The past month and a half had been crazy for Adah.  She had managed to find a few more training dogs so she could start saving money for the baby.  She had also started to grow a stomach that was undeniably a baby-bump.  She was now over five months along and she was definitely starting to pop. 

She turned, staring into the mirror trying to decide if she liked the outfit she had on.  Lately she’d been wearing a lot of sun dresses because they were the most comfortable in the summer heat and they didn’t emphasize her bump.  Tonight she had on another one, but she didn’t feel quite right.  She was meeting Justin for dinner in an hour.  They had managed to hang out a few times in between his busy schedule, but he was leaving to take off on his tour in a week and this would be the last time they could see each other.

It was safe to say that things between them were awkward.  He was trying his hardest to be understanding and kind to her, but she could tell that he really wasn’t sure about everything.  She would catch him watching her, glancing at her growing belly, and there was a lot of emotion and worry etched onto his face.  They didn’t talk much about the baby, but it weighed heavily on both of their minds.

Lately, Adah had been looking into paternity testing.  The more she thought about it, the better it would be if Justin knew for sure the baby was his before it was born.  She had talked to her doctor about it, and the doc had given her the number to a place that would perform the tests for her.  There were risks involved, but she had been assured that the procedure could be done safely.  She hadn’t said anything to Justin about it because she didn’t want too add any more pressure or stress before he left for tour, but she was pretty sure that she was going to go through with it.

“You look hot, Ads.”  Sam’s voice sounded behind her.  Adah glanced up, catching Sam’s eye in the mirror.

“Thanks,” 

“No, I meant you look hot.  Over heated.  Your face is all red.”  She grabbed a wash cloth and wet it, dotting it over Adah’s neck and forehead.

“Gee, and here I thought you were complementing me on my ‘glow.’” 

“You look radiant, but you also look nervous.  Are you OK?”  Adah shrugs, taking the wash cloth from Sam and running it over her chest and the slight swell of her breasts.  Those had grown significantly since she’d gotten pregnant.

“Justin leaves for tour in a week.  We’re having dinner tonight.”  She pursed her lips, not saying anything else as she continued to dab at her face with the cool wash cloth.

“I’m guessing that you’re not OK with this.”  Sam closed the cover to the toilet and sat down, watching Adah through the mirror.

“I’m so scared, Sammy.”  She whispered.  “I know that Justin and I aren’t close by any means, and I know that he’s still so unsure about all of this,  but I don’t think I can go through this without him.”  To her frustration, Adah’s eyes started to well up.  She used the washcloth to try and stop them from falling without messing up her makeup.

“You have me and Brett, Ads.  We’re going to be here with you for everything, I promise.”

“I know,” she sniffled, giving Sam a watery smile.  “I can’t thank you guys enough for that.  But somehow…”

“It’s not the same.”

Adah shrugged, turning to inspect her figure in the mirror.  “Maybe it’s just the stuff of fairy tales, but I’d always imagined having a baby with someone I truly loved and cared for and someone that felt the same about me.”  She ran her hands over the swell of her stomach.  “I guess I’m still not ready to give up on that thought, as absurd as it sounds.”

Sam was silent for a moment.  She wasn’t quite sure how to remind her best friend that the father of this baby was Justin Timberlake.  Anything close to a normal relationship would be impossible.  Of course, Sam suspected that Adah could never quite forget that fact. 

“You should get going, Ads.  You don’t want to be late for dinner.” 

“Yeah.”  Adah took a deep breath.  “How do I look?” 

Sam smiled at Adah, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.  “Beautiful.  Radiant.”

“Good.”

~*~

It was a small restaurant, dimly lit.  Adah searched the floor, hoping to spot Justin without much hassle.  She looked at the piece of paper in her hand, squinting to read the name she’d scribbled down.

“Can I help you, Ma’am?”  The hostess looked at her expectantly.

“I’m here to see…Trace Ayala.”  The girl gave her a slightly strange look, but she led her through the back anyway.

Adah had only met Justin’s best friend twice.  They were both quick meetings and she wasn’t sure why Justin was using his name for their dinner reservations, but she figured that using his own name would’ve caused a stir.

The hostess brought her into a private room in the back of the restaurant that Adah would have never guessed existed.  She instantly spotted Justin, but she was slightly surprised to see him sitting with Trace and a beautiful woman.  Her nerves instantly jumped, but she took a deep breath and moved toward the table.

Trace stood, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek.  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her ear before plastering on a grin.  “Just work with me, please.”

Adah gave him a confused glance.  “OK?”  Before she could ask any more questions, Justin had stood, coming to give her a tense hug.

“Hey Adah,”  He looking like he was sweating bullets and Adah really wanted to know what was going on.  “I’m glad you could make it.”  He glanced down at her swelling belly and seemed to become even more nervous.

