Part II: Chapter 28

The rest of their time in Cabo flew by.  It had been absolutely perfect and the bond she shared with Justin had only grown stronger after spending three amazing days alone with him.  Well, almost alone... if you didn’t count T who had been there to look after them.  He’d done his best at staying in the background when they were out.  Considering they did end up running into fans -twice at dinner and once at the beach—it was good to have had him there.

Now eight days later, Cassidy watched through the wide open doorway as a crew from People magazine set up equipment in Justin’s formal living room.  She could hear Cody buzzing behind her in the hallway.  Matt and Lynn were doing their best to keep him occupied and out of the way, but he was super excited about all the changes in their life.  Who knew he’d be so open to the extra attention.  Clearly, he got that part of his personality from his father.  It made Cassidy smile just thinking about it.  More and more of Justin’s personality traits were becoming evident in their son.   Actually, she realized that a lot of them were there before, she just hadn’t known Justin well enough before to realize it.

Two days after they’d got home from their mini retreat they’d sat down as a family—with a big bowl of popcorn in Justin’s home theater—and watched some old videos of Justin performing as a kid.  Things had really clicked for Cody after that.  He was awed and enamored—and watching Justin’s facial expressions throughout the whole thing had been priceless.  Since then Cody had been fully attentive over everything Justin had to do work related.  Cassidy found it both intriguing and weird.  Her little boy had never paid much attention to entertainers before, but this had lit a whole new fire underneath him.  She was curious as to how far or long it would go.

Deep in thought, she jumped a little when Justin came up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.  “You ok?” he asked quietly.  

She nodded.  She was.  It was a bit overwhelming, but she could handle it.  Plus she was glad that it was just a magazine shoot and not a TV shoot.  Piece of cake.

“They’re almost ready,” he continued.  “Wardrobe is ready to dress Cody.”

Now that felt a little weird.  “Ok,” she finally spoke.  “I’m coming.”

She followed him into one of the large guest suites where wardrobe and makeup had set up earlier.  She'd been there earlier for her own hair and makeup, now she watched as clothes were laid out for her son.  Cody came in with Lynn, still bouncing off the walls a bit.  "Which outfit do you like?" Cassidy immediately asked him.  She liked for him to have a say in that kind of stuff.

And he definitely had an opinion, picking out a pair of dark jeans and a blue, white and yellow shirt.  It wasn't Cassidy's first choice, but she was going to let him have this one.  "I like this one," Justin spoke up, picking out a different shirt—pale blue—and more kid looking jeans.  She liked that choice better too.  Her eyes caught Justin's and he winked.  

"Oh, me too!" Cody quickly changed his mind. How nice it was to not be a single parent anymore.  And it had become more than apparent how much influence Justin had over Cody.  Now that things were settling between them all, co-parenting had become much more seamless and effortless.  It had become natural.  She couldn't place when exactly things had clicked, they just had.  

Twenty minutes later they all situated themselves in front of the photographer in the open-spaced living room where the crew had set up.  He placed them first on Justin's white couch, mock reading with Cody.  Next it was playing with a Lego set, then drawing, sharing a laugh, and various different poses with the three of them together.  Then several shots of Justin and Cody together without Cassidy.  When they got up, the three of them moved out of the room and Justin lifted Cody onto his back, carrying him outside, where the photographers followed and more pictures were snapped, this time on the basketball court.  Lynn even got in on the action a bit.

It was all a bit surreal.  Cassidy had been on TV, but she had never really been in a full-fledged photo shoot.  Considering this one was uber personal took it to a whole nother level.  She tried her best to be as real as possible.  What she couldn’t hide or deny was all of the love and adoration she felt whenever she watched Justin and Cody together.  To her, that was the best gift.  Seeing those two sharing so much had become the light of her life.  If she let herself get too caught up she’d become instantly emotional.  That was the last thing she wanted when the cameras were on her.  It was one thing to be real, it was another to be overly sentimental.

It was after five p.m. when everything was said and done.  Cody had missed his afternoon snack and he was making his hunger known to everyone.  “You want me to go pick something up?” Matt asked.  Cassidy had just returned downstairs after washing her face and changing back into her regular clothes.  

“Yeah, could you?” Justin piped in.

“Why don’t we just go get something?” Cassidy suggested.  She was getting tired of avoiding such typical things.  

“Babe...” Justin looked her way with sensitive eyes.  “We should probably let the photos hit before we start making public appearances.”

