Reunion-Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"Oh Lord, what are the kids doing to Lance now?" Melanie asked, coming up behind Dee and Joey. She looked out across the yard and saw the tangled mass of humanity and heard the screams coming from it. She sighed and sat down on the chaise lounge next to Dee.

"You know, I'm just going to get comfortable and Diane is going to want me back in the kitchen again."

"Is she a cruel taskmaster?" Dee asked, smiling.

"Nah, she just thinks that we can make all the food for this supper tonight, but she forgets that I'm 8 months pregnant and have swollen feet and a perpetual backache! I told her that her son can afford a caterer, but she's the typical southern hospitality hostess. She wants to do it all!"

"I hear you. But I don't have a cruel taskmaster at my house. Fortunately, Phyllis loves to cook and I've been letting her! I can't hold a candle to her when it comes to Italian food anyway, so I don't even bother to try!"

Melanie smiled broadly as she watched Lance sit up, with five kids hugging and kissing him. She still adored this man after eight years of marriage, a marriage that was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. As an actor, a producer and a manager, Lance was not home a great deal of the time during the week, but he made it a point of being home every weekend and most of the summer when the three oldest children were out of school. The fact that the Fatones had moved in to the house next door shortly after they got married helped. Dee and Melanie had worked together and been best friends back in Wisconsin before they had met Joey and Lance. The four had become a close-knit almost-family and everyone watched out for each other. Joey was away from home a great deal also with his acting career. Recently, he'd started out on a solo singing career, amazingly at his wife's encouragement, but he'd been keeping it low-key and didn't plan on doing much more than occasional short promotional tours. The two CD's he'd released were doing well enough and "bought the groceries", as Dee would say. Melanie and Dee were both very glad to have each other to rely on when their men were away. Of course, it always lent itself to a good amount of teasing because two of their children were born within weeks of each other, and the children they were both carrying were due within a month of each other. Melanie always said at least the Fatone children looked like Fatones and the Bass children looked like Basses or they'd never hear the end of it!

Lance had now managed to get out from under his five children and was carrying Katie and AmyLynn in his arms, while Joey, Jenny and Jimmy tagged along behind him. "Let's go see what Mom is up to!" Lance told them.

Watching Lance with their children reminded Melanie of Christmas 2003, just a month after their first child Jenny had been born.

Melanie awoke with a start. Was the baby crying again? Jennifer was born November 14, exactly nine months to the day of hers and Lance's wedding day. At just a little over a month old, Jenny was still confusing night with day a bit and usually woke several times during the night. Melanie listened and didn't hear any crying. She felt the bed next to her and found it empty.

"Lance?" she called, quietly. No answer.

Melanie grabbed her robe as she shoved her feet into her slippers and made her way across the hall to the nursery. The nightlight guided her to the frilly pink bassinet, where she looked in to find Jenny missing. She turned and went in search of her husband and baby. She was half-way down the open stairway when she noticed there was a fire going in the fireplace, the Christmas tree was lit and Lance was laying on the floor cooing at his daughter as she kicked and punched her fists in the air. Lance leaned in to kiss her on the nose and promptly received a left hook to his own nose.

"Hey! You're not supposed to hurt Daddy! You just remember that move when the boys start coming around and getting fresh with you!"

Melanie smiled and sat down on the stairs to watch.

"Now, little lady, it's time for sleep for you. Daddy wants to go back to bed and squeeze your Mommy and thank her again for you. "

Tears welled up in Melanie's eyes as her heart burst with love for this man. Could she have possibly found anyone more wonderful? And he wasn't half-bad in the looks department either! Just when she thought the scene of father and daughter couldn't get any better, Lance began to sing.

Without realizing it, Melanie began sniffling, listening to her favorite song, once sung to her by Lance, now being sung to their baby girl. Lance heard a noise coming from the staircase and looked up and smiled.

"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked, rolling over on his side and leaning his head in his hand.

"Long enough," she almost whispered, voice trembling.

Lance scooped up his daughter, who was now just about asleep and put her on his shoulder as he got up and made his way to the stairs. He met Melanie and bent to kiss her gently and sat on the step next to her. They watched their daughter sleeping blissfully in Lance's arms for a moment before making eye contact that said just one thing. They put their daughter in her bassinet and walked arm in arm back to their bed.

