Chapter 7

Kim walked back into the bathroom, but she stayed very far away from Justin and she wouldn't look him in the eyes.

He had finished his food and the plate was right below him on the floor. "To answer your questions, Kim. No I wasn't going to marry her...well...yeah I was. I was going to ask her after we were not as famous, she broke up with me before I could. As for the other question. Did I have sex with her?..."

"NO! I don't want to know." Kim interrupted

"But you have the right to..."

"No! Don't tell me." Kim shook her head. "Don't. The question is not very important. I asked information that was too personal. Whatever the answer is, that is between you and Britney." She played with her fingers and looked at them.

"Kim..." Justin raised his hand out of the water. "You have right to know. You will be my wife..."

She changed the subject. "So, you were so in love with her at one point you were going to marry her?" Kim had NO right to be hurt, but she was. She was so hurt she thought she was going to cry.

"Yeah, I told you I fall in love with people too fast. I thought we were perfect for each other. I thought wrong. I am SO glad she broke up with me. I have got the most spectacular girl on the face of this Earth. I love you some much, baby girl. Come here." She reluctantly walked over to him, and his wet hand held held hers. "I love you more than anything! You understand me?" He pulled her hand so she would get the point. "Do you understand me Kimberly?"

It was the first time in a long time he said her first name. "Got it." She whispered.

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December 22, 2001, Unknown location - party.

The driver opened the door of limo. Justin stepped out of itr first, he then grasped Kim's hand and helped her out.

Mike stood abruptly close to the couple but he did not crowd them.

Justin and Kim held hands as they walked. Kim stopped. "Justin, this dress...it's too much."

He looked down at the dress and sighed. "What's wrong with it?"

The dress was beautiful, it was made of very metallic silver beads. The only problem was it was the most revealing thing she had put on yet. It cut down to her navel just like many other dresses she wore. Not only was it cut to her navel, it cut half way over her chest. If she were to move in any WRONG ways, something was surely going to pop out. Which would be devastating. It was so short that shorts were made (of the metallic beads) to go underneath it. "It's just...I don't know. You can look at it and tell what is wrong with it."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. "Baby you look great. You have a gorgeous body...show it. Besides it's Gucci."

"That's another thing, Justin. I cannot believe you had this dress sent from New York just because there is not Gucci store in Florida."

Justin waved at some people that walked by. "Kim...don't. My stylist did that. Not me. Stop it, okay? This is Puff Daddy's party. His parties are all about fashion and formalness. You have to LOOK good to be at one of his parties. Just stop it, and come on." He pulled her hand and her legs moved faster than his to catch up with him. "There are going to be A LOT of celebrities here, Kim." Justin whispered when a bouncer at the door of Puff Daddy's home let them inside. "I think Lance said he was going to be here so I'll keep a look out for him."

"I didn't know Puff Daddy had a house in Florida." Kim whispered. She was honestly scared to death because she was not the partying type. And here she was in one of Puff Daddy's houses. The music was so loud and there were so many people in the place Kim became more scared. "Oh my God, Justin. Lil' Kim is here? Jordan Night? Is that...is that.Carson Daly? Pink?"

Justin chuckled and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I told you. Many people flew here, just to catch the party."

"Hey! TIMBERLAKE?" Justin turned his head to the side. "Timberlake! My man Timberlake!"

Justin hugged the man. "Puffy how are you man?"

As Justin and Puff Daddy were talking Kim just stared at Jennifer Lopez who was standing by his side. She was so pretty in person and she looked very vibrant because her make-up was very natural and golden. Jennifer kissed Justin and then locked eyes with her.

"And let me guess this is your girl Kim? Ya'll have been everywhere. On TV, in magazines, the paper." Puff Daddy walked over to her and looked into her eyes. Justin was just gawking at her trying to see how she was reacting to everything.

"Yes, that would be me. I'm Kim." She was going to put out her hand to shake his, but Puffy pulled her into a hug.

"It's nice to me you. And your beautiful." He tapped Justin on the shoulder. "She's beautiful yo."

"I know she is."

Jennifer then walked up to her. "Hey, sweetie. I love your dress." Her and Kim kissed each other cheeks.

"Thank you very much. It's all Justin. He picked it out. I'm very flattered to meet you, Jennifer. You are even more beautiful in person."

Jennifer giggled. "Oh, stop that. Thank you though. Thank you very much. Your stunning yourself."

Puff Daddy took her hand. "Okay, Justin and Kim. Have fun."

When they walked off Justin and Kim just looked at each other. "See Kim, Jennifer LOVES your dress."

As they walked further into the party they saw so many other people. Destiny's child, Christina Aguilera...some of the Backstreet Boy's. "Lets dance, Kim."

"Justin! Seriously! In this dress? Are you crazy? In these heels?" She gave him a look and her rising voice was drawing attention to them. "Justin grabbed a drink from a waiter walking by. "Your drinking, Justin?"

