Frankie use to tell me that one day so much good would happen in my life that it would make all the bad that's happened before become non-existent. Clearly at that time I didn't believe a word that he said, and especially after he died I took that statement as a load of crap. However every now and again I'd remember him saying that to me, and I'd question when it was going to happen. When was I going to stop having nightmares about being raped over and over again? When was I going to be able to trust someone with my life? When was I going to fall in love, so deeply in love that nothing else in the world matters? And it always seemed like the answer to all of the questions I had running through my head never lined up with each other. I fell in love with Justin, but I was still having nightmares. I got a good job that I loved doing, but I couldn't trust the people that I was surrounded with completely because of the guards that I had up and because of the industry that I was in. I'd finally think that things were looking good and then Brandon would pop up, or I'd start jumping at the sound of the wind in fear of someone being behind me. Maybe all of the good wasn't supposed to happen to me. Maybe everything doesn't happen for a reason, or maybe it does and the reason bad things were happening to me was because I wasn't doing something right in my life.

Then there was Justin's favorite statement. Everything happens for a reason Marissa, you may not know the reason now but you'll figure it out someday. That as well is a load of crap. I think the following should be used instead...Some things happen for a reason. Other things happen for no reason at all, and you just have to learn to live with it. Example...I waited to get tickets for Justin's concert until the week before the show because I knew that's when the good seats go on sale. Because I did that he was able to spot me and brought me backstage. The rest as you know is history, but the point is that I waited to buy tickets for a reason and that was it. Had I got them when they went on sale, he wouldn't have seen me and God only knows what I'd be doing with my life today. However, I still don't know what the reason is that I was raped, or what the reason is for Frankie dying. Sure you could say that those two things had some affect on the shaping of who I am today, but I don't think that's a good enough reason.

I don't think all of the bad things that have happened in my life will go away forever at one point. I'll be reminded on every holiday, and at every family gathering of my childhood and the fact that I'm basically parentless. I'm still reminded everyday that Frankie isn't here anymore, and every time an elevator is in front of me I'm reminded that when I was 18 years old I was raped. However I am a stronger person because of it all. I'm more mature then most people my age, and I have a very strong sense of self worth. I had to go through a lot of bad things in my life to get to where I am today and to be the person I am today. I know how lucky I am, and how fortunate I am today because of everything else that's happened before. Lately things have been going my way, and I've had nothing to complain about which is a welcomed change. I'm in a strong, healthy relationship, I have a growing healthy son, I'm LOVING my job, and besides changing the past I don't think there's anything more I could ask for. My name was not only announced during the Grammy nominations, but also during the telecast and I actually went on stage and accepted a Grammy Award. Talk about life changing, and I've finally been able to actually look at my life and say that I'm truly happy with where it's headed.

Tomorrow we fly into Boston for a week to help with the "Frank Says Hi" scholarship fundraiser that I set up with the help of my cousin Rebecca. We're giving away 2 $10,000 scholarships each year to a communications major that plans on going to the school Frankie and I went to. This year we're holding a small concert with local bands to help raise money, as well as doing an auction and holding a benefit dinner. Justin has been nice enough to auction himself off for a day, and that alone will probably bring in around 10 grand. Justin and I both took today off and I was halfway done packing up for our trip. After begging Justin to keep Brayden occupied while I took a nap I was off to bed to try and catch up on some much needed rest. It was only 15 minutes later that I was woken up by my hyperactive son.

"PRISE MAMA!" he screamed directly in my ear causing me to shoot up from the deep sleep that I had just fallen into.

"Jeez Brayden! What did Mama tell you about waking her up?" I said pulling him close to me and kissing his cheek.

"Da say no timeout...PRISE!" I looked down at his hands and saw him holding a Grammy. They said it would take 2 months to get here, but they were very wrong. It was a month early and I've never been more excited in my life.

"My Grammy!" I practically yelled before jumping out of bed to turn the light on. "2010 Song of the Year, Fighter, Marissa Mitchell, Songwriter." Here is it, right in front of my eyes...my Grammy. I ran my fingers over the gold plaque and my fingers dipped over the engraving. How did my life get to this point? How could I possibly top this?

"Prise shirt Mama," Brayden said and I simply nodded not wanting to take my eyes off of my newest baby. Where was I going to put it? Justin has his on the mantel, maybe I'll put mine on the coffee table or something...no then Brayden would be able to reach it and he could destroy it...maybe...

"MAMAAAAAA.... Prise shirt."

