Justin swung his half brother up from the ground and placed him on his hip. The five-year-olds face lit up in delight. He wrapped his arms around his older brother's neck and hugged him as hard as he could. Laughter erupted from Justin.

“Hey Jon!” He exclaimed, holding him closer to his body. “Where's my mom and Steven?” Jonathan and Steven, Justin's half brothers, were spending a month with Lynn and Justin at Lynn's house so that their mother and Justin's father could spend their second honeymoon alone, and so that they could visit Justin while he was off tour.

Jonathan looked up from the crook of Justin's neck. “Lynn is working with those 'inohscent' girls.” Justin had to smile at the mispronunciation of Innosense. “Mickey brought Steven and me to pick you up!”

“Mickey huh?”

Jonathan nodded vigorously. “She's our new baby-sitter. She’s lots of fun! She took me to a ball game last week and caught a ball! Then she gave it to me.” He smiled proudly.

Justin repositioned his brother on his hip. “So, what does this Mickey look like?”

“She’s pretty. She has long brown hair and brown eyes!”

While Jonathan talked, Justin’s eyes shifted throughout the crowd.

“There she is!” Jonathan yelled, pointing to the left of them.

Justin followed his younger brother’s finger and saw the most breath-taking girl walking towards them, and he has seen lots, so he knew drop dead gorgeous. His eyes traveled over her curves, taking in the perfection she seemed to have.

Jonathan struggled out of Justin’s arms and took off towards the young woman, but veered to the right of her and attached himself to the leg of someone else. Justin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as his gaze caught the one that his brother was hanging on to.

She was the complete and total opposite of the other woman. Sure, Mickey had curves, but they weren’t as defined. In fact, they were hardly noticeable. But her eyes were the lightest brown he had ever seen. They glinted with specks of olive and gold.

But there was just something about her appearance that didn’t attract him. He found himself tearing his baby blue’s from hers and searching for the other woman. She was gone though.

Jonathan detached himself from Mickey’s leg and grabbed onto her hand. He dragged her laughing form over to his older brother until they were practically nose to nose. She took a step back from him and released Jonathan’s hand. She held out hers in front, waiting for Justin to take her hand in his. When he didn’t, she pulled back and tucked it around Steven’s back.

“So, you must be the Justin Randall Timberlake who I’ve been hearing so much about for the past couple of months.” She smiled warmly at the man in front of her with a baby blue baseball cap on.

Justin nodded. “And I presume that you are the babysitter?”

“McKenna Tower. But hardly anyone calls me McKenna.”

"So then, what do they call you?"

"Mickey."

He groaned.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing, just bad memories." The tune of the theme song he tried so hard to get rid of resurfaced, making him hum it softly.

When Mickey recognized the tune, she echoed his groan. "Is it completely necessary to sing that? Like I haven't been hearing that all my life."

To be spiteful, he began to sing the song out loud. She sighed, and began singing the song that had became so familiar to her over the years.

Steven lifted his head from her shoulder at the sound of his brother’s voice. He giggled happily when Justin tickled his tummy. But when Justin’s hand left his stomach, he rested his head back down on his baby-sitter’s shoulder.

To answer his questioning look, Mickey quickly explained that Steven needed to take his nap and that they had been at the lake all day.

“We better head home then.” Justin said.

Mickey nodded in agreement. Making sure that Jonathan was at her side she began to wined herself through the crowded airport and over to the baggage claim. At times, Justin found himself jogging to try to keep up with her.

“Lynn told me to tell you that your car is in the garage. She doesn’t want you cruising around town just yet because you just got home.” Mickey called over her shoulder.

“What?” Justin called back.

Mickey stopped abruptly, causing him to bump into her. She relayed the message again. “And before I forget, she’ll be out for a week promoting Innosense, so she won’t be home. Either will be your step-father since he has a business trip in Seattle to attend to.”

“What am I going to do with Jon and Steven?” The words left Justin’s mouth before he could stop them.

Mickey frowned. “I’ll be taking care of them.” The tug on her pants from Jonathan cut her off from the smart remark she was about to say. “What is it sweetie?”

Jonathan smiled. “I was just wondering if we could stop off and get some ice-cream on the way home.”

