SuperJoey

The morning's rays streamed in through the closed curtains, bathing the bedroom in golden light. The young woman sleeping soundly in the bed stirred as they warmed her. Rolling over in the bed, she reached out and wrapped her arm around the naked torso of the man beside her.

Abby cracked an eye open and smiled as she saw JC lying on his back in the bed beside her. His hair was tousled and his lips slightly parted as he slept. Long, thick eyelashes brushed against the tops of his cheeks as he snored softly. A smile came to her lips as she watched him, realizing that for the first time, she was waking up beside her fiancé. She took this secluded moment to admire the man for everything that he was. His brown hair was short, but getting longer every day. It was just long enough to run her fingers through. The blonde highlights added something to the man that she just couldn't name.

Her eyes traveled down his face to his eyes. Although she couldn't see them right at that moment, she knew what was hidden behind the lids. Eyes so deep and blue that she felt she was swimming in their depths. They were filled with so much passion, not just for her, but for life in general. They held a sparkle when he was feeling mischievous and a glint that shone when he was upset or fretting something. His eyes always gave him away.

Her gaze moved down his cute nose to his parted lips. Lips that her own had memorized long before. Lips that had spoken words so harsh, and words so healing. Lips that could kiss her so gently, or so rough and animalistic. Behind those lips were his perfect white teeth that she saw whenever he chose to give her a little grin. She giggled as a thought entered her head. Perfect except for that little gap between the two front teeth, but she loved that gap too.

She took in the vision of his pronounced jaw line and realized that his facial features made him so unique. His chiseled cheekbones added an appeal to him that she didn't often see in men. She loved tracing his jaw line and kissing along it.

She looked down the column of his neck and let her gaze rest on his collarbone and upper chest. He was so strong. His chest was well formed and toned, and she traced her hand over it, amazed at how hard his muscles were and he still managed to be so gentle with her and the kids. She then took notice of his strong arms, one that was underneath her body, holding her close. The other hand lay flat on his stomach, rising and falling with each breath. Her eyes then locked on his stomach, his hard abs underneath his hand. He was so strong.

Her gaze stopped where the waistband of his pajama pants began and the top of the sheet resting just below his waist. Instead, she turned her head to look at his face again. He was so beautiful. She didn't know why this amazing man had been brought into her life, but she was thankful for whatever reason it was.

She moved her eyes to his chest again and touched it gently. The most amazing thing about him, completely putting his appearance aside, was his heart. He had such a kind heart, despite his many mistakes at not listening to it. And she knew that because of it, her life was going to be filled with so much happiness, and her children were going to grow up with the best father in the world.

Giving up on her close examination of her husband-to-be, she leaned over his body and lay against his chest, kissing his collarbone gently before closing her eyes again. She felt his arm come around her body and hold her closer as his breathing quickened.

JC opened his eyes and looked down at the woman lying against his chest. He couldn't fight the smile that immediately came to his face, and he moved his hand to entangle it in her hair. "Morning," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. "Have you been awake long?" he asked.

She lifted her head to look at him and smiled. "Long enough to realize I'm the luckiest woman in the world."

He chuckled slightly at that, and she could feel the vibration coarse through his chest. "You are, aren't you?" He rolled them over and put an arm on either side of her as he leaned down to brush his lips across her own. "I think I'm pretty damn lucky myself." Kissing her one last time, he pushed the blankets off their bodies and climbed out of the bed, running his fingers through his hair.

Abby rolled over to look at him with an amused smile on her face. "What's the game plan for today, babe?"

JC pulled a drawer out and began to dig around for a shirt. "Whatever you want, hon. The slot for the day is blank."

She grinned. "So what's for breakfast?"

He turned and put his hands on his hips. "Excuse me, ma’am. Who is the woman in this relationship?" he insisted.

Abby's eyebrow rose and she looked at him pointedly. "Who just had your kid? Whose house is this? Who is the guest?"

"Okay, okay...I get your point. But this is your house too now, so get used to waking up beside my ugly mug," he muttered, pulling the shirt over his head.

She smiled and climbed out of the bed, walking across the room the hug him. Looking up, she kissed his lips quickly. "That's no chore."

~*~

"So everything's good with your parents now?" Lance asked, licking the barbeque sauce from his fingers as he slid a piece of chicken onto his plate from the grill.

Abby nodded. "Yeah. It was just a lot of crazy misunderstandings; all my dad needed was to spend some time with Braeden and Chance. They were his undoing."

Justin nodded with a smile. "That's awesome." He dodged Braeden's hands as the boy reached for Justin's food. "No way, little man. This is mine. If you want food, go sit on your daddy's lap, not mine."

Braeden shot Justin a look before sliding down off the man's lap and running across the deck to where his father was sitting with Chris. Abby observed the way JC's face lit up as Braeden asked to sit and eat with him. She smiled as she watched her son climb onto the man's lap and JC's arms wrapped around his stomach to keep him from falling.

"I'm so happy, Justin," she said with a smile. "JC has finally made me happy."

"It's about time, huh?" he replied with a grin, biting into his chicken.

