November 2010

Josh watched Becca from the entrance to their bathroom as she put the finishing touches on her make-up. She was officially three months pregnant but she looked nearly five. The doctor had chalked this up to it being her second pregnancy. They’d tried to hide it and not let on to anyone in their respected families, but it was a little tricky as of late since Becca was already unable to fit into her regular sized jeans. She’d resorted to finally buying a size bigger and even now they were getting a little snug.

“Okay,” she turned around. “We’ll be back later this afternoon.” She walked over to him and kissed him before she went to grab her purse from the couch in front of their bed. Today she was going shopping with her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law and Dylan.

“Are you going to tell them today?” Josh followed her downstairs.

“No. Not without you there,” Becca turned on the last step and pulled him to her. “I’m still hoping we can hold out until after the wedding.”

“You know my family won’t care if you’re a pregnant bride or not,” Josh chuckled and met her lips with his.

“It’s not your family I’m worried about. It’s my mother,” Becca sighed, going into the living room to collect Dylan, who was sprawled on the couch watching television. “Let’s go, Dyl.”

“Your mother also isn’t stupid,” Josh put in. “She’ll be here next week for Thanksgiving. Unless you wear a mu-mu, I’m pretty sure she’ll guess.”

Becca looked down at the bump and then back at Josh. “Well, I’ll deal with that then. But I’m not saying anything yet to your family without you with me.”

“About the baby?” Dylan asked, following her mother to the door.

“Yes,” Becca grabbed the car keys from the kitchen counter. “And you don’t say anything either.”

“I won’t,” Dylan looked over at her father. “Bye, Dad. See you later.”

“Bye,” he bent down to kiss her cheek and watched them as they left.

It had been five months since the engagement and Josh and Becca had finally decided on a December wedding. The date was set for December 17th. Dylan was out of school by then for Winter holiday and the chapel they’d fallen in love with in Winter Garden, a suburb of Orlando, was wide open. Dylan had been over the moon with joy when Becca had finally told her she and Josh were getting married and that they’d set a final date. Dylan had made a countdown in her room and would mark off the dates as they came and went. It would be a simple, but elegant ceremony. Dylan was going to be their only attendant. Josh’s family had recently moved back to the area and so they were going to be married by Mr. and Mrs. Chasez’s family pastor. There would be a string quartet that would play. Other than that, nothing else during the ceremony.

Or so Becca thought.

Josh had been working on a song written especially for her. He had no idea when he’d sing it to her, but he wanted to sing it at some point during the ceremony. He’d planned on being holed up in his home office most of the day while Dylan and Becca were out with his mother and sister shopping for the wedding and looking at a few items that they’d placed on a very small registry. It hadn’t made sense to either of them to register, especially since they had everything they needed. However, there were a few things they lacked (such as matching dishes as Becca’s mother had so painstakingly pointed out on her last visit) and Mrs. Chasez was all too excited to look at them with Becca.

Walking into his office, he turned on his laptop and began thinking about lyrics. Words. Feelings. Thoughts. Josh typed then deleted a line. It was a process that continued over and over again. He just couldn’t put into words exactly what it was he wanted to say to her. They’d been through so much together and it had been ten years. Ten years. How could he summarize that into a few lines in a song? Slowly, he stood to his feet and stretched, then walked out of his office. He needed a few minutes and some fresh air. He walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea, while he looked outside and smiled to himself about what was going to happen in just one more month. He’d never seen himself getting married and five years ago, he never dreamed that he’d be marrying Becca. He’d known it all along that he couldn’t love anyone like he loved her. But he’d also known just how much they’d fought and struggled together. Sipping on his tea, he walked towards the other end of the house and found himself standing in front of the hall closet across from the guest bedroom downstairs. He hadn’t looked in it in a while. Probably since before Becca had moved in. He opened the door and was met with box after box piled on top of each other. He placed his tea on the floor and pulled down the first box carefully, settling himself on the floor and opening it. He was met with surprise when he looked in it and found old pictures of him and Becca back when they’d first started dating. Pictures of Dylan when she was a baby. Dylan’s baby photo album that had been his first Father’s Day present. Dylan’s birth announcement. A picture of Becca and Dylan in London that he’d taken when Becca had been over there doing Rent. Each item he looked at longingly, wishing for the time that he and Becca lost.

