He stayed a little longer after Ken left. He didn’t ask her, he just didn’t leave, and she was fine with that.

He had already had 4 glasses of JD, but it made him a bit more relaxed.

-“ So, how was your week?” he asked, trying to get the subject over to something else.

-“Okay, I guess. The press has made a camp outside after I admitted to the pregnancy. Everybody wants to know who the father is.”

-“Yeah, they will by the end of the day.” He sighed running a hand through his hair.

-“Justin, I know you’re already used to this, but it’s gonna get bad. Just don’t let it drag you down, don’t get angry, don’t put up a fight with the photographers. Just ignore them, don’t talk to them. And it’s gonna be high bids out to get the first photo of the two of us together, so we should really give it to them as soon as possible.”

He nodded.

-“Yeah, I know. How are you holding up?” He wanted to know how she felt, she was so surprisingly together, seemed so stable. He didn’t believe she really could be.

-“Good…Good.” He noticed she unconsciously stroked her belly. It was getting bigger. “I’ve had a little longer than you to get used to the thought”

-“Can I …Can I touch it?” he asked, nodding at her belly. She waited so long to answer he thought she would say no. But she finally nodded, putting her hands on her side, leaving the bump available for him to explore.

He got up and sat down next to her. His hand spent forever getting there, like he was afraid it would burn from his touch. But when his hand covered her bump he had no choice to smile.

-“Does it kick yet?” he asked, and she smiled back at his obvious fascination.

-“Too early for that. But tomorrow we can see the heart beat on the monitor.”

-“Wow, that’s amazing. Thank you.” He moved his hand over hers, and she didn’t pull it back. She did feel a bit uncomfortable with the touching, but she did her best not to show it.

-“What for?” she asked

-“For letting me be a part of this.”

-“You already were a part of this”  

They watched the news cast together in silence.

Jordan Callister’s baby father revealed after this.

The teaser to keep the viewers from changing the channel was playing before commercials. 

A shocking revelation as Callister released a statement about her pregnancy, revealing superstar Justin Timberlake as the father of her child. The couple was rumoured to have a thing around the time of her Oscar, but it was never confirmed. Well, what better confirmation than a baby. Timberlake is known to be in a relationship with Jessica Biel, but is said to be thrilled with the fact that he is going to be a father. Biel on the other hand has no comment so far. Callister is due in the beginning of December, which is the reason she pulled out as leading lady in Spielbergs movie ‘Creation of a Madman’ earlier this month. 

She turned it off when it finished.

-“Here we go” she said quietly.

-“Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?”

-“Yeah, that would be fine. 10?”

He nodded and got up to leave, not wanting to overstay his welcome.

 As he walked out he suddenly remembered Trace who had been waiting out in the car for the past 3 hours.       

He didn’t turn on any news that night; he didn’t want to be met with his own face on the screen. He called Jess to tell her he needed to be alone tonight, and enjoyed a quiet dinner with Trace.

-“So, what did Jess say?” Trace asked, and he shrugged.

-“You know how she is, she’s not gonna say anything that will upset me”

Trace shook his head.

-“I know it’s none of my business, but how do you not get tired of that? She doesn’t have any opinions of her own, she says yes to anything you say, she never challenges you…”

-“I think you answered your own question right there” he said while chewing on his steak. Trace smiled a little.

-“Ok, whatever gets you through the nights.”

-“True words, my friend” He continued to eat without looking up at Trace.

-“So, how is she doing, though, with the press going crazy on this story?”

-“I don’t know, it’s not really her story, is it?”

-“But it must be hard for her. Don’t you think you’re behaving a little bit selfish now, I would assume she needs you more than ever tonight.”

-“Yeah, well, I need to be alone”

Trace sighed.

-“I know this situation is tough for you, but you’re turning into an insensitive asshole, and that doesn’t suit you. You need to snap out of it.”

-“You know, Trace, as much as I love you…” he finished off his last bite and got up to throw the dish in the sink “…I’m not in the mood for moral lectures from you right now. I think I have a right to be a bit selfish, I need to do what feels best for me in this situation, I can’t go around pleasing everyone else at the expense of myself. I can’t deal with all the expectations and demands from everybody, I have enough to deal with as it is. She wanted to stay together, fine, but it’s not about her right now. It’s not like we’re fucking married!”

-“I just want you back, man. I want you all happy and funny and…”

-“Don’t hold your breath” he said as he walked out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, turning on his iPod loud, as if to silence his troubled mind.  

As he drove up to her gate in the morning he was almost blended with all the flashes from the cameras. They were all shouting at him, fighting to be the one with a comment to go along with the first pictures ever connecting Justin and Jordan.

