" Well, that settles it. Mr. and Mrs. Littrell, I'm sorry we had to bring you to court. We just thought it's be best to settle this in the adult way."

" We understand." Brian said

" Yes, totally. I'm sure someone like you has agreed to settle this the mature way. Not just get into a big fight and never have it settled." Leigh said.

" Well, since you have already signed papers and gotten pictures and stuff, I guess y'all are set. So, I guess I won't be seeing my daughter ever again, eh? Well, so what? I have other kids. Who needs a daughter?"

" Well, I guess we'll be leaving. Come on, Denise." Brian said. Brian was upset by the way that Denise's mother said that she didn't need a daughter.

" Bye." Denise said to her mother. They left with that.

Denise, Brian, and Leigh all went to their house where the other BSB were staying. They walked in the door and were greeted with a big gasp. " Brian, I thought you lost the trial?" Nick said.

" Her mom wanted to give her a choice of where she wanted to stay. Denise picked with us and here she is." Brian said.

" Brian, you are lucky or else you'd be here crying and crying and crying. I know you would." Kevin said.

" Well, I guess we're just lucky to have a daughter like her."

The last words Brian said had clicked in Leigh's head. " Brian, you guys I have something to tell you." Leigh said.

" What is it sweetheart?"

" I'm gonna have a baby!"

Brian's eyes grew wide and then he fainted. Denise laughed. " Well, I guess that came as a surprise to him." Denise said.

" Yep."

Nick picked Brian up and put him on the couch. He slightly slapped him. " Brian, wake up." Nick laughed.

" What? What happened?" Brian asked.

" You fainted."

" Oh yeah! My head!"

" You hit your head on the floor. You know why you fainted?"

" Leigh's gonna have a baby!"

" Yeah. Scared you, eh?"

" Yeah." Brian got up and went over to Leighanne. " How far long are you?"

" Five months." Leigh said.

" Do you know what it is?"

" We'll find out in a few weeks. Just don't go nuts."

" So, now we're gonna have two kids! I'm gonna be a baby daddy!"

" Yeah." Leigh smiled.

" What about me?" Denise asked.

" We won't forget you. Don't worry. We'll still love you. You're gonna be a big sister!" Brian said.

" I've already been a big sister!"

" Yeah, but you're 13 and the baby will probably be 14 years younger than you. So, don't worry."

" Yeah, you'll like being a big sister. If it's a girl, you'll love it!" Leigh said.

" Yeah, I'm a big brother and I like being a big brother. It's fun." Nick said.

" Yeah, I guess." Denise said. " Can I go to my room?"

" Go ahead. We'll call you for dinner." Leigh said.

Denise went to her room. She called Nicole. " Is Nicole there?" Denise asked.

" This is her." Nicole said.

" So, did you hear?"

" Hear what?"

" Well, I almost got taken away from Brian and Leigh today. We went to court and my mom won. I went to her hotel room after court and she had Brian and Leigh come. She said that I had a choice to which I wanted to live with. I picked here and my mom didn't seem sad. She was happy. Nicole, I'm gonna be a big sister!"

" Wow, you went through a lot. What do you mean 'big sister'?"

" Leigh's having a baby!"

" Cool!"

" Yeah, I'm in my room now. Brian fainted when Leigh told us. It was funny."

" Look, I gotta go. Call me later."

" Nicole, tell everyone I said hi and that I miss them."

" Okay, bye."

" Bye."

Denise put her Christina Aguilera CD in her CD player. She skipped to her favorite song, "Blessed". She started to sing.

When I think how life used to be
Always walking in the shadows
Then I look at what you've given me
I feel like standing on my tiptoes
I must say that everyday I wake
And realize you're by my side

I know I'm truly blessed
For everything you give me
Blessed for all the tenderness you show
I'll do my best
With every breath that's in me
Blessed
To make sure you never go

There are times that test your faith
'Til you think you might surrender
And baby I'm, I'm not ashamed to say
That my hopes are growing slender
You walked by in the nick of time
Looking like an answered prayer

I know I'm truly blessed
For everything you give me
Blessed for all the tenderness you show
I'll do my best
With every breath that's in me
Blessed
To make sure you'll never go

I'm blessed with love and understanding
Blessed when I hear you call my name
I'll do my best with faith that's never-ending
Blessed to make sure you feel the same

Deep inside me
You fill me with your gentle touch

I know I'm truly blessed
For everything you give me
Blesses for all the tenderness you show
I'll do my best
With every breath that's in me
Blessed
To make sure you never go

When the song was over, Denise turned around to see everyone looking at her with their mouths hanging open. " Denise, I didn't know you could sing!" Brian said.