He continued his search and chuckled at a card from Dylan when she was about five that read My Dady is the best. i luve you. He stared at it for a long time. His little girl would be ten in a few months. How had that crept up on him? Placing the card along with the rest of the items, he then pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. He looked at it curiously, wondering why it had been in a box of old memories. He opened it and discovered it was lyrics to a song he’d tried writing right before Becca had come back to him.

Do you see me?

Like I see you?

You are more than just

A girl I loved

You are gone away

Why can’t you be with me?

We made mistakes but we can

Try and make it right again

Suddenly, Josh had his inspiration. Shoving the paper in his back pocket, he quickly put the items back in the box, except for a few old pictures and Dylan’s card. He picked up his tea walked briskly back to his office. He finally had his muse back.

Shopping with Josh’s mother was worlds away from shopping with her own mother. Becca had reminded herself of that several times during the day while she and Dylan were out with Mrs. Chasez and Josh’s sister, Heather. They were laid back, down to earth, and didn’t complain at all when Becca couldn’t make up her mind between two different everyday china patterns at Macy’s.

“Honey, they’re the plates you’re going to be eating off of for a long time,” Karen Chasez had reminded her. “You have to be happy with them.”

“Which one do you think your dad would like?” Becca asked Dylan as she held up the two different patterned plates. One with a simple floral pattern, the other with no pattern but more elegant looking.

Dylan, who’d been trying not to show just how bored she was, looked up from the game she’d been playing on her aunt’s cell phone. She sighed and looked at her mother. “The one without the flowers,” she answered, going back to her game. Then, “Mom, can we be done now? I’m hungry.”

“Yes,” Becca sighed and nodded at Dylan, then at Karen and Heather. “Yes, sorry. We’re done.” She looked at her future mother-in-law. “I’ll save this on the registry and show Josh when I get home.”

“Good thinking,” Karen smiled at her then took Dylan’s hand. “So, where would you like to go eat?”

“PF Chang’s!” Dylan answered, without hesitation.

“PF Chang’s it is,” Karen nodded, looking at Heather and Becca, who both agreed. They’d been on their feet for several hours now and the thought of sitting down to a long meal sounded wonderful to everyone.

The restaurant was crowded as usual, but it only took fifteen minutes to get seated. Karen had politely asked the hostess if it were possible to get a booth in the back. She’d been out with Becca before and had known that she was still easily recognized. She also knew that as flattered as Becca was when it happened, today was not a day she needed the recognition. Especially when she was out with her family. Karen had always loved Becca Sebastian from the first day she’d met her. She was perfect for Karen’s eldest child and all the years they’d gone back and forth, Karen had known that Josh would ultimately end up with Becca in the end. Dylan was just the icing on the cake. Her one and only grandchild brought her joy no matter what. No, it hadn’t been ideal when Becca had decided it best to split from Josh right after Dylan’s birth, but somehow they’d made it work and now, it had all been worth it. Especially now that Becca was going to have another baby. Karen had known from the moment she’d seen Becca trying to cover up the new little bump a few weeks ago. She’d also seen her grow tired very easily and Josh had even mentioned that Becca had a stomach bug that wouldn’t go away. But, Karen also knew that they probably wanted to share the news in their own special way and hadn’t said a word, not even to Heather.

“Today was pretty successful, Becca,” Karen said, after they’d ordered their drinks. “Did you think so?”

Becca nodded. She loved Josh’s mother. She was down to earth, even-keeled, and world’s away from her own mother, who’d already texted her four times wanting to know if Becca had looked at the china patterns she thought fit for her.

“Yes,” Becca replied. “Tiring, but successful. I can’t imagine having to register for everything. It’s stressful enough as it is.”

The waitress came back with their drinks and as she placed them around the table, she did a double take at Becca. “Hey, aren’t you that actress from that 90s TV show? I used to watch you all the time in middle school!”

Becca tried not to show her frustration. She knew she was tired and she also knew she should be happy to still be recognized. Most of her work now was stage work and getting recognized was becoming more few and far between. She cleared her throat and smiled as politely as she could. “Yes,” she answered. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“And did you used to date JC from Nsync? God, they were my favorite band. I had posters of Justin and JC all over my wall up until I left for college and-“

“We’re ready to order,” Heather cut her off and Becca could tell that she was trying to also be polite, but could see the wistful expression on Becca’s face, knowing that she was ready to be done with the conversation.

