Chapter Six "Joey...I'm scared," Samara whispered to her husband as she laid back on the cold hospital table. Today the doctors were wanting to do a check up to make sure there was nothing that could prevent the operation from happening, but even thought it was something small like this, she couldn't stop the fear from swelling inside of her. It was constantly eating at her, making her weaker with each second that passed by on the clock. In all honesty, she didn't know if the cancer of fear was the worse part of her life right now.

"Sam..its just basically a check up. Everything will be fine and then when this is all over, we get to go home to Katherine and the three of us are going to go on a nice little family vacation."

"Joe..what about the record?"

Joey sighed before shaking his head and smiling at her. "Don't worry about that. I've discussed everything with Johnny and he's being understanding about all of this. The only thing you've got to worry about is getting better for me and Kat."

"Have you called JC to check on her?" Samara asked feeling her maternal side kick in.

"I called this morning while you were in the shower. JC had put in a movie for her and he said her little eyes were slowly going down."

"It breaks my heart to see how innocent she is in all of this, Joe. She looks up at me with those eyes..and I just want to protect her from every harm in this world..but I can't," she said as she felt a few tears slip from her eyes and fall onto her cheek where they were brushed away by Joey.

"You can try to protect her, Sam..we all can but she's growing up..she may be only five, but those five years have flown by."

"Don't remind me," she said letting out a soft chuckle. The two of them fell silent when the doctor entered the plainly decorated room.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Fatone..hopefully this won't take too long and you can both get back to the hotel and get some rest...tomorrow will be a long and stressful day for all of us."

"You can say that again," Samara mumbled before turning her attention to everything that was going on around her.

*Back at JC's house*

"Have you talked to Joey?" Melissa asked as the two of them laid in bed, snuggling close to each other.

"I talked to him about two hours ago. He told me that Sam had a check up and then they were gonna do the surgery tomorrow," JC informed her before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Uncle JC?" Katherine's small voice asked as the door to their bedroom was opened.

"Yes, dear?" he asked her as he sat up and bed and looked down at her small body which was leaning against his bed.

"I miss my mommy and daddy.." she said as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Awww, sweetie," he said as he reached down and pulled her into the bed so that she rested against his chest. "They'll be back in a few days."

"Kat," Melissa said as she reached over and stroked the little girl's cheek. "Do you want to sleep with us tonight?"

The little girl nodded her head before snuggling in between the two adults. JC rolled over on his side, so that he was facing Melissa and Katherine, before watching the two of them close their eyes and drift off to sleep. As he watched their chests rise with every breath that they took, he felt love swell in his heart. He loved Melissa with everything that he possessed inside of him. She was so much like him that he had often wondered if she was his long lost twin.

Katherine on the other hand, had stole his heart when he had first saw her in the hospital five years ago. When his blue eyes had landed on her tiny feet and arms, he knew that he would protect her with everything that he had. It was a mutual feeling throughout the group. All of the guys treated her as if she was their own child, just because she had the type of personality that made you want to be around her and to see her smile.

He remembered the first time her soft voice had ever spoken his name. It had made a few tears come to his eyes just because he had waited for a while to hear her say it. He could remember the first tour that Samara and Joey had brought Katherine along. It had been the best tour they had ever done because they had been constantly on their toes, trying to keep up with the toddler who had just learned to walk, each one holding their breath when she would get near a table.

He had always wanted to have a child that was similar to Katherine, just because he saw the potential that she had, which didn't mean he wouldn't be able to see it in any child that God granted him, but there was something about the way she acted. He knew that when she became a teenager, she would break many hearts of the guy's that would want to be close to her, and he knew her heart would be broken in the process. He remembered the conversation he had once had with Joey about how they would break any guy in half that even tried to get close to her.

He reached up and brushed back a strand of her brown hair before pressing his lips to her forehead. If that little girl lost her mother, he couldn't even begin to imagine the things she would miss out on when she grew older. A father could be there for their child, but they couldn't be there for them on a deep level like their mother was. A mother could get their child to open up to them and confess the feelings they want to hide, but a father would always get a false reply of "nothing's wrong" when in all honesty, the girl was breaking down inside.

"Don't worry, Katherine Dawn," he whispered as he snuggled into his pillow and closed his eyes. "Everything is going to be all right."

Chapter Seven