Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 07:48:01 -0500
From: Derik Blake <derikab@hotmail.com>
Subject: *Nsync with my Premonitions--Chapter 20

March 14, 2002
Derikab@hotmail.com
*Nsync with my Premonitions-Remembering the Past

Well guys, this is it.  I am so sorry it took me so long to put out the last
few chapters, but with everything going on in my life, I just couldn't find
the time.  Just the other day, I completely reread the story and somehow
wished this really happened to me.  Although it was only in my mind, I know
that one day I will find a love like the one Lance and Monty shared.  I want
to give my many, many thanks to all the readers for the patience and thanks
the ones who wrote me with their thoughts.  When finishing this chapter, I
would greatly like to hear from you if you can spare a minute or two to let
me know how you liked it.

Also, I would like to thank David at Nifty for allowing me to post this
story so all of you can read it.  Well, I hate to say goodbye, but this is
about it.  Once again, thanks to everyone who showed their support over the
last year or so and for your patience.  I hope to hear from you soon.

Best wishes to all,

Derik
Derikab@hotmail.com

Final Chapter-Chapter 20 *Nsync with my Premonitions-Remembering the Past

"Are you still at that blasted computer?" Lance called out walking into my
office.

"Yup, this should be finished within the week, I hope," I replied.

"Me too.  Then you have no reason to avoid me anymore."

"Don't worry, I'll find some reason," I said, winking at him.

"Bastard," he called me while walking out of the room.

I turned my computer on; booted up the program I needed, and started to
type, then remembered something else I needed to tell Lance.

"Mandy called yesterday.  Wants to know if you're still planning on making
her graduation."

"Of course I'm still going.  I've cancelled all my appointments for that
week.  I just want it to be family and friends.  Do you know who all will be
there?  Did she tell you?" he asked, walking back in the office.

"She said, so far, that her boyfriend, his parents, you, me, Justin,
Brittany, Chris, Danni, Joey and his wife, a few more of her friends, and I
think that's just about it."

"Will Dusty be there?" he asked, continuing to fax what looks like a book
somewhere.

"Of course.  He, Sheila and the kids will be going for the week as well, and
then they think they might come back home with us the following week.  With
all the extra rooms in the house, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Of course not," he agreed.  "We should tell Mandy and her boyfriend that
they can come too.  It'll be just like old times, with just a few extra
people at the table."

"It sounds great to me."  I said, smiling.  I sat back in my chair and said,
"A lawyer, in our family.  Can you believe that?" I asked, looking over at
Lance.

"I know.  I can't believe she's already 26 and getting her law degree.  It
seems like only yesterday we were teaching her how to talk, now she will be
arguing for a living."

"Then she should make a fortune with the way she likes to argue," I said
with a wink and a smile.  Lance smiled back at me with the memories.

"Remember how she and Dusty used to argue?  Hours on hours about whose turn
it was to do this or that."

"Yeah," I agreed with a laugh.  "After a couple of hours, either you, myself
or Dusty would get so tired of the arguing the they would end up doing
whatever it was together."

"Ya know, I think she just wanted her big brother's attention, but she sure
had a funny way of showing it."

"I know, but when she started dating, she sure had it then.  He was so
protective of her, that neither you nor I had to worry as much.  And I think
she ended up hating him for a year or so."

"How do you mean?" Lance asked.

"Don't you remember?  For a year, she went out on many first dates.  He
really intimidated the guys.  If a guy like Dusty came up to you at her age,
wouldn't you have been intimated?"

"I was."

"When?" I asked, puzzled.

"When you started dating JC," he said.

"I didn't intimidate you, you just hated me."

"I never hated you, but you intimidated me because you were so good looking,
still are, and you were the one that JC loved."

"But he loved you too."

"But I didn't know it at the time.  And when you came along, I knew from
that point on that I would never get his love, until...." He let his thought
trail off and looked over to the fax machine.  When he saw that the 'book'
was finished, he stood up and went to retrieve it.

"Well, you also intimidated me.  When I saw you that first night, and then
saw the tool you were using, I thought that I was nothing in comparison," I
said with a huge smile.

"OK," he said.  "Shut up and hurry with finishing the book.  I want us to
play with this tool tonight," he said, squeezing his crotch.

"Ya know, for a 64 year old, you still are one sexy son-of-a-bitch," I said,
sitting up and propping my chin on my fist.

"I know," he replied, then came around the desk and gave me a kiss.  "Get to
work."

After he left and shut the door, I focused all my attention back on the
computer and started typing.

The album turned out to be a big success.  In fact, because of JC's death,
it became the number one selling album in history.  In the first day, close
to three million albums were sold.  By the end of the week, it had gone
Diamond and by months end, it went triple Diamond and the fastest selling
album by any group or artist.  The record still holds today.  No one has
been able to come close.  Once the album was released, about ninety-nine
percent of all reviews were great.  That one percent was about me singing
that one song.  It didn't bother me and none of their fans said anything
negative about it at all.

