She called him up the morning after.

-“What the fuck was that, Justin? Are you stalking me now?”

-“Jordan, I…”

-“Don’t you EVER do anything like that again! What were you thinking? Did you try to ruin my night?”

-“No, I just…”

-“And bringing your fucking airhead of a girlfriend!”

Normally he wouldn’t let people say this about Jess to him, but he had to let this one slide.

-“Listen, Jordan, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

-“You show up without notice, making Ken get you access to my house, making ridiculous accusations, calling me a liar! And now you not only show up at my movie premiere, but you bring your girlfriend over to ‘chat’, like we’re some kind of friends? Why can’t you just stay away from me? It’s not your fucking child, when are you gonna get that through your stupid head?”

-“Now, you fucking listen, Jordan! I wasn’t planning on this, no matter how much you don’t believe me. I tried to stay away from that premiere, but she really wanted to go and I didn’t have a good enough excuse to say no. It’s not like I could say ‘Baby, I really can’t go to the premiere tonight, cause I slept with the lead actress and she may be pregnant with my child!’ This is kind of an awkward situation for me as well, I’m not exactly thrilled here. And, by the way, I’ll get it through my stupid head when I get the answer from the doctor next week!” He tried to hide his anger.

-“You’re kidding me! You haven’t even told her?” she snorted “What an amazing boyfriend you are!”

-“Oh, no, don’t you fucking judge me! You and your fucking acting! Do you ever tell anyone the truth? You pretend to be such a good girl, but you’re the fakest woman I’ve ever met! Needless to say; I’m fucking praying the kid isn’t mine. I can’t think of a worse woman to share a baby with, and I hope to God I never have to see you again after next week!”

He heard a click on the other end, and regretted being so harsh. He didn’t really know her, and he would be forced to deal with her for the rest of his life if, God forbid, he got the test results he dreaded.  

The whole week he was being moody, grumpy and scared to death. He knew he was hell to work with, but he couldn’t manage to act any differently.

He spent as much time as possible in the studio to avoid Jess, the only one he could talk to was Trace. He had been drinking scotch every single day as well, trying to drown all the thoughts going through his head. 

He couldn’t stand the thought of talking to Jordan again before he had to, so he had just sent her a text message about when he would pick her up. She sent one back saying she’d rather meet him there, knowing the paparazzi was hiding everywhere outside her house. That was fine by him, not exactly the rumours he wanted on the front page of Us Weekly…   

Jordan had a busy week, there were Oprah, Letterman, O’Brian and Leno, together with what felt like a million magazine interviews. She was happy to be occupied, staying at hotels instead of her house, being surrounded by people all the time.  

She had once again asked not to be asked about her rumoured pregnancy, but some people as usual didn’t follow it. She had walked out of more interviews this week than she had her entire life. Ken did his best to do some serious damage control, but the word on the internet was that she was a big diva, and not the sweet girl everyone had taken her for.

She was still angry at Justin after their phone conversation. Who did he think he was? And what was he really after? If he was the father, what was his plan? Was he gonna ask for joint custody?

He was an international pop star, on the road and in the studio all the time. How on earth did he think he could take care of a child? Or did he just want to stop by a few times a year to play with his child in between tours?

Her father had called a few more times, wanting to know if he was about to become a grandfather. She would get a restraining order against him if he ever tried to get near this baby. She had already asked Jack to get her number changed again, she had no idea how he managed to get a hold of it every time.

The paparazzi was everywhere, following her every move, analyzing her every outfit. And she really started to show as well. She knew she would have to make a statement within the next few weeks. She just had no idea what kind.   

Jordan and Justin met up at the hospital with a polite nod to each other. They walked a foot apart into the doctor’s office, sitting down in the chairs in front of his desk. Justin was fiddling with his hands and Jordan was biting her nails, both eager to get it over with, but both nervous about the outcome.

As the doctor came into the room, Justin’s heart was beating so fast he was sure they could hear it. The doctor slowly took a seat in his chair.

