Mikayla walked into the bedroom, beginning to get ready for bed.  JC stood behind her, clearing his throat.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

She felt her body respond to his low voice, recognizing the tone behind it.  “Getting ready for bed…”

“I think we can help with that,” JC breathed into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.  He walked over to his suitcase, pulling something out of a pocket.

He put a blindfold over her eyes.  “Relax, mama.  It’s bound to be a long night…”

JC looked at Justin, who was curious but also not about to argue.  The fact he wasn’t being sent out meant he’d have some part in whatever was about to happen.  JC motioned for Justin to come closer, Justin pulling her into his arms.

“KIss me, Josh,” Mikayla breathed.

Justin kissed her deeply, Mikayla’s eyebrows raising at recognizing his taste on her tongue.  She wasn’t sure what was going on, but was glad to be receiving his affection.  

She felt hands pulling at her shirt, JC pulling the shirt off between her and Justin.  She knew now that JC was behind her, that Justin was removing her shorts.  Her breathing became unsteady, curious what would happen next, loving that she had no clue who would be doing what to her.

She felt hands unclasping her bra, lips kissing along her shoulder and the nape of her neck.  She was gently led onto the bed, the room silent for a moment.  She felt movement on both sides of her, followed by one mouth on each of her breasts. 

She groaned at the sensation, trying to keep quiet and not wake the twins or alert Jackie to what they were doing.  It felt so good, she no longer cared who was where.  Hands pulled at her panties, tugging them down her legs before she kicked them off. 

One hand stroked her cluster, one on the opposite side pressing into her heat. Both men groaned quietly, Mikayla unable to distinguish the two.  She moved her hands, trying to reach for the men pleasuring her, but to no avail. 

“If this bed allowed for it, I’d handcuff you to it,” JC growled. 

“I want to touch you,” she panted. 

“Relax, baby,” Justin said.  “Let us do this.”

Her hands gripped the sheets, focusing on everything she was feeling. She felt one mouth leave her breast, kissing down her side before making contact between her legs. She bit her lip to keep from making too much noise. It felt so fantastic, and it didn’t matter which of them it was.

“Please, let me touch you,” she pleaded, hearing the rustling of clothes off their bodies, their mouths never leaving her. The bed shifted slightly, and she felt their legs before taking them into her hands. 

Groans pulled from their throats as she stroked them, curious who would be inside her, but also not caring. She needed that release, desperately chasing it. She felt it coming, swirling in her gut, barreling through her as she sped up her strokes along them.  The mouth between her legs hummed in satisfaction at her response before leaving her completely.  The one on her chest also pulled away, her body feeling cold without them on her.

Then she felt it, being filled so fully as one of them pressed into her, their pace relentless in chasing their release within her.  She felt her mouth ease open, the rigid flesh pressing past her lips.  She sucked on him hungrily, wanting to give what she had received.  A string of obscenities came from their mouths, so close to their release.  They reached that pinnacle, feeling the pulsing between her legs moments before the one in her mouth.

Their breathing slowly returned to normal, the blindfold being pulled off her eyes.  Justin appeared into her vision above her, JC still near the foot of the bed.  “That was not how I expected tonight to go,” Mikayla panted.  

“Is that good or bad?” Justin chuckled.

“It was hot.  I kinda figured it would be like my birthday, taking turns or whatever.  It kinda was, but also different.  I figured it would be a little more… aggressive?  A battle for dominance rather than a collaborative effort.”

“I just followed his lead,” Justin said.  “I think we’d rather do this together or by ourselves, not have the other watch to prove a point.  Could you tell who was where?”

“Sometimes.  I also know I didn’t care, just enjoying the moment and whatever was going to happen.”

“I’m gonna shower before bed,” JC said, pulling his boxers back on.  “I’ll give you two time to do that together, have a bit more time together before you turn in for the night.”

“I don’t know that I can take more, but a shower does sound nice right now.”

“I’ll take good care of you, baby,” Justin said, kissing her shoulder.

“You always do,” she smiled.

…

“What are we doing today, Daddy?” Joshy asked Justin.

“Well, since it’s our last day before we fly out to Tennessee, I thought you could spend the day with your dad and Mommy and his family.  Whatever,” Justin shrugged. 

“What will you do?” Mikayla asked. 

“I need a little break, work on my album or something.  I need some time to think. Four nonstop days at Disney was a lot.”

“But we get to keep going with the twins?” Mikayla chuckled. 

“I just… want you to feel like you have some family time.  We’ll stay there at the house again before our flights out in the morning.  I’ll be with Mikayla for almost two weeks, you’ll have the twins by yourself for a bit…”

“Why are we staying alone with Daddy?” Barb asked.