The waitress blushed and shook her head. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get star struck.” She pulled out her tablet and began to jot down orders. Her face was still red as she ran off to put the order into the kitchen and Becca couldn’t help but chuckle at Heather’s response.

“Sorry, Becca. I hope I didn’t cross the line there,” Heather said, as she sipped on her iced tea.

Becca shook her head and smiled. “Not at all. Does anyone ever recognize you guys?”

“Oh, once or twice in a blue moon,” Karen answered. “Used to happen a lot more when the group was bigger. Tyler certainly enjoyed the attention.”

“He got a few dates out of it,” Heather put in. “I never liked it. I commend you guys in show biz.” She looked at her niece. “Hey, Dylan, do you ever want to be in the movies or sing like your mom and dad?”

“Briahna and I are going to have our own show one day,” Dylan informed Heather, without batting an eye.

“Really?!” Becca smirked at her daughter, upon hearing the news for the first time. “And what kind of show is this going to be, honey?”

“We’re going to sing and dance and tell jokes. Like Daddy did when he was on the Mickey Mouse Club,” Dylan responded, as though she’d been thinking about this for a while. She’d found old episodes of the show online and had spent hours upon hours with Briahna watching them.

“What are you going to call this show?” Becca was intrigued. She knew Dylan could be a ham and obviously it was in her genes to perform. But she’d never really expressed an interest aloud before that day.

Dylan shrugged. “I dunno. We’re not going to do it til we’re older, though. Like thirteen.”

Becca put her arm around her daughter and squeezed her. “Good. I don’t want you corrupted just yet, girl,” she said softly and kissed Dylan’s cheek.

When they’d finished lunch, the foursome decided to take a leisurely walk around the mall. Dylan, loving the attention from her older aunt, had gone off with Heather to Claire’s, while Karen and Becca sat down in front of the store.

“I want you to know how much I respect you, Becca,” Karen said, reaching over to squeeze Becca’s hand. “You and Josh have been through a lot. I am so excited that you’re marrying him.”

Becca felt a huge wave of joy wash over her. It wasn’t that she’d needed Karen’s approval. In fact, she and Josh had just about stopped caring about what other people thought of their relationship now. Her own mother had been skeptical and had pleaded with Becca not to go through with the marriage, but Becca had ignored that, even though for her it had meant never, ever meeting her mother’s approval of anything. But Josh’s family had never been doubtful of her. They’d always loved her, always accepted her, and as unconventional as their relationship had been, his parents had never once treated her as anything but family.

“I love your son, Karen,” Becca grinned at her. “I can’t imagine being with anyone else. Ever.”

Karen patted her hand. “Good. Because I don’t think he could be with anyone but you, Becca.”

“Mom!”

Their chat was interrupted by Dylan, who was bounding out of Claire’s, with Heather behind her. “Mom! Mom, look what Aunt Heather bought me!” Dylan immediately emptied her Claire’s bag onto the bench that Becca and Karen were occupying. Dylan held up a set of purple, heart-shaped earrings and a pink headband with “Cutie” written on the side in bold, purple letters.

“That was sweet of you,” Becca looked up at Heather and smiled, then back at Dylan. “Did you thank her?”

“Mmhm,” Dylan nodded.

“It was no problem. She’s my only niece. I have to spoil her,” Heather winked at Becca.

“Are we ready to get back to your house, then?” Karen asked, as she and Becca stood to their feet.

“Yes. That sounds perfect,” Becca was yearning to get home and take a well-deserved nap. Shopping had worn her out today more than most days. She’d forgotten just how tired being pregnant could make a person. It had been a long time since she’d last carried a child and she was being reminded day after day just what she had experienced years ago.

JC sat back in his chair, swiveling from side to side, and looked at the lyrics he’d written in front of him. It hadn’t taken long and with the pictures and memories he’d found earlier that morning, he’d had enough inspiration to pen them quickly.

It was me and you

From the start

You always said the words

Went straight to my heart

And now

Now I’m looking at my future

Saying goodbye to the past

It’s always been you

Didn’t I know you’d be the one

From the beginning you

Held my heart

Held my dreams

Baby you’re my everything

I didn’t ever want to lose you

But if it meant you coming back

You know it was all worth it

A decade of pasts

I want decades of your future

Here with me

Baby you’re my everything

It described him and Becca perfectly and he couldn’t wait until she heard him sing it to her in a few weeks. He smiled at the thought of that. Just a few more weeks and Becca would be his wife.