-“I’m sorry to keep you waiting” the doctor started.

He was talking so slowly, taking his time to put his glasses on and bringing out some papers from the drawer in his desk. Jordan just wanted to climb over and drag the results out of him, and rid him of that extremely annoying smile.

-“So…” he just said, and Justin automatically leaned a little forward.

-“Well…”For God’s sake! Hurry up!-“I have to inform you both that the results of this test is almost completely accurate, 99,9% to be exact, and the…”

-“Please, doctor, we know all that, just give us the result, please!” Justin pleaded.

The doctor took his glasses off and scratched his head, leaning back in the chair. Now they were both ready to kill him.

-“Well, Mr. Timberlake, I’m happy to tell you that you are indeed the father of this child!”

As the doctor said the most terrifying words he could imagine, Justin’s whole world fell down. The room started spinning and he had to put his hands over his face to hide the tears that were coming. What the hell was he supposed to do now?  

-“So, what do we do now?” he asked as they were standing in the elevator, eager to get out and get some fresh air. It was the first words they had said to each other since they met up.

-“I don’t know…” she said quietly.

He looked at her somewhat curious. She looked so different, so vulnerable, like a little girl. She wasn’t the cold woman she used to be, and for the first time he actually thought about how disturbing this whole situation must be for her.

He reached out and touched her arm, but she pulled back like something had burned her.

-“We need to talk about this…” he tried again, and finally she looked him in the eyes.

-“I know. Just maybe not now…”

-“Yeah, let it sink in first…”They got quiet again.

The doors opened on the ground floor.

-“I’m going out the back” she barely whispered and he just nodded. As she started to walk away he grabbed her arm.

-“I’m not gonna go away, Jordan”

-“I know” she nodded.

-“Can I stop by tomorrow? To talk?”

She nodded again, walking out to the car waiting to take her home.   

So, Justin Timberlake was the father of her child… She sighed as she fell down in her couch. Ok, so now what?

She started to make a to-do list in her mind; figure out what to say in the statement to the press, getting her lawyer to put up an agreement with Justin, interviewing nannies…

She groaned. Everything she needed to do had to be discussed with Justin. He obviously wanted to be involved, she just wasn’t sure to what extent.

She picked up her cell phone and scrolled down her contact list until she found Justin’s name. She had an urge to talk to him. Now, not tomorrow. She needed to know what he felt, what he was thinking… No matter their opinions of one another; they were in this situation together, and would have a link for the rest of their lives.

Maybe a text message? No, that was stupid. What could she possibly say in a short text? Maybe she could ask him to come over? No, she had to wait. She was probably the last person he wanted to see right now. He probably had friends to keep him company tonight, friends to talk to, friends who would support him no matter what…

She put the phone down on the table again and put her hands on her belly. Inside of her was a little child growing, becoming more and more like a person every day. She smiled a little, stroking the bump repeatedly.   

Trace drove Justin over to Jordan’s house in the morning. Justin made sure he kept his head down so the photographers outside her gate wouldn’t see him. He was so nervous, he hadn’t slept all night, and he still had no idea how to handle this situation.

She opened the door and looked up at him, not knowing whether to smile at him or shake his hand or… She settled for no expression, just nodding slightly to him before guiding him over to her living room.

Her heart was beating fast as she sat down in a chair opposite him. He stared back at her, opening his mouth as if to start talking, but no sound came out. How would he start a conversation like this?

He tried again, but same thing happened. It was as if it was physically impossible for him to speak. Her eyes got milder and she almost smiled.

-“You want me to start?” she asked gently.

She knew how awkward he must have felt, and she felt it was her duty to get on with this. He just nodded in relief, half smiling as he looked down at his fiddling hands.

-“Ok, this is how I see it; you have some decisions to make. I need to know how involved you want to be, but I also need to make sure you understand that the final word when it comes to this child is going to be mine. We need to discuss the press release, whether you want your name out…”

-“I do…” he said quietly.

