An echo of music filled the large football stadium. Justin, Joey and Lance were on the far left side of the stage harmonizing parts of "I Thought She Knew." JC and Chris were on the other side of the stage going over choreography while the band practiced. A few moments later a crew member came up with a tall stack of pizza boxes. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing to grab a bite to eat. JC sat on the edge of the stage and sipped his water.
"You ain't hungry?" Chris asked.
"Nah. I'm too worked up to eat." JC fiddled around with a string on his pants.
Chris placed the extra plate of pizza down next to JC just in case he decided to change his mind. He watched his friend's eyes gaze down onto the field where Laura and Hallie were sitting on a large blanket talking and laughing with one another.
"How's she doin?" Chris nodded towards the two women.
"Pretty good." JC responded, turning his gaze back town at his pants. "She's staying with Justin till the end of the week. Then, it's back to Chicago." he sighed.
"What have you two discussed about the baby?"
"We haven't really discussed anything. I'm not trying to spark any tension between us right now. Especially in the midst of recording this song."
"I thought you were done recording the song. Justin told me that the only thing left was editing."
"Yeah, but we have to do interviews and some extra footage for Jerry's little enhanced CD or DVD he's putting together. Chris nodded in agreement while he stuffed his face with a slice of pizza. He watched JC looked over to the right side of the stadium where Rachel and Cassandra were sitting in the stands reading magazines. Nikky was laid out in his stroller taking a nap.
There was an awkward silence between the two men. Both went to speak and stopped short of interrupting one another. Chris looked out at Laura and then back over at his friend, "I know that I'm a clown half the time, but can I ask you a serious question?"
JC looked over at Chris, "Am I setting myself up for another one of your great Chris moments?"
"No. I'm serious."
"Ok. I'll humor you. Ask away."
"What are still doing with Rachel?"
JC looked at his friend in shock, "What?"
"I mean in the beginning, it was mostly about your son and trying to keep a stable environment for your only child, but now that you have another on the way...There's no reason for you to stay with that...That woman."
"It could never be because I love her, huh?" JC grabbed a slice of pizza and took a small bite.
"No. Because you don't. And as far as I am concerned...Once a liar. Always a liar."
JC placed the slice back down on the place and wiped his hands across his pants, "What makes you say that I don't love her?"
"Just looking at you. The way you look at Laura when she's around. The way the two of you interact with each other."
"Well you must be seeing something that no one else see's...Including me. And just because your a cynic doesn't mean people can't change."
"Yes, people can change. But parasites don't. And that's what Rachel is. It just doesn't make any sense to us."
"Us?"
"Did I stutter? It's an old pattern starting all over again and we just don't want to see you hurt again. You seemed so happy with Laura. You both looked like you were so deep in love. And now that Laura is about to give birth to your baby, I would have thought you'd reconsider this 'marriage' you have planned."
JC looked straight ahead towards the empty stadium seats. He never looked Chris in the eye. "Well I made this decision before I even knew about all that. Certain things may have changed, but that won't change the outcome. I made a promise and I'm going to keep it."
"But at what price, JC?"
JC never answered him. He grabbed his bottle of water, stood up, and walked over to sit with Justin and Joey.
While they were eating, Laura walked up to the stage and called out to their music director. "Hey, Kevin? Can I bang away on the guitar for a minute? I want to try some of my dad's old stuff out."
"Bring it on. Let me see what you got." Kevin teased. Laura attempted to climb to steep steps to get on stage. JC grabbed her hand right as she began to loose her balance and fall backwards. "I got you" he said as he pulled her close to his body to keep her from falling.
"Yeah...Thanks" she said, still lingering in his embrace.
Kevin brought over a chair for Laura to sit on. He helped her attach the guitar around herself and they both laughed at how awkward it looked against her protruding belly. Laura still managed to play though.
~~~~~~~~
"That doesn't piss you off?"
"What are you talking about now, Cassandra?"
"The fact that your fiance is all over your ex-best friend." Cassandra pointed out. Rachel looked up from her magazine and saw JC helping Laura up the steps. She watched for a moment longer and looked to her companion and said, "He's just helping her up the steps. Look at her. Add another couple pounds to her and she'll tip over."
"Yeah, but why is she even here?"
"Justin invited her. JC and I, have already discussed it. He said I could either come along like originally planned, or stay home."