He avoided looking at them, just stared straight ahead with an expressionless face. He knew it would happen, but this was something it was impossible to fully prepare for. His knuckles turned white with the pressure he was putting on the steering wheel.

She opened the door and ushered him inside.

-“The mob is getting bigger” she said as she caught a glimpse of the group of people outside the gate.

-“Just as predicted. You ready? You look good…” he looked at her in her sundress, her belly sticking out, her boobs getting bigger. She did look good. He found himself imagining that it was his wife in front of him, happily pregnant, and he was about to take her hand, kiss it and follow her to the ultra-sound. That he lived here, and was about to start a happy family with a woman he loved.

-“What’s wrong?” She pulled him out of his daydream, and now he was looking at a woman he didn’t know carrying his child.

-“Nothing, just…How should we do the exit?”

-“I don’t know, maybe I should keep my head down so they don’t see me” she suggested.

-“They’ll be too close to the car, they’ll see you. Should we call for a car? Get some black windows or something?”

She laughed lightly. He hadn’t heard her laugh since the first night they met, and it made him feel warm inside.

-“Maybe we should just not hide? They are gonna analyze our body language and our facial expressions and so on, but that will happen sooner or later anyway. We could just get done with it now…?”

He nodded.

-“I guess. You seen the papers today?” he held his hand on her back as he walked her to his car.

-“Yeah, looks like we made the front page”

He laughed.

-“Wow, our friends and families are gonna be so proud of us. Front page!”

She laughed too as they drove out of the gate, once again blinded by the cameras. They both kept smiling, more for the paparazzi than the situation.

She looked up at him. He really was a decent guy, and he treated her with the uttermost respect. She started to believe he really wanted to be a big part of this, and it felt good. She liked having him around, maybe they could grow to be some kind of friends? 

The paparazzi had followed them to the hospital and quickly jumped out of their cars to catch up with them as they walked in. He continued to hold his hand on her back protectively when they walked through the entrance, and he knew instantly that these pictures would make tomorrow’s front page.

They were greeted by Jordan’s doctor, a woman in her 40’s.

-“Hi, I’m Doctor Alison McKey. You must be Justin” she shook his hand and her smile was warm. “Are you ready to see your baby?”

He couldn’t help but smile brightly. He was gonna see his baby for the first time, this was an exiting moment.Jordan looked at his expression and broke out in a smile herself.

As she lay down the doctor pulled up her dress exposing her little boxer shorts. Justin swallowed hard and tried to keep his eyes on her belly, but at the end of the day he was just a man and she was a beautiful woman in her underwear.

She had been around men enough to know his reaction, and she regretted that she hadn’t worn trousers instead. She just didn’t have any that fit anymore; she hadn’t been shopping for maternity clothes yet. She felt a bit exposed when she felt his eyes on her.

-“Justin, eyes on the belly, ok?” she tried to make fun on the situation to lighten the tension and it worked.

-“Come on, what do you expect? I’m only human!” he smirked and she laughed again.

The doctor poured some liquid on her and started the examination. Justin was mesmerized staring at the screen.

-“Oh, my God! Is that…?”

-“Yep, that’s your baby! And from what I can see, a very healthy baby. You want to hear the heartbeat?”

He nodded, unable to say another word. As soon as he heard the beating of the tiny heart he automatically took Jordan’s hand in his. She looked at him and grinned. They were both staring at the screen taking in every word the doctor said, neither of them able to stop smiling.

-“So, do you want to know the gender?” the doctor asked, pulling them out of their trance. Jordan looked at Justin who shrugged back.

-“That’s your call, either way is fine with me” He didn’t want to say that he was dying to know the gender.

-“I think maybe I wanne know…If you’re sure you’re okay with that…” She wanted him to be a part of the decision, but was grateful that he left it up to her.

-“Yeah, let’s hear it” he said exited.

-“Ok, then” the doctor started. “Looks like you’re going to be the parents of a beautiful little girl.”

A girl? He didn't know why he was so surprised, but then again he had always imagined the baby to be a boy. A little daughter?

He tightened his grip on Jordan’s hand, grinning at her. He was going to be a father of a beautiful little girl. He could feel tears in his eyes, but this time it was pure happiness.  

-“You wanne do something?” he asked as they left the doctor’s office.

-“Like what?” she asked surprised. He had never initiated any interaction between them that didn't have anything to do with the pregnancy.

-“Shopping, maybe?” he asked uncertain. He wasn’t ready to let her go yet, let his baby go.

-“For what?”

-“I don’t know, baby stuff, whatever…”

She shrugged

-“Why not? Sounds good.”

They got into his car, oblivious to the photographers; there were more important issues to deal with.

-“Good” he said, heading for downtown.

They walked into the store with their huge following behind them.

