Halle was stressing. The pages of her address book had been turned, flipped through and scanned. Now, the once straight pages were slightly tattered looking and her phone was just plain tired. She couldn't believe it. It had to be now that she was on short notice. Kel had been so excited when she came in the morning. Halle had taken her cheery and bright attitude to be something positive.

Kel was practically jumping up and down while standing still. "Guess what-!" she sang over to Halle.

"What?" asked Halle, on her way to work. The 'N Sync project was over with, having recorded the jingle and snapped the pictures. It would be ready to be aired by October earliest, December latest. Now there was nothing left to do. She knew what that actually meant- she'd have no excuse anymore to see JC. She sighed. Yes, there were times when the boys would come in the shoot new advertisements- maybe, if this campaign was successful. Starbucks would then continue on as their sponsors. But that was way down the line and things would have cooled by then.

Kel had not been any help at all. Kel had just discovered the internet and was planning to make a webpage of her artwork. Unfortunately, she also seemed to have a little time on her hands too. That explained the downloaded picture of JC sitting on her coffee table.

It was beautiful. She had no idea where it had come from, but it was beautiful. He was dressed in white and wore a silver chain she could see, though it was only a head shot. The golden sunlight illuminated his face as he turned to stare longingly at some unknown object that was not in the picture. How she longed to be that object.

And all of a sudden she was infuriated at herself. She didn't want to be that object! She didn't need to be! She had tried the pair business and she'd found it to be better on her own. And now that he was gone. Well, she didn't have to worry about it anymore. Distancing herself had never been a problem for her. She wondered why she had had a problem with JC.

"Well," said Kel excitedly. "I am going to be in an art show! Isn't that the most wonderful news?" Now she really started jumping up and down.

Instantly, she was happy for her friend. Halle ran over and embraced her. "Oh, Kel! That's awesome news!"

"I can't believe! Some art gallery owner named Alexander saw my work and loved it. I didn't know, but he bought some pieces!"

"Where did he see them?"

"Remember that fair three months ago that NYU held?"

"Yea," Halle recalled.

"Well that's where it was. He bought some of my pieces and hung it up and he sold a few. Can you believe that? He sold them!" Her manner was giddy with laughter and smiles.

"No, Kel," she said with a lazy grin. "I thought you'd never sell anything. I thought people had taste." Kel stopped jumping. She let out a hearty laugh. "Get on with you, girl! Of course I knew you'd sell something! Your work is so good! What do you think I have hanging up on my walls? Crap?"

Kel's worked lined the apartment walls. She liked to work it black and white taking photographs of the oddest things, and the most touching. But of course Halle's personal favorite had been the one Kel had done of Josh. There he was, two years old. Halle don't know where Kel had taken it, but Josh, with a shock of hair, was covering his eyes, though his smile was apparent. 'Peek-a-boo' Kel had called it.

She had given it to Halle, blown up, on Christmas. It was now a 32 by 36 picture, pretty large and it was a blow up of Josh's face. Halle had placed it lovingly in the living room, above a short bookcase. In the day the sun would catch the side of his face and she would love him all over again.

"But there's a problem," said Kel.

Halle looked at her suspiciously. "What?" she asked.

Kel bit her lip nervously. "The art show runs for about a week and I have to be there everyday."

Halle instantly knew what was wrong. "Josh," she said aloud. Kel couldn't watch him anymore. Not when she had to be there.

Kel nodded slightly. "It's summer. Can't you find someone?"

"Kel, you know I don't trust just anyone with Josh."

Kel knew. When it came to Josh, Halle had a fierce devotion that might translate into over-protectiveness as he got older. "But I can't pass this up..."

Halle lightly touched Kel's arm. "I'm not asking you to pass up anything." She smiled. "I know you've gotta do this and I'm happy for you. You deserve it. I'll find someone."

Kel looked into her eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked in all seriousness.

Halle nodded. "Of course I'm sure."

Kel smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Hal. And now I know you'd love to stay and chat, but you're going to be late for work."

That brought her to tonight. All day at the office she had worried about it. She had asked Mike, but his two kids had been grown a long time now and they no longer needed a babysitter. When she got home she had taken out her address book and frantically searched for someone she trusted. Maybe they knew someone. But no, they didn't.

Halle had few friends and she had never liked to ask for favors, but this time she really needed one. There was no way she could bring Josh to work with her or even take a week off. There were some new prospective clients that she had to meet with and she was going to be stuck in meetings most of the day. She groaned inwardly. What was she going to do? Especially on such short notice. She needed them by next week and that was all of three days away!

