I sighed as I unlocked my car door after work, ready to head to the drugstore to get my weekly run for some candy. I get into my driver’s seat and immediately turn on the CD player to my No Strings Attached CD and relaxed a little. As I drove to Medic, one of my favorite songs, “It Makes Me Ill” comes on. I turn up the volume a little and sing along to it. I pass my old bus driver, and I honk the horn and wave. We still talk once in a while. I get into Medic and go to the candy aisle and I nearly collide with a HOTT blond haired, tall guy.
   
“Excuse me.” He says in a deep voice, which I just fall into love with. I just stand there, amazed by his voice and he realizes this and gives me this very nice smile.
   
“Uh, hello?” he says again.
   
“Oh! I’m sorry. It’s just…you have a very nice voice!” I say.
   
“It’s ok. You have very nice eyes, I’m sorry. You don’t even know who I am. My name is James, but everyone calls me Lance, which is my middle name.” Lance says.
   
“My name is Jadene, but you can call me Jade or JJ. I go by both. You can also call me Jadene Joan.”
   
“Alright, Miss Jadene Joan.” says Lance.
   
“What is your favorite kind of candy, Lance?” I ask.
   
“Peanut butter cups. Yours?”
   
“Whoppers,” I confessed.
   
“Really? I love those too.”
   
“What’s your email address? I know this may sound sudden, but I think you’re cool, so I want to keep in touch after we leave.” I say. Lance gives me his email address, LTPAbass@aol.com. I grab my bag of Whoppers and a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper. I get into line and notice I’m right behind Lance. He has a few bags of peanut butter cups and a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper. We laugh. He pays and then he leaves.
   
“You like him, don’t you?” Ryan asked.
   
“Who do I like? Lance, the guy in front of me?”
   
“Is that his name? Here’s your change.” I get my change and head out the front there, right on the sidewalk, right next to the door is Lance talking to four more tall guys, one blonde haired, blue eyed, one dark haired, blue eyed, two with dark hair and brown eyes, but one had dyed his fire red.
   
“Oh, hi Jadene. I want you to meet Justin (blonde/blue), JC (brown/blue), Joey (fire red hair), and Chris (the other one) If we look familiar to you, it’s because we’re *N SYNC.” Lance says.

I get home after saying bye to the guys. I get on my computer and log online. I get on and I see I have one message. It’s from Lance! I reply back and he gives me his screen name. We start chatting and the time flies. When we both end up logging off, it’s almost eight. I take a shower and do a little bit of cleaning then go to bed. Once I am in bed, I can’t help but think about Lance, as I do, my heart starts to pound. I realize that I’m going to be wanting to see him more, and as I drift off to sleep, I replay a particular part of our chat in my mind.

LTPAbass: So you don’t have a b/f now?
HotChick80: No, but I wish I do right now though.
LTPAbass: Do you want me to come over tomorrow night, and bring the guys, you can have some of your single friends over?
HotChick80: Fine with me, what time?
LTPAbass: 6:30 sound alright? I’ll need your address, and maybe your phone number so I can call and warn you?

   
I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock AND phone. I answer the phone first.
   
“Hello?”
   
“Oh, I woke you up, I’m so sorry!” Lance answers back.
   
“It’s ok. My alarm is going off anyway. Are we still on for tonight?”
   
“Yep. The guys say it’s fine with them. When do you get off work?”
   
“Today is 1:30. I have a doctor’s appointment. At 3, so I’m taking a late lunch. See you later?”
   
“Yeah, see you later.”
   
“Bye, Bye, Bye!” I say as Lance chuckles.
   
“Bye, bye, bye, Jadene.” he says before we hang up. I get dressed and head off to work. I go to my yearly doctor’s appointment, and everything is fine.
   
“Are you ok?” Lance asks as he gets out of his car with the others.
   
“Yeah, It was just my annual physical, and I came out in flying colors.” I look around at the guys.
   
“I want you to meet Amelita, Pembroke and Remi.” I say, pointing to each one of my friends in turn.
   
“Nice to meet you’s” were exchanged between everyone. As the guys came into the house, I noticed Amelita walked in stride with JC, Pembroke kept eyeing up Justin and Remi laughed at one of Joey’s jokes. Lance took my hand as we walked into the house. I hadn’t had the time to set up the table, so Lance volentered himself for that job. I told him where the silverware and things were, and he set about setting the table.
   
When dinner was ready, I wandered into the dining room to find Lance to see if he was ready. As I crossed the threshold of the room, my mouth dropped open.

I stood there, in amazement, in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. There was my table, set for nine, but no lights were on, the table had nine taper candles, one in front of each plate. There were also name places and a bouquet of red roses in the center, with a LOT of different colors of rose petals all over the rest of the table.
   
“Oh my gosh! Lance you did this? It’s so beautiful I don’t want to eat in here!” I’m finally able to say. Lance smiled.

“Tonight’s special. You’ll see what I mean later.”
   
“DINNER!” I call out to the living room.
   
“Oh my! Jadene! This is beautiful!” Amelita says.
   
“Did you do this?” Jc asks, walking in right behind Lita. I shook my head no.
   
“Lance did it, actually.” I say, looking for my place at the table. I pull out my chair and find a bag of Whoppers on the seat. Lance sat down next to me.
   
“You remembered!” I whispered to him as I sat down, moving the Whoppers to the floor next to my feet. Amelita sits on my other side, Jc on her other side. Then it’s Pembroke Justin, Chris, Remi and Joey.
   
We had salad, then went on to the main course- Chicken Parmesan with marinara sauce. Dessert was a couple of pies that I picked up at a local bakery. When dinner was finished, everyone went to the living room to watch a movie. Lance stayed back and helped me rinse the dishes off and then took me outside. He sat down in a lawn chair and patted his knee, inviting me to sit with him. I sat down in his lap and leaned back so that my head was right next to his. He wrapped his arms around me. We lied there, watching the sky darken bit by bit. The stars slowly came out. It was a perfect moment, suspended in time. I had never dreamt that I would feel this way about a guy I just met as I was feeling for Lance at the moment.
   
“Lance?”
   
“Yes?”
   
“I have never felt this way about someone I had just met.”
   
“Same here.” he says. We turn our heads to face each other. Lance looked into my eyes, then started leaning towards me. When we finished the kiss, we turned back to watching the stars come out.
   
After awhile, Lita sticks her head out of our back door.
   
“The guys want to leave and I’m tired,” she announces.
   
“I guess I better go.” Lance says, starting to get up.
   
“Bye then.” I say, kissing him before letting him up.

The following morning, Saturday, I took a shower. My cell was ringing as I got out.
   
“Hello?” I asked, wrapping a towel around myself, trying to not get the phone wet.
   
“Hey baby. Would you care to spend the day with me? Just the two of us.” Lance’s voice says from the phone.
   
“Sure. I have the day off. Let me tell Lita we‘ll be together. What time will you be coming over?”
   
“How about now?”
   
“Cool. Let me get ready then. See you in a few minutes.” I said and we hung up. I turn to my dresser and call out to Lita.
   