-“So I was thinking… Maybe we could like buy two of each of everything, make the baby rooms as much alike as possible, you know, stability and all that shit, making them look alike so she…doesn’t really feel like she has two different worlds….”

She laughed when he was done with his rambling.

-“You’re very cute, you know that? You put a lot of thought into this?”

-“Nah, just thought of it last night… I think it’ll be good for her…”

-“Ok, let’s do that.”

-“Good, any colour in mind?”

-“I’m not a big fan of pink, so…red?”

-“Let’s go for red!” His eyes went straight to a crib with red and white flowers on the curtains. He touched the fabric with his fingers.

-“You like this one?” she asked, and he blushed a bit.

-“It’s cute, don’t you think?”

-“I love it! It’s adorable!”

-“So, two of these then. How ‘bout the stroller? Which do you like?”

She walked around touching 4-5 different ones. She finally stopped between a purple one and a dark green..

-“Oh, these are great, you can like use this for a car seat too, and it’s easy to jog with, and they have a matching bag with it! Oh, look, it’s a little umbrella to keep the sun away, and look at this, Justin! It’s a matching rain cover!”

He felt all warm with her excitement, and before he knew what he was doing he took an arm around her and kissed her forehead. She looked up at him laughing a bit embarrassed.

-“I’m sorry, I just never imagined I’d be doing this, but now that I am, everything is so adorable…”

-“I know! Hey, look at this little dress! How cute is that? Will she ever be this tiny?” He held up an outfit for a newborn, a little flowery yellow dress with a hat to match. She took it out of his hands to examine it. She grinned at him.

-“This can be her going home outfit, for when she’s going home from the hospital!”

-“Oooh, how ‘bout this one?” He found a play  mat with Star Wars figures on it, and she laughed out loud.

-“There’s no way! Did you hear the doctor? It’s a girl, not a nerdy boy! Do we set her up for being teased at school already? Forget your wet fantasies! She’s having this one!” she pulled out a Disney’s Princess play mat.

-“I thought you didn’t like pink?” he said, examining the mat closely.

-“But this is too cute to not buy, look at it!”

He laughed again at her excitement, putting the mat in the shopping basket while shaking his head.

-“So, what else do we need?” he asked walking towards the changing tables. “A couple of these?” 

They spent the whole day shopping; he even dragged her to a store that sold maternity clothes. She hadn’t laughed this much in years; he just seemed to bring out the best in her.

As he drove her back home she felt the need to be with him a little longer. She liked the way she was when she was around him, and she wanted the feeling to last a little longer.

-“Do you…want to stay for dinner or something?” she asked, and he could hear in her voice how nervous she was to ask. He was supposed to meet Jess at the Ivy, but he knew he couldn’t let this opportunity get away. He needed her to trust him, to open up to him, and to let him be a part of her life, that was the only way he was ever gonna get a remotely normal relationship with his little daughter

-“I’d like that. Thank you” he smiled and she smiled back a bit relieved.

-“Good. I’m not much of a cook, though, so maybe we can order in?”

-“Let’s stop by the grocery store, I make a mean Thai chicken curry” he suggested.

-“A man of many talents, how can I say no?” She hadn’t been to a grocery store in years either, she usually had her maid or Monica pick something up on the rare occasions she didn’t order in or eat out. 

She was sitting on a bar chair by the kitchen island watching him cook. He had rolled up his sleeves and was working the casseroles like a pro. She had to admit she was a bit impressed, the people she usually hung out with would rather go to a five star restaurant than bother to make something themselves. He was different, almost normal. He reminded her of people she knew in a different life, when she was still a school girl in Seattle. She didn’t know they made men like him anymore. And especially not in Hollywood.

-“What are you smiling about?” he woke her up from her thoughts, holding a spoon with sauce in front of her mouth so she could taste. She sipped the coconut sauce and moaned.

-“God, that’s really good!”

-“Thank you! I usually make it spicier, but I was thinking since you are pregnant and stuff…” He used his thumb to wipe some sauce off her chin, and without thinking she licked it off his finger. He stiffened and stared at her with wide eyes, finding her just as surprised as him. He turned around to the stove again.

She held her breath and couldn’t decide weather she should say something or not. She had no idea why she did it, she didn’t plan it; it was just a reflex. But she had acted completely out of character, and it had obviously made him uncomfortable. Even though he had his back to her, she could feel him blush.

He tried to find something to say, but his mind was blank. What just happened? The whole scenario was just so domestic, so ‘happy married couple in Pleasantville’ sort of stuff, he was just missing the apron here and they would have been straight from a TV commercial for cereal or something. Was he getting too comfortable with her? Were they playing house here?

-“So… should we eat out on the balcony?” he had to say something to break the tension. He glanced quickly at her over his shoulder, not letting his eyes meet her.

