(A few weeks later – beginning of October)
Laurie wasn’t home when Michelle returned from
Orlando and she couldn’t have been happier that she had the apartment to
herself for a while. She had left Busta
and Korea with Chris and she purposely dropped all but one of the bags she was
carrying on the floor.
Michelle was late.
Her period has always been regular, even when she was a teenager. She knew there was a possibility that she
was late because of the stress of the past few weeks, but she had purchased a
home pregnancy test to make sure.
She followed the instructions enclosed in the
package carefully and paced around the apartment while she waited for the
results. When the time had passed, she
rushed into the bathroom to see the results.
She squealed when she saw two blue lines and raced for the phone.
“Hello?” Laurie answered.
“Where are you?” Michelle asked breathlessly.
“I’m at work,” she replied. “But why are you calling my cell phone?”
“Stop what you’re doing. I’m coming to pick you up.
I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain when I get there.” Michelle said and barely managed to hang up
the phone before she raced out the door.
**********
Laurie was waiting at her desk when Michelle flew
into her office. Michelle ran behind
Laurie’s desk and tugged her out of the chair.
“Come on, let’s go!” She tugged a little harder.
Laurie couldn’t help but laugh. “Where are we going?”
“You and I are going to the nearest walk-in
clinic.” Michelle paused. “And we’re not going to the one I took you
to before I left for Orlando.”
Laurie immediately stopped letting Michelle pull
her. “Good. I still can’t believe they somehow messed up the results of my
test, but at least they gave me the vitamins and stuff I’m going to need. But why do you need to go?”
A huge grin spread across Michelle’s face. “I think I’m pregnant. I took a home test and it was positive, so
now I want to make it official.”
“Really?” Laurie smiled.
“Yes, now come on and let’s go!”
(Afterwards)
“I can’t believe they won’t have the results until
tomorrow.” Michelle pouted. “I can’t
wait that long to know if I’m really pregnant or not.”
“Chris is going to be ecstatic if you are.”
“If I am, I’m not telling him until his birthday. I’m going to put together a baby package for
him and give it to him. Laurie, you
have to help me keep my mouth shut until then!”
“That will be quite a challenge.” Laurie snickered
and laughed when Michelle glared at her.
“Ok, I’ll do my best.”
“Not to change the subject, but are you going to
Lance and Joey’s premiere next week?”
“Yeah, Lance had asked me to go with him.”
“Cool.
Chris and I are going and Joey is taking Denise. I think Justin might still be down visiting
Stacy and her grandmother, so I don’t know if he’s going to make it back in
time.”
Laurie looked down at her hands. “What about JC? Is he going?”
Michelle looked at Laurie carefully. “Laurie, is there something you want to tell
me?”
“What do you mean?” She asked without looking up.
“You’re carrying Lance’s child – at least you say
you are – but it’s obvious to anyone that you still love JC.”
“He was a big part of my life,” Laurie said
quietly. “It’s not something I’m going
to get over anytime soon.”
“Does Lance know that you still love JC?”
Laurie fought back a smile and tried not to
laugh. “Yes. I’ve been completely honest with Lance and we both know where the
other stands and how we feel. Lance
knows I love him. I just don’t love him
as deeply as I love JC.”
“And he’s ok with that?”
Laurie finally looked Michelle in the eye. “Yeah.” She smiled and the expression in her
eyes softened. “Besides, he doesn’t
have a choice.”
**********
(A week later – October 8, 2001)
“Let’s go
shopping.” Laurie suddenly said as she sat with Michelle at the kitchen
table. “We both need something to wear
to the premiere tomorrow night and we both need maternity clothes.”
“Yeah, I guess we do.” Michelle smiled and
unconsciously placed her hand over her still flat abdomen. “I still can’t believe three of the guys are
going to be fathers next year.”
Laurie wanted to correct her and tell her it was
only going to be JC and Chris, but she had to remain silent. She changed the subject. “You should pick up some baby stuff to give
Chris for when you tell him.” She paused.
“When are you going to tell him?”
“Before his surprise party on Saturday.” She
smiled. “You’re coming with Lance,
aren’t you?”
“Yeah, he had mentioned something about it. It’s going to be hard, because I can probably
avoid JC tomorrow night at the premiere because we’ll be watching the movie,
but I don’t know how easy it will be on Saturday.”
“What if I promise not to desert you this time?”
Michelle grinned.
“I don’t know if I should trust you with that
promise or not. Last time you and Lance
promised that, I ended up in bed with JC.”
Michelle’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Well, on the other hand…”
“I know where your line of thought is going right
now and you can just put a stop to it.
It won’t happen again. Now, are
we going shopping or not?”
**********
(October 9, 2001 – ‘On The Line’ Premiere)
Michelle sat down on the bed with one hand on her
head and the other on her cell phone.
“What do you mean you’re not coming?”
“I’m sorry,” Chris sniffled. “I woke up with a hell of a cold this
morning and I feel like shit.”
“It’s fine.” Michelle sighed. “JC is alone, so I’ll just be his date. But I don’t think it’s me you should be
apologizing to.”
