A whole week went by without Justin visiting Jordan. He talked to his mother on the phone every day, and a couple of times he ended up chatting with Jordan as well. Not much, and not about anything specific, just to hear her voice and ask how she was doing. Lynn kept him updated on the things he needed to know, but the rest was between the women.

It was a tough week, he didn’t feel he had anyone to talk too, and it ate him up inside. He had said a few things to Trace, but left out the making out part and the worst details about her childhood. Trace knew there was more to the story, but he didn’t push. He knew Justin would let him know when he felt it was time.

Jess was another story; she was starting to be very whiney and angry. She was never happy when he didn’t answer his phone, and that happened more and more lately. She was furious when paparazzi photos of Jordan and Lynn shopping in Beverly Hills ended up on Perez. He was tired of telling her it wasn’t any of her business, when he knew that it definitely was.

It was obvious to both of them that their relationship was singing on its last chorus, but he managed to give her just enough attention to stay with him. He was fully aware how bad of a boyfriend he was, and it almost annoyed him that she stayed, but she had come to terms with the fact that he was calling the shots. They met up whenever he felt like it, and he came and went as he pleased. He constantly wondered how far he could push her before she was on her way out of his life. 

After a rather boring week-end that ended up in a classy LA club, he drove up to Jordan’s house to pick her up for her doctor’s appointment. He was excited to see her, see if she had changed in any kind of way, see if his mother had made a miracle.

When she opened the door he immediately determined that her face was less sad than when he left her last time. Her eyes were actually glowing when she looked at him, and he couldn’t do anything but to pull her into an embrace.

-“How are you doing, beautiful?” he asked and stepped back to take a good look at her.

She smiled.-“I’m doing okay. It’s good to see you, though”

Lynn stepped into the hallway and came over to give her son a hug.

-“Jus! How are you? You look a bit scruffy! Are you eating enough?”

He laughed at his mother, but didn’t want to mention that the reason he looked like he did was because of lack of sleep and too much booze.

-“So, you wanne come with us, mom?” he asked and she smiled.

-“Really?”

-“Yeah, maybe I’ll even take you lovely ladies out for dinner afterwards. What do you say, Jordan?”

-“Sounds perfect, Justin. Lynn?”

-“Of course! I’d love to!”

She took her arms around both of them as they walked towards Justin’s car in the driveway. 

-“Everything looks fine, miss Callister. The baby is healthy and doing great. How are you feeling?” the doctor asked.

-“I’m good, thank you. I’ve been lucky, my pregnancy has been easy compared to all the stories I have heard. It’s starting to get a bit heavy, though” she laughed.

-“Well, you only have another 3 months to go. It’s good to see you have so much family around” he said and looked at Justin and Lynn.

-“It’s my first grand child, so excuse me for being overly excited!” she smiled and the doctor laughed.

He had been the one to give them the news that she was pregnant, and he had been there to watch their relationship grow from not standing each other to grow deeply fond of each other. It warmed his heart to see the little family in front of him now.  

They joked and laughed all the way to the Ivy, not caring about all the photographers outside. The paparazzi went wild; this was definitely a picture that would make them rich; Justin Timberlake, his mother and his baby’s mother, who happened to be one of the biggest movie stars in the world.

-“Jordan! How is the baby? When are you due?”

-“Justin! How is Jessica? Are you guys over?”

-“Jordan! Are you and Justin together now?”

-“Mrs Harless! Do you approve of this illegitimate child?”

They ignored every single one of them, pretending they weren’t there.   

His mother looked composed, she had been exposed to this part of Justin’s life for so long, but it didn’t mean she didn’t get annoyed on his behalf.

-“My goodness, how can you ever get used to that?” she asked as they sat down at a table.

-“You get used to it, you just learn not to let it bother you” Jordan said quietly.

-“It’s not real, that’s what I have to tell myself. These people don’t know us, so it doesn’t matter what they think.”

-“The horrible things they shout out? Takes a lot of strength to not tell them off. In the old days, you’d have…”

-“I’ve learned that just makes it worse. That’s what they want, they want some kind of reaction, they don’t shout out those questions because they really wanne know, they just want to see how far they can push to get a reaction. That’s all they’re really after, just the best picture to sell and make them rich” Justin sighed.

-“I’ll never understand that my son’s love life is of national interest” she giggled, and Justin laughed with her.

-“It’s not only me, it’s the women in my life.”

-“Speaking of; how is the lovely Jess” Lynn did nothing to hide her dislike of his girlfriend.

-“She’s fine, mom. She can’t wait to see you guys at thanksgiving” Justin said and Lynn’s jaw dropped.

-“What? Is she…You haven’t told us…You never said….”

Justin laughed at his mother’s reaction.

-“Relax, mom, she’s not coming, I’m only joking with you. She’ll be with her own family. I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way to play nice to her”

-“Oh, good!” she exhaled. “Not that I don’t like her, it’s just…” she hurried to correct herself.

-“You don’t like her. You’ve made that clear a bunch of times. You’re not very subtle, you know”

-“She’s not a horrible person, she’s just…She’s like those girls you used to date in high school. I’m sure she must have some kind of depth; I just haven’t seen it yet. And believe me; I’ve tried!”

Jordan sat silent throughout their whole discussion, feeling a bit out of place listening to her baby’s father’s mom talk about his girlfriend. Families in the 21st century, she thought.

-“What do you say, Jordan? You’ve met her, right?” she suddenly asked and Jordan was taking a bit aback.

-“I…I don’t…I don’t really think I’m in any position to discuss Justin’s girlfriend. I’m sure she must be a nice girl if Justin loves her.” She shrugged and pretended that this didn’t affect her, even though she felt sick to her stomach just thinking about her.