The phone rang, but she hardly noticed until it had rang its third ring. The noise jarred her. Halle quickly picked up the phone as the noise reached her. "Hello?" she answered, not revealing much of anything in her voice.

"Halle?"

She froze. It was not at the sound of her own name, but rather who had said it. She'd never expected to hear from him again and she had well suited herself to that. She hadn't expected him to call, not in a million years. She had tried to push out of her mind and for a while it had worked...but now this. "Yeah, it's me," she said softly.

"Hey," he said as softly as she. "Long time no talk."

She laughed superficially. "It's only been about a week and a half."

"That's not a long time?"

"No, not at all," she replied with false cheerfulness. "What's up? Why'd you call?"

"I can't call my friend?" he asked.

"Your friend? Who's your friend?" she asked stupidly, knowing that he meant her, but still hoping she was wrong. She wasn't.

"You," he answered softly in a voice that ripped her apart and threatened to reveal her. She could not let that happen.

And uncomfortable silence elapsed. "Look, JC," she finally said. "It's getting late and I don't have time to waste."

"What's wrong?" JC asked quickly.

"Oh, nothing for you to worry about. Just something came up with Kel and I need to find a sitter for Josh for all of next week."

"Any luck?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Next week did you say?"

"Ummhmm, but JC, I really do have to go. It's on really short notice and I don't want to be calling people up at dinner time."

"Hey, wait. Would this be only in the afternoons?"

"Yeah, till I got back home from work...around 5:30."

"Oh great, just made it. I don't have to be recording till seven."

"Really, JC, that's nice, but I really have to go before it gets to six o' clock." There wasn't much time left. She had just gotten home this lovely Friday afternoon and knew that she was cutting it close to when she would have to cook dinner.

"How long have you been trying to find a sitter?"

"Since eight this morning, but what has that got to do with anything?" She was losing her cool, but she struggled to keep it. Not in front of him, please not in front of him. Halle didn't know what was wrong. She was usually so good at this sort of thing. Suddenly it wasn't working with him and she was losing it.

"Why don't I do it? I don't have work until seven."

"You?!" she exclaimed, a mocking tone entering her voice. "What do you know about children?" She could almost taste her own laughter.

"Hey! I resent that! More than you'd know! I have brothers and sisters you know."

She shook her head. "I don't trust Josh to just anyone."

She could almost hear him gawking. "Am I just anyone?"

"No, JC, you're not," admitted Halle, not wanting to offend him. It wasn't her style.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Not really. I just met you." The truth was, she didn't trust many people, only a handful. There was Kel and then Mike, but only because he had kids himself and they weren't totally screwed. She hardly trusted anyone else and most certainly not with Josh. But she was having mixed emotions now. Josh seemed to like JC, shared some kind of bond with him. He'd asked for 'Blue' every single day now. Halle had tried to tell him that 'Blue' was gone, but Josh had just shook his head. 'Blue's not gone,' he would insist.

"Look, Halle. I don't know what I can do to get you to trust me, but how do you usually pick your baby-sitters?"

"Through recommendations," she answered breezily.

"Ah, c'mon. You know I don't have those. What else do you do?" he asked.

"I don't know, interview them?" she said absentmindedly.

"Interview? Now that I can do. I'll be right over. Bye."

She opened her mouth to tell him not to come, but all she met with was dial tone.

-*-*-*-

JC hung up the phone, grinning. Slowly he was wearing her down. With this opportunity to see more of Halle, JC knew that he could get somewhere with her, even if it was just a date. He would also get to spend time with little Josh, another perk.

At first JC hated to admit it to himself, but slowly he came out of his self-denial. He really liked Halle. She was a strong woman, caring, and, JC knew, that if he took her out of her normal environment, she could be fun, too. Just thinking about her could make him smile. He would never admit his liking to Halle to the other guys, though. No, he would never submit himself to the jokes and teasing.

"Where are you off to?" Chris demanded as JC prepared himself to leave for Halle's apartment.

"To Halle's," JC replied simply, offering no explanation.

"A date?" Joey hooted. "Daddy's got a date?"

"No!" JC corrected. "An interview, you could call it."

"An interview for a date?" Chris cried as he and the other four rolled on the floor in laughter. "JC's finally found someone more picky than him!"

"Ha ha ha," JC said sarcastically. "No, I'm going to be watching Josh for her next week."

"I don't know what's more amusing," Joey mused. "JC having an interview for a date, or him baby-sitting."

"You're baby-sitting?" Justin exclaimed, his eyes practically bugging out of his head.

"Oh, come on," JC rolled his eyes. "Like you've never watched Jonathan." He was referring to Justin's younger brother.

"Yeah, I've watched him before, but never when I was supposed to be working."