“Lita! I’m going out today with Lance!” I call over my shoulder.
   
“I know.” a deep southern voice answers from my doorway. I turn around to find Lance standing there.
   
“Lance! You scared me!” I exclaim as I dive back into bed, suddenly feeling naked.
   
“Sorry.” he said sheepishly.
   
“How about you go back downstairs and I’ll be down there in a few minutes?” I suggested, glad I had put my robe on while I was on the phone. Just then, Lita walks in.
   
“So I take it last night you guys just clicked?” she asks.
   
“Actually, no, it was when I bumped into him in the candy aisle. We’re spending today together.”
   
“That’s cool. Jc and I clicked, he’s spending the day here. I don’t know about Pembroke and Remi though. They left pretty early.” We walk out of my room and downstairs to find that Jc had arrived. The two guys were standing in the living room, talking when we entered.
   
“Ready?” Lance asked when they noticed us standing there. I nodded and grabbed my purse.
   
“So where to first?” I ask him as he starts his car.
   
“I have something I need go get at Wal-Mart. You don’t mind going there, do you?” I shook my head no. He pulls into a parking spot and we got out. I browse the clothing while he heads back to what looked like electronics. I found this one dress that I absolutely loved, and was daydreaming about what I would wear it to when Lance found me.
   
“Find something?” he asked in my ear. I jumped.
   
“You scared me!” I said. Lance held back a laugh.
   
“Sorry. So what do you have there?” he asked. I showed him the dress.
   
“So go try it on,” he said.
   
“Oh I couldn’t.”
   
“Why not?” he asked. It was a good question. Whatever hurt trying on a dress? I sighed and went to the dressing rooms. I went in and tried it on. It fit like a dream. I took it back off and changed back into my clothes.
   
“Well?” Lance asked. I smiled.
   
“Perfect.” I said. Lance looked at his watch. He dug into his pocket and handed me his keys.
   
“Why don’t you go get in my car and I’ll meet you there in a moment? I need to get something else.” he said. I took the keys and headed out to the car and got in. I put the keys in the ignition and the radio came on. I liked the song that came on and it wasn’t long before I was singing along to it. I had the window down, and it was a moment before I saw Lance coming out of the store. He had a bag of something, and he tossed it into the trunk. He climbed in and looked at me.
   
“Mall alright? We could do lunch and a movie.” he suggested. I nodded my head and we headed to the mall. On the way, he changed the radio station and started to sing along. I couldn’t help but stare at him.
   
“What?” he asked, noticing that I was staring at him.
   
“You have such an amazing voice. I love it.” I said. He blushed.
   
“Thanks.” he said. We rode along in silence until one of my favorite songs came on. I started singing along softly to it, and Lance joined in. Our voices blended perfectly together. We stopped singing and looked at each other.

“Wow.” Lance said. I was still in a bit of shock. I was saved by my phone ringing.
   
“Hello?”
   
“Hey you. What are you up to tonight? Jc wants the two of us have dinner alone.” Lita says into my ear.
   
“Hold on a sec.,” I covered up the mouthpiece and looked at Lance. “Lita and JC are going to have a dinner at home alone, is that alright with you?” Lance smiled.
   
“Of course. I know what we could do.” he said. I turned back to my phone.
   
“Lance says he has plans for us. I’ll see you later tonight then, Sis.” I said and hung up. I looked back at Lance.
   
“So what can we do all evening?” I asked.
   
“I want to surprise you. If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”
   
“No.” I said as he pulled into a parking space. We got out and had lunch. Then we wandered around for a while, going into a store here and there. We tried on shoes in a shoe store, we browsed the books in the bookstore. We went and picked the movie The Wedding Planner, since it sounded funny and we wanted to laugh since we were already doing a lot of that already.
   
The movie was good, and then we headed out of the mall, ready for whatever Lance had planned. He stopped and got gas, then he headed to his house to drop off the stuff. When we got there, he pulled a blindfold out from a bag in the backseat.
   
“I hate to do this, but I have to. If you see what I’m going to bring out, it’ll ruin the surprise,” he said. He leaned over to tie the blindfold around my eyes.
   
“Why do you hate to do this?” I asked, sensing how near he was to me.
   
“Because now I can’t see your beautiful eyes. Now how many fingers am I holding up?”
   
“Black?” I asked, and was rewarded with a laugh and a kiss on the cheek.
   
“I’ll be right back.” he said. I heard him open the door and get out. Then I heard the backdoor open and him remove the bags. Then the door closed and it was quiet for a while. Then I heard the trunk being opened and closed. Then the driver’s door opened and I felt Lance climb in.
   
“Hey.” He said as he started the car.
   
“Hey.” I said back. We rode in silence, with the exception of Lance humming a tune here and there as he drove. Finally he parked the car and told me to wait there. He got out and I heard the trunk open again and he pulled some things out. He dropped something at one point, I heard him swear under his breath. Then the trunk closed and it was quiet for a few minutes and then my door opened.
   
“Ready, m’lady?” he asked. I giggled as he took my hand.
   
“It’d be nicer if you take your shoes off here.” he said.
   
“Why?”
   
“Just do it. Trust me, you’ll like it.”
   
I took my shoes off, and he lead me across a parking lot, walking behind me with both sets of fingers intertwined with mine. We reached the edge of the parking lot, and after a few steps of grass, my feet sunk into sand. I took in a breath.
   
“We’re at the beach?” I asked.
   
“Yeah. Few more steps and you can take the blindfold off.” He said. We walked about half a dozen more steps and stopped. Lance untied the blindfold and took it off. On the sand was a giant blanket with a picnic basket.

I turned and looked at Lance.
   
“It’s lovely. Thank you.” I said, giving him a peck on the cheek and sat down. Lance sat across from me.
   
“Before we eat, I just wanted to say something.” I looked into his handsome face.
   
“Ever since I met you, I’ve felt this connection thing, and when we’re apart, I feel like I’m going to go crazy. I know it’s so soon, but I think I’m falling in love with you.” he said quietly.
   
“It may sound crazy, but I feel the same way. I love you.” I said. Lance leaned across the blanket and gently kissed me.
   
“Go ahead and open the basket.” he said. I gave him a funny look but opened the basket. Inside was a piece of clothing. I lifted it up and let it fall open in my arms. It was the dress I had tried on at Wal-mart.
   
“Lance, you didn’t!” I said. I put the dress in my lap and looked at him. He was watching my face.
   
“You said that it was perfect. I thought that someone as perfect as you should have the perfect dress. That’s not all anyways.” he said, looking back at the basket. I looked in the basket and pulled out a pair of shoes that looked like they would go great with the dress. And they were in my size.
   
“They’re in my size! How?…”
   
“I paid attention when we were trying on shoes at the mall. When you weren’t looking, I found those and bought them.” Lance explained. I shook my head at how attentive he was of things.
   
