Daughter.

He had a daughter.

He, Justin Timberlake, was a father. And not just any father, a single father and only 26. Although it wasn't confirmed yet, there was no denying it.

He was someone's, "daddy" and the thought was so new and so unfamiliar to his mind that for a moment he felt as though he was going to pass out. Once he was back out in the waiting room he sank into one of the oversized chairs and held his hands to his face. "Oh my God." he muttered.

"That well huh?" Mike said as he took a seat next to Justin, who nodded but didn't speak.

"I saw her." Mike said, "Jay, I don't know if you wanna hear this but she looks..."

"Yeah I know." Justin inturrupted him. "She looks just like me."

Mike nodded, "Yeah."

"Damn man, I gotta tell the guys." he paused and then leaned forward almost looking like he was going to throw up. "I gotta tell my mom. Man, she's gonna kill me."

"Well... she can't. You've got a little girl to take care of." Mike chuckled but when Justin glared at him took the hint that he was in no mood for jokes.

"So... I guess... I guess I should... get to that then." Justin stood up, unsteady at first, and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "I'll see you later Mike." With one last glance through the tiny window in the office door, he smiled as he focused on the top of Riley's head, familiar unruly curls catching his eye. He then took the last few steps to the door and left the building. In the car he pulled out his cell phone, calling JC first, asking if he was around and had some time within the next couple days to talk. After setting up a time to meet the next afternoon he took his time calling Lance, Joey, and Chris as asking them to meet with him too. Then he took a deep breath and dialed the digits to his mother's cell phone before he could stop himself.

He breathed a sigh of relief when her voice mail picked up and left a quick message asking his mom to come to his house later on that night and have dinner with him. Then he started the car and headed back home.

His house seemed so big and empty when he got there. It was quiet, and the silence allowed him to worry about all the things that were going to change in his life. He needed to clear out the guest room, and turn it into a bedroom for Riley. He was going to need to buy kid food, and kid-proof everything. He remembered all the things Joey went through when Brianna was born and his mind created a list of all the things he would need to buy, and all the things he would need to learn.

For the rest of his life, there was going to be someone whose well being would come before his own. He had never had to worry about that before. He was the center of his life, and now she would be.

"Good lord, I need to sit down." he said out loud.

He turned on the television and flipped through the channels a few times but nothing caught his interest. He was too preoccupied with how he would find a suitable babysitter to come on tour with him. Someone who wouldn't spend more time chasing after him, then taking care of Riley.

Then he realized, oh so suddenly, that he was already changing. Yesterday he wouldn't have thought twice about putting a parental block on certain television channels, but today, at this moment, he was already typing in a four digit code. He threw the control across the room onto another chair and stood up quickly, a look of horror on his face.

He heard his front door open and heard his mother's voice call out his name. He nearly ran in the direction of the sound and threw his arms around her in one of the most desperate, and needy hugs he had ever given.

"Justin Randall Timberlake what on earth is the matter?" She pushed him away roughly and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an all too motherly glare. "Sit down and start talking. And don't give me that 'everything is alright' crap. I didn't give birth to you, raise you, and be there for you for 26 years to not know when something is wrong." She pointed back into the living room and he dragged his feet as he trudged back into the room and sat in one of the overstuffed chairs.

"Mom. You might want to sit down too." He said softly.

"What in the hell did you get yourself into?" she asked sitting down and leannd her elbows on her knees, staring at him intently.

"There's no easy way to say this. I... I had a lawyer contact me yesterday in New York, and he has an office out here, he flew down last night or this morning or something but anyway. I had to go meet him today."

"Get to the point." Lynn said sternly.

"He told me... he told me that..."

"Justin..." her voice warned him to get there faster.

"Mom... you're a grandmother." he rambled out quickly, and then turned his head wincing, and preparing for her to yell.

"What?" she asked.

"I have a daughter." He said after a moment of trying to decide whether she was angry, or just plain thought he was joking.

"Oh my God." she held a hand to her mouth and her eyes shut tightly.

"That's... not everything." He said. "The mother, died. And in the will, Riley... that's her name... Riley is supposed to be placed in my care."

"Riley..."

"Yeah. I had to take a paternity test and everything to prove that I am her father, but I met her today Mom. And she looks, just like me. There's no way that she isn't mine."

"I... can't believe this. Justin, how did this even happen?"

"Well Mom, you're a parent, I'm sure you know that. Don't make me go there. I love you, but I can't talk to you about that."

"I mean... didn't you use protection. I raised a smart boy. There are ways to not get pregnant."

"Mom, I know that. But, shit happens. It's not like I planned this. It's a nightmare. Johnny is not going to be happy, this is PR hell. But Mom, she is amazing. I was so scared, so scared to see her, but when I did. When I did it was like everything changed." Justin trailed off for a moment and even though Lynn was very angry she couldn't help but smile at the look in his eyes. It was a love only a parent could understand.

"Mom I've been sitting here thinking about child-proofing the house, and hiring a nanny."

Lynn chuckled at the thought. "So when can I meet this little angel?"

"Um... Mark, the lawyer, actually gave me the address at the halfway house that she is staying at until this is all resolved and told me I could go see her if I wanted to. As soon as the test results come back we have to set up a time for me to fill out some paperwork and I guess take her. But until it's official I'm not allowed to see her unsupervised. If you want we could go over there tomorrow?"

Lynn nodded immediately and without hesitation. "Of course."