Casandra laughed. "You mean argued about it...I guess you made the right decision then. This way you can keep an eye on the two of them."
"I trust JC."
"Right. Sure you do." she mumbled.
Rachel rolled her eyes at Cassandra and went back to reading her magazine, but kept it down below eye level so that she could check on them without anyone noticing.
~~~~~~~
JC and Justin were in their own world concentrating on harmonies for the upcoming show. "I want to do a bluesy version of 'I Want You Back'. Change it up a little...you know?"
"Yeah...Yeah, I see what you sayin'." Justin replied before starting to sing the first verse.
He abruptly stopped and called out to his little brother, "Hey Jonathan! Don't ride the scooter near the stage, ok? The crew is setting up and I don't want you in their way. It's too dangerous to ride over here."
~~~~~~~
"La, la, la...La, la, la, la....Mmm,hmmm,mmm,hmm-" Rachel hummed to herself.
"You know that song?" Cassandra asked.
"What song?" Rachel questioned as she looked up from her magazine.
As if to say 'duh' to Rachel, Cassandra said, "Your humming along with the beat the girl's playing."
Rachel hadn't noticed what she was doing. She looked up and could see Laura playing the guitar. She watched Laura squint to see what was written on the sheets and asked Kevin to help her. Rachel leaned over the railing slightly to hear them.
"I know this can't be your handwriting, Laura."
"No. It's my dad's."
Kevin got quiet. "Oh."
"He wrote this a long time ago when I was little. My mom finally decided to go through his things and she gave me all his music. This was in there. I remember when he was working on it. I used to hum the melody all the time."
Rachel smiled remembering back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come on, girls! I need your help with something...There's an ice cream cone in it for the both of you."
"Okay daddy! We're coming!" Laura yelled back to her father. "Just bring the Barbie's on the porch so we can play later, Rachel."
The two young girls dashed into the house and down the stairs into the basement. Laura grabbed her two tiny chairs and placed them in front of her father. He was sitting down on a fold up chair tuning his guitar. Rachel sat next to her and looked toward Mr. Charles with a smile on her face.
"Alright, girls. I need the two of you to sing a small part of this song for me, ok?"
The two girls looked at each and giggled before looking at Mr. Charles and nodding.
"It goes like this...La, la, la. La, la, la, laaaa....La, la, la. La, la, la, laaaaa...I know its not much, but I don't have a sweet angelic voice like the two of you." Mr. Charles' pitch in his voice went up about 2 times the norm and he sounded like a chipmunk. He then let the bass in his voice shine through more as he stuck out his chest and tapped it with his fist like Tarzan and said, "I've got this big deep manly voice."
The three of them started to laugh hysterically. Mr. Charles sang along with the girls and began to play his guitar. He never really sang any lyrics to the song. He looked as though he were trying to let them come to him naturally. After about three minutes of the girls singing the same thing over and over again, they silenced themselves when they heard him sing softly , "Tell the kids about me, when they're old enough to...understand...Tell them that their daddy was...A good man..A good man."
He immediately stopped playing and rushed over to his desk to grab a pencil and paper to write down what he had just sung. The girls watched in amazement at how quickly he was writing.
"Wow. Your daddy is so cool. I wish my daddy was like him." Rachel said to her friend.
"Your daddy is great, Rachel. He gets to fly those big airplanes!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, but your daddy gets to meet all those famous people and he takes you along with him. My daddy doesn't take me anywhere with him." Rachel said sadly.
Mr. Charles overheard the girls speaking and stopped writing. He watched Laura pat her friend's back before looking at her and saying, "Maybe you have to be a big girl to go with your daddy on the planes?"
Rachel hung her head and looked down at her rainbow bright sneakers. "No...Samantha down the street goes with her daddy when he flies out with my daddy."
Laura bent down to look into her friends eyes, "Don't be sad. Maybe when your daddy is away, you can share my daddy with me."
Rachel's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Laura exclaimed.
The two girls thought for a minute and yelled out in unison, "That means we can be sisters!"
Laura's father smiled to himself. He then scooped up the two tiny girls in his arms and ran up the stairs towards the front door. Mrs. Charles was walking in with a bag a groceries and noticed to two girls dangling in his arms at his sides.
"Where are the three of you off to?" she asked.
