The Polaroid (Justin Timberlake fanfic)

Chapter 10

Justin rolled out of bed and dragged himself downstairs in his shorts. Yawning and bleary-eyed, he greeted his mom and Kerri, who had been busy cleaning. He then greeted the family dogs, Bearlie and Bella, who had been busy yapping. He looked outside at the woods in the back yard and said, "Did I hear somebody say something about food?"

The night before he had gone out with Kerri and didn't know how to interpret their evening together. But it was the furthest thing from his mind today. He'd slept till almost 3, but this was the norm anytime he came home from promotional gigs or a tours. He just vegged on the couch in the living room for most of the hour, playing video games, expanding his stomach and letting his mom take a mom's good care of him.

"Here's what I want," he said at last, entering the kitchen.

"A Philly cheesesteak sandwich," she and Kerri said in unison, already knowing.

"Yeah…And a salad…And fries." Justin bent down to mess with the dogs.

"The doggies are so glad to have him home," Lynn said fondly to Kerri, who was wiping down the counter. "They miss him."

Easing himself around the couch, Justin took a seat and said that he was feeling pretty good and relaxed. "Well that's good. Maybe you can get up off your lazy butt and help us finish cleaning." Kerri commented as she handed him a drink.

He just huffed her off and turned on the television. TRL was on and "Cry Me A River" was playing. Kerri took the Windex and a roll of paper towels and started in on the coffee table, tapping Justin's knee so he would move out of her way.

Lynn brought in his salad and as if out of nowhere, he started talking about his ex and about how, early on, he felt blamed for the breakup, when it wasn't his fault at all, and before long he moodily said, "I think I still have a lot of feelings, though I don't particularly know what they are."

Lynn leaned down and kissed the top of his head before retreating back into the kitchen to finish up his food. Kerri sat there and smiled at how close they were. Justin's parents divorced when he was two. Two years later, his mom, now forty-one, got remarried to Paul, and together they raised what seemed like a very quiet child. "He always walked around with his head down, so you never saw anything but the top of his head," laughed Lynn.

She remembered her son as a "perfectionist who couldn't stand anything on his shoes or his hands." The two were, and still are, exceptionally close. Lovingly enough, Justin has a tattoo on his back of an angel holding a banner that bears his mom's initials.

One great thing Kerri noticed about Justin’s family was that they hadn't uprooted themselves, moved to Los Angeles, bought Bentleys, gone in for plastic surgery and fallen out with one another, lawsuits resulting...Well at least not yet. They'd all stayed put, which is why Justin had a home to go back to. He was comfortable here, resting up until he has to embark on a promo tour, which will be followed by a club-date tour, and an arena tour. Back home it would have taken him awhile to settle down and relax and finally be open with her. It was the same for her too. That's why they got along so well. But here…Here he was like an open book. So anything Kerri wanted to talk to him about, she could. He was always game.

Later on that night, the party was going off without a hitch. Justin's grandmother, Sadie was completely surprised to see him. A few minutes into the party Justin came out of hiding from a nearby closet and walked up behind her, covering her eyes with his hands. Sadie went through her usual set of names, guessing who was standing to her rear, but when he began to serenade her with "Happy Birthday," she was overcome with joy and hugged him tightly. It was the best present she could have received. Having all her family and friends there...Together. Trace took Kerri around and introduced her to various relatives and friends, while Justin was busy spending time with his Grams. He'd send a smile her way every few minutes to make sure she was enjoying herself. They even exchanged lipped conversation from across the room to one another about drunk uncles and whacked out fifth cousins who were there trying to borrow money from 'the family'.