Rachel picked at her cantalope and ate a piece to pacify JC who was watching her. It was better with some of the fruit dip and she covered it in that and popped it in her mouth. She watched him stick his fork in a veggie omelet and smiled. “Just for the record, that looks nasty,” she made a face.
“Don't knock it til you try it,” JC told Rachel, glad she was eating a little. He knew she'd feel better the later it got in the day. They usually ate later at night and JC didn't gripe too much about food choices since the morning sickness was so bad. His hand found hers under the table and he laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. “It's gonna be okay, Rach.”
Rachel swallowed and looked at JC. She wanted to believe him. The only thing that made her even think it might was that he'd not run away yet. That he was still there and they were only ten minutes from her parents house in a really nice part of Orlando eating outside on a covered veranda. She wanted to run away and forget this. However she just gave him a forced smile. “I know. You're here with me.”
Jack Weatherly narrowed his eyes at the couple sitting out on the veranda of the restaurant, getting up very quickly before they spotted him. His face held a deep scowl as he reached and opened the door that led outside, seeing the two of them look at him. He vaguely knew who the man was Rachel was with, one of the guys that was in the same singing group as Lance. He saw Rachel pale as he sat down in the chair across from them.
“I was told you were with Lance,” Jack's voice held a no-nonsense tone to it as his eyes flicked from his grand daughter's face to the dark headed man's who was staring at him. “Excuse me, Jack Weatherly,” he said, sticking his hand out.
“JC Chasez,” JC replied, shaking the older man's hand. He wasn't going to say anything just yet and see how the conversation was going to flow.
“As you can see, Grandpa, I'm not with Lance,” Rachel told him, trying to hold her head up. This was like waving the red flag in front of the bull and she could feel her heart beating faster and her stomach do a flip flop. “JC and I are together and very happy.”
“When did this happen? You seemed in love with Lance. And you just quit answering your phone. I've been out looking for you...”
“I know. Mel called and told me...Am I not allowed to have a life? I don't have to answer every call I get. I'm not working right now. I didn't know I was under the microscope when I wasn't in New York.”
JC was surprised to hear the tone of voice come from Rachel, shaking his head at the waiter who was about to come out to check on them.
“You're a Weatherly,” Jack growled, pointing a finger at her. “You're expected to act like one.”
“I don't want to be a Weatherly anymore! I've spent my whole life trying to be someone I'm not! I don't care about the money or the name or anything else.” Rachel's voice was raised and she didn't care that she was squeezing JC's hand so hard she was crushing his fingers.
“So you'd rather throw away who you are to be with him?” Jack turned his gaze to JC. “Some 'music guy' like your friend Melissa? Does she know that the man she's with is still married?” he said it as if it was the worst thing ever.
“You leave Joey and Mel out of this! You've never liked her since we met because she didn't care about anything you did. And yes, I'd throw it all away to be with JC. We're starting a new life that doesn't have to include you. We're having a baby...” Rachel's voice trailed off when she realized what she'd just said.
“A baby?!” the old man stood up and leaned over the table, glaring at the couple. “You can't even be responsible for yourself much less a baby. And you expect him to take care of you?”
Before Rachel could say anything, JC stood up. “I don't know who the hell you think you are! I'm not some punk ass kid that's running away from the situation and neither is she. We're planning on getting married and we don't care if you're there or not. We don't need or want your money or whatever else you have. I make more than enough to provide for Rachel and our baby and if you're too worried about how it's going to look in your life then I suggest you stay out of hers. And don't ever say another word about any of my friends...You have no idea what they've been through. Or how much of a great woman your grand daughter is for finding real friends.”
Jack sneered at JC. “You're just some trick pony that's going to run out of steam and when the kid comes along you'll not want to deal with it and a dwindling career. I give it a year tops before you move on and then where will that leave Rachel? Homeless and with a kid.”
“I'd never do that,” JC glared back at the older man.
“I'll offer you twenty million dollars to drop this whole thing right now,” Jack stated, not batting an eye at either one of them. “Each.” He pulled out his check book and a pen.
“You're sick,” Rachel finally regained her voice and stood up. “You can take your checkbook and your money and shove them both up your ass, Jack Weatherly! Don't bother firing me, I quit. And I don't want a thing from you. Take me out of your wills and everything else since I mean so little to you...that the thought of a great grandchild means so little to you...” Rachel's stomach heaved again and she scooted the chair out quickly to make a dash for the restroom.
JC's eyes tracked her before he looked back at the older man. “I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, Jack. But I think everything Rachel told me was right. You are an arrogant self righteous bastard. Don't bother my fiance unless you want to deal with me. And I'm not about to let you strong arm me. I'm not afraid of you. I love her and our baby and there's nothing you can do about that,” he gave the other man a sly grin as he got up from the table. “And just for the record, I already have 20 million dollars. So go fuck yourself.” He left the older man sitting there sputtering as he went in to find Rachel.
