his friend for a moment before walking over and wrapping his arms around him.
“I missed you, Josh.”
“Me, too, Lance.”
The two men hugged, and Justin wrapped his arms around both of them. Laughing, they pulled apart and walked into the den to watch a movie. Lance settled into the corner of the sofa, BJ curled up between his legs as he laid back. Justin and JC stretched out on the floor in front of the television, and the four of them watched a couple of movies.
Around ten, Justin looked over at JC and grinned. Getting up on all fours, he crawled over to the couch. BJ started laughing before he even made it to her, and JC rolled over to watch the three of them. BJ sat up, and Lance scooted out from behind her to kneel next to Justin, motioning for JC to join them. JC moved over to lean against the sofa and waited.
Justin leaned forward, his head close to the swell of BJ’s tummy. “Hey, BB, it’s Uncle Justin, and you know what time it is. It’s the ‘N Sync hour, and we’re taking requests from Mommy. I wonder what she’s gonna choose tonight.”
He looked up at BJ, and she tilted her head studying him. “You know, I’ve been listening to this really awesome group, and I think it would be cool if you could sing one of their songs.”
Justin shrugged. “We can try. Who is it?”
“Do you know anything by the Backstreet Boys?” Peals of laughter from BJ filled the room, as the three men groaned.
“Don’t listen to her, BB. We’re gonna make sure you hear good stuff, right, Daddy?” Justin looked at Lance, completely missing the stunned expression on JC’s face.
“That’s right, BB. Daddy’s gonna introduce you to Garth and Clint and Faith…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about Crazy Town, Kid Rock, and Limp Bizkit?” BJ stared at the two men, winking at JC when she turned to look at him.
“What about Ella, Miles, and Winston?” JC threw in a few names, and the four of them argued goodnaturedly for a few minutes.
“Fine. Fine. We’ll buy an entire music store and just inundate the kid, okay? Now, back to the musical selection of the evening.” Justin looked at the other three before he went back to talking to the baby.
Closing his eyes, he thought for a moment, then began to sing.
A gentle breeze
From Hushabye Mountain
Softly blows on Lullaby Bay
It fills the sails
Of boats that are waiting
Waiting to sail your worries away
JC listened as Justin’s voice drifted over him, the soft notes clear and sweet.
It isn’t far
To Hushabye Mountain
And your boat waits down by the key
The winds of night
So softly are sighing
Soon they will fly
Your troubles to sea
Lance sang the second verse, the smoothness of his bass warming the night.
So close your eyes
On Hushabye Mountain
Wave goodbye to cares of the day
And watch your boat
From Hushabye Mountain
Sail far away
From Lullaby Bay
Justin ended the song, the last note ringing true. JC just stared at the two men then closed his eyes against the tears that threatened. He missed these two men, missed having them in his life. The last several months of intermittent contact and stilted conversation made his heart and his head ache.
“Josh?”
JC felt the brush of Justin’s fingers on his arm, and he opened his eyes to see the three of them staring at him.
“Yeah, Just?”
“You okay?” The younger man let his hand linger, feeling better now that he actually had the chance to reconnect with his best friend.
“Yeah, I’m okay. You guys sounded awesome. You do this show every night?” He grinned at them, trying to draw attention away from his watery eyes.
BJ chuckled. “Yep, every night, ten o’clock show only. A select audience, if you will.” She slowly maneuvered herself off the sofa, taking Lance’s hand.
“I’m going to bed, guys. I’ll see you in the morning.” She kissed Lance, her hand lingering on his stomach.
He kissed her back, brushing his fingers over her belly before she walked away. When it was just the three men, they all looked at each other.
“Well.” Lance sat back down on the sofa, suddenly unsure of what he wanted or needed to say.
“What does BB stand for?” JC looked down at his hands.
“What?” Justin looked at his friend.
“When you were talking to the baby, you called it BB. What does that mean?”
Lance groaned as the other man chuckled. JC looked back and forth between them. When Justin stopped laughing, he looked at their friend. “It stands for Baby Bass. They’re still talking names, so I needed to call it something. That seemed like a good idea.”
