May 2011

“Can I ask you something Justin?”  Emma asked lifting her head from where it was resting on his shoulder.  The two were lying on her couch watching a movie.  She was on her side, wedged between him and the back of the couch.

“Sure.”  He didn’t remove his eyes from the TV.

“Will you be honest?”

“Of course,” he turned to look at her.  “Why wouldn’t I be?”  Justin sounded hurt.

“Because of what I want to know,” she replied.

“Emma,” he looked into her eyes, “we’re getting married in two weeks.  I will always, always be honest with you.”  He knew it must be really important for her to know if she was that unsure of what his answer might be.

“How many girls have you been with?”  She rested her head on his shoulder again.  Emma could feel the heavy breath he took in and let out. 

“Ten or so,” Justin answered, quietly and honestly.  Emma let out a sigh.  She knew he said the truth.

“I wish it wasn’t like that Emma.”  He moved, which caused Emma to move, so he could lie on his side and face her.  “In the four years I’ve known you Emma that is something I have come to regret.”  Justin brushed her bangs out of her eyes and behind her ear.

“You are giving me the best gift you could give me, and I am sorry I can’t do the same for you,” he continued.  Emma knew he was speaking the truth.

Emma’s cheeks turned red as the next question popped into her head.

“When we … uh … you know,” she paused.  Justin grinned at her red cheeks.  “Will you, umm … tell me what you like?”  Emma couldn’t look him in the eye as she asked that.

“Of course,” Justin answered, “and you have to tell me too.”

“But I don’t know,” Emma finally met his eyes.

“I know that.  We’ll find out together, K?”  Justin grinned which made Emma giggle.  He kissed her.  “We have to talk about these things, even if they’re uncomfortable for you.  I like my woman to be satisfied.”  He smirked.

“Ugh.” Emma pushed his shoulder a little and buried her face in the pillow.  He grabbed her hand with his free hand held it.

“I’m honest with you and you’re honest with me.  That’s the deal, right?”  Justin asked.

“Right.”  Emma looked back at him and smiled.

“So, here’s something else we’ve never talked about,” Justin started.

“What’s that?”  She asked.

“How many boyfriends have you had?”  He asked.

“Two and you,” she answered wondering why they hadn’t talked about this before.  She figured it was just something neither of them had ever felt the need to discuss or bring up. 

“A guy in high school … and, uh Bryan.”

“Bryan?  Your business partner Bryan?”  Justin sounded and looked a little shocked.

“Yes, my business partner,” she answered.  “It was for two years, but really wasn’t going anywhere.  We decided we were better off as friends and starting a business together.”

“I never would have put you two together like that.”  He said after he had thought about it a moment.

“Tell me about.  Especially for that amount of time too,” Emma said.  She shook her head.  “We had been friends for two years already by then, and it was just kind of pointless.”  Emma sighed. 

Justin shifted so he was on his back again, and Emma moved so she could rest her head on his shoulder again.  He wrapped his arm around her so his hand was on her shoulder, and pulled her closer to him.

“So what did you think of the house we looked at today?”  Justin asked.

“It was nice.  I just hate to give up my little home here.”  Emma answered.

“I know,” he replied.  “But we can’t live with Trevor forever, and if we’re going to make Arkansas my home I want some say in it.”

“Well that’s only fair,” Emma agreed.  “I just don’t want to live in a place with more than four bedrooms and three bathrooms.”

“I know you don’t.  Maybe we should check out some places on the lake.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Emma said.  “I do like the lake.”  It was quiet for a minute.

“Your Mom, Dad, grandparents and Trace are coming in on Friday right?”  Emma asked.

“Yeah,” Justin nodded.

“I’m going to put your grandparents in my room, parents in Trevor’s, and you and Trace can be in the guest room, and I’ll stay in the den with Fee.  Trevor’s just going to stay at Mom and Dad’s.” 

“You have it all figured out,” he smiled.

“I always do.”  She returned his grin and shifted so she could lie on top of him.

