Cassidy and Cody waited for Justin as he pulled his SUV up the drive.  She’d seen him coming on the security camera and she’d given him the security pass code already so there was no need to buzz him in.  She’d been watching for him.  She wasn’t going to lie.

He’d told her on the phone that he’d picked up a booster for Cody so she didn’t need to grab the one out of her car.  She wasn’t sure what their plans were, but she’d just got off the phone with her mom and the hints had been fairly strong that they were eager to meet Justin.

She was going to talk to him about it in the car.  Maybe they could just get it out of the way and take the short drive today. 

Cody was excited, but for different reasons.  After Justin had left the boy had bombarded her with questions.  He was anxious to tell all his friends from Preschool that he finally met his daddy.   He only went twice a week, but that’s all it would take for the word to spread.  Cassidy was very aware that it wouldn’t be long till her son was pictured all over the tabloids.   She wasn’t sure if she should try to stop it, or just say to hell with it.

How can you stop something that’s going to happen no matter what you do? 

Cody gripped a toy truck in one hand.  Cassidy held onto the other.  “Come on,” she told him as Justin’s late model Escalade came to a complete stop.  She walked her little boy around to the passenger side and helped him climb in and then buckle his seatbelt.  Then she slid into the front.  “Where are we going?” she immediately asked.

“Why?  Did you have something you needed to do?”

“I am getting a lot of pressure from my parents.  They want to meet you.”

“Daddy Justin…”   A smile eased over Justin’s lips as he turned his attention back to Cody at the sound of his voice.  “When we have Show and Tell next time at school, will you come so I can show everyone my daddy?”

Cassidy was grinning.  This was one of the conversations they’d had earlier.   But how could she deny her son what he wanted so badly?  To show off his new daddy.  Even if it did mean the entire school would be buzzing with gossip afterwards.

“Of course,” he answered, a twinkle in his eye as his sight exchanged with Cassidy’s.  “You just let me know when, okay?”

“Okay,” the boy said.   “Mommy said I go on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”

She found herself shaking her head lightly, leaning back against the leather seat.  She had her eyes closed, but she didn’t need to be looking to know the look that was on Cody’s face at the moment.

Honestly, she felt like Cody had no idea what a daddy is.  And of course she felt like that was all her fault. To Cody, a daddy was just someone to brag about with the other kids at school.  Apparently there was a lot of that going on.

“Well, I’m sure your mommy will let me know when you have Show and Tell next time,” Justin finished and the car began to move.

Slowly Cassidy opened her eyes and looked over at him, without turning her head.  “He’s been full of questions ever since you left,” she said quietly.

Reaching for the radio, Justin turned it up a little.  Music created great background noise to filter out adult conversation.  “Like what?”

“Oh everything imaginable.”  She turned towards him then and before she even realized what she was doing she was reaching for his hand for support.  “I feel horrible.  I think he has no idea what a daddy is.”

His hand twisted to get a better hold, his thumb tracing over hers.  “Don’t worry.  He’ll learn.   I’ll show him,” he said, with a rather large grin.

She took her hand back once she realized how easy it would have been to keep it there.  “So, about my parents?  Do you think we could go by there today?  Or did you have something planned already?”

His expression turned into something uneasy.  “I don’t think I’m ready,” he admitted.

“I promise they’ll be nice.  I’d like to just get it over with.  My parents are actually quite pleasant.  I’m sure you’ll get along with them just fine.”

“Yeah?” he asked.   “Tell me about them.”

“Well,” she started with a loud breath.  “I’ve told you about my dad a little already.  Both of my parents are retired and they pretty much spend all their time golfing…”

“Really?” he perked up at that.  “I am a big golfer.”

“You are?”  Cassidy had no idea.

“Yeah.  Like, in a perfect world I play at least a few times a week.   Of course a lot of time I’m too busy for that…”

“Wow, I did not know that.   I golf too.  I mean, it was kind of a requirement if I didn’t want to be disowned.”

“See,” Justin grinned.  “We have a lot more in common then you realized.”

No actually, she realized that they had very much in common.  She seemed to learn more things everyday.  “Yeah, I’m actually pretty good too.”

“Ooh, I smell a competition here…”

She thought he might.  One more thing they had in common.  When it came to sports, Cassidy was very competitive.  “Anyway, my parents are, you know, very prim and proper.  But they are also a lot of fun.  I had the picture perfect childhood.  I don’t know.   You’ll just have to meet them.”

With that wide grin on his face, he turned towards her once more.  “So how do I get there?” 