“Baby Bass.” JC uttered the words slowly.
Lance looked at his friend, searching for signs of displeasure. When he didn’t see any, he relaxed further into the sofa cushions. “We’ve narrowed it down, but we’re still not sure.”
They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Lance stood up. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see y’all in the morning.”
“Night, Lance.” “Night.”
When the two men remained, Justin tapped his fingers on his knees. “Want a beer?”
“Sure.” JC followed his friend into the kitchen.
When they both held a bottle, they sat down at the table and slowly drank their beers in silence.
“Josh…”
“Justin…”
Chuckling, Justin motioned for his friend to go first.
“I’m sorry.”
The younger man looked up, seeing the shimmer of tears in JC’s eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen, and I’m sorry I pushed you away, and I’m sorry I let this get so out of control that you left me because of it.” He dropped his head into his hands, sighing heavily.
Justin continued to stare at his friend, wanting desperately to run his fingers through the dark hair and comfort the other man. Instead, he uttered one word.
“Why?”
“Because…”
He sat in silence as he waited for his friend to finish his answer. When he didn’t, he sighed and brushed his hand over JC’s hair.
“Why did you push me away? After you and Sherry broke up, I wanted to help you feel better, but you just wouldn’t let me near you. Then, when the others showed up, it’s like you were a different man. I think that hurt worse than anything.”
JC nodded, his head still in his hands.
“You’re my best friend, Josh. Nothing is so bad that you can’t tell me. I’ll still love you, ya know.”
The older man finally looked up, his eyes rimmed in red from the tears that had dried on his cheeks. “I think…”
Justin waited, and JC finally spit out the words.
“I think I’m gay.”
The young man leaned back in his chair, his eyes wide as he blinked them. JC looked at him and moved to stand and leave, but Justin stopped him.
“You think you’re gay? You either are or you aren’t, Josh, there’s no maybe.”
Sinking back down into his chair, he shook his head. “I don’t know. Besides the fact that Sherry found someone else, she knew that I wasn’t completely in love with her—that I thought about someone else.”
“A man?”
JC nodded. “Yeah, then we broke up, and I ended up with Corinne because I just couldn’t let myself be hurt by him if he turned me away. I just couldn’t. It would cause so many problems.”
Justin stared at his friend, fear in his heart. “It’s someone in the group.”
His friend’s wide-eyed stare confirmed it, and the young man bit his lip. “I don’t think it’s Joey or Chris. Is it Lance? ‘Cause I don’t think you’ve got a chance with him, man. I’m sorry.”
JC quickly lowered his eyes to the table as he shook his head. It took Justin a couple of minutes for the wheels to finally click together.
“It’s me?”
The other man wouldn’t look up.
“Oh, shit.”
This time, JC made it out of his chair before Justin could stop him. The young man grabbed his friend, pulling him back down.
“Don’t you even think about moving.” Standing, he paced the kitchen, rubbing his hand over his shorn head. “Seven months. Seven months we’ve been dicking around because neither of us had any guts. I don’t fucking believe this.”
JC watched Justin pace, not really understanding his ramblings, but he knew the young man wasn’t pissed at him.
“J.”
Turning, he stopped his pacing at looked over at his friend. “Yeah?”
“What are you talking about?”
Taking a deep breath, Justin returned to the table and pulled his chair close to JC’s so that their knees touched. Carefully taking the older man’s hands, he looked down for a moment. When he raised his head, he leaned closed and kissed JC.
Surprised, JC didn’t move for a few seconds, then he relaxed into the caress. It was better than he imagined, the soft, full lips tasting a little like beer and lime as they pressed against his. Opening his mouth, he timidly brushed his tongue against those lips and was rewarded with a sigh that allowed him entrance. Sweet touches of tongue against tongue made him groan in delight.
Pulling back, he rested his forehead against Justin’s. “What does this mean, Justin?”
Justin grinned. “It means that we’ve both woken up. I’ve wanted you for a long time, Josh, but you never seemed like you would be interested. I was afraid of losing you, too.”
“And Britney?”
He shrugged. “We broke up in February. She’s dating someone on her tour crew. Is there anyone in your life, Josh?”