"Hey kids!"

The five heads turned as Chris' obnoxious voice rose above them all. "What's this?" he asked.

Abby's face turned red with humiliation as he held up the object of JC's attention back in her room at her parent's house. Dropping her head to her hands, she groaned as she heard three men's laughter.

"That's Abby's," JC replied, trying to hold back his laughter.

Joey stood up and plucked the bra out of Chris's hand. Grinning to the embarrassed woman, he twirled it around his finger, watching with a laugh as one side of tissues came unpinned. "Since when do you need chest enhancement, babe?"

Abby raised her head to glare at JC, and she watched with satisfaction as he swallowed the lump in his throat nervously. "She doesn't, trust me," he muttered under his breath, loud enough for everyone to hear. Glancing at her quickly, he cleared his throat and tried his best to glare at the man through his laughter. "Joey, put that away," he murmured, looking back to her in worry. "Chris, where did you find that anyway?"

"I went to get that book you sent me after and it was sticking out of your suitcase. Sorry if I was snooping; I just thought it was funny."

JC's cold glare caused the older man's laughter to cease. "Maybe it wasn't. Huh, Chris?" he growled through clenched teeth as he saw the anger being directed his way from Abby.

Chris paled and grabbed the bra from Joey's hand. "Uh...maybe not. I'll just...yeah." He turned and made his way back into the house.

JC turned his gaze back to Abby, sending her an apologetic look. She turned her head and busied herself with removing the rest of the chicken from the grill. Sighing, he knew that once the guys had left that night, he was in for it.

~*~

"JC! What the hell did you accomplish with this?" she yelled, glad that the boys were down at the end of the hallway. "In bringing that with you, you embarrassed the hell out of me today in front of the only friends I have."

JC reached for her hands, trying to pull her down onto the bed beside him. "Baby, it was intended to be a joke. Besides, it didn't come out the way I had planned it to. You knew I was gonna say something. I was just kidding."

"It was embarrassing," she repeated. "And I don't care that you intended it a different way. The fact remains that you did it. I thought you were just kidding before."

She sat down beside him and glared. JC reached for her hands and rubbed the backs of them with the pads of his thumbs. "I'm sorry, okay? The guys will forget about it and leave it alone after a while. Granted, they'll bring it up again from time to time, but it's not like you're not going to find out equally or more humiliating stuff about them in the near future."

Abby rolled her eyes. Looking up at him, she smiled slightly. "I am so tired of fighting with you. Just when I think it's all going to be perfect with us, something else comes along. But I'm sick of this. We're going to get married and I'm going to stop being so sensitive."

He smiled. "I love you just the way you are, so don't even think about changing." He leaned his forehead against hers and gazed into her eyes.

She bopped him on the head and stood up to change. "Don't think this bra issue is over. I'm going to get you for it."

He smiled evilly. "I have no doubts."

~*~

JC cuddled the little boy closer, smiling at the wide-eyed innocence on his face. "Autumn passed and winter, and in the spring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and peeped at him."

"Daddy, what backen?" Braeden asked, tugging on his father's shirt.

JC smiled down at him. "Bracken? Hmmm, I dunno, buddy. I think it's like plants and stuff."

"Otay...go."

The man chuckled and looked back down at the storybook in his hands. "One of them was brown all over, but the other had strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been spotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little soft nose and round black eyes there was something familiar, so that the Boy thought to himself: 'Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever!' But he never knew that it really was his old Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real."

JC closed the book and set it on the coffee table. "The end."

Braeden turned on JC's lap and put his little hands on the man's chest. "Daddy, can I have a bunny?" he asked innocently.

JC smiled and repositioned the child so he wasn't in such danger of being *ahem* injured. "We'll see about that. Maybe when you're older, okay?"

"Doggie?"

The man shook his head. "Not yet, alright, pal? Let's wait until you and Chance get a bit older and we'll talk about it then."

Braeden nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and reached for another book. "This one." He handed it to his father and sat down on his lap again.

JC smiled at the boy's endless enthusiasm to learn, and opened this book too. Running a hand through his hair, he wrapped his arm around his son and pulled him closer. "Okay. Chicken Little was in the woods one day when an acorn fell on her head. It scared her so much, she trembled all over. She shook her head, half her feathers fell out. 'Help! Help!' she cried. 'The sky is falling! I must go tell the king!'"

JC chuckled slightly as Braeden was sent into a fit of giggles at the female voice JC was trying to summon.

**author's note...the voice I'm hearing in my head when he's reading this is the voice on Lady and the Tramp where Tramp is imitating the humans...I'm not sure why...read on...**

They both looked up as Abby entered the room and watched them. "Hey baby," JC said with a smile. "Want to come join us? We'll make room" He patted his other knee with a wicked smile.

She shook her head and walked across the room to pick up the sweatshirt JC had left on the couch. "No thanks, sweetie. I'm just trying to get some laundry done, then maybe read for a bit."

