“Excuse me?” Mikayla gasped.  “You’re forcing me to resign because of things you already knew about?  You’ve known for 5 years, Candace…”

“But the rest of the world did not.  They thought the twins were yours and Justin’s.  But now that it’s been exposed that they aren’t, and knowing your personal history with Justin within that time frame…”

“Has nothing to do with my position at the school.”

“He was providing funds for the school, it could look like…”

“Like I slept with him, married him because he was giving the school money?  I hope you know me better than that, Candace.”

“It was a unanimous decision, Mikayla,” Candace said, her voice firm.

“But Josh is on the board that would decide this kind of thing, isn't he?”

“He is, and he voted to remove you.”

Mikayla’s throat went dry, tears welling up in her eyes.  Justin grabbed the phone from her hand, putting it on speakerphone.

“Candace, what’s going on?  Why is my wife speechless right now, and what did JC do that is part of this?”

“As a member of our board, he voted for her removal from her position with the school.”

“Why?”

“I think you know why, Mr. Timberlake. The recent article stating that the twins that attend our school are not yours, but in fact Mr. Chasez's…”

“You’ve known that as long as we have.  Why is he allowed to continue being on the board, but voting the mother of his children out of a position?”

“He agreed to step down as well in all of this, to not bring any shame to the school.”

“All to keep up an image.  The things I could tell you about the families that attend your school, Candace…  What does this mean for the twins?  We’ve already paid tuition for this year.”

“They may continue to attend, but Mikayla and all involved parties will be parents with the school, nothing more official.”

“JC actually agreed to have her removed?  Didn't put up any kind of fight to keep her in?  The two of them have built your schools into what they are, Candace.  I think you’ll find both of them very difficult to replace.”

“Says a man with a best friend and his wife within the school politics.”

“Politics, that’s all this is, Candace.  I’m getting lawyers, trust that.  There’s no way this can be legal, firing her because of her personal life coming to light.  This is information you have had for years…”

“As I told Mikayla, the public now has access to this information.  To have her on our staff with the decisions she’s made…”

“This can’t be legal.  I understand it from a PR standpoint, sure, but I assure you this can’t be legal.”

“Is this what you do, Mr. Timberlake, threaten lawsuits when you don’t get your way?”

“Just when my wife is being forced to leave a job she loves and has done very well, when her personal life has had no bearing on her ability to perform such a job.  Not that I’m proud of it, but I’m sure you know there are things in my past that are probably much worse than this, and yet I’m still a successful man.  I think this is a mistake and your school will suffer to have the same quality once someone else is in place.  Our personal life is just that, personal.  Anyone worth letting that get in the way of supporting your school might not be someone you want to deal with anyway.  We all have skeletons in our closet, but this isn’t what should cause you to do this.”

“The board has spoken, Mr. Timberlake.  The decision is final.”

“Then you’ll be hearing from my lawyers,” Justin said before ending the call.  His eyes were intense, angry at what had just transpired.  Mikayla was still quiet, her mind going a million ways all at once.

“I can’t believe they’re doing this to you…”

“I can’t believe Josh would agree with them,” Mikayla choked on the words.  After everything that had happened recently, she thought he would have tried to reason with them.

Justin still had her phone in his hand, scrolling through her phone.

“Kay?  What is it?” JC asked, clearly having been woken up by the call.

“What the fuck, C?”

“Justin?”

“You asshole.  How could you do this to Kay?”

“Hang on… What are you talking about?”

“Candace just called, told Kay she’s expected to resign, effective immediately.”

“I…”

“It was a unanimous vote, Josh.  You sided with them.  I loved that school, the program you built and I continued.  Without that program, we would never have met, gotten together, had the twins…”

“I tried removing myself first, and they still weren’t satisfied.  It wasn’t my idea, but…”

“You still voted to remove her, C.”

“You understand the PR side of this, T.  It’s a risk to have someone with negative press associated with a company.”

