"So where did the boys head off to?" Kristen asks. she sits down next to Britney on the lounger on the outside patio.

"The studio…where else?"

"And the kids are in the theatre watching a movie…"

"Yep…just you and me," Britney says raising her glass of juice in a mock toast.

"So I noticed you didn't have wine with dinner tonight," Kristen says as she runs her finger around the rim of her glass of juice.

Britney shrugs. "I didn't feel like it."

"And now you're drinking juice."

She looks down at the glass of juice in her hands.

"So?"

"Brit, I'm not saying that you're a lush or anything but you like a nice glass of wine once in awhile and it's usually when company's over."

"You guys aren't company. It's not that big of a deal."

"I saw a tag on one of those new outfits you bought."

"So now you're critiquing how much I spend?" Britney kidded.

"It's two sizes bigger than what you wear."

Britney took a drink before she nodded.

"I haven't been watching what I eat lately and with all the stress from Ash…"

"Oh cut the crap. How far along are you?"

Britney closed her eyes and then opened them. She looked over at one of her best friends and smiled.

"Not even six weeks."

"I knew it," Kristen says as she jumps up and hugs her friend.

"Am I that obvious?" Britney laughs.

"No…I just know you. It's my job to notice these things."

She sits back down.

"So, was it planned?"

"Well…kind of. We stopped using protection and decided to let nature take it's course."

"So we're going to have two little ones at the same time again."

"I know," Britney laughs.

Britney explained how she had the pregnancy scare earlier and how it had gotten she and Justin thinking.

"So seeing Phillip sort of sealed the deal. We both knew it's what we wanted."

"So the doctor says everything looks good so far?"

She nods. "Yep. So far so good. We're not telling anyone for another few weeks though."

"I bet the kids are excited."

"Actually we weren't even going to tell them but Adriana figured it out."

"So how does she feel about it?"

"I feel good," I sing as my friends and I make our way to the dance floor at Pleasure Island.

Darcy laughs. "You are silly."

"I'm so glad you called me," I say wrapping my arms around her.

"We've been planning this for awhile," Stacy says. "As soon as we found out when you were going to be back in town we were like, yep…girls night out."

"Yep, no boys," Darcy yells over the music.

When this song is over we find a table in the corner and sit down.

"So fill us in," Darcy says.

"On what?" I ask.

The waitress comes over and we all order something to drink.

"On all the guys you get to see on a daily basis. Let me tell you…that Michael Cooper is a hottie," Stacy says waving her hand in front of her face.

"He's cute," I agree.

"And what about Marcus Tyler? Oh God, you have to tell us what kind of kisser he is."

"What kind?" I ask.

"Yeah is he a sloppy kisser or does he kiss nice and slow," Darcy says moving in closer to me.

I push her arm away and laugh. "God what did they teach you guys when I left last semester…Boy Crazy 101?"

"Oh come on. You can't tell me you don't think they aren't cute."

"Yes, they're very cute but I'm working…I don't have time to sit there and drool over them."

"But I thought you and Marcus were an item."

I put my head in my hands and moan. "No, we were never an item. We like went out a couple of times and that was it. No kissing, nothing."

"Oh," they both say, looking disappointed.

"Well well…fancy meeting you here," Brad says as he walks over to us.

"Brad," I say jumping up from my stool and just as I was about to hug him I stopped. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here with a couple of people from Michael's band," he says nodding his head towards a couple of guys off to the side.

I smile and wave at them.

Darcy tugs on my shirt.

"Oh Brad, these are my two best friends from school. This is Darcy and this is Stacy. Guys, this is Brad…he's in my band."

I'm not sure exactly how much else to say…this is my boyfriend? This is the guy I'm dating?

"Nice to meet you," he says shaking their hands.

"You too," they each say.

"Well, I won't keep you, I just wanted to stop by and say hi."

"You don't have to go…you can hang with us," Darcy says.

Stacy gives her a look.

"No, I'm sure you're having fun catching up with each other. I won't intrude on that."

He grabs my hand quickly and leaves a note in it.

"I'll see you. Nice meeting you."

He waves and walks way.

