“Pick up, pick up, pick up!” Annie muttered into the phone while it rang. She looked over at Emma-Claire who was dozing off and on while they waited on the team of nurses to come and wheel her out for surgery.

“Annie?” Emma-Claire’s voice was soft and pleading.

Annie walked over to the side of the bed and bent down to kiss Emma-Claire’s cheek.

“What is it, sweetie?” Annie asked her, smoothing out her hair.

“Is Daddy gonna come?” Her eyes pleaded with Annie to say ‘yes’ but Annie refused to lie to the child. It already felt as though she’d lied to her whenever JC was concerned.

“I don’t know,” Annie said. She was being honest and truthful. There wasn’t anyway to judge whether or not JC would make it in time. “But I’m calling him again to-“

“Hi, you’ve reached JC Chasez. Please leave a message and-“

“Ugh!” Annie hung up and wanted to throw her phone on the floor. She took a deep breath and scrolled through her contacts. Sometime ago, she knew she’d put Jimmy’s number in and now that she couldn’t get a hold of JC, she knew she would have to try Jimmy.

“See you guys tomorrow.” JC waved to the last member of Girl Radical as she left the studio. It was nearing midnight but he was full of ideas and energy now.

“I’m on my out, too.” Jimmy came over to him and began to shut down his side of the soundboard. “You should probably get home, man. You know your girls are waiting on you. Or at least one of them is.”

“Yeah.” JC sighed and fiddled with a knob on the board. “I’m just so ready to get these girls out there and it excites me whenever-“ He was interrupted by Jimmy’s phone ringing.

Jimmy pulled his phone out of his back pocket and looked at it in surprise, then looked at JC and said, “It’s Annie.”

“My Annie?” JC leaned forward in his chair and gave Jimmy a quizzical look. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Fifteen missed calls and five texts and they were all from Annie.

“Hey, Annie.” Jimmy looked at JC as he answered.

“Jimmy, do you have any idea where Josh is? Emma’s about to have an emergency appendectomy!” Annie didn’t care how frantic she sounded. She’d been on the verge of tears for the last hour and it was only now that she realized it.

“He’s right here.” Jimmy handed the phone to JC, who took it as though it were a bomb ready to explode.

“Annie?”

“Josh, I don’t give a fuck where you are or what you’re doing. Your daughter is about to have surgery and she is scared to death and wants you here! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for an hour. One hour, Josh! Just get here and don’t give me any shit as to why you can’t!” Annie was sobbing by now but she didn’t care.

“I’m on my way, okay, Annie? Tell her I’m on my way.” JC was trying to be calm but the thought of Emma-Claire lying in a hospital bed about to go in for surgery made him more anxious than he’d ever been in any other situation.

“Emma’s about to have surgery and Annie’s been trying to get a hold of me and now I’m officially going to be the worst dad in the world,” JC muttered to Jimmy as he grabbed his things and ran out the door.

The freeway loomed before him and even though it was past midnight now, there were still as many cars on it then as there were during the day. JC managed to swerve in and out daring a cop to come and chase him now. He felt like an ass; a big, overgrown, stupid, selfish ass. He’d never heard Annie before like she’d been on the phone. And she’d been trying to get in touch with him and he’d been so caught up in his own world that he hadn’t even bothered to check his phone once.

His heart raced faster when he pulled into the hospital parking lot. An appendectomy was a common surgery. He’d always heard that. Except that now it was happening to his daughter and it felt world’s different than just a “common” surgery. It was surgery and it was happening to his little girl. There was nothing common about any of that.

“Where are you?” JC had called Annie as soon as he’d stepped inside the hospital.

“Fourth floor. Children’s wing.” Annie replied, her voice soft. “But they just wheeled her in for surgery, Josh.”

JC pressed his finger to the elevator button and kept pushing it over and over again as if he were a child waiting for all of the floors to light up. When the doors opened, he flew inside and all he could think about was that Emma-Claire had gone into that surgery without him there.
He was the worst father in the world.