"I know Brayden, it's a cool shirt," I said still not focusing my attention on him.

"Look Mama, look!"

"I see Bray it's blue."

"MAMA LOOK!" he yelled now jumping on the bed. I looked up at him more to scold him for jumping then to actually look at his shirt and just as I was about to open my mouth to yell at him my eyes actually went to his shirt and I read what it said, once...twice...three times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I sat down on the bed and put Brayden on my lap rereading the shirt again.

"Brayden who put this shirt on you?" I asked trying to catch my breath.

"Da say prise shirt."

"Did Daddy take your other shirt off and put this one on?"

"Mmmhmm...He say Mama prise shirt. He say no timeout..."

"JUSTIN?!..." I screamed at the top of my lungs unable to take in enough air to breathe correctly.

"Yeah baby?" I heard come from outside the door.

"What...what is this?"

"It's your Grammy, what do you think it is?"

"Not the Grammy...his shirt."

"I don't know what you're talking about babe...should I pack up these bathing suites or do you think it's still too cold?"

"If this is a joke it's not funny Justin..."

"Mama no cry...be happy!"

"JUSTIN!? I am happy Brayden, don't worry..."

"What's wrong with his shirt Ris?"

"It says...it says..."

"It says what? Come here let me see."

I stood up with Brayden in my arms and I was shaky on my legs. I felt like I had Jell-O for bones. Slowly I walked to the bedroom door not knowing what to expect when I opened it. I put my hand on the knob and told myself to turn it, but my brain wasn't really connecting with my hand. "Open Mama, open!"

"What's it say Ris?"

I pulled the door open but left my eyes closed, "It says..."

"DAAAAAAA," Brayden squirmed to get out of my arms, and I opened my eyes as I put him down on the ground. My hand went straight to my mouth and tears immediately started pouring down my face when I saw Justin tell Brayden to sit next to him.

"What does it say?" he asked again looking up at me.

"It says...oh my God Justin..."

"No, it does not say oh my God Justin. Come here..." he said holding out his hand for me to take, "what does it say?"

"It says...it says...it says will you marry my Daddy?"

"And his Daddy is on one knee, holding a ring in one hand and his Mama's hand in the other..."

"Justin," I practically whispered, my voice shaking.

"Don't say anything yet just listen," I nodded my head unable to fully comprehend what was happening. "I am nothing without you, and I can't imagine a day going by without you in my life. You complete me. You make me the person I am. The moment I laid eyes on you I knew that you were my soul mate, and after over two years I still to this day know you are the only one for me. We make the best team in the world, and we're pretty damn good parents too. I love you and I will love you until the day that I die. So Marissa no middle name Mitchell will you make me the happiest man alive and marry his Daddy?"

Tears were falling from my eyes like a tidal wave had just crashed. My hands were shaking, my legs were shaking, and I was sweating profusely. This was actually happening, and it was happening in a way that I had never imagined. I always pictured an engagement happening in some big way...rose pedals everywhere, a candlelit dinner, and soft music playing in the background. But here I was in a tank top and shorts, my hair up in a messy bun standing in the hallway of our house with Justin wearing no shirt at all and only a pair of sweatpants down on one knee holding up the biggest most gorgeous diamond ring I've ever seen in my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way. This was us...we weren't extravagant, and both of us hated getting dressed up and going out for expensive dinners. We were simple, we walked around the house half naked everyday, and we were the happiest when we were all together on the floor playing with Brayden, or eating macaroni and cheese out of the pan, or lying in bed every morning with Brayden in between the two of us watching cartoons. This was perfect, it was everything I could have dreamed of.

"Big wing Mama..." Brayden said after a few minutes of silence.

I knelt down in front of Justin before my legs gave out fully, and held my arms out for Brayden. He ran over to me and sat down in front of me in between Justin and I. "Well?" he asked, "what do you say? You think you could put up with me for the rest of your life?"

"I think that I could put up with you for forever and a day," I said with my voice cracking.

"Is that a yes?" he asked with the biggest smile I've ever seen on his face.

"That is absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, I've never been so sure of anything in my life, a yes."

He threw his arms around me and his lips crashed onto mine, and we stayed like that for what seemed like forever. I could have stayed there forever, my knees hurt from the hardwood floor, and my back hurt from the awkward position we were in so that we wouldn't squash Brayden but I could stay in this moment forever. Pure bliss. Pure happiness. Nothing in the world could bring me down.