I stand there for a second staring at him.

"Ohhh girl…come sit down and talk to us."

I glance down at the piece of paper in my hand.

I look back up at him and mouth, "Give me thirty."

He nods and goes back over to his friends.

I sit back down next to Darcy.

"Okay, forget about Marcus and Michael…tell us about blue eyes there," Stacy says.

"So…has Justin picked out a nickname for this one already?" Kristen asks.

Britney lets her head fall to the side to look over at her.

"No, it's a little early."

"Come on…he had nicknames for the other three before they were born. Well, I wasn't around for Adriana but from what I heard."

"Hmmm, well he hasn't mentioned any to me yet."

Britney looks straight ahead again while Kristen stares at her.

"Okay…come on, it's just you and me."

Britney looks at her again.

"What?" she laughs.

"What do the nicknames really mean?"

"Oh no…I'm not even going there."

"Brit…do you know how many times I've tried to figure this out?"

Britney laughs. "No, and I don't think I want to."

"It's not like we don't share our stories with each other."

Britney turns in her chair so that she's more comfortable and is facing Kristen.

"I can't believe I'm going to tell you this."

Kristen's smile grows. "Start with Adriana."

Britney laughs. "Okay…so it's March and it's right before I'm going to start tour rehearsals…"

Kristen nods.

"And Justin decides to take me away for a long weekend so we have a little bit of time together before it gets crazy again. So he takes me to Lake Placid…"

"Oh that little resort you guys like to go to?"

Britney nods. "Yeah…but there was a late snow fall up there. So we mostly spent our time there in the cabin."

Kristen lowers and raises her eyebrows which makes Britney laugh.

"Well, mostly…but anyway…we ventured outside one day and started goofing off in the snow. I was trying to make a snowman I think and Justin starts hitting me with these snowballs. So we ended up in a snowball fight which ended in making love on the floor of the cabin somehow."

"That's when you conceived?"

"Well we're pretty sure it was that trip just from what we could figure."

"So Justin calls Adriana snowball…"

Britney laughs. "Yes, he started it because he was trying to embarrass me or tease me. Then he started calling her it for real. I was a little worried about him."

They both laugh.

"Okay…now Cody's."

"Well…it was baseball playoff time."

"I didn't realize Justin was a baseball fan."

Britney shakes her head. "Well he's really not, but for some reason he was really into this game on TV. I think it had gone into extra innings or something. Lynn had Adriana that day so it was just me and Justin. I was hoping for a romantic, quiet day together and he watches baseball. So I had to distract him."

"I've had to do that when JC's in the studio."

"Oh, let's not even start about the studio," Britney says holding her hands up.

They both laugh.

"Okay so…I pretty much did this strip tease right in front of him and he kept looking around me at the TV. I was pretty insulted."

"I bet."

"So I started to undress him. I don't think he even noticed until I pulled his underwear off."

"Okay, no game is that good."

"That's what I thought. So next thing I know he mumbles something under his breath and he pulls me on top of him and nine months later, Cody was born."

Kristen laughs. "Oh man…that's a good one."

"He sounds like a good one," Stacy says leaning back.

"He is. I've never met anyone like him," I say.

"Oh God…that date in San Diego sounds heavenly. Does he have a brother?" Darcy asks, leaning on the table.

I laugh. "No, sorry." I glance down at my watch. "I'll be right back."

I get up from the table and head towards the bathrooms. When I walk around the corner, I see Brad standing by the pay phone.

"Hey," I say.

"You realize I'm really not following you," he says pulling me into his arms.

"You're not? How did you know I was going to be here?" My hands make their way up his arms and I place them on his shoulders.

"We were just driving by," he says as he lowers his head, "and I said to the guys…stop." He kisses my neck. "We have to go in here," he mumbles against my hair.

I laugh. "You're full of it."

He pulls back and shrugs. "Maybe. We heard it was a cool place to hang out. I guess we were right."

I nod.

He glances back toward the club. "I don't want to keep you from your friends, I just wanted to do this," he says kissing me.

When we break apart I say, "I'm glad because I was thinking the same thing."

