Whoever said parenting was easy, they obviously never had any children.

After spending most of the morning doing laundry, fixing Kayla's breakfast, and then cleaning up what little of the top floor the guys didn't get to the day before, Justin was practically worn out by the time it came to getting both him and Kayla ready for the big day's events.

"Maybe if I just lay here and rest my eyes for a minute, I'll get my second wind going."

Unfortunately for Justin, just as his head hit one of the sofa pillows, the phone beside him began to ring; causing him to bolt up frustrated. "Dammit."

"Uh-oh. Daddy say no-no."

Having forgotten Kayla was in the room, Justin winced as he realized what he'd said. "Yeah, Daddy said a big no-no. I'm sorry, sweetie."

"S'okay."

Waiting until Kayla moved her eyes back towards the television screen in front of them, Justin lifted the cordless phone, that was sitting on it's charger, up to his ear; hoping that whoever it was calling would make it fast.

"H'lo?"

"Mr. Timberlake? Hi, it's Cathy..from Social Services."

Rolling his eyes at the last part, Justin had to stop himself from saying, How could I forget?

"Ahh, Mrs. Jones, it's a pleasure to hear from you again. But please, call me Justin."

"As you wish, Justin." Cathy said, slyly putting a little emphasis on the last part, "I just hope you'll do the same with my name. And it's Miss Jones, not Mrs....I'm not married."

The slight pause in between the two phrases caused Justin to wonder if the slightly older woman was happy about that last part. But after realizing what he was thinking, Justin quickly erased that thought from his head. "So, Miss. Cathy, what did I do or not do to deserve this call?"

The slight sigh heard on the other end told him that whatever it was that had Cathy calling him was not a good thing.

"Actually, Mr...I mean, Justin, you didn't do anything to deserve this call. However, my boss, on the other hand, did. He's decided that he wants full inspection of your ground property on his desk by six o'clock tonight. Which means if I want to get it to him by that particular time, I'm going to have to move my visit up two hours ahead."

"Two hours!" Justin practically screamed. The regular inspection time had been One PM and, after checking his watch, Justin noticed it was already going on ten.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Timberlake." Cathy said, forgetting already about her promise to use his first name, "My boss just called me ten minutes ago, and had I known before-"

"I know, you would've told me." Justin interrupted; not wanting to hear the woman's excuses right now. "Just..ugh! Call me when you get to the front gate and I'll give you directions from there, okay?"

Not waiting for her to confirm the deal, Justin hung up his end of the phone and then as if he was living on coffee alone-which he practically was-he stood up quickly, picking up Kayla in the process, and began making his way towards the main stairwell; absentmindedly tuning out his daughter's protest while doing so.

"I was sync."

Forty minutes after taking a shower, getting dressed, giving Kayla a bath, dressing Kayla, then afterwards changing his, then wet, clothes, Justin found himself in the kitchen making his daughter's lunch.

"All right, K, what it'll be? PB&J or Grilled Cheese?"

"P.P.J!" Kayla cried out, causing him to smirk a little. Figures as much....that's the only thing she ever eats.

Pulling out the bread box, Justin took out two slices of bread from the plastic package; figuring-with how nervous his stomach was at the moment-it'd be a better idea to wait until after Cathy left to eat. Then he started making one of his famous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

After placing the sandwich on a paper towel in front of Kayla, Justin was about to take a seat at the table when the doorbell rang; prompting him up from his seat. "Daddy just can't get a break, Kay."

"Kit Kat break?"

Raising an eyebrow at his daughter's words, Justin chuckled to himself before saying, "No, not that kind of break." Afterwards, making his way towards the front door.

Sighing as she positioned the car seat--which weighed almost as much as her--on her left hip, Cathy rang the doorbell, in front of her, a second time. Let's get a move on, Mr. Timberlake. Some of us have things to do and people to ignore.

As if hearing her thoughts, not even a second later, the front door to the slightly huge manor opened up and Cathy was greeted by Justin, himself. What, no butler?

"Miss. Jones! I thought you were going to call me once you reached the gate."

Ignoring the pain that seemed to be moving down her leg at the moment, Cathy slid her routine business grin on her face, before replying, "I was. But your security guard, Randy, said that you were expecting me and that I didn't need to call you for directions--I just had to make a left turn at the basketball courts."