Under the clothes was dinner. We sat on the blanket and ate as the sunset and then watched the stars come out over the water. When it started to get cold, we packed up and headed back to his car. He drove me home and saw that Jc was still there, cuddling with Lita on the couch watching a movie. I put my fingers to my lips and pulled Lance upstairs to my bedroom. Once there, I fell into bed and fell asleep immediately.

I came downstairs the next morning to find JC sleeping on the couch. Lance laughed when he saw this.
   
“That man can fall asleep anywhere.” he said. I shook my head and went into the kitchen. I got out some bread, eggs, milk and sugar and made some French toast.
   
“My favorite.” Lance said as he wandered in and wrapped his arms around my waist. I pushed him away.
   
“Go sit down and I might give you some.” I said. He went and sat down and was starting to dig into the plate of toast I gave him when Lita walked in.
   
“Whoa…I never heard you come in last night, Jadene.” she said, looking from me to Lance. I shot her a look that told her that nothing happened, and she sat down across from Lance and took some French toast from the plate in the middle.
   
“So when did JC fall asleep on you last night?” Lance asked her between mouthfuls.
   
“Not sure. I just looked at him at some point and he was sleeping. He looked too peaceful to wake him up, so I just covered him with a blanket and handed him a pillow. I see that it never made it under his head.” she said. I hid a laugh. Jc was lying on the couch with the blanket practically only on his head, and the pillow was across the room. When I made enough for me, I sat down next to Lance and had a conversation with Lita with our eyes while I ate. I finished eating and got up.
   
“I’m going to go shower.”  I left the room and when I got to my room, I saw that Lance had followed me.
   
“Mind if I join you?” he asked. I thought for a moment.
   
“No, I don’t.”
   
We got in the shower together and I let Lance wash my long hair. We quickly got out and dried off, and headed back downstairs to find the Jc had woken up at last and was eating a bowl of cereal. As he ate, I rinsed off the breakfast dishes and sang as I put them in the dishwasher. Lance joined me in the chore and the singing. When we finished, we turned to see Lita standing in the doorway of the dining room, Jc right behind her, both looking at us.
   
“Did you guys know you could do that?” Lita asked.
   
“Do what? Clean dishes? Yeah, we did.” Lance said, trying to hold back a smile.
   
“No, not that. Did you know you could harmonize like that?” Jc said from behind her.
   
“Yeah. We kinda found out yesterday. Why?” I said.
   
“It just sounded so nice.” Lita said.
   
“Nice? That was freakin’ beautiful. They’re perfect for each other vocally.” Jc said. I looked at Lance and saw that he was blushing.

“So what are we doing today?” I asked Lance.
   
“Well, Jc told me that he planned on taking Amelita out, so how about we just hang around here? Is that alright with you?”
   
“Totally.”
   
We bummed around my house all morning and had a small lunch of sandwiches and settled in to watch a TV movie. I must have been tired, because I fell asleep during the movie and awoke to find Lance had left, but he left a note.

    Jadene,
        Sorry I wasn’t here to see you wake up. I had a few errands to run, I will be back around 4:30, I’ll make dinner tonight.
                            Lance

I looked at the clock. 4:15. I went upstairs to my bedroom and stretched out on the bed and read the book I had been working on.
   
“Hey baby.” Lance’s deep voice says from the doorway. I look up to see him standing there.
   
“Hey.” I said, closing my book.
   
“Dinner will be at 6. Dress will be dressy casual.” He said. I smiled.
   
“Alright. Need any help?”
   
“Nah. I’ll get it done.” He disappeared from the doorway. I went back to my book. At five thirty, I put my book down and got dressed in the dress and shoes he bought me. At six, I headed to the stairs and saw Lance standing at the foot, looking up at me and smiling. I smiled back at him as I descended down the stairs.
   
“You look beautiful. Like an angel.” he said.
   
“You clean up well yourself, Lance.” I said as he took my arm and handed me a single red rose. He lead me to the dining room.
   
When he opened the door, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He had transformed it. There were rose petals of every shade imaginable all over the place, a bouquet of what looked like 11 red roses in the center. There were two pink and two white taper candles  between the roses and the plates, one of each on either side.
   
Lance leads me to my seat and pulled it out for me. I put the rose in the vase and sat down. I put the napkin on my lap as Lance disappeared to the kitchen. He brought in the dinner, and we ate in a comfortable silence. Just before dessert, Lance broke the silence.
   
“I need to ask you something, but first let me say something. Jadene, I have fallen in love with you. I can’t believe how fast this has all happened, but I know that you’re the one I’m meant to be with. Will you marry me?”

“Will you marry me?” Lance repeated after he had gotten down on one knee next to me, looking into my eyes. I couldn’t speak, I was stunned. I looked into his beautiful green eyes.
   
“Yes.” I somehow manage to whisper. Lance breaks into a huge grin and gets a box out of his pocket and opens it. He pulls out a diamond solitaire ring and takes my left hand and puts it on my ring finger. He adjusts himself so that his face is even with mine and he kisses me.
   
“You just made my dream come true. I love you.” he whispered before he got up. He went into the kitchen and brought back a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He pops the champagne open and pours us each a glass and hands mine to me. I take it.
   
“To the future Mrs. Bass.” Lance said, clinking his glass with mine. We took a sip.
   
“To our union.” I said and we clinked glasses again. He looked at me over his glass.
   
“I feel a bit tired, do you?” he said as low as he possibly could. I grinned back.
   
“Yeah, you know, I do feel a bit tired.” I said. I stood up and grabbed the champagne bottle and headed for the stairs. I turned slightly and heard Lance following me. I headed up to my bedroom and put the champagne bottle on the nightstand and turned into Lance’s arms and kissed him.
   
The next thing I can remember was morning. I woke up with a bad headache and when I looked down, I saw that I was wearing a shirt and Lance was next to me, covered as far as I could tell, by only the blanket.
   
“OH MY GOD!” I said a bit loudly. Lance jumped awake.
   
“Whazz matter?” he asked sleepily.
   
“We slept together!” I said, jumping out of bed and grabbing some clothes. After I threw on my clothes I headed downstairs. Lita was in the kitchen.
   
“I called you off from work today. You looked like you needed it. How was your night?” she asked and I got some coffee.
   
“It was unbelievable.” I said. I sat down at the table and rubbed my face with my hands.
   
“Um, Jadene?” Lita asked.
   
“What?”
   
“Where did you get that ring?” I brought my hands down and looked at my ring.
   
“Lance.” I said. Lita looked at me closely.
   
“You’ve known him for what, four days? And he’s buying you jewelry like that already?”
   
“Lita, you can be so thick headed sometimes. Lance asked me to marry him last night and I said yes.”
   
“Wha?” she asked. I sighed.
   
“I’m engaged. You know, ready to get married?” I asked. I knew she understood me, it was just taking time to sink in. I just wasn’t in the mood to play around like this. I had a huge headache and I was still upset about what happened the night before. At that moment, Lance stumbled into the kitchen, shielding his eyes from the sunlight.
   
“Congrats.” Lita said, watching him pour himself some coffee. I knew then that she was happy for me, even though she was still shocked.