"I wanna go by Mommy!" Melanie heard her four-year-old cry, bringing her back from Memory Lane. Lance put Katie and her year-and-a-half old sister down and watched them run to greet their mom, their matching watermelon print sundresses floating in the breeze. Jennifer and Jimmy ran off to get their swimsuits on and play with Grandpa Jim in the pool. Lance then felt a small hand take hold of his and looked down to see his son, Joey, smiling up at him. This was his miracle child. Had it not been for his bandmate, his next-door neighbor, his best friend, this wonderful little boy would not be alive to be loved and adored by his parents. Lance sat down on the lounge chair next to his son's namesake and sighed.

"Man, life couldn't get better than this, could it?" he said, watching his two youngest children climb all over their mom, covering her in kisses.

"Well, we could have some playboy bunnies serving us drinks by the pool…." Joey said, ruffling his godson's hair, smiling that sexy smirk of his.

"Hey, hey! I heard that!" Dee said, interrupting her conversation with Melanie.

"Dee and I can get you drinks. Just give us ten minutes to get up out of these chairs!" Mel told him.

"At the risk of getting slapped, may I say that it just wouldn't be quite the same," Joey said, ducking. Mel stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.

Lance didn't react. In fact, he didn't seem to be listening to the banter. He appeared to be miles away as he hugged his son, and then watched him run into the house to get his swimsuit too.

Lance wasn't there when the accident happened that led to his son's premature birth, but he'd heard the whole story many times… He was in Orlando for a meeting at "A Happy Place" and Dee was in Atlanta for a three-day continuing education seminar that was required by the college where she taught. It was a gorgeous June morning and Melanie knew that Joey could use a break from the 17-month old fireball, otherwise known as Anthony Joseph Fatone. She'd called Joey at 10am and told him to bring Anthony over and she'd take him, Jenny and Jimmy to the park.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Joey inquired. "You know what a handful Anthony can be…..and then with your own two……"

"I'm 8 months pregnant, Joey, not an invalid. And I've been pregnant twice before, so I think I know what I'm capable of!" Mel was giving Joey a hard time. "Seriously, I need to get out of the house and it's a beautiful day. Bring Anthony over in about an hour. It'll give you a chance to clean up the house before Dee gets home tomorrow!"

"And here I thought I was going to get the lady next door to come over and do that for me!"

"I don't have time to rent a dumpster and a bulldozer…..see you in a little while."

Joey spent the hour washing breakfast dishes, reading some mail and getting Anthony dressed in his favorite Superdudes shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Okay, big guy, ready for the park?"

Anthony nodded and Joey scooped his son up in his arms.

Joey was walking across the backyard, carrying his son, both of them singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" at the top of their lungs, when he noticed Jennifer run out onto the deck and frantically look toward the Fatone house.

"Uncle Joey!" she screamed when she saw him. Joey's heart leapt into his throat when he clearly saw the panic on the two-and-a-half-year-olds face and the tears flowing down her cheeks. He broke into a run, the adrenaline pushing him all the way.

"What's wrong Jenny?" he asked, as he took the steps three at a time, Anthony bobbing in his arms.

"My mommy is hurt," she managed to choke out through tears.

"Where honey?" Joey asked, throwing open the patio door and going inside. "Mel!!!!!!!!" he screamed, as he put Anthony down and Jennifer ran to the stairs leading to the basement.

"Down there!" she pointed.

Joey's stomach lurched as he saw a crumpled Melanie at the bottom of the steps, not moving, her right leg at an unnatural angle. "Shit……….dammit………"
Joey knelt down until he was eye level with Jenny and Anthony. "You two stay right here at the top of the steps where I can see you, okay?" Both children nodded, tears now forming in Anthony's eyes to match those in Jenny's. Joey raced down the stairs and gently shook Melanie's shoulders.

"Mel, can you hear me? Mel? It's Joey. Please dear God help me……" Joey hugged Melanie to him, tears now appearing in his eyes and thoughts of Lance racing into his mind. He knew he had to do something and do it fast. Thank the Lord he'd had the presence of mind to clip his cell phone to his belt before leaving the house.

"911…."

"This is Joey Fatone…I'm at 414 Magnolia Drive. I have a woman unconscious at the bottom of the stairs, she's eight months pregnant and……….oh shit……" Joey now noticed that pool of pink-tinged liquid that was seeping out from under Melanie's body.

"Sir, stay on the line please, we have an ambulance on it's way right now. Does the woman have a pulse?"

Joey hadn't even thought of that…….actually he didn't want to know if she didn't, but he obediently placed his fingers in the crook of Melanie's neck and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he felt her heart beating beneath his fingertips.

"Yes, she has a pulse."

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"No, nobody……." Joey looked up the stairs and both Anthony and Jenny started to wail loudly.

"Sir, are the children hurt?"

