Adah felt empty.  Her arms were too light, she’d done nothing productive lately, and she was just a little lonely.  Since she’d been in Tennessee, she hadn’t had to take care of Emma at all and it was more than a little uncomfortable.  It made her happy to see Justin’s family take such an interest in the infant, but she missed having her baby in her arms.  She never thought she’d want this, but she was really ready to change a diaper.

“You look bored.”  Rachel took a seat next to Adah, giving her a smile.  Adah attempted to smile back, but she had no idea why Rachel would even give her the time of day.  As far as Adah knew, Justin’s cousin hated the thought of her.

“It’s a little strange not having to take care of Emma.  I don’t think I’ve fed or changed her all week.”

“You deserve the break, and this family loves babies.”

Adah did smile at that.  “I can see that.”  She shifted in the lawn chair she was sitting in.  Everyone was outside at Lynn’s for a cookout.  The house was packed with people and Adah had taken a seat on the outskirts of the crowd, hoping to catch her breath.

“Adah,”  Rachel’s voice caused the other woman to face her.  “I just wanted to apologize for the way I’ve treated you.”

Adah waved her hand, “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I’m serious.  When you first told me you were pregnant I was convinced you were just out for his money.  I’ve dealt with so many gold diggers, I instantly thought the worst.  I should have apologized a long time ago.  I guess I had too much pride to admit that I was wrong.”  She took a breath.  “And it’s obvious that Justin is crazy about you and Emma, so…I’m sorry.  I’m happy you’re here.”

Adah wasn’t quite sure what to do with that apology, but she was happy for it.  “Thank you.”  She gave Rachel a small smile, happy that things weren’t as tense as they had been.

“How do you like Tennessee?” 

Adah looked around, taking in all the smiling faces.  “It’s great to know that Emma has all of this family.  My parents are both gone, so it makes me really happy to see that she still has lots of people to love her.”  She chuckled, “I’m not sure I’ll ever hold my daughter again, but I know she’s in good hands here.”

“Justin wouldn’t have brought her here unless she would be completely adored.  This is a good family.  That little girl will never want for anything.”

“I know.”

“And you’ll never want for anything, either.”  Rachel’s voice was soft, but Adah hear it loud and clear.  “You do know that Justin would do absolutely anything for the two of you, right?  I know he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s crazy about you.”

Adah played with a string on her shorts, afraid to look up. “That’s the second time you’ve said that.” 

“Because it’s true.  He was a mess the other night because of what happened.”  She took a deep breath, “He’s intense when he’s in love.  I’ve seen it before.  Just…just go with it, okay?  Let him take care of you.”

There wasn’t time for Adah to respond because at that moment, Justin came over with Emma in his arms.

“Someone misses her Mommy.”  He grinned, bouncing Emma in his arms before leaning down and handing her to Adah.

“Ohh, well Mommy has missed her little girl.”  She gave Justin a grateful smile.  “I think this is the first time I’ve held her in days.”

“Well, she was getting restless and I figured I’d hand her to you before she got really upset.  Plus, once she started getting passed around there would be no getting her back.”  He took the seat on the other side of Adah, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek.  “What are you two ladies chatting about?”  He eyed Rachel, making sure she was being nice to Adah.  He still didn’t quite trust her.

“Oh, just girl talk.  You’re not allowed to know.”  Rachel gave him a grin and a wink.  “I’m going to get some food.  Adah, do you want anything?”  When the other girl shook her head, Rachel disappeared into the crowd.

“She wasn’t mean or anything, was she?  I’ll kick her ass if she was.”  Justin watched his cousin go, afraid that she’d said something to upset Adah.

“Actually, she apologized for being a bitch.”  Adah grinned, “It was really nice.” She left out the part about Justin being in love with her.  She needed some time to process all of that before she could talk to Justin about it.  If she ever could.

“Wow, really?  Rachel?”  Justin couldn’t quite believe that his cousin could swallow her pride and apologize, but he was happy to hear it.

“I think it’s because Emma’s so adorable and she couldn’t help herself.”  Adah brought the baby closer to her, happy to have her daughter back in her arms again.  Now she felt complete.  It had been such a strange week here and she was happy that she had Emma to center her.  Everything else could fall apart around her, as long as she had her baby girl she knew she would be okay.

