The restaurant was casual, almost a sports bar, but Adah was completely enjoying herself.  She hadn’t been out since that night with Justin, and it was really nice to not have to worry about anything for a minute.  Of course she couldn’t help but worry about Emma, but she knew that her baby was safe with Justin. 

Thinking of Justin was a bad idea for Adah, but it was getting harder and harder to avoid.  Brennan was a great distraction, though, and she was trying really hard to focus on the man next to her.

“Are you having a good time?”  He asked, probably for the millionth time.

“Yes, I am.”  She grinned at him, “Just like I was ten minutes ago.”

He looked sheepish, “Sorry.  You’re just being so quite, it’s making me nervous.”

“I’m sorry, I just keep wondering how Emma is.  It’s not you, I promise.”  She grabbed his hand and gave him her best smile.  He returned it, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Can I get you another drink?”  He nodded at her drink, a ginger ale.  Adah shook her head.

“I’m all set, thanks.  I was thinking maybe we could check out the dessert menu?  I’ve been craving chocolate lately.”

“Sure thing.”  He signaled the waitress, asking for their dessert menu.  Adah listened to the girl rattle off a list of desserts and she finally chose some triple chocolaty confection.  Brennan laughed at the look in Adah’s eyes as she anticipated the treat.

“Sorry,”  She giggled with him.  “It’s been a long time since I’ve been out.”

“Since you and Justin hooked up?”  He wasn’t sure where the question came from, and he regretted it as soon as it slipped out, but he had been wondering about Adah and Justin for a long time now.  “I’m sorry,” he recanted, “I shouldn’t ask that.”

“No, it’s okay.”  Adah shifted uncomfortably, but she knew that if she wanted to have any sort of relationship with Brennan she would have to be upfront and honest.  “You have a right to be curious.”

“It’s your life, though, Adah.  I’m being a jealous idiot and I don’t expect you to share anything that you don’t want to.”  He looked truly ashamed of prying and Adah grabbed his hand, giving him her best smile.

“I was completely drunk that night.  I knew who he was, I thought he was extremely attractive and I about peed my pants when he came up to me and asked me to dance.”  She paused, laughing at the thought of how out of character she’d acted.  “I don’t know how it happened.  One minute we’re just dancing and laughing, and then the next thing I know, I’m waking up in some hotel room, naked and hung over.”

Brennan said nothing for a while and Adah was sure that she’d shared too much.  A moment later he broke the silence.  “Is it too forward of me to ask how you feel about him now?”

Adah shrugged, getting more uncomfortable.  “No, it’s not.  You have a right to know if we’re ever going to start something.”

It was the first time either of them had mentioned a relationship, but since he was asking such personal questions, Adah figured she should just put it all out on the table anyway.  The conversation was halted for a second when the waitress brought Adah’s dessert over, but she only picked at it, her appetite having left her.

“I don’t know how I feel, to be completely honest.”  She took a deep breath, looking Brennan in the eyes.  “I like you, a lot.  I’ve liked you ever since you first moved it.  But things feel complicated.  Justin is the father of my baby and that means we have a relationship whether we like it or not.  There are times I feel like we’re connecting and getting to know one another, and then he’ll get called away to a photo shoot, or he’ll have to leave to go do something that suddenly reminds me he’s world famous and that any sort of relationship is going to be near impossible.”

Brennan sat back, feeling curious and uncomfortable at the same time.

“I hate him at times, too.  He got me pregnant and then took forever to finally come around and act like a man.”  She glanced away from Brennan, feeling suddenly embarrassed as she said her next thought.  “But you were right with me the whole time.  You hardly knew me and you stepped in and became a really good friend.  More than that…you became more that just a really good friend.”

“Adah…”

She held up her hand.  “Let me finish.  I like you, Brennan.  I like you a lot.  You make me laugh, you make me comfortable, and I feel like you and I would be great together.  But I come with baggage.  Some of it’s an adorable eight pounds of baggage, but some of it isn’t so attractive.  I can’t get away from Justin being in my life.  He wants to be with Emma and I will never deny him that chance.”

“Adah…”  Brennan cut in a little more forcefully this time.

She stopped and looked up at him, “What?”

“Shut up and let me kiss you.”