Lance and I decided that the wedding would be in six months. We had told the guys and my closest friends, but we were still figuring out how to tell our families. My friends were as shocked as the guys were. Jc asked Lita to be his steady girlfriend. We thought it was adorable that he thought to ask. Amelita was going to be my maid of honor, and I was figuring out who would be the bridesmaids. I asked Pembroke and Remi, but Pembroke had to turn it down because she had to be in Maine for work when we were going to have the ceremony, so I decided to place a call in to Tabitha and see if she would do it.
   
“Lance, have you decided on the best man yet?” I asked him one night in bed. He was moving in the next day. He was having troubles deciding who should be his best man, but he was down to either Joey or Jc.
   
“Not yet. I have some time though, don’t I?” he asked. He was right, he did have time, but I urged him again to keep thinking about it. Tabitha had agreed to be a bridesmaid, and it would be nice to have everyone in the wedding figured out.

*      *     *
   
“Jadene, I think you should see a doctor about this. It’s been going on for more than a month.” Lance said as he sat down next to me, having just found me with my head stuck halfway down the toilet again. I pull up my head just enough to see him.
   
“Fu-” I manage to say before I started retching again. I felt his hand on my back, rubbing circles onto it. I managed to look up a bit this round and Lance pulled my hair back from my face and redid my loose ponytail. I looked over at him, still shaking and feeling weak.
   
“You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?” I asked, looking into his worried green eyes. He just searched my eyes with his.
   
“Yes, I am.”

“We have your results now, Jadene. You are pregnant. About 5 weeks, so your due date is in approximately eight months. Here’s a few leaflets about what to expect, and I’ll see you next month.” The doctor handed me a pile of papers and left the room, leaving me to stare at the door, open-mouthed. I slowly got off the papered bed and walked out of the office to the receptionist’s desk.
   
After I had made an appointment for the following month, I turned to find Lance in the waiting room. He was leafing through a magazine, trying not to look overly embarrassed while also trying to blend in. I walked up to him and motioned that we could leave. We got out into his car before he turned to me.
   
“Well?”
   
“We have about eight months to get ready.” I said, facing him, but still not really looking at him. I saw him take a deep breath. He drove home, while I stared out the window, not really seeing the passing scenery.
   
“Amelita? Are you home? I called out. Lance had dropped me off, and told me that he would be back, that he wanted to go for a drive.
   
“Yes, We’re in the backyard!” she called out. I walked out to find her and Jc by the pool. She took one look at me and came running over to me and gave me a huge hug.
   
“What’s wrong?” she asked me. I shook my head as tears welled up in my eyes. She held me out at an arm’s length and tried to read my eyes. Suddenly she wrapped me back into a hug and I heard her murmer in my ear.
   
“It’ll work out, T. I know it will. You and Lance are meant for each other.” I looked at her as she pulled away.
   
“But a baby, Lita? How could we have let it happen?” I said.
   
“Baby?” Jc said. I hadn’t noticed that he had come up behind Lita and was standing there, watching us. He had a worried look on his face. I nodded and he then came over and wrapped me in a hug.
   
“Then I should congratulate you and Jimmy, shouldn’t I?” I shrugged.
   
“And where is he?” Lita asked. I shrugged again. Jc looked me over, then put his hands on my shoulders.
   
“Look, Jadene. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I feel I have to tell you this. I have known Jimmy for years. And I’ve never seen him as happy as he’s been since he met you. I know him, and I know you well enough to know that this wasn’t planned, but yet, it’s happening. It’s going to be a wild ride, and it would be even if you weren’t pregnant. I  know Jimmy, and after this initial shock wears off, he’ll come up with a plan to make this work. He always does.”
   
While Jc was making his little speech, I thought about it. It was true. Lance, though we both suspected this, was in as much shock as I was at the moment, but he would come up with a plan that would make this work in the long run. When Jc had finished, I looked into his caring blue eyes.
   
“Thank you.” I whispered. He just smiled at me and hugged me again. Lita was looking at him with awe written all over her face.
   
“If you ever need to talk, you can always come to me.” Jc whispered before pulling away. I nodded as he pulled away. I smiled at them and then went into the house to await my fiancée. We had some figuring to do.

After a long talk, Lance and I had decided to tell the guys as soon as possible, and his family also. I didn’t talk to my parents often, and figured that the next time I got around to calling them I’d tell them. We were going to have a dinner again, to make a few announcements.
   
“Alright, alright. Lance and I have something we need to tell you guys.” I said, clinking my glass with my fork during dessert. Every one quieted down, with the exception of Chris and Joey. Joey was trying to eat his cake while Chris flung bits of food at him. One piece of cake with frosting landed in his glass and Joey got mad and flung a forkful of icing at Chris, hitting him square in the forehead. Amelita got impatient and flung what was left of her cake at their end of the table, and it hit the table and splattered spectacularly. Chris and Joey looked over at her, and saw the look on her face and tried to settle down in the mist of the laughter of everyone else. Once it died back down again, I tried again.
   
“Well, now I have something else to say too. Joey, Chris, you are going to play the busboy game when we’re done here.” Chris and Joey opened their mouths to protest, but shut them quickly as they got looks from both Lita and me. I looked around the table before starting again.
   
“Lita and I have been talking. Lance joined in for a lot of this talk, and the three of us would like to invite the rest of you to move in, if you would like. I mean, hell, there’s enough room for everyone, so nobody has to share a room unless they want to.” I smiled as I said this part. All I got from everyone except Jc were confused looks. I went on.
   
“We decided to ask you this because Lance and I are going to need some help in a few month’s time. Yes, our wedding is in five months, but in about eight months, there’ll be a baby Bass to keep us busy.” After this had some time to sink in, the table erupted again.
   
“No way! I’m not the first!” Joey said.
   
“Cool! Someone to spoil rotten!” Chris added.
   
“Wha?” Justin added. Lance laughed at Justin.
   
“What’s wrong, Curly top?” he asked. Justin shook his head and got up from the table and left. I threw a glance at Lita and saw that Jc and Lance were doing the same. Jc sighed and followed Justin. I looked at Lance and he nuzzled my neck.

“Hey Tabitha. What up?”
   
“Hey girl. Not much. What up with you?”
   
“Well, I was wondering if you would like to move in with us. I mean, there is more than enough room here for everyone. We’re also asking Lance’s friends as well as Pembroke and Remi. And there will be hot guys here.” I said the last sentence, knowing that would be what Tabitha would want to hear.
   
“Hot guys? I’m in. Give me a few weeks to get things situated here.” Tabitha said. I smiled to myself. Tabitha was never one to pass up anything to do with good looking guys. We made arrangements for her to move in, and I decided to wait until she was here in person to spring the baby news on her. It really isn’t something you spring on people over the phone. I chuckled as I hung up the phone. Lance looked up from the book of invitation samples.
   
“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Well, I was just thinking how I didn’t tell Tabitha about the baby, that it’s not really something you should tell to people over the phone, and yet, that’s how I plan to tell my parents, when I get around to it, that is.” Lance put down the invitation he was holding.

