I yawned and stretched the next morning before rolling over. My eyes were barely opened, but the sun burned like a motherfucker as it shrone in from the balcony. The white flowy curtains were brilliant and there was no sound at all in the house. I blinked a few times, smacking my mouth and rubbing my stomach as I stretched my legs and arms and obnoxiously yawned again. I slept well, very well, and it only made me feel more tired.

I turned my head to the right of me and looked at empty and wrinkled bed stretched out beside me. Justin and Steven were both gone and it made me sad. I was immediately curious about them. I wondered where they went and why they didn't wake me and it inspired me to sit up. I glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside me and it read 12:34PM. Not too bad. I wondered if his entire family were awake already? Did they think I was some lazy bum, sleeping in late?

My paranoia caused me to get up and run into the bathroom to shower. I washed up good and brushed before messing around with my curls (which surprisely didn't look so bad after all). I decided to dress in some brown shorts and a white tank, tossing on a brown, orange, and amber beaded necklace with matching earrings. My flip flops, which I dug from deep within my luggage, were brown as well. I crept out into the hall, hearing some light chatter coming from downstairs. The television could be heard as well and it sounded like SpongeBob. I smiled, flashing back to Justin in my ridiculous slippers on that cold day back in December...

As I neared the stairs, I could see Justin's father and stepfather, along with Steven and Johnathan, sitting around in Justin's sofa's, watching what was clearly SpongeBob on his Plasma television. They all glanced up in my direction as I descended the stairs.

"Good afternoon, Sleepy Head," Randall teased and I sheepishly bowed my head.

"I don't usually sleep in that late," I mumbled, "I guess the flight over here wore me out."

"You don't have to explain yourself," Paul chimmed in, "This old fart has nothing better to do than bother you. Just don't pay him any mind." They both laughed heartily and I giggled.

"Did you guys eat yet?" I asked, "I'm heading towards the kitchen if you want anything."

"We're fine," Paul answered for them both, gesturing toward the coffee table where two cups sat neatly on coasters, "We got some drinks. Lynn left you a plate though. It's covered on the kitchen table."

"Oh," I said, surprised, "Okay, thanks." He nodded and I made my way towards the kitchen, hesitating at the entrance when I spotted Rachel at the open refridgerator door. She was wearing baggy sweat pants and a tank top with her brunette hair pulled up in a messy bun. She was too busy scanning the fridge to acknowledge me as I walked in, taking notice of the plate covered in plastic wrap, sitting in the center of Justin's white table.

"I was ten seconds away from eating that," she voiced suddenly as I was halfway to the table.

"I didn't even know it was here until Paul told me," I revealed and she groaned, severely disappointed.

"He's always ruining things for me," she vented, shutting the fridge with another frustrated groan. I smiled to myself, taking my plate over to the microwave set up on the other side of the kitchen. I placed my plate inside and pressed three minutes into the timer and it started automatically.

"Have you seen Justin?" I asked her as silence engulfed the room. I turned to find her at the kitchen table, sitting down and facing me. She had a family size box of POPS cereal in front of her, but no bowl.

"He went for his run," she said, rolling her eyes before she grabbing the box and placed it on her lap. Two seconds later she was tossing handfuls into her mouth.

"Oh," I said, giving a small nod, "I keep forgetting he's big on exercise. Even when he was barely able to walk around, he was doing little things around my house just so he could move around." She didn't seem all that interested as she continued to look at me and pop cereal into her mouth. I fiddled with my necklace.

"You're a nurse, right?" she asked me, breaking the silence with a random question.

"Yeah," I said, "At Temple University."

"Hmm..." she mumbled thoughtfully, "Is that how you met Justin?"

"Um, kinda," I smirked, "I was coming from work when I found him out in the street. He was pretty messed up."

"Why are you smiling?" she asked, "Justin being messed up isn't funny." My small smirk flattered immediately and I felt the coldness of her tone.

"I wasn't laughing at that," I explained, feeling myself getting defensive. "I was just remembering how scared I was when I saw him and now I see how ridiculous it was for me to fear Justin. I thought he was some type of evil being or something." More silence. Crunch, crunch, crunch. She chewed with her mouth a little too open.

