LIKE A CHILD by Gwen
"But I want to go to swim!" Noah protested, after Lance told him he couldn't take him swimming when they were finished with breakfast. "I'm sorry, buddy, but Daddy has a meeting and..." "I'll take him," Shannon volunteered. Lance looked over at her, "Shannon, are you sure? This is your vacation. I don't want you to have to spend it looking after Noah the whole time." "I don't mind," Shannon shook her head and smiled at Noah. "Do you want to go swimming, Noah?" "Yes!" Noah nodded his head up and down excitedly. "Daddy, Shanny take me to swim, 'kay?" Noah looked into his father's eyes with a pleading statement written on his face. Lance sighed and hesitated for a minute, "Well, okay, if you really don't mind." He put Noah down and let him run to Shannon. "Here's my room key. His swimming shorts are in the side pocket of my suitcase. Oh and don't forget his orange floaties. He has to wear those around his arms in the water." "Okay," Shannon replied and took Noah's hand. "Just come get us in the pool when you guys are finished." She and Noah headed toward the elevators and Noah quickly turned around and gave one last wave towards Lance. "Bye, Daddy!" he called, as the elevator door opened. "Bye, Noah. Have fun!" Lance waved back. "Where're they going?" JC asked, coming up behind Lance. "Shannon offered to take him swimming while we were at our press conference," Lance replied, grabbing his leather jacket from the chair he'd laid it on. JC frowned, "Lance, I think it's great that your son has taken such a liking to Shannon, but this is her vacation and..." "Hey, I told her that," Lance threw his arms up, as if surrendering. "But, she offered and was happy to do it." JC felt the wheels in his head start to turn. Shannon needed a job. Lance needed someone to watch Noah. Lonnie was already getting a little tired of babysitting, even though he'd only done it once or twice and Shannon loved kids. "Hey, Lance," JC followed Lance out of the hotel restaurant and into the lobby. "You think Shannon would want to take on the job as full-time babysitter for Noah?" Lance raised an eyebrow and turned to JC, "Wow, now that's definitely an idea. I'd pay her and everything. Even give her days off and stuff. Do you think she'd go for it?" "Why don't you ask her about it when we get back from the press conference," JC suggested. "It's worth a shot. And, Shannon could really use this time away from Seattle." Lance gave a quick nod, "Okay, then. I'll ask her as soon as we get back..." ~*~ The pool was only one floor down from where NSYNC was staying. It was indoors and one of the biggest pools Shannon had ever seen in a hotel. She put her and Noah's towels down on a lounge chair near the baby pool and made sure Noah's floaties were secure around his little arms before she let him get near the water. "Here," Noah handed Shannon one of his toy trucks. "Play twucks wif me, okay Shanny?" "Okay, hon," Shannon couldn't help but keep a smile on her face as she helped Noah into the baby pool and began to roll his trucks around on the marble tile. "Daddy pways twucks in my sandbox," Noah told Shannon, as they continued to crash the trucks into each other. "Vroom vroom!!" Noah made his truck noises as he banged into Shannon's truck again. "I bet you have so much fun with your Daddy, huh?" Shannon splashed some water on the little boy and he began to giggle. "Shanny!" Noah splashed her back and soon they were both having a splashing war. Shannon watched Noah's every move and wished he were just a little older so that he could talk more about his mother. She had seen the pain in Lance's eyes when he and Noah had emerged from their hotel room that morning. His cheeks looked tearstained and his eyes, drained from crying. Shannon had wanted to hug him and let him know she was thinking about him, but she'd just met him and as far as Lance knew, she didn't know much about Alli, only what JC had told her. Something caught Noah's eye and he ran to the window that overlooked the city. It was somewhat foggy from the steam coming from the Jacuzzi, but he was still able to see out of it. "Whoa!" Noah pointed to the cars passing the busy streets below. "Look, Shanny, big car like Daddy's!" Shannon made her way over to where the little boy was standing and saw a limo in front of the hotel. She chuckled to herself at the thought that Noah was only two and he'd been in a limo more times than most adults. And he was referring to it as "Daddy's big car." "Daddy's back!" Noah began to jump up and down when he saw figures emerging from the limo. Shannon could see clearly it wasn't anyone in NSYNC. "Noah, sweetie, that's not Daddy's car. He'll be back in a little bit. C'mon, let's go play." Shannon tried to grab his hand but Noah wouldn't let her. He wanted to stay by the window. His eyes looked up to the top of the window and his little finger pointed to the sky. "Mommy's there," he said quietly. "What?" Shannon had turned away for a minute to grab her towel and didn't see that Noah wasn't paying attention to the street anymore. "Mommy. Her in heaven," Noah waved at the top of the window as if he was waving to someone in particular. Shannon's heart broke and she did her best not to let the tears in her eyes spill over. "Yes, she is, Noah. Are you waving at her?" Noah nodded, "Hi, Mommy!" "She's waving back to you, too, honey," Shannon whispered, pulling Noah close to her. Noah sighed and rested his wet head on Shannon's shoulder. This was definitely a time when Lance needed to be with his son. Now, she too, was growing anxious for him to come back so she could tell him what she witnessed.... ~*~ The press conference dragged on and on and Lance wanted to just lay his head down on the table and go back to sleep. His mind wandered back to Noah and how much fun his son was having without him. 