Nick hadn't known what to do or what to be after the telecast of Lexie's testimony. It hadn't gone at all how the prosecutor had said it would. It had been mean, brutal, and so true, so very close to his heart.

She had cried a little when they spoke. She remained strong, and he was proud of her, but he reminded her that she didn't have to be strong in front of him. He loved her, and he understood her pain. That's when the floodgates opened. She cried for nearly five minutes, then stopped and reclaimed her resolve. She said she still had a lot to do for CJ's party tomorrow night.

"God, is that tomorrow?" he had asked.

"That means more than you know." She choked.

It was nearly 2 a.m. in Orlando and he was lounging at the pool at AJ's house. He and Alex had gone to bed hours ago. On the nights when Nick did come home, they were both usually asleep. Nick remembered those days, being a single dad and not nearly enough energy to chase a 4-year-old. He had gone to bed early then too.

Today, he had sent everyone home early and watched the trial. After the testimony, he had been so stunned that it was Howie who started dialing Lexie first, then AJ, and then he began. She had called him first.

Nothing would take away the guilt he felt now. He never should have left her to deal with that alone; he should have been there for her. He should have moved them all here as soon as possible and not left her to take care of everything.

He missed CJ. It had been nearly a month, and he could barely stand it. Next weekend, he would be leaving for a visit home, and he couldn't wait. He loved and missed them both so much, he couldn't imagine ever doing this again.

Maybe the whole thing was a joke. He hadn't released in album in over five years, who the hell was going to buy it? Old Backstreet Boys fans? Old Nick Carter fans? Nick sighed heavily. He had signed the contract, and Howie was investing the money in this for him. Howie believed in him and maybe AJ did, too. What if Howie and AJ were only doing this because he was married to Lexie?

Nick growled aloud in frustration, putting down the last of the four beers he had been drinking. He picked up Fairy Bunny and looked him in the eye.

"You know. If I suck, I wish someone would just say something. I have enough money in the bank, you know. Okay, not that much, but it's coming back in." Nick said aloud. "You know, guy, maybe I'm just kidding myself. I'm just a washed up teen idol who ain't got no business singing to anyone any more."

By morning, everyone had called Lexie, even Jake from Seattle. Well, he also called to say he and Missy broke up again. She was heading to L.A. to go to school there, once her mom joined Jill's law firm. Lexie told him she was sorry and that if he wanted to kill a weekend, he could come down and hang out with her. He said he might take her up on that, but he had to get his dad to pay for some airline tickets. She agreed to leave the light on for him.

Lexie told CJ a muted truth about her day in court, and they seemed like good enough answers for her. CJ was strangely quiet that evening and Lexie suspected there was something else on CJ's mind other than the trial, her father's absence, and her slumber party. Lexie didn't press her; they just went through their evening routine of eating, playing, and doing homework.

"So, are you ready for your slumber party tonight?" Lexie asked, sitting inside the master bath as CJ showered in the morning.

"Yeah!"

"Did you invite that new girl?"

"Yeah, her parents are going to drop her off here first. They want to know where the house is."

"You give them the address?"

"Yes, but we'll have to leave the party list at the gate so they can get in."

"Got that all printed up to hand to the guard when we leave this morning." Lexie answered. "So, no one freaked out when you said you were going to invite her?"

"No, well, kinda. Martha and Brittany said they weren't going to come, but then they changed their mind."

"Wow, that's pretty good." Lexie said.

"Yeah. Jane told them they were being stupid, which they were. I told them I didn't care if they showed up or not." CJ said, grunting as she shut off the water and stepped from the shower. Lexie tossed her a towel.

CJ dried herself off, wrapped herself in a towel and then began to comb through her wet hair.

"I wish my hair was dark like yours." CJ said suddenly.

"How come?" Lexie asked, her brow furrowed at CJ's comment.

"Then people would think you were my mom." She said, continuing to work the tangles out of her hair.

"Well, then you wouldn't look like your dad."

CJ gave her the funniest look, then went back to looking in the mirror and continued to work out her hair, "Everyone knows that's not his real hair color." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Lexie let out a hearty laugh, "Well, you got me there."

"Do you think my mother has blonde hair?" she asked softly.

"I bet she does." Lexie answered gently.

"Sometimes people think Aunt Jill is my mom."

"Well, you're both blonde."

"Did your mom have dark hair?"

"Yes, but I'm not exactly sure what color was. She used to change it too. Just like AJ."

"What color were her eyes?"

"Blue."

