"Thanks Birmingham," I say as I wave and walk off of the stage.

Andre and Tony meet me off the stage and start walking with me.

"We changed plans and are going to leave for New Orleans right now."

"Oh, I thought I had a radio/party thing I had to do tonight."

"It got changed," Tony says.

I look up at him as we continue to walk toward the bus.

"You cancelled it for me?"

He glances down at me quickly. "Don't get used to it, okay?"

I stand up on my tiptoes and hug him, while we're still walking. "Thank you," I say and kiss his cheek.

We get on the bus and Grandma is sitting at the table in the kitchen area.

"How was the show?" she asked.

"It was good. What are you doing?"

I follow her gaze to the TV. I had forgotten that the concert from the night before was airing tonight.

"Oh, the show. I'm going to go take a quick shower and I'll be back out."

When I got back we were already on our way to New Orleans. I sat down next to Grandma and watched the concert.

"They're doing a good job of editing," I commented.

"I can't wait to see how they presented your set," she says squeezing my shoulders.

"You think mama and daddy are watching?"

She nods. "I'm sure they are."

About halfway through Grandma's cell phone rings.

"Hello? We sure are…she's right here, you want to talk to her?"

She hands me the phone and laughs. "That was a silly question, huh?"

I smile and take the phone from her.

"Hi mama…hi daddy."

"How did you know we were both on here?" mama laughs.

"I know you guys. You watching?"

"Of course we are. You're up next?"

"Yeah, I'm on after KCB. I love their set…they're good, aren't they?"

"Your daddy's rocking out to it."

I laugh. "Yeah, I can just picture that."

We talk a little bit more about Ashleigh and other family things until my set is shown.

"I want to watch this, so I'm going to hang up now," mama says.

"Okay, I'll let you both go then. Call me back when it's over."

They agreed and about thirty minutes later Grandma's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered it.

"We're speechless," daddy started.

"You guys have seen the show before," I laugh.

"But it's different when they show the different angles like that…and some of the close-ups. What did you think about it?" mama asks.

"I loved it. It was strange to watch but I thought it turned out good."

We talked about some of the other acts and more about my performance. They both gave me pointers about different ways to handle the camera.

I start to yawn.

"How far are you from your hotel?" mama asks.

"I have no idea, but I think I'm going to go lay down. When will I see you guys?"

"We have a doctor appointment tomorrow and we'll ask him if Ashleigh is able to travel. So we might see you the day after next," mama says.

"Oh good. I hope he says she can make it."

"Go get some rest…you're going to need it to see that baby," daddy laughs.

"I will," I yawn again.

We say good-bye and I hand the cell phone back to Grandma.

"I'm going to try to sleep," I say standing up. As I walk past her I kiss her on the cheek. "Good night. Good night Tony."

He looks up from his laptop. "Good night."

After washing up, I stretch out in my bed. In a couple of minutes my cell phone rings. I groan into my pillow and pick it up without looking to see who it is.

"Hello?"

"Ana?"

"Huh?" I pull the phone back to see Marcus's name. "Marcus?"

"Yeah...it didn't sound like you."

"I was trying to sleep."

"Oh, sorry. I just saw the special and wanted to tell you what a great job I thought you did. Everyone around here is talking about it. You're going to be huge after this, you realize that, don't you?"

I rub my eyes. "Um, I don't know. Some people say that but, you know…I'm happy with what I've accomplished so far."

"They're comparing your success to what your mother's was. Have you been offered any endorsements yet?"

"Um, not that I know of. Why?"

"I'm just curious…oh, hold on. Okay Maria, I'll talk to you in a second…sorry."

"That's okay. If you have company, I won't keep you."

"Oh, she's nothing."

"That's nice," I mumble.

"How is Michael treating you?"

"Treating me? It's not his tour or anything Marcus…we're all a family."

"I thought he was…oh, never mind. I just thought he was talking to you or something, I just wanted to make sure that he was being nice, that's all."

I scrunch my eyebrows together. What's this about?

"He's fine. Look, Marcus, thanks for calling but I'm really tired. I'm going to see my aunt and my new cousin tomorrow and I want to get as much rest as I can."

"Okay. Well, enjoy that then. I'll call you some other time."

"Okay…bye."

I hang up the phone before he has a chance to say anything else. When I set the phone down, I roll over onto my pillow again and start thinking about that female voice on the other end of the line. Was he trying to make me jealous? I laugh into my pillow. The cell phone rings again.

"Oh God," I say, keeping my eyes closed I reach for the cell phone and answer it. "Hello?"

"Uh, is this a bad time?"

My eyes fly open. "Oh, Brad…no," I chuckle. "Well, I mean I am laying down and I thought it was someone bothering me again."

"It is someone bothering you," he laughs.

"You know what I mean."

"Hey, did you get to see the concert?"

"The special? Yeah…I'm happy about the way it turned out."

"We just watched it. We're really impressed."

I laugh. "You guys see me every night."

"From the back, not from the front," he laughs.

I laugh with him. "Oh, true. I'm sorry I got drug off right after my set tonight."

"It's okay. I know it's never your fault. Besides, your Uncle talked to me today before he left."

"Oh, he did? Was he mean?"

He laughs. "No, he was fine. He didn't give me, or us any rules he just gave me suggestions and um…warnings, I guess you could say."

"Warnings? I don't know if I like the sound of that."

"No, it was cool. I won't get into it now but what he said made a lot of sense. I know what to do now."