Her mouth dropped open slightly at the large grin that had spread on Brennan’s face.  He didn’t wait for her to pull herself together, though, before he leaned across the table and gently took her face in his hands.  The kiss lasted only for a moment or two, but it was electric and it left Adah speechless for quite a while afterward.

Brennan picked up her fork and took a large bite of the chocolate cake.  “You should eat this, it’s delicious.”

She could only stare.

~*~

Justin paced the room, bouncing Emma gently in his arms.  “Hey baby girl, you should really go to sleep now.”

Bright blue eyes stared up at him before her tiny mouth let out a wail that seemed disproportionate to the size of her.

“Right.  Don’t listen to me, I’m just the daddy.”  Justin glanced at the clock on the wall and cursed softly.  “Shh, little girl.  I’ll get you a bottle.”  He managed to get a bottle of breast milk from the fridge and heat it up without having to put Emma down.  She continued to scream madly, and through the din of her crying Justin mused that she had a good set of pipes.  Perhaps she might someday take after her old man.

“Okay, Emma.”  He placed the nipple of the bottle in her mouth and she quieted instantly.  He let out an appreciative sigh and settled into the cushions of the couch.

It was going on two in the morning and he had meetings to get to in few hours.  He hadn’t slept much because Emma was having a rough night.  The executives he was meeting with in the morning didn’t know that he’d recently become a father and he was worried that they might not be too pleased if he showed up half asleep and cranky.  The meeting was about getting some more money to back an independent movie project he was working on. 

It stressed him out thinking about everything, and sitting up at two in the morning wasn’t helping.

Emma contentedly sucked on her bottle and Justin couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.  She was adorable and he was irrevocably in love with her.  She had changed so much in his life and he was happy for it.  But there was so much that had just become tangled and confused.

He had no idea how he felt about Adah, which was something he contemplated often because they spent so much time together.  He had started keeping things from some of his friends because he was so afraid of Emma’s existence getting out to the public.  He didn’t sleep anymore, even when he wasn’t with his daughter.  Music and business had taken a serious back burner because he wanted to devote as much time as he could to being with Emma.

Justin Timberlake wasn’t the same man he’d been ten months ago.

That night with Adah often scrolled through his mind.  He couldn’t believe that he’d let himself be so careless with a woman he’d just met, but he couldn’t deny that the outcome had brought his happiness.  Perhaps there was a reason that he’d skipped the condom that night.  Perhaps there was a reason that he and Adah had hooked up and created Emma.

And perhaps he was delirious with lack of sleep and started to have strange, convoluted thoughts.

“I’ve got to get a life.”  Emma let out a loud belch at his comment and Justin couldn’t help but laugh.

Justin’s phone flashed on the table and he reached over to grab it, opening a text message from Adah.

::Are you still up?::

He adjusted a now sleeping Emma so he could respond.

::Just fed the kid a bottle and managed to get her to sleep.  But yes, I’m up::

::I’m coming down to get her::

A minute later there was a soft knock on the door and then Adah’s head popped around the corner.

“Hey, sorry I’m so late.”  She whispered as she crossed the room, smiling at the sleeping baby in Justin’s arms.

He couldn’t help but notice the glow that surrounded her.  She seemed light and happy and it was something new.  Instantly the pit of jealousy that resided in his stomach flared, but he tried his damndest to ignore it.

“She’s had a rough night, but hopefully she’ll sleep now.”

“You look beat.”  She finally took her eyes off to Emma to look up at Justin.  “I’m sorry that I didn’t come get her sooner.”

He shrugged, handing the baby over to her waiting arms.  “It’s okay.  I do need to get some sleep, though, I have some meetings to get to tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll take her back up to my place so you can go pass out.  I’m sorry, again.”

“It’s fine, Adah.”  He couldn’t help but feel like she was rubbing something in and it was starting to get to him.  He blamed it on the exhaustion.

“Have a good night.  Good luck with you meetings tomorrow.”

“Night.”  He locked the door after she left, resting his head against the solid wood.  With a deep breath he dragged himself into his bedroom and flopped on the bed, not bothering to change out of his clothes or even brush his teeth.

Suddenly, though, he didn’t think he could sleep.