Chapter 17 Drifting Away
The first two weeks of the new millennium were utterly amazing as the guys spent time with their families on the beaches of Hawaii. They were all trying to make up for time that was going to be lost in the next two months.
IT was especially hard on JC since a week into his vacation; Kelly had to return home because school started again.
"You know this really bites." JC said kicking the sand around as he and Lance sat on the beach and watched the sun set.
"Why is that?" Lance replied trying his best to draw a picture without the tide washing it away.
"I have the love of an amazing woman, we are getting married in a few short months and I am sitting here in Hawaii watching the sun set with you because I am too much of a chicken shit to ask her to quit her job." JC said kicking the sand again.
"What really sucks about it is the fact that she is going to be planning our wedding without me. We won�t really even get a break until the end of firkin March." JC said as the sun slipped passed the horizon.
"Well it could be worse. You could have the girl of your dreams be a ghost to you." Lance said as he brushed her name out of the sand.
The next two weeks were spent rehearsing for the making of the video and the Super Bowl Pre-show. They chatted online on the 20th of January and that was just the first date of a long string to come.
~THOMPSON/LAAKE HOUSEHOLD~
"DAMN IT, CONNOR!" Natalee screamed for the millionth time. "Will you please stop doing that ridiculous routine in the middle of the floor?" She huffed as she slammed the door to the kitchen open. She had been dreading this day for the last several weeks and even more so when she came home and life was imitating art when Connor was doing the new move�s to what ever that wretched group was doing and when he heard that they would be on a pre show for the manliest sport ever he had begged his Daddy to let him watch it and he would do a show for them.
"This is all I need. A walk down memory lane with about 30 testosterone filled amazons." She confesed loudly and she poured the salsa into the tray. "What are you thinking sweetheart you are the Wilma Flintstone of the 21st century!" Arms reached around her waist and gently kissed her neck.
"You know we can�t do that around Connor what if he sees us. It will confuse him." Natalee said wiggling her way out of Sam�s embrace.
"What the hell? That kid is going to be confused when he realizes that we have never been together, you are never going to let us be together and that I am NOT his DADDY!" Sam returned back getting angrier by the second.
"Oh listen here buster. I didn�t ask you to be the father. I was perfectly capable of doing this all on my own. I never asked for your help. You just always said that is what friends do. Well, listen up, friends don�t do this. They never have and never will. It just complicates things." She grumbled back.
And before he could think of what he was saying it was done, "Well you sure complicated a lot of things when you spread them for what�s his name!"
*CRACK*
Natalee hit him as hard as she could with all her might. Shoved the salsa in his stomach and bolted upstairs.
*2 DAYS LATER*
Conner still didn�t understand why his mommy didn�t watch his show that is why he insisted that it be taped. Sam and Natalee hadn�t talked in two days. She only did what had to be done for Connor. She didn�t even fix meals for Sam. She laid in her bed in a fetal position, still going over the words that he had said to her. He was right. She was a slut. She slept with a minor that she knew nothing about. Now she was raising an illegitimate child that would probably never know that his father was famous. Mainly due to the fact that she saw all the tabloid articles about illegitimates coming back and ruining careers. That is the last thing that she wanted for Lance. She knew that he was talented and even though she despised what had happened she knew that she couldn�t blame him for it. It was her that ran out and never looked back.
By the end of March, Connor was living and breathing *NSYNC, from Dance moves to singing at the age of three and the fact that he was practically a carbon copy of one of the group members made it almost difficult to take him out to the stores. He had is own little fan club at the day care and some of the teachers were questioning it too. Natalee just laughed it off.
But on the shores of *NSYNC, but the end of March things weren�t taking a turn for the better. JC had finally got the time to spend with Kelly on her spring break.
"Hey honey. I have missed you." JC said squeezing her in his arms not wanting to let her go.
"So what is on the agenda for this week?" Kelly said almost disdainfully.
"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" JC furrowed his brow in question.
"Well it means that every time that we get together you are always called off to do something else and oh I don�t know." Kelly trailed off. "It just that we spend more time apart than we have together and I think we might want to just postpone the wedding." She said almost cowardly.
"Are you saying that you want to break up?" JC said sitting down slowly.
"NO! Not at all, I just think that we should wait until after the excitement of the new CD wears off." Kelly said rubbing his arm gently.
"If this is what you want, how can I keep you from your happiness?" JC said reluctantly agreeing.
As they lay their in the dark her head upon his chest he couldn�t believe what he was feeling, like she was drifting away like sand with the tide.