“You still haven’t told them? My mother’s excited about it. She’s not to happy that it’s happening now, but she’s still excited about it.”

“That’s your mother. You don’t know my parents. I can hear it now. ‘You’re such a disgrace. Your brothers waited until they were married to have sex. Why couldn’t you?’ Dad would practically disown me. They don’t need to know until we can’t hide it anymore.” I sat down next to him and looked at the sample he was looking at.
   
“I like that one.” I picked it up from his lap. Lance looked back down at it, still frowning.
   
“Yeah. Me too.” he said. I smiled.
   
“So I guess that’s one less thing we have to choose.” I said as I put it in the pocket. Lance closed the book and I noticed how tired I was. I stood up and stretched.
   
“I think I’m going to take a nap. I’m tired.”
   
After my nap, I wandered down to the kitchen to find Lance looking through the fridge. Jc came in through the backdoor.
   
“Oh good. It’s just the two of you. I need some help from you guys.” he said. Lance pulled his head out of the fridge and looked at Jc with a raised eyebrow.
   
“Well, what is it?” he asked. Jc took a deep breath.
   
“I want to ask Amelita to marry me. She’s so amazing. I want to do the whole romantic dinner thing, but you know me Lance. The only thing I can cook is tea. I don’t want her to remember the big night because the dinner burned and we had to have pizza or something. I want her to remember it for what I ask her. Do you guys think you could make dinner then clear everyone out for a few hours?”
   
Lance looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders. Why not? If Jc wanted to marry Lita, that was fine with me. Lance turned back to Jc.
   
“Sure C. We’ll help.”

As it turned out, the dinner that Jc had planned got postponed. In all the confusion of everyone moving in, and with his job, he caught the flu. So on the night he wanted to do it, he was lying on the couch in the living room while everyone fed him soup and crackers. Lita sat with him most of the week, reading a novel to him. We don’t know if it was because the book was boring or if the sound of her voice did it, but Jc slept most of the time. I tried to keep my distance from him, not wanting to get sick myself, with the baby and all, so I made a huge pot of soup for him.
   
I had my two month check up, and everything was going smoothly. Tabitha had moved in, and now knew about the baby. She was shocked at first, but excitement was starting to take over.
   
The big night came again, now that Jc was better. Lance and I talked everyone into a night of bowling, maybe even a movie too. Once dinner was made for Jc and Lita, everyone else left, and we had a ball bowling. We kidded each other, and made funny names for the score board. After a game or two, we headed to an ice-cream place and had dessert. In the midst of Chris and Joey making cracks about the women that had just walked in, Lance’s pager went off. He looked down at the number, then up at me and smiled. I leaned over to him.
   
“Did he say what she answered?” I asked, quiet enough that nobody else heard, which wasn’t hard as they were all laughing at Joey’s last joke. Lance nodded. I searched his eyes and found the answer there. I smiled and watched the other guys and waited until they were done to say that I was tired.
   
“DUDE! A club! I want to go clubbing!” Joey whined from the backseat of Lance’s car.
   
“And for the last time, Joe. I’m tired. After we get home and congratulate Jc and Lita, you can go clubbing. I want to go to bed.” I said from my seat next to Lance. Lance threw a glance at me and smirked.
   
As soon as we arrived home, I practically threw myself into the house.
   
“Lita! Jc! We’re home!” I called out. Lita’s answer came from the living room. I found on the couch, cuddling. The smile on Lita’s face couldn’t be wider, and Jc looked content and relived. Lita finally noticed me, and jumped up and hugged me, tears coming down her face as she pulled back and showed me her left hand. On it is a diamond in the shape of a star, on a thin silver band. I smiled and looked over at Jc.
   
“That’s an awesome ring.” I said to both of them. As everyone else streamed in, they all looked at Lita’s new ring, and then Joey talked Chris, Remi and Tabitha into clubbing, and as they left, Lance and I headed to bed.

I couldn’t believe how fast time was going by. My wedding was coming up in two months, Lita and Jc chose to have their wedding right before Christmas, in about eight months. Lance’s birthday was coming up next week, and I knew that I would need help with what I was planning. I was happy when I found Lita up before everyone else one morning.
   
“Lita?”
   
“What Jadene?”
   
“Lance’s birthday is next week. Do you think you can convince everyone to clear out for a few hours that night? I want to give him a night he’ll never forget.” Lita raised her eyebrows at this comment, but decided not to ask.
   
“Sure. I’ll try, at least.” she said before going back to her cereal. I went to the fridge and made myself an omelet, then got ready for work. At lunchtime, I head out to my car to go get something to eat, and I find Lance leaning against the driver’s door. He joins me for lunch, and gives me a lingering kiss as I head back to work.
   
After work, I got some gas and some gum, then headed home. I had trouble getting into the driveway, as there was an unfamiliar car in it, and I got out and headed in. It seemed totally normal on the inside of the house, so I headed up to the bathroom I was sharing with Lance and took a shower, then as nothing abnormal seemed to be going on when I got out, I decided to take a short nap. Lance woke me up when dinner was ready. I made sure my hair was up alright and headed downstairs to find the owners of the odd car. Sitting at the dining room table were my parents.

“Hi Mom. Hi Dad.” I manage to say. They just sat and looked at me.
   
“Hi Jadene.” Mom finally said. Lance came in behind me and gave me a nudge. I sat down across from them. Dad cleared his throat.
   
“Well, this James here seems like a nice young man. He was nice enough to take us on a tour of the town after we got here this afternoon. What he wouldn’t tell us was what he was doing in this house when we got here. He said that you should be the one to tell us.” Dad said. I felt Lance’s hand find mine under the table. I took a deep breath and sighed.
   
“Lance lives here. So does Remi, Pembroke, Tabitha, Chris, Joey, Jc and Justin,“ I paused here before going on, “Jc is Lita’s fiancée, and Lance is mine. And also, Lance and I are having a baby so we asked our closest friends to move in with us so they could help us.“ I said in one long breath.
   
It took a few minutes for everything to soak in. Mom’s face paled, and Dad’s reddened.
   
“James is your what?” Mom asked. Dad went the other way.
   
“Baby? I thought you were saving yourself for marriage!” he practically yelled. The shouting made Lita and Jc come running in from the kitchen. Lita saw who was there and her eyes widened and she grabbed Jc’s arm and dragged him back into the kitchen, ignoring his protests. In the silence that followed Dad’s statement, I could hear her explaining what was going on to Jc. Mom finally started to get the color back in her face.
   
“How long did you know each other before you got engaged?” she asked quietly, with a lot of disappointment in her voice.
   
I looked at Lance before I answered.
   
“Four days.” This statement was greeted by more shouting. This time it was both parents.
   
“FOUR DAYS?”
   
“DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT COULD BE? WHAT IF HE’S AN AXE MURDERER?” I shrunk back into my seat and looked up at my parents.
   
