Lance could hear the telephone ringing as he tried to unlock the door. They are just going to have to wait a moment he thought as he fumbled with his keys. He had only been in Orlando forty-five minutes after a week of a promotional tour and the bus almost twenty hours straight. He was tired and all he wanted to do was fall into his bed and pass out. Lance was finally able to open the door and drag his bags into the front hallway. He wondered why the answering machine hadn’t picked up when he heard the phone still ringing; somebody really wants to talk to me he thought.

“Hello,” he picked up the phone and answered.

“Hey,” a soft voice came from the other end of the telephone.

“Laura?”

“Yeah, how was your trip?”

He could her sniffling between words. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“When are you going to be in Mississippi again?” She asked as she tried not to break down in tears.

“I don’t know, at least a couple of weeks. We’re about to head to New York again, maybe after that. Laura what’s wrong?”

“I didn’t want to tell you over the phone, but I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“Laura you’re starting to scare me. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“Lance, I’m pregnant.” Laura’s voice shook as she spoke. She strained to hear a response. “Lance?”

Lance’s head was swimming with questions. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I went to the doctor’s yesterday. Lance, I’m pregnant.” Listening to her, he could tell her tears began to fall again.

“Is it mine?” Lance asked. It was her turn to be silent. “Laura?”

“I know this isn’t a real relationship and we can see anyone we want.” Her sobs were becoming louder; she was losing the battle to keep the tears away. “But I haven’t been with anyone else, just you. Lance, I never meant for this to happen.”

“Have you told anyone else yet?”

“No,” she squeaked out. The tears were making it difficult for Laura to speak. “I have known for a few weeks now, but part of me didn’t want to believe it.” The tears caused her to choke on her words. “I would pray at night that the drugstore tests were wrong, that some how they all had been defective.”

“How many did you take?”

“I took three and all three said I was pregnant.”

“Oh,”

“Then the doctor confirmed it yesterday.”

“You’re really having a baby.” Lance said as if actually saying it would help make it real.

“I think I hear someone at the door,” Laura lied. “How about you call me back later.” She wanted to give him time to let the news sink in. It had been a shock to her when she first found out also.

“Okay, I’ll call you later tonight.”

“Thanks,” Laura said before she hung up the phone. Lance hung the phone up and sat there in shock.

It began almost a year ago, having a weeklong break Lance decided to go home to Mississippi. He made all the usual calls to his friends letting them know he was in town and wanted hit a few clubs. After several hours of dancing and drinking Lance, Laura and a few other friends end up back at Lance’s house. He wouldn’t have called it party, it was just some friends hanging out. Slowly it dwindled down to just Lance and Laura.

He knew the alcohol was affecting his brain when he started complaining to Laura about the lack of available women in his life. “Who ever said being a popstar gets you women lied.”

“I have seen the women lined up outside the hotels, there is no lack.”

“Those aren’t women, those are girls…well, ok some of them are women, but you can’t sleep with the fans.”

“From what I have heard from the other guys you can hold your own in the clubs.”

“Yeah, random hook up are ok but I end up feeling more lonely in the morning then I did when I went to the club the night before.”

“Now you sound like a girl,” Laura giggled.

“Thanks,” he felt the ache from his almost constant state of arousal. “The sad thing is that even if I did find the woman I was looking for I don’t have any time for a relationship.”

“It’s ok,” she said as she patted his knee. “I can’t find anyone either and I’m not even famous.” She curled up on the couch next to him laying her head in the crook of his neck. It was not unusual for Laura to spend the night at Lance’s house when they had been out drinking. Although she didn’t drink much the alcohol always seemed to hit her hard. “Why can’t we find someone,” she asked still nuzzled against his neck. “We are a couple of great people.”

“We will.” He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her arm. “There are two people out there waiting for us.”