"I don't get it, but if you say so," she finally voiced. I took a deep breath.

"That's fine," I said, 'I guess you had to be there." The hum of the microwave wasn't helping the irritating noise of her crunch, crunch, crunch.

"Do you love him?" she asked as I haulted my actions momentarily. The fork in my hand dropped on the floor, snapping me out my daze as I knelt down to retrieve it. I went over to the sink and rinsed it with soapy sponge by the wall and steaming hot water. "Do you?" Rachel pressed on as I made my way back to the microwave just as it sounded off.

"Yes," I said, retrieving my plate and taking a seat across from her. I tried to distract myself with my food, uncovering it and taking a whiff of the sausage, hash browns, cheese eggs, and bacon Lynn had made for me. It all looked too good. I suddenly longed for the Saturday mornings my mother cooked for us. She worked two jobs after my drunk of a father got kicked out. I was only six at the time, but I could still remember that day. My mother worked her ass off to support us and made sure that every Saturday we had a meal together. I had almost forgotten that. Since I moved out, the Saturday breakfast routine had been cut out and I made myself breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday now.

"Why'd you hesitate to answer me?" Rachel asked, breaking into my thoughts again as I forked some hash browns into my mouth. The salty starchy taste was wonderful against my tongue. I wondered why I never made these.

"I wasn't expecting you to ask that kind of question."

"What kind of question?" she continued, "It was a simple yes or no question."

"You were asking if I loved him," I said, "It just seemed like a really random question."

"I was just curious to know," she explained quietly as I bit into a piece of sausage.

"What?" I asked, "Why?" She shrugged and made a noise.

"Just curious," she told me, "He said you guys were together, but he didn't mention love - not to me anyway."

I shrugged. "We're just trying to figure ourselves out."

"What do you mean?" she asked and I shrugged again.

"I dunno," I told her, "We're just trying to live our lives together and see what happens. I'm a little nervous about the whole celebrity thing."

"What's there to be nervous about?" she asked me and I shrugged yet again.

"I just don't know what to expect from it," I said, "He has a crazy career that comes with a lot of strings attached and I don't want us to be hit with something I don't know how to deal with, ya know?"

"Yeah, I get it," she said, "But I can tell you right now - it's really hard. I mean, it's hard to be his family member, let alone his girlfriend. We miss him like crazy when he's gone for months at a time. He even misses Christmases and Thanksgivings. I remember last year he didn't even call me on my birthday. That wasn't the first time, but I actually had to remind him a week later that it passed. He said he totally forgot, but I just shrugged it off. You get used to be being on the backburners after a while, I guess." I frowned, letting Rachel's words get to me.

"Well, I know it won't be easy, so I'm a bit hesitant about the whole thing," I confessed. "Why did you have to ask if we're in love anyway? Don't we look in love?"

"You look in lust, yes," she giggled and I looked up from my plate.

"What does that mean?" She shrugged.

"You guys are obviously physically attracted to each other. Y'all are always holdin' hands," she explained, "But ... I dunno. Justin was telling me y'all were havin' trouble keeping things together..."

"That doesn't mean we don't love each other," I softly argued, "We're just...adjusting. There was a lot going on when him and I...caught feelings for each other."

"You mean he was in a committed relationship?" she inserted and if my ears served me right, she sounded a little bitter about it.

"It wasn't that committed if she stepped out on him," I said, "I'm not a homewrecker if that's what you're implying."

"I didn't imply anything," she told, popping more cereal into her mouth, "I liked Jessica, is all. Yeah, she messed up, but she loves my cousin. You should've seen how messed up she was when he broke up with her."

"I'm sure she was as devestated as he was when she cheated," I said, "Actually, no, she wasn't. At least he was honest enough to tell his feelings were changing."

"Yeah, after he started a life with you," she snapped, slamming the cereal box on the top of the table. I put down my fork and slowly chewed the egg in my mouth, "Jessica is a good friend of mine. Her and Justin were fine and yeah, they hit a rough patch with the baby dying and all, but they would've made it if you hadn't taken advantage of him the way you did."

