lost3

Shannon's eyes filled with tears. "No, Joseph, I’m having more than one
baby. You may be the father, but I’m the one having babies. It was made
very clear to me by your management that I am on my own when it comes to
this." she whispered. Joey pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
"No, you’re not. I’ll kill someone for this! God, Shannon, how could you
think that I would ever let you go through this alone?" he asked, rubbing her
back gently. The rest of the guys looked at each other, then left the room
quietly. Shannon looked into Joey’s eyes, and saw that he meant it. "Why?"
she asked in a choked voice. Joey looked right into her eyes. "Because I
fell in love with you. I’ve been searching for you for my whole life, and
you came in, then just vanished. I need you in my life, in my heart,
Shannon. I didn’t know you were pregnant, and I still looked for you. I
love you." he said softly. Shannon’s tears flooded over, and she wrapped her
arms around Joey’s neck and sobbed. "I love you too, Joseph!" she whispered
brokenly.

They held each other for a long time, then Joey kissed her tears away, and
helped her to her feet. "I want to take you out of here. I need to be with
you." he said softly, holding her hand. Shannon shook her head. "Not yet,
Joseph. I have to finish this shift, it’s my last one. I get off at six."
she told him. He sighed, and raked a hand through his hair. "Okay, I’ll be
here to get you. Shannon, I love you, I want to take care of you and our
babies. We need to talk." he said quietly. She smiled up at him as they
walked back out front. "I know. Okay, then I’ll see you at six, Joseph. I
know this concerns the other guys too, maybe we should include them in the
conversation part of tonight?" she said. The rest of the band looked up as
they came out from where they were having an impromptu sing-a-long with some
little kids. They were singing Christmas carols, and having a great time.
Justin looked up from the curly-haired toddler on his lap and grinned. "Gee,
you guys took your time. Come on, we’re about to sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer!" he said. "For the third time." JC added under his breath.

Shannon giggled softly, and the other guys were entranced by the
transformation. All of them smiled, and sang the song, then the guys stood
up to leave. Joey hugged Shannon tightly, then kissed her forehead. "I’ll
see you at six, sweetheart. Blessed be." he said softly. Shannon’s eyes lit
up with pleasure. "Blessed be, Joseph. I’ll be ready." she told him
quietly. Then she smiled at the other guys. "I’ll see you later, guys.
Enjoy your shopping, it will go smoothly now." she promised. Looking in her
eyes, they believed her, and said goodbye. As they continued through the
mall, Joey pulled out his cell phone and called Johnny. He got his secretary
instead. "Amy, put me through to Johnny, wherever he is, right now." he said
after saying who it was. Amy sighed. "He's meeting with Lou right now. Is
it that important, Joey?" she asked. Joey’s voice was calm, but the message
was perfectly clear. "It’s about my status in the group. I’m quitting." He
said. Amy gasped, then immediately switched him into the meeting. Johnny
put it on speaker so both he and Lou could talk when he heard Amy's message.