“Merry Christmas!” Joey exclaimed happily, opening the door. Julia tried her best to smile at him but it was difficult, “Merry Christmas, Joe,” she replied and Joey instantly noticed the sadness in her voice. He held his arms out to her and she fell into them instantly. He hugged her tightly for a minute and she had to fight the urge to start crying right there in the front hallway. Just knowing that JC was somewhere in that house and that she was so close to him was killing her.
Joey pulled away from the hug slowly, “Come on, everyone’s already here, and Jonathan’s been going crazy waiting for you to show up,” he said grabbing her hand and leading her to the huge living room. They stepped into the living room and Julia’s mouth dropped open in awe. The room was completely decorated and she had to wonder when Lance had the time to do all this. There was garland with bright green and red bows everywhere, more white lights, and a giant Christmas tree in one corner.
She was so busy admiring the decorations that she didn’t notice JC at first, but he soon caught her eye. He was standing on the other side of the room talking to Chris’s little sister. Julia’s breath caught in her throat the second she saw him and she couldn’t help but stare at him. He was wearing jeans, a red turtleneck sweater, and a tan leather jacket and his hair was spiked up the way she’d always liked it. Joey noticed that she was staring at JC so he nudged her lightly, “Jules, you okay?” he asked. “What? Yeah, I’m fine, where’s Jonathan?” she asked, pulling her eyes away from JC.
“Julia!!! Hey everyone, Julia’s here!” Jonathan exclaimed as soon as he saw Julia standing by the doorway. Julia blushed slightly as everyone in the room turned to look at her. “So much for keeping a low profile tonight,” she thought to herself. Jonathan’s outburst caused JC to look up from his conversation and see Julia for the first time since he stormed out on her a couple weeks earlier. He tried to pry his eyes away from her but he couldn’t. She looked so beautiful but he quickly noticed how sad she looked. “Don’t start to feel sorry for her,” JC scolded himself as he turned away from her.
Jonathan ran across the room as fast as his little legs would carry him and he was soon in Julia’s arms. “I missed you so much, Julia,” he said, but her name came out sounding more like ‘Juwia’. “I missed you too, little man, you’ve gotten so big!” Julia said happily. She had to admit he was making her really smile for the first time in a couple weeks.
“You finally made it,” Justin said, stepping up next to them. “Yeah, sorry I’m a little late. It took me a little longer than I thought it would to get ready,” Julia apologized. “I’m hungry, Justin,” Jonathan whined. “You just ate,” Justin laughed, ruffling Jonathan’s hair. “I’m hungry again,” Jonathan replied. “I’ll take him to get something to eat,” Julia offered. “Thanks,” Justin replied, “Be good for Julia,” he instructed and Jonathan bobbed his little head up and down in understanding. She started to walk out of the room with Jonathan but turned around for a second to glance at JC again.
**************
Julia had been at the party for a little while and she had to admit it actually wasn’t too bad. Of course JC was avoiding her but she was trying not to think about it and just focus on having a good time for at least a couple of hours. She was sitting on one of the couches talking to Joey’s older sister when Justin’s mom spoke up, “How about we have the guys sing a Christmas song for us?” she suggested. The guys all looked at each other from their spots around the room and groaned lightly while everyone else clapped to encourage them. “Come on guys, nothing big. Just sing along a little something to the piano,” Lynn suggested, motioning towards the grand piano on one side of the room.
“I guess we could manage one song,” Lance said with a shrug, walking to the piano, the rest of the guys following him. “What should we sing?” Joey asked. “How about that new one that JC just wrote? Justin was telling me about it,” Lynn suggested. Justin, Lance, Chris, and Joey looked at each other quickly while JC just stared at the floor. “We can do that one,” JC said nodding his head slowly, sitting down at the piano while the guys all stood around the piano and the rest of the party guests gathered closer to hear better.
Julia stood by the piano next to Joey’s sister and she was curious about the song they were going to sing. She didn’t know JC had written a new Christmas song so she was interested in what it was. The guys sang a few notes to warm up before JC started playing softly on the piano with his eyes closed. “I don’t know when we fell apart. The love that we had was like a work of art,” he sang softly with his eyes still closed, “I used to see heaven in your eyes. Now angels are falling from your skies. Things we said were so wrong, and I haven’t held you for so long. My foolish pride turns me inside, why did we tell all those lies? You can reach for the phone, you don’t have to be alone,” he sang passionately before opening his eyes slowly to let them rest on Julia’s.