Ten minutes on the freeway and Cody was sound asleep.  Justin was beginning to realize that it was a normal occurrence for him while in the car.  Things had been quiet for awhile.  One of the local radio stations played at a decent volume, filling the air with something besides silence.  Every so often he’d catch her stealing casual glances at him.  Of course the only reason he caught them was because he was doing the same thing.  

When she’d grabbed his hand earlier, he’d felt like he wanted to hang onto it and never let it go.  Of course, that didn’t happen.  He wanted to say something about how he was feeling, but he wasn’t sure exactly what.  He wondered if they had a chance to replay what had happened the night before, but he was afraid if he just came right out and asked that he’d blow it for sure.

He didn’t know what he wanted.  He was filled with so many new emotions.  He didn’t know what was what.  The one thing he knew for sure, was he liked having her attention and he’d do whatever it took to get it and keep it.

Two more songs played from beginning to end and neither of them said a word.  He looked over at her again.  A casual half-sleeved, open, black sweatshirt covered her upper half with a tight white cotton shirt underneath.  She wore light colored khakis that were just the right fit, and on her feet were simple black Flojos—her toes painted a deep, dark red.  She was a damn fine mommy, he thought, with a smirk that he didn’t mean to let out.

Her eyes caught him and it was too late to pretend he hadn’t been looking at her.  Her grin turned into something sly and curious.  “Something I can help you with over there?”  she asked.

If only he could answer the way he really wanted to.  “I think that’s a trick question,” he said, instead.

She smirked this time.  “It’s alright.  You don’t have to pretend that you weren’t checking me out.”

He grinned, completely guilty.   “You so busted me.”

“Well, you’re not so bad to look at yourself,” she winked and turned back to daze out the window.

“Everything okay?” he heard himself asking before he’d thought not to.  “We’re okay, right?  After what happened last night?”

She was grinning when she looked his way again.  “We’re fine,” she told him.  “I’m nervous about this too.  If you really want to know.”

“About me meeting your parents.”

She nodded.

“Well, thanks.    Now I’m nervous, again.”   He’d managed to wipe the feeling aside until she’d brought it up again.

“Sorry.  Want to talk about something else?  To take our minds off it?”  The sound that came from him then was very obvious to the thoughts that had popped into his head.  She giggled lightly—evilly.  “You’re wondering if there will be a replay of last night?” she asked.

He didn’t have to speak to answer.

“Well, I’m not going to try and deny myself.  So, yes… I’m sure there will be.”  She was looking out the window again. 

He wondered what else was on her mind, as she stared outside in a daze.  He didn’t think it was something that she wanted to share, though.  “I would hate for you to deny yourself,” he remarked, reaching across the center of the car and picking up the hand that had been resting on her thigh.  He hooked one finger with one of hers and waited for her to look over. 

Finally she did, looking first at him and then down at where he held her, but she didn’t pull away.  He got the feeling that she was trying to hold back, but not managing it very well.  Maybe she was angry with herself for liking it when he touched her.  Because if there was one thing he knew for sure—she definitely liked his touch.  

“So what do you have planned for later tonight then?” she asked, gleaming at him from the corner of her eye.   He loved the fact that she wasn’t the least bit shy.  She had no problems voicing what she wanted.  He also loved the fact the he knew what she wanted was him, whether she could control that feeling or not.

“I don’t know.   You tell me.”  He stated simply, pulling on her hand and making her reach across the center console instead of him.  He kept all of her fingers now, and placed both their hands on his leg, hers on the bottom.  She didn’t argue in the slightest.

“I think I’d rather show you,” she finally said, “after Cody goes to bed, of course.”

And just like that, he was on his way to meet her mother and father, and he was completely hot from head to toe.  It was a terrible state she’d put him in.  Just terrible.

Cody was still asleep when Justin parked the car in her parents driveway.  He met up with Cassidy as she was unbuckling Cody out of his booster seat.  She was getting ready to pick him up and carry him, but Justin offered instead.  She moved out of the way and Justin scooped up his sleeping little one, shut the door with his foot, and followed her up to the front door, Cody’s head cradled between his shoulder and his neck.   It felt good carrying his little boy.  His smile more than likely told everyone.

It was a well-kept home with an attractive front yard—lush green grass neatly mowed, beds with bark and shrubs in a curvy bordered pattern ran along the top and right side, and stones that were broken in a specifically designated design wound a path from the right side of the driveway to the front entrance.

Her mother was standing in the doorway before they’d reached it.  She was smiling quite wide and Justin was instantly hammered by an older version of Cassidy.  They looked just alike—and it wasn’t a bad thing at all.  Her mother was an attractive woman—in a completely motherly way, of course.