He sipped the drink and wiped his lips. "Just a little. It's just a party. It's not like I'm going to get drunk or anything." He took another sip of his drink. "Huh, you want some?"

She was pregnant and she knew there was NO way she was going to drink, or do anything that would harm her baby. "HELL NAW! Get that out of my face. You don't need to be DRINKING, Justin. You have rehearsals in the morning, DUH!"

He took another sip of his drink. "Whew...this is STRONG. Whew. Just calm your nerves, Kim. You get too fired up about the simplest things. Don't worry about ME."

He was concentrating so hard on how 'strong' his drink was, that he didn't know she left him and walked away. Kim just walked around the mansion. She already didn't like party's. And what was with Justin? Could the music be any louder? As she walked through the large halls she could tell, many guys were checking her out. Some of the even gave her the finger signal to 'come here'.

She was walking with her head down, and bumped into someone.

It was... Britney. They just stood back for a second and watched one another. Britney looked so bad. She had tape across her nose and sunglasses on to match her dress. She looked better but she still looked extremely beat up. Kim noticed that Britney was taller than her. Only by like an inch or two but she was taller. It hurt Kim to see she was still trying to carry on with her normal activities, like still going to the party, participating in the parade. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."

Britney soaked up the color in her eyes it seemed. Kim could see the clear pain that lived in Britney. What she didn't understand was, why was she so hurt? What was wrong with her? Did she really want Justin that badly? Why did she have so much pain weighing her down? "It's okay." She just walked away.

Kim was really confused. Britney seemed to be afraid of her. Her voice was so sullen and whisper-like. Kim looked behind her to watch Britney continue to walk away. She had her hands over her face and she looked like she was crying. Finally, she disappeared.

Kim felt so bad. She felt terrible. She continued to walk around. She tried to keep herself from socializing because she was a very shy person and didn't like to talk with people all that much. She continued walking and ended back up to where Justin was. Her eyes were budging when she saw BRITNEY on him. She was not on him flirtatiously, she was crying. Her head was on his chest and she was just loudly sobbing.

Justin or Britney couldn't see her from where she was. Kim stood still and out of their distance so she could hear what was going on.

"Britney, get off of me. Your ruining my SHIRT!"

"But Justin, I love you some much. Why don't you understand that? I didn't break up with you because I wanted to. My manager made me. He said I had to break up with you because too many people started to suspect things about us and that rumors would ruin our careers." She cried harder.

Justin pushed her away gently. "Britney..."

"I love you. I love you so much, Justin."

He looked around and drunk more of his second drink. "I love you too. I love you as a friend. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kim. You put her through more shit. I love that girl so much. She IS MY WORLD. MY LIFE! " He wiped his dry forehead. "I LOVE KIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMM. I LOVE KIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMM!" He shouted for no reason.

Kim giggled. Justin was REAL close to being drunk. Maybe he was.

Britney cried harder. She was crying so hard that she was no longer leaning on Justin, she was just stand by her lonesome. Justin walked away from her and left her. Still he didn't see Kim. She was so close to him, but he didn't see her at all. A woman who had dark brown hair and green eyes came out of nowhere and she presented herself to Justin. Kim was looking cautiously now and was almost blazing mad.

"Hey, Justin! You don't know me. I'm Shelly, but you can call me anything you want. I know you have a girl and all, but you see. I can make those curls of yours as straight as if you were hit by lighting bolts."

Justin laughed and drunk more of his drink. "Ha! You? I don't think so. Where is Kim? KIIIIIIIIIMMMM!" He looked around.

Shelly ran her hands down his chest. She rose her leg up over his leg and just as her hand was going to grab something Kim would never grab like that, she stepped in. "Justin, I'm right here. I'm right here, Justin."

Shelly eyes lit up, she even giggled. "Oh, that's her? Come on, Justin? What do you say? Come home with me tonight."

Kim put her hands on her waist. "Back off." She was trying NOT to get too upset.

Justin kissed Kim and didn't notice the fight emerging right in front of him. "Oh, don't start with me. Why did you have to pick a Barbie doll, Justin? EW she is so fake. Her breasts are so fake!"

Kim flipped. "Listen, bitch. You don't know me like that, AND ALL OF THIS IS REAL HONEY!" She wanted to hit her right there but she was SO sick of fighting, and using the abuse she once suffered.

"Come with me, Justin. I'm more of a real woman than she is." Shelly begged. She tugged on his arm.

Kim got in her face. "If you don't get your hands off of my man I'm going to KICK YOUR ASS!" She shouted. Shelly had a drink in her hand and she flung all of it all over Kim. "Oh my God! She just...oh my God. Oh my God." She started shaking and crying.

Justin picked her up. "Okay, baby girl. Time to go." He put his drink on a table while walking by it and he carried Kim out of the door. Mike was outside of the door waiting for them and when he saw Justin carrying Kim, he directed them towards the limo they arrived in.

"You guys, okay?" Mike asked opening the limo door for them.

Kim was still crying. "Yeah. Just had a mini incident that's all." Justin spoke for her.