Justin didn’t say anything, just shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

 I wonder if he knows I love him, she thought. I wonder if he thinks about that night last week, the way our lips fit, the way his hands caressed me…I wonder if it was all just a bad nightmare for him.

She looked up at him and suddenly felt naked as he stared back at her. She felt like he could read her mind, she couldn’t hide from him, she couldn’t play any games. He had seen the real her, the craziness, the sadness, the troubled woman that she was. No wonder why he wanted a happy, bubbly, girly woman instead. Jess was the opposite of Jordan, and that’s what he had chosen; the easy life. She had let him in too close, and she knew he was terrified about what he had seen. She never should have let that happen.

-“Ooookay!” Justin said with a sigh to break the silence that was hanging over the table. “Enough about my boring life. Tell me what you ladies have been up to this week!”

And they started to talk about their shopping, Lynn trying to teach her to cook, the look on Jack’s face when he had ran into Lynn in the kitchen thinking she was the new maid…

They kept laughing and talking and Justin sat back and just listened to them, enjoying the fact that they got along as well as they did.  When he had talked to his mom on the phone she had explained that they needed to take some time to get to know each other better before she could expect Jordan to confide in her. She was on her way, though, Justin could sense in the way Jordan behaved towards his mother that she was starting to see her as a friend.

-“Talking about thanksgiving, though…” Lynn started. “We actually had a chat about it, and I told Jordan that I wanted her to join us. But since she is going to be 8 months pregnant at the time, she can’t really fly, so we…kind of made the decision to have the dinner here. In LA…”

Jordan looked at Justin nervously. She didn’t want to impose, but it had sounded so natural when Lynn suggested it, she didn’t even think about what Justin would feel about it.

-“Oh…Okay… Dad and Gramma okay with it? Where will it be? Will it be at my place, or…”

Jordan could see how uncomfortable he was with the whole thing.

-“You know, it’s probably better if you do it in Tennessee. It’s not a big deal” she said. “The rest of your family is there and… “

-“Nonsense!” Lynn interrupted. “I’m not going to miss my first thanksgiving dinner with my first grand child! We’ll all be coming over here!”

Lynn took Jordan’s hand in hers.

“We’re your family now, sweetie.”

Jordan felt he tears burning behind her eyes and blinked them away before she looked at Justin again. She hoped he understood that this wasn’t her idea.

-“Alright. I’m not back from tour until the day before, though. But I guess I could get some caterers…”

-“Oh, Justin!” Maggie smiled. “You don’t have grocery stores in LA? I’ll do the cooking, as always. Don’t make this into a big problem. We could have the dinner anywhere, as long as we’re together!”

Ok, so his mom loved Jordan. He was happy about it, but it just felt weird. It was still a lot of tension between them, especially after last week’s happenings, and this was a little too much for him to swallow. Besides, what the hell would Jess say when she found out? She was pissed off enough that he hadn’t told her his mother was visiting. She had expressed how much she wanted to take Lynn out shopping, having a girl’s day out with her. And now thanksgiving? She’d be furious. Oh, God forbid, she might even demand that she’d join them…  

He saw him as soon as he walked out the door. He was behind the paparazzi, but he was walking quickly towards them. Justin stiffened and without looking behind him he used his hands to push both ladies further back.

-“Mom, take Jordan, get the car!” He threw the key at her and stared back at the man getting closer. Jordan hadn’t seen him yet, and put her hand on his back.

-“Justin, do you…” she stopped dead and just stared at the man, gasping.

-“Get back!” Justin yelled at her, shoving her harder towards his mother. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, it was as the nightmare he had just came to life.

He managed to put a hand in front of him as if to tell the man to stop. The photographers were going crazy as soon as they understood the entertainment value of what they were about to witness.

-“Jordan, baby, I just wanne talk to you!” He was getting too close, and Justin managed to take a few steps forward to create some distance between Jordan and her father.

He had no clue what happened behind him, but he trusted his mother to get the car from the valet while he stalled the man.

-“Don’t come any closer!” he yelled, but his voice was shaking.

-“Come on, I just wanne talk! She’s my daughter!” The man finally looked at him and suddenly something clicked in his head.

-“No, she’s not! You stay away from us, you hear me?”

People were starting to come out of the restaurant to see what the noise was all about and the paparazzi continued to shoot pictures, but he didn’t even notice. The fear he first felt became fury, an intense hate towards the man in front of him.

His height was his advantage right now, he hovered over the man the closer he got. He could see the fire in his eyes, he shivered from the evil he felt approached.

-“Let me talk to her, Justin!” he said, and that was what was needed to completely set him off.

-“Don’t you dear say my name like you know me!” he yelled. Now he was almost close enough to touch him. “Stay away from my family!”

-“She’s my family! She’s my daughter!”

He hardly got to finish his sentence before Justin attacked him. He didn’t even know where he got his guts from, he just knew he needed to destroy this man that had caused so much pain.

His one hand reached around his throat as the other one hit the man hard in his stomach. He fell down on the ground as the flashes from the cameras got closer.

Justin could hear his mother scream behind him, but he couldn’t stop now. He got down on his knees and punched the guy as hard as he could on his face. Oblivious to the blood running out of his nose he grabbed the collar of his shirt and punched him again. Then he leaned close to his face to whisper in his ear;

-“Don’t you ever come fucking near us again! I know what you did! You fucking lowlife of a man!”

The man sneered.

-“You don’t have the…”

-“TRY ME!” He pushed the man’s head back on the ground just as security came running out to grab him. He shook them off and got up.

He was about to turn around and walk away when he felt the need to do one last thing, and he spit on the man’s face as the security grabbed his arms to take him away.