"Do you want me to stay back here with you?" mama asked as she smoothed out my collar one more time.

I smiled. "It's up to you. I thought you'd want to be out there with daddy."

She let her hands run down my arms and grabbed my hands.

"You're so calm…you're not even shaking," she said studying my hands.

I take a deep breath. "No, I feel good. I've got butterflies but it's only because I'm anxious."

There was a knock on the dressing room door.

"Come in," I said.

I figured it was going to be daddy so when I saw Marcus Tyler standing in my doorway, I was surprised…to say the least.

"Ladies…excuse my interruption."

"Come on in, Marcus," my mother said.

"Thank you," he said, taking a step inside and smiling.

"Mrs. Timberlake, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, approaching mama and holding his hand out for her to shake.

"It's Britney and thank you. It's nice to meet you. I'm excited about seeing your show," she said shaking his hand.

"And Ana…you have no idea how happy I was to hear that you would be a part of this tour."

He took a step closer to me and held his hand out. I think I only blinked up at him and slowly let his hand take mine and he shook it slowly as we looked into each other's eyes. Then slowly he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

"Thank you for having me," I finally stuttered. "The flowers are beautiful."

I glance over my shoulder at the bouquet he sent as a welcome to the tour.

"I'm glad you liked them. I won't keep you. I just wanted to introduce myself," he said looking at mama, "and wish you luck tonight. I don't think I'll be able to catch your set tonight but I will the first chance I get."

"Great. Let me know when you'll be able to. Oh and good luck to you too."

He smiled at us and waved before he walked out and shut the door.

"Wow," mama said fanning herself.

"Mama, he's old enough to be your son," I say, lightly punching her arm.

"Honey, I don't care how old he is, he's still a hottie…and don't tell me you didn't notice. The way you two were staring at each other…I was wondering if I should leave the room."

I turned to look at her, my mouth hanging open. "What? No we weren't. I have no idea what you're talking about," I say, turning around and flipping the hair from my shoulders.

Mama starts laughing and there's another knock on the door.

"Come in," I say, glaring at mama.

"Hi…what's so funny?" daddy asks as he steps into the room.

"You had to be here," mama says, holding her stomach.

"Mama, it's not that funny. Hi daddy."

I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist. He kisses the top of my head.

"Careful, I don't want to mess you all up," he said pulling me away and holding me at arm's length. "You look absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you."

There's another knock and a voice. "You're needed by the stage now."

"Thanks Tony," I yell.

"You going to sit with me?" daddy asks mama.

She looks at me one more time. I nod.

"Yeah, I'll sit with you. You're sure you'll be fine."

"Yes, I want you out there so I can see you."

"Okay. I love you. I won't wish you luck…you won't need it," she said winking at me and giving me a quick hug.

"I love you, baby. Hit 'em hard," daddy said.

"I will. I love you guys too."

When they leave, Tony sticks his head in the room.

"You ready?" he asks with a big smile on his face.

I take a deep breath and nod. "I'm ready."

We walk toward the stage and Tony grabs my hand.

"You're going to be amazing. Just remember everything we talked about. Confidence will win them over."

"Okay."

"They might not scream as loud right now because you're unfamiliar to them."

"Okay. I'll be okay, Tony. I love to do this…hopefully they'll see that."

We stop when we get to the curtain. I can hear the random screams in the audience.

"How did you get to be so smart?" he asked.

I laugh.

"Oh wait…I sometimes forget who your parents are," he says, rolling his eyes.

Some guy walks by us and stops and asks, "You ready?"

"Yep."

 He walks out on stage and the cheers get louder. He then announces...

"Next up is a brand new artist…you might have heard of her. Her first album, "It's Me" is out and in stores and her first single, "Wanted" is tearing up the charts. Give her a huge Dallas welcome…it's Ana," he yelled.

The lights dimmed and the band started to play. I snuck out on stage and took my place. I had my mic pack on and I was ready to go.

My set went almost as perfectly as it could go. I think I was so excited that I did get a little more winded than I had in rehearsals but other than that, I was very happy with the way things went. At one point I asked for the lights to be brought up on the audience and I saw mama and daddy sitting in the VIP area. They both smiled and waved so I waved back. Of course the girls on the floor thought I was waving to them, but that's okay. What they don't know won't hurt them.

The band was my rock. When I'd need a little boost of reassurance I'd turn around and see George giving me a thumb's up or winking at me and then I'd see Brad's smile. It kept me going.

Tony was there when I got off the stage. He hugged me when I ran up to him.

"You were amazing," he said, kissing my cheek.

"Thanks," I said, trying to catch my breath. "They were louder than I'd thought they'd be," I said nodding toward the stage.

"They loved you." He started ushering me back to my dressing room.

A few of the crewmembers told me that it was a great set. That actually meant a lot coming from them…they've probably seen a lot of shows.

"Do you really think the audience liked the set or are they just excited because it's Marcus's first show?"

We walked into the dressing room.

"No, I think they liked you. I can tell the difference between screams because they're caught up in the whole momentum and screams because they like you. And those were screams just for you."

I picked up a towel and started to wipe my face. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and it opened before I could even say anything.

Mama and daddy walked in…both beaming from ear to ear.

"Baby, you were perfect…just perfect," mama said, grabbing me and rocking me back and forth. I put my arms around her. I notice daddy standing behind her. He has his hand on her back and he's looking down at me, smiling.

"Okay, Brit…my turn," he finally says.

When she pulls away I notice she has tears in her eyes.

He pulls me closer to him and kisses the top of my head. "You were born to do this," he whispered to me. "It's in your blood."

