After All (A Jordan Knight/Joe McIntyre Fanfiction)

7

Amber is surprised to see her birth mom at their show in New York. "What are you doing here?" Amber asks as she forces a smile onto her face. They share an awkward hug.

"I thought it might be nice to see you perform. Is it okay that I'm here?"

"Of course its okay Sara. I'm glad you're here." Amber smiles a more genuine smile this time.

Amber and Sara settle into a comfortable conversation about how they've been, how Amber's liking the tour and then Joe walks in.

He walks over to Amber and kisses her on the cheek. "Hey babe. Hope I'm not interrupting. I just had to see you."

Amber smiles, then she notices the look on Sara's face. "Joe I'd like for you to meet my birth mother Sara. Sara this is my boyfriend Joe."

Sara Beth stares at Joe, she's got a very unhappy expression on her face. Sara forces a smile, "Boyfriend? Well its very nice to meet you Joe." They shake hands. "So how long have you two been dating?"

"For a little while now. Is there a problem, Sara?" Amber asks not sure what she expects Sara to say. Its not like she has any right to say anything.

Sara seems taken aback by Amber's tone. "No sweetheart. Why would there be a problem?"

Joe feels the tension. He's got somewhere he needs to be, he tries to give Amber a way out of the situation. "Babe, I've got to get to an interview with the Times. Want to join me?" His eyes move over to Sara then back to Amber. Amber thinks about his offer, but she thinks she should stay and talk to Sara. She's trying to form a relationship with her, so maybe she can find out who her birth father is.

"No Joe I'd like to visit some more with Sara. I'll see you before the show though. Love you."

"Love you too." He leans in for a kiss. When his lips touch hers, she feels it everywhere. From the top of her head, to the tips of her toes. She makes a little sound, "Mmmh", then he pulls away. He gives her one more quick kiss before he walks to the door. He turns back to Sara, "It was really nice meeting you Sara. Hopefully we'll see each other again soon, have a chance to talk."

"It was really nice meeting you too Joe. I'm glad she has someone who cares about her on tour. I was worried she was all alone." Sara smiles as she looks at her daughter.

After Joe leaves, Amber and Sara sit together and talk some more. They're actually having a nice conversation. Sara is telling Amber about her grandparents when someone knocks on the door. Amber says, "Come in."

Jordan comes in almost not noticing Sara sitting there. "I was going to see if you wanted to work on our song while Joe's busy doing his interview. Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. Maybe later." His eyes linger on Sara, he tilts his head and squints his eyes. "Hi, I'm Jordan." He offers her his hand.

"Oh sorry Jordan. This is Sara, my birth mother. Sara this is Jordan Knight, one of the New Kids. We've been working on writing a song together." Sara finally looks up at him. She gives him a faint smile and takes his hand. "Nice to meet you Jordan. Amber where's the restroom?"

"Out my door, go right, two doors down." Sara says thank you and heads out the door. Jordan tells Amber they'll work on the song later and he leaves too.

"Sara Beth?" Jordan says as Sara walks out of the restroom. She looks startled. "Jordan, hey."

"Wow, I can't believe its really you. How long has it been? Like twenty years? You've barely changed at all. How have you been?" Jordan is surprised but also a little excited to see Sara Beth. Its been so long.

"I've been good Jordan. It has been a long time. I think you're right its been at least twenty years. I can't believe you recognized me, I know I don't look the same. But it's nice of you to say. You on the other hand look just like that boy I met at Jones Beach all those years ago. And still so incredibly talented. I was happy to hear when you guys got back together. You can't even imagine my surprise when I found out my daughter was going to tour with you guys." Sara looks at her wrist, like she's checking the time. "Well I better get back to Amber, tell her goodbye before the show. It was good seeing you again Jordan. Take care of yourself."

"Your daughter. It's hard to believe you're old enough to have a daughter that's Amber's age. She's twenty right?" Jordan says as she starts to walk away. Sara stops and turns back to him. "Yes, she's twenty now."

"Wow. When did we all grow up? It was good seeing you. Sara Beth if you come to anymore shows I'd love it if we could catch up some more. I've thought about you so many times over the years. I always wondered what happened to you." Jordan smiles as she nods her head, "Okay, I'd like that Jordan. Goodbye." With that she hurries back to Amber's dressing room.

Jordan goes to find Jon. "Hey Jon, do you remember that girl I met at Jones Beach spring break of 87? It was the year we all went together as a group? Her name was Sara Beth?"

Jon thinks about it. "Yeah the really pretty Latino girl? The one you got all obsessed about over that week? Then spent the entire summer trip we took looking for her? Didn't she give you a fake phone number? Hey isn't she who you wrote Summertime about?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I just ran into her. She was in Amber's dressing room. Apparently she's Amber's mom. Well her birth mom. Isn't that crazy? What a small world." Jordan shakes his head as he laughs.

Jon looks at his brother. "She's Amber's mom? Amber's like twenty right? And the last time you saw Sara Beth was like twenty one years ago. Hmmm."

"What?" Jordan asks Jon not getting what Jon is getting at.

"Nothing Jordan, just giving you shit."