"Alright, J." He tapped him a few times on the back then closed the door. He then took his seat in the front of the limo.

"Kim, you okay? You okay, sweetheart?" He moved her curly hair out of her face and used his shirt to wipe it.

She sat up and sniffled. "Yeah, I'm okay. This dress is ruined." She tried not to start balling again.

"I'm so sorry about that, babe. You know how jealous some people are of you. Your so beautiful and perfect, people want to be you."

Kim managed to laugh. "Is that really JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE talking? I thought you were drunk."

Justin sat her up more comfortable on his lap and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm not drunk. I know my limits. I may be a little 'happier' than usual, but I'm cool." He used another portion on his shirt to wipe the alcohol that had seeped down into her bareness. When he wiped away the wetness that was sticking to her stomach he bent down and kissed her right on her navel, which had been decorated with a rhinestone tattoo. He kissed her body all the way up to her lips.

His mouth was so sweet. But dangerously sweet, because it was flavored by the drinks he had. She broke away. She didn't want any slight bit of the alcohol to transfer to her system. "What's wrong?" He asked catching his lost breath.

"I can't French kiss you. You've been drinking."

He placed his lips on hers but did not feed into the kiss with his tongue. "Is that better?" He placed his forehead against hers.

"Yup. I love you so much, Justin. I really do."

December 24, 2001, Christmas Eve (nine o'clock at night.)

"I cannot believe you actually had rehearsals today. Pass me the tape." Kim and Justin were wrapping presents, but in separate rooms. Kim was in the main bedroom, and Justin was in the one across from that. They didn't have to, because they had plenty, but they were choosingly using one dispenser of tape.

"Yeah well, work is work. Tape." Justin said. She tossed it across the floor and he smiled at her, then continued to wrap the one present he was working on. "You did a great job on the tree, Kim. It looks great."

He heard her laugh in the next room. "Thank you. You've only told me that everyday since I finished it."

"I'm serious. You are so small, and you did all that work by yourself. Yeah, well, never mind you also tore Britney up, and she's a little bigger than you. Well, she's not bigger than you when it comes to certain things, but she's taller. That's what I meant."

"Justin. Just shut up, boy." She just so happened to look into the next room and Justin was standing right next to her. "AHHHHHHHH! You scared the shit out of me. "Oooooo my goodness."

"Jeans from the D&G. Very nice!" He made a thumbs up and smiled.

"Justin!" She stood up with the jeans in her hands. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I'm wrapping your presents!"

He chuckled and kissed her. He broke away and kissed her on the nose. "I love you, Kim." He kissed her again and she dropped the jeans she was holding.

She put her hand to his chest and pulled back. "No way buster. You interrupted my present wrapping. I'm mad at you."

He picked her up and sat down on the bed with her in his lap. "You may be mad at me, but you still love me right?" He put his nose to her nose.

Kim giggled. "Right." Her words led into a kiss.

"I just want to hold you, baby girl. I just want to hold you and never let you go."

She closed her eyes and kissed his hand. "I never want you to let me go. I could stay in your arms forever."

He held her tighter and squeezed her tighter. "Kim, two more days." There was a pause and then a tear fell down his cheek and landed in her hair. When Justin cried she cried. It just happened naturally. They were practically one person. "Baby, I am going to miss you so much. I am going to miss holding you like this."

"I know." Kim coughed. "I am going to DIE without you, Justin. I will JUST..." She cried silently for a few seconds. "I WILL JUST DIE!" She squeezed his hand tighter. "I never want to let you go." She whispered. "Never."

She sat up higher so she could wrap her arms around his neck. She did, and tucked her head somewhere in between his neck. Justin wrapped his arms around her neck. And they just held each other. It was what they needed. The healing had not begun yet, but they felt safe in each others arms.

"Kim the tour should go by quickly. Thank God the last date is here in Florida. Baby, I'm making sure you get to come to our show. I'm going to be so happy to see you. Hopefully we will never be parted again after this."

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Justin had put all of the presents, both him and Kim wrapped, under the tree, and walked into the kitchen to see what Kim was up to. She was cooking and the aroma from all the food made him hungry.

Perfect opportunity. Her back was to him, she had no idea he was coming. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her small waist. She jumped with freight and then sighed. "The plan of trying to stop my heart is working. Would you like your cookie now or later?" She turned her body towards him and turned her head to the side.

"You are so sexy when you bite your bottom lip like that. By the way, I want my cookie NOW. RIGHT THIS INSTANT." He leaned down to kiss her, but she backed away and turned to the oven.

She grabbed a freshly baked cookie from a batch that she had just made, and and set out to cool. "Here you go." She put it in his hand.

"Damn your clever. You out smarted me. This is not the type of 'cookie' I was referring to, but ah well."

"Haha, yup. Anyway, please, Justin. Don't mess with me right now. I'm trying to start on dinner for tomorrow. Your parents and step parents are coming over for Christmas. Along with your younger step brothers. EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT. I am SOOOO nervous. Please. I need to make sure dinner is PERFECT." She picked up several more cookies. "Here, take these for the future. Now go on, Justin."

