Preparing for the in-laws was less stressful than it seemed.  As soon as Karen and Roy touched down in Orlando, Karen took it upon herself to take over the kitchen and that was perfectly fine with Mollie.  Her feet were still swollen from the night before and she could use some time to put them up…which is exactly what Karen ordered her to do when she saw her feet.  Propped on the sofa with her feet up on some pillows, Mollie offered help in any way she could but Karen wouldn’t hear of it.  The next day was more of the same and when Johanna showed up in brand new heels and a scarf covered neck, Mollie knew something was up.

“Who gave you those?” Mollie asked, pointing to the shoes.

“Justin.” 

“Gave you those.  $600 shoes?”

“He wanted to thank me for helping him out this year as he started his solo project,” Johanna said cavalierly.  “I’m going to London in a few days to celebrate New Years with him.” 

“And the scarf?  Johanna have you being carrying on an illicit affair with Justin Timberlake?”

“You’re such a virgin.  I haven’t been carrying on an affair…I’ve just been having sex with him occasionally…frequently…” 

“Oh my God!”

“Keep it down please,” Johanna said, making sure no one heard.  “We’re not telling anyone because it’s not a big deal.  We’re just having fun.” 

“And how much do you love him?”

“I don’t…there’s no love involved.” 

“There is.  Otherwise he wouldn’t be giving you $600 shoes and flying you out to London and you wouldn’t be blushing like a little girl when I mention his name.”

“Maybe I’m blushing thinking of all the hot sex I’m having.  I don’t want anything complicated and neither does he.  We both want to have fun and its working.”

Mollie raised an eyebrow at her friend.  She knew this was all headed for disaster and if she knew Johanna at all, then Johanna knew it too.  It confused Mollie why she would want to risk the heartache if she didn’t care at all. 

The rest of the holidays were uneventful, they spent a quiet New Years at home.  JC went on quick trips for promotional things and to film his video but was always back as soon as possible.  They invited their friends over for a Super Bowl party since Justin would be appearing on the half time show and it was hard for Mollie to get out now a days since she was getting so big.  They had been talking and socializing throughout the game but everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the television when the clock signaled that it was half time.  They jammed along, bobbing their head to the songs and different artists.  When Janet Jackson hit the stage, they knew it was almost time for Justin.

When he came out everyone cheered and danced along to the music but as soon as the last note hit, the room fell silent.  As artist themselves, JC, Lance and Chris knew what this meant for Justin.  There would be immediate backlash and they too would get some unwanted attention and questions.  The three of them agreed not to make any comment without talking to Justin first.  The excitement was all too much for Mollie, who excused herself to bed.  She was upset enough worrying about Justin but her back was killing her as well.  With a kiss on the cheek, she said goodnight to JC and headed to bed.  When she crawled in, she shot a text to Johanna and waited.  When her phone rang, she knew who it was.

“Molls, I don’t know what to do.  Justin won’t speak to anyone and Janet’s people aren’t answering their phones.  Johnny has been blowing up my phone but I’m afraid of what he’s going to say.  I don’t know what to tell him except Justin didn’t want to do the bra thing in the first place…” 

“Jo…Johanna,” Mollie said, trying to get her friend to calm down.  “First off, let Justin mope.  He’s freaking out just like you right now only worse because it’s his career on the line.  Second, if Janet’s people aren’t talking to you guys, it’s probably because they knew it would happen and want to see how he’s going to handle it with the press.  And third, you tell Johnny exactly what you know.  Justin didn’t want to do it, he felt backed into a corner by one of his idols and he’s upset about what happened.  You defend Justin.  He’s your friend and you are the closest person to him and his career decisions as his assistant.”

“And if he won’t listen?” 

“Hang up.  You’ll probably be on a plane out of Texas before he can get himself there to yell at you in person.”

“Thanks Molls.” 

“Anytime kid.”

Mollie hung up and had her own worries.  Justin’s album had done better than JC’s out of the gate.  Now Justin had screwed up first and in a big way and Mollie wondered what that would do to JC.  Since they were long term friends from the same group, the backlash might fall to him as well; especially since his latest single was all about sex.  There was a lot that kept her tossing and turning that night.  The morning was a new day and they would figure it all out as it came at them.

And it came at them quick.  The phone rang at 7 am and though JC assured her she could go back to sleep, she had a bad feeling about the call.  Sure enough, when he came back to bed, there was bad news from the organizers of the Pro Bowl.  They wanted him to change the song from his new single to “Blowin’ Me Up” and they also wanted him to change or leave out two words they felt were too explicit for the game.

“I can’t blame them, I know they’re under pressure after last night so I said I would do it,” JC stated as he slipped under the covers.

“Alright, you’ll deal.  It’s not as bad as I thought.”

They spoke too soon.  Two days later when JC’s bags were already packed and his flight was scheduled to leave later that day, they received another call from the NFL. 