JC knocked on the women's bathroom door and heard the toilet flush and the sink water running. “Rachel?” he asked, hoping she was okay.
Rachel stared at her reflection in the mirror, her face flushed from being sick. This was not how she planned on things to go. Of course now she didn't have to worry about telling her grandfather. She heard JC knock and say her name. “I'm okay, C,” she said softly, rinsing her mouth out with water once more. She opened the door and looked at him, the anger still evident on his face as he ushered her towards the exit, stopping for a moment to pay. Her gaze went to where they had been sitting and her grandfather was still sitting there. It was hard, but she had learned long ago not to react to what he said at least for the most part. This was hard though, since the subject in question was the baby growing inside of her. Her hand went to her stomach as she numbly was lead to the car and got in, autopiloting the seatbelt and looking at JC.
“He just offered us forty million dollars to not be together,” Rachel whispered, not believing what she'd heard. “He didn't even care about me or the baby...it was all about the name.”
JC leaned over and kissed Rachel softly on the lips, one of his hands brushing her cheek. “Soon your last name's not going to be Weatherly...it's going to be Chasez,” he told her with a small smile. “I love you Rachel. No one is separating us,” he promised her.
Rachel kissed him back as tears fell. “I want to get married, C. I don't want to be Rachel Weatherly anymore.” She knew it was irrational, but at the moment she didn't care as JC kissed her once more. What hurt was that her own flesh and blood treated her worse than a perfect stranger would. “Marry me, Joshua Scott Chasez.”
“We will, Rach...I promise,” JC told her gently, hating the tears. He wanted to marry her, but he wanted it to be more than just something thrown together. “Do you want to go back to the house? Or I can make a few calls and have your stuff moved all to my place?” he suggested, looking over at Rachel who was sniffling.
“Who are you gonna call?” she asked after a few minutes, not really wanting to leave her things at her parents. It wasn't like anything was going to happen to her stuff, but there was no use in pretending that she was going to live at home forever. And some of her things were still at Lance's house.
“I got people,” JC told her with a grin. He made his way through Orlando and back to his house. He reached for Rachel's hand and squeezed it gently. “We'll get through this. So what your grandfather isn't happy? He's one person. Think of all the people that are happy about us and about what's happening.”
Rachel tried to give JC a smile but it never met her eyes. She could name off his family, the guys and Melissa...that wasn't a lot of people, and she knew management wasn't ecstatic about the situation, but they weren't about to piss off JC. “It's a short list, C.”
“Okay, so it's a short list, but an important one,” JC ran a hand over her cheek. “Let's go in and I'll start making calls.”
“My parents won't just let anyone into their house,” Rachel pointed out.
“I'm not calling just anyone.”
*^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*^*
“Open the door, Josh! This shit's heavy!” a voice came as a loud kick banged the bottom of the door later that evening.
JC got up quickly, looking at Rachel who was curled up beside him, giving her a smile as he went and opened the door. “Damn, you should have called.”
Steve Fatone just motioned for JC to move as he and Joey manhandled Rachel's mattress into the living room and up the stairs.
“Mel's stuff got here last night with Holly and Chris in tow...What's moving one more person?” Joey said winking at Rachel as he came back down.
“We brought everything,” Melissa said as she hauled a box in with Holly and Janine coming in behind her. “It's an NSYNC moving party.”
Rachel blinked, seeing Chris and Joey haul in her dresser and bit her lip. JC must have called everyone he knew. And they called other people. “You shouldn't have all come...” she started, her voice trailing off. Melissa and Joey looked exhausted and she knew they'd probably not gotten much sleep that week unpacking two different houses.
“Bull,” Chris said, pulling her into a hug. “We got your back,” he told Rachel. “Besides, someone else came along you might want to see.”
Celeste Weatherly came, giving a small smile to the men who were carrying in a chest of drawers, tearing up at the sight of her daughter standing there with her mouth agape. “Your grandfather came by...” her voice broke for a second as she stepped closer to Rachel and opened her arms for a hug. “I don't care what he thinks. Or your father either for that matter. You are my daughter and this man that you love,” she looked at JC with a raised eyebrow as he nodded affably before she continued, “are having my grandbaby.”
The rest of the crew moving stuff kept hauling stuff in as Rachel hugged her mother, crying. She felt JC's hand on her back and sniffled as her mother told him she loved him too. It was a surprise and she couldn't help but wonder if there was another motive. And at the same time, she'd seen a lot of times when alone, her mother acted nothing like the Celeste Weatherly did in public. Rachel lifted her head and looked questioningly at her mother. “What will you do?” she asked quietly.
“What will I do when?” Celeste asked, curious. “I had money before I ever married your father. And if he's stupid enough to act like his father, then he'll have to figure out how the hell to make his own damn coffee.”