Annie sat in the waiting room with her head in her hands, elbows propped on her thighs. She really had no idea what emotion to feel right now. JC had pulled a lot of crap but this was by far the worst. He was so caught up in his work that he had no time to even think about her or Emma-Claire. All he had to do was look at his phone once or twice each hour to see if they were okay.

She heard shuffling of feet and raised her head to see JC standing in the door of the waiting room, looking right at her. Her face was tearstained and her cheeks red from holding her hands on them too long.

“Annie.”

Annie didn’t move, only watched him as he walked over to her and knelt in front of her.

“I don’t even know what to say.” He pulled her into his arms and wrapped himself around her body. He felt her go limp and stiff against him. She wasn’t even trying to hug him back.

“She’ll be out in two hours.” Annie pushed him away and stood up, walking over to the door of the waiting room. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee down the hall.”

“Can’t you at least tell me what happened?” JC’s voice was almost pleading with her.

Annie took a breath and leaned against the doorframe. “She hadn’t been eating for most of the day. When I was getting her ready for bed, she threw up. I put her in our bed and two hours later she woke up screaming in pain. The kids I used to nanny for, one of them had the same symptoms with acute appendicitis. I brought her here and now she’s in surgery.” Annie’s voice had been monotone the entire time she spoke. She regarded JC as though he were something she didn’t want to touch.

“Baby, I-“

“I’m going to get coffee. I don’t think I should really talk to you right now. I don’t want to say anything I’ll regret later.” Annie turned around and walked out of the waiting room. Her heart was in her stomach and she felt tears returning to her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to be so cruel to JC but it almost felt as though she were running out of options. Missing tuck-ins was one thing, missing Emma-Claire’s play had been another, but now Emma-Claire was in surgery and JC had almost missed that.

When she returned to the waiting room, she saw JC standing up and staring out of the hospital window. He turned around and she looked away from him. She sat down on the other side of the room, coffee in hand, and her body completely blocking him off.

For a few minutes, nothing was said between either of them. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional guzzle of the water cooler near Annie. Doctors and nurses walking up and down the hall talking in medical code with each other. A patient who’d wheeled himself out into the hallway. Another family waited near JC and talked quietly about the next steps in their child’s chemo treatment. JC listened to them and was thankful that Emma-Claire’s surgery wasn’t life threatening. He looked over at Annie who was staring into space, doing whatever she could to avoid him.

“Ann,” said JC in a soft voice as he approached her.

Annie turned her head and JC saw tears brimming at her eyelids. She quickly wiped them away and rested her chin in her hand and finally looked at him.

“I know I messed up.” He knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his.

“I can’t do this, Josh. It’s too hard.” Annie let a tear slip down her cheek.

“Can’t do what?” JC reached over and moved a strand of hair from her face.

“I can’t do this. Us.” Annie looked right into his eyes. “You keep making promises and I’m the one who has to let Emma down. Me. Not you. You’re holed away in that damn studio and you get back too late for everything. You didn’t even check your phone once today, Josh.”

JC couldn’t respond because she was right. He surveyed her face again and in all the times he had made a woman cry, it had never been for something as big and as serious as this.

Upon instinct, he reached for her and pulled her close, his lips resting on her forehead, his hands stroking her back and up into her hair. She let him hold her and cried into his chest. Annie didn’t want to relent but with him holding her like he was he wasn’t making it easy.

“I love you.” JC kissed her cheek and Annie lifted her head up to look right into his eyes. Those eyes that captivated her from the very beginning were doing exactly the same thing right then and there. “Don’t end this, Annie. I’ve learned my lesson.”

He kissed her again this time fully on the mouth, his hands cupping either side of her face. The kiss felt desperate and was mixed with her tears on his lips.

“You make it difficult to leave you.” Annie pulled away and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

“Then don’t.” JC stroked his thumb against her cheek and leaned in to kiss her again.