"I hug too, I hug too," Brayden screamed popping up and hitting both of our chins with his head. We both backed away grabbing our  chins in pain, and he jumped up wrapping one arm around Justin's neck and one arm around mine. "I wuv you Mama," he said kissing my cheek, "and I wuv you Dada," he said kissing Justin's cheek.

"I love you too buddy...and you called me Dada..."

"Yeah..Dada, that's you."

"That is me!"

"Mama wing?" he asked pointing to the ring still in Justin's hand.

"Yep, this is Mama's ring. Here you put it on her finger." Justin grabbed my left hand and held out my ring finger while helping Brayden put the ring on. This ring was incredible. Not only was it huge but there were diamonds wrapped around the entire band. After he let go of my hand it dropped a little bit and I realized how heavy it was. "You're going to have to do finger exercises to hold that puppy up," Justin said laughing.

"You promised no big purchases without talking to me first Timberlake..."

"I think you'll get over it Mrs. Timberlake."

"I think I already am...I love you Justin."

"I love you too Ris. But can I get off my knee now before it breaks?"

"Of course," I replied helping him stand up before he took my hands and pulled me up as well. I was engaged. What was I suppose to do now just go on with my day?

"Uncle Twace time Dada?" Brayden asked hitting Justin's leg.

"That's tomorrow buddy," I said pulling him into me and hugging him tightly, "we get to go see Uncle Trace and Auntie Amy tomorrow."

"Uncle Twace hewe!"

"No, we're going all the way to Boston to see him on a plane remember?"

"No Mama, no! Uncle Twace hewe!"

"Justin tell your son that Trace is not here."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because," he said pointing behind me. I turned around and standing behind me down the long hallway was Trace, Amy, Luke, Rachel, Jen, Rebecca, Christina, Lynn and Paul. The tears that had just stopped, started again and this time there was also screaming as Amy ran full speed ahead towards me and literally jumped into my arms.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit you're engaged...let me see the ring, let me see, let me see!" She unwrapped her legs from around my waist and jumped off of me grabbing my left hand. "Holy fuck this thing is gigantic, how many karats is this Timberlake? I need an upgrade Trace!"

"That would be 7 karats Ayala, and I cannot be out done so good luck with that upgrade!"

"Oh my God Marissa, you are getting married! I never thought this day would come!"

"Thanks?" I questioned not knowing how to react.

"Oh you know what I mean...Congrats lady! I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Am," I said hugging her, "guess who gets to me a maid of honor now...."

"THAT WOULD BE ME BITCHESSSS!"

"She is way too happy about this," I heard Justin say to Trace as he gave him a congratulatory hug.

"She loves weddings man."

We stood in the hallway hugging everyone and talking for a good hour. Justin's mother cried almost the whole time...we were more alike then I ever imagined we would be. The last person I got to was Luke, and by then everyone had gone downstairs except Trace who was dragged into Brayden's playroom.

"Well," he said holding his arms out to give me a hug, "the day has finally arrived."

"I feel like I've been living in a dream world for the past two and a half years."

"Well this is finally reality for you, and you deserve every minute of it!"

"Did you know or did he just tell you to come over?"

"Oh I knew...I've known for a while now."

"How long is a while?"

"About a month and a half. He actually asked for my permission to ask you to marry him, and I went with him to pick out the ring."

"He asked you?"

"He did...he said I was the closest thing to a father that you had even though I'm only a couple of years older then you, and that he wanted to make sure I was okay with him asking you to marry him." 

"Can he get anymore perfect this man?"

"I'm not sure it's possible, but you might want to take your ring off and read the inside of it. He was going to wait for you to notice it, but I'm going to spoil it for him. Don't tell..."

I pulled my ring off of my finger and held it up to my face. Inside on the bottom of the band read, "And the Reason is You." This man thinks of everything. And as I slipped ring back on my finger I realized that this was the reason for everything. How was I suppose to know what true happiness is if I didn't go through true sadness? How was I supposed to know what true love felt like if I was never heartbroken? How was I suppose to know joy if I never felt pain? Everything that I've gone through in my life prior to this lead me to this point. Had it not happened I would never know what it felt like to simply know. To know what I want and what I need. To know what makes me happy. To know what I deserve. To know love and happiness and joy. I know that Justin is my soul mate, and I know that not because he makes all the bad stuff go away, but because he makes it so that I can live with it and still be happy. He makes me realize that there really is a reason for everything that has happened in my life, and the reason isn't me, and it's not him...it's us. I'm the lucky one. I'm lucky for having the childhood that I had. I'm lucky that I've dealt with the death of a loved one. I'm lucky that I had something taken away from me. I'm lucky because unlike those people that those things didn't happen to, I know what true love is, and there are only a few people in this world that have felt what true love is.

