All of my heart I do
Blood through my veins for you
You alone have all of me."
~Lyrics from RAPUNZEL by David J. Matthews
"That was fourteen months ago that we met," Keely thought as the doctor finished the exam.
"We should have the results back in the next few days, Keely. Other than that, you are free to go."
"Thank you, Dr. O' Brien," she said as she finished getting dressed. "I'm glad that you could see me on such short notice."
"I know how packed your schedule is going to be in a few months with the new show. I call you as soon as I get these back." Keely left the Women's Health Center feeling a bit scared. Her mother had died of breast cancer seven months before, making Keely even more conscious about her own health. The theme song from "Indiana Jones" startled her out of her thoughts.
"Damn it, I grabbed the wrong phone again. JC's phone, Keely speaking."
"One of us is going to have to get a different phone, Star. This is too confusing. Your brother just called for you. He asked me how your doctor's appointment turned out. It's a pity I couldn't tell him anything useful."
"J, it was nothing. I was feeling a little off, so I decided to get it checked out. You had better things to do than to get squeemish as they drew blood and then watch me get a complete physical."
"I worry about you, Keely."
"I know you do, J, and I love you for it. How is our girl doing?"
"She's a bit nervous, but we've got one track down so far."
"He keeps saying it's not perfect," Vikki yelled.
"Don't be such a slave driver, J. Look, I'm on my way back to the loft. Pack up there, bring Vik with you, I'll make dinner and we'll go clubbing."
"You better make enough for an army then, cause J-dawg just walked in here. I'll see you soon, Star."
"Aight, until later, love." Keely stopped at a small market for fresh vegetables before finishing her walk back to the Manhattan loft she shared with JC. She'd fallen in love with it the first time she saw it. Two story windows looked out over the city from the seventh floor of the building. Her favorite room was the bedroom at the top of an elegantly curved staircase. There was no wall to interrupt the view from the windows.
She hadn't exactly lied to JC about her appointment, she just didn't tell him everything. The first test she'd asked for was a pregnancy test. Keely didn't know how JC would react to the news of becoming a father if it turned out that she was pregnant.
"Stop thinking bad thoughts, Keely," she thought shaking her head. She put a Dave Matthews cd on and started making dinner. Feeling tired, she sat down on the kitchen floor across from the stove after putting the lasagne in and watched it cook. She was so absorbed in the music that she didn't hear anyone walk in the door. JC dropped his keys on the entry way table as he walked in.
"Something is up, guys. She is listening to Dave," JC said taking off his jacket and hanging it up on the coat tree.
"C, it could be absolutely nothing. Maybe she just wanted to hear it. Yo Keely! Where's my sexy..."
"Justin, keep that thought to yourself. Star, I'm home. Star?"
"Why does he call her that," Vikki asked as she and Justin sat down on the couch.
"Her first name means star. She isn't much into cute pet names, so he calls her that." JC walked up the stairs in search of his girlfriend and found her sitting on the kitchen floor when he looked back over his shoulder. He had to smile at the picture she made. As if she knew he was watching her, Keely caught his gaze and mouthed, "I love you," before standing. JC had just enough time to change before Keely took the lasagne out of the oven.
"Dinner is served," Keely called out setting the hot dish on the table.
"Food! Blessed, wonderful food! The slave driver wouldn't let me have any today."
"Now, Vik, don't lie. We took a break for lunch. I ate and you told me you weren't hungry."
"That doesn't change the fact that you're still a slave driver and I'm starving."
"Children, just eat. We're going to need the energy for club hopping tonight."
"Children? We're all older than you, Justin."
"Hey! Vikki is only a day older than I am."
"Ya know what? All of you hush up and eat," Keely said sitting down at the table.
"How did your appointment go, Star?"
"They couldn't find anything wrong with me by just looking at me, so I have to wait for all the lab work to come back."
"Are you sick?"
"No, Baby J, I'm not sick. I've just been feeling a little off lately." JC knew she'd tell him about it later that night when they were alone, so he didn't press the issue. She smiled as he rested his hand on her thigh, squeezing it affectionately. They'd almost let their chance at a relationship pass them by all those months ago. JC had come very close to giving up on ever being more than a friend to Keely. Then, over a cup of coffee while sitting in her loft, watching a storm roll over the city, he'd learned the reason for her hesitation.
*****Flashback*****
"Come sit on the couch and I'll tell you a story, JC."
"Aren't we a little old to huddle under a blanket and tell ghost stories in the dark?"
