“I don’t want a comment. I want to see my daughter.”

Don turned to face Morgan who slowly nodded her head once. Don stepped back and Morgan’s gaze fell on her father for the first time in over a year. He crossed the hall and moved to hug her, but she took a step back. He looked like he had aged ten years in one tenth that time. His formerly dark hair was peppered with white. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. Morgan’s eyes narrowed, “Why are you here?”

He ran a shaky hand through his hair, “I heard you talking to your mother.”

She nodded slowly, “I see.” She moved across the foyer and down the narrow hall leading to Justin’s office. She could hear her father following her. She sat down in Justin’s favorite chair and he perched on the edge of the sofa across from her, “So you heard me talking t Margot, that doesn’t explain why you would come here...now.”

“That should explain EVERYTHING. I’m hear because you’re my daughter and you’ve been hurt. I want to help.” His eyes searched her face.

“Now?” She shook her head slightly, “I guess I should have almost been raped ten years ago, then maybe we would have spoken before now.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, “Don’t say that. I can’t make up for everything in the past, that isn’t possible, too much has happened. But I can try to fix the future. I can try to make things right with you. You’re my only daughter Morgan and I want to be part of your life.”

“I don’t know that I want to be part of your life. I’m not so sure I agree with what you’ve done with it so far.”

“This isn’t the life I wanted. Honestly, I’m not sure how this became the life I have. I have a wife I can’t stand, and daughter who hates me. I’m an alcoholic. Somewhere along the way I lost track of myself. I lost track of what is most important. I numbed my senses and I hid myself away.” He sighed, “I’m going to get help Morgan. I’m going to check myself into rehab. I’m going to help myself, so that I can help you.”

“And what does Margot think about this?”

“I have no idea. I left her this morning.” He shrugged, “I suppose she has plenty to say, I’m just done listening. The ONLY good thing that came out of that marriage is you, and staying in that marriage may have lost you for me too. I know we can’t start off as best friends right now, but if you’re willing, I’d like to get to know you.”

She studied him carefully, “I don’t need your help.”

He looked down at his hands and nodded sadly, “OK.”

He moved to get up and her hand on his knee stopped him, “I don’t need your help, but I’ll take your love, if you’re offering that.”

Tears began rolling down her father’s face, “You don’t have to ask for my love, you have it, all of it.”

Morgan nodded and then smirked, “You left her?”

“Yeah. I doubt she’s even realized yet.”

“Oh, you’ll know when she does.” They both laughed and Morgan offered her hand, “Are you serious about getting help? About going into rehab?”

“I have an appointment to check myself in tomorrow.”

Morgan nodded, “I’m proud of you.”

“Don’t be. Not yet. Be proud of me when I’m done and I am standing on my own two feet for the first time in a long time.” He reached out and cupped her cheek, “I am so very proud of you. You are so strong. How did that happen?”

“The people who love me hold me up when I can’t stand on my own. The strongest I have ever been was when I admit that I needed help.”

He smiled at her and looked around the room. Every photo had Morgan in it. In some of them she was with Justin, in others she was with one of his parents or one of his brothers. He cocked his head slightly, “Justin seems to like surrounding himself with your image.”

She couldn’t help the blush that washed over her cheeks, “Yeah. He’s funny like that.” She grabbed one of the frames and held it out to him, “This one was taken about a year ago. Those are his little brothers Jon and Stephen.”

“Wow. They look just like him.” He smiled.

“You’ve never been here before have you?”

“No. I’d never done anything to earn an invitation.”

She nodded slowly, “How’d you like the tour?”

“I’d love it.”

Lyn silently into the studio and smiled as her gaze fell on JC, Justin and Lance inside the booth. The speakers in the outer room were not on, but she could tell that the three of them were playing name that tune because one of them would sing a few bars of something, the other two would look confused and then all three of them would laugh. She pushed the door to the booth open and grinned, “Lance was up last so I’m going to guess it was Garth Brooks.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “You know, I’m not 15 anymore Lyn, my musical taste has broadened a bit.”

Justin shoved him, “It may have broadened a bit, but she’s right, it WAS Garth Brooks!”