“Are you having a good time?”  Justin asked, settling back in his chair.  Adah seemed slightly overwhelmed and he was afraid that it was his fault.  He was trying really hard to make her comfortable, but sometimes she was difficult to read.

“Yeah, I am.  It’s really nice to see that Emma has so much family.  It makes me happy.”  She smiled, cooing at Emma and nuzzling her face in the baby’s neck.

“My family is so excited to have her here.  I’m pretty sure they never thought they’d see the day I brought a kid home.  So…”

“Not the settling down type?” She grinned over at him.

“Not until now.”  He was smiling, but his tone was serious and Adah suddenly got uncomfortable.  She still didn’t know what to think or what to feel and she was constantly reminded that she was being seriously pursued by Justin.

“I think I’m going to take Emma in for her nap.  She’s getting restless.”  She quickly stood and walked toward the house, hoping to avoid the conversation she knew Justin wanted to have.  There was too much going on in her mind to handle this.  Plus, she hadn’t had the nerve to call Brennan and tell him what was going on.  She knew she had to be honest and tell him that she’d slept with Justin, but she was truly afraid of losing him.  He was a lot of fun to be around and she knew that she’s probably ruined a really good thing.

Adah could hear Justin behind her as she climbed the stairs and entered the room they had Emma in.  The infant was almost asleep in her arms and she knew it wouldn’t be difficult to get her down, but she was hoping for some time alone. 

“Do you need any help?”  His voice was soft, but it was close enough to make Adah jump.

“No, thanks.  She’s just about ready.”  Adah quickly changed Emma’s diaper, taking off the outfit that the little girl was in leaving her in a onesie.  It was too hot to be wearing much more and Emma was a little furnace.

She carefully placed her daughter into the crib, making sure to move the stuffed animals and things to Emma had room to move.  Adah kissed the baby gently, caressing her cheek before stepping back to exit the room.  Justin watched from the door way, waiting for Adah to pass him before he softly shut the door and the two walked back down into the kitchen.

“I was thinking we could spend the day together tomorrow.”  Justin fiddled with the baby monitor, not looking at Adah.

“We?”

“Yeah, the three of us.  I know my family has been hoarding Emma and I thought that it would be nice for the three of us to have a day together.”  He turned, resting his backside against the edge of the counter.  His hands were buried deep in his pockets as he waited for an answer.  He was trying to be patient with Adah, but it was proving to be very difficult.

“What were you thinking?”  She was hesitant to say yes, but she also knew that Justin was trying and she couldn’t fault him for that.

He shrugged, “maybe the zoo? Or the aquarium?  I think Emma would really like to see the animals.”

A strange look crossed Adah’s face and she sat back in her chair.  “Is that a good idea?  I mean, no one knows about Emma yet and bringing her out like that is really risky.”  She chewed on her lip nervously.  “We haven’t even talked about this yet.”

Justin pushed off the counter, grabbing one of the kitchen chairs to sit next to Adah.  “So let’s talk about it.”  He watched her carefully, gauging her reaction.

She sighed, folding her arms across her chest.  “Justin…”

“Adah…”  He wasn’t going to let her squirm her way out of this.

“I don’t k know if I’m up for this right now.  I just…I have so much on my mind.”

Justin knew she was telling the truth, but he was anxious to talk with her and get things out in the open.  Lately he’d been thinking a lot about his feelings for Adah and where he’d like their relationship to go.  He’d also been thinking about Emma and what he was going to do about making sure she was safe despite his lifestyle and career.

“We will have to talk about it sometime.”  He was trying not to push.  Really, he was.

“Yeah, I know that.”  She stood abruptly from the chair, grabbing the baby monitor and heading toward the back door.  “But right now I think I’ll take my chances with your family.”

~*~ (Thirty minutes later)~*~

“Y’all are so cute together, and that baby!”  One of Justin’s Aunts had Adah by the arm and the young girl couldn’t find a way to escape.  “She’s just the cutest little darlin’ I’ve ever seen!  When are y’all getting married and making more babies?”