He playfully rolled his eyes. "Dang woman, you kicking me out of my OWN kitchen?"

She looked over at the stove for a second. "Yeah, I am. I'm meeting your parents. COOKING FOR YOUR PARENTS. Your bothers too. I've met Lynn but not all the rest of them. THE FOOD HAS TO BE PERFECT!" She made clear.

Justin was eating on a third cookie. "But I'm HUNGRY, Kim. I can't live off of cookies!"

She shook her hair out of her face. "Justin, how many times do I have to tell you? Okay wait. We love to eat out. Go get something to eat."

"I love to eat out." Justin said simply. He raised an eyebrow. "I really really love to eat out. Don't I, Kim?"

She didn't get the joke and looked into his eyes in confusion.

"I love to go to restaurants DOWN TOWN..." Seconds later he got slapped. "Kidding. I was just kidding. OW!"

"That would be totally funny if I told your mother what you just said."

Justin was eating on the fourth cookie. "Yeah, it would. Anyway, stop freaking. Everything will be FINE! And I am just going to have to starve for a while. Sheez Kim, do you really think Pizza Hut is open on Christmas Eve?Didn't think so." He walked out of the kitchen and left her alone.

After Kim placed a turkey in the oven to cook she walked into the living room to take a break. Justin was sitting on the couch and he was looking at the gas fire place which was on. He looked like he was in deep thought.

Kim placed her knee in the cushion of the couch and looked over at him. "What ya thinking about?" She moved closer to him.

"You." He said looking at her and then smiling. "You and me. I wanna know how you and I are going to spend our last few nights together. I'm thinking about what we should or are going to do this Christmas Eve."

She moved close enough to him to where her knee was touching his leg "Oh really? What we are going to do this Christmas Eve?"

Justin picked up the remote that went to the stereo. "That's what I said, isn't it?" When the stereo was last used the volume was set as loud as it gets. When Justin turned it on, the music was blaring so loud the hair on their necks stood up. "DAMN! That scared the...dag."

Kim stood up when he cut the volume at a comfortable loud level. "Oh this song is awesome. We had a awesome routine to do to it in high school. I was on the dance team." She raised her hands in the air and moved her hips from side to side with her eyes closed. Madonna's song 'Music' was playing.

"Go ahead, Kim. Get down girl. I didn't know you were on a dance team."

She rotated her head and she danced. "Yeah, I was a cheerleader too. There is a lot of things you don't know about me, huh?"

"I know you sure can move your body...very well." He rubbed his chin. "Sit down and come talk to me, Kim. Tell me about high school. I never really got to go. Did you go to prom?"

She swayed her body over to him and then sat down. "My prom?" Justin moved her long curls out of her eyes. "I didn't get to go." She shrugged. "My parents wouldn't let me."

Justin looked at Kim's neck. She had put the necklace that he got her back on, after months of NOT wearing it. "Oh, well, don't feel left out. I didn't get to go to prom either..."

Kim stared at the coffee table and thought. "You know what, Justin?" She turned her head to face him. "Neither of my parents ever told me they loved me." Justin held her hands and lowered his head at the sound of her words. "I'm serious. Not one time." She laughed. "I never understood them. They brought me into the world, you know? What did I do wrong? Why did they treat me so horribly? What did I do?" She swallowed. "I never told you this Justin, but when I was nine years old, I was sitting in class doing my work, right? And this boy named Nick pulled one of my braids and I smacked him. The teacher called my Mother and you know what? For protecting myself she and my Dad beat me with a belt and then they made me miss a week of school by locking me in my room without any food. I only weighed about fifty pounds then and I lost ten pounds that week I wasn't able to eat anything. I got put in the hospital, I grew so ill. I almost died. What did I do? What did I do to deserve that?"

Justin was quiet and she couldn't see his face, just the top of his small mass of curls. "There was this other time, when I was sixteen. I got my white sneakers dirty. They were new, but my mother said they were for cheerleading so, I...wore them to cheerleading. When she saw the sneakers she got so mad she hit me in the head with a metal baseball bat. I think she hit me more than once. That put me in a coma. She hit me in the head with a bat over some shoes? She told the doctors I did it to myself, that I tired to kill myself. My Dad stood up for her lies. He told me, if I told anyone anything he would kill me. That no one would miss me if I was dead because I was nothing more than a piece of shit. Every since that incident sometimes I would just faint for no reason. They never said they loved me. What did I do? I've always tried to be the perfect daughter. I just wanted them to love me." She sniffed once but was NOT crying. She had no tears left. She had no need to cry because she had been crying her whole life and now it had to stop.

She felt some much better. She finally told Justin a little piece of her abuse history. She never talked with him about it before. Justin still had his head down and was still holding her hand. "You know what my Dad said to me once? He said he would give his life to take back having me as his daughter." Kim giggled. "He hates me THAT much."

