"Turn it up," mama yells.

We hear the volume go up and I hear my voice blasting from the radio.

I stand up and walk to the back of the boat where my Grandparent's, Ashleigh and Cody are.

All but Cody applaud when I walk back there.

"Oh stop it," I say, laughing.

"We're just so proud of you sweetie," Grandma says.

Mama and daddy join us and sit down on one of the benches.

"That was nice," mama said.

Cody stands up and walks around to the other side of the boat. I start to stand up so I could follow him but daddy puts his hand on my shoulder and shakes his head.

Then we hear a splash and daddy stands up and walks quickly to the side where the noise came from.

"Cody?" he yells.

"Do you see him?" Grandpa asks.

"No."

"Justin?" mama yells.

"He knows how to swim, Brit."

My heart is beating so fast. We've all swum in the lake before, why were they making a big deal about Cody jumping in?

I look out at the lake in the other direction and see Cody's blonde head appear.

"He's over here," I say. I am very annoyed that he got my parent's that upset.

"Get in the boat," daddy yells at him.

"Mama?" Ashleigh asks mama as she stands next to her.  She leans down and picks her up.

"Yes, sweetie?" she asks, moving Ashleigh's hair away from her shoulders.

"Why is daddy yelling like that?" She starts playing with the strap on mama's bikini.

"He was worried about your brother," she says, resting her forehead against Ashleigh's.

I stand up and walk to the front of the boat so I can lay out again. Whatever is wrong with Cody, I don't want to be around it. He needs to get over it.

After lying there a few minutes I hear someone walking toward me. I don't look over.

"That's cool that your song was on the radio. I didn't know they were playing it yet."

It's Cody.

"Thanks," I say turning my head so I can look at him.

He shrugs. "No problem. You're lucky. You get to go to New York and stuff by yourself."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be. I missed you guys."

He laughs for a second. "Well I wouldn't. Remember that time when I wanted to try out for that play on Broadway? I read about it in that trade magazine?"

"Yeah?"

Where the hell was he going with this?

"They wouldn't even let me go try out. Not like I would have gotten the part."

"Code, you were ten."

"So?"

"So, mama and daddy have their reasons for wanting us to have a stable lifestyle for awhile. When you're sixteen they might let you try out. You're good enough, you'll make it."

The right side of his mouth twitches in a smile.

"You think?"

"Sure. You're a lot better than those kids you're on stage with at your school."

"Thanks," he says, looking down.

"Why did you jump in the water?" I ask, resting on my forearms.

"I wanted to get off the boat for a second."

I nod.

"Good enough."

"You leave tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah. After breakfast."

"Oh."

"What made you come back here?" I ask, squinting at him because the sun's in my eyes.

"I don't know."

"Okay. Why are you so down at being with mom and dad all of a sudden?" I turn just a little bit so I am lying on my side.

"I'm not down on them. It's just not fair that you…"

"God Cody, I'm sixteen…get over it," I say, sitting up.

"Everything okay back here?" mama asks as she walks by me.

She sits down next to me on her towel.

"Yeah."

"You hungry? Daddy's got the food out," she asks Cody.

"Sure," he says getting up and walking away.

I shake my head.

"He's a spoiled brat."

"Adriana."

"It's true."

"Well if he is, then you all are."

"I'm gonna get something to eat," I say as I stand up.

That night I lie in my bed, not able to sleep. So, I end up staring up at the ceiling.

I'm all packed and ready to go.

Tony will be here at ten am sharp.

I turn over on my side. Maybe this position will help me get to sleep. I curl up in a ball and put my hand under my cheek.

"Do you think something was in the air today?" Justin asks Britney as they lie in bed facing each other.

"I have no idea, but it was weird. I was glad to see that Cody loosened up a little bit though."

Justin nods. He brushes a strand of hair away from her face.

"He really had me worried this morning. I've never seen him get like that."

"I could tell you were nervous about it. Why do we think our children are perfect?"

He laughs. "Because they are. Well, in our eyes."

"Yeah."

He stares at her for a couple more minutes. He still has the same affect on her when he does that. She can feel the butterflies in her stomach.

"I really really liked that pink bikini you almost had on today," he said, kissing a path down her neck.

"I was hoping you would," she giggles.