"I promised my girls some ice cream for helping me downstairs. We're off the Dairy Queen. We should be back in an hour."
The two girls put their arms out as if they were flying through the air. Mrs. Charles smiled at how happy they were and hated to spoil their fun, "Honey, they haven't even eaten dinner yet. I don't think Rachel's mom would appreciate her eating dessert before a healthy meal."
The girls immediately stopped what they were doing and both adults noticed the looks on their faces. Laura's father winked at the two girls and looked up at his wife and asked, "How about if they promise to eat all their vegetables as soon as we get back?"
The two of them nodded their heads vigorously in agreement. "Oh, please mommy?"
"Please Mrs. Charles?" Rachel begged.
"Yeah, please mommy?" Mr. Charles pouted at his wife.
Laura's mother hesitated before giving in to their pitiful faces, "Well, okay. But make sure you're back in an hour."
"Yay!" They all yelled. Laura's father gave his wife a peck on the cheek and dashed down the porch steps with the two girls still in his arms. "Now let's see if the two of you can fly all the way to the car...Oh no! There's turbulence! Are my two girls going to make it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What the hell are you grinning about?"
Rachel came out of her daydream. "Huh?" She looked over at Cassandra whose face was bunched up in disgust. "Umm...Nothing. Just thinking to myself."
"Must have been a good thought by the way you were smiling like a little girl."
Rachel ignored Cassandra and went back to listening to Laura go over the lyrics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Who's the song for?" Kevin asked as he looked down at the sheet music.
"Well, I haven't really decided yet. A few artists are interested in recording it, but I don't know if I want to give it up. It's personal to me...It's about a woman remembering back to times with her husband and an agreement they had made."
"Why don't you record it yourself?" he asked.
"I don't know. I just...I may. I haven't decided if I really want to take those few steps from behind the boards to in front of a mic, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. Well, how bout you just sit in front of me so I can hear what it's suppose to sound like...Just in case you change your mind about releasing it, and its sits collecting dust for another few years." he joked lightly.
Laura was hesitant, but noticed that no one seemed to be paying much attention to what they were doing anyway. Lance and Chris were off to the side, still eating pizza. Joey was off talking to his brother and a few crew members, while Justin and JC were on the field talking to the pyrotechnics guy.
"Alright." she agreed.
Kevin smiled before counting it off, "...Three, four."
Rachel let her eyes close slightly as she sang, "La, la, la. La, la, la, laaa....La, la, la. La, la, la, laaa."
I remember the first day
I met you
we were so young
you were a blessing
and there was no guessing
you were the one
Love was so crazy
We had a baby
JC's attention was suddenly all hers when he heard her say 'we had a baby'.
and said our vows
That's when you told me
should anything happen
I can hear you now
You told me
Laura started to snap her fingers. JC tuned out the two men and watched Laura as she sang.
if the sun comes up
and I'm not home
be strong
If I'm not beside you
Do your best to
carry on
Tell the kids about me
when they're old enough to understand
tell them that their daddy was
a good man
Yeaaaahhhhh
Rachel mouthed the words as she watched Laura. "La, la, la. La, la, la, laaa..."
First anniversary
remember we
chose a star
And as I stand under it
I can't help but wonder if
You see it where you are
For whatever reason
We don't see the seasons
Change again
Go there with peace of mind
We'll meet on the other side
Cause true Love don't end
JC smiled as he listened to her sing. Kevin added his voice with hers and it seemed to sound perfect.
and baby
if the sun comes up
and you're not home
I'll be strong
If you're not beside me
I'll do my best to
carry on
I'll tell the kids about you
when they're old enough to understand
I'll tell them that their daddy was
a good maaan nnnn
La, la, la. La, la, la, ooooohhhh
La, la, la. La, la, la, ooooohhhh
Two eyes
looking
up at me
Pointing to the picture like where is he
Mamma are you OK
What did the paper say
To make you cry that way
It said your Daddy lived for you
and your daddy died for you
and I'll do the same
Now baby
if the sun comes up
and I'm not home
be strong
If I'm not beside you
Do your best to
carry on
Rachel lowly sang to herself as she listened to Laura finish the song.
Tell your kids about me
when they're old enough to understand
tell them that your daddy was
a good man, a good man
La, la, la. La, la, la, la, laaa…
"How do you know that song?" Cassandra asked.