I relax a little bit and let my head fall on the pillow. "I always thought we had a clue of what to do…I don't want this career to dictate my life…"

"Adriana, listen to yourself. You're sixteen and you have an amazing career ahead of you. It's not dictating you, it's just who you are right now. I'd like to think I'm a small part of it and Lance made me realize it can all fit together."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You sound tired, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I am seeing my cousin…I don't know if I'll have any free time."

"Oh that's right. Well have fun and I'll definitely see you the next day."

"Okay. Bye Brad."

"Bye Adriana."

"You look so good," I say to Aunt Jamie Lynn as I give her a hug.

"I feel like I'm sleep walking half the time, but thanks. Now you look beautiful. I like what they did with your hair," she says holding a few strands of my hair in between her fingers.

"Thanks, I'm getting used to the lighter color but I like it."

"There's my favorite niece."

I laugh. "Oh stop, Uncle Sam. You say that to all three of us."

"It's a three way tie," he says leaning down and kissing the top of my head.

"Hi Tony," Aunt Jamie Lynn says.

"Nice to see you two," he says. "I won't be in the way, I brought my laptop so Adriana could have time with you guys."

I shrug. "I needed a ride."

"We've got to get you your license," Uncle Sam says.

"Tell me about it."

"I'll be back," Aunt Jamie Lynn says before she leaves the room.

I sit down in their family room while Tony finds a quiet spot with an outlet.

"What does he do on that thing?" Uncle Sam asks.

I shrug. "I have no idea, but he's on it ALL the time."

We both laugh.

Aunt Jamie Lynn comes back in the room with Phillip in her arms. She sits down next to me.

"Ohhh my gosh. Look at how tiny he is. He's so cute."

She smiles. "Thanks…we think so too. Here, hold out your arms," she says passing the baby over to me.

I let him slide into my arms and I look down at his sleeping face. Gently I rub my fingers across his face and then lean down and give him a kiss.

"I'll be back," Aunt Jamie Lynn says standing up and goes to the kitchen.

Just then the phone rings and Uncle Sam leaves the room to answer it.

"You're so beautiful," I whisper to Phillip.

Slowly his eyes begin to open and he makes a gurgling noise.

"Pretty soon I'll be holding your baby cousin." I kiss his forehead again. "I can't wait."

"Who's having a baby?" Aunt Jamie Lynn asks. She's standing behind me, holding a bottle.

I quickly look up at her. "Oh, I didn't know you were behind me."

She sits down next to me and hands me the bottle.

"You didn't answer my question."

She stares at me and a slow smile creeps across her face. "Your mama?" she covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh, your mama is pregnant?" tears are forming in her eyes as I close mine.

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have to," she says caressing my cheek. "It's in your eyes. Oh, I'm so happy for them. I didn't know they were planning on any more kids."

"I don't think they did either," I chuckle. "Aunt Jamie Lynn, you can't say anything. They want to make sure everything's okay before they tell anyone. I only guessed so that's why mama told me. I don't even think daddy knows that I know," I plead with her.

"Don't you worry. I'll act surprised when she tells me."

"When who tells you what? I need to know so I can act surprised too," Uncle Sam says coming back into the room.

I roll my eyes. "Great."

"Britney's pregnant."

"She is? That's great. A new baby brother or sister for you to take care of," he says tapping my nose.

"Yeah, but they want to tell everyone…you can't say anything."

Aunt Jamie Lynn winks at him. "Act surprised honey," she tells him.

"I'm good at that," he says practicing faces of surprise and shock.

Aunt Jamie Lynn and I look at each other and then laugh.

I start feeding Phillip the bottle that she gave me.

Later in the day we find out from mama that they will be able to travel.

"We're going to make a few calls and try to fly out today," she says.

"Oh good. So you'll stay with me at the hotel?"

"I'm sure we will. I'll have Tony make arrangements, okay?"

"Okay. I can't wait to see you. How are you feeling, by the way?"

"I'm good, baby. I had a doctor's appointment the other day and he says everything is looking just fine. I have some vitamins I have to take, but other than that, I just need to take care of myself like this was one of my other pregnancies."

I smile. "Good. I can't wait until he or she is born."

She laughs. "Yeah, holding a baby does that to you."

"Yeah," I say softly. "Are you showing yet?"

"Oh a tiny bit. Your daddy rubs my stomach every day to see if I am. He's very cute about it."

I laugh. "He acts like it's your first."

"He always did…with each of you. Of course with you everything was so new to us so we would look at my tummy every day to see how much bigger I had gotten."

"Oh God," I say. "What, did you measure it?"

She doesn't answer.

"Mama!"

"I'm sure a lot of new mother's-to-be do it. Ask Aunt Jamie Lynn, I'm sure she did."

I laugh. "That's because you're both goobs."

She laughs with me. "Don't talk about your mother that way."

"I can't wait to see you. I miss our talks."

"We still have our talks on the phone, baby."

"Yeah, but they're not the same," I sigh.

"Well we'll have to make up for them when I get there. Oh, your daddy is motioning for me so I think he made arrangements and we'll need to pack."

"Okay, I love you. Have a safe trip."

"We will. I love you too."

I hang up the phone and Aunt Jamie Lynn walks over to me. "Your Grandma is here."

"She is? Oh good."

"Yeah, she's holding the baby. You have to see the look on her face…she's going to flip when she finds out she'll have another grandbaby to hold soon," she whispers.

I nod and smile. "Yes, she's going to be surprised."