“Dad, he’s not an axe murderer. He’s a freakin’ pop star. The point is, we love each other, we’re getting married, and we’re having a baby.” I get up and leave the room and head to our bedroom. I slammed the door and sat on the bed and let the tears come. I hated when I had to talk to my parents. They always, without fail, made me feel like I was thirteen years old again, asking if I could go see a PG-13 movie or something. After a few minutes, Lance came in and sat down on the bed next to me. He put his arms around me and just held me while I tried to calm myself down.
   
“Shhh. Jadene. It’ll be alright. So your parents are a bit shocked, but I still love you, and we’re going to get married, and our baby will be the most beautiful in the world, and everything will work out.” he murmured into my ear as he gently rocked me back and forth. I finally settled down enough to talk.
   
“It’s just, every time I have to talk to them I feel like I’m a teen again. They’re just so…cold. It’s like they want me to leave you, get an abortion and be miserable the rest of my life.” I managed between sobs. Lance couldn’t come up with something to say to that, so he just held me as I cried myself to exhaustion.

Lance called me in sick the next morning, and by the time I ventured downstairs, my parents had left. In fact, I was the only one home. The guys had an interview that morning, and a CD signing that afternoon. I sighed as I poured myself some cereal. Just as I was about to take the first bite, the phone rang. I decided to let the machine get it, but I jumped up and ran to the machine when I heard the message. It was Johnny, the guy’s manager, saying that they were nominated for some award, and I was just so happy about it that I let out a long scream and grabbed the phone and called Lance. I got his voicemail and left him a message to call me back, and then went to finish my breakfast. Lance called back about a half hour later, and I told him the news. He told the others about it, and I heard them talking about it. I smiled as Lance told me how much he loved me, and we hung up.
   
After I took a shower, I curled up on the couch and started looking through a baby name book, and then watched some movie that was on TV. I could have, and probably should have been doing some household chores, but I wasn’t in the mood for it. Late in the afternoon, a thought struck me. I knew that I would have to talk to Lance about us. I got up from my nest and made dinner as everyone started to come home. When dinner was ready, I pulled Lance aside and took him outside with our dinners.
   
“What are we going to do about us?” I asked when we were about halfway done.
   
“What do you mean?” he said, his mouth still half full.
   
“Well, it’s been easy so far, to keep quiet about us, as I haven’t been anywhere important with you guys. But going to this award show, well, people aren’t stupid. They’re going to figure something out.” I said, pushing my food around on the plate with my fork. Lance finished his mouthful and looked at me.
   
“So we’ll go public then. No biggie.” he said. I stared at him, my mouth agape. He’s so awesome. He didn’t care what people thought of him, of me, of us. He simplified everything.
   
By the end of the night, it seemed as everyone was going to the award show. Everyone that is, except Pembroke.

“Tell me again why you haven’t asked her.”
   
Justin sighed.
   
“Why do you care?”
   
“Because she’s one of my best friends, and she’s the only one of us that is not going to the award show. I’ve known her since I was five. It hurts me to see her so upset over this.”
   
Justin sat down on his bed and looked at his fingers.
   
“She’s cool and everything, but…”
   
“But what?”
   
“She’s so controlling. She wants to know what I’m doing all the time, and it’s like she doesn’t trust me. I can’t stand that. I need SOME space.”
   
I unfolded my arms and sat next to Justin on the bed. He turned and looked at me.
   
“Life’s been hard on her. Give her some time, she’ll come around.”
   
“Will she?”
   
“I’m sure of it.” I said. I smiled at Justin. He smiled back at me.
   
“Thanks, Jadene. I can see what Lance sees in you. You really care about your friends.”
   
“Thanks.” I said as I stood up. I was at the door when I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to see what Justin wanted and was met by his mouth on mine. When I felt his tongue trying to get into my mouth, I was finally able to pull away.
   
“Justin! What are you doing? I love Lance. I’m engaged to Lance…”
   
Justin didn’t seem to pay me any attention. He leaned his head forward so that it was resting on my shoulder.
   
“Fuck Lance. I love you.” he whispers. I somehow manage to get out of his grip and get into my bedroom.

“..and then he kissed me…” I stopped as my sobs came back. Lance rubbed my back. Once I could, I continued.
   
“Then he told me that he loved me.” I heard Lance suck in a breath. I look up at him though my tears.
   
“What are we going to do about it?” I ask him. Lance just stared off into the distance and shook his head. We were just sitting there, trying to figure out what to do, when there was a loud noise from down the hall. Lance jumped up and looked out the doorway. When he took off running towards the direction of Justin’s bedroom, I got up and followed.
   
The door to Justin’s room was closed, but you could still hear what was going on inside it.
   
“YOU KISSED HER!! YOU KISSED MY BEST FRIEND!!” We heard Pembroke’s voice yelling, then the sound of something hitting the wall.
   
“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, YOU CONTROLLING SON OF A BIOCTH?” Justin yelled back. I looked at Lance, wide eyed. That was not something you would yell at Pembroke and get away with. I cringed as the sound of breaking glass came through the door.
   
Lance reached out to knock on the door, when it was pulled open. Pembroke pushed past us, and everyone else that had arrived behind us. Lance looked at me, then went in to see if Justin was alright, while I went after Pembroke.
   
I found Pembroke out front, in her car, but she wasn’t going anywhere. She was sitting in the driver’s seat and was crying. I rapped on the window, and she looked up and saw that it was me, and flipped me the finger. I started pleading with her when Tabitha and Amelita showed up behind me.
   
“Let me try.” Tabitha whispered into my ear. Lita took my arm and lead me back into the house and sat me down at the kitchen table and made me some tea.
   
“What happened there?” she asked quietly. I took a sip of the tea and explained what had happened, and when I finished with what I knew, Lita sat in a stunned silence.
   
“Well, I guess something had to give.” she said. I shrugged. Tabitha came in with Pembroke in tow. She sat down with us.
   
“Sorry.” she said. I looked at her.
   
“For what?”
   
“I was just walking by, and I heard you and Lance talking. When you said Justin’s name, I stopped and listened, I knew I shouldn’t have, but I did.”
   
I smiled at her.
   
“It’s alright. We wouldn’t have told you that way, but we probably would have told you.” Pembroke looked at me with tears in her eyes.
   
“You are the best friend I could ask for. Thank you. I’ll make this situation easier. I’m going to move out.”
   
“You don’t have to.”
   
“It’s for the best. I’ll move out as soon as I can. Thanks for letting me live here, it’s been really fun.”

I slowly turned from where I was standing at the end of the driveway and put my hand on my now expanding at the speed of sound abdomen, and headed back into the house. Pembroke had just pulled out with the end of her things in her car. We were flying out to where the award show was being held in three days. I had a doctor appointment the next day, and then we were going to go dress shopping. I met Lance at the front door. He gave me a hug.
   
The next day, we listened to the heart beat, and they even did an ultra sound, and our baby was a little moving blur on a monitor. It was an amazing sight, to see a new human being within someone else. When we left the doctor’s office, weighed down with pictures of the baby, we headed to a department store, and had a ball choosing a dress for me to wear. We decided on a black dress with an empire waist line, but also had draping material in the front, so even I couldn’t tell that I was pregnant. We got some black flat shoes to go with it, and we headed home.