"He was right..."

"Justin?"

"No Frankie...he always use to tell me that one day so much good will happen one day and it will make all the bad thing that have happened before become non-existent. All the bad things...they're still there but they're not so bad anymore. I can't really explain it. I'm still sad that Frankie's gone but he's in a better place and it's taken me close to three years to realize that. He's in a better place and I learned how to get through it, and I got through it with Justin. Everything that happened with Brandon and Victor, it still happened and it will always haunt me, but it made me figure out who I am and what I want, and I got through it...with Justin. My childhood, it hurt me but it made me a better mother. All the bad things lead to good things. I never ever believed him, but he was right."

"He would be so proud of you Maris...and so damn happy for you. You've turned your life around, and even though Justin may have been there to help you do it, you were ultimately the one who made the decisions to get to where you are today. You are an amazing mother, a great friend, and you are happy and that's all he ever wanted for you."

"I know...and he's been with me every step of the way."

"Congrats Maris," he said kissing my cheek and lifting me up off the ground in a hug, "Love you lover!"

"I love you too Lukie. Thanks for everything...I really mean that."

"It has been my pleasure...now lets go downstairs and celebrate with everyone else, because it sounds like they're having a party down there."

The rest of the day was spent catching up with the people I haven't seen in a while and lots and lots of champagne. Justin fired up the grill and invited a few other people over and somehow my day that was suppose to consist of packing turned into a party. Brayden was having the time of his life going from person to person climbing on everyone's lap and playing with his trucks. After a few people he'd always end up back with Trace because in reality the two were mentally the same age and connected on a different level. Simply put, I was on cloud nine, and I was so excited to start planning the wedding. Every so often Justin and I would catch each others eye from across the way and it was like the first day of a new relationship. I'd get butterflies in my stomach and instantly smile, unable to control my emotions. After talking to Lynn for a while I realized that it was already 9:00 and way past Brayden's bedtime. I looked around a now completely filled backyard, and spotting him on Justin's lap running his toy truck up and down Justin's chest, struggling to keep his eyes open. I excused myself and went over to the two men in my life so that I could steal my son and get him to bed.

"You ready for bed buddy?" I asked once I got over to Justin and Joey who was in town to cover a red carpet for the TV Guide Channel.

"No bed Mama," Brayden responded sleepily with his eyes half closed.

"Oh yes bed...look at you, you can't even keep your eyes open. Come on we have to get up early to go on the plane tomorrow remember?"

"No bed Mama, no bed!" He turned around wrapping his arms around Justin's neck and burying his head in his shoulder.

"Okay how about we go read a story then?"

"Fish stowy?" He asked whipping his head up and looking at me with big eyes.

"Sure we can read the fish story, let's go say goodnight and read the fish story," I held out my arms but he held onto Justin.

"Dada come?"

"Daddy has to stay out here with all these people, come on, come with Mama..." I didn't even have to finish my sentence and he started crying. We haven't had to deal with a crying fit in a while over him not getting his way but I had a bad feeling after the day we had this was going to turn into one if Justin didn't come.

"Brayden enough with the crying," Justin said prying his arms from around his neck, "go with Mama and I'll see you in the morning."

"NOOOOOOOO," he screamed at the top of his lungs...here comes the screaming fit to go along with the tears, something that we were both use to and probably expected but almost everyone else in the backyard was shocked to silence by.

"Brayden Francis!" Justin said sternly, "Do you want a timeout?"

"God you sound like my father," Joey laughed as Brayden continued to scream.

"Come on Justin, he's tired, it's past his bedtime, and it's been a long day. Lets save the drama for another time and come put him to bed with me."

"Maris he has to learn..."

"You've never not put him to bed if you've been home, can we teach him when there aren't 50 other people around? Come on Brayden Daddy's coming." He turned his head and there were tears and snot everywhere. The joys of parenting. He finally let me pick him up and I yelled to everyone that Brayden was making his exit. "Say goodnight Brayden," I said to my son who was still partially having a fit.

"NO TIMEOUTTTTTT," he screamed instead of the normal goodnight and I love you that would normally come out of his mouth. I shook my head and laughed kissing his forehead.

"He is his fathers son," I said before turning around and walking into the house. "You're not going to timeout...let's go read the fish book with Daddy."