“You do NOT get credit for that one because you would not have gotten it if she hadn’t just said that.” He shoved Justin back.

JC grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap, “What brings my beautiful wife out at this ungodly hour?”

“I just got a call from my sister, who was asked to get in touch with Justin. Bren didn’t have your number, and Morgan didn’t have time to give it to her before she left, so she called me and asked me to have you call her.” Lyn held out a piece of paper with her sister’s phone number on it.

“Is everything ok? Is there something wrong with Morgan?” Justin took the paper and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“I think everything is fine. She just has a message for you.” She stood up and ran her hand through JC’s hair, “I’m going to go back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. You boys don’t stay up too late.”

Justin raised an eyebrow, “Why didn’t you just call us?”

“None of you have your phones turned on. I needed the air anyway.” She kissed each of them on the top of the head.

Justin nodded, “Thanks Lyn.”

She shrugged, “Not a problem.”

As she left she could hear him dialing Brenna’s number.

The phone only rang once and Brenna picked up, “Justin?”

“Yeah. What’s going on? Is Morgan ok?”

“She’s fine. She just said that she had hung up on you really suddenly and she didn’t want you to worry. She asked me to let you know everything was fine.”

“Do you know why she had to go so quickly?”

“Yeah. Her dad showed up at your house.”

“Her dad did what?” His jaw dropped open.

“Her dad came to your house and they talked. They just went to dinner together, so she asked me to let you know she’s ok. Don went with them to keep the press off their backs.”

“Wait. Back up. Morgan’s dad showed up at the house, they talked for a while and now they are out to dinner?”

Lance and JC exchanged confused looks.

“Yeah. Her dad looked...worn out. But they seemed fine when they left. I said I’d call you and then I’d hang out here to say ‘No comment’ five hundred billion times. Oh, Justin I’m sorry I outed you guys, I swear I didn’t mean to.”

Justin ran his hand over his face and sighed heavily, “I know you didn’t mean to. It’s not a big deal, they would have figured it out eventually.”

“Still. I’m sorry.”

“You know what Brenna? You have been a very good friend to Morgan, I’m not about to be angry about you telling the truth about us.”

“Hey Justin?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“It’s ok. Can you please tell Morgan to call me when she gets home?”

“Sure. Consider it done. Bye Justin.”

“Bye Bren.”

Justin flipped his phone closed and stared at it blankly. JC leaned forward and said, “Did I hear you right? Morgan not only talked to her dad, but they are out to dinner right now?”

“Yeah. That’s what Brenna just said. I swear to God, the Earth may be rotating in the wrong direction right now.”

Lance smirked, “J, this could be a good thing. It could be good for her to have her family in her life right now.”

“Lance, you were there. You know what happened. I don’t think it will ever be good for those nut jobs to be involved in Morgan’s life.”

“I hate to break it to you, but it isn’t up to you.” JC leaned back in his chair, “Morgan isn’t stupid, she’s not going to put herself in a bad position.”

“She isn’t thinking clearly. She’s been through a major trauma, and I left her alone where they can get at her. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her yet.”

Lance shook his head, “Justin... trust Morgan. If she didn't think there was a good reason for her to be out with her dad... she wouldn't do it.”

“Maybe I should go home.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “You’re an ass. If you go home right now, Mor will KILL you. She’s not in any danger right now. TRUST her instincts.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to deal with this shit with Stasia’s family.”

Lance’s eyes narrowed, “No I don’t. Because her mother and brother are both dead and her father who attempted to kill her is in prison.”

Justin’s shoulders fell, “That’s not how I meant it.”

“I KNOW J, but that’s how it sounded. This is exactly what I’m talking about. Leave it alone right now. Morgan will call you when she gets back and she’ll explain to you, the LAST thing you should do is hop a flight back to the states because you don’t trust her judgment, I’m serious, she’ll kill you.”

Justin slowly nodded, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that about Stasia’s family, especially after everything you did for me tonight.”

“Justin, I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I couldn’t forgive all of your idiotic moments. God knows you have enough of them.”

It was 7 AM in London when Justin’s phone started ringing. He rolled over and looked at his caller-id, “Hey Woman.”