“I guess it does kind of defeat the purpose, huh?” she asked, feeling slightly defeated.

“It does,” he said, stepping close to her and wrapping his arms around her waist.  Lovingly he pressed his lips to her temple.

"I'll go pick something up.  You guys just relax," Matt stated.  Cassidy was feeling more and more like he was a godsend.  He way surprassed his duties as simply an assistant.

"Thanks Matt.  We really appreciate it," Justin was saying, one arm wrapped against Cassidy's waist, his side against her side.  

"Mommy, can we go swimming in Daddy's pool?" Cody asked out of the blue.

"I think that is a great idea."  It was Justin who answered the question, before Cassidy could even think it through.  

"Is it warm?" Cassidy asked, it was November after all.

"Of course," he remarked, as if she was silly to ask otherwise.

"Yay!" Cody jumped excitedly where he was standing next to Matt.  

"Go up to your room sweetie," Cassidy stepped close to her little boy and ruffled his blond head.  "I'll be up in a minute to help you get changed."

He answered with a happy "K!" and shot out of the room like a bullet.  Cassidy was immediately yelling for him to slow down.

Taking in a deep breath, she turned to Matt.  "Mexican food.... with a margarita."

Justin laughed.  "Just get the food," he told Matt.  "I'll take care of the margaritas."

Forty-five minutes later when Matt returned with the food Cassidy was sitting on the edge of the pool watching her son and his father splash and play—Cody giggling for the past 5 minutes straight at least—while sipping on that much needed margarita.  The sun had set and the wind had picked up, so they got out of the heated pool and headed toward the outdoor dining area.  Justin was quick to turn on the heaters while Cassidy got Cody settled in front of his food.

It was a quiet and relaxing meal with just the three of them.  Sure, there were people inside the house still bustling from the activity of the day, but it felt like they were miles away and Cassidy realized how much she wanted this life for her and her son—and that she wanted it for good.  

Lynn came out just as Cody was finishing up.  "Mind if I help Cody with his bath and get him ready for bed since I'm leaving tomorrow."

Justin automatically deflected the question, his eyes fixating on Cassidy for a response.

"Sounds like a great idea," she smiled.

Cody happily hopped up to go with Grandma Lynn.  

"Hey, can Daddy and I get hugs and kisses goodnight please?"

The curly blond headed boy spun in his tracks, running to his mom first, arms open for a big hug. Then he turned to Justin, and did the same for his Daddy.  "Night kiddo," Justin called out right before Cody disappeared inside the house with Lynn.

Emotion was weighing heavily on Cassidy’s heart as she twisted in her chair to gaze at the man who had suddenly become her whole world.  The feeling overwhelmed her, but it didn’t scare her.  She realized more and more that she wanted this.  This was the life she’d envisioned with her first marriage, but it had never even came close to what she’d experienced with Justin in less two months time.  

“So, we need to talk about my schedule.”  He grasped her hand, and she was knocked out of her fuzzy haze.  “Because it’s about to get really busy,” he continued.

“Ok.”  She had known that, overhearing who knew how many conversations about all he had coming up, but the fact that he felt the need to have an actual conversation about it concerned her for a minute.  He wasn’t feeling like her and Cody in his life would be too much when he was really working, was he?

Thankfully he smiled, that one hundred percent charming yet sincere Timberlake grin, and the knot in her stomach loosened.  “Don’t look at me like that,” he said, still smiling.  “It’s not bad.”

“Oh.”  She sighed maybe louder than she wanted to.  

He chuckled, deep and kind of silly-like, but somehow absolutely sexy at the same time, and she felt like she was completely losing her head.  

“So first thing, I’d like to add a nanny to my staff… to help with Cody.”  Cassidy opened her mouth, but he kept talking.  “You’re an amazing mother.  This has nothing to do with that.  I just know how things are about to change and having someone to help with Cody will be a godsend.  Trust me.”

“Ok…” she drew out the word, sensing there was more coming.

“The other thing, well… and there’s no pressure, but I’d really love it if you and Cody settled in here with me.   I mean, I’m not asking you to sell your place or anything, but now that I have Cody’s room all set up and he is obviously comfortable here— and with the press about to hit, I’d feel more secure if we spent most of our time here.

She opened her mouth again, but he didn’t let her speak.