"Yours look even darker than AJ's."

"I think they are." Lexie agreed.

"Mine are just like Dad's." CJ said, putting down the comb.

"You guys have the same nose, too." Lexie said, tapping it and then pulling her closer. "CJ? Is there anything you want to ask me?"

CJ was quiet for a while, and then she just shrugged.

"Well, you know, if you ever want to ask me anything, you can. Anything at all." Lexie said.

"Okay." CJ shrugged.

"Good. You about ready to go?"

"I gotta brush my teeth." She said. Lexie turned her around and swatted her toweled behind.

"Well, get a move on." Lexie smiled.

The rest of their morning routine went as usual, with the exception that it was Friday and CJ's sleepover at the house was that night. The half dozen girls who were coming came clamoring up to the car, begging for details, and asking tons of questions.

Yes, there would movies in the theater.

Yes, there would be popcorn.

No, you can't play the stereo as loud as you want.

Yes, there will be plenty of pop for everyone.

No, there would not be any boys, not even CJ's dad. If they were lucky, they might see Jane's dad, but that was it in the way of "boys".

They were relieved.

Lexie threw her backpack into a chair in her office and turned on her computer. She grabbed her coffee cup and head toward the coffee machine when Steve and Bobby, two of the biggest men she had ever met, walked by.

"Nice Bimmer, Mrs. Carter." Steve joked.

"Yeah, nice and shiny, Mrs. Carter." Bobby laughed.

"You two knock it off, or I'm going to kick your asses." She smiled.

"You know, "Steve began, stopping to wrangle with the coffee pot. "We don't have anything to do at lunch, we could wash it for you."

"Why would I want you to do that? I have a stable of half naked house boys to do that for me." She said, completely straight faced.

"You do?" Bobby asked.

"Man, she's joking." Steve groaned.

"Oh!" Bobby muttered.

"You two get that last truck unloaded?" Lexie asked.

"No, the forklift battery croaked and it's stuck halfway in. We're just going to get another so we can tow it out of the way."

"Think you'll be done today?"

"Yeah, if Norma and Bates move that Hunt estate out of cargo hold 14."

"Okay, I'll check on that for you."

"Cool." Steve said with a bob of his head.

Lexie left them to get back to the last of her entries for the last truckload. Then she went and lent a hand unloading the last truck to start appraising the items. They had been utterly amazed she knew how to drive a forklift, something Nick still couldn't believe she could do.

"It's one line and a few notes, can you just try to sing it right!?" AJ snapped, flicking off the external speakers from the recording booth before Nick could answer.

"Ease up, AJ." Brian said sternly.

"Well, if he hadn't stayed up last night and did a six-pack of beer, he could do this." AJ snapped at him.

"Nick, take ten." Brian said into the booth.

"What the fuck are you doing?" AJ demanded.

"Excuse me, but I'm this song's producer. If you have a problem with that, you can go screw. . ." Brian snapped back.

"Will you two knock it off!!?!" Michelle, Howie's assistant, said.

"You bring the coffee, little lady." AJ's reply was snide.

"You want to wear the coffee, asshole?" She snapped back.

"That's enough!" Howie groaned from his seat across the room. "AJ get out of here, it's Brian's project."

AJ gathered his things and headed for the door, Howie got up and grabbed his arm and pulling him close, "And don't ever talk to one of my employees like that again."

AJ snapped his arm loose and left the recording studio. Howie shook his head and headed back to Michelle and Brian.

"I'm sorry, Howie." Michelle said with her soft New England accent.

"No, don't worry about it. He deserved it." Howie smiled for her. "I left those quarterly reports on your desk, can you revise them according to my notes?"

"Sure." She said, turning to leave. After she left, Brian turned to Howie, but Howie was staring inside at a very lost looking Nick.

"You think he can finish this today?" Howie asked.

"No, his voice is shot." Brian sighed.

"Send him home then. Actually, why don't you two come over for dinner tonight." Howie suggested. "I'll call Leah, and we can just relax."

"Sure, that's no problem."

"I'll talk to AJ, but I think he and Nick have been living together too long."

"We could get a bigger suite together." Brian said.

"Yeah, that might be best." Howie agreed. He leaned over and flicked on the mic to the recording booth. "You and Brian are coming over to dinner tonight. Why don't you two split for the rest of the day. I'll see you at 6."

The smell of the propane was testing Lexie's sinuses to the limit as she finally got the last settee placed in the cargo hold for inspection tomorrow. She figured this round would take her another week to get through. She parked the forklift with the others for the night and turned it off with a sigh of relief. She rubbed her eyes and nose then climbed down to walk back across the warehouse. Norma pulled up on an electric cart.

