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November 2012
“Come and sit down in here girls,” Sierra said as she picked Cameron up from his high chair. The two girls followed Sierra and Justin into the living room and sat down on the couch, while Sierra and Justin sat on the loveseat.
“We have something to talk about,” Justin said.
“What’s that?” Olivia asked.
“Sierra and I are,” he reached for her hand, “going to get married.”
“Really?” Olivia sounded excited, “Sissy’s gonna be my Mom?”
“I guess she is,” Justin smiled, “and Cora’s going to be my sister.”
“That’s cool,” Cora said happily.
“So when are you going to get married?”
“It’ll be awhile, since your Dad is busy and so am I,” Sierra answered. “Maybe sometime next year.”
December 2012
“Thank you for helping out today,” Sierra said as she stuffed a plate into a bag. Her class had just had their Christmas party, “they really seemed to like that craft.”
“Well if it involves candy, all kids seem to like that,” Stacy stacked the unused plates and cups.
“Sierra! Sierra! Sierra!” Olivia bounced into the room.
“Olivia!” Sierra turned around and matched her enthusiasm. “How many sweets did you have?”
“A whole lot,” Olivia smiled. “Look what I made …” She held up a sheet of cardstock that had somehow been folded and colored to look like a deer, inside there was a bag of oats mixed with glitter. “It’s reindeer food “ see you put it on the ground and when Santa comes his reindeer eat it.”
“That’s great; you and Cora can put it out on Christmas Eve,” Sierra smiled. “Am I supposed to take you home today?”
“Uh-huh, Daddy said he had something to do, and Grandma was busy,” Olivia nodded, “so he said for you to take me home.”
“That’s nice that he calls and warns me …” Sierra mumbled under her breath. “Could you help us pick up? I have to get to the daycare to pick up Cora and Cameron.”
“Sure,” Olivia set her stuff down. Sierra told her what to pick up and Olivia did just as she asked.
“Am I dropping you off at home, or is he supposed to pick you up at my house?” Sierra asked once they were in the car to pick up Cora and Cameron.
“I don’t know,” Olivia shrugged.
“We’ll just go to my house then,” Sierra concentrated on driving and parked the car once they got to the daycare. Sierra went inside to pick up the two kids. They made their way home, with a quick stop at a drive-thru for dinner. Sierra got them settled at the kitchen table when the phone rang.
“I’m going to get that real quick. Please, watch Cameron while he eats,” she stood up and walked out of the room to answer the phone.
“Is Olivia there?” Justin sounded panicked as she answered the phone.
“Yes,” Sierra answered calmly. “And I appreciate you calling and asking me if I could give her a ride home.”
“I’m sorry- I just … it scared the shit out of me when she wasn’t here at home,” Justin stuttered.
“Well I wasn’t going to leave her at your house by herself,” Sierra said. “Justin, I mean really … ugh … I don’t even know what to say. What if I had to leave school right away, she’d have been left there alone … plan ahead, next time, and let me know, please?”
“I will, I will,” Justin said, “I’m gonna come pick her up. We need to talk about Christmas and New Years when I get there.”
“Okay, we’ll see you in a little bit.” Sierra said and hung up the phone. She went back into the kitchen and sat down at the table to eat her dinner. Cameron had ketchup all over his hands and had smeared it across the white tray. “That’s lovely,” Sierra smiled at the little boy when he showed her his hands. “No more playing with your food, eat it.”
The girls ran up the stairs and Sierra was just wiping off Cameron’s hands when the front door opened and closed. Justin appeared in the kitchen doorway and smiled when Sierra looked up. She looked back down and concentrated on wiping off his face.
“Are you still mad?” He asked.
“I’m not mad and I wasn’t mad. I was frustrated,” Sierra answered and picked Cameron up and set him on the floor. The little boy walked over to Justin who picked him up.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized again, “it was a last minute thing, and my Mom couldn’t pick her up.”
“It’s fine, just call next time,” Sierra wiped off the tray, “and leave a message on my cell phone.”
“Okay,” Justin resigned. He knew she was still mad, but wasn’t going to fight about it, so he just let it go. That was not how he wanted to start off their holiday. He looked at Cameron who just smiled at him, and Justin smiled too.
“What are our plans for the next week?” Sierra asked and walked over to the sink. She rinsed the rag off and then walked back over to the table.
“Our flight leaves Sunday at 1:17, so we need to leave here at 11:30,” Justin answered, “and you and me will fly out to L.A. for the New Years party on the 30th. My Mom said she and Dad would watch the kids. And we’ll fly back to Tennessee on the 2nd, and come home on the 3rd.”
Sierra nodded and crinkled up the hamburger and fry wrappers into a ball. She threw them away and then wiped down the kitchen table.
“Dad,” Olivia said as she walked into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
“Hey sweetheart,” Justin put his free arm around her, since Cameron was still in the other. “How was your party today?”
“It was lots of fun, we made reindeer food, and Sierra said we could put it out on the ground for them,” Olivia stated.
“Well that’s cool; we’ll have to do that then,” Justin grinned, “go get your bag so we can go home.” Olivia nodded and turned to leave the room.
“You’re dropping her off, here, tomorrow for the day, right?” Sierra asked.
“Yeah, it’ll be around eight. Is that okay?” He set Cameron back down and watched as he walked off into the living room to play with his toys.