I smile against his chest and nod. "I've always thought so," I chuckle.

Tony walks over to the corner of the room and dials a number on his cell phone.

"Hi, it's me. Yeah, it's over…she was great. The audience loved her."

Mama and daddy and I are going through the show and talking about what the audience seemed the most receptive to.

"You want to talk to her?"

I look up at Tony when I hear him say that. He walks over to me.

"Who is it?" I mouth.

He smiles and holds out the phone.

"Hello?"

"I hear you were a hit."

My smile grows. "Uncle Lance. Oh my God it was so great…I've never felt that way before."

He laughs. "I know the feeling. So there weren't any sound problems or problems hearing the band?"

"No, I don't think so. If there were, I didn't notice them."

"Great. How are the people on the tour treating you so far?"

"They've been great. Marcus sent me flowers and came in and wished me luck tonight."

"That's nice. He's a nice guy…I've met him a few times."

"Yeah, he is."

"Let me talk to him," daddy says, walking up to me.

"Okay…daddy wants to talk to you."

"Good, I needed to talk to him anyway. I'm so proud of you Ana…enjoy it."

"I will. Thanks Uncle Lance. Oh, when will you be able to see the show?"

"I'm going to try to within the next week. I might just end up catching the LA shows."

"You're going to be at the Icon special too?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I was invited."

"Cool. Okay, here's daddy."

I hand the phone over to daddy and then sit down on the couch, next to mama.

"So what's next? Do I get to see his show tonight?" I ask her and Tony.

Tony looked at his watch.

"We need to get to the next city. I thought we could catch his show tomorrow night since there isn't a show the following night."

I try to hide my disappointment. "Oh, okay. That's cool," I shrug.

"Okay, I'll talk to you then," daddy said and then he hung up the phone and handed it back to Tony.

"You guys coming to the next city with me?" I ask my parents.

"Your mom is…I'm going to get back home. I've got more work to do on that remix for the Icon special. I've got to get it to Wade in a couple of days so he has time to listen to it and come up with something," he said tapping my nose.

"When will I see you again?"

"In about a week I think. You'll be in LA then and we'll all meet up there, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks daddy."

I walk into his awaiting arms.

"For what?"

"For being here tonight. It meant everything to me."

He gives me a gentle squeeze. "I wouldn't have been anywhere else."

"Okay, so what do I do now? Do I take a shower here or on the bus?"

"Well usually we'll leave straight from your set and get on the bus…unless we arrange it for you to stay at the show."

"Okay. Let's go I guess. Oh wait, the flowers…"

I start to turn around but mama stops me. "I'll carry them," she says, picking up the vase.

The four of us walk to the bus. I spot my band getting on their bus and Brad waves at me. I wave back.

"See you in the next town," he said.

I laugh. "Yeah see you."

I take the flowers from mama and get into my bus. "Where do you think I can put these so they won't fall?" I ask, looking around.

Mama helps me find a spot and then daddy walks over to me.

"I'm gonna go, snowball. I love you. Be careful and have fun," he said hugging me. When he pulled away he kissed me on the cheek and I kissed him in return.

"I love you too, daddy," I say, fighting back the tears. "Give Cody and Ashleigh a big hug for me…oh and grandma and grandpa too."

"I will."

He shakes Tony's hand and says a few things to him before he takes mama's hand and walks off of the bus with her. I walk to the back of the bus and wash up.

"How many days are you going to stay?" Justin asks. He and Britney are standing a few feet away from the bus. They're facing each other and Justin's brushing her cheeks with his thumbs.

"I don't know yet. Maybe for the next couple of shows. I need to go back to Orlando before we all head to LA so I have to make myself leave her."

He nods. "Do whatever you need to do, okay? We'll be fine."

"I know you will be…ugh, now I know how my mama felt all those times…leaving Bryan and Jamie Lynn to be with me. This is going to be the hard part."

"Hey, what about me?" he asks with a pout.

"Of course you," she said sliding her arms up around his neck. He moved his hands from her face to her waist and pulled her closer.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," she said leaning up and kissing him.

The kiss started off slow. This would have to last them for a few days. Britney turned her head and dug her fingers into his curls. Justin deepened the kiss and found her tongue with his own. He pulled back a little and started to nibble on her lips.

"You're teasing," she said against his lips.

"I know…I won't get to do this for a few days." He closed his mouth over hers one more time and then kissed the top of her nose and pulled away.

"I love you."

"I love you," she replied. She touched his face before she turned and got on the bus.

Tony gave Britney a sympathetic look when she wiped away a stray tear from her face.

"Ana's in the back," he said.

"Thanks," she smiled at him. "You're good for her Tony," she said patting his shoulder as she walked by.

Britney made her way to the back.

I look up when I hear mama open the door.

"I'm too wired to try to sleep," I say.

"Me too. It's early anyway."

I plop down on the bed. This bus used to be my mama's when she was on her solo tour…and now it's mine.

"Maybe we should join Tony up front and watch a movie with him or something," I suggest.

She smiles. "One thing I learned…manager's don't always mind time alone like this because they can get the schedule's caught up and phone calls made. I'll go check with him, but I think he's fine. You want something to eat or drink while I'm up there?"

"Ohh maybe some water…I'm so thirsty."

"Okay."

Mama walks up front and I start flipping through the channels on the satellite TV.

When she gets back she hands me a bag of chips and the bottled water and sits down on the bed next to me.

"Mama look…Grease is on."

She settles back on the pillow and takes the bag from me.

"Just what we need for a girl's night," she says.