The buzzing of his phone was surprisingly gentle against the coffee table it rested upon. JC grabbed at it, half awake, pushing the button to accept the call.

“Dude, ummm, what the fuck?” Justin asked as the screen appeared.

“What?” JC asked, still not fully awake.

Justin stepped into the bathroom, Mikayla confused as he shut the door.

“Where the fuck are you?  Please tell me that’s my house, but why is Jackie asleep on your chest?”

JC’s eyes widened as he looked down. They were fully clothed, but Jackie was sleeping on his chest, suddenly roused by Justin’s voice.

“Shit,” Jackie was quick to wake up and realize the magnitude of what it looked like.  “Justin, I swear nothing happened.  Ok, he kissed me, once, but that was it. I told him no….”

“Ok, I’m just gonna ignore that for right now.  C, Kay needs you.  Don’t ask me why, but she wants you on the phone.  Silas is coming, and it’s too late for an epidural. She’s scared and needs both of us to get her through this.”

JC sat up, Jackie getting up from the couch to start some coffee.  One or both of them would need it.  4AM with little to no sleep was not going to go well without coffee.

Justin stepped back into the hospital room, angling the phone to show Mikayla.  “I’ve got him, Kay.  He’s here.”

“Forget Josh, where the FUCK is my doctor?!” Mikayla screamed as a contraction hit.  She grabbed the call button, a look of terror on her face.

Justin stood the phone on the nightstand next to the bed before running out the door, Mikayla hearing him yell down the hall for someone.

“I’m sorry, Josh,” Mikayla cried, tears streaking down her face. “I’m sorry you weren’t here when the twins were born…”

“I’m here now,” JC said softly, trying to keep her calm.  “Justin went to get the doctor, you’ll be ok.”

“I feel it, Josh.  I feel him coming.  I want to push…”

“Tell her to push,” Jackie whispered to JC.  “She’s been through this before, her body knows what to do now.”

“If you need to push, then push, mama.  Follow your instincts. You’ve got this, Kay.  Breathe.”

“JUSTIN?!  JUSTIN!!! Where is everyone?!” Mikayla screamed, tears pouring from her eyes.  Except for JC, she was completely alone in her room.

“Hey, I’m here, I’m here,” Justin huffed, a nurse right behind him.  “All the doctors are doing deliveries right now, even the on call ones…”

“I need to push, Justin…  I can’t do this…”

The nurse carefully moved Mikayla’s legs and got a clear picture of Silas’s head.  “Keep pushing, Mikayla, you’re doing great…”

“It hurts too much, I can’t…”

“Kay, keep pushing. You can do this,” JC said.  

“You’ve got this, babe,” Justin agreed.  “A couple more pushes and he’ll be here.  You can do this, we believe in you.  Keep going and you’ll get to hold our baby boy…”

Mikayla looked at Justin, seeing JC on the nightstand, finding the strength to keep pushing despite the pain and pressure she was feeling.  She found renewed hope that in a few short moments, she’d be done and holding Silas in her arms.

Nurses came into the room, preparing for Silas’s imminent arrival.  Mikayla pushed, screaming as she went with each contraction, trying to breathe deeply and evenly, wanting to gasp for breath between contractions.  She kept her eyes on the two men she needed most, until she squeezed her eyes tight in focusing on pushing, giving all she could.

“One more push, Mikayla,” a nurse said.  “His head is out, just push his shoulders free and you’re done.”

Mikayla opened her eyes, looking at JC on Justin’s phone, a wave of relief washing over her as she gave one more push, feeling Silas pulled free after his shoulders came into view.  Justin just stared at Mikayla, proud of her for bringing their son into the world.  He kissed her forehead, feeling a complete loss for words.

“You did it, Kay.  He’s here.”  JC suddenly regretted saying the words, knowing Justin should have been the one to say it.

They heard his first cry, JC looking at Jackie, suddenly overcome with emotion.  He knew it was Silas, but part of him imagined it was one of the twins, thankful that he could experience it, at least in part.

“I love you, Kay.  You ready to meet our son?” Justin asked.  Mikayla nodded, throwing her head back in relief.

Justin took the scissors they gave him, cutting the umbilical cord, getting his first glimpse of his son.  He smiled, seeing his son for the first time.  They did a quick check before putting his ID tag on his ankle and a diaper on him to get him ready to meet Mikayla.  

Justin held his newborn son, tears clouding his eyes before they fell.  He was here, perfect and beautiful.  He walked him over to Mikayla, putting Silas on her chest.

“He’s beautiful, just like his mama,” Justin smiled. He was fully Mikayla, his dark hair and brown eyes.

“I dunno, I think he has your nose, T,” JC chuckled lightly.  “How you feeling, Kay?”

“He’s here.  Justin, he’s here… Hi baby boy.  Mommy loves you so much…”

“I’ll give you two this moment,” JC sighed.

“Thank you, Josh.  Thank you for helping me get here.”

“The twins will be so excited.”