“Uh-huh,” she nodded and walked with him out of the kitchen and into the foyer, “I’ll be up.”
“Ready Olivia?” Justin asked as she came into the room with her backpack.
Olivia nodded, “Bye Cora!” She yelled up the stairs.
“Bye!” Cora ran out of her room and waved.
“See you tomorrow morning,” Sierra said and hugged Olivia. She gave Justin a hug and kiss and then opened the door for them.
“Merry Christmas,” Lynn smiled when Sierra walked into the kitchen Christmas morning.
“You too,” Sierra responded and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Do you need some help?”
“Sure,” Lynn answered. “If you will mix this for me and poor it into this pan here.” She handed Sierra the plastic bowl and spoon, and then grabbed a cake pan from the cabinet below. “Is Justin up?”
“No,” Sierra answered. “He did roll over when I got out of bed, but other then that, nothing.” Lynn laughed. “I’m surprised the kids aren’t …”
There was a thump upstairs, as a door hit a wall and lot’s of chatter. “He’s up now.” Sierra stated as they heard Justin telling the girls to go downstairs so he could get dressed. The girls pounded down the stairs and then ran through the kitchen into the family room.
“Don’t open anything yet!” Sierra said, “We have to eat first.” She poured the batter into the pan.
“When are we eating?” Olivia asked loudly.
“In an hour,” Lynn answered and then directed Sierra to put the pan into the oven.
Justin came into the kitchen a few minutes later with Cameron in his arms, “look who was up.”
“Hey baby,” Sierra walked over to the two and held out her hands. Cameron leaned out of Justin’s arms and into hers. “Did you sleep good?”
“Yes,” Justin answered knowing that she was talking to Cameron.
“I was talking to Cameron,” Sierra smiled and winked at Justin. She sat down at the counter and kissed Cameron on the head. Justin walked into the living room and started talking to the girls about what they got from Santa. Sierra set Cameron down on the floor and told him to ‘go by Justin’ so she could finish helping Lynn.
“Are you ready to party?” Justin asked when Sierra stepped out of the hotel bathroom a few days later. They had flown out to L.A. the day before for the New Years Eve party.
“Am I?” She tugged on the hem of her skirt, in hopes of it covering more skin. “Is this too short?” The material already fell halfway down her thigh.
“It’s fine,” Justin grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from the fabric. “You look hot, and it’s almost to your knees anyway. You’re such a teacher.”
“Justin …” Sierra trailed off.
“Come on, honey. You look fine, the skirt is fine, the shirt is fine, and we’re going to be late.” He handed her, her purse and jacket and led her out of the room.
“Just don’t bend over and you’ll be fine,” Justin smirked as they approached the elevator. Sierra pinched his side and he flinched.
“I’m going to go change,” Sierra said and turned around.
“No you’re not,” Justin turned her back around, and hit the down button for the elevator.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he said once the elevator doors were closed and it was descending.
“Are you nervous?” Justin asked once they were in the car.
“Yes,” Sierra nodded, “I know it’ll be fine, and we’ll have fun, but still-”
“It’s okay,” Justin squeezed her hand and smiled. “MTV is going to be there, so they may want to talk to me for a few minutes, we’ll just have to see.”
“Who’s your lady?” One of the many guests at the party who had stopped to talk to Justin, that night, asked.
“This is my fiancé, Sierra,” Justin introduced her as his arm snaked around her waist. Sierra leaned against him. “Sierra this is Brian.”
Sierra smiled, “Nice to meet you.” She listened as the two talked for several minutes, about Justin’s work in the studio.
“Would you like to get something to drink?” Justin asked Sierra when he noticed her eyes starting to wander around the room.
“Sure,” Sierra answered. Justin excused them from the conversation, and dropped his arm from around her waist. He grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd over to the bar.
“Sit down honey,” Justin helped her onto the stool, and then leaned against her, so his chest was against her back. “What do you want to drink?”
“You pick,” Sierra answered and looked up at him. Justin looked down at her and kissed her quickly. Justin ordered their drinks and they stayed in silence for a few minutes.
“Are you having fun?” Justin wrapped his arm around her so his hand rested on her stomach.
“Uh-huh,” Sierra and turned around on the stool to face him. Justin’s arm dropped and he had to step back a little to make room for her knees. “I want a kiss,” Sierra set her glass down on the counter behind her, and wrapped her arms around him.
“You do huh?” Justin stepped in between her knees when she spread them apart. Sierra nodded as he wrapped his arms around her. He leaned down a little and kissed her. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” Sierra moved her hands to rest on his hips.
“Should we go dance?”
“Sure,” Sierra stood up as he set his glass on the counter. Justin grabbed her hand and led her out to the dance floor. They were able to get in a few dances before they were interrupted so Justin could do a live interview. Sierra stood off to the side and watched as he talked a little bit about what he was doing.
They made it back out onto the dance floor with fifteen minutes to spare before midnight. Sierra kept her body close to Justin’s as they danced. When the countdown began, Justin wrapped his arms around her tighter, and pulled her even closer then they already were.
“5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …”
“Happy New Year, Sierra,” Justin said as Sierra wrapped her arms around his neck.
“You too, Justin,” Sierra said as Justin leaned down to kiss her. They ignored the crowd around them, and spent the first few moments of the new year together.
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