It was the fifth time Adah had been asked that question, and she was starting to regret her decision to avoid Justin.  He was grinning at her smugly from the other side of her Aunt, saying nothing.  Well, if he was going to leave her to fend for herself…

“Oh, we’re having far too much fun living in sin to consider getting married any time soon.”  Adah smiled sweetly at the woman, inwardly gloating as her mouth dropped in obvious disgust.  The look on Justin’s face was priceless, too.  Adah had never seen color drain from a person’s face quite that fast before.

“She’s kidding, Aunt Linda.  Really.”  Justin ushered the older woman over to the side and set her in a chair.  The woman looked ready to faint.  “Thanks for that.”  He whispered into Adah’s ear after leaving Linda’s side.  “She’s going to spread that gossip around town and I’m going to have every pastor within a ten mile radius calling me up to remind me that marriage is sacred.”

Adah only grinned at him.  She had no idea what she wanted from him or if she wanted a relationship, but she knew she enjoyed getting under his skin and watching him squirm.  He wasn’t a man that was easily flustered and Adah found that she had a way with irking him.

She at least enjoyed that part of their relationship.

~*~

“Justin,”  Lynn called over to her son who was currently feeding his daughter breakfast.  “Why is your Uncle Roger under the impression that you’re going to quit your career and join a nudist colony in Antigua?” 

Justin rolled his eyes, letting out a low chuckle.  “That would be Adah.”  Using a wet towel, Justin wiped Emma’s mouth and lifted the baby from her high chair.  “She also told Aunty Linda that we enjoy living in sin so much we’re not going to get married.”

Lynn’s eyes bulged a little.  “Oh my.  Well, you might want to change your phone number again.”  She thought the comment would have been quite funny, but the rest of her family was a little more…rigid than she was and they might not get the joke. 

“Yeah, I’ll tell Rachel to get right on that.”  Emma grabbed at his nose, babbling into his ear as he bounced her on his hip.  “Ma, do you think it would be a big deal to bring Emma and Adah into Memphis to go to the zoo?”

Lynn’s lips were pursed in thought.  “I don’t know, baby, it might cause a scene.  Are you ready for that?”

“I don’t know.  I just wanted the three of us to do something together and I thought Emma would like the animals.”

“Unfortunately, you don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to these things.  You’re Justin Timberlake and the news that you’ve got a baby would just cause a scene and I don’t think it’s fair to put Adah or Emma through that.”  Lynn gave Justin a sympathetic look.  “You might be able to call ahead and see if there’s an off time you can go, but I think going during regular hours would be a bad idea.”

Justin sighed and his shoulder’s slumped visibly.  “You’re right.”  He smiled at his baby, “I just wanted to do something nice for my girls.”

“How’s that going, by the way?  You’re quest to win Adah over.”  Lynn noticed the red tint to her son’s cheeks and she laughed. 

“You know about that?”

“Oh, baby, you come out of her room in just your drawers and she’s turning redder than a tomato at the mention of your name; it’s not hard to connect the dots that something is going on between you two.” 

Lynn followed Justin into the living room where he set Emma down on the carpet before taking a seat on the couch.  “I don’t know what she’s thinking, Momma.  She won’t talk to me.”

“Honey, give the girl some time to process.  It’s not easy being around this family, and I’m sure all she’s heard are questions about marriage and more babies.  I’ll bet dollars to donuts that sleeping with you wasn’t on her agenda, either.  She’s probably really overwhelmed with everything.”

Justin glanced at his mom, “how the hell do you always know all this crap?”

“It’s a woman thing, Jus.  You should know that by now.”  She ruffled his hair, getting joy in the way he batted her hands away.  He may be all grown up with a baby of his own, but he was still her little boy.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore.”  He picked at a string on his shorts.  “I’m crazy about both of them, Momma.  This whole week has just proven to me that I want to be a family more than anything.  I care so much about Adah and I just…I don’t know how to get to her understand that.”

“Patience, my baby boy.  You have to have patience with her and you have to let her figure things out on her how.  Being with you is a big decision and she has to know that it’s what she wants.  You can’t rush these things.”

Justin grumbled, watching his daughter crawl around happily.  “Does she have to grow up to be a woman, too?”

Lynn’s laughter filled the room.  “Yes, baby, she does.”