After all the cd signings, the public appearances, the talk shows and
everything thing else they went through, the guys finally settled into an
everyday, normal routine.  A year or so after the release, Justin came out
with a solo album.  It did very well and for the next four years, he
released three albums.  His success as a soloist outweighed his success as a
member of a boy band.  A year after that, he and Brittany finally decided to
tie the knot.  Once his solo contract was up, he just seemed to loose
interest in the performing side of the industry.  He said that he just got
tired of the same old thing, but we all know that it was because JC wasn't
with him anymore.  He missed his performance buddy.

He stayed in the business, though.  He became a successful songwriter and
producer.  He even managed a couple of groups and solo acts, but none of
them lasted more than five years at most.  Now a days, he is the CEO and
owner of Chasez Records, Inc.   Brittany is his V.P., and loves the work.
She always said that when her time in the spotlight was up, she wanted to
work behind the scenes, and that's exactly what she's doing.

By the end of the next decade, Justin and Brittany had two kids.  Joshua
Montgomery and Alexandria Leigh.  I thought the sentiment that they named
their son after JC and I was very touching and I knew JC would've
appreciated it too.  Justin and Brittany both said that because of JC and I,
their love grew stronger after seeing what we went through and it was the
least they could do.

Chris dropped out of the music industry for a good five years or so to work
on his clothing line.  Then decided to put out a high-tech, new wave cd.
Just a lot of music with a good beat to it.  That was the last bit of music
he ever created.  Once the success of the cd died, he and Danni decided it
was time to tie the knot.  On April 24, 2007, they were known from that day
forward as Chris and Danni Kirkpatrick.  Within the next year, Danni gave
birth to a beautiful little girl named Jessica Lauren.  His clothing line
continued to do well, and when Jessica was out of school, in 2030, she took
over as the CEO.  Now Danni and Chris have nothing but time on their hands
and usually they spend it traveling to far off places.

Joey, on the other hand, was a different story.  After the release, he ended
up getting a girl pregnant.  He met her a few months after JC died and
started dating her.  Within six months, Julie was pregnant.  After he found
out, he realized that he was so in love with her that they decided to get
married.  To this day, they are still together and have three girls.  Tasha
Marie, who was born in 2003.  Followed by Catherine Monica in 2006, then in
2012, Deborah Ann made her way into the world.

After Tasha was born, Joey started missing the spotlight.  Since the group
was no more, he wanted a creative way to bring in some money.  So what did
he do?  He started acting.  He went on to be in about ten movies, seven of
which he was the lead role, but after eight years in the business, he called
it quits to be a full time husband and father.  He not once regrets giving
up his acting career for his family.  They were and still are his number one
priority.

Mom ended up passing away in 2023.  She was 75 and ended up passing in her
sleep.  She was just so tired of constantly being sick, her body just gave
out.  In 2012, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and finally ended up
beating it.  Nevertheless, ten years later, it returned and claimed her
life.  Mike ended up dying a year later of a broken heart.  I knew the pain
he was going through after what happened to JC, so I did my best to console
him, until the day he died.

Lance and Connie ended up breaking up a couple years after the album and
Lance did find a nice girl named Elizabeth.  The following year, he
purposed.  She accepted and they were married by the end of 2005.  In 2009,
they had a boy and named it after my father and I.  Montgomery Derrick.

As for Pat and Steve and Tony and Mitchell, they ended up getting married in
2013.  Gay marriage was finally legalized and they were the first two
couples to be married in Nashville.  They decided on a double wedding so Pat
and Steve decided to come back to Nashville to have their ceremony.

Neither couple decided they wanted children, so it was and still is just
them.  About twice a year, they come down to Orlando for a week's visit and
we all get along about the same.  Tony's getting slower with his witty
comebacks and cut downs, but never the less, he still makes everyone laugh.

Well, I guess that's about everyone.  Now on to Lance and myself.  We ended
up going into the talent scout business full force.  Free Lance
Entertainment became one of the biggest scouts in the country.  We would do
our best to find the best talent we could then we would sign them to
contracts if we thought they were good enough.

We decided that since we've been together for so long, we didn't need to
make it legal, but after a year of pushing from my four friends, we decided
to go through with it.  In August 2015, we were married in the garden behind
the house.  Everyone was there.  Mom, Mike, Lance, Elizabeth and their son,
Lance's mom, dad, sister and her husband and kids, the rest of the
*Nsync'ers and their wives and kids and more friends we'd accumulated over
the years.

In addition, in 2012, the government finally legalized gay adoptions for gay
partners.  Once the marriages were legalized, they changed the adoption law
to state that the partners had to be married before both partners could
adopt.  Therefore, in 2017, Lance and I adopted our son Dusty Scott.  Three
years later came Mandy Karen.  We adopted them both right after they were
born, so we started out not knowing anything when Dusty was growing up.
When Mandy came along, things were easier, until Dusty figured out how to
start aggravating her.  That was another story.

When they both finished high school, Dusty went on to get his Masters in
Business Administration and he now runs Free Lance.  Mandy is just about to
graduate law school and is going to work with Dusty at the talent agency.
We did our best to raise them well, and in the process we lived a dream that
neither one of us ever thought possible.  We had a family.