“Justin, aren’t you going to introduce me?”  The girl at the table spoke and Adah felt Justin tense up.  Apparently she wasn’t going to wait for Justin because she stood and came over to Adah, giving her a big, awkward hug.  “Hey!  I’m Gina, Justin’s girlfriend.  I’m so excited to finally meet you.  Justin has told me so much about you!”

Adah gave both Justin and Trace a strange look.  “He, uh…he has?”

“Yes!  I’m so excited for you and Trace!”  Gina hooked her arm through Adah’s and led her over to the table where they sat down.  Adah was next to Trace who kept shooting Justin death stares.  Justin was trying to act cool, but whenever Gina wasn’t looking at him, his face dropped into a scowl.

“Me and Trace?”  Adah glanced at the man next to her, but he was too busy trying to get Justin’s attention.

“Yeah!  Justin told me about how y’all are getting married after the baby comes!”  She reached over to try and touch Adah’s stomach and Adah protectively leaned back and put her hands over her belly. 

“Oh?  He did, did he?”  Adah was starting to realize what was going on here.  Justin had told his girlfriend—one that he’d never mentioned to Adah before tonight—that she was pregnant with Trace’s baby and that the two of them were together.  She now understood why Trace had apologized and why everyone except Gina looked ready to throw up.  She could completely blow this for him right now.  In fact, she thought, she should.  She should blow his cover and tell Gina that this baby wasn’t Trace’s, but Justin’s.

Of course, Adah didn’t want to piss anyone off.

“I’m so excited for the two of you!”  Gina sat in her obliviousness and smiled at everyone, failing to notice that no one else was excited.

“Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom.”  Adah stood from her seat, brushing off Trace’s helpful hand.  She tried not to run out of the room as she searched for the bathroom.

She turned on the cold water and let it run, wetting a towel so she could cool herself off.  The tears were forming again and this time she wasn’t sure that she could stop them.

How could he do this?  How could he hid a girlfriend from her, especially when she was carrying his child.  And how could he ambush her with all of this, expecting her to go along with it like it was no big deal?  Adah placed her hand on her stomach, feeling the baby flutter around inside.

“Yeah, I know what you’re feeling.”  She spoke to the baby, trying to calm herself down.

“Adah, are you ok?”  Gina’s voice came through the bathroom door and Adah rolled her eyes. 

“I’m fine, thanks.”  She didn’t want to deal with this.  She didn’t want to have to face this girl knowing that she had been the other woman and this baby was a result of that.

Unfortunately, the door opened anyway and Gina poked her head through.  She smiled at Adah and came further into the bathroom.  “Morning sickness?”

Adah bit her tongue against the remark that was about to spill out.  Morning sickness?  I was seven o’clock at night.

“Must be.”  Was her only reply.  She avoided looking at the other girl, afraid of what might come out of her mouth.

“I was so shocked when Justin told me that Trace was having a baby.  I didn’t even know you guys were together!”

“Funny, I could say the same about you and Justin.” 

“Yeah, we try and keep our relationship pretty undercover.  We don’t want to be bothered by the press.”  Gina sat on one of the chairs in the room, fixing her hair and re-applying her lip gloss.

“How long have you and Justin been together?”  Adah was curious to know if she had really been the other woman.

“Almost six months.  I’ve been in England shooting a movie so we haven’t actually spent that much time together, but I’m going on tour with him so we’ll really get to be together.”

Adah did the math in her head and couldn’t decide.  She was almost six months pregnant.  It sounded like Gina and Justin had just started to get together when Adah got pregnant.  It was too hard to tell, but either way, she wasn’t happy about it.  She wasn’t happy that she’d been put in this situation to begin with, but now she had to deal with the fact that Justin had a girlfriend and he was lying to her.

“I’m happy for you guys, really.  I think I’m going to take off, though.  I’m really not feeling well.”  Adah didn’t wait for Gina to reply.  She left the bathroom and headed back to the table so she could grab her purse.  She really didn’t want to say anything to Justin, but she knew she should at least tell him she was leaving.

“Adah…”  It was Trace that stood up to greet her when she got back to the table.  “Are you OK?”

“I’m leaving.  I’m sorry I came tonight.”  She directed a stare at Justin but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.  Turning to Trace she gave him a small smile.  “Is there an address I can send things to when Justin’s gone?  I should have the results of the paternity test and I want to make sure he gets them.”

Both men gave her a look, but Trace wrote an address down on a napkin and handed it to her.  “Anything you send here will make it to me.  I’ll make sure that anything you need to get to Justin makes it there.” 

“Thanks, Trace.”  She gave him a small hug and attempted a smile.  She turned to Justin, wishing she could truly speak her mind.  Instead she said, “tell Gina I said goodbye.  It was really…nice…to meet her.”

With that, she turned and left the restaurant, keeping her head high until she knew they couldn’t see her anymore.  When she knew she was safely out of their sights, she let the tears fall.

This was no fairy tale and she was never more aware of that fact than right now.