   
“You must be Johnny.” I said, letting him in. Johnny was going with us to the award show, and he figured he might as well meet us. Once he was in the living room, I called up the stairs and towards the back door. I turned to Johnny.
   
“I’m Jadene, Lance’s fiancée.” I said, extending my hand to shake his. As we shook hands, we heard voices. I turned to see Lance and Justin coming down the stairs, whispering to each other. Jc and Lita appeared, followed by Chris, Remi, Joey and Tabitha. I took the time to introduce everyone. It didn’t take to long to get to know him, and he seemed to like us. I could tell that everything would go smoothly.

“So, Jadene. How did you meet Lance?” Johnny asked. We were on the plane, heading to the award show. He was sitting next to me, in the window seat. On my other side, Lance was sleeping.
   
“Well, we just kinda bumped into each other at a drugstore. We complimented each other, and exchanged email addresses. We talked online, then we had a big dinner for everyone to meet everyone, and we just kind of realized that we were meant to be, and here we are now.” I placed my hand on my abdomen.
   
“Though this wasn’t in the plans. I would have liked to have waited a few more years before we had children, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be that way.” I sighed and looked at my sleeping fiancée.
   
“How far along are you?” Johnny asked. I turned back at him.
   
“I’m due in November, about three months from now.” I said. Johnny quickly did the math in his head.
   
“So you’re about five months?”
   
“Actually closer to six.”
   
Johnny and I chatted a bit longer until I too got sleepy and decided to take a nap. I got a pillow and started to doze off when I felt a funny thing in my abdomen. Like a little concentrated push. I woke right back up and thought for a moment. I felt it again. It suddenly hit me what I was feeling. I was feeling the baby kick. I nudged Lance, and he woke up to look at me.
   
“The baby is kicking.” I whispered to him. It took him a moment to realize what I was saying.
   
“You can feel it?” he whispered back. I nodded. He smiled and kissed my cheek.
   
“I love you.”
   
“I love you too.” At that moment, Lita turned around from in front of us.
   
“What’s up?”
   
“The baby kicked.”
   
“No way. Really?” I nodded. Now Joey was listening to us.
   
“Why don’t you kick it back?”
   
“Ha. Ha. Very funny Fatone.” I said.
   
The flight was uneventful from then and I was glad to go out in the sunshine of LA when we landed. We checked into our hotel room and I stretched out on the bed and took a nap.

I awoke in Lance’s arms and moved them and got up to head to the bathroom yet again. When I came out of the bathroom, Lance was sitting up in bed, deep in thought.
   
“What’s up?” I ask. He shook his head.
   
“Depends. What do you want to do?”
   
“See what everyone else is up to.” So we left our room and went to Jc and Lita’s room. Lance knocked on the door, and everyone was there, looking slightly guilty when we walked in. I tried to ignore that, figuring they were probably planning something. We found out that Lita and Jc were going to an art museum, Chris, Joey, Tabitha and Remi were going to a mall, and Justin was going to go to a different one. Lance put his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear.
   
“This is perfect. I have an idea for us.” I turned to see the look on his face, and I knew he was hoping everyone would be busy, so that we could be alone. We left everyone and headed back to our room. I ordered some drinks for us, while Lance set up the VCR in the room and put in a tape. When our order came up, we snuggled up together on the couch. Lance hit the play button, and the video from our last ultrasound came on the screen.
   
“Lance! This is so nice! I love you.” I said, and I kissed him. He smiled when we parted.
   
“I thought you would like this. I love you too.” I leaned my head onto his shoulder.
   
“I can’t believe we’re getting married in two weeks. And my birthday is next week.” I said. Lance nuzzled his chin against my head.
   
“I can’t believe I found you. You are an angel sent from heaven.” he started humming “Please Don’t Go” from No Mercy, eventually singing softly while the tape of our child played.
   
“Please don’t go, please don’t go, you’re the only angel I know…” I listened to his beautiful voice as I drifted off into a content sleep.

“Jadene, honey. Time to get up. Your limo will be here in five minutes.” Lance was gently shaking me awake. I sat up and gave him an evil look as I got out of bed. I threw on the shirt Joey had gave me that said. “I’m pregnant, up and dressed. What more do you want?” and a pair of baggy sweatpants and went into the bathroom. I got ready for my day at the spa with the girls, so that we could be ready for tonight. I waddled out of the bathroom and was putting my CD player in my bag when Lance came back from the hotel restaurant. He handed me a bagel. I took a bite of it, and watched as he went into the bathroom. I still couldn’t believe that we were together, and it was still harder to believe that we were getting married and even though it was apparent, I still couldn’t believe we were having a baby. Lance smiled as he came out of the bathroom.
   
“What are you thinking?”
   
“That we should change our wedding song to that one you were singing last night.”
   
“No Mercy?”
   
“Yeah. That one. I love that song.”
   
“If you want, that’s fine with me.” He crossed the room and gave me a hug. I hugged him back, then headed downstairs and met everyone in the lobby. I met Britney, Justin’s date, and she asked me if I was pregnant. Lita gave her this funny look.
   
“Would I be wearing this shirt if I wasn’t?” I asked her. She turned red and mumbled an apology. Lita and Remi exchanged glances, and Tabitha caught my eye, and I knew she was trying not to laugh. We got into the limo and headed to the spa, and we relaxed all day while we were treated and our makeup and hair were done for us. When we were dressed and ready, we all stood in front of a mirror, examining how we looked. We looked so beautiful, and we couldn’t believe it. We got back in the limo to go pick up the guys and have dinner before we went to the show.

“Wow.” Lance was nearly speechless when he got into the limo and saw me. I giggled and looked across the limo at Jc, who had climbed in after Lance. He was also speechless. It was a rare thing for Jc Chasez to be silent. I caught Lita’s eye and we both just started laughing. Lance looked over at Jc and they shrugged together. Chris talked everyone to dinner at Taco Bell, but I only got a salad, not wanting to press the gas issue more then what it already was. We got to the venue, and the guys each got out and helped us out. We had to walk a bit away from them while they answered questions on the way in. It was a mad house on the carpet. I was glad when we got in and found our seats. The show started, and I couldn’t believe I was at the show. The guys had a performance coming up, and they got up and headed backstage to get ready for it. When they got on stage to perform, the whole place seemed to erupt with screaming.
   
I sat back and watched the guys sing one of my favorite songs of theirs, and Jc looked straight at Amelita and me during our favorite part of the song. I made a face at him, and he nudged Lance and pointed at us. Lance smiled as they finished the song. After they went backstage, they took a few minutes to come back out and sit back down with us.
   
“That was beautiful.” I said to Lance as he took my hand. He smiled and squeezed it.
   
After many awards were given out, the category that they were nominated for came up. The announcer introduced the presenter, I was in for a shock. It was going to be someone I knew from high school.
   