Rachel breathed out a sigh of relief, smiling at her mom. “Well, we're glad to have you here. This is my fiancee, JC Chasez,” she introduced JC to her mother. “JC, this is Celeste Weatherly.”
JC shook her hand and blew out a breath. “If I had known you were coming we would have cleaned...made dinner or something.”
“Just order us some pizza and beers,” Chris called out as he walked by. “That's payment enough for you slave driving us.”
JC rolled his eyes. “We don't know him, he's adopted,” he told Celeste, who just laughed and put one arm around him and the other was still around Rachel. He had to admit he felt better that she was there, it would give Rachel some peace. “Well, I will leave you ladies to talk and I'm going to go help before Joey falls over from exhaustion.”
Celeste looked confused at Rachel for a moment as she followed along.
“Joey and Mel have moved him and then her stuff came in from California and now me. He really must be Superman,” Rachel explained as she watched Joey carry in a box. “I should help,” she said, making her way up the stairs where she could hear Holly and Melissa discussing where to put boxes.
“Just worry about dinner, pregnant lady,” Steve told Rachel as he came by with a huge armful of clothes slung over his arm on hangers. “That's your only job.”
Rachel socked his arm goodnaturedly and continued upstairs where she hugged Melissa and then Holly. “Nice of you to join us in Florida,” she told Holly who just shrugged.
“I had some vacation days to burn and Chris needed to come home to do a few things,” Holly explained, holding one of Rachel's pictures in a frame. It was one of her and Melissa at some school event. “You two looked so cute,” she grinned. It was one from their sophomore year.
“I remember that,” Celeste said, smiling. “Rachel wanted to go to the ball game and asked if she could stay the night with Melissa. Then they ended up going to a party with Lance with some older guys...” she gave a pointed look at them and tried not to smile.
“It was just the guys and it wasn't a party really. My mom was there,” Melissa told Celeste. “And Joey's sister Janine. All we did was play video games with Justin and stay up and watch movies.”
“That was when you fell asleep next to Joey in the floor,” Rachel told her friend. “We have pictures somewhere.”
“Now she has to drag him to bed with her, look where it got her,” Holly pointed out with a laugh.
“Are you sure you don't want help?” Rachel asked after they talked a few more minutes.
“Like Steve said, we want to be fed. And since you're the one who's picky at this time, we're letting you figure out dinner,” Melissa threw an arm around her best friend and hugged her once more. “Call in something and have your Mom go with you to pick it up.”
Rachel nodded, linking her arm through her mother's as they went back downstairs. “I...I'm not quite sure what to say first. Do you want to see the house? Well, other than the upstairs right now.”
“I'd love to.”
Rachel took her mother through the main floor, the kitchen and living room, the office and then out to the back porch to look at the yard and the pool. Her eyes focused on the sun that was slowly sinking before turning to her Mom. “I'm happy, Mom. And I know it didn't happen probably the way you might have wanted but JC wants to get married...And Lance and I are still friends. He knew JC and I had feelings for one another and wasn't hurt by it.”
“Linda told me...about Lance. I never said anything to you because I was proud of you and Lance is old enough to know what he wants in his life. And I was trying to give you some space. It's not easy to be a Weatherly. I do what I do because I've been with your father so long I'm used to it. But I knew you weren't like him or your grandfather or even me,” Celeste smiled at her. “You have always wanted to just be a normal kid and now grown up. Well, as normal as you can be with who your friends are and who you are marrying.”
“You're taking this well...” Rachel said, sitting down. “We're still a little scared.”
“Everyone's scared to be a parent. And that means you care...And...” Celeste paused, sitting down and taking Rachel's hand in hers. “I want to help with the wedding. I don't care if it's before the baby is born or not. How did his family take it?”
“They were happy for us. I mean, it wasn't the plan for me to end up pregnant...” Rachel turned and smiled at JC who was looking out the patio door at them, wiggling her fingers at him.
“I can tell you're happy and that JC is happy,” Celeste told her daughter. “How about we figure out what we're feeding your moving crew? Do they all like Olive Garden?” she asked as Rachel nodded. “Do you feel like that or do you want something else?”
“Right now I could eat a pound of pasta with alfredo sauce. It sounds good...I'll call it in and we can pick it up,” Rachel told her mother. “If I name drop it will get done faster,” she grinned cheekily.
“Now you sound like Melissa,” Celeste replied with a laugh, getting up to go take orders before Rachel called. She was glad she came after Melissa and Joey had shown up with Joey's brother and the rest of everyone in tow to move their friend. She was also glad her husband hadn't been home. He wouldn't have liked what was happening. At the same time, Celeste knew it would still be hard for her daughter and JC, just because it was life. However, she wasn't going to be the one to get in the way of the love she saw between the two of them even in the short amount of time she'd been there.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Part 2 of this chapter. Enjoy..and I wanted to say thanks to all my readers for the nominations. I feel so humbled that you have enjoyed this story so much.
Story Tags: joey