She looked at her watch. “Sorry Jonathan, but it’s too close to dinner time. Maybe after dinner we can all go out and get some then. I’ll let you pick what kind you want.”

The smile grew into a grin. “Can I get sprinkles and chocolate chips?”

Mickey nodded. “You can get whatever you want.”

Jonathan turned and grinned at Justin. “You want sprinkles and chocolate chips too?”

Justin picked up his younger brother. “Sure! But what I really want is to grab my bags and head home.” He turned his gaze over to the woman next to him. She nodded in response and started off.

Within minutes, they had Justin’s bags and were walking out of the airport to the car. Justin was carrying his suitcases while Jonathan dragged his older brother’s heavy backpack behind him.

“Do you need help with that Jonathan?” Mickey asked, slowing down till she was right next to the five-year-old.

The boy shook his head. “I gets it.”

“Ok. We’re almost there anyway.” She pulled out the keys from her pocket.

As she neared the car, she unlocked it with a press of a button on the remote. She unlocked the trunk, then walked to the side of the car and opened the back door. After making sure that Steven was tightly tucked in his car seat, she shut the door and walked to the other side of the car. She held open the door while Jonathan jumped inside, and buckled his seat belt.

By the time she was done making sure the two boys were secure, Justin was done putting his luggage in the trunk. He slammed it shut, and in two steps was by the passenger side door and inside.

Mickey scrambled in the driver’s seat and buckled her seat belt. After she started the car and made sure everything was clear, she backed out, then headed to the nearest highway.

Justin tapped his long fingers against his thigh as Mickey carefully made her way through traffic. He found himself opening and closing his mouth to ask why they were going so slow, but he changed his mind.

A stoplight just turned yellow in front of them when Mickey slowed to a stop.

“Why didn’t you go through?” Justin exclaimed. “You could’ve made it in plenty of time!”

Mickey removed her hands from the steering wheel and glared at him. “Obviously you have forgotten about your brothers in the back seat. I will not charge through an intersection when I can stop and prevent any accidents. I will not put a five year old and nine month old child in danger just because you are antsy to get home.”

“Justin has ants?” Jonathan piped up from the back. “Can I see?”

Justin turned around and gave his brother a soft smile, even though he was fuming inside. “No Jon. I don’t have any ants. McKenna meant antsy. You’re too young to understand it.”

Jonathan’s face fell. “So you don’t have any ants?” His bottom lip began to quiver.

Mickey looked at him through the rear-view mirror. “Jonathan, remember the ant farm you just got the other day? How about we go hunting for some ants to fill it up with. Does that sound good?”

The five-year-olds face lit up. “We can go ant hunting? Really?”

Mickey nodded. “Sure thing. Tomorrow morning before we go to the basketball game.”

She turned her gaze to the man next to her. Justin stared out the window; his eyes dark and mouth set in a firm line. She knew that ever since she heard that he was coming home, the two of them were going to clash. She was someone that he never wanted to affiliate himself with. The light turned green, and she stepped on the gas. Just to be spiteful, she stopped at every yellow light she came to, making Justin even furious.

He couldn’t believe her. She thought that she could just walk in his life and take control of it. He let his eyes wander from the familiar surroundings over to her face. Freckles covered the bridge of her nose and cheeks. They made her seem more original and less “normal”. Of course, Mickey wasn’t “normal” looking to begin with, so he supposed it didn’t mean much of anything.

But there was this thing scratching at the back of his mind that told him to stop treating her like he was. Just because she wasn’t drop dead gorgeous or even slightly cute, he had no right to treat her so cold. He could tell from the way his younger brother acted around her that she was something special. Jonathan seemed to look up to her. And for him to do that she would have to be sort of like Justin.

Justin shook his head and grasped onto the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming on, and that was something he didn’t need right now. His emotions were bad enough.

“Justin, if you need me to help with your bags, I can do it after I put Steven to bed.” Mickey’s soft voice tore him out of his thoughts.

Justin blinked and let his eyes refocus on her as he took in what she just said. “No, that’s Ok.” He finally said. “I’ll get it.”

Her brow furrowed. “You sure? It’ll only be about five minutes since he’s so tired.”

He nodded. “I’ll get it. Maybe Jon will like to help me. What do you say little man?” He faced his younger brother who shook his head yes. “It’s all taken care of.”

