Wednesday morning I wake up around eleven am.

Oh my God, I'm going to be on the Tonight Show tonight.

Suddenly I'm nervous. Why am I nervous? I've never been nervous about performing in front of people.

I groan as I lay back down in bed and then I stretch. Yesterday was a long day. Too many interviews of being asked the same damn thing. Can't anyone come up with anything original? Hmmm, maybe I don't want an original question.

There's a knock on the door.

I find Tony on the other side when I open it.

"Should have known it was you and not room service miraculously showing up," I chuckle.

"Just wanted to make sure you were up. You ready for today?" he asks with a genuine smile.

"Yeah," I shrug.

"Okay," he says looking at his watch. "We have two hours until the limo will be here to pick us up. I'll be back here in an hour and a half, okay?"

"Okay."

He starts to walk away and then turns suddenly. "Oh, that reporter from Teen People has called me a couple of times. She's got a few more questions for you so we can take care of that today too."

"Meg?"

"Yeah."

"What does she want?"

"I don't know, that's why we'll call her and find out."

"Okay. I'll see you in a little bit."

I close the door and head toward the phone. I need to hear mama's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ash…what are you doing home?"

"Hi Adriana. We had a half-day at school today. Guess what?"

"What?" I ask with a smile on my face. She always sounds so peppy.

"The art teacher at school picked my picture to hang up in the glass display thing in the front of the school office."

"Really? That's great."

"Yeah. I'm the youngest one she's ever picked…that's what I heard."

"I can't wait to see the picture. You'll have to bring it home sometime, okay?"

"I will. She said I could."

"Good. Is mama there?"

"Hold on. Daddy, where's mama?"

"Oh, if daddy's right there, let me talk to him."

"Okay," she says, handing the phone to Justin and running off.

He looks at the phone, not knowing who it is.

"Hello?"

"Hi."

He smiles. "Hey baby. What's going on?"

"I'm about to get ready…take a shower and stuff so we can head over to the studio."

"You're going to be awesome."

"I'm a little nervous," I say, biting my lower lip.

"It's natural."

"Not for me," I pout.

"Honey. This is new for you…you'll go through the rehearsals and find out how smoothly everything will go and you'll feel a lot better."

"I've never met Ben, though. What kind of questions is he going to ask me?"

"Talk to Tony…he'll find out for you. You're singing Wanted right?"

"Yeah."

I can tell from the background noise that he is now outside.

"I found your mom outside gardening, you want to talk to her?"

"Yeah. I love you daddy."

"I love you too snowball," he says before handing the phone to Britney.

"Hi honey."

Britney looks up at Justin and he mouths 'she's nervous'. Britney nods.

"What time do you leave today?"

"Tony's gonna come back to the room in about an hour and a half."

"You've got your outfit all picked out?"

"Yeah, we did that yesterday."

"Good. I'm sure you're going to be gorgeous. Have you done your voice exercises yet?"

"Not yet, I just woke up."

"You'll get your hair and makeup done once you're there. I think you're all set. Did you get plenty of rest last night?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Honey, don't sound so down. What's the matter?"

"I wish you were here," I say trying not to cry.

Britney has to restrain herself from jumping in the phone to try to get to her…to hold her. She bites her lip and takes a deep breath.

"I wish I was there too…just remember, I'll be there with you in spirit. You can call me at anytime okay? And we'll be watching tonight, cheering you on."

Justin kneels down next to Britney when she said she wishes she was there too. He knew what Adriana was going through on the other end of the line so he starts to rub Britney's back.

I can't respond because I am now crying softly.

"I know it's not the same thing, though but…" Britney says softly. "Baby, talk to me."

"I'm sorry…I don't know why I'm doing this. I'll be okay."

"You'll be more than okay because you're such a strong young lady. Go take a shower and clear your head. Once you get going this morning, you won't even have time to think about us."

"That will never happen," I say, sniffing.

 "You know what I mean," mama says. I can hear the smile in her voice.

"Okay, yeah I should get ready. I love you mama."

"I love you too, baby. Now, go make the world speechless, okay?"

I giggle. "Yeah…right. I mean, I will."

We hang up the phone and I march into the bathroom to take a shower.

As soon as Britney hangs up the phone she leans into Justin and cries.

"You should have heard her. After this trip, I don't care, I'm not letting her go on any of these by herself. I'll hide and wear disguises if I have to."

"Brit…"

"No Justin. Neither of us had to do this without our mom's there. We don't know what she's going through. It broke my heart to hear her cry."

Britney starts to wipe the tears away.

"Can I go swimming?" Ashleigh yells as she comes running outside.

"Go ahead," Justin says, turning toward her.

"Mama…why are you crying?" she asks, putting her hand on Britney's shoulder.

"I'm not crying anymore…see," Britney says, wiping away more tears and looking at her youngest daughter.

"You need a hug," she says, wrapping her arms around Britney's neck.

Britney squeezes back and says, "That's exactly what I needed baby."

"I think we should run through it one more time," I say when the band and I finish a run through of Wanted.

"I thought that one sounded pretty good," Ben Stiller, the host of The Tonight Show says from the side of the stage.

"Oh," I laugh. "I didn't know you were here Mr. Stiller."

He comes walking over to shake my hand. "It's Ben. I overheard your set so I thought I'd take a peak," he says, waving to the band.

"I'm glad you did. We're almost finished here."

"Great. I hope everyone around here's treating you well. I'll see you back out here in a few hours."

"They are, thanks."

I turn to face the band and give them a thumbs up. George, the band director, gives me a big smile. Daddy's worked with him before so I completely trust him. As I swing around to face the empty seats I catch the keyboardist, Brad's eye. So I turn my head back around to look at him. He's now looking down at the keyboard in front of him, acting like he's busy.