"No, they're just scared……"

"Do you know how the woman became unconscious?"

"No, her daughter just told me her mommy was hurt and I found her at the bottom of the stairs. I assume she fell. Her leg looks like it might be broken. And there's some pink liquid stuff underneath her. Oh God, please hurry……" Joey wanted to hang up and call Lance, but he knew he needed to stay on the line.

"Sir, I'm going to transfer your call directly to the EMT's who are responding, please hold……."

"Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our time of need," he whispered. His mother would be proud of him. He still remembered. Joey wiped the sweat from his forehead on the back of his sleeve and looked up the stairs. He couldn't stand the sight of the two young children, scared beyond imagination. Gently, he laid Melanie back down and ran up the stairs and hugged Anthony and Jenny.

"Your mommy is going to be okay," he said, trying to sound as persuasive as he possibly could, because he wasn't convinced of this fact himself. Suddenly the thought occurred to him……..where was the second Bass child.

"Jenny, do you know where Jimmy is?"

Jenny nodded silently, hugging Joey tightly around the neck and sobbing.

"Where is he, honey?" he asked, rubbing her back.

"Taking his nap."

Joey sighed. "In his crib?"

Jenny nodded again.

"Thank God….Jenny, you and Anthony stay right here again. I'm going back to take care of your mommy. There will be some doctors here any minute. I'm going to go open the front door. Don't be afraid when they come into the house. It's okay if they come in. They're going to help your mommy."
Joey gave her another squeeze and ran back down the stairs just as he heard a low moan and saw Melanie's hand move up to her head.

"Mel! Mel!" he shouted, kneeling down next to her. "It's me, Joey!"

"Lance?" came a very groggy, very quiet, half-whisper.

"Sir? This is Bill Walters, I'm an EMT on the ambulance that is on the way to your house. We're about six blocks away, can you advise us of an entryway into the house?" came a voice through the phone.

Joey cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he took Mel's wrists in his hands to keep her from flailing around.

"Yes, the front door is open. Please hurry. She's awake and she' trying to get up and I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself some more…"

"We're just about there, sir."

Joey dropped the phone next to him and took hold of Melanie by the shoulders and held her down.

"Mel, it's Joey. Please don't try and move. You've had a bad fall, the paramedics will be here any minute."

"The baby…."

"The baby is going to be fine, Mel. The ambulance will take you to……"

"NO!!!!!!!!"she screamed, interrupting him. "The baby isn't fine. I'm having contractions, it's too early……" she said through loud sobs.
"No, no, Mel…..they'll take care of you and the baby."

"Lance…."

"As soon as the paramedics get here, I'll call Lance. Please don't worry, Mel."

"Call Diane….." Mel whispered just before she winced in pain and let out a scream.

Damn, Joey thought. It hadn't even occurred to him that the children would need someone to take care of them while Melanie was in the hospital before Lance could get back from Florida.

"Hello???" The paramedics had arrived.

"In the basement!" Joey shouted. "It's okay Jenny and Anthony, these are the men who are going to help," he reassured the children.

As soon as the paramedics came to Melanie's aid, Joey sprinted up the steps and started dialing Lance's number at "A Happy Place" while he searched for a phone book or something that had Diane Bass's number on it.

"Happy Place, Kayla speaking, how may I direct your call?"

"Hey Kayla, it's Joey…."

"Joey, how are you? We've been wonder……"

"I don't have time to chat Kayla, I need to talk to Lance. It's an emergency." Joey started to pace back and forth across the kitchen floor.

"Just a minute, Joey…..I think he just stepped out ."

"DAMN!" he said, slamming his hand down on the countertop. Anthony and Jenny jumped and started to cry again. "Listen Kayla, when Lance comes back have him call my cellphone IMMEDIATELY." Joey didn't wait for Kayla to respond, he hung up, grabbed Anthony and Jenny and hugged them tightly again.

"Uncle Joey, why you cry?" Jennifer asked, wiping her hand across Joey's cheek ever so gently. "Mommy be okay."

"Yes, she will, angel, she will." Joey sniffed and wiped his eyes. He stood up and started searching for Diane Bass's phone number, when he realized Lance and Melanie had a programmable phone. "Idiot" he muttered to and about himself! Quickly, he pushed the memory button and impatiently waited until Diane answered.

"Diane? This is Joey Fatone….there's been an accident. Melanie fell down the basement stairs, I think she's in labor, the paramedics are here and we need you to come over and take care of the kids when she goes to the hospital. I want to go along in the ambulance."

"Oh my God, Joey……is she going to be alright?"

