Bringing the ceramic mug to his lips, Justin took one huge sip of the dark liquid inside, before wincing as the steaming hot fluid slid down his throat.

"God dammit." He said, through gritted teeth; before sitting the cup down; making his way towards the freezer for some ice.

Afterwards, tearing a paper towel off it's holder on the counter, Justin made fast work of getting the already-melting ice into the towel, before he brought it to his tongue; almost immediately sighing in relief as it's numbing power took effect.

Moving across the kitchen floor, he glanced towards the microwave timer; noticing it was almost eight o'clock-four hours since he'd got up.

Adverting his eyes towards the sink, Justin let out a sigh of desperation before taking the ice away from his mouth; figuring if he started now, by the time Kayla woke up he could have the dishes washed, and the dirty clothes dried.

Well, that was what he had hoped he could accomplish, before the house phone rang; it's shrill sounding tone echoing across the kitchen-and unfortunately around the house.

Spotting the cordless laying on the kitchen table, he quickly dashed for it; picking it up by it's third ring.

"Hello?" He said, in a voice louder than normal.

"Whoa, did I interrupt something?"

JC.

"Hold on a sec," Taking the phone away from his ear, he listened in for the faint sounds of small feet-padding across the floorboards upstairs, but sighed with relief when he didn't even hear a peep. "Sorry about that, what's up, C?"

Hearing a slight inaudible curse come through the phone, Justin could tell his friend was now feeling guilty for calling.

Which he probably should've been, Justin assumed.

"Man, I'm sorry, J. Lance and I got in last night, and I didn't even bother setting my watch back to Florida time."

"That's okay," Justin said, more to himself, after being reminded that JC had given Lance Justin's ticket to Mexico; seeing as how Justin wouldn't be going anywhere outside of the house for a while, "To be honest, I've been up since three, and needed a distraction, anyway."

"Kay waking you up?"

At the mention of his daughter's nickname, Justin couldn't help but smile genuinely; only afterwards letting it falter as his mind wandered to why he had gotten up so early in the first place, "Yeah, she's been having these..um-I wouldn't say dreams, but uh-nightmares, on and off for the last couple of days."

"Damn, it must be hard for her. I mean, having to lose her Mom; the one person she's built her world around for the last couple of years."

Sighing, Justin could only nod; having had that same thought in his head ever since he'd heard about the passing of Debra a little over two weeks ago, "Yeah, I just wish she was a little older, y'know? So I could maybe ask her what the dreams were about. I mean, I know their about Debra, but I just..I don't know."

A slight pause was shared on both lines of the phone, before JC spoke up again, "So, how's that case worker thing going? I mean..how does it work?"

Hearing the soft sounds of footsteps approaching the stairwell upstairs, Justin made short work of switching the phone to his other ear, before dashing towards the living room; knowing if he didn't get there fast enough Kayla would try to take the steps on her own. Inadvertently causing him to have a heart attack.

"Cathy, that's her name, she's been calling every day, y'know just to see how everything's going. It's starting to get on my nerves a little, but I guess it's something to look foreword to. I mean, she has more information for me every time she calls, y'know. So, that's a plus."

"What kind of information?"

Reaching the stairs, Justin looked towards the top landing; noticing Kayla standing there ready to say something, but quickly after noticing her daddy on the phone, she shut her mouth; thinking twice about it.

Just like a good little girl.

"Just..stuff," Justin responded, as he made his way up the stairs; not wanting to get into it while Kayla was within hearing distance, "I hate to cut this short, C, but Kay's up, and..."

"Okay, that's fine." JC responded, after a second, "I was just calling to see if you two wanted some company later on. That is, if you don't already have plans for the evening...?"

Reaching the top of the stairs, Justin gave Kayla a small wink before picking the little girl up by her waist; heading back down towards the kitchen.

"Actually, that'd be great. I uh-sorta need a little help. Cathy's coming tomorrow for her first inspection, and with Kay here and all, I haven't really gotten a chance to air out the house properly. So, if you could maybe-uh swing by with the rest of the guys, at like noon, and keep her entertained while I clean up the place for a couple of hours, that'd be great."

Setting Kayla down on the ground, Justin watched her for a second, before waiting patiently for JC's answer.

"Well, I really don't know about Lance, he's working on some FreeLance stuff, but I know for sure I can drag Joey and Chris out of their beds. It'll give their lazy asses something to do besides sleeping the day away."

Nodding at the thought; knowing that's exactly what the guy's plans for the day were, Justin smiled a little. Instantly knowing with his friend's there, he'd get a little work down.

"All right, thanks man. I'll holla at ya later."

Waiting until JC hung up, Justin hit the 'power' button on his phone, before flashing Kayla, who was staring at him from her place on the floor, an excited grin, "Guess whose coming to see you today?"

"I no no. Who?"

Chuckling a little at her baby talk, something he'd been trying to figure out for the past week, Justin leaned over, before picking Kayla up. Making them eye level with one another, "Three of your uncle's: JC, Joey, and Chris."

"An Cwis?"