"You are still the most sexiest woman alive. You amaze me," he says, staring at her neck before he kisses it again.

"That's funny…I think the same thing about you…sexiest man," she giggles again.

"Well, at least we are in agreement."

Britney's mind starts to wander.

"She'll be fine," Justin says, knowing that Britney started to drift.

"I wonder if she's asleep."

"Why wouldn't she be?" Justin asks as he starts to stroke her arm lightly.

"It was always hard for me to fall asleep when I had a big trip to take the next day. I always had so many things on my mind."

"Uh huh," he says, now moving his hands up her arms to her shoulders.

"Maybe we should have had a little going away party for her. You know, invited JC's family and Chris's family since they're in town."

"Maybe," he says, moving his hands to her collarbone and slowly moving them lower.

"Then we could have invited everyone to the circus…"

He stops right before he reaches her breasts.

"Huh?"

She laughs.

"Did you say we should have thrown a going away party?" he asks, keeping his hands right above her chest, but his thumbs are placed carefully in her cleavage.

"Why not?"

"Because she's going to be gone for less than a week."

She moves her hands to his arms.

"I know…but it's an important week. Then she comes back for another couple of days only to go back to New York for the release date."

"Lance will be in LA with her," he says moving his hands to cover her breasts.

"He will? How do you know?"

She runs her hands up over his strong shoulders.

"I talked to him today." He leans down and kisses her neck while he gently massaged her breasts.

Britney moans.

"You're sneaky."

"Uh huh."

He moves his leg under the sheets until it's between her legs and pulls her closer.

"Is the door locked?" Britney sighs.

"Yep," Justin replies.

She smiles. "It was the bikini, wasn't it?"

He lifts his head enough to look at her.

"Yep."

She giggles.

"Good."

"Good morning folks," Tony says as he enters the kitchen.

"Hi Tony," Ashleigh says as she sits at the counter next to me. Then she realizes why he's here and she latches on to my arm. "You're going to take Adriana away again, aren't you?"

He walks over to us and pats Ashleigh on the head.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

She grabs my arm tighter.

"Ow, loosen the grip just a bit."

"Hey Tony, didn't hear the door," daddy says as he walks into the kitchen. "Sorry, I had a phone call I needed to take."

"That's okay," he says shaking daddy's hand.

"Everything set?"

Tony nods. "Yep."

"Good," he says, slapping Tony's back.

"Want a cup of coffee?" mama asks.

"Sure. I just double checked the flight and it's on time so we should leave in the next fifteen minutes."

I nod.

"I'll go get my bags."

"I'll go get it. Is it in your room?" Cody asks.

"Uh yeah. There's two bags."

"Okay."

I look over at mama and she shrugs.

"So, how many revealing photo shoots is my daughter lined up for out in LA?" daddy asks Tony.

"Daddy!"

Tony gives a nervous laugh. "Revealing?"

"The pictures from the Teen People shoot. He thought they were a bit much."

"Oh, well…"

"He's kidding. We know that you and Lance use your best judgment," mama says as she wraps her arms around daddy's arm.

"What pictures?" Ashleigh asks. "I want to see pictures."

"We'll show you later," mama winks at her.

"Okay, I put your bags by the door," Cody says walking back into the kitchen.

Why do I feel like I should go through my bags again to make sure nothing slimy won't crawl out when I open them?

"Thanks. Well, I guess we should go then."

"Okay…thanks for the coffee."

Mama waves a hand in front of her, indicating that it was nothing.

We all walk to the foyer.

Mama pulls me into a hug and kisses my cheek.

"Be good and have fun."

"I will."

Then daddy kisses my temple and takes both of his hands to lift my face toward his.

"We love you baby girl."

He gives me a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you guys too."

Ashleigh is hugging my leg throughout all of this.

"See ya princess. You going to take care of my room for me again? You did such a good job last time."

"I will. Call okay?"

Mama chuckles at that.

"I will." I lean down and kiss her on the cheek.

I hold my arms out for Cody. He slowly walks over to me and gives me a big bear hug. He's almost as tall as me now.

"Bye," I say.

"Bye."

I wave at my family one more time before Tony and I walk out the door.

"I love you guys," I say blowing a kiss at them from the limo.

They all wave back.