His lips felt right against hers and Annie couldn’t deny that. She’d been determined to break up with him tonight after what he’d done but kissing him and being close to him made her feel safe. He was here. He’d been late, but he was here.

Annie moved so that JC could sit next to her. The chairs had removable armrests and JC pulled it up so that Annie could easily lean in next to him. He held her close and neither of them said anything, just rested in silence.

“Miss Leighton?”

Annie woke suddenly to look up and see Emma-Claire’s doctor standing in front of her.

“Josh.” She nudged JC and JC opened his eyes and looked at her, then up at the doctor.

“Are you Emma-Claire’s father?” The doctor spoke to JC and he nodded. “Emma-Claire is out of surgery. She’s still asleep and will probably sleep the rest of the night. You can go in and see her and she’ll probably be ready to go either later today or tomorrow.”

JC rose from his seat and acknowledged the doctor. “Thanks. Which way is her room?”

“Follow me.” The doctor nodded at both JC and Annie, who was just getting to her feet.

JC laced his fingers through Annie’s and they followed the doctor down the hallway and into a set of rooms. The doctor opened a door that led into the room where Emma-Claire was sleeping. JC immediately walked over to her bedside and knelt next to his sleeping daughter.

“We’ll give you instructions on how to clean the area where we had to cut. For now you can visit with her and come back tomorrow,” said the doctor on his way out.

“I think we’re just gonna stay here,” JC replied without taking his eyes off of Emma-Claire. She was sound asleep and her face was content with the bliss of rest all over it. Annie situated herself on a chair across from the bed and watched as JC sang softly to his daughter as she slept. She would give him one more chance. As much as she knew that this should’ve been it for him, looking at him with Emma-Claire made her heart melt and she loved him too much to walk out now.

Three days later, Annie and JC had set up a bed for Emma-Claire on the couch in the living room. She was given strict orders not to do much and so JC had made sure she had every available amenity that she needed. The television was on from morning until her bedtime, any snacks she wanted to eat were in the kitchen, and JC had called Jimmy to tell him that he’d be out for the next week. Jimmy was all for this idea and told JC this over and over when JC had called to tell him his decision.

“But I miss my friends!” Emma-Claire was whining to Annie when Annie told her she couldn’t go back to school for another week.

“I know, babe, but you can’t do anything and it already takes a lot for you to walk to the bathroom.” Annie brushed a strand of hair away from Emma-Claire’s eyes and picked up a stuffed animal on the floor next to the couch. “Here. Want your brown bunny?”

“No.” Emma-Claire shook her head and pouted.

“It’s not gonna do you any good to be like that, honey.” Annie sighed and placed the stuffed bunny on the coffee table. “Want to watch a movie?”

Emma-Claire shrugged and nestled underneath the large quilt that Annie had put over her. Annie took that as a ‘yes’ and began to scroll through Netflix. When Emma-Claire finally agreed to Robin Hood, Annie hit ‘play’ on the remote control and stood to go check on JC, who was down in the basement playing in his recording studio.

JC was sitting in the sound booth, playing around with different controls and knobs and jumped when he felt Annie snake her arms around the front of him. He chuckled and turned to pull her into his lap.
“What’s up?” He kissed her lips, sliding his hand up to her thigh and around her waist.

“Emma’s watching a movie.” Annie kissed him back and played with the top button on his shirt.

“And you came down here to seduce me, right?” JC wriggled his eyebrows at her and Annie giggled.

“I was just coming to see what you were doing.” Annie shifted her weight and straddled him.

“That’s what it looks like. No sex at all, huh?” JC lifted up her shirt as he said this.

Annie hadn’t come down for sex but they’d been without for a few days because of Emma-Claire and the fact that things had been strained between them. She was suddenly feeling frisky and threw her shirt behind her, letting it land on the control panel.

“No sex.” Annie lifted herself up and slid her yoga pants down past her knees.

“Good. I didn’t think you wanted it anyway.” JC was busying himself by taking off jeans.

