Her thoughts get interrupted with the sound of JC calling out her name from downstairs. “In the bedroom!” She calls back and soon hears him shuffling up the stairs and then sees him walk into the bedroom.
“What are you doing?” he asks, pressing his lips to her cheek and looking down at the bed. “Those are pretty. Are they for the wedding?” He glances at them before he sits on the corner of the bed.
“Yeah. Well, one of them. I can’t choose.” She huffs and drops onto her back on the bed next to him. “Where did you go anyway?”
“I was over at Lance’s. They recorded us discussing me singing at the wedding.”
“Just now? Dressed like that?” She raises an eyebrow, pointedly looking over his outfit of black track pants, black shirt, black jacket and black hat. He hadn’t even shaved.
“What’s wrong with this?” he says, half offended as he looks down at himself.
“First of all I hate those friggen hats,” she says and reaches over to take it off his head with a laugh. “They do nothing for that beautiful face of yours. Second, what’s with all of the black? Are you in mourning that you’re the only bachelor left of the five or something?”
He laughs. “I’m not a bachelor, I’m pretty sure I’m in a committed relationship.”
“You are, but we’re not married. So you’re still the only one left.” She smirks and stands up to compare the two dresses again. She holds up the turquoise colored one and turns toward him. “So, is this too much? Or should I go with the black?” she asks, now grabbing the black one.
“Do you want to get married?”
“What?” she says absently as she brings up the black dress to herself and looks into the mirror across the bed. When he repeats the question she stops and her eyes find his. “Do you want to get married?” When he doesn’t answer after a few moments she adds, “’Cause if that was a proposal, it really sucked.”
He laughs softly and shakes his head, scratching at the back of his neck uncomfortably. She smiles and walks forward, wanting to break the sudden tension in the room. “Maybe one day,” she says quietly and presses her lips to his cheek. “I have an appointment, I’ll be back later.”
*************************
A few hours later JC is sitting in his parked Jeep along a busy street. The engine idles as he drums his fingertips on the steering wheel.
What had he been thinking saying that earlier? It’s definitely just because of the few weeks apart.
Add to that all of the wedding talk because of Lance and Michael.
Isn’t it?
Maybe.
Not really.
Gnawing on his bottom lip he shuts off the engine of his Jeep. He’d done this three times already: turn off the Jeep, open the door, close the door, turn on the Jeep.
Get a grip, man.
You’ve been thinking about this for a while.
So, this time he shakes his head, grabs his hat from the passenger seat, shuts the engine off, opens the door and steps out. After closing and locking the door, he lowers his aviators over his eyes and quickly strides toward the door of the store hoping upon all hope that there are no paparazzi around.
A soft chime greets him as he opens the door and an older man standing behind a glass counter looks up at him with a smile. “Good afternoon, Sir. Can we help you find something?”
JC’s heart starts to beat a little faster as he pushes his glasses up onto his head, “Um, yeah actually. I’m looking for…um...” He stumbles over his words for a moment.
The man smiles kindly and walks along the row of glass counters to get closer to where JC is standing. “Something special for someone special?”
JC nods, “Yes. Very special.”
**************************
Ari smiles at herself in the lit mirror and turns her head side to side admiring the way her hair has been put up and the makeup that has been applied to her face. Her blonde hair is in a fishtail braid tastefully put up into a fancy updo. The hairstyle frames her face beautifully and the makeup accentuates her features in a way she’d never seen them before.
“It really makes a difference when a professional goes at it…” She grins at the woman standing behind her puts the finishing touches on her hair. “Thanks a lot!”
The woman smiles back and then moves on to the next lit mirror leaving Ari to stand up and look at herself again. It had been really nice of Lance and Michael to offer she use the hair and makeup artists that they had booked before the wedding. They had set up a sort of dressing area in the anteroom of the venue to get everyone in the family ready. Since JC was there for sound check they’d offered her to come with him and take advantage of a free makeover for the night. She’d gladly accepted and she is really happy she did, she thinks as she looks down at herself in the turquoise dress she decided to wear. Just as she’s about to step away, she hears a voice behind her.
“You look absolutely stunning,” JC says and she looks up in the mirror again to see him standing behind her. He leans down to kiss her exposed neck. “I like the dress…but it’s missing something…” he says quietly before she sees his arms come up and then she feels a cool weight against her skin. When his hands come away she sees the glittering necklace he’s placed around her neck.
She gasps and reaches for it, looking at it in the mirror then glancing down to look at it more closely. “Oh my god…it’s gorgeous,” she says in awe as she eyes the small diamonds clustered into the shape of a teardrop hanging off a long platinum chain. “I can’t, it’s too much…” She starts to protest and gets rewarded by him spinning her around, making her face him.
“Do you like it?” he asks with a smile, his warm fingertips brushing against the skin of her bare upper arms.
“I love it…but…”
“No buts. Let me give you something nice.”
She pushes up on her tip toes even though she doesn’t have to in the tall heels she’s wearing today. “Okay. Thank you.” She presses her lips to his and gives him a tender kiss before pulling away. “I love you.”
