He was already awake and it looked like he had been for awhile; his hair was wet. He was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt and was watching MTV News.
"According to reliable sources," the guy was saying, "Yesterday, Joey Fatone of *NSYNC," they showeed a picture of him, "was diagnosed with brain cancer. Sources say that the tumor in unoperable."
Justin looked at the screen, discussed. He flipped the channel a Friends rerun. At 10:06, the doorbell rang.
'If this is some idioctic reporter,' I heard him think, 'I'm going to ring their little neck.'
Then he opened the door and his face softened when he saw who it was. Rose. The only woman he had ever loved. He hadn't seen her since April of '02, but he still remembered the day he had met her in February. All of the sudden, I was caught in the whirl of memories.
If had been February 10 and he was just out walking and had, litterally, run into her. It had been love at first sight. She had straight brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He knew that a lot of guys wouldn't have given her a second glance because she was a bit overweight but he loved her. They started to talk and then he asked her out.
So they started to date and everyday, he fell even more in love with her. After a month and a half, they both confessed that they loved each other. They didn't sleep together or anything; they had both wanted to wait longer.
But then, on April 15, they had been at his house and had gotten caught up in the passion. They had made love. Justin had never been happier and Rose even she hadn't either. But then, on the 27, she had told him that it was over and she was moving away. She was going to go away and finish college some place else. She was planning on being a teacher and had less than a semester left. That night she had left and with her, taken his heart and soul. Just seeing all of this rushing through his mind, I got tears in my eyes.
For the next 2 weeks, he basically stayed at home. He wrote one song for Rose. It was called "Love Forever" but he never showed it to anyone.
And now, here she was, standing on his doorstep.
"Justin, I know it's been a long time..." she started.
"13 months, 3 weeks and 2 days," he told her.
She gave him a weird look.
"Look, I know that I left really fast and with no explination. I went to Colorado where a friend of mine lives. I needed a lot of support and since my parents are dead, I went to her. I finished up school in Boulder, and I've been living wiht her and her husband since I got there. She's a specialist in dealing with this kind of problem so she was really helpful."
"What do you me? What kind of problem?"
She didn't answer him, just pulled the stroller from behind her and faced it towards Justin.
"You have a son."
Justin crouched down in front of the baby. He was beautiful. He had his blond hair but it was straight like Rose's. He had the piercing blue eyes that Rose and Justin shared. Justin fell instantly in love. He looked back at Rose.
"Do you want to come inside?"
She nodded and the three of them went inside. They sat down on the couch and Justin turned off the TV.
"His name's Bryan Eriq and he was born on January 16," Rose told him.
"Where are you staying?"
"In a hotel."
"A hotel? Why don't you move in here? I have extra rooms and I'd really like it if you stayed with me."
"That's a good idea." Then she looked at Justin.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since you opened the door, I could tell something was wrong. Now what's wrong?"
Justin looked at her and he felt his eyes fill with tears.
"It's Joey. He's got a brain tumor and only three months to live."
All Rose could say was, "Oh, Justin."
Then his tears started to fall and Rose held him in her arms. He hadn't been able to cry yet. When he had gotten home last night, he had gone down in the basement and punched the punching bag. But he hadn't cried. When he was done, he looked up at Rose and said,
"Let's go to the hotel and get your stuff."
They stood up and Justin picked Bryan up out of the stroller. Rose took the empty stroller and they went out to the driveway where the rental car was.
Chapter 5
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