"Take advantage!" I scoffed at the absurdity, "I'm sorry that I don't google Justin's love life, but I didn't know he was with her. I didn't force myself onto him either. If anything, he went after me. You might want to get your facts straight before you start accusing people -"

"No, you might want to get your facts straight before you start spreadin' 'em to taken men!" I gasped, pushing myself away from the table to stand up.

"I know you didn't just say that," I clenched my jaw and balled my fists up at my sides. She had stood up as well, giving me the same menacing look that I was sure enough giving to her.

"Why are you so mad, Sash?" she mocked, "It makes you look as guilty as you are."

"I don't know what the fuck your problem is, woman, but you better watch the way you talk to strangers," I warned, "Justin's family or not, I will kick your ass if necessary. Do not test me."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my sweatpants," she said sarcastically before she grabbed her POPS, never taking her eyes off of me. "You try and act like you're innocent, but I know what game you're running. Justin might be blind to it, but he'll see that you're just after what he's got and not what he's really worth."

"I'm not a homewrecker and I, for damn sure, am not a gold digger," I said through gritted teeth, "You'd know that if you knew the first thing about me."

"Whatever," she huffed, slamming her chair back under the table, "You won't be around much longer for me to 'know' you. If this family doesn't approve of you, you're out the door anyway. I wonder what he'll do if his favorite cousin tells him she doesn't approve..." She smiled to herself and it took everything in me not to knock all her teeth out. I still held my fists as she turned to walk out of the kitchen with a smug look on her face. I closed my eyes and counted to 100, trying to calm down, but my fists were still balled up and longed for a face to hit.

"What the hell are you doing?" I snapped my eyes open and Justin stood before me, smiling and sweating. The dogs were barking at the back doors and Trace could be heard with them. All the noise came at me at once as I unclenched my fists. I tried to relax my shoulders as I sighed. "Hello? Earth to Sash?" Justin waved his hands in my face and I grabbed them to hold them down, but ended up lacing my fingers through them.

"Why are you sweating?" I asked, staring at his chest as beads dripped down his neck and disappeared into the fabric of his wife beater.

"Why are you standing in the middle of the kitchen, mad as shit, for no reason?" he countered, unlacing one of his hands to run it through my curls. I relaxed more as his hand cupped my cheek. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

"My answer is longer, so tell me why you're sweating first." He made a noise of disapproval.

"I went for a run with the dogs and Trace," he answered, "What's wrong with you?" He was now concerned and holding my hand tighter like I was going to turn around and run off. A part of me wanted to as Rachel's stupid words replayed in my head.

I wondered if she really was his favorite cousin or if she made it up to scare me. "How close are you and Rachel?" I asked and he furrowed his brows before shrugging.

"We're close," he answered, to my disappointment, "Why?"

"How close is close?" I tried again and he moved his hands from me completely to throw them up in the air in frustration.

"What does this how to do with anything?" he agonized melodramatically, "I hate it when you don't just tell me what's wrong."

"And I hate it when you don't answer my simple questions first," I groaned, "How close is close?" He rolled his eyes to the Heavens before placing them back on me.

"We tell each other a lot. She's not Trace or my mom, but she's probably next in line," he said, "She's my favorite cousin." My heart fell to my stomach before I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep from screaming.

"Well, your cousin hates me," I gushed out, no longer feeling the need to bullshit, "We got into an argument and she pissed me off, so I might've threatened to beat her ass, but I didn't touch her...So there it is. She hates me and I hate her, so I guess this is where you kick me to the side, according to her bitch ass-"

"What did she say to you?" Justin interrupted calmer than I was expecting and even more shocking, he asked what she said to me. It almost sounded like he expected some drama.

"She basically said I was a gold digging homewrecker," I told him, trying not to get angry, "I apparently took advantage of your fragile state and forced myself onto you before I got on my back and 'spread 'em'." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I still want to kick her ass."

"Is that all?" Justin asked and I scoffed.

"Is that all?" I groaned, "Justin, did you hear me? I'm a homewrecker! And a gold digging one at that!" He waved me off.

"She's Jessica's best friend or something," he explained, "She gets really defensive about her. She thinks you stole me away or something. I guess you did, but not the way she sees it as. Rachel's stubborn and doesn't want to accept that I just moved on. She wanted Jess and I to be together forever. She was more excited for the baby than we were..." He sighed, trailing off a bit at the mention of his unborn child. He didn't flinch when he used Jessica's name, but the baby that could've been was a wound that his love for me couldn't heal.

