“Daddy, where is Mommy going?” Joshy asked Justin.

“She’s gonna go see Aunt Erin,” Justin lied.

“We wanna go!” Barb cheered.  “We haven’t seen her in a bit.”

“It’s a girl’s night, sweetheart,” Justin continued.

“So I can come?!” Barb asked excitedly.

“No, for big girls.”

“You call me your big girl all the time…”

“For grownups,” Justin sighed, tired of having to upset Barb.

“Next time, sweetheart.  Avery misses you, we’ll do something soon, ok?” Mikayla said, crouching down to be eye level with her daughter.  “Be good for Daddy, ok?”

Barb nodded, going back to playing with her toys after getting a goodbye hug and kiss. Joshy galloped over for his goodbye before Justin walked Mikayla to her car.

“I’ll see you in the morning when I bring the kids over.  10:00 won’t be too early, will it?”

“I hope not.  Think they’ll wonder why I’m there?” Mikayla asked.

“Just tell them the truth, it’s his birthday and you wanted to have breakfasttogether as a family.  Conveniently leave out the part of spending the night with him instead of Erin.”

“I don’t understand you, Justin.  The last 2 weeks you’ve felt uncomfortable with me wanting to be with him, then you send me off to literally just have sex with him.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either.  I just want you to be happy.  If this… arrangement… makes you happy, then I’ll do whatever I can to make it work, as much as I don’t like it.”

“We’ll talk about this more in depth with Tessa on Tuesday.”

“See you in the morning.  I love you,” he said, his voice almost pleading her not to go.

“I love you, too.  If you don’t want me to go, I understand.”

“I don’t, but I also can’t take back what I said.  I’d want him to be as considerate if it were the other way around.”

“You’re my husband, pretty sure you’re guaranteed birthday sex…”

“Not how I meant that I guess, but yeah.  Give it to him good,” he smiled awkwardly.

“Weird sentiment for a husband to give his wife regarding someone else, but ok.”  She got in her car, rolling down the window to give Justin one last kiss.

He watched her drive away, knowing he would see her in the morning, her things would still be in the house, but it also killed him that she wouldn’t be there when he fell asleep or woke up the next morning.

…

“Is it awkward that you’re here, or is it just me?” JC asked as Mikayla walked into the house. “Don’t get me wrong, but…”

“I know.  He said he hoped that if the tables were turned, you’d give him the same consideration.”

“Ok.  I mean…”

“Don’t think too hard on it.  We’ll discuss it on Tuesday.  I grabbed stuff for dinner on my way over.”

“Brought an overnight bag?” he asked, seeing her duffle.

“Told the twins I was doing a girl’s night with Erin.  Figured I might as well actually pack a couple things.  Consider it your first birthday present from me.  I'll get dinner started, then change before we eat.”

“Do I need to get dressed up to match?”

“No, you’re the birthday boy.  Let you have all the fun of unwrapping your present without having to get all dressed up yourself.  I’m not getting THAT dressed up, I’m pregnant and not leaving the house…”

“You are coming to the party tomorrow though, right?”

“For better or worse, yeah.  I worry someone will make a big deal out of things because I’m there with Justin.  Maybe I just hang back with Autumn or something, let you boys do your thing and I’ll blend into the background.”

“You’ll never be in the background to me, Kay.  I’ll be able to spot you no matter where you are, that shining light in every room you enter.”

“Keep that talk for later, I gotta go cook.”

He gave her a kiss before Mikayla walked into his kitchen and started dinner.  “I know better than to ask if I can help, between my limited skills and it being almost my birthday.”

“Good boy.  Go watch a movie, work in your studio, something.  I’ll find you when dinner is ready and I’m changed.”

JC headed off to the living room, Mikayla hearing the TV turn on.  Mikayla started on dinner, glad that though he can’t cook, he had a full setup for her to use when she was over.  She worked for the next 45 minutes getting everything ready.

She went into the bedroom and started getting ready, making sure to be quick with her change so the food was still hot.  After adding a light makeup look, she was ready in less than 10 minutes.

She walked into the living room, smiling at JC sitting on the couch.  “Dinner is ready.”

JC looked up at Mikayla, his eyes widening at the sight of her. She wore an emerald green wrap dress, showing off a little leg while also showcasing her breasts.  His mouth was watering from the smell of dinner, and he was feeling a stronger hunger for Mikayla.

They sat down to the table, JC seeing an incredible vision before him on their plates.  “What did you make?  It smells amazing. Is that... salmon?  You hate fish…”

“I’ve learned to like certain ones.  It’s a garlic butter creamed spinach salmon, with risotto and roasted broccoli and green beans.  Healthy but also full of flavor, just like you.”