"I see." Justin replied, all the while rolling his eyes at his security guard's actions; knowing full well that the man insisted on everyone, who came over, to call Justin; unless the guests were one of the guys or, in Cathy's case, a good looking woman. "Your going to have to remind me to fire him."

Not knowing if that was a joke or a bit of Justin's ego coming out, Cathy politely laughed; figuring it was the safest way to reply.

"You didn't have to buy Kay anything." The younger man replied, after finally noticing and removing the car seat from her arms; which Cathy thought would have fallen out of their sockets if he had not have. "I was planning on buying her some furniture later on today."

Noticing the thankful look on Justin's face, Cathy knew he was lying. But instead of commenting on it, she instead answered his unasked question. "Actually, I went by Debra's old house and picked up a few things of Kayla's. Thankfully enough, their neighbors, who cleaned up and donated most of the stuff to the orphanages, said they weren't sure if whoever was keeping Kayla was going to come by for her things, so they just kept it at their place for safe keeping."

Watching as different emotions began to play across the younger man's face at the mention of Kayla's mother, Cathy--realizing she really didn't have a clue as to what was going through Justin's mind at the moment--figured that maybe she should give him a few minutes to himself. "The rest of Kayla's things are in my truck--most of them being just clothing items--so, I'll just-"

Before she could finish her statement, Justin snapped out of his thoughts; interrupting her as he did so. "No, that's okay. I can get it. You can, um, just go inside and do your...inspection thing. Kayla's probably still eating her lunch, so if you need to ask her whatever questions you probably have for her, you'll find her in the kitchen."

Having seen this type of behavior before in a few of her previous clients, Cathy nodded her head shortly, before watching Justin carefully set his daughter's car seat down, inside the house, and begin making his way towards the West driveway--where she had parked her jeep. Poor guy.

Letting out the slow sigh, that she hadn't known she'd been holding in, Cathy turned her attention away from the man who was swiftly walking away from her and back towards the job at hand.

Inspection time.

Taking one step foreword, Cathy entered the large foyer in front of her--and had to remind herself that even the well-endowed liked to remain low-key--as her body adapted to the comfort level set in the house.

No gold albums or pictures of himself on the wall. He must not be as conceited as Keith thinks he is.

"But then again, Keith's really not known for much thinking, is he?"

Ignoring the slight pain those words brought her, Cathy continued to make her way further into the house; stopping only when she heard a slight pounding noise coming from the right of her.

What the hell?

Knowing she shouldn't be a snoop, but figuring that in her boss's mind, snooping was in her job description, Cathy made her way towards the direction of where the noise was coming from--expecting to see an animal of some sort making the now slapping sounds. But as soon as she stepped foot into the living room--where the assumed animal was--a slight smile edged across her face as she saw what exactly the noise was and who was causing it.

"You urk."

Furrowing her eyebrows at the small girl, who was at the moment beating her tiny fist on the TV screen in front of her, Cathy began inwardly saying the comment back to herself; figuring out what the little girl was saying after almost a full minute of watching her. She's demanding it to work. Very un-bossy like of her.

"You need some help?"

Watching as Kayla jumped slightly before falling down, on what Cathy guessed was the girl's diaper covered bottom, Cathy waited for the small girl to start crying but was immensely impressed when instead the child turned around; shooting Cathy what the older woman could only guess was a small glare.

"Me fall."

Holding back a smile, Cathy waited a second before making her way further into the living room; watching the child for any signs of panic. "Yeah, I saw you fall. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry."

"S'okay. No scared." Kayla replied, afterwards proving her point by smiling slightly; showing off her almost completely filled mouth of baby teeth. "You daddy friend?"

Slipping into work-mode, Cathy nodded slightly before saying, "Yes I am, and I soon hope to be yours, as well. That is, if you want me to be."

Watching as the younger girl's eyes lit up slightly, Cathy couldn't help but wonder to herself if Justin's eyes did the same when he got excited. But after realizing what she was thinking, Cathy quickly erased the thought from her mind. "So, what's wrong? The TV wont come on?"

Nodding her head a little, Kayla stuck her bottom lip out slightly; afterwards replying, "It no work."