"We're only doing stuff in the evening so Halle can keep Josh with her then. When she has to go to work in the mornings, I'll go over to the apartment to watch Josh," JC explained.

"You really like the kid, don't you?" Chris asked in awe.

"More like the mother," Lance cut in, throwing the others into another fit of laughter.

"Man, he's trying to get to the mother through the kid!" Joey shook his head.

"I am not!" JC protested. "I like Josh, and I'm gonna help Halle out. You got a problem with that?" The others could see that JC was started to get annoyed and gradually ceased their banter with him.

"JC, are you sure you can do this?" Lance asked.

"I baby-sit four big babies every day," JC muttered.

"Hey!" Joey exclaimed. JC just shook his head. Grabbing his leather jacket from the chair by the door, he headed off to Halle's.

-*-*-*-

The doorbell rang twice before she got up to answer it. Halle was a bundle of nerves and she didn't know why. She had been scurrying about, trying to clean up and make herself look presentable at the same time. Just then, she thought she'd heard something, scurrying about the apartment. "Josh?" she called to her son hesitantly, her hand on the door knob. Maybe it had been him.

"Yeah, it's me," a muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

"Not you," Halle said, knowing whose voice that belonged to. She reached for the door handle and gripped it for three seconds while she composed herself. She wore a smile now and pulled open the door. JC stood there, fidgety in his stance, but even then at five foot eleven, JC was almost whole head taller than Halle. She had to admit he looked good in the blue shirt and leather jacket that brought out his eyes and made them seem even bluer, if that were possible. "Hi, JC," she greeted with a warmth she did not exactly feel. "Come in."

He stepped into her spacious apartment and whistled. "Nice place you got here. First time I've seen it."

She smiled sweetly. "Thank you. Nothing is free, JC."

"You're telling me," he mumbled under his breath. He was gazing at her walls. "Hey," he called. "Who did these? They're really good."

"Kel will love you. Did I forget to mention she was a photographer?"

"Never slipped out of your mouth- Hey!" He had gotten to her living room. "That's Josh, isn't it?"

Halle nodded. "A year ago. Kel gave it to me for Christmas," she said, looking at the massive photo along with him.

"I love Christmas," he stated in a boyish manner that made her want to smile.

She quickly squashed the easy grin. but not before he had seen it. "So," she said. "Why don't we sit down? I need to ask you a few questions."

"Alright," he agreed and followed her back to her white leather couches. Across from her, he sat in anticipation.

"Ok, let's begin. What temperature should a child be before taking he or she to the hospital?"

"Anywhere higher within a degree or two of normal, " he answered easily.

"Ok, tell me a little about your experience with younger children."

"Well I have a younger brother and sister, but ok, they're not that much younger than me. But I know about children."

"What do you do in an emergency?"

"Call 911 and call you."

Halle was satisfied with that answer. If anything happened to Josh, she wanted to be notified. "Umm, when can you leave a child unattended?"

"Hal!" She was surprised at his outburst. "C'mon, you don't think I'm that stupid, do you? You never leave young children unattended!"

"Alright, sorry," she apologized quickly. "I know the question was sort of dumb, but you could have said differently. Then I really would have told you no way, no how." But her ears pricked as she heard the scraping once again. "Did you hear that?" she asked JC.

"Hear what?"

"That noise."

"What noise?"

"That scraping noise!"

"Are you alone?"

"Yes, except for Josh, but he's sleeping...Oh God, I'm going to go check on Josh." She quickly alighted off the couched.

JC jumped up. "I'll go with you." Halle just nodded silently as she moved along quickly. Josh's room was dim, the door ajar, though the incoming moonlight was visible through the slit. Halle pushed open the door and walked to his crib.

"Oh God, JC, he's not here," her voice was deadeningly serious.

"What?!" JC cried, coming right beside her. Halle was right; he wasn't there.

"Oh my God, oh my God..." It was then they heard a giggle past the doorway, a child's silly laughter. "Josh!" Halle exclaimed and ran out the door, JC on her heels.

"Josh?!" JC yelled. They ran out to the living room, seeing no one, but hearing giggles every now and then.

"Ok, Josh is playing. He does this sometimes, but I don't know how he got out of his crib!" Halle was slowly calming down, and that calmed JC too. "Josh?" she called again. She turned her head to JC behind her. "I just somehow manage lose Josh every now and then. He's got energy!"

"Lose Josh?" JC echoed as he watched Halle check under the coffee table. Then he teased, "Some mother you are."

Halle shot JC a poisonous look before looking under the sofa.

"Joshua?" Halle called again, her voice becoming more frantic.