“Mommy and I are gonna take our own little vacation.  It’ll just be a few days.  We’re checking out something Uncle Trace told us about.  I think you’ll like it, but we want to go look first.  We’ll take you and Joshy another time, once we know all the fun stuff we can do there.  If you need us, Daddy can call us, we can FaceTime, and Jackie will be around…”

“Ok,” Barb sighed.  “It’ll be fun just having Daddy to ourselves.  Can we go to a park or something?”

“We could also be at your house, swim in the pool, or go to the beach house,” JC suggested.

“Whatever you guys wanna do is fine,” Justin agreed. 

“We’ll play it by ear, but does that sound ok?” JC asked Barb. 

“Yeah, Daddy.  I like spending time with you.”

“Think of it as practice for when Silas comes. You’ll be with me while Mommy is in the hospital. Hopefully she’ll only be there for a day or two.  I’ll bring you to meet Silas…”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Jackie asked. “You taking ‘Justin’s kids’ to the hospital?  I’ll pick them up from wherever and bring them to meet Silas. Or you just wait until he comes home from the hospital.”

Justin looked at JC.  “She has a point. Once word gets out, people will be all over us for that first glimpse of him.  Seeing you in and out is going to raise eyebrows.”

JC’s face sank a little, Mikayla noticing. “Maybe you can visit through some secret entrance or something.  I doubt we’ll go in through the front doors…”

“We’ll let you know how to get in, it’s been a while that I don’t remember,” Justin conceded. “Any idea what you’ll do with the kids?”

“I’m thinking just a regular park. They have a splash pad, so they can wear their swimsuits and play on the playground while they dry off. Lots of shade for Kayla.”

“Sounds like someone did their homework,” Mikayla smiled. 

“Tyler gave me a couple good ones to go to. It’s by a lake, so there’s a nice view for a picnic lunch…”

“Sounds like a nice day,” she continued. “We’ll finish breakfast and get ready for the day.”

Mikayla packed snacks and drinks for the twins, making sure they had their bathing suits on under their clothes.  They hugged and kissed Roy, Karen, and Justin before they left, Jackie free to explore as she desired. 

They stopped at a local deli, getting sandwiches and chips to have for lunch.  JC was thankful they hadn’t caught anyone’s attention, not even at Disney, hoping to make it back in LA without anyone knowing he was gone. 

JC pulled up to the entrance to the park. Mikayla smiled at the name on the sign. “Dr. Phillips was super important around here, huh? You and Joey went to a high school named after him, this park…”

“You and Uncle Joey went to school together?” Joshy asked. 

“Kinda, yeah.  I technically still went to school in Maryland, where I was born, but a lot of my friends from the TV show went there. I was a grade area of Joey, but I knew him from stuff through the school, he was friends with my friends from the show, and he was a regular in the audience.  So I knew who he was when we ran into him at a young adult club with your dad.”

They got out of the car, the kids making a beeline for the playground, Barb excited to jump on the swings. 

“She’s got your sense of adventure.  Your fearlessness on those flying rigs.”

“I don’t know about fearless…”

“You’d hang upside down or hold on with one hand,” she reminded him. 

“I trusted our crew. I mean, it was fun, I’ll say that.”

Joshy found a little climbing wall before going onto a cargo net type climber on the end of the larger playground. JC and Mikayla sat on a bench in some shade nearby, JC putting his arm around her without being overly affectionate.  She sat next to him, not leaning into his body the way she would if it had been Justin. She loved JC, but she knew she had to not show too much out in public. 

They walked to a spot near the lake for lunch, sitting in the shade of a tree.  It was an idyllic setting, feeling like something they might do on a regular basis if she and JC had never split up.  Her eyes glanced at JC, seeing him look at her with the same expression on his face. Her smile widened, quite sure he was thinking the same “what if” of still being together. 

After lunch the kids ran towards the splash pad, pulling their clothes off to play in the water features. Barb squealed as water sprayed on her, the cool water feeling nice against the warmth of the summer heat.  

They watched the kids from a nearby bench, sitting close to each other. JC looked at Mikayla. “What were you thinking about earlier?”

“How we’d maybe do park days like this if things hadn’t…” 

“Daddy!” Barb yelled, running up to JC.  Their eyes went wide, hoping no one noticed.  “Daddy, this is so much fun! Thank you thank you thank you!!”  She flung her arms around JC in a tight hug, getting him wet from her soaked bathing suit.

“I’d say this was a hit,” Mikayla said softly. “Though I admit I’m nervous now.”