-“…and we need to get a lawyer we both trust to write some kind of agreement.”

Wow, she had been thinking a lot more rational thoughts than him last night. He nodded in agreement, and she continued.

-“It doesn’t matter right now how low you think of me. This is not about you and me anymore.”

He shook his head.-“Jordan, I’m sorry about the conversation we had last week. I had no right saying what I did, I don’t know you at all. It’s important for all of us that we get along. At least we have to try. I’m gonna be the father of this child in every way I can, and I have no problem going public with this. Just give me time to tell my family first.”

-“And your girlfriend…”

-“Yeah, that’s…” he nodded. “I just need a few days to come to terms with this. It’s gonna change my whole life, I need to make adjustments I never expected to make at this time.”

-“I know, I didn’t exactly plan this myself. So, where should we start?”

He was surprised how different she seemed in this situation. She seemed pretty together, calm and rational, almost…nice? Could he have been wrong about her, or was it just an act?

-“I guess with the statement to the press. Do you wanne do it, or…together, or…”

-“I think we should talk to Ken about it. It should be short, just stating that we are having a baby, that we are not together, but that we still are very thrilled about the whole thing.”

He smiled.-“Thrilled? Strong word?”

She smiled back.-“So, we’ll lie, not the first time any of us are lying to the press, I guess?”

-“What about custody issues?” he asked.

-“What do you want?” she asked back, curious to know.

-“I haven’t really thought about it…”

-“Well, think about it and get back to me.”

 They were silent for a while.

-“So, how are you doing?” he suddenly asked.

-“Not too bad, I’m not throwing up anymore, I’m really not that tired either. But then again, I don’t really know what’s normal.”

She answered like she would have in an interview.

-“Who knows about this?”

-“About you?”

-“Yeah”

-“Nobody. I guess I’ll tell my manager and my assistant pretty soon, other then that Ken is the only one who knows about you.”

He nodded.-“Your family?”

-“Don’t have any” she answered quickly, obviously reluctant to talk about it. He knew she had a father she didn’t get along with, the magazines had been full of stories and theories about it.

-“So, what are your plans now? Do you need to promote the movie any more, or are you done?” He felt the need to speak to her about other things as well, getting to know her a bit more.

-“Another week to go. I was supposed to start shooting a new movie next month, but I unfortunately needed to cancel, for obvious reasons.”

-“So, you’ll be staying here until…”

-“Yeah, why?”

-“Just… You know, I’d like to go to the doctors appointments with you, ultra sound, all that shit. And for the birth…”

-“No way! Not during birth, that’s out of the question.” She answered firmly.

He made a mental note to work on this later. It was no way he was gonna miss the birth of his child, but he guessed she needed to get to know him a bit better before exposing herself in that way.

-“Ok, but the rest?”

-“Sure, I’ve got an ultra sound in two weeks”

-“When the presumed date of birth?”

-“1st of December”

He got lost in thoughts. He’d be a father for Christmas, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to spend the holiday with his own kid. He would be sitting with his family in Tennessee missing the most important member. Hell, he’d probably miss the first steps, the first word, the first of everything.

He’d be a week-end dad, the one to spoil the kid, but never really get the same connection as the mother would. He’d get to take him to the movies, or concerts, all sorts of fun stuff, but he’d never get the everyday ‘non-important’ stuff, that was the most important stuff of all.

How about his touring? Would he go months without seeing him? Would she allow him to go visit him on tour when he was old enough?

He felt his eyes well up with tears, and used his fingers to rub them. Jordan just looked at him, she saw his reaction, but had no idea how to handle it. She could only imagine what he was thinking about, and she knew it must be hurting. He seemed so sensitive, so different to all the guys she knew from the industry.   

An hour later he went back out to Trace who was still waiting for him in the car. Trace didn’t ask him about anything, he knew Justin would talk when he was ready.

As soon as he got back to his house he went into his bedroom finally falling asleep to the sounds of his own sobs.