"I don't know Diane, she was unconcsious for awhile."

"I'll be right there, Joey. It'll take me ten minutes, no longer. Does Lance know?"

"I left a message for him and he's supposed to call me back."

"Have him call me after you talk to him."

"No problem, I will."

"And Joey……"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being there for Melanie."

Joey started to choke up. "I'm glad I was here."

Just as the paramedics were bringing Melanie up from the basement on a backboard, her right leg cradled in an inflatable air-cast, the front door flew open and Diane Bass rushed into the kitchen and hugged Joey briefly before picking Jenny up and kissing her.

"Grandma! Grandma! Mommy got hurt!" little Jenny announced.

"I know, Jenny, and the doctors are going to take care of her, okay?"

Joey watched as the paramedics maneuvered the backboard and gurney and an IV bag into the kitchen.

"Mr. Bass?" one of them said, looking at Joey. Gad, Joey thought, what rock has he been living under…….

"No, I'm Joey Fatone, friend and neighbor….I'm trying to locate Melanie's husband."

"Okay, well, is anyone going with us to the hospital?"

"Yes, I will, " Joey said, taking hold of Melanie's hand and gently squeezing it. Melanie said nothing, but smiled and then winced, grabbing her stomach.

"We need to get there fast," the paramedic said. And with that, Joey followed them out the door and to the waiting ambulance.

"Can you watch Anthony too please?" he called back to Diane.

"Just go Joey…don't worry, I'll take care of everything here."

When they were all loaded into the ambulance and speeding to the hospital, Joey got out his cellphone and speed-dialed Lance's cellphone. He tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the paramedics tend to Melanie.

"Her blood pressure and heartrate are normal, so that's good," one told Joey after he saw the look of concern on his face. But they didn't say anything about the baby. Joey started to feel beads of perspiration break out on his forehead once again.

"The Starburst cellular user is not available at this time….." the recorded message informed Joey, who slammed his cellphone shut and silently uttered another expletive.

"Joe?" Melanie weakly pleaded.

I'm here, Mel!" Joey said, shifting closer to Melanie and taking her hand.

"Is Lance coming?" she asked, licking her dry lips and flinching in pain once more.

"Yeah, Melanie, he'll be here as soon as he can," he lied. The last thing she needed now was to know that he hadn't been able to reach Lance. Joey put his head down and rubbed his temples, listening to the wailing of the siren. He silently prayed like he hadn't prayed in years. He said a Hail Mary, the Our Father and just a simple "please don't let anything happen to Mel or the baby."

Once they arrived at the emergency room of the hospital, they began rolling Melanie quickly into an exam room. Joey stayed behind to give the admitting nurse as much information as he was able to provide. He was just about finished when a nurse came out of the emergency area to find him.

"Mr. Fatone? Mrs. Bass is asking for you. She's going to be taken up to surgery immediately for a C-section, but she wants to see you first."

Joey followed the nurse into the brightly-lit room and a doctor turned and smiled at him.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Benson, Mrs. Bass's obstetrician," he said, holding out his hand,. Joey shook it and nodded. "We need to do a Cesarean section immediately because we don't know how much trauma the baby has sustained in the fall. The fetal heartbeat is a bit weak, but hopefully that will increase once we deliver. And if that all goes as well as I think it should, the orthopedic surgeon will be in to set and cast that leg. The x-ray shows a pretty nasty break just below the knee."

"Joey?" Melanie reached out her hand toward him. "You look a bit pale. Are you okay?"

"Hey," he said, taking her hand and squeezing it, "I should be the one asking YOU that question!"

"I'm okaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy…….oops, another contraction."

"Well, let's get you on upstairs then," the doctor said as two nurses came in and approached the cart.

"Is Lance on his way?"

"Uh, yeah, Mel, he is." Joey was sure his nose just grew an un-needed two or three inches.

"Tell him I love him when he gets here."

"I will, but please don't ask me to hug or kiss him for you, okay?"

Joey could hear Mel's familiar giggle as they rolled her down the hallway and into the elevator.

"Mr. Fatone?" a nurse approached him from the desk. "Mrs. Bass will be going to Room 424 when she comes out of surgery, would you like to wait there?

"Yes, that'd be fine."

Once Joey was shown upstairs to Mel's room, he settled into the chair near the window and sighed. 'Call, Lance, call' he silently pleaded. As if on cue, his cellphone rang.

"Hello?"

"Joey….it's Lance, what happened? Is Mel okay? Is the baby alright?" Lance was absolutely frantic.