On to the present.  Lance just had a birthday and is now 64.  I can't
believe he's gotten so old.  I can't say too much better for myself.  In
November this year, I'll be 68.  Next month will be our forty-first
anniversary.  I often think back to when JC and I spent that week in
Jamaica.  Madam Zuvik told us that for three hundred years and later, JC
confirmed it was three thousand, our souls have been separated because of
the death of one of us.  Now, it's going on forty-one years so far.  If it
were possible, I wish we could be together for another forty.

It was because of Josh, that we were able to stay together for so long, my
only wish is that he was with us to share the experience.  I know he's happy
and I know that he's still with us.  Whenever Lance and I are feeling down,
Josh somehow seems to make his presence known so that we realize that he's
still with us.  For that, I am truly grateful and never stopped loving him.

Of course, Lance and I have had our rough times and our fallouts, but
because we loved each other so much, we ended up working through them to
spend the rest of our lives together.  As the years passed, my love for him
seemed to grow.  If you could measure love on a width scale, I would say
that I loved him as far as my eyes could see the sky.  Now, if only I could
see the depths of the universe, I would say that still wouldn't be enough
love to show Lance.  The only way to describe it would to be to quote Jerry
Maguire.  'He completes me.'

After punching the last three words on the keypad, I hit the save key,
started the printer and headed down the stairs.

"Taking a break?" Lance asked seeing me walk in the kitchen.

"Nah," I said with a little smile.

"So, you'll be headed back in a minute?"

"Nope," I said opening the fridge.

He looked at me for a minute with a puzzled look and then the light bulb
went off.  He grew a big smile and said, "You finished it!"

"Yup.  Only took me eight months, but it is now complete."

"Congratulations honey," he said, throwing his arms around me.  "Can I read
it now."

"Yeah.  It's printing.  As soon as it's done, I'll give it to you.  Then
once you've proofread it, I'll send it on to the publishing house."

Pulling back, he laid his hand on my cheeks and gave me a big kiss.  "I
can't wait."

"I'm going to warn you now, you will cry when you read it.  I cried just
writing it trying to remember everything.  It was tough, but I got through
it."

"I know.  I'm expecting that."  Going back to the sink, he asked, "Have you
thought of a title yet?"

"The other day, while I was typing, I finally found one I liked.  '*Nsync
with my Premonitions.'"

"I like it.  It's catchy.  How long is it?" he asked.

"It's twenty chapters and about three hundred pages."

"Oh, God, I've got some reading to do."

"It should be done printing within ten minutes.  I'll get it for you so you
can start on it."

As I turned to leave, I couldn't help but think how lucky I was.  Because of
Lance and the kids and my family and friends, I've become the happiest man
in the world.

We had to leave two days later to attend Mandy's graduation and every spare
minute Lance had, he was reading.  He finally finished on the night before
we left and told me he was amazed.  He couldn't believe that he just read
the story of our lives.  "It was like I was transported back in time.  I
almost didn't want to come pack to the present."

I told him that I was glad he did, and then switched off the light and we
both fell asleep.

After arriving back home, my first project was to send the manuscript to the
publishing house and wait for my editor to call me.  After that, we had our
two kids and their family and boyfriend come stay with us for a week.
During that week, Mandy got the photos developed from the graduation
ceremony.  Once they arrived, she went to work on a project to surprise
Lance and I with later.

A few days later, I got a call from my editor saying that the process had
started and the book was being printed.  After I told the news, Mandy gave
Lance and I our gift.  She had taken the photos and made a collage of the
photos with all the *Nsync'ers and their families.  Like the picture Tony
gave me on my 26th birthday, there were three photos lining from top to
bottom.  The top picture was of Lance and I with our arms draped across each
other's back.  The very center was of Mandy, Dusty, Lance and me.  The
bottom picture was of everyone.  The four of us and the rest of the guys
with their families including Mandy's boyfriend.

After everyone had their chance to look at the gift, they went on about
doing their own thing.  I looked at Mandy and told her it was beautiful.

"I know just the place for this," I told her as I walked over to the mantel.

I placed it next to the picture collage that Tony had given me many years
ago.
"I wish I could've met him," Mandy said, running her fingertips lightly over
the pictures of JC and I.

"I wish you could've too, baby.  He was one special person.  He was the man
that taught me how to love and because of that, he was my first true love."

"It shows," she said, looking at the pictures.  Looking back at me, she
asked, "Are the uncles coming?"  She was talking about Tony, Mitchell, Pat
and Steve.

"They'll be here in a couple of days.  You won't miss them."

"I hope not," she said, kissing my cheek and wrapping her arms around my
neck.  "I love you, daddy."

"I love you, too, sweetheart."

Later that evening, Lance and I were talking about the book before we both
became too exhausted to talk anymore.  He leaned over, gave me a sweet kiss
on the lips and turned out the light.

"I love you, Lance," I said, taking him in my arms and pulling him close.

He gave no response.  He was already fast asleep.

The End.