Chuckling, before nodding, as Kayla's eyes lit up with excitement; Justin could already tell who his daughter's favorite would be.

"Yeah, you still remember him?" He asked, as he made his way towards the kitchen; remembering how JC and Chris had taken time away from their families last thanksgiving; just so they could go with him to visit Kayla.

Nodding, Kayla squeezed her fingers together, as if to say small, "He sort."

Chuckling as he placed Kayla on her makeshift highchair-which was a regular chair with a couple pillows placed on top of it-Justin couldn't help but notice that his daughter had his sense of humor, "Yeah, he's short all right. But so are you."

"Me no short. Me tall." Kayla said, making a move to prove her point by standing up on the pillows she was sitting on. An action which caused Justin to quickly move to her side; knowing if given the right pressure, the pillows would slip out under Kayla, and she'd fall to the ground.

"Kayla, you're going to have to sit here like a big girl." Justin said, harsher than he'd meant to, as he gently sat his daughter back down; afterwards pushing her chair up closer to the table, making it harder for her to move from her seat.

"I sowwie, daddy." Kayla said, looking down towards the table with her bottom lip sticking out; an action which Justin had to smile at, knowing she'd gotten it from him.

"It's okay, Kay." Justin said, before pushing Kayla's curls back; gently sitting his lips on her forehead, "I just don't want to see you get hurt, ok?"

Seeing that her daddy's voice didn't sound angry anymore, Kayla looked up with a hopeful stare on her face, before giving Justin a smile. Telling him she understood.

"All right, now that that's over, who wants pancakes?"

As Kayla's squeals of me rang through the house, Justin couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Feeling that there was nowhere else he'd rather be at the moment.

It was going on a little bit after twelve when Justin finally heard JC's car pull up outside; followed by three doors slamming shut, and the distinct sounds of grown men arguing.

And they wonder why everyone knows when we're coming.

Not wanting to disturb Kayla, who was in the middle of watching one of Justin's old N'sync concerts, Justin quietly stood up from his chair; making his way towards the front door before one of the guys had a chance to knock or ring the doorbell.

"You-" He began, as soon as he opened the door. But quickly stopped himself as he noticed not only had JC brought Joey and Chris, but Joey had also brought his infant daughter; who was at the moment, in her bassinet, knocked out asleep. "brought Brianna?"

"Hello to you, too." Joey said, chuckling softly as him and the other two men made their way past Justin, "Yeah, Kel's sisters kidnapped her for the weekend, and stuck me with the kid. Hope you don't mind."

After shaking his head, while closing the door-knowing all too well where Joey was coming from-Justin mentally told the older man that it was okay with him, "You can put her down in the guest-room, or lay her out on the sofa. Kay's watching a video, but she wont mind if I turn it down."

"Naw, that's okay, I got it." Joey said, as he made his way towards the guest-room; having been to Justin's so many times that he didn't need any directions as to where he was going.

"So, where's the kid?"

Adverting his eyes from Joey's fleeting figure, Justin gave Chris a confused stare, before repeating what he had just said to Joey, "In the living room...watching a video."

"Okay!" Chris said, before skipping out of the room; leaving a confused Justin and an amused JC behind.

"Do I even want to know?" Justin asked, this time not bothering to move his head from in the direction of where his friend had run off to.

"Not really, but since there's no telling when we'll pry Chris away from Kay, we might as well get started cleaning up now."

Nodding his head, Justin could only make out the words right on, before heading towards the kitchen; figuring there was the best place to start.

Looking towards the clock on the VCR, Justin sighed with relief, before flashing a genuine smile at his friends. With JC and him working side by side, and than sometimes with Chris and Joey-when they weren't playing with the kids-it didn't take the men as long as Justin had thought it would-to clean up the house.

"Four o'clock, I have to say we made pretty good time."

"Thank God!" JC exclaimed, before plopping down on the couch; figuring that if he had to dust one more piece of furniture, he'd either scream or pass out in exhaustion, "With the way Dumb & Dumber, over there, have been acting I thought we'd never finish."

Having heard the remark, from his spot on the floor, Chris shot an offended look at JC, before putting his hand's over Kayla's ears, "Joshua! Just because Kayla and Brianna aren't over the age, doesn't mean they don't have feelings, too."

Opening his eyes, JC threw Chris a confused stare, "What?"

Chuckling, Justin made his way towards Chris; picking his little girl up off the floor, before causing her to giggle by making a silly face-all the while wondering when him and his friend's had become four men and the babies "Basically he's telling you to stop calling Bri and Kay names."

"I wasn't.." JC began, sitting up defensively; but stopped, blushing, as he realized, not only, was Chris laughing hysterically at him, but so was Joey-who up until that point had been silently sitting on the other end of the couch, tickling his daughter. "Ha, Ha. Very funny."

Justin joined in with the other two men, chuckling at their gullible friend, before focusing all his attention on Kayla; remembering she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, "What do you say we order some pizza, Kay?"

"Wit pep o'nee?"

Chuckling softly, Justin nodded; mentally telling himself he should've known. "You got it."