"I wish more than anything that this could be just a ghost story. I know you'd like for this thing to be more than just a great friendship between us and I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't want the same. There's just something I need to tell you first that will give you a better understanding of why I've avoided this conversation for two months. When I was in England, I met someone and I thought he was everything I ever wanted in a guy. I don't know if you follow tennis at all, but his name is Tim Henman. Things between us were great until Wimbledon started up and the press was everywhere we went. Tim went out one night with the guys and one asked him where his "girl" was. He made some off hand remark that I wasn't really his girlfriend, just a friend with benefits. There was a British tabloid journalist sitting within ear shot. The story broke the next morning and he ditched me because of the bad press HE'D created on his own. He left me out in the cold to deal with the reporters for the last two weeks I was in the country.
"I was hurt and humiliated and seriously thought that my career was over before it even started. I made a name and a new image for myself though. I haven't dated anyone significantly, especially not another celebrity, since then. He let them rip me apart on an international stage and I'm still trying to build my self-confidence again. That's why I was so rude to you the night we met. It has nothing to do with you because I know you aren't him. I'm just wary of the situation." JC sat stunned on the couch as he processed everything he'd just heard. Keely stood and walked over to one of the huge windows.
"I miss this the most when I'm gone. I feel like if I can just get close enough, the rain can wash away all my fear...my sins and insecurities, maybe even my past. I have this yearning to be purified and I don't know why." He moved so quietly she didn't know JC was behind her until lightning streaked overhead, reflecting his image onto the pane of glass. "So that's my bad relationship story in a nutshell."
"Keely, if you never believe anything else I tell you, I need you to believe this. I have no hidden agenda and I'd never throw you out to face the press on your own. Especially not if it's my fault cause I know how that feels. I'm a man though, which means I tend to be stupid and I'm bound to make some pretty big mistakes. But I need you to trust me."
"I want to trust you, JC." He pulled her small frame back towards his and let his chin rest on her shoulder. It was a simple gesture of comfort that healed old wounds for the two of them.
*****End Flashback*****
"Hey Justin, can I talk to you for a second," JC asked as Keely and Vikki cleaned up the kitchen. "Something wrong, C?"
"I just need your opinion on something." The two men walked up the stairs. "I need you to be quiet about what I'm going to show you, okay," JC whispered. Justin nodded as JC pulled a small box from a dresser drawer.
"If you were Keely, would you think this was too much?" He opened the box to reveal an antique platinum band with a sapphire flanked by two small diamonds.
"JC, it's beautiful, man. I think she'll love it. And here we all thought Lance would be the first to get married."
"I bought it this morning on my way to the studio."
"Wow...what made you decide that it was the time to buy it?"
"When I watched her fall asleep last night and I pictured being able to do that for the rest of my life. Commitment used to scare the shit out of me, always made me feel trapped. I want to be more than her best friend and lover. I want to be her husband and the father of her children someday, J."
"I wish you all the luck in the world, man."
"Joshua, you better not be letting him check out my unmentionables," Keely yelled from the kitchen.
"Sorry, Keely, but black satin isn't my style. Ow! Shit, man, what was that for," Justin asked rubbing the back of his head. JC shoved the ring box into his pocket just as Keely reached the top of the stairs.
"Okay, as much as I love you, Justin, I need to shower and get ready to go out. I can't do that if you're up here cause there's no wall in front of the shower."
"I got it. I have to get ready anyway. Vik and I will meet you back here in...two hours. Cool?"
"Sounds like a plan." Keely walked to the closet and took out her favorite clubbing outfit...low rise jeans that were faded and ripped in all the right places and a red halter with "Opera Bitch" written on the front. It had been the first gift JC had given her at the close of Phantom.
"Are you sure you should be going out if you aren't feeling well," JC asked as soon as he heard the other two leave.
"Josh, I'm fine. Dr. O'Brien checked out every bump on my skin and nothing felt abnormal to her. I had everthing from a stress test to a pregnancy test done. They're going to call me if anything isn't the way it shouldn't be."
"A pregnancy test?"
"It's a routine test when I go in for a physical, JC."
"Ouch, she didn't use my given name," he thought. He reached out to touch her shoulder.
"Star, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I'm not against having a family of my own, babe."
"Well it's not high on your priority list either, is it?"
"Vanessa, I want...could you please look at me?"
"I have to get ready," she said walking away from him toward their bathroom. He almost let her win before reaching out at the last second and catching her hand.
"Not yet, Vanessa, please."