“But when it’s your ex girlfriend, the mother of your kids, and you find out they’re your kids…”

“There’s going to be a lot of talk, questions, assumptions made, especially about Kayla.  This will save her from the negativity being too personal.”

“He’s right,” Mikayla blew out a harsh breath.  “It’s one thing for strangers online to be talking about me, but for families I work for, families our kids interact with…”

“So you’re saying we should pull them out of the school?  This could easily follow us anywhere in LA.  It could follow us anywhere we go.”

“I’ll resign,” Mikayla said firmly.

“Baby, they can’t make you, not over this.  You did NOTHING wrong in any of this.  It’s only because of who I am, who he is.  If we were any other people, this wouldn’t be a big deal.  But because of the celebrity associated, it’s a ‘big deal’.  So much for thinking the worst was behind us on this.  I still think you could have fought more for Kay, C.”

“I tried.  I tried reasoning with them, pointing out what we’ve helped the school achieve.  It wasn’t enough.  They said she’s effectively worked herself out of a job, doing too good of a job.  Everything is top of the line that they won’t need new stuff for at least 5 years, 10 if they take care of it.  They can make it closer to what the other areas have, a senior teacher guiding the others and keeping things uniform across campuses.”

“I’m having Silas early in the school year, I’ll be taking time off anyway for maternity leave.  Maybe I use this time to find something else important to me.  Maybe I can just be a stay at home mom, not like we needed my income.  Josh, are you gonna be…”

“I’ve invested every penny I got from them.  I’ll be fine.  I’m not sure how to take your concern, as if I needed it to be ok financially.”

“You know I didn't mean it that way, but at the same time…”

“You’d be ok with just staying home with the kids? What about Jackie?” Justin asked. 

“We’ll still need her. I want to make sure I have time with the twins even when Silas is little, so they know I don’t love them any less with the new baby around.  She can help with things like feedings, diapers, laundry…”

“Feedings?  Does that mean you aren’t planning on nursing him?” JC wondered.

“If I can, I want to, but combo feeding will help Justin be able to bond with him, and lets the twins feel they can do something.  I doubt they’ll be excited to change diapers, or help with laundry, so feeding him bottles is one of the few things they can do when he’s little.”

“It was nice feeling like I could do everything you were with the twins. When they’d both be hungry we could each take one. With Silas, we can take turns feeding him to have that extra time with him and take some of that from you so you can sleep, shower, whatever,” Justin said.

“I’d be happy to when I can,” JC added.  “Can we discuss this later? You woke me up earlier than I planned and the twins will probably be up soon…”

“Yeah,” Mikayla said lightly.  “Talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you too, both of you.”

Justin looked at Mikayla.  “Really?  You’re ok with all of this, his part in it all?”

“He said he tried to stop it, I believe him.  He even offered to step down, which they accepted, and still went ahead with it.  It’s office politics, a PR move, and I get it.  It was time to move on, they just made it easier.”

Her phone dinged, an email from Candace popping up.  “I get a severance package including 6 months of pay.  Not that we NEED it, but that will help give us money just for Silas.  Put it in an account for him, like we have for the twins.”

“I’ll agree to that. I just know how much the school means to you,” Justin said, pulling her to rest on his chest.

“Our kids mean more to me.  This lets me be more present with them, lets me just be mom instead of everyone being on edge because I’m also with corporate.  If I get a chance to be a better mom, I’ll take it.”

“You’re an INCREDIBLE mom,” Justin said, looking in her eyes.

“I feel like I miss a lot, actually.  I have to stay home sometimes instead of going on quick trips with you.  I’d have meetings and things that meant I came home late…”

“How do we handle your Wednesday nights with JC now though?  The whole excuse was you would be working late…”

“I’ll leave before they come home, so there’s no difference.  Gives me more time with Josh, if his schedule allows.  Let’s worry about this later.”

“You want a shower or bath?” Justin asked. “Your massage isn’t until tomorrow, I’m sorry…”

‘We have that meeting to look at sites and design things today, right?”