You’d think her welcoming grin would have eased his nerves, but it didn’t.  He never had a problem with moms.  Moms always liked him.  It was her dad that he was worried about and so far there was no sign of him.

The tall brunette kept a quiet voice, saying “come in, come in” as she stepped back so they could step inside.  Justin grinned widely as he held his son snug against his chest, the little boys arms and legs curled around him.  “We can lay him down on the couch.”

They followed Mrs. Nickel into a casual living room where she pointed to a plushy tan sofa.  Carefully Justin leaned down and laid Cody lengthwise across the cushions.  He brushed a hand over the boys forehead before straightening. 

Keeping his grin, he turned straight to Cassidy’s mom and stuck out his hand.  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Nickel.  I’m Justin.”

She accepted his handshake and said, “Please, call me Connie.”  Then she looked at Cassidy.  “Should we go sit in the kitchen?  Dad’s on the phone.  He’ll be in, in a minute.”

Great, Justin thought, postponing the inevitable. 

They sat down at a round oak table, big enough for six chairs to sit comfortably around it.  Justin thought about pulling one out for Connie, but decided overly-charming could do him more harm than good.  So, like a good boy, he sat down and kept his mouth shut.

“Justin, can I get you something to drink?” Connie asked as she headed towards the refrigerator. 

“Sure,” he answered, but he felt like his stomach was too tied up in knots to actually take anything in.   He knew he’d feel better once her dad appeared.  He just wanted to get that part over.  Maybe the man was making Justin wait on purpose just to prove a point or torture him.

“I’ve got lemonade, Coke, Pepsi, water…”

“Lemonade sounds great,” Justin decided.

“Me too, please,” Cassidy perked up, sneaking Justin a casual glance before focusing her attention on her mom.   She was nervous too and that only made him feel worse.

Connie came to the table with two tall glasses of pink lemonade.  She took a seat and smiled widely.  “You are even better looking in person than on TV,” she commented, looking right at Justin.   It only made him feel even more nervous.

“Mom…” Cassidy remarked warningly.

“Thank you,” Justin grinned.  He wasn’t sure what else to say.  It was always a little uncomfortable when people said things like that to him, but he couldn’t say that he wasn’t used to it.

But he was getting an idea on where Cassidy got her outspoken disposition.

Finally her father appeared.   He was a tall man with a stocky build.   His salt and pepper gray hair was cut fairly short, almost military style, and his skin looked leathery and tan.  Justin stood up to introduce himself and shake his hand.  “It’s nice to finally meet you.  I’m Justin.”

Her father’s handshake was firm in a very done on purpose kind of way—just a little intimidating.  “I’m Brian.  It’s nice to finally meet you, as well.”  Then he nodded for Justin to sit back down and took a seat beside his wife.  They were a very well put together couple.  Justin got the impression that the prim and proper side Cassidy had spoke of came more from her father.  He seemed like a very conservative, traditional kind of man.  Justin could understand that completely as it wasn’t all that far off from how he’d been brought up—in a not so conventional way, of course, because he’d been in the entertainment business for more than half his life and things most definitely hadn’t been normal for him.

Their conversation finally found its niche and tension eased considerably.  When Cody woke up and started talking about how he was hungry, her parents invited them to join them for dinner—out.  On the one hand Justin didn’t want to say no, but so far they had managed to avoid all public places together.  On the other hand, he was about ninety percent sure that he hadn’t been tailed by the paparazzi, so hopefully it would be okay.  As long as the assholes didn’t get a tip from someone at the restaurant before they finished eating.

Brian must have sensed both Justin and Cassidy’s reluctance, as he mentioned a quiet little family owned Mexican place just down the street that served great food.  It sounded safe so they agreed, but took different cars so they could head home afterwards, and make a quick escape if necessary.

When they arrived at the restaurant and he found that it was fairly authentic, Justin felt considerably safer.  Once they got settled, and now that Cody was wide awake after his late afternoon nap, the boy started talking very wordy sentences.  He was explaining in great detail to his grandparents that Justin was his daddy and how he was going to take him to school for Show and Tell.

Once the kid got going, it was hard to get him to stop.  In fact, it wasn’t until their food arrived and Cassidy got a little firm with him about eating, that he stopped talking.  Justin realized he had a lot to learn about being a parent, and not just being a parent but sharing responsibilities as a parent.  Discipline was something they hadn’t really talked about.  So far Cody had been nothing but a little angel.  But as their evening progressed, and Cody grew less and less enthusiastic about staying seated and eating his dinner, Justin was reminded quickly that raising a four year old was a lot of work.