She laughed, “Hey you. I waited until it was 7:00 your time. I assume you were still asleep, but it’s a better time than when I got home.”

He ran both hands over his face and yawned, “I actually didn’t get to bed until after 5:00. JC, Lance and I were in the studio.”

“You were! What were you recording?”

“I wrote a song...well, Lance helped me write a song and JC helped us record it. Then we were just hanging out goofing around.” He pushed himself up into a sitting position, “So was Bren confused?”

“About what?”

“She said your dad came to the house and that you went out to dinner with him.”

“No. She wasn’t confused.”

“OK, so I’m confused. How did that happen? What did he say? Why would you go out to dinner with him?”

“Whoa! Slow down!” She laughed, “He was awake at the house when you and I went to talk to Margot. He heard me telling her about Bob. He wants to help. He wants us to try to build a relationship.”

“Did you tell him to leave you alone?”

“No. Why would I do that?”

“Mor, your dad hasn’t exactly been there for you.”

“I know. HE knows, but just because he screwed up before, doesn’t mean that he can’t change now. He’s going to rehab tomorrow. He left Margot.”

“He left your mom?”

“Yeah. Justin, I honestly think he’s changed. He was so worried about me, he didn’t even have a drink at dinner.”

“Mor, I know you want your dad to be different, but...”

“Justin, I know you can’t completely understand this because you care about me and you’re worried about me. But you have FOUR parents who love you more than anything, my right now, my dad is my only chance at having a connection with my family. If he wants to change, I HAVE to help him try. I deserve to have a good father. I deserve to have a father who walks me down the aisle at my wedding with tears of pride in his eyes. I deserve a chance to have a dad.”

He sighed and realized he had no choice in the matter. JC and Lance were right, he had to trust her judgment, “Our wedding.”

“What?”

“You deserve to have a father walk you down the aisle at OUR wedding with tears of pride in his eyes.”

“Oh.”

He laughed, “Unless you had someone else in mind.”

“NO. No one else.” She smiled, “I think I was mad at you a minute ago...I hate it when you do that to me. Now I’m all happy.”

“Yeah, well, I try.” He laughed, “The point is, if you want to give your chance, I’m behind you 100%. I’ll do anything I can to help.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“Go back to sleep, I’ll call you after you’ve had a chance to get some rest, or you can call me after your show.”

“I’ll call you before the show.”

“OK. Sweet dreams Justin.”

“You too. I love you.”

Chris was chasing the hackey sack for the third time, “JOEY! Would you PLEASE try to aim better? We’re going to be here all night.”

“If you’d try to kick it you wouldn’t be running after it over and over. It’s not my fault you’re uncoordinated.”

Justin growled, “Would BOTH of you shut up and try to get this done?”

They all jumped when Lyn came running around the corner, “DEV IS IN LABOR! I’m going home! I’m trying to get a flight out right now.”

“DEV’S IN LABOR? My niece is on the way?” JC began bouncing up and down, “How soon can we leave?”

Lyn looked at him as thought he were insane, “WE? You have a tour to finish. I’m leaving from Heathrow at either 12:20 PM or 4:56AM.”

Justin shook his head, “JC should go too.”

Stasia ran around the corner, “DID I HEAR BABY? EEE! When do we leave?” She hugged Lyn tightly, “I’ll fly home with you!”

Lyn giggled, “Thank you!” They both began jumping up and down talking over each other about ordering baby gifts from Tiffany.

Lance smiled and shook his head, “Guys, I think we should reschedule the rest of the tour. Let’s go home and meet the new baby.”

Joey nodded, “This baby is more important than the last three dates. We’ll come back when things have settled down. Let’s go home and take care of our family.”

Chris smiled, “You don’t have to ask me twice. I say we call Jive and get a charter set up for right after the show.”

Johnny pushed off of the wall and said, “I’ll take care of it. You guys go do a huge show and we’ll go home tonight.”

After a tight group hug, Lyn and Stasia got into a limo and went back to the hotel to pack for everyone. The guys did one of the best shows they had ever done and by 11:00 PM, London time, they were in the air heading west.