JC straightened up a bit, moving away from Mikayla. “Yeah.  It felt good though, hearing her call me that. I’m nervous now, too…”

“Should we leave?” Mikayla wondered, asking her question while looking ahead, not at him.

“Not yet. Let them play a bit, dry off. If we rush off, it might make more red flags pop up.”

“You’re right. It’s like with Justin though, early on. Not wanting to be seen out and about together.  Especially once we got engaged, then started showing…”

“You really didn’t want to be seen?” JC asked. 

“Things with us ended so abruptly, Josh.  I didn’t even know I was pregnant until it was over.  I was afraid of what people would think, what they’d say.  I stayed off social media for a while, trying to stay away from any negativity.  Justin kept a lot of it away from me.  I also knew it would hurt you.”

“Yeah, finding out you were engaged from paparazzi surrounding my house and harassing me as I went for a run, that was fun.”

“I’m sorry, Josh. I didn’t think I had any other options.  I was pregnant, we’d just broken up. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted you, but it was clear you wanted nothing to do with me…”

“I wanted you back, even if I said and did otherwise.”

“If you had reached out, answered my calls or texts…”

“I was too proud.  I was upset about what I thought happened.  You hurt me after our goodbye session at the office.  You left me literally with my pants around my ankles, saying goodbye instead of getting back together, then being in nothing but a towel at Justin’s…”

“I’d taken a shower. He was dressed, so how could you think…?”

“Seeing you like that, like you weren’t thinking I could be at the door…”

“I thought you were in Florida.  You came to church that night, you KNEW that she had passed, yet you did nothing to try and reach out.  I’m sorry I hurt you, but you knew how much worse her dying hurt me. To do nothing, and then blame me…”

“Enough. What’s done is done. We can do this back and forth the rest of our lives, or we can move forward.”

“I didn't want to hurt you, Josh.  Not with any of this.”

“I know,” he sighed, looking into her eyes.  “That’s why I kick myself wishing that I hadn’t been so stupid back then.  I wanted you back for so long, and did nothing about it, not realizing just how much I would gain from putting my pride aside.  It doesn’t matter anymore, we’ve fixed all of that and can move on.”

“You’re right.”  She looked at the twins, now opn the playground.  “Looks like they’re winding down.  They knew to go to the playground when they were done in the water area.  What are we doing after this?”

“You’ll see,” JC said with a soft smile.

“You two and your secrets… I hate it.”

“You love it.  It’s fun trying to outsmart you.  Shows just how smart you are, which is ridiculously hot.”

“Not here,” she warned quietly.  

They watched the twins play as they dried off, the heat of summer making it a relatively quick process.  They went over to Mikayla when they were ready to go, Mikayla sure that they would likely need a nap, however brief, or go to bed early depending on what JC had planned.  They got back in the car, JC taking them back to his parents’ house. Or so she thought.  He turned down another street, throwing Mikayla off course.  Soon things began to look familiar, but she couldn’t place why.  Then she saw it.  It looked different, but the neighborhood around it was the same.

“Where are we?” Barb asked.

“This is where I used to live,” JC said softly.  “I brought your mom here a few times over the years, especially for Christmas to be with my family.”

“Grandma and Grandpa lived here?  Why did they move?” Joshy wondered.

“No, I lived here, by myself.  Well…” he started, choosing not to pull at that thread. It was better if the twins thought Mikayla was the only woman he’d been in love with, at least until they were old enough to really understand.  “I sold it while Mommy and I were mad at each other.  It got lonely being here by myself, I could stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s to really be with family.”

“Can we go inside?” Barb asked.

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” Mikayla replied.

“We can ask,” JC answered.  “It doesn’t hurt to try.”  He parked the car, getting out of the car and walking towards the front door.  Mikayla wasn’t sure she wanted to go in, seeing the house the way it was now, erasing her memories of the house as it had been.  The ivy that had covered the house was gone.  It now looked so bland from the outside, just like every other house around it. She’d liked that it both stood out and blended into the landscape.  The twins got out of the car, excited to hopefully see inside.

JC knocked on the front door, a woman opening the door.  “Hello. You look familiar…” she said, her face scrunched in trying to place how sh3e knew him.

“I used to own this house.  I was in the area…”

The woman looked at Mikayla.  “You’re Mrs. Timberlake, Justin’s wife!”

Mikayla’s cheeks turned red.  “Guilty as charged.  JC wanted to show the kids the house.  We’re on vacation with Justin, he’s back at the house we’re staying at.”

“Come in, come in…” the woman said, opening the door wider.  “Just be careful of things on counters and such.”