We kiss again. This time when we pull back I wipe his lips. "Lipstick."

He tries to help me.

"There…no signs of mischief."

"Is that what you call it?" he laughs.

"So daffodil…as in the flower?"

Britney nods. "Yes. This time he was on tour and I was at home in Orlando with the kids. We were traveling with them for awhile, remember that?"

"What year?"

"Uhh 2013."

"Oh yeah…but you took the kids back to Orlando."

She nods. "Yeah…it was a pretty long tour and they were getting fussy. There's only so long you can keep kids occupied on a bus."

Kristen nods.

"So anyway, my mama came down from Louisiana to give me a break. I was saying how much I missed Justin and she said, go surprise him."

"I remember that. You were there for the whole weekend but I think I only saw you at lunch once."

Britney laughs. "Uh yeah…so anyway, I showed up at J's door with a bouquet of daffodils. His favorite," she sighs.

"And nine months later…"

"Ashleigh," she smiles.

Kristen laughs. "So this one?"

Britney covers her face with her hands. "No, you need to share some stories."

Kristen shakes her head. "No, a doctor never tells."

Britney gently slaps her arm. "No way…spill it."

"After you tell me about baby Timberlake number four."

Britney stares at her for a minute. "Let's just say it has to do with rain and Miami. That's all I'm saying." She folds her arms over her chest.

"Okay…your turn."

Kristen glances over at the door before she starts. "Well…with Pete it was the studio. Distracting JC in there is always fun."

"He seems to concentrate too much in the studio…"

"Exactly. I have to come up with creative ways to get his attention."

"Ohhh," Britney says sitting back.

"With this one," she says rubbing her stomach. "It was just the old fashioned way. A nice romantic evening…no stress, just dinner, candles and us…in love."

"Oh, that's nice," Britney smiles.

"It was."

They both laugh.

"Where were you?" Darcy asks.

"The bathroom," I say as I sit down.

Stacy watches the doorway where I just came from and sees Brad.

"Did Brad have to go too?" she asks.

I glance over my shoulder. "I don't know…maybe he did."

They both roll their eyes.

"All you had to say was hey, I need a minute to go make out with my boyfriend," Darcy says.

"That's not what I did."

They stare at me.

"Well, we kissed…but it wasn't a make out session or anything."

"Wow…you're hooked," Stacy says.

I look down at my hands on the table.

"I am," I say as I bring my head up…my brows are creased.

They look at my face and I see the sympathy in their eyes.

"Then what's wrong?" Darcy asks grabbing my hand.

"He's going to be leaving soon…to go to another band."

"Oh honey," Stacy says. She walks over to me and puts an arm around me. "When?"

I shrug. "I'm not sure. I just know I like seeing him every day. I like having him in the band that backs me up when I'm on stage. I feel safer with him up there."

She squeezes my shoulder as Darcy squeezes my hand.

I smile up at them.

"Hi mama," I whisper as I walk into the house.

"Hey baby," she says groggily, wiping her eyes.

"You didn't have to wait up for me. I have a chaperone, remember?"

I walk over and sit down on the couch next to her.

"Aunt Kristen and Uncle JC just left. I think he and your daddy wrote a song tonight."

"Really?"

She nods. "Yeah. They seemed pretty happy about it."

"It's a start for the new album…"

She nods and tousles my hair.

"So, did you have fun?"

"We had a lot of fun. Mama, guess who we ran into at the club?"

"Who?"

Daddy walks into the room at that moment.

"Brad. Isn't that funny? He was hanging out with a couple of the guys from Michael's band."

"Small world," daddy chimes in.

"But we had a girls night…I just introduced brad to Darcy and Stacy. He understood," I say nodding.

"Guys usually do when it comes to that," daddy agrees. He sits down on the other side of mama and wraps his arm around her and places his hand over her stomach. Mama reaches down and entwines her fingers with his.

"And vice versa," she agrees.

"Like tonight…I never thought your mama and Aunt Kristen would stop talking," he says making a talking motion with his hand.

Mama gently elbows him.

"Oh please…we had to drag the two of you out of that studio kicking and screaming."

I laugh. "Boys and their toys."