“So you decided to use your one phone call to call me?” Morgan was gazing out the window into the back yard.

“Morgan, I’m in rehab, not jail. I’m allowed to make calls. So how are things going sweetheart? Have you heard from Justin yet?”

“We traded phone calls for a couple of hours, now I”m just getting his voice mail. They must all be asleep, I can never get a handle on the time difference between here and Europe.”

“I’m sure he’ll call you first thing in the morning.”

Her dad sounded different, happier, “You know dad, rehab seems to agree with you.”

“I don’t think it’s the rehab, I think it’s having my daughter back in my life.”

She laughed, “Dad, you don’t have to sweet talk me, You and I are going to be fine. You just take this time to take care of yourself.”

“You do the same.”

“I’m working on it dad, we’re both going to be ok.”

“I have to go, but I’ll call you the same time next week.”

“Make sure to call the cell phone dad, that way I’ll always get it.”

“I’ll remember. I love you Morgan.”

“I love you too dad.”

Morgan smiled and closed her phone. She dropped her phone in her pocket and then whistled, “Come on kids! Time to go out.” Jake, Busta, Korea, Blarney and Tipperary all came running from their favorite sunspots on the study floor. Busta tried to stop, but slid on the kitchen’s tile floor and ran into the sliding glass door to the patio. Morgan laughed and bent down to pick him up, “Careful their little guy!”

She opened the door and followed the herd of dogs out into the yard. She was walking to the pool when they all changed direction and ran in th opposite direction barking. Turning to see what they were chasing, her jaw dropped when she saw Justin walk around the corner of the house looking tired but smiling. She grinned and ran at him full speed. His eyes lit up and he opened his arms. Morgan jumped into them and wrapped her arms around his neck, “HI!”

He took a few steps back, trying to maintain his balance, “Hi yourself!” He spun her around.

She leaned back in the circle of his arms, cupped his cheeks with her hands and looked deeply into his eyes, “I’ve missed you.”

“I can see that!” His smile grew, “You almost knocked me on my ass!”

“Well you don’t seem too quick to want to put me down.” She slowly bent her head and kissed him lightly.

Justin loosened his hold on her and set her on the ground in front of him. His eyebrows drew together and she cocked her head, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that...I mean...well, since...we haven’t...”

She place her palms on his cheeks and smiled, “I said I’ve missed you. I wasn’t only talking about your trip, I was talking about since it happened. Your trip just made it so much easier to see. I know that I’m just sort of dropping this on you as you’re walking through the door, but there’s no better time than the present right?” She leaned up on her toes and kissed him again, this time her lips were more insistent. Her hands slipped around to the nape of his neck and she pressed herself against him.

Justin’s hands barely rested on her hips. He kissed her back with all the love he was feeling. He was confused about the seemingly sudden change in her attitude toward being together physically. When her nails raked down his back he moaned. When he felt her lips curl up in a smile against his mouth he pulled his mouth away and rested his forehead against her’s, “I love you.”

Her eyes fluttered open and her gaze locked onto his, “I know.” She smiled, “That’s the only reason I was able to stay sane.” She kissed him quickly, “I love you too, you know that don’t you?”

“Yeah. I do.” He hugged her and rather than stiffening in his arms, she seemed to melt into him, hugging him back with everything she had.

She turned her head and rested her cheek against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head and sighed. “Hey Justin?”

“Yeah Mor?” He kissed the top of her head.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“HEY! I thought you were happy to see me!” His face twisted into an expression of mock pain.

She leaned back and looked into his eyes again, “I AM! But you’re not supposed to be home for...like two and a half weeks.”

“Dev had the baby. We all missed you. We decided this was not the best time for a tour of Europe. It is time to be home.”

Morgan scanned his face for a moment and nodded, “You’re right, it’s time we were all home and happy.” Standing on her toes her lips lightly brushed his, “I love you.”

When Justin walked into the living room with Morgan on his back with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, Stasia jumped up and threw her arms around the pair, “MORGAN! I missed you so much! How are you?”

Mor slid down off of Justin’s back and hugged Stasia tightly, “I’m so glad you guys are home!”