"Please stop." Justin whispered.

His voice was so softened and broken...choked. Kim looked at the top of his head and then down. She noticed that his thighs were soaked from tears.

He had this ache in his body. He couldn't take anymore of her words. It was because he felt the pain Kim once felt all at one time. He was her and she was him. He couldn't move it hurt so bad. "Please stop." He repeated. His words more faint than the last.

Kim held him. She didn't know why he was so upset. "Justin, don't cry. I'm okay. Everything is okay, now that I have you in my life. I have someone to love me and I LOVE you." She raised his head. "I love you more than anything is this world." She stared into his profound puppy dog eyes, then kissed his lips.

Five minutes into the kiss they heard singing from outside. Kim wiped Justin's eyes and kissed his mouth. They walked to the front door hand in hand. When they opened it up, they saw JC, Joey, Lance and Chris, singing 'Silent Night' in the middle of the lawn.

Kim and Justin shook their heads at them with a smile and then kissed in the middle of the door way.

December 25, 2001 Christmas morning

The rays from the morning sun beamed into the casual bedroom. It was not cold enough to snow in Florida, but it did rain in the middle of the night and kept the symbolism of Christmas...alive.

Justin's hand ran up and down Kim's slightly bent leg. He kissed her shoulder firmly.

"Merry Christmas, Justin." She reached over and pulled his head closed to her and she kissed his ear.

"Merry Christmas." He kiss her shoulder once more and then caught her radiant blue eyes with his. They gazed at one another with no emotion, until Justin smiled. It cause Kim to smile. "You look so beautiful this morning." He told her.

"You look so beautiful this morning." She smiled and closed her eyes. She was still somewhat tired. Fortunately she had no nauseated feelings whatsoever. Just as she was getting comfortable with her eyes closed, she felt herself being flipped. When she opened her eyes she was on top of Justin. "Nice move." She said with a giggle. She pinned his arms back.

"Well today is officially our last day together, I'm just trying to make the best of it." He looked up and smiled with his mouth close.

Kim bent down and placed her lips on his. She turned her head to the right when Justin turned his to the left. A few seconds later she broke away. "Eight o'clock in the morning and your breath is as sweet as candy."

He shifted underneath her and then opened his mouth. Held between his teeth was a piece of candy cane.

Kim looked up at the ceiling and laughed. "As you would say, Justin...HOTNESS!" She then bent down and stole it from him. "Cute. So, do you sleep with candy in your mouth?" She let his arms go.

He tickled her sides. "Something like that."

She pushed his hands away. "Haha don't do that."

He reached up and put her hair behind her back. "Takin' another space ride, Kim?" His eyebrow raised.

She raised her eyebrow to add to his drama. "If you want to call it that." She then bounced off of him and her feet touched the fluffy carpet.

Justin clutched her hand and pulled it. "Oh no ya don't."

She snickered when she fell into his arms. "This is one HELL of a Christmas morning. What is this, Justin? Revenge of the slave two?"

He placed sizzling, heated kissed on her neck. "Something like that."

-------------------

Later.

Kim came walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. Justin had just finished putting a shirt on.

"They are going to be here in a minute, Justin. I am SO nervous. What if they don't like the way I cook. What if they think the food is nasty? What if they don't like me?"

Justin came up behind her and ran his hand over her slightly wet shoulders. "Oh, be quiet. They will LOVE the food ,and they will LOVE you. Believe me. I know what I'm talking about. I tasted everything you made." He glided his lips over the area.

Kim turned around quickly. "You what? How many times have I told you? Don't pick on the food." She licked her tongue at him playfully.

Justin looked at her neck, and then his eyes lowered slowly down the length of her. "I would hush if I were you, Kim. Either that or I'm going to snatch that towel off of you." He wiped his teeth with his tongue. "That would shut you up for sure."

Without a suggestion, she kissed him on the lips. "You wouldn't do that if your life depended on it. You want to know why? I love you, but I'll knock you out just as fast as I would Britney." She grinned evilly.

He could imagine horns growing out of her wet curls. "Feisty!" He walked away from her to exaggerate he was terrified.

Kim sprayed gel in her hair while looking in the mirror. "Justin, can you hand me a bra since you are closer to the closet?"

"Yeah, sure." He walked into the closet and opened her drawer. "What color?"

"Uh white?"

"Strapless or non strapless."

"Non strapless."

"Lacy or non lacy?"

"Lacy Justin."

"See-through or not see-through?"

She stomped into the closet she reach into the drawer and grabbed just any bra. "What the heck, Justin? It's not that hard to get a freakin' bra out of a drawer."

He laughed. "Oh, yeah the hell it is. You have hundreds of them. You have enough to wear a different one everyday for a damn year.

Kim laughed. "That is NOT true. You can't talk about anyone and underwear!" She opened up his drawer. "Look at this, JUSTIN. You talk about me and bra's? What about you and your boxer obsession? Huh?" She showed him what she was talking about. "Joe Boxer...Joe Boxer....Joe Boxer...Tommy Hilfiger...Calvin Kline...Tommy Hilfiger. You Cannot talk!" The threw the boxer she had tore out back into the drawer.