Brushing his fingers across his friend’s cheek, JC smiled. “Only you.”
Justin grinned, kissing him gently before he stood. “I’m tired. Ready for bed?”
Startled, he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say without sounding stupid.
“I’m not really ready for anything yet, Josh. I just want to sleep, and I’d like to sleep next to you, if I could.”
Smiling at the realization he and Justin were still on the same wavelength, JC nodded as he stood. “I’d like that a lot, J.”
Hand in hand, they walked to Justin’s room and closed the door. They stripped down to boxers and climbed onto the bed. For a few minutes, it was a little touch-and-go as they tried to figure out the jumble of arms and legs. When they settled down for the night, Justin was spooned up behind JC, one arm draped over the brunette’s stomach as one leg rested between JC’s. Pressing a kiss to his lover’s neck, Justin sighed.
“Night, C.”
“Night, J.”
**~~**
BJ wandered out of the bedroom around eight the next morning, leaving Lance curled up around a pillow. Wandering into the kitchen, she grimaced at the two half-empty bottles of beer. Pouring out the alcohol and tossing the bottles into the recycle bin, she turned to look for something to eat. The creak of footsteps made her look up, and she looked into the hall to see JC pull Justin close for a kiss. Blinking a couple of times, she decided she wasn’t hallucinating and turned back to the refrigerator, the vision of the two men still playing behind her eyelids.
“Oh, hey, BJ.” Justin moved away from JC a little as they entered the room.
“Morning.” She smiled and took her glass of juice to the table.
The two men grabbed some juice and joined her. JC looked up to find her staring at him, and he fidgeted in his chair.
“Something wrong, BJ?”
Shaking her head, she just looked at him. “You know, I think I have some cover up for your neck that would match your skin perfectly.”
His hand flew up to the side of his neck, and he slowly turned to stare at Justin, who promptly laid his head on the table and groaned.
“You said you didn’t leave a mark!”
“It didn’t look like that earlier.”
Their bickering made her laugh, and they just looked at her in surprise. Justin arched an eyebrow at her. “This doesn’t bother you?”
Still chuckling, she shook her head. “Why should it? You make each other happy, right?”
Justin nodded.
“You guys love each other?”
Turning to look at each other, they looked for the answer in each other’s eyes.
“Yeah.”
“I do.”
“Then why should I have a problem with it?” She stared back and forth between them.
“Problem with what?” Lance walked into the kitchen, a pair of shorts slung low on his hips.
BJ bit her lip and stood, grabbing her juice glass. “I need to go get something out of the den.”
Lance looked confused as he watched her leave then stared at his friends. “What’s going on?”
“I think you need to sit down, Scoop.”
BJ sat down on the couch and turned on the television, but even the annoying game show music couldn’t cover up Lance’s “WHAT?” that echoed from the kitchen. She cringed slightly, but continued flipping channels as she waited for the explosions to die down.
Lance looked back and forth between his friends, his eyes finally settling on their entwined hands on top of the table. Justin looked at JC, who looked back at him then their friend.
“Lance?” JC’s voice was soft.
“Yeah?” The other man closed his eyes and let his head drop onto his clasped hands.
“Are you okay?” Justin’s voice was equally soft.
Lance sighed heavily. He didn’t think he had a problem with it. He was in love with a woman who was pregnant with another man’s child, so he didn’t think he had any right to raise an eyebrow at someone else’s relationship. He didn’t want to know the specifics of what they did, and he didn’t share specifics on what he and BJ did, so that wouldn’t be a problem either. Raising his head, he gave the two men a half-hearted grin.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
BJ waited a few more minutes before walking into the kitchen to find the three men talking quietly. She rinsed her glass before setting it on the counter and putting in some bread to toast. Justin walked over to join her, putting toast in the toaster when her slices were finished. She spread peanut butter on the bread then filled her glass with milk.
“Want some?” She held up the carton, and Justin nodded.
Pouring another glass, she pushed it towards him before she returned the carton to the refrigerator. Lance got up and moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head against hers.
“You okay, baby?” She patted his hands.
“Yeah, I am.”