“Of course.”  He brought his hands up to her cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss.  Emma yawned after he kissed her.  “Tired?”

She nodded and hugged him to the best of her ability despite the couch cushions.

“Do you want to go to bed?”

“I’m comfortable like this for a while.”  She rested her head on his shoulder again.

*  *  *

“Fee!”  Emma squealed when she opened the door to see her best girl friend, who she hadn’t seen in a few years.

“Emmy!”  Fee squealed to and wrapped her arms around her.

“I’m getting married!”

“I know!”  They started to jump up and down in each others arms.

Justin was a little surprised at Emma’s “girly” actions.  He looked at Trevor with a raised brow.

“Fee is the only person who can make Emma be all girly,” Trevor explained and then stood up to great his sister’s maid of honor.  “Fefe!”

The taller of the two women turned to glare at Trevor.  He knew she hated that nickname.

“You know I hate that,” Felicia pointed her finger at him.  “I should have brought Roger along to beat you up.”  She wrapped her arms around him anyway and kissed his cheek.

“But what fun would that be?”  He pulled away from her.

“Lots.”  Fee grinned.

“I wish he could be here.  I really wanted to meet him,” Emma said.

“I know,” she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.  “But he’s got a show opening this weekend, and he cannot not be there.  So now … I have to meet the Justin Timberlake who stole your heart.”  Felicia’s eyes scanned the small space, and she walked over to Justin and Trace who had both stood up from the couch.  “I’m Felicia.”

“Justin and this is Trace – the best man.”  He shook her outstretched hand.  “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too,” she said and then turned back to Emma.  “Okay … so you’ve got to come out and see the dress, and I need to give you guys your present now so I can get it out of my car.”

“Awesome,” Emma smiled.  Felicia looped her arm through Emma’s and the two girls started toward the front door.  “Come on boys.”  Emma called over her shoulder.

Justin, Trace and Trevor followed the two girls out to the car Felicia had driven from New York City in.  Fee opened the back door and pulled out the dress that was hanging from the hook in a plastic bag.

“So what do you think?”  She held the dress up, still in its plastic, to herself.

“Love it,” Emma gushed.  “It looks so much better in person than in a photo.”  Emma had let Fee design and sew her own maid of honor dress instead of buying one at a store.  The dress was black with an empire waistline that was delineated with a band of teal fabric, which was repeated at the neckline and straps, which crisscrossed in the back. 

“It’s perfect.  You did such a great job with it.  And that teal matches …”

“Well I’m so glad you were able to send that swatch otherwise it just wouldn’t of worked,” Felicia said.  “I’ll try it on, but first.” She handed the dress to Emma so she could hold it.  “Trevor come and help me out.”

Felicia unlocked the trunk and opened it.  Trevor grabbed one side of the flat box, Felicia the other, and together they pulled it out.  It barely fit.

“I almost cried because I didn’t think it was going to fit, but Roger reminded me to put the seats down,” she explained as they finished pulling out the 5’ by 5’ box.

“No way!”  Emma said when she realized what was going to be inside of it.  She was excited, and Trace and Justin didn’t know what to think.  Trevor just went along with it.  “Is that …?”

“You two have to close your eyes.”  Fee smiled and when they did, she laid the box flat on the grass.  She opened the top and pulled out the 5’ by 5’ canvas with the help of Trevor.  They had to take the plastic off, and then they stood on either side so they wouldn’t have to lean it against the car.

Emma could barely contain herself as she held onto Justin’s arm.  Justin was getting excited because Emma was.  Trace had been handed the dress and was now just staring at the work of art in front of him.

“Okay.”  Fee said.

Emma and Justin opened their eyes.  They took in the abstract teal, black and white painting.  Somehow it was musical the way Fee had painted the letters ‘E’ and ‘J’ over and over again, filling the canvas, different sizes and directions, in the same script font they had used on their invitations.