He smiles. “I love you too.” He looks into her eyes for a long moment and she wonders if there is something else he wants to say, then he seems to snap out of it. “Are you alright here for a while? I’ve got to-“
“Mr. JC?” He gets cut off by a sweet little voice coming from close to them. They both look down to see a pretty little blonde girl in a purple dress tugging at the side of his tuxedo pants.
“Yes, honey?” he replies softly, his eyes crinkle in the corners as he leans down a little to address her.
“Uncle Lance said that you can play that big piano over there,” she says as she turns and points a tiny finger in the direction of a wooden organ.
JC smiles again and nods. “Yes, I can. Would you like to hear?”
The little girl nods quickly, a big smile spreads over her lips to reveal a missing front tooth. Ari hears JC chuckle softly, he looks back up to wink at her before he reaches down to hold out his hand to the little girl. “Then c’mon little lady.”
Ari is unable to contain the grin that forms on her lips as she watches JC walk away with the little girl in tow, clutching his hand as they walk over to the organ in the far corner of the room. She watches as he helps her up on the wooden stool and then reaches over her to play a few notes. The little girl keeps a wide smile on her face as she listens. JC takes her little hands and places them on the keys and helps her play a short melody. She giggles and he laughs; they do it again.
Ari laughs softly as she watches, the sight doing all sort of strange things to her head and her heart. She is suddenly taken to their house where the same thing is occurring: a little blonde child sitting at the grand piano with JC playing along.
“Tick, tick, tick?” Ari turns to find Joey next to her smirking; she rolls her eyes, “What? Even I hear ticking when I watch that!” He laughs and she elbows him in the side playfully.
“You’re such a tool.” She shakes her head and turns to run her hand over the arm of his suit jacket, “This is nice. Where are the girls and Kelly?”
“They’re in the other room for the cocktail hour. I just wanted to check in here to see if anyone needed help with anything.”
She smiles and pats his arm. “I think they’re all good. Lance and Michael have everything under control. Or at least the people who they put in charge do.”
She really likes Joey. He’d recently gone from being bicoastal to moving to LA permanently. He’d been over to the house a few times over the last few weeks and she’d gotten to know him. He is down to earth, funny and caring and she’s glad that JC has his friend around once more. Just a few weeks ago he’d come over with the girls and Ari had been so happy, albeit not surprised, at what good girls they are. You’d never know they had grown up around the biggest pop sensations in the world and that their Dad has quite a bit of money from it. They are sweet, funny and respectful and Ari loved having them around.
“What are you guys talking about?” JC asks as he comes back up to the two of them.
“Nothing. Joey was just looking to help out,” Ari answers as she gives Joey a look when JC’s eyes move away from hers.
“Yeah, yeah. Just lookin’ to help!”
“Actually, you want to come over to the sound board with me? It’ll be faster if you help while I calibrate my ear pieces to the system and test the mic.” JC turns to Ari. “You okay for a while?”
“Just go find Kelly and the girls in the other room, Chris and Karly should be here by now too,” Joey adds.
Ari nods and pecks JC on the lips quickly. “Just come find us when you guys are done.” With that said she walks away from the boys and makes her way into the other room.
*************************
“So things seem to still be going really well with Ari…” Joey says as he and JC walk over to the corner of the room where the sound system is set up.
JC nods as he starts plugging a few cables in and look down at the soundboard. “Yeah…can you hand me my ear pieces from my bag? They’re in the leather case.” He motions to the black bag on the ground resting against the nearby wall.
Joey searches through the bag and comes up with two leather boxes, one black and one white. “…did you get your ear pieces encrusted with diamonds or something? Tiffany’s? Really?” He laughs as he turns with both boxes in his hand.
JC rolls his eyes. “It’s the black case. And no, I didn’t. I got a necklace for Ari.”
Joey stands after he chucks the white leather case back into JC’s bag and brings him the black one. “You went to Tiffany’s. For a necklace.” He raises a brow as he hands the box to JC.
JC pops open the box and takes his ear pieces out, he feels like he’s being watched so he glances up to find Joey eyeing him skeptically. “What?”
Joey shakes his head and takes a seat behind the soundboard. “Nothing.”
JC sighs and places his hands on the back of the soundboard to face Joey. “What? Spit it out, Joe.”
Joey watches him for a moment and then finally says, “You’re not going to screw this up are you?”
JC narrows his eyes, he knows what Joey is saying but he still plays dumb. “I won’t, I practiced the song a few times…”
Joey sighs and shakes his head. “You know what I’m talking about. Stop acting like you don’t.”
JC pulls his hands away from the soundboard and scratches his cheek uncomfortably. “Yeah, I know.” He adjusts his tie, fixes the handkerchief in this suit pocket. Anything to keep his hands busy for the moment. “I don’t want to mess it up.”
“Then don’t wait forever. Even if she says she’s happy keeping things like they are…she’s an old fashioned girl, C. It’s obvious and I’m scared that if you keep her ‘on deck’ like this forever, she’ll think you’re not taking the step because you’re thinking someone better might come along eventually.” Joey turns a knob on the soundboard and looks up at him. “You’re not are you?”