Feeling the urge to tickle the small girl until she stopped pouting and smiled once again, Cathy set her untouched clipboard on the couch beside her; afterwards making fast work of finding the remote control for the Television and VCR set. "Hmm..I think we just have to press the right button."

Hitting the power button on the remote, Cathy couldn't help but laugh slightly as the child in front of her began to clap excitedly; afterwards yelling: "Pay doh." Which Cathy figured either meant Kayla wanted some play-doh or wanted her to play the video.

Choosing the latter, they were both soon met with the playful sounds of Techno all around them and the sight of five grown men skipping to the beat on the TV screen. One of the men interestingly enough being Justin.

He has his daughter hooked on his group? Maybe there is some truth to the conceited theory.

Hearing the front door of the house slam shut, Cathy quickly snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed her clipboard off the small couch before making her way towards the foyer where Justin was seen standing; booster seat in one hand and a box, that she'd clearyly marked clothes, in the other. "Need any help?"

Tightening his arms around Kayla's box of clothes, Justin shook his head slightly before saying, "Nah, I got it. You found Kay?"

Having opened her mouth to say that she indeed had, Cathy had to quickly shut it as the sounds of small feet were heard running on the hardwood floor.

"Daddy?"

"In here, Kay."

Moving slightly out of the way as Kayla made her way into the room beside her, Cathy silently leaned up against the main entrance wall; watching the interaction between Justin and his daughter as the small child seemed to beam up at him.

"What is it, sweetie?" Justin asked; seeming to ignore the older woman's presence as his daughter ran towards him; a slight wondering look in her eyes.

"Me cele-tweety?"

Fortunately enough, or rather unfortunately enough for Justin's sake, it didn't take Cathy as much time as before to figure out what Kayla was saying.

"C-celebrity?" Justin asked; having quickly put the two words together as well. "Are you a celebrity?"

Shrugging, Kayla smiled proudly once again, before loudly saying the word "TV". And afterwards turning around; making her way back towards the living room with Justin hot on her heels. "Shit."

Following slowly behind the younger male as he ran to catch up with his daughter, Cathy couldn't help but agree to the comment. But the small agreement was soon replaced with a slight smile and a shake of the head on both ends as she stepped into the living room and realized why Kayla had called herself a celebrity. The video.

If I wasn't a celebrity, would you be so nice to me?

While following Cathy around the room with his eyes, Justin couldn't help but begin biting his lower lip; an action which he was known for doing when either nervous or hesitant about something. Enough with the suspense already. Just tell me if I passed or not.

As if sensing his thoughts, the woman in front of him looked up from her clipboard and smiled slightly. "You can relax now. I'm finished."

After absentmindedly letting out a sigh of relief, Justin pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on; creating a nonchalant expression--even though he was pretty much jumping from one terrible conclusion to the next in his head. "Really? That didn't take too long."

Smirking in amusement, Cathy agreed to the statement before looking back down at her notes; biting her own lip in the process, "Everything seems to look good here. But I still have one more question to ask you."

Smiling inwardly, Justin folded his arms in a slightly cocky move, before asking, "And that is?"

"When do you plan on going back on tour?"

Not having thought that'd be the last question, Justin immediately brought his arms back down to his side; licking his lips while stalling. "We..well, I don't know really. I mean, my manager and the guys pretty much left it up to me. But with Kayla being at such a young age and all, I didn't think I could go on tour. Can I?"

Looking up from her clipboard, Cathy nodded her head for a second before saying, "Actually you can. The State Officials have us go to extreme lengths when dealing with celebrities or other always on the go parents and as long as we can contact you while your on the road, during the small time we have to do these inspections, you'll be fine. No muss, no fuss."

Nodding his head in understanding, Justin opened his mouth to ask one last question, "Even though the State wants me to continue living my life the way I have been--just while situating Kayla more into it--don't you think she's a little too young to be going out on the road with us?"

Never having been asked what she thought before, Cathy stared at Justin for a second before telling him what she thought she would like to hear, if she was in his situation. "For her age, Kayla is a very bright girl--immensely bright--and I think given these circumstances she has adapted very well to living here. So, in my honest opinion if you decided to continue performing for a few more months, I don't think you'd really have a problem so much if you made sure that she was around people that you'd see on a daily basis off the tour as well as on it and if you made sure she was eating regularly. Not just a half of a peanut butter sandwich three times a day."