“I love my house, but I’ve realized over the past few days that I really love it with you and Cody in it.  I know I pressured you in Cabo.  I don’t want to do that, but I do want you to know how I feel.”

Cassidy finally let a grin ease over her lips.  “I don’t want to leave,” she spoke softly, getting caught in the gentle gaze of his dark gray-blue eyes.  “I love being here with you.  I really just love being anywhere with you.”  He smiled wide at that.  Cassidy continued, “Let’s do it.”

“Yeah?” he asked

She nodded, “Yeah.”

“That makes me really happy.”

“You make me really happy,” she countered with a sappy grin.

His smile spread up to his eyes as he leaned over and pressed his soft lips into hers.  The touch of his fingertips tickled her jawline as his mouth lingered over hers both lovingly and sensually.  She couldn’t help but smile against him.  He made her feel amazing.  Her heart felt like it had tripled in size it was so full of love and adornment.

When he finally backed away, she realized he never really talked much about his schedule.  “Is there more?  You said you wanted to talk about your schedule.”

“Mainly that was it.  In my mind I’m trying to figure out how this is going to work best… me being a dad, and a boyfriend—” his grin turned silly when he said boyfriend “—and working a full schedule.  I need to make sure I am fulfilling all these roles because I cannot afford to jeopardize what I have with you or my responsibilities as a father to Cody.”

Cassidy was soothingly rubbing his forearm, like she needed to comfort him now.  “We’ll be fine, Justin.  We understand that your career is very important to you… I understand.”  she hoped she was conveying how sincerely she meant that.  “We can handle this.  I can handle this.”

“It’s gonna be ok,” he said.  “I start with studio time.  The hours are long, but it’s private and quiet as far as press goes.  No craziness.”

“Please don’t worry.  I’m not going to run.”  She had a feeling that’s what he was afraid of.  “I hate to remind you of this, but I was married to an NFL quarterback.  I understand busy schedules.”

He put a hand up and kind of swished it through the air. “I get that,” he said, “but this is SO not like that.  SO, not like that…”  She could tell by the way he was shaking his head that he hated it when she brought that up, but it was hard not to sometimes.

“I’m sure it’s different in many ways, but I just don’t want you to worry.”

Justin switched from shaking to nodding his head.  His tongue peeked out of his mouth as he licked his bottom lip and it affected Cassidy in ways that should not be affecting her during such a serious conversation.  “I’ll try not to,” he said.  “I’ll try my best.”

It was at that moment that Matt poked his head out the back door.  “J, Timb is on the phone.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said to Matt.  “See, baby, it’s starting already.  Are you sure you’re going to be ok with all this?”

“Sweetheart, yes, I promise.  Go talk to him. You’ve been waiting for this call all day.”  

Justin stood, his chair screeching across the concrete as he got up from the table.  Before going inside, he leaned down and pressed one more wet kiss to her mouth.  “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too.  Don’t worry.”

Taking the last sip of her watered down margarita, Cassidy stood and stacked their dirty plates to clear the table, but before she could finish, Rosa, Justin's longtime housekeeper appeared out of nowhere and took over.  Cassidy thanked her and slipped inside Justin's 12,000 square foot estate.

It was an incredible home, in much better taste than her own home thanks to the decorating done by her ex-husband.  She snickered to herself at that thought.  Jason had such terrible style.  And not that she was comparing the two, but it was just one more thing on a list of dozens that she loved about Justin—he had impeccable style, regardless if it was in his home or on his person.  He was just the epitomy of cool.

And the room he had decorated for Cody was amazing—way more amazing then the one at her house.  Cody actually had his own sitting area on one side of the room, with small couch and a rocker.  There was a TV, of course, but also built in bookshelves with every children's book imaginable.  On the other side of the large room was a bed that looked more like a fort.  On the wall was a large hand painted mural of the most friendly looking dinosaur Cassidy had ever seen.  It was truly amazing, and Justin had done it all on his own without any input from Cassidy.  

Cody had been so excited over his "new room" when they'd first seen it, more excited than Christmas morning even, that he'd played in it a whole day straight.  They had to force him down for meals.  That thought reminded Cassidy, Christmas wasn't far, barely a month really.  She wondered how that would all play out.  She was excited to spend the holiday with Justin.  It would be Cody's first Christmas with his daddy.  That warmed her from the inside out, but it also made her realize it was something they probably need to discuss.  Afterall, they'd been so busy that they'd practically missed Thanksgiving.  She didn't want that to happen with Christmas.