'I wish I were swimming right now. Better than being here answering these ridiculous questions' Lance thought to himself. Chris tapped him on the shoulder, "Lance, they just asked you something!" he hissed. Lance snapped out of his daydream, "Oh, um, sorry what was the question?" "We wanted to know if you're planning on dating anytime soon?" the reporter repeated the question. Lance wanted to roll his eyes. His wife had been dead about two months and he was already getting that annoying dating question again?! He held his composure, plastered a fake smile on his face and answered, "No, I'm trying to raise my son and concentrate on the group right now." That was a good enough answer he reckoned, because the reporter shut up about it. "Okay, guys, we're going to grab lunch at Planet Hollywood and then go back to the hotel to get your things for tonight. They want us at sound check around five, so we need to get to Madison Square Garden about three-thirty," Johnny told the guys, after they'd piled into the limo. "Can we stop by the hotel first and pick up Noah and Shannon?" Lance asked. "Noah loves Planet Hollywood and I feel bad because Shannon's been cooped up there all day with him." "I guess that would be fine. Go ahead and call and let them know we're on our way to pick them up," Johnny answered. Lance had to borrow Justin's cell because he'd left his cell with Shannon just in case an emergency happened. "Hello?" Shannon answered after the first ring. "Hi, Shannon, it's Lance." "Oh, hi! Noah, Daddy's on the phone!" Lance heard Noah bellow for him in the background, "Hey, tell him I'll talk to him in a minute, I have to make this kinda fast. We're going to Planet Hollywood for lunch. You and Noah want to come?" "Oh, sure!" Shannon replied. "We're still at the pool. It won't take us long to change, so we'll meet you in the lobby." "Sounds great. We'll see you in about twenty minutes..." ~*~ Planet Hollywood was unusually packed for a rainy Monday afternoon. It was so crowded that NSYNC had to get two separate tables: JC, Shannon, Lance, Noah and Justin at one table and Chris, Joey, and Johnny at another. Noah had behaved all through the wait in the lobby at Planet Hollywood, but he was growing tired and Lance could tell immediately that his son needed a nap. Noah had started whining just about the time his food came and would occasionally rub his eyes and lean against this father. "You tired, little man?" Lance patted his son's brown hair and pulled him into his lap. "No. Shanny gonna swim wit me again," Noah mumbled sleepily against Lance's shoulder. "Well, I think you need to rest your eyes before you get back in the pool, okay?" Lance whispered, rubbing his back. Noah's eyes began to flutter and soon his eyelids shut and he was asleep. "We'll take his grilled cheese home and he can have that for dinner tonight," Lance told Shannon. "Sounds good to me," Shannon replied. She loved watching Lance and Noah together. It had to have been the most precious sight in the world. She still hadn't gotten the chance to tell him about what Noah had said about Alli at the pool. She didn't want to make a big ordeal of it in front of JC and Justin, so she waited until they walked back to her room to get Noah's swim shorts and floaties. "Thank you for watching him today," Lance whispered, trying his best not to wake Noah. Johnny had given them an hour and a half to relax before they left for Madison Square Garden and Lance planned on napping with his son for the time being. "He was very good," Shannon smiled, "and he's the most well behaved two-year-old I've ever been around." "Well, sometimes he can be pretty whiny. But I guess it comes with the terrible two's," Lance sighed. "Lance, I was wondering something. Does Noah talk about his mother at all to you?" Shannon bit on her lower lip, wondering if she'd been too nosy too fast. Lance smiled thoughtfully, "Yeah. Sometimes. Why?" "Well, today he was looking out of the window at the pool and pointed up to the sky and told me that's where Mommy was," Shannon told him. "It was so precious, Lance. I just wish you could've been there to see it." Lance somehow managed to swallow the lump in his throat. "Th-That's incredible. His grandparents and I always tell him Mommy's in heaven. But, I've never seen him point up there and say that." Lance shook his head, "He was definitely his Mommy's little boy. I wonder sometimes if I can do as good of a job of raising him alone." "You're a great dad, Lance. Noah loves you so much. He talked about you almost all day today. Don't worry, you're doing a great job," Shannon assured him. "Thanks, Shannon. It means a lot to hear someone else besides my mother telling me that," Lance replied. "I guess I need to get back to the room so I can put him down. I'll see you later this afternoon." " Bye, Lance," Shannon gave a little wave and watched as Lance carried Noah back to his room... ~*~ Lance entered the room quietly and laid Noah down on the bed. The little boy curled into a ball and stuck his thumb in his mouth, sucking on it hungrily. Lance crawled next to him and pulled him close just watching his son as he slept. "Am I really doing a good job raising you, Noah? I mean, I'm hardly ever here and when I do, it's either your bedtime or naptime. I wish I could be with you all the time like most daddies. Maybe one day you'll understand." Lance stroked Noah's cheek gently and kissed his forehead. "Sleep tight, buddy. I love you." Lance closed his eyes and then remembered he had totally forgotten to ask Shannon about her being full-time with Noah. "I'll ask her tonight," he said to himself, as sleep started to drain him....
Story Tags: daddyl lance