"We're at the hospital, buddy. They just took Melanie up to surgery to do a C-section to deliver the baby. The doc says everything should be okay. And then they'll take Melanie to surgery to set her leg……"

"Her leg?"

"She fell down the basement steps, Lance. Thank God I was on my way bringing Anthony over for Mel to take to the park. Jenny was hysterical when she found her."

"Oh man, thanks for being there. I'm going to see if I can get a private jet rented or something and I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll call you when I'm in the air."

"Hey….uh….Melanie says to tell you she loves you."

"Yeah, well that woman means the world to me, Joey. I love her with all my heart. Tell her that for me if I'm not there when she gets out of surgery, okay?"

"Sure will. Oh, and call your mother. She's at your house taking care of Jenny, Jimmy and Anthony."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks again, Joey. Man, I owe ya big time."

"Don't worry about it Lance. That's what friends are for."

Joey flipped his cellphone shut, laid his head back on the chair and closed his eyes. He couldn't even imagine what Lance was going through right now. If anything like this ever happened to Dee, he'd……………..

"Oh my God…….Dee! I need to call her!"

Joey dialed Dee's cellphone number and after being chewed out for getting her in trouble with a cellphone playing "Bye Bye Bye" during a lecture, he told her the whole story of what had happened that day and beamed when she told him he was a "hero"!

"And I'm leaving right now to come home…..I think there's an early afternoon flight out of Atlanta. I'll taxi to the hospital. Don't leave until I get there, okay?"

Joey was glad she was coming home. He wanted so badly to hug her. "Ok, babe, see you later. I love you." As wired as he was, a deep exhaustion came over him, and he propped his head up on his hand and fell asleep.

Three hours later, Lance ran through the hospital desperate to get to Mel. The flight from Orlando, while only a short distance in miles had been the longest flight of his life. He was concerned for his wife and for his new child. He called Joey at least five times to check on her, willing her to be ok. Joey was patient with him, knowing if the roles were reversed and this was Dee he would be doing the same thing. Lance stopped briefly enough to get a visitor's pass and continued to run to Room 424, rushing in and obviously waking Joey ……again. Joey jumped up and hugged Lance, tears streaming down both of their faces.

"Have you heard anything yet? When is she getting back from surgery?" Lance asked.

"Your answer is right behind you, " Joey said, pointing.

Lance turned to see Melanie being wheeled into the room. She appeared to be heavily sedated, but when she saw Lance, she smiled and reached out to him. Lance wanted to embrace her and not let go, but the orderlies were getting ready to shift her into her bed, so he waited impatiently. When she was settled, the nurse checked her vital signs, then nodded to Lance and said, "I'll leave you alone for awhile" and winked at him. That was also Joey's signal to let Melanie and Lance have some time by themselves.

"I think I'll go down to the nursery and see if I can see………" He hesitated, realizing he didn't know the baby's name, or even whether it was a boy or girl.

"It's a boy. And he's fine. A little small maybe. 5 pounds, 2 ounces and we have him in an incubator and hooked up to some monitors just to be safe," the nurse replied before closing the door behind her.

"Joey?" Melanie weakly called.

Joey joined Lance at the side of the bed.

"If Lance agrees, I'd like to name the baby Joseph," she said, smiling.

"WE would like to name the baby Joseph," Lance corrected.

Joey looked at the two of them, his eyes welling with tears. He didn't know what to say or how to get it past the lump in his throat. "Guys… wow. I am so honored."

"Okay, now that you're honored, get the heck outta here so I can talk to my wife!" Lance teased him.

"I'm going! I'm going!" Joey said throwing his hands up in mock defeat.

Lance sat on the edge of the bed and took Melanie into his arms gently, yet firmly squeezing her. The relief of finally being there with his wife, holding her, knowing she and the baby were going to be okay was overwhelming.

"Oh God, Melanie, I'm so sorry. I should've been here," he whispered in her ear.

"Lance, there was no way you were to know that I was going to take a fall. It's not your fault. And you're here now and that's all I care about." She ran her fingers across Lance's furrowed brow and looked into those gorgeous green eyes. "And our son, Joey, is fine and is going to grow up to be just as wonderful as his father."

"Let's just hope he isn't as goofy as his namesake….." Lance joked.

"Earth to Lance Bass, earth to Lance Bass……come in please!"

Lance shook himself out of his reverie and back in to reality. Calling his name was Joey who saw he was off in Never Never Land.

"Want to go join our kids in the pool?" Joey asked.

"Great idea."

Lance realized now more than ever before, that he was blessed.

Chapter Four

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