The sound of Matt's voice calling out to her from Justin's downstairs study caught Cassidy's attention.  She turned and hovered inside the doorway where the young man was sitting at a desk with a computer, still hard at work.  "You're still here?"  It was after 8 p.m.

"Just finishing up," he said.

"You should ask Justin for a raise," she told him, although she had no idea how much he was paid. "...For all your hard work and dedication."

Matt smiled and responded with a shy "thanks."  Then he got to his point.  "I have a folder for you... nanny resumes."

"Oh."  She hadn't quite expected that already.  "Ok."  She stepped further into the room and took the file he was holding out for her.  "Thanks," she told him.

"No problem."

Heading up the curved staircase, Cassidy carried the folder with her.  She planned on taking a hot shower and then retiring to Justin's big cozy bed.  It was amazingly comfortable.  She understood why he loved his house so much, because she really enjoyed it too.  Once she relaxed she'd start reviewing the resumes.  A glass of wine sounded nice.  Would it be wrong to have wine after a margarita?  She'd ponder that one while in the shower.

Passing by Justin's private office, she heard his loud boisterous laugh even though the door was shut.  He'd talked a lot about his relationship with Timbaland, the music producer that Justin had worked with on most all of his solo stuff.  It was obvious the friendship went much deeper than just work, eventhough Cassidy had yet to meet the man.

It pleased to her know that Justin had such good people around him.  Funny how she cared so deeply for him in such a short time.  It went so deep that she felt extremely protective over him.  She couldn't remember ever feeling that way towards another man, and espcially not her ex husband.  For some odd reason she found herself remembering when they'd met five years ago.  She would have never imagined that things would have turned out the way they did.  Apparently when things are meant to be, they are just meant to be.  

When Justin ended his call with Timb he took the time to read through some emails since he was already sitting at his desk.  He responded to the ones that needed his attention—one being a lengthy response to his cousin Rachel.  She had worked for him for a long time, as his previous assistant, but she'd decided to pursue other avenues when he'd married Maci.  There was no bad blood.  She'd actually become involved with someone herself and moved back home to Tennessee.  But he missed her and he definitely needed to update her on all that had been going on.  

After that he looked at some pictures Trace's wife had sent of the baby.  He really needed to get over there.  Or maybe he'd invite them both over for dinner.  Trace had been so busy learning to be a Dad, Justin hadn't spent much time with him either over the last few weeks.  Kind of funny considering they both suddenly had this huge life change in common.  But he and Trace didn't need to see each other every day to be on the same page.  They were that close.

He felt like his whole life was consumed with his new family, but he wasn't upset about it.  Not in the slightest bit.  In fact, it thrilled him.  He loved having a family, being a dad, and a... boyfriend—  He hated that term. It didn't fit.  Things were way more serious than just that, but he had no idea what else to call them and he didn't want to pressure Cassidy anymore than he already head.  She'd agreed to move in.  The last thing he wanted to do was screw that up.

When he found her a few minutes later she was sitting at the head of his bed, pillows propped behind her, her wet hair twisted into a messy bun on top of her head, and a folder of paperwork in her lap.  The TV was on but the volume was turned down too low to hear it.  He smiled, realizing she was watching the Golf Channel.  It was a replay of an old PGA tournament.  He knew because it was too late for a live airing.  He watched it for a second; Tiger was at the tee, in his customary red shirt and black golf pants.  

He let out a quiet but happy smirk.  Yes, this was the woman he was head over heels in love with.  It was the little things that reminded him how perfect she was for him.

Finally noticing him, she looked up with a goofy grin.  "Matt gave me nanny resumes to look over."

The corner of his lip twitched.  "I asked him before I discussed it with you.  Hope you're not upset about that."  His sight unwavering, he moved closer to the bed.

"No, it's fine.  I kind of like that you took the lead on this."  That surprised him.  Cassidy was so strong and independent.  He never wanted to make her feel like she didn't have a say, because she most certainly did have a say, especially in regard to their son—she was the boss!

She was happy so he decided there was no need to discuss it further.  "Well, on that note..." he stripped his t-shirt over his head, purposely flexing his abdomen as he did so.  "I'm gonna jump in the shower."  

He got the ogling reaction he was hoping for—her eyes roaming over him hungrily—then he headed off toward the master en suite.  

"Hurry back!" she called after him.  

Oh, he planned on it.

© BrandyRae 2013