“You spoil me,” he smiled, seeing a glass of white wine beside his water glass.  “Got out the good plates, I see…”

“It’s your birthday, gotta make a big fuss.”

“You really don’t.  Not like I’m your husband.”

“You’re the father of my children, that’s important enough.  Plus you weren't in here to tell me no when I put everything together,” she grinned.

She eagerly waited for him to take his first bite, watching as he chewed, analyzing the flavors. His eyebrows raised, a soft smile spread across his lips, and he gently nodded his head. “This is great, Kay.  Thank you.  When did you start liking fish?”

“Justin,” Mikayla answered quietly. “It was a process, let me say that.  Once I found stuff I liked, I started playing around with flavors and things. This was a recipe I found for chicken, but I thought I’d show you I’ve grown a bit over the years. Still don’t like sushi, so there’s that…”

“Never change, Kay. I love you as you are.”

“Everyone changes, Josh. Nothing can stay the same forever.”

“Yeah.  I tried too hard to keep things the same, and I lost you.”

“Josh…”

“If we were engaged or married, maybe things would be different. Maybe I would’ve had the strength to say no and mean it with Jo.  I let things go farther than I should have, and I lost everything.  You should be my wife, with our amazing kids.”

“Would you want more, kids I mean?” Mikayla asked. 

“I dunno. I suddenly have two, but I missed you being pregnant. Now you’re pregnant, but it’s not mine.”

“That’s how Justin felt, so you know. It’s been hard, but we’ve made it work so far. I worry at some point it’ll be too much, though. He’s not happy with how things are. I’m sure neither of you are.”

“We’d rather have you in our lives than be without you, Kay.  I spent long enough learning that lesson the hard way.  As much as I want you to myself, I respect your decision not to leave him, the life you built together. You had no promise that things would get better between us, you did what you had to do.  I don’t fault you for that.  I can’t begin to imagine how you must have felt.”

“Let’s not do this now.  We’re celebrating your birthday.  Let’s look forward, not back.”

They ate dinner, talking about the trips to Tennessee and Montana, Mikayla telling him about the house. 

“It sounds incredible,” JC sighed. 

“You can join us for Christmas and such.”

“Thank you. We’ll see how this year goes first.”

“It’s my favorite place during my favorite season.”

“I thought the beach was your favorite place.”

“It’s one of YOUR favorite places. I like the beach, but it has nothing on Yosemite, especially in winter.”

“I’m glad I’ll get to see it with you, then,” JC smiled. 

They finished dinner, Mikayla doing the dishes after a minor argument with JC, insisting he not do anything since it’s his birthday. She refused to accept the pregnancy excuse.  “I’m using my hands to wash the dishes, it’s not like it’s dangerous,” she had said.

“Do I get dessert now?” JC smiled.

“I suppose that depends on what you had in mind,” she replied with a smirk.

“Cake? Tiramisu? I don’t know. It’s dessert, how specific do you want me to be?”

“Something sweet, or something spicy?” she asked, beginning to untie the wrap of her dress.

“Oh, well, I’ll take spicy then,” he smiled, hoping she’d continue.

“Not in your dining room, Josh.  Maybe the couch…”

“Bedroom, now,” JC practically begged, like a child wanting to play with a brand new toy.

“Birthday boy gets what he wants,” she smiled as she began walking down the hall.

She pulled him into the bedroom, pulling his clothes off before reaching the bed.  She kissed him, her tongue pressing past his lips, her arms wrapping around his neck.  One hand slowly trailed down his body as they kissed, eventually cupping his swollen manhood, squeezing it suggestively.

“Fuck,” he groaned.  “My present is still wrapped, I think I need to change that…”

His hands playfully squeezed her breasts before tugging the tie of her dress to open the dress, JC pulling the fabric back as if he were unwrapping a box at Christmas.  His eyes darkened as he saw the thin lace over her body, her breasts more than ready for his fingers and mouth, his thick meat twitching to get past her panties.

“I choose what we do?” he asked.

“You’re the birthday boy…”

“You sound like a prostitute or something.  Sounds really fucking hot.  On the bed, now,” he ordered.

She obeyed, intrigued and extremely excited by whatever he had in mind.  He rustled in his bedside table, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. “Daddy’s gonna be a little rough tonight.  You’ve been a bad girl, staying away from me for so long.  I’m gonna make you hurt so good, mama…”

She practically came at his words, his desire for her obvious.  He secured her wrists to bed headboard, eyeing her body like an animal eyeing its prey.  His lips captured hers, less aggressive than she thought he would be, given his tone and handcuffing her to the bed.  They were drawn out, teasing her for more.  He kissed down her neck, her breasts warm against his cheek as he placed his face between them.  He took a nipple to his lips, sucking on her through the fabric, his teeth gripping the fabric and tugging lightly on her flesh.