"It seems like every time I see you, you're always looking for Josh," JC kidded, remembering the afternoon in the park. "Yet I always manage to find him."

Facing the wall, JC knelt on the couch and soundlessly drew the back curtain behind the couch. Peering down into the tiny space between the couch and the wall, he smiled and shouted, "Boo!"

An excited squeal soon followed, and Halle knew that the little boy had been hiding in the tiny space all along. "How - how did you do that?" Halle gaped at JC as he helped Josh out from behind the couch.

"My brother and I use to play in the same spot when we were younger," JC explained. Turning to Josh, he greeted him, "How's my little man doing?"

"Wanna see my new toy, Blue?" Josh chattered excitedly.

"Joshua Lin, don't you ever scare Mommy like that again!" Halle scolded, more relieved than angry.

"Sowwie Mommy," Josh apologized, pouting. As much as Halle wanted to be firm, whenever that look came on his face she just melted.

Halle sighed. "Give Mommy a hug, and then you can show JC your new toy."

Happy that he wasn't in trouble, three year olds can sense these things, he ran over and flung his arms around his mother. Halle closed her eyes as she returned the embrace, savoring the moment. She didn't need anyone else in the world except for Josh; she could be happy. Finally she let him go, remembering that JC was there.

"You really were scared, weren't you?" JC asked.

"Of course I was," Halle exclaimed. "He's my most prized possession. Which is why I can't just leave him with anyone." She shot JC a look.

"Possession?" JC raised an eyebrow.

Halle sighed. "You know what I mean," she corrected. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks," JC replied. "I'm OK."

"Look!" Josh exclaimed, running back into the living room less than half a minute later.

"Whoa, cool!" JC exclaimed. "It's Yoda."

Halle had bought the action-figure for Josh earlier that day, much to the little one's delight. Josh had enjoyed playing with the toy all day, and was now showing off his new possession. JC seemed to be truly interested in what Josh was showing him, and Halle found it admirable.

"Kel and I went to the movies to see Episode I, and we decided to bring Josh with us. We figured he'd fall asleep," Halle explained. "But he was so into the movie that he watched the whole thing, asking us questions meanwhile."

"He's got good taste," JC nodded, briefly glancing up at Halle. "The Star Wars movies are my favorites."

Ah. So his interest was genuine after all.

"And look," Josh pushed a button and Yoda spoke. The little boy was thoroughly amused by the character, as was the older one.

"Awesome!" JC exclaimed.

"So have you ever baby-sat before?" Halle asked, knowing that all her previous question still hadn't lessened her worry, but this one incident had.

"Well, for cousins and stuff occasionally when I'm home, not that often though," JC replied, still focusing most of his attention on Josh. "I can take care of kids. I told you."

She sighed. It had only taken Halle a few moments to realize that Josh would be safe with JC, especially since JC found Josh behind the couch. She didn't really need to ask him anymore questions at this point, but how else was she to fill time?

"I guess I don't really need to ask you much," Halle sighed. "Josh has taken a liking to you." She stated the obvious.

"I've taken a liking to him," JC started. Then he joked, "Hey, I baby-sit four grown guys. This one should be no problem since he can't fight back."

It took a moment for Halle to realize that JC was talking about his other band-mates, but when it hit her, Halle let out a laugh.

JC looked up and stared at her, an amused smile playing on his lips. Halle's own fell. "I'm sorry that I'm not that quick," she muttered.

"Huh? Oh no! It's not that at all," JC insisted. "I, um, was just thinking that you had a pretty laugh."

Halle's cheeks burned at the compliment, and she wished that JC had been making fun of her. This was the first guy in a long time that could make Halle blush. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Why do you live so high up?" JC asked, staring out a window. "It can't be safe at all for Josh."

"Living on the eleventh floor is nothing in New York City," Halle laughed. "Besides, I keep the balcony door double-locked at all times. Why are you so concerned?"

"I'm kinda-sorta afraid of heights," JC admitted. "I'd never go out on your balcony."

Halle laughed again, which made JC smile. For a moment, she was self-conscious. She hadn't meant to laugh. And slowly she realized, she was losing it. Her heart ached in more ways than one. Again she was realizing that she just couldn't. Josh interrupted her thoughts. "Mommy, when is din-din?"

She turned to look at Josh with a smile that reached her eyes and crouched down. "Are you hungry?" He nodded furiously. "Alright, let me start cooking now. You woke up early from your nap. Mommy wasn't planning to wake you up for another half an hour."

"Blue stay too?" Josh asked.

It was then she really looked at him. "You want him to?"

"Yea!" he shouted. "Pwease?" She groaned lowly. This wasn't helping a bit. But she wasn't proof against the pleading stare he gave.

