I open the door to the bus and rub my eyes. We just pulled up to the venue in Denver. Since my mama's phone call a few days ago, I haven't been getting much rest so I feel exhausted. Slowly I step down the two steps off my bus and walk toward the food. I need something to help me perk up before sound check or I just won't make it today. As I turn the corner, I hear a familiar laugh so I stop and look around. I shake my head when I realize I must be hearing things so I keep walking.

I see a few people over at the tables by the buffet line and I stop when I recognize them. I feel tears start forming in my eyes when I see exactly what I thought I had heard. There's daddy talking to George and Ashleigh and Cody are talking to Brad. It was Ash's laugh I heard. I start to walk a little faster when George nods his head towards me and daddy looks my way. He sees me walking toward him and stands up. Right now, more than anything I want to be in his arms.

I don't even notice anyone around me as I reach him. He engulfs me in his embrace and I start to cry. All of the sadness and loneliness and exhaustion I've been feeling the past few days has caught up with me and I feel safe in my daddy's arms.

I think we stand there for at least five minutes like that. At least it feels that way. I finally decide to slightly pull away and look up at him. He smiles at me and uses his thumb to wipe away my tears.

"I missed you."

He leans down and kisses my forehead. "I missed you too. Surprise," he chuckles.

"It's the best surprise," I say wrapping my arms around his waist again, the side of my head resting against his chest.

I feel something tugging at my leg so I look down and see Ashleigh.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing, I'm just happy to see you guys. I've missed you." Reluctantly I remove my arms from around daddy and squat down so I can give Ashleigh a hug.

"I missed you too. When can I stay with you?" Her lower lip is almost sticking out in a pout. She's got this look down pat.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask mama and daddy."

She starts to play with my hair. "Okay, I'll ask them later. I have to do it soon because school will be starting."

I nod and smile. "I know. You're going to be in first grade. Such a big girl."

I stand up and take her hand. Then I glance over at Cody, who's still sitting next to Brad and we walk over to them. Suddenly I feel silly for crying like that in front of Brad. Before I even say anything, Cody stands up and hugs me. I think he grew another inch since the last time I saw him.

"Okay, next time I see you you're going to be taller than me," I laugh.

He blushes slightly and shrugs. "I can't help it. I'll try to stop."

"Okay. Nah, on second thought, you'll catch up with daddy soon enough and maybe even be taller than him."

We laugh.

"So, when did you get here? I would have had Tony get us here earlier if I had known you were here?"

"We only landed about an hour or so ago…came straight here. We had George and Brad here to entertain us," he said slapping George on the arm.

"Yeah, it's a tough job but someone has to do it," George says. "Excuse me, I'm going to go fix a plate."

"You guys hungry?"

"I am," Cody says, standing up and follows George.

Daddy shakes his head. "He can eat anytime of the day. You hungry sweetie?" he asks Ashleigh.

"A little."

"Come on, come get food with me."

She takes my hand again and I smile at Brad as we walk to the line.

"So, how is she doing?" Justin asks Brad as he watched Adriana walk away.

"I think she's fine sir. She's been a little tired lately and sad," he finishes softly. "She really wanted to be with her family since she found out about her Grandpa."

Justin nods. "Yeah, we figured as much. Britney was remembering what it was like when she lost both of her Grandmas and she thought one of us should be with Adriana. I wanted to stay with Britney and her family since her dad is still recovering but she insisted that I take the kids and come here."

"I think it's just what Adriana needed."

Justin sits down on the bench across from Brad. "So…I hear you and Adriana have been going out on a few dates."

Brad turns around so he's facing Justin. "Yes sir. We've gone out a few times. We always have security with us though…I don't want to put her in danger of crazy fans or anything."

Justin held up his hands. "No, I'm sure it's safe. I just get a little concerned because there's a lot of things happening to her all at once and being sixteen…"

"Sir…that's why we've only been on a few. I understand that she's got a lot going on so when it looks like she needs to go feel like a normal girl, I take her to a park or the zoo or something."

Justin smiles and nods his head. "Good. That makes me feel a little better."

Cody comes back and sits down with his plate of food. "That smells good, I think I'll go make myself a plate."

I walk over and sit down next to Brad. Ashleigh sits across from me.

"So, I saw my dad talking to you. Was he nice?"

Brad laughs. "Of course. He didn't even mention that release form you've been telling me about."

"Good. Did he warn you about anything? I mean he didn't do that 'if you hurt my little girl' routine did he?"

"No," he says as he stands up and quickly kisses my cheek. "I'm going to go get food, you guys are making me hungry."

After my sound check we make our way back to my bus.

"Did you get any new games?" Cody asks.

"I don't know…Tony buys them."

"I'll go look," he says making his way back to where the TV and video game hookup is.

"Where is Tony anyway?" daddy asks as he sits down on the couch. Ashleigh hops up on his lap.

"He's probably meeting with the tour director again about the Concert Network thing." I lay down on the couch across from them.

"What Concert Network thing?"

Just as my eyes are about to shut I look over at them. "Oh man…I guess I didn't mention it with everything happening. They're going to tape the show for the Concert Network. I think they're still deciding on a date but it looks like it will happen when we go to Dallas."

"The whole show?"

I nod. "Yeah. All the acts agreed to it. They also need to decide on whether it will be live or not."

"Honey, that's great. You'll get a lot of exposure being on there."