"You're no fun." JC couldn't help but smile at the vision of her walking around his house as if she truly belonged there. She does, doesn't she? his brain reminded him. And she's gonna be for the rest of your life. This caused his smile to grow larger and he stared at her as she bent over to retrieve a pair of Braeden's socks, whistling appreciatively.

Abby turned and looked at him with a roll of her eyes. She had been living with JC in his house for a month now, and it was truly starting to feel like home to her. He had convinced her to put her house in Tampa up for sale, and they would be going to get she and Braeden's things within the week. She couldn't wait for the wedding. She was ready to make this permanent.

After she walked out of the room, JC turned his attention back to the book and the boy in his arms. Clearing his throat, he began to read again. "Along the way, she met Henny Penny. 'Where are you going, Chicken Little?' Henny Penny asked. 'Oh, help!' Chicken Little cried. 'The sky is falling!'" JC paused as he heard a soft snore. Looking down, he smiled softly at the sleeping child on his lap and closed the book gently. "The end," he whispered. He moved his arms around the child and lifted him up effortlessly to carry him to his room.

Passing the laundry room on his way, he winked at Abby as she watched them pass. "See you in the bedroom," he whispered. She shook her head at his flirty nature and went on with her work.

JC entered Braeden's room and flipped the light on with his elbow. Crossing the room to the bed, he sat down and carefully changed the boy into his pajamas. He was removing Braeden's socks when he finally woke up at the movement.

"Chickie Little?" he asked groggily.

JC smiled and pushed the blankets back, helping the four-year-old under them. "Don't worry about Chicken Little."

"Sky fall?"

The man shook his head. "No, the sky didn't fall. Chicken Little and Henny Penny got to the king and the king said, 'Go tell...SuperJoey.' So Chicken Little and Henny Penny went and told SuperJoey and SuperJoey held the sky up with his bare hands."

Braeden's eyes were wide. "Really? Wow."

JC laughed and pulled the blankets up to his chin. "Go to sleep, okay?" He leaned over and kissed the boy's forehead, pushing his hair back with his hand. "I love you, Brady."

"Love too, Daddy," Braeden replied, his eyes drooping shut.

The singer laughed slightly and stood up, walking to the door. Flipping off the light, he turned in the doorway and stared at the four-year-old as he slept. He put his hands on the doorframe and leaned against it, watching Braeden's chest rise and fall slowly. His life was becoming so perfect, and he knew that after the wedding, it could only get better.

~*~

Abby looked up as JC's arms slid around her waist as she was trying to fold some towels. "Forget the laundry and let's go to bed. It's nine-thirty."

She giggled and removed his hands from her body as she moved to finish her work. "Oh, my...how incredibly late it is," she joked.

JC's eyebrow rose and he looked at her in humor. "Excuse me, miss, but I believe that was sarcasm I just heard."

"You're so perceptive," she shot back as he grabbed her again. She was shocked as JC pushed her against the wall and began to kiss her passionately. One arm held him up against the wall while the other hand grabbed her hip and pulled her against him. He tilted his head and deepened the pressure, licking at her lips so she would grant him access to her mouth.

She managed to push him away for a moment to catch her breath before getting too caught up in his administrations, and looked into his eyes. "What are you doing?"

He smiled. "Preparing for the honeymoon."

"It hasn't even been the wedding yet," she replied.

"I wanna be in good practice," he said with a smirk, moving his other arm to her other hip, pulling her against him again.

"Josh," she whined. "I told you, no more until we're married. I don't want to have to explain to two of your children why their ages are more than the years Mommy and Daddy have been married."

He whined and moved to kiss her neck, his fingers sliding up the back of her shirt. "Come on."

She pushed him away again and stared into his eyes. "I love you so much, you know that?"

"So prove it to me," he begged, moving his hand up her back.

She reached around her back and pulled his hand out from her shirt. "I mean it. My Lord, you're not going to make it to next December, are you?"

"That's fourteen months away, baby!" he whined, looking into her eyes. A thought entered his head. "Let's move it up...this year."

Abby's eyes widened. "JOSHUA! There is NO way that we can plan a wedding in TWO MONTHS!"

He smiled. "Yes, there is! Baby, me and the guys are free for the most part, give or take an interview or two, so we can help you however you need. I can enlist the help of my sister and mom too, and we'll totally get this thing started." He took notice of the fearful look in her eyes and leaned forward to kiss her lips gently. "Sweetie, it'll all work out. I can't wait fourteen months to become your husband." He reached his hand up to cup her cheek and stared into her eyes. "I can't."

She had her doubts, but she couldn't deny the fact that she really didn't want to wait that long either. Sighing, she reached for his hands and squeezed them in her own. "Fine. If you think we can pull it off, I'm all for a wedding this December."

He smiled. "Thank you, baby...thank you." He leaned in and kissed her again. "I love you so much."

Abby leaned her forehead against his own and stared back into his eyes. "I love you too." He didn't notice her arm reaching out to the top of the dryer and was shocked as she draped something over his head. Reaching up to pluck it off, he turned red and laughed. "No padding...see that?" she pointed out, walking out of the room.

JC tossed her lacy black bra back onto the dryer and followed her up the stairs to their room.

 

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