“With all due respect, I agreed to change my art to fit your standards and now you’re assuming without seeing even one rehearsal that the performance will be too sexually charged.  So I’ll have to decline your offer.”

He listened for a moment more before shutting his phone and kicking his suitcase.  It was frustrating to be judged due to someone else’s mistakes.

“They don’t want me to do halftime but they offered me the anthem.  I told them to shove it because it’s bullshit to say it’s going to be an inappropriate performance when you haven’t even seen me rehearse.  I just can’t believe I gave up the Grammy’s for this.” 

“So go to the Grammy’s.  Even if you can’t go to the show you can be out there, promoting yourself and going to the parties.”

“No, maybe this is a sign that I should just give it a rest.” 

“Nope.  Go.  You’re already packed and your flight lands in LA, just skip the connection.”

“I don’t want to go if you’re not there.  This was supposed to be my last trip until the babies come, I don’t mind cutting it a little short,” he insisted. 

“Don’t cut it short for me.  You’ll fly out, stay for a few days and come home after the show.  Besides, it might be nice for Justin to have a friend by his side.  If they see you’re supporting each other, this whole thing might blow over quick.”

“Why am I always getting him out of trouble?” 

“Because you’re practicing to be a dad,” Mollie said with a smile.  “Now calm down, your car will be here in a little bit.”

JC went everywhere he could during Grammy weekend.  He shook hands, posed for photos and talked about his album to anyone that would listen.  Most of all, he just missed Mollie.  If this incident had taught him anything it was that fame really was fleeting and he didn’t want to waste anymore time away from her.  He would make his life decisions around her and the kids.  He hung out with Justin and they walked the red carpet near each other, they were seated together as well.  He celebrated with his friend as he won and smiled at the cameras though inside he was angry.  Justin was and always would be the golden boy.  He could never really do wrong, he’d still win the awards and have the number one songs.  JC had him beat though.  Justin didn’t have everything he’d ever wanted waiting for him at home.  JC skipped the after parties, wanting instead to head back home. He booked a red eye.

When he got home, he’d been expecting to find his fiancé sleeping peacefully in bed.  Instead he found her sitting up, moaning in pain.

“Hey babe, I didn’t know you were coming home so early,” she said, smiling weakly, trying to play off her pain.

“I took the red eye.  What’s wrong?” 

“Oh nothing, I’ve just been having these shooting pains every now and then.  Aghhhhh!”  Her scream was horrible to hear.

“You mean contractions?  Mollie it’s too early for that.  We’re only at 5 months.” 

“5 and a half,” she groaned.

“I’m grabbing your shoes, we’re going to the hospital.” 

“I’m sure it’s nothing.”

JC wasn’t listening after that.  He found her sneakers and tied them on her feet for her.  He held her hands, pulling her up off the bed and slipped a sweater on her arms.  They took the stairs slowly and JC drove fast to the hospital.  When they got there, they were ushered right into a bed in the emergency room.  The hospital was prepared for them, they’d met with the team there when they’d found out about the quintuplets.  They knew the situation and began asking her questions to assess the problem at hand.

“How long have you been feeling these pains?”

“Since yesterday morning,” Mollie admitted. JC glared at her. 

“And have you timed them?  Are they close together?”

“Umm, maybe 8 to 10 minutes.” 

“Okay, not bad.  If you had waited longer, we might not have been able to stop them.  Now you’re about 22 weeks right now and that’s way too early. We want you to hold on as long as you can so we’re going to get you some medication to stop these contractions and get you up to a private room.”

Mollie was quickly hooked up to an IV and her doctor was called.  They were moved up to the maternity floor and put in a private room.  The sun was coming up but Mollie was exhausted.  She’d been up half the night and once the medicine kicked in, she fell asleep.  JC was shot.  He’d been up over 24 hours.  He pushed back in the reclining chair and nodded off.  When he woke a few hours later, Mollie was talking to her doctor.

“Stress plays a large role in how long this pregnancy lasts.  We need you on complete bed rest if I send you home.  We also need to up your diet.  You’re smaller than I’d like for 22 weeks.  The best course of action is definitely to keep you here.  You’re to eat at least 4500 calories.  It will be difficult but we want healthy babies and we have to make sure they are strong.  In about two weeks or so we’ll want you to check in for monitored bedrest and then you’ll be here until the babies come.  But if anything happens before then, like contractions, come in immediately.”

Mollie nodded along and sighed when the doctor left.  She looked over to JC.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you called.  I just didn’t want to ruin the night for you.”

“A night I didn’t want to go to??  Never think that this is a burden or bother to me.  You’re my number one baby.  I need you and these babies healthy, everything else is just background noise.” 

“I know.”

“Now, what do you want to eat when we get out of here?  You can have everything you want,” he said.  He smiled devilishly. 

“You’re not going to be a fun nurse are you?”

“Nope.  You’re following the rules and I’ll make sure of it.”