"Oh shit. I have to meet the guys and tell them about all this at noon, can we go after that?"

"Of course. When do you have to be back on the tour?"

"I have to be in Buffalo on the 18th, so 9 days." He counted off in his head.

"Alright, so we have a lot to do and very little time to do it. I am going to sleep here tonight and I am going shopping tomorrow morning." she said and got up off the couch. "I really don't feel like cooking Justin, do you?" He shook his head no and Lynn nodded "I didn't think so. I'm going to order some chinese food."

"Sounds good. I am going to go take a shower and change. But Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"Can... can I have a hug?" his voice sounded so small and hopeful to her ears and she took one look as his tired eyes and slumped shoulders and in seconds her arms wrapped around her son and she cradled him close to her as she felt his shoulders shake and a few tears seep through the fabric of her shirt. Her hand moved to the back of his head and she rubbed it as a way to sooth him.

"Baby, you'll make it through this. You're a daddy now, and you're gonna be great at it. Don't you worry. Momma will be here for as long as you need her."

The next morning Justin woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. He came down the stairs and smiled when he saw his mother at the stove making scrambled eggs.

"Good morning." he muttered as he collapsed onto one of the chairs at the table.

"Good morning sunshine. Breakfast?"

"Uh sure." he answered as she set a plate in front of him and he picked up the fork and began to eat. She fixed her own plate and sat across the table from him and they ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Now, is there any certain color sceme you want for that room up there? I'm going to take your credit card with me and go buy a new dresser, a child's bed, and few other things. Maybe a toy box too."

Justin's eyes widened and he nearly choked on his toast. "No... you can just do whatever I guess. Do you need me to come with you for any reason?"

"No dear, that would just cause problems and rumors... I guess they aren't rumors if they're true but you know."

"Okay, well I am going to go take a shower and then I have to drive over to the office and hopefully catch Johnny and tell him about all this. Then I have to meet the guys at 12. Hopefully I'll be back around 2 and then we can drive over to that house and see Riley, I'm gonna call the house on my way to meet the guys." Justin kissed his mother's cheek and then jogged up the stairs to his room. It was already 10:10 and he had no idea how long Johnny was going to take to yell at him so he had to get going.

Thankfully the meeting with Johnny didn't go over as horribly as Justin had expected it to. Yes he was in deep, the shit truly had hit the fan and it would take a lot of PR work to get the news out there, and not lose too many fans but that's what those people got paid for so Justin wasn't too worried. If he didn't lose fans after his Rolling Stone interviews from Amsterdam he sure as hell wasn't worried about the fans he could lose by having an illegitimate daughter that he didn't know about suddenly pop up. If anything people might feel sorry for him, after all there were three years he would never get back.

On the way to the restaurant to meet the others he pulled out the card with the address and phone number of the house and made the phone call. He told the woman that answered that he was Justin Timberlake, and that he wanted to come see his daughter and after giving her a little more information she told him it was alright to come and he said he would be there after 2.

Pulling into the parking lot of the local Chili's he got out of his car and walked over to JC's car. He saw Lance and Chris hanging out there too and found out that they were just waiting for Joey who'd called JC to say he'd be late because Brianna had an accident and he had to run home. Justin chuckled and wondered what he would do in that situation, and then realized that he would quite possibly soon be finding out.

"No bodyguards today Big Star?" Chris asked Justin as he jokingly punched him in the arm. Now that 'Nsync wasn't in the spotlight as much the others didn't really worry too much about crazy droves of fans following them but because Justin was solo now and still very popular he rarely went anywhere without at least Mike trailing behind.

"No. I'm really not supposed to be out here but something came up."

"Is that why we're all here?" Lance piped in and Justin nodded.

Just then Joey's SUV pulled into a parking spot next to JC and he jumped out, opened up the backseat and got Brianna out of her car seat and the five guys headed into the restaurant. They were seated promptly, with a giddy waitress who politely asked for some autographs and then headed off to get their drinks.

"So Curly, what's up?" Joey opened up the tiny box of crayons that the waitress had left for his daughter and turned his attention to the younger man.

"Damn... ok. I have some big news."

"Dude, we already know you and Cam broke up, the magazines and E! news told us." Chris joked but when Justin gave him a look he knew it wasn't that kind of news.

"I just found out that I... I have a kid." he spit out quickly and then braced himself for a reaction.

"What!" he heard four voices shout back at him.

"I have a daughter."

"Seriously?" JC asked.

"Seriously. She's 3 years old, and I guess it was some woman that I met up with on the Justified tour but I don't really remember. She looks just like me it's crazy. Her um, mom was in a car accident and she died, and this lawyer contacted me told me that I had to take a paternity test. Which I did yesterday. And once they get the results back I... she's mine."

For the rest of the lunch went smoothly with the five friends talking like they normally would. Justin could tell that his friends were trying their best to be supportive but he knew they thought he was in over his head. Hell he knew he was in deep. When the waitress brought over the check Justin took a look at his watch and stood up quickly.

"Damn, I gotta go pick up my mom and take her to see Riley." He tossed some money on the table and said goodbye to his friends.

"Aight man, let us know if you need anything." JC said.

"Yeah man, are you sure you're ready for this?" Joey asked, as he stood up and lifted Brianna into his arms. Justin leaned over and kissed Brianna's cheek and tickled her till she giggled, and he smiled at the sound.

"Hell no I'm not sure, but what choice do I have?"