The drum beats the counts and I perform Wanted again. This time I feetlike I couldn't have done it any better.

"Wooooo," I say after the last note. "That was it guys, thanks."

Tony walks over to me, clapping. "You were right on with that one."

"It felt good."

He looks at his watch. "Good timing. We might have time to talk to Meg now…get that over with."

I shrug. "Okay."

We walk back to my dressing room.

As soon as I sat down on the couch, Tony called Meg.

"Hi Meg, it's Tony Avanto. I'm good thanks. Do you have time to talk to Ana right now?"

He hands me the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ana…how are you doing?"

"I'm doing great, thanks."

"I understand you're about ready to do the Tonight Show in a little bit."

"Yes, I just finished rehearsals."

"How did they go?"

"They went really well, thank you."

She asked me a few more questions and then she started to annoy me again.

"So, are your parents with you in LA?"

"No, they couldn't make the trip out here either."

"They must be very trusting to just let you go across the country without one of them around like this."

"They trust me and my management company. They trust Tony."

"But this is new for them…letting managers and record companies take care of their little girl."

"Trust me…if there's the slightest hint that I'm not being treated well, they'd be on the first plane here."

"Do either of them sing or perform in any way?"

"Yes, they both sing…doesn't everyone?"

She laughs. "No I mean in front of people. I'm just wondering where you got this bug in you to perform."

"I think I was just born with this drive to perform. Can't explain that."

Someone knocks on the door and Tony answers it. He lets the person who is going to do my hair in.

"Well, the hair stylist is here, I'll need to start getting ready," I tell Meg.

"Okay. Good luck or break a leg…whatever they tell people now."

"Thank you."

I hang up the phone and roll my eyes. "I think she knows," I tell Tony.

After talking to the stylist about how I want my hair, Tony leans against the counter.

"Are you sure?"

"She keeps asking me all the right questions that would lead to that assumption."

"Well, it doesn't matter. That article won't be printed until two weeks after your album is out."

"Yeah true. She might be able to leak it somewhere though. Oh hell, why do I care?"

"I think she's up next after this break," Britney says.

She, Justin, Cody and a sleeping Ashleigh are in the family room watching the Tonight Show.

"Baby…wake up, sissy's going to be on next," Britney says, gently rubbing Ashleigh's back.

She is in Justin's arms and slowly starts to stir. She sits back on his lap for a second, blinks a couple of times and then turns toward the TV.

"Where?"

"She's not on yet…right after the commercial," Justin says.

Cody is leaning up against Britney, trying to keep his eyes open.

Then, they come back from commercial break. Ben is standing next to his desk, holding up a copy of Ana's upcoming CD and then he introduces her.

The camera pans to Ana, standing in front of her band, her back to the camera. She's bobbing her leg back and forth to the music and right before she sings, she turns around.

"Who's that?" Cody asks.

Britney gently swats his arm.

"That's your very grown up sister," Justin chimes in.

"Shhhhhh," Britney says.

As Ana continues to perform the song, Ashleigh, still sitting on Justin's lap, tries to do the dance moves with her sister. She knows every word and is lip-syncing with her.

When the number is over, Ana takes a bow and heads over to where Ben is standing. He's applauding and gives her a peck on the cheek and says, "Ana, everyone. We'll have a quick chance to talk to her after the break."

Cody looks over at his mom's face.

"She did good, huh?" he asks.

Britney has a goofy grin on her face. "Yes, she did very good. I'm so proud right now," she says looking over at Justin.

Ashleigh is clapping wildly and Justin catches Britney's glance and she can tell that Justin is feeling the same thing.

"Sissy was so good."

"Yes she was," Justin says, pulling her closer and kissing her cheek. "Now, go up to bed. You have school in the morning."

Immediately Ashleigh's excited face turns into a frown.

"Okay," she says sadly. She turns toward Justin and kisses him. "Good night."

"Night baby, I love you."

"Love you too."

She hops down off of his lap and walks over to Britney.

"Night mommy…love you."

Britney leans down and takes her little girl's face in her hand. She kisses her quickly on the nose and then on the lips.

"Good night sweetie. Sweet dreams. I love you."

She gives a slight smile and then hugs Cody who had just stood up.

"Night Cody."

"Good night…brat."

She sticks her tongue out at him and runs up the stairs.

Britney glares at Cody.

"What?"

After he bid his parents good night Justin slides over next to Britney just as the commercial break is over. He puts his arm around her and she snuggles to him closer.

"Welcome back. Now, Ana…that's it, no last name?" Ben asks.

Adriana laughs. "I have one, I'm just not telling," she winks at the camera.

"It's one of those marketing things I guess."

She nods. "I guess that's what it is. It was easier to fit on the album cover."

He laughs a little bit. "Now, this is your first single. I heard it on the radio the other day…believe it or not," he says to the audience, "I actually listen to pretty hip stations sometimes. I really like it, it's a little different than what's out there right now. Are you hoping to start a new trend in music?"

"Well, I don't know if I'd call it a trend. I just did music that I know I love and fortunately the record company liked it too. If it catches on then that's great but I don't need to be the one who starts it. I just hope people like it."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"So you're in high school? Do the other kids think it's cool that you're recording an album after hours?"

She laughs. "Well not too many of them knew really. A couple of my close friends knew."

"So, I'm assuming that you're getting tutored while you're out promoting."

"Yes sir. In between interviews and photo shoots I have to sit down and study."

"You a good student?"

"I do pretty well. I try," she shrugs.

He asks a few more questions and then time is up.

Britney didn't realize it but she was squeezing Justin's hand so hard. He turns off the TV.

"She did so well."

"Yes, she did. I think she was born to do this," Justin says looking at Britney.

"Sounds familiar."

"Sorta. I guess we passed the genes to her…poor kid."

They both laugh.