JC shakes his head. “Of course not. I just…things are going so well. I’m scared that changing anything will just mess it up.”
Joey rubs his chin pensively. “Listen, I’m probably not the best person to give you stable relationship advice, but you know I’m really good at reading people. I haven’t known her for that long but even through the quick phone conversations we’d had before actually meeting in person, I knew she was special. The girls love her, so does Kelly. I’ve noticed a change in you too, C. You may not realize it yet but we’ve all noticed. You’re not so closed off. You’re socializing with people again, you’re laughing more. You just seem…lighter.”
JC stays quiet as he listens to Joey, in his heart he knows that what he’s saying is the truth.
Try telling my head that.
Joey goes on. “So what if you take that step and it doesn’t work out? What if it does? You’ll never know unless you do it.” Joey shrugs and clicks something on the sound board. “Anyway. That’s my Dr. Phil moment for you. We should get to it, the girls will be waiting.”
JC nods and turns on his ear pieces. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Maybe about everything.
“Then let’s do it,” Joey says and they start running through the test.
*************************
Hours later Ari sinks down into a chair with a huff. “I cannot dance anymore, my feet are killing me,” she says and she reaches down to take her high heels off.
Karly laughs and nods. “I took mine off twenty minutes ago. That was really fun though.”
“Yeah, kind of awkward seeing my Dad dance like that…” Brianna, Joey’s oldest daughter says with an uncomfortable laugh. Although Kelly had taken Kloey back home to sleep, Brianna being older had been allowed to stay for the special occasion. She’d been by Ari and Karly’s side the whole evening.
The three of them laugh when all of a sudden the song changes and a familiar song starts. A loud cheer erupts from the now shrunken crowd and Joey jumps up onto the stage to grab a mic. When the chorus to Bye, Bye, Bye starts, people go crazy as JC, Chris and Lance gather in the middle of the dance floor and start doing the iconic dance, albeit slightly clumsily and quite drunkenly. Ari and Karly are on their feet instantly yelling and whooping while Brianna sort of hangs her head and laughs softly.
Soon enough the boys are back at the table, breathing heavy and laughing. JC pulls Ari into his lap and nuzzles her neck, she can smell the liquor on his breath when he says, “That was fun.” She smiles and leans back against his chest. She’d never experienced drunk JC before and so far he was more of a funny drunk than anything else. He sort of let go a little more and she’d noticed while they were dancing earlier than he was definitely a little more handsy than usual. And that was saying something.
She kisses his cheek and says, “You know someone got that on their phone and Twitter is going to crash tomorrow…”
He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. “There aren’t that many people left, probably no one thought to record it. The DJ is about to pack it up.”
They sit there for a little longer, just listening to the music while Ari thinks back to earlier in the evening when Lance and Michael were reading their vows. He’d squeezed her hand and in the corner of her eye she’d noticed that he was swallowing a lot. If she hadn’t been mistaken, she’d seen the slight sheen of tears in his eyes as well. She’ been unable to keep the lump in her throat from growing to the size of a grapefruit at that point but she’d made no mention of this then, or after. When she’d watched him singing to the couple as they danced, her heart had been beating so hard she’d thought it was going to leap out of her chest. Now, as he held her tightly and swayed them to the music slightly, she thought back even further to the question he’d asked the other day. “Do you want to get married?”
Yeah. I think I do.
JC shakes her out of her thoughts as he speaks gently in her ear, “You about ready to go, babe?”
“Yeah. What about you guys? Ready to go?” Ari turns to Chris and Karly who are staying with them for a couple of days.
Chris nods and runs a hand over his face. “I’m ready to pack it in. I’m not as young as I used to be…” He laughs and looks over at Karly who nods as well.
“Ari?” She turns to see Brianna looking at her shyly. “I wanted to ask you…um, my Dad got me a new camera for my birthday and I was wondering…” She stops as if she’s not sure if she still wants to ask her question, she looks over at her Dad who nods slowly, “I was wondering if you would have time to show me how to use it properly. I really like the pictures you take and I’d like to learn how to do it too.”
Ari grins widely “You’re into photography? You never told me that.” Brianna nods and blushes. Ari continues, “Absolutely. I’d love to. I’ll even do one better than that, you’re on winter break right?” Another nod. “I have two photo shoots in the next two weeks and if it’s okay with your Mom and Dad, you can tag along. I can always use an assistant.”
Brianna’s eyes light up and she quickly turns to look at Joey who is smiling as well, he nods. “I don’t see why not, but we’ll have to ask Mom too. And you’re going to have to ask me again in the morning probably…”
Everyone laughs as they start to grab their stuff from the table, they all walk over to where Lance and Michael are standing to give hugs and final congratulations before they all go out to grab cabs back to their places.
As Joey waits for Brianna to get into the back seat of a cab, he turns to JC who is standing next to Ari waiting for the next cab, “Don’t wait.” JC nods at Joey and watches as Joey gets into the cab and shuts the door.
“What was that?” Ari asks JC quietly.JC shakes his head and leans in to kiss her cheek softly. “Nothing. Let’s go,” he says as he pulls the door of the van cab open and motions her to go in first.
***************************