"I didn't know that," I said, breaking into the silence, "I wish you had warned me."

"I didn't think she'd say something to you," he told me, taking my hand again, "I'll talk to her though. I'm glad you didn't beat her up. Rachel thinks she's tougher than she is sometimes. Maybe you should've kicked her ass to teach her a lesson."

"I'm down for that," I quickly volunteered, making him laugh beside me.

"She probably likes you and is just fighting the feeling," he comforted as he began to walk out to the yard, dragging me along unwillingly, "She's like Brian and Brennan yesterday. She's trying to figure you out. See if you're serious about me or not. She's protecting me in a weird way." I rolled my eyes, not believing that somebody as mean as her could care about anybody's feelings or well being.

"I guess," I mumbled, "But I still don't like her." Justin laughed an opened up the sliding doors. Brian and Brennan came running and I took my usually hiding spot behind Justin as they leapt on the both of us, panting, barking, and licking... It was disgusting.

"Now I have to shower again," I whined, looking at the dirt paw prints all over me, not to mention the saliva.

"Well, I have to shower too," Justin smiled at me as he paused to watch Trace run up the yard with the dogs chasing him playfully, "I guess we can finish what we started then, huh?" He winked for emphasis and I smiled as I pretended to think it through.

"I dunno..." I teased, "Let me get back to you on that one."

"Oh, you have to check your vacation schedule?" Justin asked, walking towards me as I nodded, "So you have to schedule me into the vacation I took you on?" I backed away from him as he neared and he broke out into a sprint. I was glad that I predicted this because I jetted off in time for him to miss me by an inch. I giggled and shrieked as he ran after me. Brian and Brennan came running too with Trace not too far behind.

I thought I was winning when I looped and made a sudden u-turn, 'causing him to skid to a stop. I laughed and triumphantly headed towards the safety of the sliding doors, but Justin came out of nowhere and grabbed my waist, actually picking me up to spin me around before we went tumbling into his plush grass. His dogs bombarded us half a second later, jumping and barking all around as we laughed, covered in grass stains. Trace stopped running a few feet back, whistling at Brennan and Brian as he waved around an orange ball. They charged and he tossed it as hard as he could muster. They sped after it as Trace ran behind them away from us.

I tried to catch my breath as Justin pinned me to the ground. He rested his heaving chest against mine to gently kiss my mouth.

"You are a lot faster than I thought," he laughed, pulling back to give us both air.

"You should know better than to underestimate me," I said through a heavy sigh, "But I'm never going to be able to run again. I'm getting too old for that." We both laughed as I sat up and Justin rested back against his legs. In the mist of my immaturity, I tackled his unsuspecting form and straddled his waist the moment his back hit the grass behind him. He groaned and I laughed, pinning his hands above his head.

"I'm going to have a dislocated disk in my spine," he laughed.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do it," I told him, "This is actually kinda fun."

"Breaking my back?" he inquired before reaching up and tickling me. I fell into a fit of giggles and he tried to flip us over. I jumped up though, slapping his hands away and running towards Trace and the dogs. I didn't have to turn around to know he was coming after me, so I just ran with what energy I had left and laughed.

Rachel who?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The women were in the kitchen, cooking up a storm. Lynn was the head cook and had assigned me and Rachel to vegetable peeling. We sat across from each other in silence as I peeled back corn husk and she sliced carrots. I didn't feel safe with her crazy ass holding a knife, but I figured that Justin was in the other room and Lynn seemed to like me enough to stop her niece from killing me.

I didn't try and hide my distain for her. I made sure I was sitting away from her and that I was looking down the entire time. Lynn was giving directions to Joy, who didn't seem to know much about the kitchen or at least Justin's kitchen. Lynn was directing her to every pot, pan, and spoon like she lived here. I wondered if she were here that much. Justin did say she was his best friend... I sort of envied that relationship. My mother was always just ... my mother. Nagging, annoying, overbearring, but there like she was suppose to be. She didn't get invovled into my life unless she wanted to know when I was having babies or getting married. Our friendship never developed. It was just the standard, awkward relationship between mother and daughter.