"Yeah I know. That's why Tony's been going to so many meetings about it. He and Uncle Lance talked for a really long time last night about it."

"Daddy, can I stay with Adriana when you leave?"

"I don't know. She's really busy and I think it's better if your mama or I are with you."

"Okay."

Daddy pulls her closer to him and kisses her temple. She lays her head on his shoulder.

"We'll be with her a few days though, okay?"

She nods.

I smile when I hear that and drift off to sleep.

Later that night, after the show we're on my bus as it heads to the next city. Ashleigh is sleeping in my bed with me and daddy and Cody take the bunks on the other side of my door. Even though I feel better with my family around me, I still can't fall asleep. I can hear daddy talking to someone…probably mama.

"How is your dad?"

"He's doing fine. The doctor says he's getting stronger every day. We're taking him home tomorrow," Britney says.

"You sound tired. Have you gotten any rest since I left?"

"A little. I'm more worried about mama."

Justin stretches his legs out in front of him. "You need to take care of yourself. Your mama will be fine."

"Justin, I'm not two," she snapped.

He didn't respond.

"I'm sorry. I heard her crying."

"Who?"

"My mama. I heard her in her bedroom crying last night. I think she knows more than she's letting on."

"Baby, you've talked to the doctors as much as she has. They're not keeping anything from you. She just probably got emotional about something and broke down."

"I wanted to go in there so badly and hug her," she said starting to get choked up.

"Hey, don't do this to me…you know I want to be there so badly right now to hold you so you can cry on my shoulder."

"I know, I'm sorry," she sniffed.

He chuckled softly. "Don't say you're sorry about that. It just kills me when I can't be there."

"I know, me too. Okay, I'll change the subject…how's Adriana?"

"She's doing well. This tour is good for her. We sat in the VIP area tonight and the crowd was going nuts for her."

"That's good. Hopefully I'll get to see it soon. Does she look like she's eating well and getting enough sleep?"

"Well, she looked tired but Tony says she hasn't been sleeping well since she found out about her Grandpa. She took a nap while we were here today and she and Ash are back in her room sleeping now."

"Good," she said quietly. "I bet she was so surprised to see you guys."

"Yeah. She cried in my arms. I didn't know what else to do but just hold her and let her cry. It broke my heart."

Silence.

"Brit?"

"Yes," she sobbed.

"Baby, I told you not to cry when I can't be there," he said in a sweet tone.

"I can't help it. I want to be able to hold my babies. As soon as daddy's doing better and settled at home I'll fly to wherever she's at."

"She'll like that. Oh get this, Ash asked me if she could stay with Adriana on tour."

"Really? What did you tell her?"

"I told her Adriana was too busy to watch her all the time so she'd have to be there when one of us is there."

"It's a shame there isn't a way she couldn't spend a little more time with her."

"Brit…Adriana doesn't have time to keep an eye on her."

"No, I know, I'm just saying…"

"It's not like you and Jamie Lynn. She was old enough to take care of herself a little bit when she was on the road with you."

"True," she yawned.

"It's really late there, I'll let you go."

"Okay, I have a headache and I've been sick to my stomach off and on today."

"You need to eat and get some rest, do you hear me?"

"Yes sir," she laughed softly. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye."

"Daddy?"

He looked up from his phone.

"Hey…I thought you were sleeping," he said holding out his hand for me to walk over to him.

"I just can't fall asleep."

I sit down next to him and he puts his arm around my shoulder.

"Were you talking to mama?"

"Yes."

"How's Grandpa?"

"They're taking him home tomorrow."

"Oh, that's good."

I leaned into him a little bit more and feel my eyes fluttering. Daddy scoots over a little bit so that my head can fall on his lap. He gently strokes my hair.

"I used to do this when you were little. You'd fall asleep on my lap…on the bus and I'd run my fingers through your little curls. Look at you now…so grown up."

I feel him lean down a little bit and whisper close to my ear. "Your mama and I are so proud of you. We love you very much." Then he kisses my ear.

I smile and fall asleep.

"Why are you smiling?" I ask Brad. We're walking together backstage toward the stage.

"A couple of my cousins are driving in to see the show today."

"Oh really? Where are we again?"

He laughed. "Kansas City."

"Oh that's right. Tomorrow we'll be in St. Louis. You must be excited that your mom is going to see the show, huh?"

He didn't say anything.

"Brad, she is going to see the show right?"

"Well…"

I stop and grab his arm so that he stops. "Why wouldn't she? If you don't have tickets, we'll get you some."

"She's got these weird superstitions."

"Like what?"

Suddenly he's staring at me differently. He touches my cheek. "You look rested. Did you get some sleep last night?"

I screw up my face. "Do you jump subjects like that often? What's your mom's superstitions."

"Oh, well she thinks that if she sees me perform that something bad will happen to one of our family members."

I wait for the punch line.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Have things happened in the past?" I really can't believe this.

"Well, one of my cousin's was in a car wreck one night she saw me. Another time my Grandma had a stroke…"

"Okay but those are just terrible coincidences. I'm sure there's other times when she's seen you that nothing bad happens."

"Only twice," he says holding up two fingers.

"Oh God. Well, she needs to be there. This is different."

"How?" he asks putting his hands on his hips.

I shrug. "I don't know but it is. Have George talk to her."

"He has tried. She won't budge."

I shake my head. "Unbelievable."

"That's my mom," he laughs as he puts his arm around my shoulder and we continue to walk to the stage.