He wasn’t really sure how he fit in.  He felt like he needed to take some sort of initiative on his own, but it wasn’t something they’d talked about and he didn’t want to make the wrong move or try to step in too quickly.  

When he could tell that Cassidy was getting a little frustrated, as she was now bargaining with Cody to just eat “five more bites” and then he could be finished, he leaned into her and asked “How can I help?”

She just shrugged.  “Your guess is as good as mine,” she said.

He looked across the table at her parents, who were trying obviously not to put in their opinions.  “Cody, if you eat those last few bites for mommy, then Grandma has a treat for you when we get outside.”  Connie finally said.

“You do?” Cody perked up, as Cassidy forked a small bite of chicken.

“Here,” she said, and Cody opened his mouth.  “Three more.”  She gave him his fork back.

And just like that, he ate one more bite of rice, one more bite of beans, and one more bite of chicken.

“Don’t be afraid to use bribery,” Connie Nickel said with a wink.

“Thanks mom,” Cassidy sighed.  “He never has a problem eating.  I think he slept too much today.”

It wasn’t long after they were all saying goodbye, Connie giving Cody a Spider-man toy she’d snuck out of the vending machine as his treat.  Talk of a golf game with the four of them came up before they went their separate directions.  Besides the ordeal with Cody, the evening had been rather enjoyable.   

Once they were safely on the road, Justin looked back at Cody—who was playing with his toy truck in the backseat and making “vroom, vroom” noises—and then he glanced at Cassidy, waiting until she gave him her attention.  “The discipline thing,” he said, concentrating on the highway again, “you’re going to have to help me with.  I mean, I want to help, but I don’t want to push it either.”

She nodded her head, agreeing.   “We’re just going to have to work into that.  I’m not sure about it either.”

“Other than that, do you think the night went okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.  Obviously you charmed the pants off my mother—well, just about,” she smirked.

Justin gave her a funny look.   “I wasn’t trying to.”

She patted his knee, but didn’t give him a response.  And the ride was quiet for quite some time after.

When Cody started to get restless and whine, Justin put in a DVD for Cody to watch on the little TV’s built into the back of his headrests.  The boy nearly squealed with delight when the video turned out to be his favorite—Tarzan.  Cassidy was really starting to like this co-parenting thing.   It sure made things a lot easier.

Jason had tried, but he just ended up getting more frustrated than anything.  Justin kept calm and more and more she felt like he was going to be the most wonderful father for Cody that she could have ever dreamed of.

With her little boy engrossed in his movie, and the car quiet dark, she reached over and took Justin’s hand.  She felt like she really needed him at the moment and she didn’t want to push the feeling away.  She wanted to welcome it and embrace it.  She was thankful that he’d walked back into her life and she wasn’t going to deny that in the least bit.

He stole a quick glance at her, smiling wide as he squeezed her fingers tight.  She didn’t need for him to say anything.  His touch said it all.

When they pulled through Cassidy’s security gate, after almost an hour of driving, she instantly knew something wasn’t right.  Something just felt funny and all the sudden her stomach was a little bit uneasy.

Justin pulled up right in front of the house, but he obviously didn’t see the body sitting on her front steps.   Cassidy did.  She saw him right away.

It was Jason.

She looked around for his car and noticed his Harley parked down by the garages.  Stress consumed her in an instant, quicker than she could quietly mutter, “Jason’s here.”

“Here?  Why?” Justin asked with confusion.

Cassidy shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

“Well, I’ll get Cody out.  You go talk to him.”

With a nod she agreed and opened the door, nervously slipping out.  Jason stood up as she walked towards him and Cassidy was enlightened by the fact that besides irritation, she felt absolutely nothing for him.  Last time she’d seen him, which had been more than a month, she had still felt hurt and pain and anger.  Now she didn’t even feel that anymore, and that was definitely a good thing.

“Jason, what are you doing here?”

He slumped a hand into the front pocket of his pressed designer jeans, a gray and black Diesel t-shirt covered his chest and shiny back loafers were on his feet—no doubt imported from Italy, either Salvatore Ferragamo or Bruno Magli.  Jason was all about designer everything.  His dark brown hair was styled perfectly, the glow of the porch light over his head making it shine.  “So it is true?  You’re already shacking up with some other dude?”

As soon as the first word came out of his mouth she could tell he was drunk.  It wasn’t a bad thing.  Unlike most, he turned overly sentimental and sensitive when he’d had too much to drink.  He’d been stone sober the night he’d back handed her right across the cheek.

She wanted to ask why the hell he cared and how the hell he figured it was any of his business, but she didn’t.   “You’re drunk and you were driving your motorcycle.  Are you trying to get yourself killed?” She stood firm with both of her hands braced at her hips.

