Two months later, *NSYNC was home in Orlando closing out the No Strings Attached Tour. Instead of meeting after the show, J.C. had everyone come before it started, so they’d have a little more time together.

J.C. spotted Kathleen, Emily and Amanda as soon as they got there.  He walked over to Jake and whispered in his ear.

“Are you ready to meet our mother?”

Jake shook his head no.

“Don’t worry, I’ll lead. Follow me.”

They slowly walked towards her. J.C. gave her a hug. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You, too, Josh. These are your sisters Emily and Amanda.”

“This is your other son, Jake.”

“Hi,” they all stammered.

“Jake, I”

“Emily, Amanda,” J.C. broke in, “Would you like me to introduce you to Chris and Joey?”

Their eyes widened. “Yes, please!”

Both Jake and Kathleen looked at him and mouthed “Thank you” before he took them to meet his friends.

“Jake, as I was trying to say . . .”

“Why did you keep Josh and give me away? How could you do that? If you were going to give him away, too, why didn’t you do it at the same time? What was the point of keeping one adoption open and closing the other one?”

“We’d like to know the answers to those questions, too.” Ron and Liz walked up behind their son.

“I thought I could handle taking care of and keeping in touch with one of you. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that with both. As time went on, it became apparent to me that I couldn’t take care of Josh, either. I tried to keep in touch with him, but it was too painful, just like it was with you.”

“But he said that you did keep in touch.”

“I did, with his parents. Not with him.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I knew I’d put you both in happy homes. I didn’t want to disturb that. The only time I contacted them was when I moved here, five years ago. They would call me with certain milestones and always left the door open for me to visit if I wanted.”

There were tears in Jake’s eyes. “Why couldn’t you do that with me? I needed you when I got sick. Did Josh tell you I had cancer and had to have a bone marrow transplant?”

“No, he didn’t. I’m sorry.”

“You should be. I could have died. Did you ever think of me at all?”

“All the time. Every day. Here are letters I’ve been writing to you everyday for the past 24 years. I know they won’t make up for the time we’ve lost, but it’s all I can give to you right now.”

“Thank you.”

J.C. could tell Jake was upset from where he was standing and even though his parents were with him, J.C. still felt a strong need to protect him.

Since he was being completely ignored by his sisters, who were being thoroughly entertained by Joey and Chris, he walked back over to Jake.

“Are you okay?”

“No. Can we get out of here for a second?”

“Sure. Let’s take a walk around the venue.”

“How do you make it look so easy Josh?”

“It isn’t. When I found out the circumstances of our adoptions, I remember wondering how you felt and that I’d be just as upset as you are if I was in your position.”

“I know it doesn’t feel that way now, but she did what was best for us.”

“Easy for you to say, she kept you.”

“Maybe so, but she also gave me away. I have no memories of my time with her.”

“You don’t?”

“No. She gave me a memory scrapbook but it feels like it’s from someone else’s life.”

“She gave me one of letters she’s written to me. I’d rather have the pictures. Do you want to trade?”

“No. I think she gave us what she thought we needed.”

“How are you so logical about this?”

“I think it comes with being the oldest in my family. Now we hold that title together.”

Jake looked towards their sisters. “I guess we do.”

“Don’t forget about Heather and Tyler. They’re your brother and sister now, too.”

“Do Joey, Chris and Lance count?”

“For better or worse, yeah.”

“But not Justin.”

JC laughed. “Nope. Not Justin. That’s probably a good thing.”

“At least we have each other.”

“No matter what, we’ll always have each other.”