"Sash, honey, are you done with the potatoes?" Lynn's southern voice filtered through my mind and I grabbed the bowl of peeled pototoes from the table and stood.

"Yeah, they're right here," I told her, handing them to her extended hands. She looked them over and smiled brightly.

"You cook all the time, don't you?" she asked and I shrugged.

"I guess," I said, "I cook for myself all the time. Cheaper than eating out."

"I hope you sit Justin down and teach him something," she told me, "He can make a bowl of cereal and toast. I don't know what I did wrong." We all laughed, but I stopped the moment I heard Rachel's laughter. She was an immediate mood killer in my book.

"I'll try, but I will give him some credit," I told her, "He helped me with dinner once and made the smoothest mashed potatoes I've ever had. They were delicious." Lynn rose a brow and nodded approvingly.

"I'll be damned," she smiled, "He made something...good." I laughed with Joy on that one before I headed back to my spot at the table.

"He's capable of learning," I told her, "He's just too busy picking at your food to help you finish it."

"I'm so glad I'm not the only one who knows that!" Joy said, "He just picks, picks, picks..." We laughed again and Lynn shook her head.

"For a boy who picks and picks, he sure is tiny," she said disapprovingly, "I hope you didn't think we were starving the boy or something when y'all first met."

"Of course not," I assured, "He's naturally that small. He's in really great shape though." Lynn gave me a look, but smiled.

"I'm sure you'd know that..." she mumbled and I felt the blood rushing to my face.

"I wasn't implying -" I tried to explained, but she shushed me.

"Girl, I'm just teasing," she said, "It's okay. I know y'all are attracted to each other. My boy's handsome and you're gorgeous too. Sex is bound to happen." I almost choked on air as I coughed. Joy ran to my side, tapping my back until I told her I was fine.

"I'm sorry," I apologized and Lynn laughed out loud.

"I'm sorry, I'm an open person," she explained, "I guess you don't want to hear your boyfriend's mother discussing your sex life."

"No, it's okay," I said, even though it wasn't, "I guess I'm just not accustom to that kind of ... openness."

"Well, Justin and I talk about everything, so I don't really have that much of a filter," she told me with a shrug. I went back to cutting up some cabbage. The conversation came and went as we moved along the kitchen and prepared dinner. It was surprising comfortable, even with Rachel in the room. We had a few shared laughs that ended quickly as soon as we realized it was happening. The food was smelling better and better and I was getting hungrier by the moment.

"Ma!" Justin's voice shouted out from the other room before he came jogging in.

"What?" Lynn asked as she checked the roast beef in the stove.

"We're gonna get something to snack on," he told her, winking at me when he caught my eye, "We're starving and the food's taking too long."

"It might go faster if we had some more people to help us," Lynn shot back, but Justin waved her off.

"You know I'd just get in the way," he said, creeping up behind her to steal a homefry from the plate on the counter beside her. She slapped his hand away just in the knick of time and he sucked his teeth as we shook our heads at him.

"Always pickin'," Lynn complained.

"You love me," Justin said, kissing her cheek and running away as he yanked up a fry. She swatted at his running figure, but he had made it over to me before she could even turn all the way around.

"Don't hide behind me," I said, leaning away from his crouching, munching form. "I'm not getting smack for you." He gasped dramatically as the ladies laughed (except Rachel).

"So much for loving me," he pouted as he rested his chin on my shoulder, "You're letting these evil women turn you against me." I giggled as he nuzzled his stubble-covered cheek into my neck, hugging me in place as I laughed. I had to practically head butt him to get him off of me, but it worked.

"You're an ass," I laughed as he pulled away from me.

"You're just way too ticklish," he said, standing up straight before poking my shoulder. I squirmed and laughed. "See." I sucked my teeth and he leaned down, kissing my forehead.

"Y'all are too cute," Lynn gushed by the stove Joy was now attending to, "I can't wait for Aunt Clare to meet you. She'll eat you up."

"She literally will eat you," Justin mumbled, "She's like a thousand pounds." I held my mouth agape before a carrot hit Justin's chest.

