PART IV

"Are you going to be okay if Rachel says no?"

JC looked up from the piano where he'd been working out the melody for a new song for Girl Radical, the group he and Jimmy Harry started nearly four years ago. There weren't the megastars NSYNC had been, but they had a number one hit under their belt and a smattering of top 20 hits. Now it was time for their second album. The last thing he wanted was to have a terrible second album like so many other stars. To keep the buzz up around the group, they needed a great lead off song for the album. That was what he was trying to accomplish.

"Of course I'll be okay. I mean I'll be a little disappointed but," he shrugged. "I'll understand if she says no. It's asking a lot of her."

"Yeah," Lance took a seat next to JC sitting in the opposite direction. He stared at the radio equipment that made up one end of their basement where he hosted his show. This end of the basement housed all JC's music stuff. In the middle of the expansive room were couches set up in L-shape fashion. One L-shape faced JC and the other shape faced toward his radio desk for any visitors they had on the show. "We're not selfish for asking are we?"

"Maybe," JC shrugged his shoulders again. The movement caused his shoulder to brush up against Lance's. "There are probably thousands of donors we can choose from and it would probably be easier to go the anonymous route considering."

"So many variables that could happen going with someone you know."

"You don't think Rachel would say she'd do it, then after the pregnancy change her mind, do you?" JC asked horrified.

"Oh God, no way!" Lance shook his head. He felt sick at the thought of someone doing that to them. "If she's not committed to do this, she won't do it. She'll tell us no." He looked toward the steps when he heard the dogs start barking. "Expecting someone?"

JC shook his head, "No," and pushed himself to his feet. He followed along behind Lance as they climbed the stairs to see who had just walked into their house. His face broke out into a grin when he heard the excited shrieks of Olivia.

"C!" Olivia yelled when she saw her uncles walk into the room. She left the dogs behind and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her toward JC.

JC laughed and swung Olivia up in her arms, drawing excited screams and laughter. He settled her against him as he hugged her. "Hi Olivia."

"Hi C," Olivia grinned widely, proudly showing off a mouthful of teeth.

"Hey, what am I?" Lance teased. "Chopped liver?" He dug his fingers into his niece's sides causing her to squirm and laugh in JC's arms.

"Yeah," she giggled kicking her legs as she tried to get away from Lance's fingers.

"Yeah!" Lance gasped in mock anger. "Come here you," he took Olivia from JC. He held her with one arm across his body while his other hand tickled her belly.

"An!" Olivia struggled. She hadn't mastered saying 'Lance' yet. No matter how often he tried to get her to say it. She over pronounced the 'L' and held onto the 'c' too long. So he was stuck being called An. He tried not to be too jealous of the fact she could pronounce JC's name with no problem.

"Mon," Olivia took Lance's hand once he set her on the ground and started leading him away from the other adults.

"Guess I'm leaving," Lance grinned and allowed himself to be led to the living room.

"Sit," Olivia patted the door in front of her toy box. When she was satisfied her uncle was sitting she turned to the box and started digging through pulling out a red bucket with a yellow lid. The lid had shapes cut out and the bucket was full of shaped blocks. "See?" She brought the bucket to Lance. She turned around and sat down on his lap.

Lance placed one hand on Olivia's stomach as he leaned over helping her dump out the blocks and fix the lid. "Square," he said when she held up the red shape.

"Yeah," Olivia nodded. "Wear." She looked down at the lid searching before she matched it to the right opening. It took her a couple times to get the shape lined up. When she successfully pushed the square into the bucket she turned her head to look at Lance wearing the biggest smile she could muster.

"Yeah!" Lance cheered. "You did it!"

"Yay!" Olivia grinned and grabbed a triangle. "Een!" She said holding it up for him to see.

"Green," Lance nodding smiling. "Very good. You're so smart," he kissed the top of her head on her soft tuffs of blonde hair. He could smell the baby shampoo from an earlier bath.

"C! C!" Olivia exclaimed seeing JC walk into the room behind her parents. She scrambled out of Lance's lap running to her uncle. She grabbed his hand much like she did Lance earlier. "Mon," she told him.

JC grinned and let himself be led where ever the toddler wanted. He took a seat next to Lance when Olivia told him and watched as she ran back to her toy box. "How you doing?" He asked Lance seeing his boyfriend putting the blocks Olivia had abandoned back in their container.

"I got this," Lance grinned and dropped a blue circle through the hole. "Nothing to it."

"So proud of you Lance," JC shook his head; the smile still displayed on his face. "We should find you a ribbon. Real mature," he said when Lance stuck his tongue out at him.

"I think we can sneak out," Rachel whispered loudly to Nick as Olivia brought back a book. She watched as her daughter sat in JC's lap.

"Bye," Lance shifted closer to JC, placing one arm on the floor behind JC to hold his weight. He rested his chin on JC's shoulder. JC switched Olivia to his outside leg so Lance could see the book too - a seek and find Bubble Guppies book; Olivia's current favorite cartoon on television.

Rachel rolled her eyes and moved to sit on the couch, pulling Nick down next to her. They sat together not talking, just content to watch Lance and JC play with Olivia. Rachel squeezed Nick's hand, turning her head to look at him with a smile on her face. "No doubt in my mind we're making the right decision."