“Fuck, that feels so good,” she groaned.

“Yeah, Mommy likes it rough, doesn’t she?”

“Mommy likes it rough, give it to me…”

He sucked more forcefully at her skin, Mikayla almost sure it would leave marks Justin would see. His hands inched down her sides, achingly slow. 

“You’re enjoying drawing this out,” she groaned, somewhat annoyed. 

“I am. Torture of the best kind. Practically begging for me. I told you I’d punish you.”

“Oh god, keep going...”

His hands inched her panties off her hips, making her quake in desperation of having him between her legs in any fashion. He pressed firmly into her thighs, Mikayla arching her back in hopes of encouraging him to speed things up.

“Nice try, mama.  I’ll make you wait all night if I have to.”

“You can wait that long to have me?” she teased.

“Trust me, I’ll give you what you want and more…”

“Oh god, Josh…”

He quickly tugged her panties off her body, giving her a little of what she craved.  His finger edged between her legs, barely touching her, driving her crazy.  She groaned with need, JC smirking over her, knowing she needed him as badly as he needed her.  He was taking his time, knowing once he was inside her there would be no stopping himself.

He slowly pressed more firmly against her, his lips going between her breasts, her neck, and her lips, swallowing her moans.  He smiled as she groaned in release, knowing he wasn’t finished yet.  He pressed two fingers inside her, slowly stroking the spot that drove her crazy, drawing out the buildup of her next wave.  Her moans were pleading for more; whether faster, harder, or a combination of both to take her over the edge.  He kept his rhythm and intensity, focused on taking his time to get her to her peak.

“Josh, please,” she pleaded.  “I’ve cum 5 times already, I need you…”

“I told you I could do this all night,” he smirked.  “Make you feel so good before I get my turn.”

“Please…”

“One more.”  He kissed his way down her body, his mouth hungry for her.  She screamed at the contact, her body sensitive from his previous foreplay, but overwhelmed with the pleasure coursing through her.  This time he wasn’t slow and meticulous, he was finally giving her what she wanted, what he envisioned to come next.  He was done holding back, quickly taking her over the edge.

He removed the one piece of fabric separating him from her, his lips smashing against hers as he filled her completely, pulling the breath from her lungs. His pace was relentless from the start, Mikayla incapable of any comprehensible speech.  He felt his release was imminent, needing just a little more.

He pulled out of her, quickly freeing her of the handcuffs to flip her onto her hands and knees.  He slammed into her, his hips in a feverish rhythm towards his release, Mikayla struggling to breathe as her body fought to hold itself together.

He gave a couple firm slams of his hips before he stilled behind her, riding out his release before collapsing on top of her.  “As great as that was, never leave me alone that long again,” he said, gasping for breath.

“I may go for longer, if that’s what I get when I come back…” she panted.

“Seriously, though, if you go on tour with him, bring me and the kids along.  I’ll keep a low profile, we’ll figure things out somehow.”

“We’ll see.  I’m still admittedly hurt about what happened with the school.  Justin doesn’t think you tried hard enough to fight for me to stay on…”

“I tried to leave first to save you!  I tried, Kay, you have to know I did.”

“I know, it just hurts.”

“I never wanted to cause you pain, not in any of what has happened between us.  I know how it feels to be screwed over by PR moves, though at least one of them brought me to you.  Maybe something better is around the corner.”

“I guess I forgot that something pretty awful happened to lead us to each other.  I’m sorry your career took a hit, I’m sure that hurt, but it also led us to each other, our kids…”

“I’d do it all over again,” JC smiled, nuzzling her neck, “knowing that it led me to you.  I’m afraid to ask this next thing…”

“What?”

“If you regret anything between us, with Justin.”

“Do I wish things had been different between us?  Yes.  Do I regret where that led me and Justin?  No.  He showed me the true meaning of unconditional love, and everyone deserves a chance at that.”

“I want to give you that too, Kay.  I do feel that you give that to me and I’m really trying to give you the love you deserve.”

“I know.  I see it.  I just wish it wasn’t so complicated.  But I wouldn’t trade what I have with him at the same time.”

“I love you, Kay.  I’m sorry if I didn’t show that more.”

“You showed it plenty.  Can we just hold each other before we ruin this moment?”

“I’d really like that,” he said, pulling her body flush against his, kissing her forehead.

…

“Justin is on his way with the twins, you should get up and get dressed, Josh,” Mikayla said softly.

“I would if I could move…” he groaned.

“Feeling 40 already?” she laughed.