“I promise I’ll apologize to Lance and Joey next
time I see them. As soon as I get off
the phone with you, I’m going to send flowers to their rooms. Are you still flying to Orlando with JC
tomorrow?”
“Yeah.
Depending on how late things run, JC and I were talking about flying out
tonight, but I’ll call you and let you know if that’s going to happen.”
“All right.”
“Listen, I’ve got to start getting ready soon. You should go take a warm bath and get into
bed so that you’ll feel better.”
“Trust me, I plan on doing exactly that.” He coughed.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Chris.”
Michelle ended the call and placed her cell phone
into her purse. She stood up to get her
outfit for the evening off the dresser and had just pulled off her shirt when
there was a knock at the door. “Hang on
a second!” She called and slid into the blouse she was going to wear. She was still in the process of buttoning it
when she opened the door.
“Hey.” JC said.
“You’re not busy right now, are you?”
“No, I was just changing. Come on in.”
JC walked into the room and let the door close
behind him. “Changing, huh? I think Chris likes you the way you are.”
“Oh ha, ha.
Funny Chasez.” She took her outfit into the bathroom and left the door
open a crack so she could still talk to JC.
“So what’s up? You hardly ever
come to my room.”
“I just thought Chris might be here. Joey is busy with Denise and I felt like
talking to someone.”
“So talk. I
just got off the phone with Chris and he’s sick, so he won’t be here. You’re stuck with me.” Michelle finished changing and walked back
out to the main room. JC was sitting on
the bed and she sat down beside him.
“Come on Jace… what’s bothering you?” She asked softly.
JC looked down at his hands, which were folded in
his lap. “Lance has been getting a lot
of baby presents from the fans. I guess
I’m glad that he seems to be happy with Laurie and vice versa, but I still want
Laurie to be with me.” He glanced over at her.
“Is that bad?”
“No, that’s not bad JC, that’s called being
human. You love Laurie and to be
honest, I don’t think that her and Lance are being entirely truthful about this
whole situation.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “But we’re just going to have to wait and
see what happens. The relationship
might just be a rebound thing for both of them. I have no idea what happened between Lance and Hannah, and as far
as I know, they still keep in touch.”
“But the baby is a whole separate issue.” JC sighed.
“Yes.” Michelle placed her hand on JC’s knee. “But does that really change the way you
feel about either of them?”
JC blinked.
“It should be my baby she’s carrying.”
“I wish I could turn back time and make everything
right for you and Laurie.”
“That would be nice.” JC was quiet for a
moment. “Lance is going to introduce
her as his girlfriend tonight.”
Michelle gave his knee a light squeeze. “I’m sorry.”
JC gave her a weak smile. “It’s not your fault.”
**********
JC stayed at the after party long enough to
congratulate Lance and Joey and to say hi to their families. He was finding it increasingly difficult to
watch the intimate touches that Lance and Laurie were sharing, yet he found it
almost impossible to look away. And
because of that, his eyes had made contact with Laurie’s more than once over
the course of the evening. His eyes searched the room for Michelle and he saw
her sitting in the corner talking to Denise.
He made his way over to their table.
“Hey Dee,” he greeted, then turned to
Michelle. “I’m going to go back to the
hotel and pack. Probably catch an early
flight home. Do you want to ride with
me or are you ok?”
“I think I’ll ride back with you. I told Chris that I might come back early.”
She gave Denise a hug. “I’ll see you on
Saturday at the surprise party?”
“Yeah, I’m going to fly down with Joey on Friday.”
Denise said.
“Great, I’ll see you then!” Michelle turned to JC. “I’m ready to leave when you are.”
**********
(Orlando – Four hours later)
JC threw his bag on the floor the minute he walked
in the door. He was glad to be home,
even if Alexandria was there. He walked
into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and
drank it almost all at once. He looked
around at the familiar surroundings and smiled.
He dragged his tired ass up the stairs and
automatically headed for the guestroom to shower. He stopped outside the door when he heard noises coming from the
master bedroom. His first thought was
that Alexandria was having a nightmare, but that thought was quickly dismissed
when he saw a stream of light coming from underneath the door. His brow furrowed in concentration as he
approached the door and opened it.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” He roared when he saw
Alexandria in bed with another man.
“JC!” Alexandria yelled and nervously looked from
him to her lover and then back again.
“What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” he growled. “Unlike you. You have exactly twelve hours to get your stuff packed and get
your WHORISH, CHEATING ASS OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
“But JC…”
“Though I do have one question for you.” He
narrowed his eyes when he looked at her.
“Is the baby mine? Or his?”
Alexandria lowered her eyes. “It’s his.”
“Get out of my house. I’m leaving; I will be back in exactly twelve hours. And I want you GONE.” He sneered.
“Thank God I had you sign that prenup, because now you don’t get ANY of
my money in the divorce.” JC actually laughed.
“You couldn’t have done me a bigger favor. Leave with what you came into this marriage with. And take him with you.”
JC was whistling as he walked downstairs and left
the house.