“Oh my gosh!” I said as I leaned forward to catch Tabitha’s eyes. I heard Lita gasp next to me, and Tabitha’s mouth was hanging open. Who knew that she went on to win a gold medal at the Olympics?
   
“Now the nominees for best group are…” she said. The monitors behind her played little clips of the groups that were nominated. When the segment was over, Esther picked up an enevlope and started to open it.
   
“And the winner is….”

“*N Sync!” she said. Lita let out a little scream as “It‘s Gonna Be Me” started playing. The guys stood up, and I stood up too. I wanted to get onstage and see Esther. We headed up to the stage, and Chris took the award as Jc thanked everyone for the group. I hugged Esther and whispered who I was into her ear.
   
“Oh my gosh! Jadene! How have you been?” I showed her my left hand and pointed to Lance. She whispered congratulations and I hugged her again as Lance started talking.
   
“I also want to thank my beautiful angel,” he turned and gestured me up to him. I walked up and stood next to him.
   
“This woman here has given a new meaning to my life, and I can’t wait for our wedding.” he said. I smiled at him and saw the other guys exchange glances to each other behind Lance’s back. We headed back stage, where Lita, Remi and Tabitha met us. Esther hugged each one of us, and we talked about everything we’d been up to since we graduated. I excused myself to go to the restroom. When I got back. I was telling Esther about the wedding, and was about to invite her when I slumped forward. Lance caught me, and lowered me gently to the floor, calling my name softly. Everyone was screaming, and there was a lot of running going on around us, but the sounds were fading. All I could think of, through my memories that were projecting themselves on my eyelids like a movie was the pain. I concentrated on the sound of Lance’s voice and forced myself to open my eyes. I focused them the best I could on Lance’s face to see the look of pure terror on his face, and the tears in his eyes. Even with all my strength, his face was sliding slowly out of focus.
   
“Sing me my song.” I managed to say. Lance started to shake his head, but started singing “Please Don’t Go” softly. I slowly closed my eyes. Lance stopped singing.
   
“I love you.” I heard him say.
   
“I love you too. I’ll never stop.” I said, then the world went black.

If you leave me
You let a good thing fall apart
If you deceive me
You leave a pain inside my heart
I really need you
Just like the air I need to breathe
I'll stand beside you I'll never leave

Lance looked over at the other side of the altar. The all too familiar pull of his heart, and the tears came back to his eyes, clouding up his vision. He forced himself to look back at the minister. True, Amelita looked like an angelic vision in her white dress, but his eyes kept straying to the figure next to her in the deep red dress. Remi looked very nice in the dress, but Lance couldn't help but wonder how Jadene would have looked in it. Jc nudged him, and he snapped out of his thoughts and handed him the rings. He tried to focus on the ceremony, but it was hard. How could five months have passed already? He was supposed to be wearing a ring on his left hand, just like the one Amelita was placing on Jc's. How could it be five days before Christmas already? This was supposed to be his first Christmas as a husband and father. And yet, as he thought about it, the last five months have been the longest of his life. Five months since everything he had to be joyful about was taken from him. What had started out to be the best year of his life had quickly become the worst. He blinked back the tears, smiling as he tried to imagine Jadene’s face smiling up at him from the bed, where she had just awoken from a nap. The vision of his mind did him in, and he let a tear fall down his cheek, and fall onto his suit. He forced a smile as Amelita and Jc kissed and then went down the aisle.

Please don't go
Please don't go
You're the only angel I know
You were sent from heaven above
To love me forever

"I love you too. I'll never stop."

Jadene went limp in his arms. Lance stared down at her, and started calling her name, shaking her lightly, praying all the while that she would wake up, that this was all a nightmare. The noise of the room returned to his ears, full volume. A paramedic appeared at his side, and he stood back to let them work on her. Someone put their hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Jc standing there, fear written into his features. Beside him, Amelita was crying, and all around him were the guys and Jadene's closest friends, all looking as bad as he felt. He looked heavenwards and prayed once more, that if they couldn't save Jadene, that at least God would spare their child. Sometime later, after they had gotten to the hospital where an emergency C-section was performed, someone came out to find him. They told him that he had a daughter, but she was so small, they didn't expect her to live very long. They led Lance to the neonatal ICU and suited him up and took him to see his daughter. She was so small, but she was so beautiful. Even though she was born three months early, Lance could see the resemlence she had to her mother. The mother she would never know. The nurse let Lance put this hand into the plastic crib through the plastic gloves on the side. She felt really soft, like a baby should be. Tears welled up in Lance's eyes again, and he left the ICU and sat down. They let him in to see her a few minutes every hour, until the end, and he stood there, stroking her as she went to meet her mother. Lance cried harder as he left the ICU and walked into Amelita and Jc. They tried to comfort him through their pain, saying that it was God's mercy that this all happened. Lance nodded, not really listening, and went to make calls for the final arrangements for them. On what would have been his wedding day, Lance instead watched as they lowered his would be wife and his daugher Mercy into the ground.

Please don't go
Please don't go
I don’t want to be all alone
Say you’re mine and give me tonight
Let's stay together

Lance forced another smile as Lita and Jc left the reception for their honeymoon. He started towards his car when he realized that someone had taken his keys. He sighed and headed back into the loud party, only to bump into Joey, who was standing at the door, holding his keys. Joey led him out to his car, and drove Lance home, trying all the way to get him to talk, until Lance told him to shut up. Once home, Lance stumbled his way around the bedroom he once shared with Jadene, and fell onto the bed, face first, and fell asleep, not wanting to think. If only the thoughts would just go away. But there they were, everytime he closed his eyes, he relived the past year. And it always ended the same, with the stipping of everything he cared for in life, in the space of a few hours. How could he have been that happy? It seemed impossible that he could have been anything but as miserable as he was now.

If you leave me
You're gonna spoil a dream we shared
If you leave me
I'm gonna miss the way you care
I will try harder
I'll make you fall in love again
And I'll be faithful until the end

Lance stumbled out of his car and towards two mounds in the snow. He brushed off the newly fallen snow, and read the headstone again. It seemed so wrong. That should have been the same last name as his on it, and the dates were too close together. He turned to the other and did the same. That one only had one date on it. It seemed much more wrong that his daughter only lived a few short hours, but then again, the murder of the love of his life was wrong too. He knelt between the two stones, and facing Jadene, started to sing the song she had chosen for them to dance to at their wedding.

"Please don't go, please don't go, you're the only angel I know..." he sang softly. The weird thing of it all was how true the words had become in the last five months. The tears started anew, and he didn't even try to stop them as they fell down his face and fell into the snow. He slowly turned around and lie back in the snow and stared up at the sky. Nothing mattered to him anymore. Not his friends, though they were trying to be as comforting as they possibly could, not the music, nothing. It might have been a comfort that the police caught the person that ruined his life forever, but they hadn't. It had been pandemonium backstage at that award show, and the guilty party had slipped away in the chaos. The sky darkened, and Lance closed his eyes, wondering what the last thing was in Jadene's mind before she slipped away from him forever.


Fin.