"That's my mama!" Rachel yelled, tossing another carrot Justin slapped away, "Auntie Lynn!"

"Justin Randall, that's just mean," his mother reprimanded and he had the nerves to hold his hands up like he was innocent and confused.

"Mama, she is!" he whined, "And she eats everything. If she didn't eat everything I wouldn't have said that."

"You know people think I'm fat too, right?" I voiced and Justin rolled his eyes.

"You are not fat," he dismissed, "You're curvy in all the right."

"Which is code for fat," Rachel spat out.

"Shut the hell up, Rachel," Justin growled as I glared at her.

"Justin, please give me permission to whoop her ass, just this one time..." I said and Lynn immediately cut.

"No ass whoopin's today," she said, "Rachel, apologize."

"But-" she started to complain, but Lynn raised her hand.

"Apologize," she said sternly and I smiled smugly.

"I'm sorry..." Rachel mumbled like a little kid and I shrugged.

"Whatever." Justin was still glaring at her and she tried not to meet his gaze.

"You already know what I'm going to say, Rachel," he said in a calm tone, "I'm not trying to send you home this soon, but you were already sticking your nose in my business earlier and I let it go. You got one more chance."

"You're already choosing her over family," Rachel grumbled.

"I'm not choosing anything," he argued back, "I'm asking you to be respectful of my relationship with Sash. She's going to be around for a long time, whether you like it or not." Rachel's eyes shot up at him the moment mine's did as well. I took his hand and gave it a squeeze as my heart shook a little in my chest.

"Are y'all getting married!?!" Lynn said, beaming like a beacon of light. Her smile was wide as hell and I looked at Justin to make sure I wasn't missing anything... like our engagement.

"No, mama, geez..." he sighed, "At least not now." Now my heart was pounding. He wanted to marry me at some point? I was marriage material to him. He said it so casually like it was somethng that was quite the possibility.

"I hope you're joking," Rachel said and Justin turned back to her.

"And if I'm not?" he challenged and she glared at me.

"You're fucking up," she said simply, "You really think that's going to work?"

"Who are you to question whether or not we'll work?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember speaking to you," she shot back.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember giving a damn," I shot back, "I don't know what your problem is, but I think we need to discuss it."

"I don't think we need to do that," Justin said, placing his hand on my shoulder, "Rachel was just shutting up now anyway. Right, Rach?"

"No, I wasn't," she said, "I think we do need to discuss this."

"Rachel, I swear to god -" Justin began before being cut off.

"Don't threaten me!" she told him, "Y'all act like everything's normal when it's not. Why do you think Justin flew half the family up here?" she asked, turning to me. I looked up at Justin whose jaw was so locked it looked like he was going to break the teeth in his mouth... Or break Rachel's face.

"Rachel, shut up," Justin said with a great deal of warning behind his words.

"Then you tell her!" she yelled, "Tell her why we all couldn't just go home to Millington and eat dinner with the entire family. Tell her why you had to yank the kids from school to meet her."

"I thought they were on vacation," I said and Justin glanced down at me.

"They are," he assured before turning back to Rachel. "I'm not telling you again to shut your mouth."

"Rachel, please calm down," Lynn spoke after being extremely quiet. In fact, everybody was extremely quiet. Even the dogs weren't barking and I felt like I was out of the loop somehow.

"Whatever," Rachel said, standing up and slamming her chair in, "I'll pack my stuff and send myself home." She left the kitchen with a huff and Justin's tense form visibly relaxed with a deep breath the moment she was gone.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked and he shook his head before giving my forehead another kiss.

"Nothing," he answered, "That was nothing."

"That didn't sound like nothing," I argued, but he pulled away from me and walked towards the kitchen door.

"Not right now, Sash," he told me quickly before speaking to Lynn, "I'll be back, Ma."

"Okay..." Lynn mumbled before turning back to the roast. Joy was stirring the macaroni and cheese and I was staring at the door Justin disappeared behind without giving me a second glance. I felt like asking Lynn and Joy what the hell had happened, but with the way their backs were to me, I knew that I'd get rejected, so I went back to peeling vegetables in silence. Something shifted and I couldn't tell what the hell it was, but it wasn't a good feeling.