“Yeah, at 11.  Take a relaxing shower or bath and I’ll make breakfast.”

“Maybe a shower now, then a bath later, or maybe a swim in the pool?  Would you want to join me for the shower?  Just to shower, though I won’t say no to some reassuring kisses throughout.”

“If that’s what you want, I’m more than happy to oblige.  Then I’ll cook you breakfast and we can eat on the back patio. I’m sure sunrise will be over by then, but who knows.”

They got out of bed, Justin trying to remind himself of what just happened, she wouldn’t need that kind of comfort.  He knew what she needed from him and would give that to her as best he could.

She started the water, brushing her hair to get rid of any tangles before she washed her hair. Justin took the brush from her, starting at the ends, like he’d seen her do a million times with Barb, like she had taught him to do.  He had brushed Barb’s hair plenty of times, but somehow this was the first time in their years together he had done that for Mikayla.  He made a mental note to do so more often.  

 The water was ready, Justin walking her into the glass walled shower stall, making sure she got started first.  He shampooed her hair, massaging her scalp as he worked the shampoo in a lather.  He kissed her as he moved to stand in front of her, letting the water wash the shampoo away.  He did this again with the conditioner before quickly doing his own hair.  She washed her face as he washed his hair, Justin then grabbing her loofah and body wash.  

He stood behind her, running the loofah over her skin, the lather of the body wash bubbling on her skin before being rinsed off by the water. He kissed her shoulders once they were clean, his body wanting more.  His body ached for her as he washed her breasts, moving down to her stomach.  He moved to face her, washing her legs, placing gentle kisses on her upper thigh.  

He slowly stood, facing her, gently kissing her lips, ignoring the stirring between his legs.

“Justin…” Mikayla moaned softly, wrapping her hand around his stiffness, causing Justin to jump at the touch.

“You’re sure you want this, with what just happened?  You said just a shower.”

“I need something tender, slow, reassuring.”

“You’re sure?” he asked in confirmation.  

She nodded against his chest. “Slowly, against the wall.”

He moved her against the side wall, one of her legs wrapping around his waist.  “What about foreplay, are you ready?”

“You washing me was all the foreplay I needed.  Please, Justin, make love to me.”

He kissed her, rolling his hips to enter her.  He groaned in her mouth.  They had done this several times the night before, though nothing compared to what he planned on now.  She was right, he was slow when she needed it, and passionate and wild when she needed it.  Right now she needed his comforting touch, a deeper connection between them than just sex.  It was a reassurance that things would be ok.

She raised her other leg, Justin hitting deeper within her.  His pace was slow and even, his kisses lingering on her lips, his tongue slowly massaging hers.  Justin didn't know if it was only a few minutes or half an hour, being in the moment of enjoying Mikayla and what they needed from each other.  

“I’m so close,” Mikayla gasped into his ear.

“Let go for me baby.  All of your stress, just let it go…”

A few more strokes and they found that peak, his lips pressing firmly against her as he released.  She wrapped her arms around him, holding him in place.  She needed his touch for a while longer before finally letting go of him.

“I’ll dry my hair and get dressed while you finish showering and get started on breakfast.”

“That helped, what just happened?”

“Justin, are you really doubting I needed my husband right now?  Let’s just say if I were with Josh right now, that would not have happened.  I love you, and we’ll get through this together.  Like we always do.”

He smiled, kissing her one more time before she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her.  He finished showering, grabbing his boxer briefs and a pair of joggers before heading down to the kitchen.

Mikayla finished her skincare routine and dried her hair, thinking about the phone calls she’d already had today, shifting her focus to the rest of the day.  She’d be meeting with people to begin designing a house with Justin.  She had been in awe of the places he’d chosen on his own, but to be part of building something from the ground up, to be part of it from the beginning, it felt like heaven.  

She easily could have dwelt on the negative from earlier, but was choosing the positive, wanting to enjoy her time with Justin and really relax and get away from things, the way the trip was meant to be.