"Child will be the luckiest child on the planet," Nick said softly. He smiled seeing Olivia grin up at JC and Lance. There was no question his daughter loved and adored JC and Lance. The feelings were definitely returned.

"So what's up?" Lance asked a few minutes later when he was able to extract himself from Olivia and JC. He took a spot on the couch, smiling as he watched JC, read quietly to Olivia, who was still sitting on his lap. Seeing JC interact with Olivia made his heart sing. There we no doubts in his mind that JC wouldn't be the greatest father.

Rachel could see he was trying to play off being calm but she knew otherwise. She could see the nervousness flowing over him. She couldn't wait to remove all the worry. "We have an answer for you."

Lance's eyes widened and he swallowed roughly. Never had he felt this scared in his life. Not during his tryout for NSYNC. Not during their first concert. Telling JC his feelings. Coming out as gay to the world. None of those compared to what he felt right now. It wasn't fair to Rachel but he felt she held his whole world in her hands. All he could think about was having a baby. His dreams were filled with brown-hair, green-eyed babies. "C," he didn't like how his voice sounded. He thought it was strong, carefree but judging by how fast JC turned to look at him and the questioning look he sent, he knew it wasn't as strong as he hoped.

Lance's tone alerted JC something was amiss. When he looked at his boyfriend he could see a paleness in Lance's face. Taking a quick look at Rachel and Nick, his heart knotted. A decision has been made. He kissed the top of Olivia's head before gently moving her off his lap. He took a seat next to Lance and took his hand.

"You guys have a decision?"

Rachel nodded, sparing Nick a glance before facing her brother and JC. She smiled at them. "Of course I'll do it."

"Really?" Lance whispered.

"Really," Rachel grinned.

"Oh..." Lance was frozen. He couldn't believe what he had heard. His sister had just told him she'd carry their child. He and JC were going to have a child that was a part of each of them. When he looked at JC, he saw the brunette frozen as well. A sheen of tears clouding the normally bright blue eyes. He squeezed JC's hand, causing the man to look at him. Lance smiled at him watching as JC broke out into a smile.

"Yeah?" JC asked looking at Rachel.

"Yes," Rachel nodding laughing. Her own eyes filled with tears when she saw a tear escape and roll down JC's cheek. She watched, her heart full of love, as JC and Lance turned toward each other and wrapped their arms around one another.

"Are you crying?" Nick asked softly, brushing a finger across his wife's cheek, feeling the wetness.

"Yes," Rachel laughed running her fingers over her cheeks. "You know I start crying if someone else is crying. And how can I not cry at this?"

"Don't cry," Nick murmured pulling Rachel into his arms comforting her.

Lance pulled JC into a tight embrace. He pressed a kiss against JC's neck as he hugged him. A dream of theirs was finally coming true. He and JC were going to have a child. A child who would be both his and JC's biologically. Tears trickled down his cheeks. He felt JC turn his head and he met him halfway with a kiss. When he opened his eyes he saw his lover's own blue eyes shining with tears. There were twin tear tracks on his cheeks. He smiled.

JC matched Lance's smile. He cupped the back of his head and brought Lance back to his lips for another kiss. When he finally looked at Rachel, seeing her eyes full of tears, he couldn't not go to her.

"Don't be afraid to give me the same congratulatory kiss," she joked as she stood so she could hug JC. "Lance and I are practically the same."

"Practically," JC grinned and dropped a kiss to her cheek. "But not quite."

"Damn," she sighed dramatically. "That will do for now," she wrapped her arms around JC's waist, pressing her cheek to his chest. She felt his arms hold her tight and she smiled, tightening her arms.

"Thank you," JC whispered, getting choked up again. "I don't know... Thank you."

"Remember that when I'm fat, tired and feeling unattractive," she teased.

"That mean you'll be crying on him when you've turned into a hormonal mess?" Nick grinned as he released his brother-in-law from a hug.

"I was not a hormonal mess!" Rachel gasped.

"Yeah," Lance grinned. "You kind of were."

Rachel gapped at her husband and brother before turning toward JC. "Well?"

"Must have been those Carter genes," JC grinned.

"See?" Rachel hugged JC again. "My favorite."

"Well you can't have him," Lance told Rachel as he hugged his sister, pulling her away from JC. "He's mine."

"I have a stipulation in this though," Rachel spoke after they all settled back down on the couches. Lance and JC exchanged worried looks.

"Me too," Nick said.

Rachel gave her husband a confused look. She had no idea what his stipulation was. He never had one when they talked about everything. The wink he sent her did not put her at ease.

"Wh-what's your stipulation?" Lance asked slowly.

"I will not be part of any reality TV show. So don't even think about making this some TLC show. I refuse to have cameras following me every day."

Lance and JC exchanged relieved smiles. "That will not be a problem," Lance told his sister. "There is no way we're going to do a television show about this."

"That's the last thing we'd ever think about doing," JC said, squeezing Lance's hand. He couldn't believe this was happening. "What was your stipulation?"

"I'm afraid to hear this," Rachel muttered staring at Nick.