“Ok.” It was almost a whisper and Justin had barely heard it. He sat in his seat for a moment watching her slide out of the car and make her way to the other side. He shook his head slowly before he too got out.

As he hauled his suitcases out of the trunk, he watched Mickey unbuckle Steven from his car seat and carry him inside, cooing the whole time. Unconsciously, a smile spread across his face, but it quickly disappeared when Jonathan tugged on his pants, asking for help with the backpack. Justin swung the bag over his shoulders and shut the trunk. Then he grabbed his suitcases and followed Jonathan inside the modern looking two-story house.

Even though he had lived here for about five years, he felt alienated. It wasn’t really his house, but his stepfather’s. Justin felt like a thorn in his side, always causing uproar when he was home. When he was home, which is about a month and a half each year. But Justin couldn’t very well pack his belongings and move back to Tennessee where his father and step-mother live because he would feel just as out of place, if not more, there.

What Justin needed was a change. A drastic one. He just had to find one.

With a loud sigh he tossed his suitcases onto his neatly made bed. His baby blue bedspread moved slightly under the motion of the luggage sliding across it. A smile of spite covered his face as his room began to change from the untouchable look that his mother wanted to his own livable look.

Jonathan wondered into Justin’s room, a lost look on his face. He scampered over to the bed and crawled up on it. His eyes were round as he watched his older brother put away his clean clothes and separate his dirty ones into two piles. One for the washing machine and the other for dry-cleaning.

The last suitcase was almost empty causing Jonathan’s face to fall in disappointment. Justin saw this from the corner of his eye as he tossed a shirt into a pile for dry cleaning. When he turned back around he fumbled through a small pocket and pulled out a baseball cap, much like the one he was presently wearing.

Jonathan giggled happily as Justin placed the cap on his head. It was a little big, and hung down low, almost covering his eyes, but he didn’t mind.

Justin sat down next to his brother. “Thought I would have forgotten to bring you home a present?”

The younger brother shook his head furiously. “Thanks Justin!”

Justin slung an arm around Jonathan and pulled him tight against his side. But before any words could leave his mouth, light singing floated into his room. With his eyebrows crunched up he looked at the door.

Jonathan jumped off the bed. “Mickey’s singing to Steven!” He whispered excitedly. “Come see!”

The five-year-old raced off to the bedroom across the hall with Justin on his heels. Before Jonathan could say anything, Justin swung him up off of his feet and placed his hand gently over his mouth.

The two brothers stood in the doorway to Steven’s room, looking in at Mickey who sat on a chair in front of the crib singing a song softly. As if they had a mind of their own, Justin’s eyes fell closed and he allowed himself to take in her voice.

It was a simple song, but nothing he had ever heard of before. He supposed it was something she was making up at the top of her head. The melody wove itself into his brain and implanted itself in there.

The song abruptly ended, and Justin jerked his eyes opened. His eyes locked with the mocha ones of hers and he felt a twinge of something deep in his heart.

Mickey tore her eyes away from the piercing ones of Justin’s. She smiled at Jonathan who immediately slipped out of his brother’s arms and ran towards her. He crawled onto her lap and hugged her hard.

“I like it when you sing.” He whispered shyly.

“Thank you Jonathan.” She whispered back.

“Will you sing to me tonight?”

Mickey nodded. “I’ll sing to you tonight. Now, how about we go into the other room so we don’t wake up your brother?”

Before she knew it, Jonathan placed a soft kiss on her cheek and was out of the room a second later. She raised her eyes from the spot he was at two seconds earlier, prepared to meet the blue ones of Justin, but he was no longer in the doorway. Mickey shrugged and rose from her seat. She dimmed the light in the room just a bit more before she walked out.

She didn’t know where Justin went, but she didn’t care. He could take care of himself, he didn’t need her. But she needed to find Jonathan. Try to keep him out of trouble and keep him silent while his younger brother slept.

Justin watched Mickey from the spot on his bed, walk past his room and down the stairs. He sighed softly as he readjusted his head on his pillow. The song she was singing earlier replayed itself over and over in his mind. No matter what he did, it wouldn’t leave. He finally gave up and let the song, and sleep, overtake him.