Julia felt like her heart stopped the moment JC started singing and she could barely breathe. She watched his face as he sang and she listened to the words closely and knew they had to be directed at her. She watched JC open his eyes slowly and they instantly met hers. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Julia turned quickly and ran out of the room.
***************
Julia didn’t know where to go as she ran out of the room aimlessly. She wanted to drive home but she knew she was in no condition to be driving. She ran into the dark dining room and stopped at the big bay window on one side of the room. She sat on the window seat and stared out the window that looked out onto the deck which was lit up by hundreds of tiny white lights. Tears fell from her eyes freely and she didn’t even wipe them off, she just let them fall. She shook her head lightly, “I ruined it, I ruined everything. Why?” she mumbled to herself as she cried.
“Julia? Are you crying?” Jonathan’s little voice asked from the doorway. Julia turned to him and wiped her eyes quickly, “I’m..I’m fine, Jon,” she lied. Jonathan ran up to her, “You look like you’ve been crying,” he observed. “I was crying a little bit, but I’m fine, I promise.” “Why don’t you sing our song?” Jonathan suggested. “Our song?” Julia asked in confusion.
“Yeah, the song you always used to sing to me over the phone when I’d be sad when Justin would leave. It always made me feel better so maybe it will help you,” Jonathan explained. Julia smiled slightly, the memory coming back to her, “Oh yeah, our song. I guess I could try it,” she replied, scooping Jonathan onto her lap.
“All the time, I’ve been building my castle of love. Just for two, though you never knew you were my reason. I’ve gone much too far for you now to say that I’ve got to throw my castle away. Over dreams I have picked out a perfect come true. Though you never knew it was of you I’ve been dreaming. The sandman has come from too far away for you to say come back some other day,” Julia sang softly as Jonathan rested his head against her chest. “Keep singing,” Jonathan urged her sleepily. She smiled and ran a hand up and down his back gently before singing again. She didn’t notice JC had walked up to the doorway slowly and was watching the two of them silently. The moonlight and the lights on the deck were shining on them, making JC able to see them. He admired Julia’s voice, it was almost like an angel’s voice, very soft and sweet.
“And though you don’t believe that they do, they do come true. For did my dreams come true when I looked at you. And maybe too if you would believe, you too might be overjoyed. Over loved, over me,” Julia finished singing softly. She looked down to Jonathan and noticed he had fallen asleep. She smiled at his sleeping form and played with his hair gently before rubbing his back softly and resting her cheek against the top of his head.
JC was still in the doorway and his heart was melting watching Julia with Jonathan. He loved how caring and gentle she was with him, and he couldn’t help but think what a great mother she’d be someday. He walked into the room quietly and approached the window where Julia was sitting. “That was really beautiful,” he said softly, startling Julia.
Julia felt her breath get caught in her throat again when she noticed JC standing right in front of her. She looked up to his face slowly and her eyes met his, “Thanks,” she whispered before looking back down. She started to play with Jonathan’s hair again, mostly out of nervousness, as JC sat down next to her. “You’re really good with him,” JC said quietly, watching her.
Julia managed to look up to his face again and she smiled slightly, “Thanks,” she whispered again. She wished she could think of more to say, but she was so surprised to actually have JC sitting right next to her that her mind was going blank. She had gone over all the things she wanted to say to him in her head hundreds of times over the past couple of weeks, but now she couldn’t remember any of it. “You’ll make a good mom someday,” JC remarked, reaching over to ruffle Jonathan’s hair. Julia shrugged slightly, “I hope so,” she replied.
The moonlight was still shining on Julia’s face and it seemed to be making her glow. JC couldn’t stop staring at her and notice how gorgeous she looked right then. She was acting shy, sweet, and nervous, and this was the Julia that JC had fallen in love with. He reached up to push some hair behind her ear carefully and he kept his hand on her cheek. Julia breathed in sharply at his touch but soon sighed softly and closed her eyes slowly as she leaned into his touch. It seemed like she had been waiting forever for him to touch her like that again, and even though she didn’t know why he was doing it, it was making her heart soar.
Julia opened her eyes to meet his and a tear trickled down her cheek slowly. JC reached over to brush it away before smiling tenderly at her. She let out a deep breath before speaking, “JC, I’m so sor-” she started before she was interrupted by Chris bounding into the room. “It’s time for presents!” he yelled happily, waking Jonathan up. “Presents?” he asked sleepily. “Yeah Jon, it’s time for presents, let’s go,” JC said lifting Jonathan off Julia’s lap carefully. He started to walk out of the room but turned around slowly to look at Julia. He shook his head at her slowly before leaving and she felt her heart break all over again.
*Chapter 32*
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