"Is that Adriana?" Justin asked.

"Yes…she just woke up. Honey, you have time to get more rest if you want."

I shook my head. "No, I can't sleep. I was just laying there staring up at the ceiling. I'm starved though," I said rubbing my belly as I walked over to the table where the food was set-up."

"You want to talk to your dad?" mama asks.

I nod as I take a bite of melon. I walk over to her and take the phone from her.

"Hello."

"Hey baby. How is life on the road?"

"It's going fine. I think I'm finally getting used to it. I can't believe it's going to be over in a couple more weeks."

"Any word from Tony on what you'll be doing next?"

"No, he says there's a couple of things in the works but he doesn't want to tell me until they're definite."

"Any new boyfriends I need to worry about or interrogate?"

I laugh. "No."

"What about those two young fellas you're spending time with now? Neither of them has laid a hand on you, have they?"

"Daddy. No, of course not."

"What is he saying?" mama asks.

"I'm just checking," he said.

"He's acting like Brad and Marcus are going to maul me or something," I say to mama.

"Give me that," she said snatching the phone away from me. "Justin, what are you saying to our daughter?"

"Hey, I can't be there so I need to make sure no one is doing something they shouldn't," he said.

"I think she's mature enough to make decisions on her own."

"She's sixteen."

"So was I when I started out."

"Yeah but…"

"No buts…how many times do we need to go over this?" she asked as she rubbed her face.

Suddenly I felt bad. My parents were having a "discussion" about me.

"Mama, it's okay. He's just overprotective," I said, pulling at her arm.

She put the phone to my ear.

"Tell daddy you love him."

"I love you daddy."

"I love you too sno…"

She put the phone back to her ear.

"I'm hanging up now Justin. I'll call you later," she said before hanging up the phone.

I looked at the phone and then back at her.

"I can't believe you just hung up on daddy like that."

"He's pigheaded. He needs that once in awhile. Oh shoot," she said starting to dial again.

"I love you…bye."

I gave her a strange look. "No matter how pissed I get at your father, I have to tell him I love him. I never want any regrets," she said touching my cheek.

I nod and walk back over to the table. I pick out a danish and sit down.

"Mmmm this is heaven. Mama did you try one of these?" I ask holding it out to her.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, I had one of these," she said showing me a muffin.

"That looks good too."

"So, tell me why the after-party was interesting?" she asked as she sat down across the table from me and started nibbling on a piece of fruit.

I shrug. "I don't know. After-parties are always interesting."

"How so?"

I look up at her. "What are you trying to get at?"

"Was Brad with you?"

I shake my head.

"Was he there at least?"

"Yeah, he was there."

"What about Marcus."

I nod. "He got there late but yeah, he was there."

"Did you get to dance?"

"Of course," I laugh. I sigh as I lean back in my chair. "Why do guys have to be so complicated?"

"I don't know…but they are and it will only get worse as you get older."

"Great. Just what I needed to hear."

Mama laughed. "My advice is to not worry about it…just have fun."

"I had to tell Brad that even though we're hanging out as friends we can't do it as much."

She leaned forward. "What did he say?"

I look back up at her. "He looked sad almost. I felt really bad. I mean we still hang out together backstage but it's not the same."

"What about Marcus?"

"I haven't even had a chance to talk to him. He's been so busy. He just shot another video so he wasn't around much. Plus you said he was probably told the same thing so…"

"Aren't there any girls you can hang around with?"

I shrug. "It's not the same."

"Because it's not a date."

"Mama…I haven't been on any dates."

She reaches over and takes my hand. "Adriana, yes you have. I mean dates aren't always cookie cutter. They come in all shapes and forms. Just because you didn't hold hands or kiss doesn't mean it wasn't a date."

"But that means I'm dating two different guys. That makes me sound…"

"It makes you sound nothing."

"So why were you and daddy told you couldn't see each other in public?"

She leaned back again. "It was a combination of things. When we started to get closer…when I was on tour with them, our manager suggested it would be best if we kept telling people we were friends. Neither of us understood it but we agreed. Then when I left the tour, it became harder for us to even see each other. We were both trying to get our careers really going so we had to concentrate on that. But whenever we could we would go fly to be with each other…but at that time it didn't happen a lot, so we really didn't need to worry about being caught. So that summer we started to find more time to spend together. We were both on tour so we could fly to each other on our days off."

I nod.

"But your daddy called me one day and said that his mom had just told him something interesting. She said that there's a good reason for keeping it quiet. Since we were both growing in this relationship and weren't really sure where it was going, we needed to keep it away from the press because it would hurt us more if in the end, we decided to be friends only. If we even hinted that we were dating, the press wouldn't leave us alone. She was right," Mama said with a slight smile on her face. "She said it would be best if we were one hundred percent sure that we were in a strong relationship before we went public with it."

"And it worked," I whisper.

"Yeah, pretty much. Of course when we did go public, the press never left us alone…just like she said."