She slowly rose. "Well, JC, it looks like you have an invitation to have dinner with us."

But he sensed her hesitation. "No, I shouldn't impose like that..."

But she cut him off. "You're not. Josh wants you to stay. You don't want to stay, talk to him. Besides, you're going to have the apartment for the next week," she added.

"So I got the job?" he asked, excited.

She shook her head and laughed despite herself. "Yes, you got the job."

"Alright!" he cheered.

She turned around to look at him with an amused glance. Try as she might, she was starting to let herself go around him and that was perilous, but she couldn't help herself. "Hey, I hope you don't mind Chinese, cause that's what I'm cooking."

"Mind it?" he said. "I love it! Didn't you read the fan pages? I thought you did your research."

Halle blushed hard, but only because he was right. She had known. But she refused to let on that she did. "Well, they didn't go that in depth," she said lamely, and began preparing the food, trying to keep herself busy. She had to find something to do to keep her mind off him.

"Where are the utensils and plates?" JC asked.

"Over in the cabinet above the blue jar labeled 'sugar'," she replied, not really thinking about it. Wordlessly, JC began setting the table. She looked over at him. "JC, you really don't have to do that."

"I want to," he insisted.

"No, really..."

"Halle?" he cut her off.

She stopped. It was useless to argue with him. Just then, Josh ran into the kitchen. "Hey, Blue!" he shouted. "Hi Mommy!"

"Hey little man," said JC, easily smiling as Halle looked on. "Wanna help me set the table?"

"Umm, JC," she said, quickly stopping him. "Not a good idea. He could poke out his eye, or breaking something."

JC laughed. "Hal- I was going to let him fold the napkins."

"Oh," she said, feeling dumb.

Soon, the kitchen was filled with tantalizing smells. "Josh, like this," JC said, sitting next to Josh at the table. He stretched his upper body towards the stove. "Umm, Mommy that smells delicious!" He looked like a little kid with the cheesy grin on his face and squeezed shut eyes, stretching like he was going to fall off the chair. "Your turn, Josh!"

Josh stretched his little body forward, impersonating JC. "Umm, Mommy, that smewws dewicious!" Both she and JC burst out laughing and Josh clapped his hands, doing it one more time.

"No, Halle," JC said in all seriousness. "It really does smell good."

She beamed. "Thanks JC." She moved over to the counter and picked up a steaming plate of sticky rice with shrimp. She was reaching for the other plate, teriyaki chicken, when JC jumped up.

"Lemme get that for you, Halle," he said, taking up the plate before he could.

"Thanks, JC," she smiled again.

He turned to Josh, "Now that is how you be a gentlemen. Isn't that right, Halle?"

She laughed as she laid the food down on the table and he did the same. "Yes, JC, that's how to be a gentlemen."

"And," he added. "We pull out the lady's chair." He demonstrated by pulling Halle's chair out for her as Josh watched with great big green eyes.

"Now, Josh, we take each other's hands, like so..." He took Halle's and Josh's. She felt the heat in the room almost instantly and fought to keep it down as she calmly put on a smiling face and took Josh's hand. "And we say prayers," he said. "Just like a little family."

It escaped from his mouth before he could stop it. As he looked to Halle, she had her head bent. Too bad he couldn't see her blush. He thought she was just praying. Better to forget about, he told himself, and bowed his head too.

-*-*-*-

Having a sudden burst of energy, JC wanted to run around the building. 'I got the job!', he wanted to chant, but he couldn't; someone might hear him. Instead, when Chris entered the hotel room, JC tackled him. As usual, Chris responded back, and they wrestled around for a bit. Then Lance walked into the room.

"Geez, JC, what gives? Yesterday you were all out of it, and now you're all playful," Lance pointed out.

"Life is good," he replied simply, pushing Chris off of him. "I feel great."

"Uh huh," Lance eyed him skeptically, unconvinced. "Let's just hope you can stay this, er, happy for a bit. We need you to be focused for the coming week, you know."

"This week will be great," JC replied, fixing his shirt in the mirror. Still filled with that excited energy, he headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Lance called after him.

"I think I was just inspired again." Feeling in his jeans pocket to make sure his papers were still there, he opened the door and headed down to the lobby once again.

Halle was something else, JC knew, because no other person he knew had an effect so strong on him, except maybe for Josh. Her face filled his mind, his thoughts, as he sat down at the piano. Halle would surely give in to a date by the end of the week.

Suddenly a cloud crossed JC's face as he remember Halle's words. She didn't need anyone, including him, so why would she submit to a date? Filled once again with despair, JC started hammering out the tune to his wordless song.

-*-*-*-