"Okay, I can't talk." He said with a persuasive smile.

Kim wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love when you walk around in your Calvin Kline boxers." She gave him a peck on the lips.

Justin's hands were on her waist. "I love it when you wear my boxers. You know, when you roll them down so they fit better? When they are hanging off of you. That is hot, baby." He kissed her back on the lips.

"I love it when you call me baby girl, and when you pick me up and put me in your lap. I like that a lot. I think it's so sweet." She kissed him on the lips again.

"I love it when you sneeze and make that adorable little high pitch baby sound." He kissed her, but it was longer than the last kiss he gave her.

"I love it when you can't think of something to say, or is thinking, and you run your fingers through your hair. That is so sexy to me." Kim closed her eyes and kissed the corner of his mouth.

"I love it when you kiss me." He whispered kissing her lips for several seconds.

She smiled to herself. "Since you are going away and is leaving tomorrow I have confession to make. I like it when you kiss me too. You know what I mean." She jumped up and down twice. "There, I said it. All this time I've been acting like your kisses we all bad and stuff. I liked it. I liked them. I LIKED EVERY SINGLE KISS YOU GAVE ME!" She winked.

Justin rested his head on her shoulder and just laughed his head off. "Kim." He sat up to talk but just couldn't he was laughing so hard. "Kim, you need help girl." After overcoming his laughing fit he kissed her on the lips. "I love it when you do what you just did. Have those cute little outbursts. The expressions you make and your tone of voice are just...the cutest things. Haha."

"I love it when...I love it when. YOUR PARENTS ARRIVE WHEN I'M NOT READY." They both heard the doorbell ring. "Oh my God." She grabbed a bottom portion of underwear and ran into the bathroom. About ten seconds later she ran past Justin and grabbed the black skirt she had laid out on the bed to wear, and finally she threw on a red furry turtleneck. Her hair was still very much wet but there was nothing she could do. Kim ran downstairs and looked at the front door. When Justin was by her side they combined fingers and on a count of three they opened the door.

"Hey!" Justin and Kim both said at the same time.

They were both out of breath, one of them visibly wet, and it had taken them about two minutes to answer the door. "Hey. Is uh everything okay with you two?"

"Yeah." Justin said looking over at Kim. "We just lost track of time." He squeezed her hand tighter.

"Yeah, what Justin said. Hi I'm Kim. You know, the girl he is going to marry!?" She looked at all the people. There was a total of four. Justin's biological father, his step-mom, and his two younger brothers.

"It's about time. I finally get to meet you. Give me a hug." She hugged the tall stocky man.

His step-mom hugged her next. "Nice to meet you, Kim." She kissed her on the face. "Oh, and your so beautiful. You are such a beautiful young lady. Baby, why is your hair wet?"

Kim looked at her blonde strands. "Oh, I just got out of the shower. I didn't have time to dry it." She smiled and bent down to the older younger brother. "Hey, Jonathan. I'm Kim. Justin has told me so much about you. You are eight right?"

"Yeah." He said shyly. "Your pretty. Can you be my girlfriend?"

Kim looked back at Justin so he could help her out. Justin scooped up Jonathan in his arms. "Hey man. You are growing so much. Sure Kim can be your girlfriend." He winked at her.

Kim noticed Steven was hiding behind his mothers leg. She knelt down. "Hey, Steven." Her voice was so friendly and sweet, he couldn't help but to show himself. "Hey, little man. Your a big three year old." Steven took a step back from her and looked up at his mom. He then jumped on Kim as if she was his mother.

"Da dougeeez we savfw da dougheeez todheay."

Kim giggled. "Oh you saw the doggies today? Doggies are so cute." She stood up straight and the little boy continued to cling to her side. She felt like she was going to cry. She felt loved. Three years from now she would be holding her own three year old, just like Steven.

Everyone walked into the house and was sitting in the living room, they were just waiting for Lynn to arrive. Jonathan was sitting on the couch next to Kim and Steven was sitting in her lap. Justin who didn't manage to get a seat next to her sat on the couch with his parents.

Most of the attention was on Kim. She seemed to be so great with the younger children and they seemed to like her a lot. She communicated with them as Justin, Randy and Lisa talked.

The door bell rung.

Kim stood up with Steven in her arms. She handed him to his mother, and her and Justin went to go answer the door. "How am I doing?" Kim asked as they made it out of the living room.

"Super. My parents can't stop talking about how much they love you, and how 'beautiful' you are."

"I hope they like the food. I'm so nervous I think I'm going to be sick."

Justin opened the front door. "Hey Ma. Hey Dad." He hugged his mother first, and then his step-dad.

"Hey, Lynn." She reached out to hug her. "Sorry about the damp hair."

"Oh it's alrighty. Kimmy you look wonderful." Lynn kissed her on the cheek.

