Justin rolled out of bed and dragged himself downstairs in his shorts. Yawning and bleary-eyed, he greeted his mom and Kerri, who had been busy cleaning. He then greeted the family dogs, Bearlie and Bella, who had been busy yapping. He looked outside at the woods in the back yard and said, "Did I hear somebody say something about food?"

The night before he had gone out with Kerri and didn't know how to interpret their evening together. But it was the furthest thing from his mind today. He'd slept till almost 3, but this was the norm anytime he came home from promotional gigs or a tours. He just vegged on the couch in the living room for most of the hour, playing video games, expanding his stomach and letting his mom take a mom's good care of him.

"Here's what I want," he said at last, entering the kitchen.

"A Philly cheese-steak sandwich," she and Kerri said in unison, already knowing.

"Yeah…And a salad…And fries." Justin bent down to mess with the dogs.

"The doggies are so glad to have him home," Lynn said fondly to Kerri, who was wiping down the counter. "They miss him."

Easing himself around the couch, Justin took a seat and said that he was feeling pretty good and relaxed. "Well that's good. Maybe you can get up off your lazy butt and help us finish cleaning." Kerri commented as she handed him a drink.

He just huffed her off and turned on the television. TRL was on and "Cry Me A River" was playing. Kerri took the Windex and a roll of paper towels and started in on the coffee table, tapping Justin's knee so he would move out of her way.

Lynn brought in his salad and as if out of nowhere, he started talking about his ex and about how, early on, he felt blamed for the breakup, when it wasn't his fault at all, and before long he moodily said, "I think I still have a lot of feelings, though I don't particularly know what they are."

Lynn leaned down and kissed the top of his head before retreating back into the kitchen to finish up his food. Kerri sat there and smiled at how close they were. Justin's parents divorced when he was two. Two years later, his mom, now forty-one, got remarried to Paul, and together they raised what seemed like a very quiet child. "He always walked around with his head down, so you never saw anything but the top of his head," laughed Lynn.

She remembered her son as a "perfectionist who couldn't stand anything on his shoes or his hands." The two were, and still are, exceptionally close. Lovingly enough, Justin has a tattoo on his back of an angel holding a banner that bears his mom's initials.

One great thing Kerri noticed about Justin’s family was that they hadn't uprooted themselves, moved to Los Angeles, bought Bentleys, gone in for plastic surgery and fallen out with one another, lawsuits resulting...Well at least not yet. They'd all stayed put, which is why Justin had a home to go back to. He was comfortable here, resting up until he has to embark on a promo tour, which will be followed by a club-date tour, and an arena tour. Back home it would have taken him awhile to settle down and relax and finally be open with her. It was the same for her too. That's why they got along so well. But here…Here he was like an open book. So anything Kerri wanted to talk to him about, she could. He was always game.

Later on that night, the party was going off without a hitch. Justin's grandmother, Sadie was completely surprised to see him. A few minutes into the party Justin came out of hiding from a nearby closet and walked up behind her, covering her eyes with his hands. Sadie went through her usual set of names, guessing who was standing to her rear, but when he began to serenade her with "Happy Birthday," she was overcome with joy and hugged him tightly. It was the best present she could have received. Having all her family and friends there...Together. Trace took Kerri around and introduced her to various relatives and friends, while Justin was busy spending time with his Grams. He'd send a smile her way every few minutes to make sure she was enjoying herself. They even exchanged lipped conversation from across the room to one another about drunk uncles and whacked out fifth cousins who were there trying to borrow money from 'the family'.

When the party was over, Trace and his mom stayed to help clean up. Justin's stepfather, Paul, had gone up to bed early because of a pain in his lower back--or so he claimed. Lynn, Belinda, and Trace watched Kerri and Justin cleaning up the backyard, throwing things at one another and laughing hysterically. Trace rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing.

"Aww! You jealous?" Lynn teased.

"Jealous? Of them?" Trace huffed at the thought. He watched them carefully through the window. Justin was chasing Kerri around the yard, both dogs following close behind, till he finally caught up with her and grabbed her from behind lifting her up off the ground.

"Yeah. I'd be jealous too if some other person was intruding in on my friendship with your mom...Stealing away all her time." Lynn commented as she loaded up the dishwasher.

"I'm not jealous of them. We're family. There is no competition here." Trace defended.

He then reached into his back pocket and threw down two 50's onto the table. "Here."

"What's this for?" Lynn asked.

"I lost our bet."

Lynn thought back and recalled the night he had said Justin would have Kerri out of his system within a month. Upon hearing the story Belinda shook her head. "I can't believe you bet Trace that Justin would do something like that."

"I didn't!" Lynn defended. "He just assumed I was in on it."

Trace went to retrieve his money from the table, but Lynn scooped it up from his grasps and added, "I can always use an extra hundred bucks though."

Trace set down a hundred dollar bill this time and proclaimed, "I'll give it another week before they get together."

Late that night Lynn dragged herself downstairs to the kitchen to get a cup of tea. She was surprised to find Kerri sitting at the table staring off into space. "Kerri? You alright, Hun?"

"Yes, I'm ok, Mrs. Harless." Kerri looked down towards her cup, "Just couldn't sleep."

"Me either." Lynn replied as she filled up her cup with a tea bag and hot water.

She sat down at the table across from cherish and dipped the tea bag in and out of the water. The two women talked about the party and how everything ended up being perfect. Kerri made a point to express her gratitude in being able to be a part of it. "It's so amazing to see how close you all are."

"Ever since Justin was little we've made sure that we were never far away from the rest of the family. We even live right next door to his grandmother, so he's become very attached. I think having that support has helped mold him into the person he is today. Family is the basis of everything you do. Don't you think?"

Kerri looked out the window, "Umm...yeah."

Lynn could see that the discussion of family was an uneasy topic for Kerri. She was curious to find out more, but didn't want to pry. Lynn quickly changed subjects and the two of them talked for about an hour about Kerri's new job and Lynn's endeavors into the business world instead.

Lynn found it hard not to like this girl. After speaking with her she discovered that Kerri was extremely intelligent, funny, witty and very independent. She wasn’t the type of girl that Lynn was used to seeing Justin with. She was an attractive young woman, but her personality made her even more attractive. Lynn knew the two of them were only friends but she couldn't help but compare Kerri to an ex that wasn't so far in her son's past. She almost felt like she was betraying her by getting to know Kerri. It wasn't like the two of them had been married and gone through a bitter divorce. They were just two young people who had known each other for quite a long time. But when you open up your home, your family, and your heart to someone and things don't work out, everyone feels the loss.

Kerri and Lynn continued to talk into the wee hours of the morning before Kerri and Justin would have to hop back on a plane and head back to California.