"Dada...Say...Time...Out..." he said through sobs.

"Daddy's just cranky."

"No Brayden timeout?" he asked while attempting to settle down.

"No timeout, just the fish book with Mama and Daddy." After changing him into his pajama's he finally settled down completely and Justin walked in just as we laid down on the bed to start reading.

"Mama say no timeout Dada," Brayden announced with confidence as Justin laid down beside him.

"I know, no timeout. I'm sorry I said that," he kissed his cheek and picked him up so that he was laying down on his chest.  Brayden grabbed onto Justin's face with both of his hands and smooshed his cheeks together, "No prob Bob!" he said dead seriously.

We both looked at each other laughing knowing right away where he got that from. "We have to keep you away from Uncle Trace," I said.

"I wuv Uncle Twace Mama."

"Oh I know you do...let's read the fish book okay?" He put his head on Justin's chest and his thumb in his mouth wrapping his other arm as far around Justin as he could. "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish," I started and looked over to see his eyes already closed. "Black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish. Some are old and some are new. Some are sad and some are glad.  And some are very very bad. Why are they sad and glad and bad? I don't know go ask your Dad..." and that's all it took for him to be passed out on top of Justin, his mouth open, snoring lightly and drool making its way down the side of his mouth. Just like his father. I curled up next to the two of them, put my arm around them and Justin kissed the top of my head. "You asked Luke?" I whispered after a while to make sure Brayden was in a deep sleep.

"Of course I asked Luke, who else would I ask? He's your best friend and he's been the only strong male presence you've had in your life."

"I didn't think you'd ask anyone..."

"It wouldn't be a proper proposal if I didn't."

"It's funny because I just said to Amy the other day that one of the few reasons why I wished I actually had a caring father was so that my future husband could ask for my hand in marriage, and so that I could have someone walk me down the isle. And of course you found a way of covering that for me without even knowing I wanted it."

"I know you Maris, that's something that you've yet to notice. You're different from every other girl in this world, but deep down you want 99% of the same things every other woman does, and I'm not going to take those things away from you because other people are assholes."

"One of the many reasons why I love you..." I said kissing his cheek. "You should probably get back downstairs, and I'll finish packing for tomorrow."

"You should probably come with me because the packing is done."

"God I fucking love you..."

***

The trip back to Boston was kind of stressful. It as the first time going back since Brayden was just a few months old so we were really concerned about how he was going to handle being on a plane for six hours. He was better then I expected he would be though only having a few outbursts on the plane, but after a few minutes of walking him up and down the isle he was fine. We also didn't want people catching wind that we were engaged so I had Justin hold onto my ring until we landed and were safely back inside the first house we ever shared together. Even though we had only been engaged for a few hours, my finger felt naked after taking my ring off, and just for fun I made him get down on one knee when he put it back on my finger. We decided to keep the news of our engagement a secret to everyone besides the people that were there last night for two reasons. The first was so that when the wedding actually happens it won't be a media circus, and the second was because the paparazzi had just started calming down since I had Brayden, and I didn't want swarms of them to start coming around us again. I hated them taking pictures of my son, and I wanted to kill them when the flashes were so bright it would make him cry, so I wanted to avoid that at all costs. We decided that when we were out with family or friends I'd wear my ring just not on my ring finger if we were with people that didn't know, but at places where we knew we would get photographed I'd leave it at home. The people who needed to know already knew, and the others can wait until we surprise them with a wedding and not a dinner party to find out.

The moment we walked in the door Brayden started running around the house exploring where he would be living for the next week. He was too little to remember the house when we lived here, and he was having the time of his life touching every little thing he could reach. I on the other hand threw my bags in our room, changed and put my phone to my ear, which is where it stayed for the next three hours. I had done most of the planning for the event in LA, but since it was open to the public I wanted to promote it once I got here. We had a ton of big names coming and the event was almost sold out, but I had to do everything I could to get every last ticket sold. I called into every radio station in the area, and did a couple of phone interviews with newspapers. Once I finalized transportation from the airport for a few people, I went off to gather my family so that we could do an interview at the radio station I use to work for.