“Love it,” Emma gushed.  She stepped closer to the canvas so she could take it all in.  “How long did you work on it?”  Emma wanted to touch it, especially in the areas where the paint was raised.

“Two weeks … Roger was going crazy because I wouldn’t go to sleep and barely ate.  And he tried everything,” Fee laughed.  “I was inspired.”  She shrugged.

“It’s all you guys’.  I didn’t even make prints of this baby.”

“It’s so,” Emma searched for the right word, “musical.”

“Exactly.  That’s what I was hoping for because you two both love music,” Fee explained.

“Well, it’s brilliant.”  Emma wrapped her arms around Fee.  Fee let go of the canvas to return the hug.  “Thank you.”

“Your welcome,” Felicia pulled away.  “It was the best thing I could think to do that would show you how happy I am for you.”

The five of them stood in her front yard staring at the painting until Trevor got tired of holding it. 

“Have you done any painting lately?”  Fee asked Emma as they were wrapping up the painting.

“Not since I was out there with you,” Emma answered.  She looked over at Justin and smiled.  He was conversing with Trace and Trevor.

“Does he know about that painting?” 

“Oh yeah,” Emma waved it off.  “He found it entertaining.”  Fee giggled.

“Hey, remember when Bryan was our model in figures?”  She laughed.

“Ugh!”  Emma groaned as her face turned red at the thought.  She had almost forgotten. 

“You looked just like that,” Fee laughed and pointed. 

Justin glanced over at her when he heard that.

“I couldn’t even talk to him on the phone for two weeks after.  That was so embarrassing because everyone knew we were dating then,” Emma sighed. 

“To who?”  Justin asked.

“Bryan,” Emma answered and explained the whole thing to Justin.  He just shook his head and when she stood up, he wrapped his arms around her.  “Can you take the painting in for us?”

“Sure.”  Justin rubbed her back and then stepped away to grab the box Fee was holding. 

Fee grabbed the dress from Trace and the five of them went back into the house.  Emma and Felicia disappeared into her bedroom leaving the guys to fend for themselves.

*  *  *

“Oh Emma Leigh,” Karen gushed when Emma stepped out of the bathroom with the gown on.  They were in the master bedroom at her parents’ house.

“Justin’s going to love that,” Lynn said.  Lynn and her mother, Sadie, were there along with Fee and Emma’s Grandmother, Lucille, to see the dress.  “I think he would love anything though.”

“Probably,” Emma smiled.  It was Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday.  She couldn’t believe the wedding was already there and with all the last minute things she was ready for it to be over.

“Sweetheart,” her Grandmother started when she saw the tattoo on her back.  “Are you going to cover your tattoo?”  She was always concerned about Emma’s tattoos and what other people would think.

“I don’t know yet Gran,” Emma answered.  One more thing to worry about.  She would probably leave it alone because Justin was always fascinated by it.

“I like seeing it,” Fee stated.  “It shows your personality.” 

“Thanks.”  She walked over to the mirror in the room.  Emma stopped in front of it and looked at herself, taking it all in. 

The strapless, white dress went down to the floor and from the waist down an off-white transparent fabric fell that had some beading and lacing that lined the hem and went up the middle of the dress in the back.  The same fabric also wrapped around the waist and made somewhat of a bow in the front.  Overall, the dress was pretty simple.

“Are you excited?”  Karen asked and stepped closer to Emma.

“Yeah, but I’m ready to get it over with, wedding planning is too stressful,” she explained.  The four older women laughed, knowing what she was expressing.

“Enjoy it because it’ll be over before you know it,” Lynn said.

“I’m gonna do my best,” Emma stated.

“How about lunch?”  Karen asked after a couple of minutes in silence.  The women all agreed and left Emma and Fee in the room to help her out of the dress and put it away.

“We’re going out tonight right?”  Fee asked as she was putting the dress on the hanger.

“Yeah,” Emma answered as she pulled her jeans on.  “The guys are going with us though.”  She put her T-shirt on and then walked over to the bed to help put the dress in its bag.

“Lame.”