Turning his head towards the guys, who were, now, in the middle of another semi argument, he raised his voice; hoping to be heard over all the bickering, "You guys want to stay for dinner? I'm calling Papa Johns."

Almost immediately, the two men-who held the private nicknames of The human garbage disposals-nodded their heads; and then as an afterthought, looked towards JC, knowing he'd be the deciding vote if they could stay or not-seeing as how he was the one who drove.

"Umm.." Checking his watch, silently making sure he wasn't going to miss anything, JC nodded, before smiling up at the rest of the guys, "Sure, I don't have anywhere to be till 8."

"Right on," Justin exclaimed, before heading towards the kitchen; silently preparing to order some food for his baby.

An hour after Justin had placed the phone call, the guys and Kayla, were seated in the family room, chowing down on pepperoni pizza.

"I swear this is way better than NY's pizza." Joey commented, as he sunk his teeth down into his third slice of pepperoni. "Well...almost."

"You would know," Chris retorted, before folding his slice of pizza in half; eating it like a sandwich, "I'm sure you've tried every Italian product in the tri state of Brooklyn."

"Now, now Chris, you know Joe doesn't eat anywhere in New York besides at places that start with an A."

At the statement, all three men turned towards JC; looking at him confused.

"You know: A Wendy's, A Food Court, A McDonalds...."

As JC broke off laughing, the other men soon followed as well: even Joey, who was trying his hardest to pout at the joke. "Aww, fu-freak ya'll guys."

Each one of the guys laughed even harder as, the always foul mouthed, Joey censored himself in front of the children.

"Daddy?"

Minimizing his chuckles, Justin turned his attention from his friends, towards Kayla-who was in the process of taking her pepperoni off her pizza-a habit that she no doubt got from her Mom, "Yeah, sweetie?"

"Watch sync?"

At the question, the guys-sans Justin-all stared at her confused; not having been around Kayla long enough to pick up the baby talk, yet.

"You want to watch N'sync?"

Nodding, Kayla ate one of the random pepperoni's on her plate, before pointing towards the TV screen, "V'doh."

"All right," Justin said, before turning around; putting himself right in front of the VCR.

Making fast work, he turned on the TV screen, and began rewinding the video that was already in the VCR. Afterwards pressing the play button, which not only, sent Kayla into a fit of giggles-as she watched her daddy and uncles perform in front of her, but also sent the three guys in front of him into shock.

"What?" Justin asked, turning back around; only to catch the guys looking at him disgustingly.

It was a minute before one of them spoke up, but as Chris did so-Justin had to admit he was now the one confused.

"You're sick, man."

"Wha..?"

Rolling his eyes, at Chris's vagueness, Joey pointed a finger from Kayla to the TV screen, "You got her addicted to our group, curly. That's sick."

Thinking about it for a second, Justin nodded slightly before chuckling.

Yeah, it was pretty sick..but it wasn't his fault. "Don't place the blame on me. Ya'll know just as well as I do: Deb loved hearing us sing way more than the next person."

One by one each of the guys nodded, but didn't bother approaching the topic any further; each one of them feeling that Debra wasn't a subject they wanted to get into at the moment.

If not only for Justin's sake, than for theirs as well.

Before Justin even knew it, it was going on seven o'clock and JC had to bounce.

"Sorry to have to eat and run, J, but-"

"Someone's got a date." Chris sang, smiling evilly as Joey and Justin both flashed, the blushing, JC an 'Oh really?' grin. "Oops, were you holding out on them too, C?"

Throwing an icy glare at Chris, who in return smiled back at him smugly, JC sighed; frustrated. "It's not really a date..persay. I just want to get to know her a little better. Y'know..test the waters."

At this comment, even Kayla, who had been seated quietly on her daddy's lap, got into the questioning , "Taste da waters?"

Chuckling slightly at the little girl's words, JC figured this would be a good time to change the subject, "Cute. Anyway, J-do you want us here tomorrow before that lady comes, or...?"

Knowing what JC was doing, Justin smiled a little, before letting the grin drop; wondering if he really should ask the guys to come over tomorrow and help him out with the inspection.

"Umm su-" He began, but than after thinking about it for a second, he quickly shook his head no; knowing he needed to do this alone, "Nah, that's okay. Cathy said to make sure only the people who lived here, full time, were going to be here. So..I don't think I want to press my luck by having all of you guys here, ya know...even if it'd cool my nerves a little."

One by one, each of the guys nodded their heads; not really knowing what their friend was going through at the moment, but understanding why he didn't want them to be there for him. Or better yet..why he lied to them, and didn't want them to be there for him at the moment.

"All right, so we'll see ya later?" Joey asked, switching the bassinet-that held Brianna--from one hand to the next.

"No doubt. I'll be the one with the babbling one year old." Justin said, slightly chuckling as he stood up. Balancing Kayla in his arms before making his way towards the front door; opening it for his guests. "I'll call you later."

"You better.." The guys simultaneously chorused as they walked past him, only getting to look back once at their friend-before Justin closed the door behind them.

And behind his sanity.