The last week of the tour and the 21st city was the hardest. Breanna had created her touring schedule and was forced to live with it. She performed in 5 cities per week and the other two days were used for promotional appearances when she was in larger cities like New York or Los Angeles. Breanna sat in first class staring at the window with a feeling of relief. She had decided to tell Mark everything that was going on in her mind and in return he had given her some true fatherly advice. She couldn't go to her own parents because they didn't know what was happening to her and Alexei was too busy with work to take the time to help her. Izabel had her own problems with Thomas, Brian, and the upcoming wedding to help Breanna as well. Once they arrived in LA, Breanna finished reviewing her schedule as the plane touched down. She had two radio appearances, four interviews, and an in store appearance which could be canceled at any time if too many people showed up. Luckily for Breanna, her popularity in the states was minimal compared to Europe.

Kevin spoke to Breanna briefly on the phone but quickly got off because Howie had arrived. He and Howie were going to paint the baby's room and set up the furniture while Eve was resting downstairs. Howie sat on the floor with his hair pulled back, wearing a pair of old Levi's and an old touring t-shirt. He looked at the empty room with the paint cans on the floor and large cardboard boxes containing baby furniture. "Kind of cutting it close, Kev." Howie stated from the floor as Kevin stood near the window reading instructions about how to paint the room. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I know." Kevin replied absent-mindedly. Howie shook his head and laughed softly to himself. "You need to read instructions on how to paint a room? I just thought you dipped the brush in paint and stroked the walls up and down." Howie replied sarcastically with a smile on his face. Kevin glanced up from the instructions and laughed. "No, Eve wants to do something different. She wants these swirl patterns on the wall. She bought this book because it has directions on how to do it." Kevin explained. Howie nodded his head as Kevin went back to reading.

Breanna and AJ decided to stay with her brother instead of a stuffy hotel. Breanna walked around her brothers house thinking to herself. She knew what she had to do; she had to sell her new house and move back to Orlando and try to work things out with Howie. She hated her career but she had loved it when they were together. "Maybe that's what's missing." She thought as she walked out the patio door towards the ocean. She watched the sunset and listened to the peaceful waves crash upon the sand. She glanced down at her watch and remembered that she had a plane to catch back to Orlando for the final performance of the tour in the morning. She waded around in the water for a few minutes before heading back towards the empty house. She was alone for the rest of evening and she wanted to make the best of it.

By the time the guys decided what to do, it was already 8 o'clock at night. "You're just starting now?" Eve asked from the doorway as both guys painted the large walls. Her stomach was larger than she ever dreamed it would become. She laid her arm across her stomach and pressed her other hand against the base of her back as she stood in the doorway. "Sorry, Hun. This was the only free time we had today. We'll continue working on this earlier tomorrow." Kevin replied with white paint in his hair and on his shirt. "Don't forget Breanna and AJ are coming home tomorrow. Brian said he'd bring them over here as soon as they arrived." "Oh, that's right. Well, we'll take a break when they get here." Kevin replied. Howie continued to paint the walls without glancing back at Eve or Kevin. "You guys want something to drink?" Eve eventually asked. Howie glanced behind his shoulder to give Eve a friendly smile. "No thanks, Eve. But I am kind of hungry. Maybe you could order us some Chinese food? That place two blocks away delivers." Howie stated. Eve looked at his paint-smeared face and laughed. "Okay, I'll go order you both dinner. Just take that crap off of your face." Eve said as she left the room to answer the ringing phone.

She spent two hours on the phone with Eve who was close to 9 months pregnant. It was like old times again. She and Eve talked about the past and the present. Eve gave her advice about Howie that seemed simple. Call him. Or better yet, see him. Talk things out. See what happens. Problem solved. So, why couldn't Breanna just do it? She had tried the night before but lost all of her courage. Breanna felt a little better realizing that she would be back in Orlando the next day. She gave Nick a call and told him about retiring from the business. He almost threw a fit but he knew she would give in to his idea. As he explained everything to Breanna, she liked what she was hearing. "And Kevin's agreed to help." Nick added as Breanna listened intently. "Well...Maybe, Nick. It sounds good and it doesn't seem so stressful, but I need some time to think it over." Breanna replied as she laid on the couch with her arm resting on her stomach. "You'll agree, Breen. I know you will. This kind of music can't be reproduced easily in concert so the chances of us touring would be small. Little things here and there but we'll never have to do the large scale tours. It's just what you need!" Nick replied ecstatically. He was trying to sell her on the idea and he knew he was succeeding. "Fine, Nick. Under one condition..." "Alright, what is it?" He asked in an annoyed voice. "You give me at least six months off, is that understood?" Breanna asked, trying to sound dominating. Nick laughed in reply. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll let you go since Bri wants to talk to you." Breanna and Brian spoke on the phone for a few minutes before Breanna started to drift off. "Bree, go to bed. You need some rest. I'll see you tomorrow when you bring our AJ back home, ok?" He joked. "Alright, fine. You can keep him. I already begged Howie to come take him back but he said you and Kev would kill him." Breanna replied. Brian became quiet as he thought about Breanna and Howie. "They're talking again? He hasn't said anything." He thought. "Bri, I'll call you tomorrow before we touch down. See you at the airport." Breanna stated as she hung up with phone without saying goodbye.

"What's taking so long?" Kevin shouted down stairs as 10 o'clock approached. Eve raced towards the intercom speaker as fast as her stomach would allow. "Sorry guys! Bree called and we didn't get off the phone 'til 10 minutes ago. Dinners already on it's way." Eve said with an apologizing tone. "Okay, just let us know when it gets here. It's getting cold up here because the windows are opened so don't come up here." Kevin demanded. Eve sighed to herself as the baby kicked her. Eve felt a slight cramping feeling in her lower back and knew that the baby would be coming any day but she didn't want to scare Kevin. "Kevin, maybe you two should hurry with that nursery." Eve said into the intercom. "Why? You okay?" Kevin questioned as he ran down the stairs with Howie following closely behind. "I'm fine, guys! Really, I am. But she's dropping. Maybe by the end of next week." Eve explained as Kevin searched her face to see if she was telling the truth. "Okay, just call me if you need anything." Kevin said as he and Howie walked back up the stairs towards the room.

She wanted to sleep but knew she couldn't just yet. The tour was finally over and Breanna made it out okay, so far. The homecoming concert would be the show that determined her state of mind. She knew if she could do fine the next week, then she would be okay. She knew that eventually her secret would be out and she was scared of everyone's reaction. It wasn't that big of a secret but there was an emotional history that included the people involved. "Nothing's as big as it seems." She tried to comfort herself as she laid on the couch, channel surfing. She eventually landed on MTV as 15:15 started. "Of course." Breanna stated as she saw her reflection on TV. They were discussing her change in appearance. "My God! That's me on that screen. It's no longer Shy Rose. Get over it!" She said with disgust. The whole music business disgusted her. People in Hollywood were extremely vain and she wanted none of it. If she could sing, tour a little, and make a few people happy with her music, then she would be happy; if she could include Howie in those plans than she would be the happiest person alive.