"The only way this is happening is through a doctor. I'm not handing my wife over to you so you can sleep with her."

JC burst out laughing.

Rachel smacked Nick on the shoulder. "You're an idiot! And if you keep laughing you're going to hurt my feelings." She glared at JC as he tried to stop laughing. Even Lance was struggling not to laugh.

"I think we can deal with those stipulations," Lance said as JC nodded. He squeezed JC's hand. This was happening.

*~*

"Do you think they should have been here?" Rachel asked Nick again. They were in the procedure room of the clinic. She was sitting up on the table with a gown draped over her lower body waiting for the doctor to appear. Nick had pulled the chair up next to the examination table.

"JC's already done his part," Nick pointed out. He reached out and laid his hand over his wife's on her lap. "I know you want them involved in every step of the way. I stand behind that. But this part, this right here, they really don't need to be here. I can video it if you want..."

Rachel grabbed his hand before he could pull away and dig his phone out of his pocket. "You take a video of anything remotely close to my hoo-ha, I will murder you," she threatened.

"Come on," Nick laughed. "I would never."

"I just hate this waiting," Rachel sighed. The last months had been filled with doctor visits, pills, hormone injections, tests. Everything led her up to this moment; when they would insert the embryos into her uterus.

"I know," Nick said knowingly. He laced their fingers together. "I can't wait for the next two weeks to be over so we finally have an answer."

"Me too," Rachel sighed, looking down at their hands. "I'm really scared that this won't work. That in two weeks I'll take the pregnancy test... have everyone there waiting for the results and it's gonna be negative. God Nick, that scares me. I don't even want to imagine JC's and Lance's faces..."

"Hey," Nick stood up bringing his head closer to his wife's. He raised a hand to her face, brushing his fingers of her cheek. Her eyes closed as she leaned into his touch. "You have to stay positive. This is going to work. And if it doesn't, we'll start all over. JC and Lance, sure will be disappointed only for the fact that they'll have to wait longer, but they won't blame you. They each know the pros and cons of IVF more than you do. JC has the doc on speed dial."

Rachel smiled at that. She blew out a breath, trying to ride her body of the tension coiling. "I love you for doing this."

"I'm not doing anything; you are."

"I know it's not been easy on you." It was Rachel's turn to cup Nick's face. The coarse stubble scratched at her hand. He hadn't shaved in a couple days; the stubble grew in nicely. Unable to stop herself, she brought him closer and kissed him. "We've been in a no-sex restriction for the couple of months and the restriction is still in place for at least two more weeks."

"It's been hard," he grinned when Rachel rolled her eyes at his innuendo. "Worse for you since you're not allowed getting off. Which sucks for me because I love watching you." A feint blush swept across his wife's face. "But I have my hand, your hand and," he dropped his voice as he brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. "This lovely mouth," he kissed her softly. "I'm not complaining about that at all."

"I don't think there is a man alive who would complain about a blow job." Rachel could feel her face burning. Not allowed having sex with her husband was the biggest con in the whole procedure especially when she was getting hormone injections that played with her emotions and made her horny. Nick definitely benefited. "When we get the all-clear, you may not survive," she murmured.

Nick's grin widened, "Baby, I am ready."

"But I do really love you for doing this," Rachel reiterated bringing the conversation back around to her original point. If she kept talking about sex and blow jobs while having to look at her husband's face even sexier with the stubble she was liable to pull him over her on the examination table.

"You need to stop looking at me like that," Nick shifted slightly trying to ease the discomfort growing in his jeans as Rachel looked at him with desire ridden eyes.

"I can't help it," Rachel shrugged dropping her gaze. She immediately felt Nick's hand beneath her chin, drawing her eyes back to his. "I was trying to get back to a safer topic but my mind went off on a tangent. Where I thought about laying back and pulling you on top of me."

Nick's mouth dried. All the blood in his body rushed to his cock, now straining against his zipper. He moaned softly. Nothing more would please him than to make Rachel's daydream become a reality. He clenched his hand into a fist and fought for control. "You can't say things like that. Damnit."

Rachel giggled. "Sorry... I just... your face..."

"I hope that means something good."

"Oh it does," Rachel cupped his face, drawing his lips to hers. "You are incredibly sexy but when you add this stubble..." she licked her lips, smirking when she saw Nick's pupils dilate. "Downright fucking gorgeous. I can't help myself."

Nick pressed his lips to Rachel's immediately running his tongue along her bottom lip. When her lips parted for him, he wasted no time in delving forward. His tongue twisted around hers, stroking and teasing. He gave another moan when her lips closed around his tongue and she sucked. He broke the kiss, out of breath. "Jesus..."

Rachel hummed her agreement, laying her head on his shoulder. "When we get home, I'll show you just how much I appreciate the stubble on your face."

"Who knew facial hair would turn you on so much?"

"Nah," Rachel picked her head up to look at him. "It's mostly you." This time when she kissed him it was soft and easy. "So please; stop looking all hot and sexy and gorgeous."

Nick rolled his eyes as he sat back down in his chair. He adjusted himself so he wasn't near tears with his erection pressing against his zipper. "I'll try."