"Was that what caused your break-up?"

She cringed. "I don't like that word. I like to say "break". But that was part of it. Too much press."

"Okay so you were supposed to tell me how you and daddy were able to do this," I said leaning back.

"Oh right. Gosh…well it wasn't easy. I think the hardest part was when we were in the same place and had to act like casual friends. I mean we couldn't even act like good friends who go up and gave each other hugs because the press would have been all over that."

"That sucks."

Mama laughed. "Yes it did. I remember this one benefit show we did and they wanted all of the performers out on stage at the end and there I am in the middle and your daddy and uncles were down on the other end. They were moving around on stage and your daddy couldn't ever come close to where I was."

"Awww. I'm sorry."

"Well we did spend some time together backstage so that helped."

"How old were you then?"

"It was just before my eighteenth birthday."

"Oh so you weren't really in love yet…right? Wasn't it the Hawaii trip where you told him you loved him?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. But I was in love with him. I just knew it…even for a seventeen year old," she chuckled which made me smile.

"Does it scare you that I'm almost that age?"

She looks at me for a second and then shakes her head. "No, because you remind me so much of me at that age. You have a good head on your shoulders. You like to think things through first so I trust you, just like my mama trusted me."

"Well that's good. If I think about it though, it would feel strange to me to be in love at my age."

"Give it time," she winked at me.

"So tell me another story," I said picking up a strawberry.

"Okay…another good one or sad one?" she laughed.

I tilt my head and give her a come on look. "A good one. I mean it can be sad but with a happy ending."

"Well there was the Grammys in two-thousand. We were all there a few days ahead of time because there were different promo things and of course my rehearsals. The picture we took for MTV was kind of hard," she said with a distant look in her eyes. "It was a big group picture of TRL artists. Again, we were in the same place but because the media was there we had to act like we didn't even know each other. Which of course everyone knew we did."

I nod.

"So that night wasn't fun. We were at the same hotel though, so it made it easier for us to sneak around," she winked at me.

"But weren't your moms there?"

"Well yeah." Her eyes got big. "It wasn't anything like that. We just wanted to spend time together…no sleepovers," she laughed.

"I was going to say…"

"Anyway, so my day of dress rehearsal I go into my trailer and there's a dozen peach roses."

"From daddy?"

She nods. "Yeah with a card that said "to the lady of my life"."

"He didn't sign it did he?"

She shook her head. "No…but I knew."

"That's so sweet."

"It gets better. So the next day, another dozen were sent to my hotel room while I was getting ready and there were two more dozen in the trailer for me that night."

"Did you get to see him at all that day?"

"Yeah for a little bit. He stopped by in the morning before my entourage of people came to help me get ready. Then I saw him on the red carpet of course," she chuckles.

"I think I remember seeing that on one of Uncle Joey's tapes. That's where they interviewed you right?"

She nods and laughs. "Yes. That stupid "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" question. I didn't mind though because I got to see your daddy. He looked so handsome in his suit."

I think back and remember. "But you were wearing that white dress…that was so beautiful."

"Aww thank you honey."

"I'm sure daddy's eyes were popping out."

She slightly blushed. "He told me I looked gorgeous."

"Well you did. Let's move back over to the couch or I'll sit here eating everything on this table."

Mama picked up her coffee and followed me to the couch. I picked up the remote and started to flip through the channels.

"So, what else happened that night?"

"Well, I performed…though I didn't really see him until after I lost the Grammy."

I turn the volume on the TV down and look at her. She looked so sad.

"I was back in my trailer and there was a knock on the door. I had already told Rob I didn't want to see anyone…but I think he knew I'd want to see Justin. So he opened the door and came in. He didn't say anything, he just held me…that's all I needed at that point."

"I'm sorry you didn't win," I say softly.

She shook her head and smiled. "It's okay. Honestly, I wasn't prepared to win but everyone around me was telling me that they wouldn't have had me perform if I wasn't going to win, so I began to believe the hype. That was my first lesson in not believing the hype that surrounds you. I know it humbled me." She glanced back over at the TV. "Isn't that Marcus?"

My head turns toward the TV and I turn the volume up. "Yeah. I didn't know he was going to New York today."

"This is a live show right?"

I nod.

Mama looks over at me with my mouth hanging open.

"I don't believe him." I look over at her. "I thought you said he was probably getting the same lecture that I was."

She shook her head. "That doesn't mean you weren't supposed to ask him and find out. Obviously he's not on the same page as you are here. Honey, you need to set this straight before everything you've worked for starts to fall apart."

"God, what if Brad saw that?" I wrap my arms around my waist. "I told him that I told Marcus the same thing…he'll be upset. He'll think I lied to him."

Mama started to rub my back. "Why don't you go down to his room and find out. Just tell him everything."

I look back at her with glassy eyes. "I don't want to loose him as a friend."

"I know," she smiles.