“Jason!”  Cassidy heard Cody’s voice and the scurry of his feet against the gravel drive.  “Justin is my daddy!” the boy shouted, and Cassidy’s head fell immediately.  This was definitely not what she wanted to deal with.

She felt Justin’s presence beside her.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.  “I had a hold of his hand, but he got loose and took off.”

“It’s okay.  Can you take him inside?  I’ll be there in a minute.”

He agreed reluctantly.  She knew more than anything he didn’t want to leave her alone.  But this was something she needed to do by herself and Justin had to understand that. 

Jason eyed Justin non-aggressively and said, “How’s it going, man,” with a casual head nod.

Justin didn’t say anything in return, just returned the nod, took Cody’s hand and led him inside the house.

“Justin fucking Timberlake is Cody’s father?” Jason asked, before the door was even completely shut.   Cassidy hoped that Cody hadn’t heard him.

“Yes, and can you keep your voice down so Cody doesn’t hear, please?”  She was stern when she asked.

Jason shook his head.  “No wonder why you never told anyone.”

It was supposed to be a dig and she knew it.  “Fuck you, Jason.  What are you even doing here?  You have some nerve to even come here after you fucked half the country during the last two football seasons.”  Probably farther back than that, but that was before her and didn’t count for much in her defense.

“I just wanted to see if it’s true.  You know, that you’re already fucking someone else.  Are you fucking Justin… again?”  Disdain oozed from the last word, as he was referring to the obvious fact that she and Justin had done it at least once before in order to produce a child.

She shook her head, completely annoyed.  “That is none of your goddamn business and you know it.  We are divorced.  And if you didn’t want it to be that way you should have thought about it before you fucked every fucking groupie that fell at your feet.”  She was keeping her calm even though she really just wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.  “You know what, I’m not going to do this with you right now.  It’s late, I have company and Cody needs to be put to bed.  Sit there,” she pointed to the step.  “Let me call you a cab because you’re not fucking driving.”

It didn’t surprise her when he slumped onto the step and bowed his head.  He was the biggest push over when he was drunk.  The complete opposite of what you’d expect from some big macho football player. 

She took one step past him and pointed down at him.  “I swear to God if you try to leave on that bike while I’m inside, I will call the cops right away and tell them to pull you over for driving under the influence.”

Justin was standing in the doorway between the entry hall and the family room when she went inside.  He had one eye on Cody, who was laying on the floor in front of the TV, and one eye on the door.  Cassidy could sense how unnerving this was for him and she felt bad for him, but it definitely wasn’t anything she had asked for.

“Is he gone?”

“I can’t let him drive, Justin.  He’s fucking five sheets to the wind” –which was even worse than two, she figured.

“Did you want me to give him a ride?”

Her head shot back with surprise.  That was the last thing she’d expected him to say.  “No.   I’m calling him a cab.”

“It’s going to take 45 minutes to an hour for a cab to get here.  I can get him out of here in five.”

“Do you realize how awkward that will be?” she asked.

He looked back at Cody before stepping up to her and grabbing both of her hands.  He was close and she liked it.  “I’m not afraid of him, Cassie.”

Her walls were crumbling and she was sure he was perfectly aware of that fact.  “I didn’t say you were.  It’s not that anyway.  He’s a big pussy when he’s drunk.”

Justin snickered and she wanted to kiss the hell out of him, but she didn’t.  He looked completely devilish and attractive and she felt a little warm all the sudden. 

“Alright, fine.  But I can’t guarantee it will be a very pleasant drive and he’s probably going to be full of questions.  He already asked if we were fucking.”

“Yeah, I heard.  He’s not exactly quiet.”  His head fell in towards her, his forehead almost touching against hers.

She sucked in a quick breath, catching the faint aroma of his cologne.  That ball of excitement was back inside her chest and she wanted him to hurry up and leave just so he could get back.  “You will come back, right?”

“Uh, yeah.  Are you fucking kidding?”

A wide grin eased across her lips.  “Good,” she said.  “I’ll try and get Cody to bed while you’re gone.  Give me a quick kiss.”

Naturally he obliged, only it was anything but quick.  It was slow and soft and made her head spin.  His smile was huge when he pulled back.  “I’m going to tell Cody goodnight, then.  You go tell him what’s going on.”

“Yippee,” she remarked sarcastically.  “This is going to be fun.”

A few minutes later she watched the two most serious relationships in her life pull out of the drive.  Jason had been a serious mistake.  She hoped what she had with Justin turned into something seriously amazing and great.

© BrandyRae 2005