Lance felt Laura shift her weight as she began to kiss the side of his neck. He knew it was because she was drunk, but so was he and it felt too good to ask her to stop. He heard a slight moan but he wasn’t sure if it had come from him or her. Laura’s lips started to move toward his. He always thought that kissing Laura would be like kissing his sister, but as soon as their lips touched he knew it felt nothing like a sister. Lance moved so they were lying side by side on the couch. Her hands began to slide up and down his back and sides. This time he knew the moan was definitely from her. Laura’s mouth moved from his mouth down his throat and licking his Adam’s apple. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. Her only reply was to rub her hand over the front of his jeans. “I think we should take this upstairs then.” Lance stood and held out his hand to her.

The next morning Lance woke curled up next to Laura. He had been drunk the night before but not drunk enough to not know exactly what happened. He wondered how much of it Laura would remember. Lance crawled slowly out of bed so he wouldn’t wake Laura and put on a pair of boxer shorts.

“Good morning,” she said with her back still to him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t,” she said as she rolled over to face him. “I have been awake for a while.”

“Listen about last night.” Lance sat back down on the bed. “I …I don’t know how much you remember, but…”

“I remember it. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I was laying there on you and your cologne smelled good and it was doing weird things to my head.” Laura sat up in bed covering herself with the sheet. “All I could think about was kissing you. I didn’t expect kissing you to feel like that, I didn’t want to stop.”

“Yeah, it was pretty much the same thing for me too. It has been a little while since, well you know,” Lance blushed slightly. “I guess our hormones got the best of us.”

“What do we do now?” Laura asked.

“Go back to being friends, I guess.” Lance started running his fingers over the sheet. “I don’t see any reason why we should stop being friends.”

“I don’t think an eleven year friendship should end because of one night.” Laura paused for a moment. “While I was laying here this morning I wondering what it would be like if our friendship change a little.”

“Laura, it’s not going to change.” He tried to reassure her. “We can be friends like we always have been.”

“What if we want it to change. You said you didn’t have time for a real relationship and Lord knows at one point or another I have gone out with every decent guy in this one horse town and it’s not looking good for me either.”

“Are you suggesting we be boyfriend and girlfriend?” Lance asked unsure.

“No, not boyfriend and girlfriend. It would be more like friends with benefits. We would be helping each other out. I seem to remember both of us really enjoying ourselves last night.”

“Yeah, I did,” Lance smiled.

“We would only do it as long as both of us are comfortable with it. Both of us can date anyone we want, but if it starts to get serious with the other person then we will stop.” Laura looked into Lance’s eyes. “What do you think?”

“Friends with benefits,” Lance pulled Laura back down on the bed. “I think I could get use to this idea.”

Lance and Laura continued their deal over the next year. They would see each other when Lance would come home to Mississippi or Laura would fly to wherever the guys were on tour at the time. This wasn’t unusual, they all had friends that would occasionally visit while they were out on the road The last time they were together a little over three months ago. Joey had been on a porno movie kick that week. Lance didn’t even want to ask what Joey was doing to get rid of all of his sexual frustrations. Lance, however, couldn’t wait to get home.

Laura had flown to Orlando to spend a few days with him. He called Laura as he left the WEG compound to let her know he was on his way home. “Joey’s movie selections have a little to be desired, well maybe a lot to be desired.”

“Are you ready for a quiet night in tonight? She laughed.

“If I hear one more person moaning and it’s not me I am going to explode, “ he groaned. “I’ll be there in five minutes…or less.”

When he walked through the townhouse door he saw Laura sitting on the couch wearing nothing but smile. This time they never made it upstairs or to the condoms in the bathroom. They both agreed that not using one wouldn’t hurt just this one time.

Now he sat on the same couch staring into nothingness. He was going to be a father. It wasn’t that he did not like the idea, he always thought he would be married first or at least in love with the person not just someone he cared deeply for, however, that is not the way it happened. At this point, it did not matter how the baby had gotten here, but that there was going to be a baby….his baby… and he had to take responsibility for it.