3 YEARS LATER

The gate of the large stadium finally opened and a sea of girls raced through them, screaming, pushing and shoving to get into the stadium for the night's events.

Nicole eyed the crowd from her car, shaking her head as her heart pounded.  She quickly glanced in the rear view mirror and into the backseat.

"Mitchell, are you ready baby?"

"SYNC!  When we gonna see NSYNC?"

The reply elicited a chuckle from Nicole.

Nicole unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door, stepping out onto a grassy field, one that had, until very recently been a beautiful park, but now was a large parking lot to accommodate the amount of people for the night's activities at the stadium.

She opened the door behind hers.  A beautiful blue-eyed child sat in a small child's car seat, smiling up at her.  His chubby hands played with a Wolverine action figure.  His fine, wavy blonde hair lay across his neckline, blowing in the slight breeze as the door opened.

Nicole sighed.  He was breathtaking.

She carefully un-strapped him from his car seat and lifted him out of the car; placing him onto the grass.  He smiled, jumping up and down, unable to contain his excitement.

Mitchell had been raised on NSYNC.  Nicole insisted that he was, after all, she in a very small way felt like she was a part of it and her heart swelled each time she heard James' beautiful bass voice.

Her heart raced.  Finally NSYNC had come to Maine for a concert and she was able to see James live.  The thought of sitting third row terrified her.  What if he recognized her?  What if he didn't?  She would probably never get a chance to see him again.  She wanted to talk to him so badly that it made her stomach ache, but seeing him onstage would just have to be enough for her.

She sighed and returned her attention back to her son.

"Okay Mitch.  You have to stay so close to Mommy and hold my hand, pumpkin, okay?  There are a lot of people here."

Mitchell nodded excitedly and grabbed onto her hand with his tiny one. They walked towards the entrance, one full of excitement, the other full of fear.

The lights in the large arena dimmed and a loud beat started over the sound system, beating against Nicole's chest.  She held tightly to Mitchell's hand, her heart racing and her whole body shaking with anticipation, anxiety and longing.

It had been so long since she had seen James, with the exception of seeing his face in a magazine every time she went to a Barnes & Noble ©.  The pictures never seemed enough though.  After so long she was finally going to be able to see him in the flesh.  Her heart pounded against her chest and her eyes filled with tears as the stage lights turned on and five silhouettes stood silent on the luminesant stage.

The figures turned towards the audience as the familiar melody of "Pop" filled the arena.

Nicole's heart stopped.

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Isss James!"  Mitchell screamed above the roar of the audience.  He started jumping up and down.  "It's James!  Isss James!"

Nicole's smile widened as Lance Bass walked towards the edge of the stage and waved out into the crowd.

As the last song ended Nicole wiped the tears from her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief.  She felt like a part of her had been healed.  Even if she didn't get to talk to James, she saw him and her heart swelled with pride at what he had accomplished.  She stared up at the stage as the crowds of people filed out of the arena.  Her eyes were glued and she couldn't look away, afraid she might lose the amazing feeling running throughout her body.

The crowd dissipated and Nicole looked around the arena.  She sighed and glanced down at her hand, noticing that it was empty.  Her heart stopped and her breathing quickened.  Her eyes raced around in panic.  She started running and screaming before her brain could stop her.  Tears ran down her cheeks as she weaved in and out of the rows of chairs, bending down and looking beneath them, screaming Mitchell's name in terror.

Her desperate search continued as she helplessly inquired of every security guard and vendor in the immediate area, to no avail.  

Nicole fell to her knees in frustration.  She shook her head as her body racked with sobs.  A large security guard approached her a few minutes later, sitting down in a chair next to her form on the ground.

"Ms. uh..."

"Nicole." She whimpered out.

"We are doing all that we can.  We have all the non-essential security on the look out for your boy.  We have the picture you gave us and we won't give up till we have found him.  We let the bodyguards of the band know, just in case as well.  He might have ran backstage.  Someone that small can easily escape backstage security."

Nicole nodded, not knowing what else to do.  She looked up at the large, burly man and whispered her thanks.

He nodded, placing his large hand on her shoulder.  "Nicole.  We would like to take you to a private waiting room and maybe give you some water or um, something.  Give you a chance to calm down while we look for your son."