“Hm. Maybe I lied.” Annie reached behind her and undid her bra, throwing it across the tiny room.

“You shouldn’t lie, baby.” JC pulled her closer and Annie looked down and smiled upon seeing his erection seeping through the opening in his boxers. “See something you want?”

Annie kissed him fiercely and soon they were going at it hard and fast. The chair JC was sitting in rolled away from the soundboard and against the wall. Annie pressed her hands onto the wall above JC’s head and rocked with him in a desperate attempt to come as quickly as possible.

“I really was just coming to check on you.” Annie breathed into JC’s ear when they were finished. She stood up and went to pull on her yoga pants.

“You should do that more often.” JC sat in his chair, still in somewhat of a daze, and watched Annie dress again.

“You should be at home more often and maybe I would.” Annie walked back over to him and placed her hands on either side of his arms. She kissed him again.

“I think it’s safe to say we’ve fucked in every room in this house.” JC mused, finally standing to his feet and walking over to where his jeans were puddled near the soundboard.

“Not every.” Annie shook her head and pulled her hair out of the back of her shirt. “We’ve yet to do it in Emma’s room and I’m pretty sure that’s never gonna happen.”

“Oh, yeah, no, definitely not!” JC shook his head and followed Annie out of the studio.

As soon as they were upstairs, Annie heard her phone buzzing from the kitchen. JC went into the living room and sat across from Emma-Claire to watch Robin Hood with her while Annie went to grab the call.

“Annie, guess what?!” It was Megan on the other line. She was nearly screeching on the other end.

“What?!” Annie walked back into the living room and sat down next to JC.

“Well, Derek and I were talking and I was telling him about you and how you were dating JC and he told me he used to work with JC when he was a producer a few years ago!”

“Oh, really?” Annie was trying to be just as enthusiastic but she knew that JC worked with a lot of producers and Derek was probably just one in a few hundred or so that he’d collaborated with.

“Yeah. They used to hang out a lot. Is JC there? Ask him if he remembers Derek Stefano.”

Annie sighed and knew that Megan would persist on this subject for a while if she didn’t ask JC. She turned to her boyfriend and said, “Megan wants to know if you remember Derek Stefano.”

JC looked curious for a second and then nodded. “Yeah, I remember him. We did a lot of work together right after Celebrity was released.”

“He remembers him,” Annie said to Megan.

“Perfect! Well, anyway, Derek’s also friends with Lance and Michael. I know, what are the odds, right? And he wanted all of us to go out –you, me, him, JC, Lance, Michael- this weekend.”

“We’ll have to see how Emma is. And there’d be no one to watch her.”

“Jamie and Carey already told me they’d babysit Emma since her nanny’s sleeping with the boss.”

“You’re funny.”

“Oh you know I can’t help it! Anyway, just let me know.”

“Okay, Meg. I’ll talk to JC. Bye.”

“Bye, Ann!”

Annie hung up and placed the phone next to her on the couch. “Megan and Derek want all of us to go out this weekend. Apparently Jamie and Carey said they’d look after Emma-Claire so we can go.”

JC shrugged. “Sounds fun, I guess. I haven’t talked to Derek in ages. It’ll be good to catch up with him.” His phone rang and he reached for it but looked at Annie first. “This will take two seconds.”

“Josh, I don’t care if you take a phone call!” Annie rolled her eyes and settled in next to him, pulling his arm around her.

“Hello? Hey, man. Yeah, she’s fine. She’s watching television on the couch with me and Annie. What? No. I can’t right now. I took the week off. Sure. Sounds good. I’ll talk to you next week, then. Bye.” He hung up and looked at Annie with a proud expression on his face. “See? I’m not taking any gigs this week.”

Annie had to force a smile at him. She had to force it because she wondered what other weeks would look like once Emma-Claire was well again. Instead of starting an argument, she nodded and leaned into him while Robin Hood pined away for Maid Marian.