Mandi walked ahead to look at the crowd and the opening act, to try to get her mind off of Justin, leaving Dylan with the boys.
"Dee," Justin whispered in her ear, his hand grazing the small of her back.
"Hmm?" She turned her head to look at him and saw that he was about two inches from her face.
"If I can get them to shut up, can I bring Dylan out?" Justin whispered.
Mandi took a deep breath, willing her face not to turn red. "Sure, but only if they keep quiet."
Justin turned to walk away, and brushed into her. She knew he was doing this to her on purpose, because he'd done it when they were dating. And only her.
The opening act disappeared and she felt a slap on her back. A security guard looked at her, then grinned. "Mandi..." He nodded and walked away.
She turned back around to look at the stage.
Suddenly Chris ran by, kicking her in the rear-end. Then Joey, then Lance, then JC all kicked her in the rear.
"What is this?" She yelled after them.
Justin walked into the back of her and whispered in her ear. "The sign on your back, maybe?" He grinned and slapped her gently in her rear.
She grabbed him by his belt loop and pulled him back. "Take it off!"
Justin grinned wickedly.
"Not your clothes, the sign!" She shook her head, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
He laughed and pulled it off, handing it to her. "Can I get a good luck hug?"
"Sure," Mandi wrapped her arms around Justin's neck. "But," She added in a whisper when she was right next to him. "You don't need luck, you've got talent."
"Yeah, you'd know!" Justin winked, set Mandi down and looked at her for a minute. "I miss you." He said seriously before walking away.
She looked down at the sign. It read "Kick/Slap me!" And it had an arrow pointing down.
"Christopher Kirkpatrick!" She yelled.
Chris turned from where he was getting hooked up to a harness and grinned. "It was too tempting."
"I'll swear on everything holy you're a three year old!" Mandi yelled back, laughing.
"You love me anyway!" He countered.
"So?" She laughed and went to find Dylan, knowing a security guard would have him. Justin wouldn't be so careless as to let just anyone keep his son.
"Hey Cutie," Mandi called when she saw her son.
"Hey!" The security called back, grinning.
"I meant my son!" Mandi laughed as she reached the guard. "I'll just take my little bundle of joy of your hands now!"
"He's a bundle of somethin', all right!" The security guard grinned. "But he's a cute one."
"That's 'cause he's mine!" She joked.
"I think it's a combination of two beautiful people that makes a beautiful child," The security guard said.
"Too bad the two beautiful people aren't perfect together," Mandi sighed. "Come on, Dylan, let's go see Justin."
"Ok," Justin said after the first song. "I need everyone to be asolutely quiet. I don't want to hear one scream, because I'm going to bring something out for you. If you scream you'll scare him and quiet possibly hurt his ears."
Little by little the screams died down.
"Ok, I want you to meet someone. His name is Dylan," Justin held his arms out and squatted down. Mandi set Dylan down and Dylan began to crawl to Justin.
"Aww!" The crowd cooed.
"I know this is going to shock many people, I really hope this won't affect opinions of us, or make any fans angry in any way. I'm not saying it was right of me to do this, but it was something I did. I made a choice, and here is what became of it," Justin began, holding up Dylan. "This is Dylan Robert Timberlake. My son. And I couldn't be happier to have him as my son. Sure, he's a bit earlier than I expected, but I love him more than life nonetheless."
Mandi grinned. She was proud of Justin. Two years ago he wouldn't have even admitted it was his child, let alone proudly introduced him.
"Right now I am not dating anyone. But I would like you to meet the baby's mother, as she works on this tour with us. We're going to be the best parents we can be. I love this woman almost more than anything, but right now there are circumstances keeping us apart. But we're still going to be the best parents for Dylan we can be. Come here, baby," Justin held his hand out to Mandi.
Mandi shyly emerged and grabbed Justin's hand.
"Introduce yourself, babe," Justin held his microphone out for Mandi.
"Hi. I'm Mandi, and as you already know, this is my beautiful baby boy. And, I guess if I want to say anything, now would be a wonderful time. Please don't get mad at *N Sync and stop liking their music simply because one has a child. And please don't hate Justin and treat him badly simply because we made a choice in our lives that created something we weren't ready for."
"Thanks, Mandi," Joey grinned. "Now you hafta give us all a good luck kiss!"
Mandi laughed and pecked Joey, Chris, Lance, and Joey on their lips.
"Hey, we're feelin' a little left out over here, aren't we, Dylan?" Justin said.
Mandi laughed and came over, kissing Dylan and then looking at Justin. She stood up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips over Justin's. Then she leaned forward and whispered, "Remember, you have to earn it." She tried to ignore the way her lips were burning and all of her skin tingled.
"I will," Justin said, forgetting about the microphone.
"You will what?" JC asked.
"Continue with the concert," Justin grinned. "I believe we have four lucky young ladies coming up to dance?" He added as This I Promise You's first notes began.
Four girls were lead up by four bodyguards, each guiding the girl to her boy. A fifth bodyguard came up, grabbed Mandi, and led her to Justin. Justin grinned and put one arm around Mandi's waist. Mandi put an arm around Justin's neck and an arm around the baby, who Justin was still holding. She smiled at her son and rested her head on Justin's chest, listening to his strong, reassuring heartbeat.
"When the visions around you..."