Kim then turned to Justin's step-dad, she never met him before. "Hi, Paul. I'm Kim." She silently prayed she got his name right.

"Nice to finally me you, Kim. What a darling little thing you are. Oh, your just so tiny." 

"Come in." Justin demanded. "Now we can eat."

Lynn and Paul had a hello frenzy with everyone.

"Look at this, Lynn." Lisa said pointing to the Christmas tree in the living room. "Justin and Kim didn't open not one present yet. I swear those kids are love struck. Jonathan and Steven tore their presents open six in the mornin'. It's going on eight at night. The tree is beautiful. They probably got it professionally decorated." Lynn nodded in agreement.

They truly could careless about the presents under the tree, all they wanted was each other for Christmas, which is what they got. So they hadn't opened any presents yet.

"Okay, everyone. Just take a seat in the dining room and Kim and I will bring in the food." Justin took Kim's hand and brought her into the kitchen. He pulled her to the side. "Baby, everyone loves you so much. You've met ALL my parents, now all you have to do is walk down that isle and become mine forever." He kissed her on the lips.

"Yeah. FOREVER. I love you so much, Justin. You look great, baby. You look amazing."

"Thank you. You look amazing yourself." Kim forced his neck down so they could kiss. They didn't realize how steamy and hot the kiss was getting because Kim was crush against the refrigerator and Justin hand was on her thigh and he had unknowingly pulled her skirt up a little. "Damn, I'm sorry...getting kind of out of hand." He eased off of her.

"Thats, okay." She said dreamily. "Getting out of hand is good."

Justin laughed against her neck and kissed it once. "The food, Kim. We need to bring the food in."

"Oh yeah. I hope everyone likes it. I never cooked for a family before."

------------

Not only did everyone enjoy the dinner no one could stop eating. Everything Kim cooked was going too fast.

Kim did not eat as much because she was still dealing with her nervousness, maybe it was a mild version of 'anytime sickness'. She took a sip of her water.

"Kim, delicious dinner. Oh the turkey is just magnificent. The macaroni and cheese...brilliant. EVERYTHING...is just yummy." Randy said.

"Thank you." It was about the fifth time he said it. She placed her hand on Justin's knee under the table.

"Mommy." Jonathan said to Lisa, who was holding and feeding Steven. "Why does Kim make those noises when Justin kisses her? And why does he pull her dress up?"

Everyone's eyes were as wide as saucers. Justin choked on his food and reached for his glass of water. Kim, who was blushing, tapped him across the back. Justin continued to cough.

"Where did you see that?" Lynn asked curiously.

"In the kitchen." Jonathan said innocently. "They were smashed together. Kim was making noises. Why mommy? Was Justin hurting her?"

Randy interrupted. "No son. He was not hurting her. They were just exchanging love."

Justin and Kim, who were bright red, looked at each other and smiled. They didn't realized they kissed each other right there. "I love you, baby girl." Justin whispered.

"And I love you." Kim kissed his lips again. She cured herself under her breath because everyone was staring at them. She cleared her throat. "Chocolate pie for dessert anyone?"

Fifteen minutes later the entire, homemade chocolate pie, was gone.

Everyone sitting at the table could see the love in Justin's and Kim's eyes. They needed the rest of Christmas to be alone and his parents all knew Justin was leaving, so him and Kim would want their privacy and their limited time...that was only normal. It was very normal for two people madly in love.

It was very odd to Justin and Kim that all of a sudden everyone had to go. But they accepted it and moved on.

Kim waved at the last car pulling out of the drive way and then closed the front door. She sat on the living room couch and sighed. "What a day! Justin, I love your family. Especially your little brothers. That Steven is so adorable, he looks so much like you."

Justin sat down next to her and put his arm across her comfortable shoulder. "He does kind of look like me. Hopefully one day I'll have a son that looks like me. NOT ANY time soon but you know...one day."

Kim tensed up and froze. "Yeah..." She looked down at her hands. "One day."

She swallowed really hard to keep from throwing up. She then cut the stereo on with the remote. To fake normalcy she got up and started dancing around.

Justin started dancing and did the robot. Then he moon walked across the wooden floor. "You like that, Kim?" He asked proud of what he just did.

She cheesed and then nodded. "Yeah, but...." She then did exactly what he did. "I like when I do it better."

Picking his eyeballs back up, Justin coughed. "I uh, didn't know you could do those dance moves. A female that can do the moonwalk? Never seen it before. That's awesome."

She continued to dance around to the beat of the music. "Yeah I can do the moonwalk. You know what? This may be silly but I cannot get the bye bye bye dance moves. Well, I can do the chorus. But I cannot do like your main part. You know what I'm sayin'? The second part to the second verse?"

He walked up to her and held her close from behind. "I can show you." He attempted to say it in her ear but her neck caught the message instead.

"Okay." She whispered.