“Well Dickson Street is not that big so we’d probably end up running into each other anyway especially because the college kids are all gone,” Emma stated.  “And it would just be the two of us and Bryan that’s kind of lame too.”  Fee laughed.

“Can we get you smashed?”  She asked mischievously.

“Fee!”  Emma really wasn’t that shocked her friend would ask that.

“What?”  Fee zipped up the dress bag.

“You cannot get me smashed.  I’ll have a couple of drinks, but no more.  Got it?”  Rule setting was one thing Emma had mastered since she met Felicia.

“Sure.”  Fee answered with a wink.  Emma rolled her eyes.  “So Hog Haus and Willy D’s?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Emma responded.  They walked out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen.  “I don’t think I’ve ever taken Justin down Dickson.”

“Dickson?”  Justin asked. 

Emma was startled to see him and the other guys in her parents’ kitchen.  Her Dad had taken them to one of the golf courses nearby that morning, and they weren’t expected back until later that day.

“Hey, you guys are back already?”  Walking over to him, Emma gave him a hug and kiss.

“We just decided to play nine holes and see what you girls were up to.”  He left his arm around her shoulder when she leaned into his side.

“So how’d you guys do?”  Emma asked.

“Not bad,” Justin answered and started talking about the game with their Dads and Trace.

*  *  *

Justin and Emma finally were able to get some time to themselves at the end of the night on Friday when he had insisted on driving her to her parents’ house, following their rehearsal dinner. 

“Can you believe that tomorrow is the wedding?”  He glanced over at Emma who was resting her head on the window.

“Not really,” she answered.  “I’m just ready for it to be over.  All this planning and running around is driving me crazy.”

“Well tomorrow you can try to relax and not worry about a thing because we have Jill to do that for us.”  He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“Thank goodness.”  Emma lifted her head off of the glass and smiled at him.  “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.  You know?”  Even though he was nervous about their pending nuptials the following day, he knew that it was what he wanted: to spend the rest of his life with her.  It was a scary venture, but there wasn’t anyone else he would rather go for it with.

“Yup.”  Emma nodded in agreement.

Justin parked the car in front of Emma’s parents’ house, and he unbuckled his seatbelt so he could turn and face her.  Emma did the same.

“So,” he said.

“Hmm …” She hummed.

“I’m happy.”

“I am happy too.”   Emma smiled and leaned over the center console so she could kiss him.  It wasn’t very comfortable.

“Let me walk you to the door.”  Justin stated.  Emma nodded and reached for the handle.  They got out of the truck and Emma walked around to where Justin was.  He grabbed her hand and they walked up to her parents’ front door.

“I’m excited to see you at the end of the aisle tomorrow.”  Justin pulled her close to his body, and she wrapped her arms around him. 

“Oh yeah?”  Emma asked.

“Yup.  I bet you’ll look hot,” he grinned.  “And then I’ll get to take it off.”

“Justin,” she raised an eyebrow, poking him in the chest.  “If you keep that up I’m gonna make you wait longer.”

“Four plus years was too long.  I probably forgot.”

Emma pulled away from him, “I’m going in.”  She smiled.

“Awe, come on, don’t be like that Emmy.”  He hugged her closer to him.  “You know I love you, but you’re just so easy sometimes.”  Justin teased.  Emma pinched his side, but let him kiss her.  “I am so ecstatic about being with you, and loving you, and everything that comes with being your husband.” 

“Good,” Emma sighed.  They stood, wrapped in each others arms, for a few minutes, just kissing.

“I don’t want to, but I’m going to say goodnight now,” Justin said.  He rested his forehead against hers.

“Okay,” she said quietly.  Her fingers ran through the hair on the back of his head.  “Goodnight Justin.”

“Night soon-to-be Mrs. Timberlake,” Justin kissed her softly.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.”  Emma dropped her arms and opened the door.  “See you to-mor-row.”  She sang and stepped inside.

“I’ll be there,” Justin grinned.  “Bye Emmy.”