"I was in the basement with her when her father first started writing it. It was so funny, cause he had us sitting there just singing and humming 'la, la, la, la's'. Then he scooped us up and took us for ice cream. He used to always do that. That was the day Laura and I decided that we were going to be sisters-" Rachel paused and starred down at the ground as memories of their friendship came flooding back to her.
"And all this strife over a guy? Tis' a shame. I guess if JC weren't in the picture the two of you would still be inseparable." Cassandra shook her head nonchalantly before returning to balance her checkbook.
Rachel looked down at her engagement ring and over at Nikky and then towards her ex-best friend. "No. I think we will have still ended up here."
"Why?"
"We just...I guess we just grew apart." Rachel lied. She looked at her son who was fast asleep in his stroller. "Nikky adores her though."
"Speaking of which...I found out more about your fiance asking questions around the clinic."
"I already told you, he said he was never there."
"Well, somebody was there. The girl I work with told me that the guy had dark brown hair and he was tall and slender. Sounds like JC."
"Yeah, but he's not a good liar. And I think your friend would have recognized him, if it were JC."
"Well, all I am saying is that someone is asking questions. But I can take care of it for you if you like."
Cassandra got up and stood in the isle and pointed towards JC and said, "I'll just go over there and tell him everything. This way everything will really be out on the table...No more questions will have to be asked." she smiled dryly before walking away.
Rachel called after her, but Cassandra kept going. She sat there for a minute and told herself that the girl wasn't going to do it. But when Cassandra disappeared around the corner, Rachel bolted from her seat and raced after her with Nikky in his stroller.
Jonathan was strolling around the inside of the stadium on his scooter. He passed Rachel and waved to her as she was bolting down the hall. When he turned around to go the other way and head back to the field he could hear two people yelling. He stopped and noticed Rachel and Cassandra talking on the corner.
"Look. I'm already under enough stress as it is, getting ready for my wedding. I don't need this added stress of you going back and telling him weighing on my mind right now, Cas. Just tell me how much and I will give it to you to handle this. I don't need JC coming to me asking a whole lot of questions-"
Rachel could see Jonathan through the corner of her eye and looked towards him and smiled. "Hey Jonathan. You shouldn't be riding your scooter in here. Why don't you go back out to the field where your brother can see you sweetie. We wouldn't want to worry him."
Jonathan nodded and slowly headed back towards the field. But not before he heard the rest of Rachel's conversation.
"Look Cas, I just don't need him asking that Nikky have another paternity test."
Jonathan strolled his way onto the field where he saw his brother on the stage waving to him. He put down the scooter and made his way onto the stage, over to his brother. "Where have you been?"
"I was inside riding. I can't go fast in the grass, Justin." he whined.
Justin kneeled down to be at eye level with his brother. "Please just stay where I can see you, Jonathan."
A look of worry dawned on Jonathan's face. "Are you going to make me take a pattern test?"
"A what?"
"Aunt Rachel was talking to that lady about giving Nikky a pattern test. Do I have to take one too?"
Justin didn't understand what his little brother was saying. "No. Why don't you go over and ask Joey to let you play the drums for a bit."
Justin watched his brother skip over to Joey and thought to himself. "A pattern test? A pattern test..." he kept saying it over and over again until it clicked. "A paternity test." he snapped his fingers.
He wondered if he should go and tell JC, but decided not to. He didn't hear what was said and he didn't want to jump to conclusions. But something deep inside him, told him that he should look into things. But he knew he would need help. He looked around at everyone working. He then noticed Rachel walking with Nikki in her arms towards JC, who was still on the field talking to a group of men. He could also see that Hallie was glaring at her. A grin appeared on his face as he walked over to Hallie and leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I think I have some new info on our happy couple over there."
Hallie looked at him questioningly. Justin didn't want to speak on it until they were alone. He noticed Cassandra walking un towards the stage and asked, "Doesn't she look familiar to you?"
Justin could see that Hallie didn't recognize her. "Try picturing her with a nurses uniform on."
Hallie's mouth dropped open slightly. Justin smiled and patted her back gently and said "We'll talk at home," before walking away to finish rehearsing.
Story Tags: friendsturnedlovers oral girlontop makeupsex daddyjc boyfriendjc