The four days before the fundraiser flew by, and I was on the go the entire time. Unlike Justin, I didn't need or want a personal assistant for that matter, so I did most of the work myself with the help of Rebecca. I've always thought it was more gratifying when you did things yourself, it was my event after all. The night of the event I went to the venue early to set things up and make sure everything was the way I wanted it to be. I didn't want to have a Red Carpet but Justin convinced me it would be a good idea because we'd be able to raise awareness for the cause on a whole different level. People started pouring in right as the doors opened and as I looked down at the general admission floor I was almost brought to tears by the turnout. I got a text from Justin letting me know they had arrived, so I reapplied my makeup and made my way through the crowd to meet them. I went out the VIP door and saw Justin, Lynn, Paul, Trace and Brayden taking pictures and instead of joining them I stood there and watched Brayden ham it up for the cameras. That lasted all of two seconds though because once he spotted me he wiggled his way out of Justin's arms and came running over to me.

"MAMA, MAMA," he screamed as he ran down the red carpet past a slew of celebrities taking pictures and into my arms, "LOOK! Dada, Gamma, Gampa and Uncle Twace. Cheese!"

"I know and you were taking pictures too! Let's go back and see Daddy," I said as I spotted Justin waving me over to him. The flashbulbs started going off at rapid speed and people started yelling louder once I got to Justin and he gave me a kiss, "Hi," I said ignoring everything that was going on around me.

"Hey...This is crazy I feel like I'm at an awards show or something."

"Gotta do it big for Frankie...You have to see everyone inside, we might make millions off of you tonight."

"I can't help that I'm sexy," he said laughing.

We took pictures for a few more minutes and once everyone was seated we served dinner. In the beginning when I was planning this I just wanted to do something small to raise a few bucks, but somehow it got to the point that we were having a four course sit down dinner, and an auction that was expected to bring in way more money then I thought. Once I asked Justin to be a part of the auction he took it upon himself to ask a few of his friends to either donate things, themselves, or their time. Between a private performance from Carrie Underwood, a round of golf with Tiger Woods, and a studio session with Timbaland, it was bound to be a success, and that's not even mentioning all of the other auctions we had going on, the concert and the 50/50 raffle.

After dinner Rebecca started the auction and things were going pretty quickly and the larger items were going for a lot of money. But not only that we also had smaller items donated like facials, weekend trips, gift cards, and Trace donated a big basket of everything from the fall William Rast line. The last item was "Spend a Day with Justin Timberlake," and Rebecca introduced me to the stage to auction him off. "Everyone please give it up for the woman behind this night, my cousin, the one and only Marissa Mitchell."

I walked up to the stage and took the mic out of her hand. "First of all I want to thank everyone for coming tonight and supporting this cause that is so close to my heart and the hearts of everyone that knew Frankie. He was not only my cousin, but he was my best friend and not a day goes by that I don't think about him. He fought his battle with Leukemia with his head held high and smile on his face, and we're here today to honor him and to keep not only his memory but his dreams alive through the people that will be honored with the scholarships from the money we raised tonight. A huge thank you to everyone who has donated these great auction items and to everyone that has donated there time and talent to make this night possible. So now lets get to what everyone besides myself has been waiting for..." The crowd went wild, even the people in the VIP area, but that was mostly due to the fact that they knew how uncomfortable I was with this. "Please welcome to the stage, the man, the myth, the legend, the guy that has to put up with my crap on a daily basis...Justin Timberlake!" As he made his way to the stage I started doing an announcement like the Price is Right, "Justin is 6 feet tall weighing in at a lean 180 pounds. A southern boy at heart his favorite activities are singing in the shower, playing golf, and watching Sports Center 23 hour a day, and he could be yours for the day IF the price is right!"

Not surprisingly at all, Justin was "sold" for close to $10,000, and luckily for me he was bought by his own son. Though I'm sure people thought I rigged the auction, it was actually his mother that forked over the money and made him promise to come back to Tennessee before Christmas this year. After the auction the night was filled with food, drinking, music and dancing. Brayden got to stay up way past his bedtime but went home with Lynn way before we did. The night was a complete success and we raised over $1 million dollars.  Lying in bed that night I could not wipe the smile off my face.

"What are you so happy about Mama?"

"I can't believe what a success this night was...I'm not sure I've ever been so proud of myself..."

"You did a great job Maris. I. Am. So. Proud. Of. You." He said kissing me from my head to my toes in between every word.

"You know Mr. Timberlake," I said with a shit-eating grin on my face, "we haven't exactly celebrated our engagement together yet..."

"You know what, your are so right," he said running his hand down my chest.

"And I am only wearing this extremely large ring you put on my finger..."

"You make a good point, and this is good news for your clothes that I usually ruin by ripping them off of you because I don't want to wait any longer then I have to...

"It's very good news," I replied closing my eyes as I felt his lips on mine and his fingers dip below my waist...