-“Yeah, that sounds nice. I’ll set the table” She jumped down from the bar chair, relieved to get out of the room for a few minutes.  

-“Beer?” she asked handing him a bottle, grabbing water for herself.

-“Thanx!” he took the bottle and sat down at the table. It was a beautiful summer night, clear sky and a little breeze. The view from her balcony was spectacular, they could see the city in all it’s glory, yet still enjoy the quietness of the hills.

-“I love this place, it’s so peaceful” he said and she smiled a little.

-“It is. Sometimes I feel it’s a little too big, though. It’s not like I really need 8 bedrooms. This is so good, by the way ” she said in between bites.

-“I’m glad you like it. I’ve never gotten the grand tour here, I’ve only seen the kitchen and one of the living rooms. Maybe you could show me around later? Where the baby room will be…?”

She nodded.

-“I haven’t really decided which room to use, maybe you could help me out.”

-“Sure. So, have you been thinking of names at all?”

She smiled a bit embarrassed.

-“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. You?”

-“Nope, I figured you’d want to decide. I’d love to hear what you’ve come up with, though”

-“Well, I was thinking of Aurora…you know, ‘Terms of Endearment’”

He wrinkled his nose a bit.

-“Isn’t that an old lady’s name? Besides, she won’t be able to pronounce it properly before she’s like 6…”

He heard her laugh, thank God he hadn’t offended her.

-“Ok, so what do you suggest?” she asked.

-“I kind of like Melody”

She threw her head back and laughed so hard, and her spontaneous, infectious laughter got to him again.

-“Too cheesy?” he giggled, and she nodded. “Well, you want to name her after a character in a movie!”

-“How do you like Destiny?” she asked and he smiled widely

-“I love it! Very appropriate! Very profound…”

-“Destiny it is, then?”

-“Destiny Timberlake” he said dreamily, closing his eyes.

-“Destiny Callister, Justin!”He looked up at her again.

-“Destiny Timberlake Callister?” he asked, and the way his eyes were pleading her made her feel so warm inside. She nodded and smiled at him.

-“Destiny Timberlake Callister”

His eyes lit up and his smile was so proud.

-“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” 

She liked how he was so grateful for everything she agreed to. He could have been an asshole and made demands, even ask for joint custody, but he was just happy with the things she let him be a part of. And naming your own daughter was a big deal, of course she wanted him to have some say. 

After the dinner she kept her promise and showed him around the house. He was impressed by how big it was, the rooms never seemed to end. The furniture’s were all design, and she had chosen a European style, very bright and spacious. It suited her, she didn’t seem like someone who would be into the romantic, shabby chic style.

 She opened up the door to a room that had only a huge bed and some closets, together with some art pictures.

-“This is where I was thinking the baby room. It’s right next to my bedroom.” she explained. ”I was planning on having a full time nanny living here, but I changed my mind, I’ll just have someone coming whenever I need it instead. I wanne take care of this one myself. So that’s why I want her next to me, so I don’t have to walk that far when she cries at night.”

He stared at her his jaw falling down to his knees. He never expected this from her.

-“That’s very…un-Hollywood of you.” he said, trying harder to hide his surprise. He had just assumed she’d be doing like everyone else in the industry did, she had people taking care of her every need at all times, it was just strange to him that she wanted to do this herself.

-“I’ll of course get a lot of help, but I really would prefer to spend as much time with her as possible, and feeding her at night and changing diapers are a big part of that. I don’t want a nanny that knows my baby better than me”

He went over to her and pulled her into an embrace. He held her head towards his chest, stroking her hair. He could feel his daughter between them.

-“You’re gonna do fine, Jordan” he said as if he just realised it. “You’re going to be a good mother”

-“I hope you are right…” she whispered, letting her arms hold on to his back. He quickly kissed her forehead, fighting back his tears.

-“I should probably get going, it’s pretty late” he said, and she pulled away from his embrace, her face a little flushed. She wasn’t used to acts of pure kindness, but it made her feel closer to Justin than she had been to any men for a long, long time.

-“Yeah, sure” she answered, hiding a sigh. She wanted him to stay a bit longer, but she knew he had another life.

-“I’ll come by another day, if that’s all right with you?”

-“Anytime you want, Justin. And I’ll let you know when she starts kicking” she smiled, letting her hand rub her tummy.

He looked at her while he grabbed for his jacket from the closet in the hallway. As he held her gaze, he grabbed at the wrong side and suddenly a box flew out of the closet and crashed into the floor.

-“Oh, fuck, I’m sorry!” he said.

-“NO!” she yelled as he bent down to pick it up, but it was too late.

She held her breath as he slowly stood up, holding a bag of white powder in his hand, his eyes colder than she’d ever seen them.

-“What the fuck is this, Jordan!”