“I think it has less to do with my age and more of what we did last night.  How are you showered and dressed after what we did?”

“Moms are superhuman, didn’t you know that?”

“I have no doubts,” JC smiled.

“Can you at least get sweats on?  Doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”

“Can I cancel my party tonight?  I just wanna stay home…”

“You know Eric would be pissed.  I’ll help you get out of bed and dressed.  Maybe this is a sign we need to tame things down in the bedroom…”

“Maybe, but I’m not going down without a fight.  Wait, that didn’t come out quite right.  Or maybe it did.  Fuck, it’s like I’m hung over, but from sex, not booze.”

“I’d take the compliment,  but I literally did absolutely nothing.”

“Quite the opposite.  You fell apart for me over and over and over.  The sexiest thing you could do.”

“Are you getting dressed and coming downstairs, or are you getting breakfast in bed?”

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” JC grumbled.

“It’s your kids, don’t make it sound like that…”

“I just wanna stay in bed.  Everything hurts.”

Mikayla ducked into the bathroom, rustling around before emerging and tossing a bottle of Tylenol at him.  “Take a couple and a quick hot shower, that should help a little.  I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.”  She kissed his cheek before heading downstairs, getting started on breakfast while JC trudged out of bed and took as hot a shower as he could stand.  

He turned the showerhead to pulse, the water massaging his muscles and helping more than he thought.  He thought about where his life had led him, the series of choices he’d made that had led him to this point in his life.  He was now 40, but he smiled at all he had done in his life.  All the awards, accolades, and fans were nothing in comparison to the love he had for Mikayla and having two children.  A lot had gone wrong in his life, but he also felt things were starting to go very right.

He stepped out of the shower and threw on a shirt and a pair of joggers, walking slowly down the stairs towards the kitchen.

“Happy birthday, Daddy!” Joshy cheered, smiling big as JC entered the kitchen.

“Happy birthday, Daddy,” Barb echoed.

“They were hoping you would take a little longer.  We made presents for you yesterday, but they wanted to make cards this morning.  They didn’t get to finish before we left, Barb was a little upset.  Ok, she was a LOT upset.”

“Guys, you didn't have to.  I love my presents from Father’s Day, I don’t need more things…”

“I think you’ll like this,” Justin smiled.  The twins finished putting stickers on their cards before giving them to JC, clearly tracing over Justin’s handwriting so things were spelled correctly.  They got a bag from Justin, handing it to JC.  

He looked at the simple bag, pulling out the tissue paper slowly.  He reached into the bag, smiling as he saw his gift.  It was a simple popsicle stick picture frame, the sticks painted bright colors and foam stickers attached that said “Happy Birthday Daddy”.  The frame itself was enough to make him emotional, then he saw the picture was of them from their first weekend together, Mikayla’s birthday at the beach house.  So much had happened in a short time, but he had embraced fatherhood and they embraced him right back.  

“Thank you.  I love it,” JC said, trying not to let the tears in his eyes spill over.

“It has magnets, Daddy,” Barb said.  “Where should we put it?”

“How about right here on the fridge?  That way I always see it.”  He took the frame and walked over to the fridge, putting it front and center, eye level where he could always see it.  He smiled, knowing his kids really had come to accept him as their dad.

“I love it,” Mikayla smiled.  “The perfect spot.”

“What do you want to do today, Daddy?” Barb asked.

“I have a party tonight with your Mommy and Daddy, your uncles, and some other friends, but that’s not until tonight.  I’m really ok with just being here, watching a movie, and playing with you two.  Order some pizza or something, nothing big and fancy cuz I’ll have that tonight.”

“Even then, that’s not fancy,” Justin chuckled.  

“If it’s not fancy, can we come?” Joshy asked.

“No, buddy, that’s why you’re here now, so we can hang out doing stuff you’ll like,” JC sighed.

“But it’s YOUR birthday, we should do stuff YOU want,” Joshy replied.

“What I really want is to spend time with you two, and your Mommy and Daddy.  I want to have the people I love the most around me.  I don’t even want the party tonight, I’d rather have a few people instead of 50.  I’m glad it’s not a big club full of people I’d have to say hi to and mingle with when I really just want a few people.  I’d really be fine with a casual dinner here with you guys and your Uncles.”

“Uncle Jonathan and Stephen?” Barb asked.

“No, the *NSYNC uncles,” Mikayla smiled.  “I guess we do need to start differentiating them, don’t we?”

“Not really.  They’re like family to both of us, you, so why not just keep them being uncles?” Justin responded.

MIkayla smiled.  “I’m ok with that.”

Justin leaned in close to her.  “Just made your fangirl heart very happy, didn’t it?”

She nodded quietly, a smile spreading across her face.