The three of them went back to the table, and BJ handed Lance a slice of her toast as they shared the milk. It made her smile to look over and see Justin and JC doing the same thing.
“So you guys cool now?” She wiped her mouth with a napkin before handing it to Lance.
“We’re going to ask Joey and Chris if they want to come up and talk. There’s a lot to discuss.” JC looked down at the tabletop for a moment, his expression troubled.
“Remind me to duck and cover when you start talking. Better yet, I’ll just grab the Lexus and go shopping.”
“Can I go, too?” Both Lance and Justin asked the question, and all four of them laughed.
**~~**
JC made the call later that afternoon, tapping his fingers as he waited for someone to answer.
[‘lo?]
“Hey, man.”
[Hey. How’s your trip to rest and relax?] Chris laughed on the other end.
“Best trip I’ve taken in years. Um, that’s one of the reasons I want to call you. I’m with Justin and Lance.”
Silence stretched out between them.
“Chris?”
[They okay?]
“Yeah, they’re good. We want you two to come up so we can talk. We need to clear the air and get ourselves back on track. I’m tired of being apart.”
[Me, too. I’ll talk to Joe and see when we can come up. Where do we need to go?]
“Meredith’s.”
[What?]
“We’re at Meredith’s house in Emerald Point. Just tell us when you’ll be here, and we’ll get you at the airport.”
[They been there the whole time?]
“Yeah, they have. So, you’ll let us know?”
[Yeah. I’ll probably call back this afternoon on your cell.]
“Cool. See ya, man.”
[Soon, man. Soon.]
JC hung up his cell phone and leaned back in the chair in Meredith’s office. A few minutes later, hands slid over his shoulders to rest on his chest.
“They coming?”
“Chris said he’d call back with the information.” JC tilted his head back to look into Justin’s eyes.
The young man leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his lips, sighing in contentment at being able to do that. They weren’t very demonstrative in front of the others, neither of them really getting into public displays of affection, but when they were alone now, hardly a moment went by when some part of them wasn’t touching.
Chris called back right before dinner, giving flight times for the next afternoon. JC promised that someone would pick them up.
**~~**
The next day, Lance and BJ went shopping for more baby things, not really buying anything big until after they decided what their plans were past the birth. As they strolled through another baby store, Lance stopped suddenly. He tugged on BJ’s hand as he stared at the display for baby Dopplers.
“Lance, c’mon.”
“No, BJ, look. We can listen to the baby any time we want.” His eyes were wide as he held up the box and read the benefits.
Sighing, she shook her head as he questioned the sales lady who had come over to talk. The woman removed the Doppler from the case so Lance could test it out. He held it over BJ’s belly, and the rapid thump of the baby’s heartbeat filtered through the speakers.
“I gotta have one of these.” He breathed with wonder as he kept his eyes on her belly.
BJ smiled at the sales lady, who just chuckled and took one of the boxes. They finished their shopping and took the bags out to the car. By the time they got home, JC and Justin had already left for the airport.
She could see the tense set of his shoulder and reached out to rub them, stroking her hands over his back as he sighed.
“You gonna be okay?”
He reached for her hand, pressing a kiss to her fingers. “Yeah, I will. I’d just like to move past this and get on with the group so I can get on with everything else.”
She smiled at him as he continued playing with her fingers.
“You know.”
“Hmm?” She looked at him as he stroked her ring finger.
“I think you’d look stunning with a diamond right here, surrounded by gold.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was asking what she thought he was asking. Looking into his eyes, she saw the love and desire and knew that he was.
“Stay there.”
BJ nodded, still too surprised to move or speak. Lance disappeared from the den, reappearing a few minutes later. Getting down on both knees beside the sofa, he took her hand in his.
“I love you, Bobbie Jean, and I love this baby. I want to marry you and share my life with you and tell you how beautiful and special you are to me every day. Will you be my wife?”
She nodded, tears streaming down her face as he slid the one-carat marquis solitaire on her finger. “Oh, yes, I’ll marry you, Lance.”
He wrapped his arms around her, his forehead pressed against hers as they both smiled.
Table of Contents
Chapter Three