Blushing slightly, Justin thanked the older woman for her opinion. Then afterwards ducked his head down a little; knowing he'd been caught.

"Don't mention it. But anyway, it's getting late, and I better get a move on if I want to get this to the office before six." Cathy replied after a second; motioning towards her clipboard as in afterthought, "If their is anything you need to ask or tell me, regarding the inspections or Kayla, you can either reach me in the office or at home on the business card that I gave you before. Okay?"

Nodding his head slightly, Justin leaned foreword a little, making sure Kayla was still seated on the living room floor, before making his way through the foyer; walking the older woman to the door.

"You know.." Cathy began, just as Justin placed a hand on the knob in front of her, "I'm not supposed to tell you this until the end of my last inspection. So off the record, from what I've seen of you and Kayla's relationship so far, I think that you are going to be a great father to her. And I mean that, down to a T. You have been under a lot of pressure, and whereas most parents put in your position still wouldn't even be able to put on their child's diaper at this point, you've actually gone beyond that in the last two weeks; proving to me in more ways then one that in a drop of dime you'd move your career and celebrity status to the side just for Kayla's sake. That takes a lot of heart."

Not really knowing what to say to that, Justin shrugged a little before saying, "She's my daughter. There's nothing in the world that I wouldn't do for her."

Afterwards slightly proving the point to himself by saying his good-byes to Miss. Jones and curling up on the couch with Kayla; putting his baby girl before any food that was in his refrigerator.

Adverting his eyes from the TV screen in front of him, which was, once again, playing one of the guy's home town performances, Justin looked towards the VCR clock; noticing it was going on a little after nine o'clock.

"It's almost time for beddy-bye, Kay."

Not getting the usual protest at this comment, Justin moved his eyes down to the girl who was curled up in his lap; at the moment literally fast asleep. "But I guess you knew that, huh?"

After watching her for a second, Justin slowly began to prepare himself for the move; first by stretching out his legs hesitantly then by positioning Kayla in a rocking position so he could get a better grip on her as soon as he stood up.

This is so much easier when she's awake.

After carefully making sure not to make any noise as he made his way down the hall, up the stairs, and towards Kayla's room, Justin quickly got his baby girl changed into her pajamas before laying her face up on the make shift crib he had made for her--the guest bed with two pillows on the side so she didn't roll onto the floor at night. Afterwards he couldn't help but smirk to himself as he thought, It's a wonder why Cathy didn't mark me up for trying to suffocate the poor child.

While rolling his eyes at the thought, Justin bent down slightly, pressing his warm lips to Kayla's forehead, and tucked her all the way under the covers. Afterwards, standing back up, he made his way to the room across from Kayla's--turning on the hallway light as an afterthought.

Now to get down to business.

Ignoring his need for food and sleep at the moment, Justin quickly took a seat on his bed and after a second, without so much as another thought, he picked up the white cordless phone laying beside him.

"You better be home."

Hitting one of the speed dial numbers on the cordless, Justin listened as three rings came through his line before the other end was finally picked up.

"James here."

Smiling slightly at his friend's usual greeting, Justin paused for a second before saying, "Justin here." Getting a much more enthused response from the other man's mouth.

"Hey man! What's up? I didn't think I'd be hearing from you for another couple of weeks."

Knowing that was true since he was mostly preoccupied with Kayla and Lance seemed to be spending most of his off time wrapped up in Freelance work, Justin nodded to himself before saying, "Yeah, me either. But-uh-I'm probably going to be changing that in a couple of seconds. That is, if you can do me a small favor."

"Hold on."

While listening to Lance whisper a muffled I'll be right back to someone before a small kiss was heard over the phone, Justin couldn't help but wonder to himself if he was doing the right thing or not. "All right, I'm all yours. What can I do for you?"

Licking his lips slightly, Justin inwardly reached for the small bit of courage he had inside himself at the moment and replied, "Do you think you could book us a meeting with Johnny? I think it's time for Nsync to go back on tour."

***