"You need a lift, girl?"

"Yeah." Lexie smiled with relief, climbing onboard the golf cart.

"You still got all those girls coming over tonight?"

"Yes, I thought there was just four, but now it's looking like six, plus CJ and her cousin, Jane." Lexie smiled.

"You gonna have any help?"

"Nope, just me and them. They made sure there weren't going to be any boys there. They may run Nick's brother off the property if they see him."

"Girl, I don't envy you."

"Funny, that's what Nick said, too." Lexie smiled. "But this is the first sleepover that CJ's ever had, so it's pretty important. She picked out all the food, movies, and activities. Half of which I doubt we're going to use."

"You'll be surprised." Norma laughed. "Well, you can always come to work on Monday and sleep."

Well, some of the spots of the evening were better than others. They screamed and ran away when Aaron showed up with Jane. He almost looked hurt when Jane told him 'no boys allowed'. Aaron did smile and wave as she slammed the door on him. Lexie called and apologized as he drove home, but he was laughing too hard to really talk and drive at the same time.

It was nearly 8 o'clock, and the girls had settled down for a move, when she received a phone call she wasn't expecting.

"Carter residence." Lexie said, collapsing on the office chair.

"Hello, this is Mark Nelson from CBS and I'd like to speak with Lexie Carter, please."

"This is Lexie."

"Mrs. Carter? Oh, it's nice to finally talk to you."

"Really? What can I do for you, Mr. Nelson?"

"Oh, let me fully introduce myself. I'm the senior show producer for Victoria Winslow at CBS news. Vicki asked me to see if I could arrange an interview with you."

"Me? What for?" Lexie asked, stunned that a nationally known TV interviewer would want to talk to her.

"Well, Vicki was very moved by your testimony during the trial, and she would like your reaction, now that it's over."

"It's over?"

"Yes, didn't you hear? The jury came back in today and the verdict was announced around 6 p.m. your time."

"I'm sorry, but I have a house full of girls for a slumber party. I haven't had time to do much else." Lexie said.

"Well, would you like me to tell you the verdict?"

"Yes."

"She was convicted, Mrs. Carter. She's been sentenced to the maximum."

"Well, she's as much a victim as all of us, I suppose." Lexie sighed.

"Really, what makes you say that?"

"The unions used her as part of their attack on Nick, putting her in the position she was in and harming me. I mean, I don't think if she and I had just been standing there quietly, she would have pushed me. She got caught up in the adrenaline. I know her lawyer works for them, so why didn't they plea-bargain her out of the charge? Why make it go to trial? It's obvious they are just trying to keep the issue in the public eye, when it should have died when their connection to Jive was exposed in the last of Nick's trial." Lexie said.

"Is that what you think?"

"Why else would they want to put her through a trial? Why would they attack me during a romantic dinner? It is all to keep themselves in the public eye, but the truth is if they had not blocked Nick's tour in the first place, none of this would have happened. It already came out in trial that Nick's production company pays higher than average wages to journeymen."

"You know, Lexie, I think Vicki would be very interested in talking to you."

"I don't know. I don't really get involved in Nick's career publicly."

"No, she doesn't want to talk about Nick, she wants to talk about you."

Mark offered to call back on Monday, but Lexie was curious as hell to know why Victoria Winslow would want to interview her. Sure, she had offers before, but mostly by tabloid or useless press she did not care about. Victoria Winslow was her generation's Barbara Walters, and it was a sure thing that the interview would be done with taste and restraint.

The phone rang again before she had a chance to get up and leave the office.

"Carter residence."

"Hey, girl, how goes the siege?"

"Ha! Their little brains are turning to mush as they watch some movies." She laughed at Jake. "You talk to your dad?"

"Naw, he's still in London, but Mom's paying. So, can you pick me up tomorrow?"

"When you going to be in?"

"After 4 p.m."

"Great, the kids'll be gone by noon and CJ is going to her grandmother's!" Lexie cheered.

"Then we got to go have some grown up fun. Do a little clubbing. . ."

"Damn, there is about a dozen places I used to go to I haven't seen in over a year. I'm gonna have to call Gina to find out if any of them are still open."

"Hey, that's that little blonde, right? Why don't you invite her?" he said eagerly.

"Jake! You just broke up with your girlfriend!" Lexie groaned.

"Out with the old, in with the new!" he laughed.