He slowly extended her arm. "First you let out your right arm. Then you wait a few seconds. Then on hit me with the truth...you step forward." He forced her leg forward. "And then back again. Then you spin around." He spun them around slowly. "Girl your more than welcome to." Move you head to the left, then right."And then on the lyrics baby come on. You run your hand down your body." He ran his hand down hers. "And then you..." He knew she wouldn't have anything there and she said it was okay to 'show' her the dance move. He grabbed her skirt where he would have usually grabbed himself. "And then you grab yourself."

Instantly she turned around. "Justin!" She shook her head in warning.

He blinked his eyes with flawless innocence. "What? You said it was okay to show you. Besides it's not like you have a..."

She covered his mouth with her hand. "Justin, I've told you a thousand times, please don't say that word. You know I hate it, and any nick names or anything like that for it."

He ran his hand over his face. "Yes, that's right. I forgot. I'm sorry. I know how sensitive you are."

She sighed. "Thank you." She tugged on a curl of his and giggled. "You are so beautiful. You hair is so cute. Haha that was SO embarrassing what your brother said. I was so embarrassed, Justin. The lifting up my skirt thing...that was off the wall." She made a triangle shape with her hand and covered her nose and mouth. "That was sooo embarrassing." She laughed into her hands.

"I know, but everyone knows were in love. We do what people in love do." His face shown with pride. "Speaking of what people in love do, how about a kiss?

She closed her eyes. "Okay."

Instead if placing his lips to hers, he placed a finger to them. "Remember that kiss we shared on the couch that day when you were sick, and JC and Chris were here? Do you know we kissed for ten minutes straight. We didn't even realize it. The kiss was so slow and magical."

"Correction. Your tongue is magical." She leaned her forehead on his chest. "Your tongue really is magical. I blacked out a kiss from you was so magical."

He patted her hair. "No, you blacked out because you've been knocked in the head with a bat too many times." He kiss the top of her head and didn't realize he was being protective. "Don't tell me anymore of your abuse stories, okay? I'm not being rude. It's just too much for my heart to bare, and I just hate myself for everything you've been through. I want to know why I couldn't have met you sooner, so you wouldn't have to go through all that. You have been through so much. Your such a strong little woman."

"Justin, don't blame yourself. You had nothing to with what they did to me." She raised her head and smiled to prove her words were honest.

He waved his finger back and fourth. "No, no, no. Don't give me that." He turned her around. "What about this?" He pointed to where she was shot in the back. "Huh? What about that?" He was getting angry. "Tell me, Kim. Tell me, you weren't shot because of me."

She turned back around. "I wasn't shot because of you."

"Your lying, Kim. Your lying." She ignored him and placed her hand on his butt to see his reaction. He looked back and her hand and then at her. "Are you...? I thought I had no ass." His eyebrow raised up and down playfully.

"Well...you don't, but I have enough ass for the both of us."

He laughed but didn't break the eye contact. "Yes, you most certainly do."

She shook her head. "No, you are not suppose to agree with me. It's considered an insult."

"Oh." He cleared his throat. "I mean, no. You do not have enough ass for the both of us."

Kim giggled silently. "It's not going to work now...anyway. You talk about I'm tiny. Your tiny too." She stepped away from him and looked at him from a side point of view. "You are so skinny. Your as skinny as a female model. I bet a lot of girls, wished they had a body, or legs at least, like yours." She said seriously.

His face dropped. "Ohhh your gonna get it now. Christmas or not. Your getting the pool, baby. That was EXTRA, EXTRA Naughty!"

She protested with her hands on her hips. "No way. YOU ARE NOT PICKING ME UP! AND YOU ARE NOT THROWING ME IN THAT DAMN POOL! I said your skinny, so sue me!"

"No, you said I was girly. That is SO NOT true." He tried to grab her but she was rejecting him very well.

"I didn't want to have to do this, Justin, and show you out, but it's Christmas and Christmas is all fun." She grabbed him and picked him up in her arms, just as he had carried her many times. She struggled but managed to walk over to the couch. Before he could fight her off she put him down on the couch stomach first and the she placed her mouth to the back of his neck, and her hand on his back. The she bit him and pinched him at the same time.

"OW. OW. OW. OWWWWWWWWW. OKAY!. Okay...please, I'm sorry. I take it back. I TAKE IT BACK!" She let him go and he sat up and rubbed his teeth marked neck. "Kim, I think you wear the pants in this relationship, and you are SO strong. You just picked me up. I am so shocked. Hell, I'm not messing with you anymore. That is like the most embarrassing thing EVER! You bit me...you, you bit me. You picked me up. HOW EMBARRASSING!" He walked away from her into the kitchen.

Kim got up and cut the now annoying music off. Just as she was about to walk into the kitchen with Justin, the doorbell rang.

"Kim, will you get that?"

"Yeah." She skipped to the door and opened it up to see Britney once again. Only this time she was not mad. She felt bad. She didn't know what to say.

Britney was scared. She didn't know if she should say something to Kim, or just leave. Just leaving seemed like the easiest thing to do.

Chapter 8

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