“Go get some sleep, you’ll need it with them,” Justin laughed, the call ending.  He looked back at Mikayla.  “He’s here.  He’s perfect.  Our little family is complete.”

…

“JC, about earlier…”

“I’m sorry.  I had no right to do what I did.”

“I get why you did it, JC.  That’s why I pushed back.  Trust me, if you had been anyone else…”

“I thought Kay was gonna set you up with her brother-in-law's brother…”

“He wasn’t at the party, she wanted us to meet in person.”

“You’ll find someone, Jackie.”

“Yeah, well…” she shrugged.

“I know I’m in love with Mikayla, but any guy would have to be stupid not to see how beautiful you are.  I don’t know if it helps, but if the situation was different, I’d see it.”

“I’m not your type,” Jackie sighed.

“Still beautiful.  I’m just gonna go crash in the guest room…”

“They’re not here, I won’t tell if you wanna sleep in their bed so you can feel a little closer to Mikayla.  I’ll even go to my room first so I have no idea where you’re sleeping.  Shit, I made coffee, it’ll be cold…”

“Yeah, this happened way too quickly.  We’ll deal with it in the morning.  Go get some rest, we’ll have a couple excited kids in a few hours.”

“Sleep well, JC.”

“You too, Jackie.”

…

Mikayla stared at Silas in his hospital crib beside her bed.  “He’s so tiny. I forgot just how small they are at this age.  The twins were even smaller…”

“He’s sleeping, Kay, you should get some rest, too.  You fed him, which went better than with the twins if memory serves.”

“It did.  I was nervous.  I know it’s not much right now, but it was more than the twins got, so I’m hoping it continues.”  She sighed.  “Just means I’ll have 3 men wanting my breasts…”

“Yeah, well, he wants them in a completely different way, so I think we’ll be ok,” Justin laughed softly.  “Hopefully he doesn’t want them the same time we do.”

“We’ll manage.  Don’t jinx it though, you remember times when the twins were little.”

“Do I need to repeat myself, getting a hotel room or something for our first time after?”

“I’m not opposed to that…”

“We’ll just have to make sure JC sneaks in somehow.  Imagine the news, the three of us seen going into a hotel together…”

“I’m still surprised you’re ok with all of this. From ‘nope, never gonna happen’ to making plans for it…”

“Once I saw how it would work, I changed my mind.  Not saying I want that all the time, but when it calls for it.  I’m curious, though, how it’ll work that first time.”

“Why?”

“Well, I feel like it’ll need to be something slow, not sure how that really works, one at a time.”

“The same way it always does, just slower.  I have an idea in my head, if it happens.”

“You really think it won’t?”

“I don’t know.  I imagine both of you would want something truly intimate…”

“I don’t think it gets more intimate than what we do,” Justin chuckled.

“You know what I mean.  You’d each want one night with me, all night.”

“Pretty sure we want that all the time, but given the circumstances…”

“We’ve been making it work.”

Justin sighed.  “Yeah, we have.  We’ll figure something out for you.  Get some sleep.  I’ll take care of diapers and everything, I’ll wake you if he’s hungry.”

She didn’t say a word, closing her eyes and settling in to sleep.  Justin looked at his wife and his son, a feeling of complete peace settling around him.  He had everything he’d ever wanted.  Sure, he’d loved the twins as his own; but now to actually have a son that was his, especially with Mikayla, it was all he’d ever wanted.  

He had been able to sleep a little earlier, so he wasn’t feeling tired, grabbing his phone and scrolling through Instagram.  He decided to go through some of the message requests he got, surprised at how many there were so early in the day already.  Most were posting pictures or video clips, but one in particular caught his attention.  An alert popped up from Melinda, showing a picture of him and the rest of *NSYNC from 1995.  He felt old in that moment, that time had gone so fast that he was no longer that fresh faced young kid.  He had a lot to be proud of in his career and personal life, and he knew it all started there, with those guys.

Happy anniversary, guys!  The message was short, but the picture led to a post celebrating the anniversary of their being the final version of the group.  So much had happened before then, even more had happened after, that this one day didn't stick out quite as clearly.  He remembered meeting Lance, knowing that was it, but he couldn’t tell you what day that happened.  He remembered moments, not the dates they happened, so he was always surprised when those “anniversaries” would pop up.

Justin opened the camera app on his phone, taking a picture of the newest member of the family.  He opened the group chat, sending the picture of Silas blissfully asleep.

I find it fitting that Silas was born early this morning.  Clearly today is meant to have special meaning in my life, with you guys and now my son.  He’s perfect and Mikayla is doing great.  I can’t wait for you all to meet him.  Love you guys.  Without that moment all those years ago, I wouldn’t be here now.  Thank you.

It was barely 6AM in California, but the time difference meant Joey and Chris both offered their congratulations and well wishes.

He smiled, taking everything in. This day had been important to who he was, then and now, and knew that God or the universe knew that this would be a perfect day for Silas to enter the world.