JC looked around.  He reminded himself it wasn’t his house anymore, they could do what they wanted with it.  It had been bittersweet when he sold the house, now making him sad that they couldn't have stayed here, made this a vacation home for Mikayla and the twins if they’d stayed together.

“Daddy, what’s your favorite place here?” Joshy asked.  The woman looked confused.

“Um, well…” JC said, hoping the woman hadn’t noticed what Joshy called him.  “I guess it would be the backyard.”

They were led to the back. It was somewhat different but mostly the same.  The hot tub and pool, the grass, and the pier leading out onto the lake.  Barb walked towards the pier, Mikayla smiling as she looked around.  Her mind raced back to their first trip together.  She remembered the different places they’d had sex, how incredible it all was.  She felt a warmth between her legs, along with JC’s hand on the small of her back.

“Lots of memories here,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” Mikayla sighed in response.  “I’ll never forget that first trip.  Decorating it for Christmas, spending a lot of time out here…”

“I wish we’d had more trips out here, then and now.”

“We still can.  Just not here.”  She looked around once more. “Alright kids, I think it’s time we go.  You got to see the house, now we need to get back.  I think I know two four year olds in need of a nap…”

The twins whined at the mention of a nap, only confirming how much they needed one.  They thanked the woman for letting them come in, and got back into the car.  Mikayla was glad as they headed back to Roy and Karen’s, seeing Justin for the first time since they left that morning. It was sully, she hadn’t thought much about him during the day, but the closer they got to the house, she wondered more and more about what he’d done, how he’d felt about not being with them for the day.

The twins took a short nap, around 45 minutes, long enough for the adults to get settled back in and have Tyler, Sarah, and Eliana be in the family room when the twins awoke.  They did one final movie night, with pizza and all kinds of snacks, Mikayla snuggling up to Justin, while giving glances to JC every few minutes. She smiled that every time she looked at him, he was looking right back. She wondered if he ever stopped looking at her, but figured she knew the answer to that.

…

“Do we have to go?” Barb whined the next morning.

“You get to see Nana Lynn,” Mikayla smiled.  “It’s been a while since you saw her and PopPop.  Nana is super excited to see you.  She wants to do a girl’s day with tea and get our nails done, I think Aunt Samantha and Sophia might join us.  Uncle Trace will go with Daddy and Joshy to do some stuff, then we’ll see Uncle Chris and Grandma and Grandpa Timberlake, and Uncle Jonathan and Stephen.  It’s gonna be fun.”

“Do I get to wear a pretty dress for tea?” Barb asked.

“Nana sent me a picture of the dress,” Justin smiled.  “You’re gonna look beautiful, like a princess…”

“Let’s go!” Barb cheered enthusiastically.

“We’ll go soon enough.  Daddy JC has a flight in a bit, so we’ll all go to the airport together.”

“I wish you could come with us, Daddy,” Joshy said.

“Me too, buddy.  You’ll see me soon enough, then we get time just the three of us.  You got to see my side of the family, and we’ll be together at Christmas.  Now you see your dad’s side.”

“But you’re my dad…” Joshy sighed.

“I know, bud.  But you’ve known them since you were babies.  They’re still family and love you very much.  We all do.”

They finished packing and got in the car, heading towards the airport.  JC and Jackie were on the same flight to LA, not sitting together to draw any attention in case anyone recognized him.  Jackie was grateful to be in first class without Justin being around, often flying coach when she would go home to Florida.  She was glad to be with them for their trip, feeling more like a Timberlake than her own family.  It would be quiet without them, but she still needed to finish unpacking her apartment, and maybe she’d meet someone with all her free time.  Mikayla meant well, but she wasn’t sure she’d be interested in the guy Mikayla was trying to set her up with.

They said their goodbyes at the airport, JC and Jackie heading towards their gate while the rest headed towards their part of the airport.  Mikayla watched JC walk away, feeling like part of her heart was leaving.

“You’ll see him soon,” Justin said quietly, taking her hand in his.  “You can text, FaceTime, get a week or two with him once we get back.  I’ll feel the same way though when I leave you with him.  It’s tricky, but we’re gonna make it work.”

Mikayla smiled at him.  “Thank you.”

…

They settled into the house, Justin making sure things were ready for their arrival.  JC may have sold his house in Florida, as he had done years earlier, but he knew he still needed his own space in Tennessee.  They’d be around his mom, but to have their own space was helpful.

Mikayla’s phone buzzed.  “Hey Josh,” she said as she answered the call.

“Ummm, we need to lay low for a bit.  Eric found something pop up online overnight.  Our secret is out…”