" You never asked." Denise replied.

Brian and Leigh gave her a hug. " Dinner's ready."

" Already? I just got up here!"

" Well, time flies when you're having fun." Nick said.

Everyone went downstairs and Denise said pizza on the table. " We never eat out." Denise said.

" It's not delivery. We all made it when you were upstairs." Kevin said.

" Yeah, if there's some parts that don't taste right, Nick did it." AJ said.

" Yeah, sorry." Nick said.

Everyone laughed and sat down. The pizza was big enough for everyone to eat about three pieces. At the dinner table in the Littrell house, there was usually stories and laughing. There was a lot more of that now that there were more people at the table. It was a good time. There was tons of laughter and a lot of stories. AJ usually cracked jokes and Nick did some kind of prank being the prankster he is. Some stories were of what they were doing on their vacation, what they plan to do, and stuff to do.

The next few weeks were weird for Denise, she had been living with the Littrell's for about seven months now. She calls them 'Mom' and 'Daddy'. She will be having a little brother running around the house soon. Denise thought she had a good life, up until all her friends in school found out whom she lived with. She had been using her new last name, she had just been saying it was not who they thought. All Denise ever heard was 'Can you get me an autograph?' ' Can I come over to your house?' Denise said no and walked off.

" Leigh, what are we gonna do? Our daughter is being bugged at school. There are a whole bunch of fans following her home everyday." Brian asked.

" I don't know, baby. You want to get her a tutor?" Leigh suggested.

" We could, but who?"

" I don't know, who taught you on tour?"

" We can use Ms. Slavecki. She's a good teacher."

" Yeah, but when can she be able to teach her?"

" She lives in Atlanta, I'm sure she can come here once a week and give Denise her work and stuff." Brian said while calling. " Ms. Slavecki! Brian Littrell. I'm fine. Can you teach my daughter? I'll pay you and stuff. No, I insist. Um, every week, just once a week. Okay. See you then. Bye."

" So?"

Brian went over and put his hand on Leigh's stomach. " She doesn't want to get paid."

" Oh." Leigh got up. She went over to the fridge and pulled out a 4 pudding cups. Brian chuckled. " What?" Leigh asked opening the cup.

" Nothing."

" You want one?"

" Sure." Leigh gave Brian a pudding cup. " Are we doing the right thing? I mean, getting Denise a tutor?"

" Yeah. If she's being bothered at school, why make her suffer?"

" You're right."

Leigh smiled. " I'm always right." Brian smiled.

" Should I go tell her?"

" Yeah. I'll come with you."

Brian and Leigh went to Denise's room. Denise was singing " Blessed". She was practicing for a contest. She would win a million dollars at the contest. She entered and they accepted her. " Come in!" Denise yelled.

Leigh and Brian walked in. " Hey, we have something to tell you." Brian said.

" What is it?"

" We got you a tutor."

" A what?"

" A tutor. Since you were saying that you were being bothered at school, I thought we'd take you out and have you learn at home."

" Okay, whatever you think is best. You're my parents."

" So, what are you doing?"

" Practicing for the contest."

" Can we hear you sing?"

" Sure." Denise sang. Leigh was in tears. Brian was happy. He knew that Denise would win the contest. It wasn't that she needed the money, Denise entered because singing and writing were her passions. She had written a few stories. She had them published and put into hard-covered books. She, her mom, and dad had a copy. Brian and Leigh were the first to read them. They were proud of their daughter.

" Denise, you should enter a story writing contest. I'm sure you'll win that. You write good stories." Leigh suggested.

" Nah, I don't think I'd be able to write that much in so little time. I heard they give you a week to write them. I wouldn't make it." Denise said.

" Yeah, I heard that too. What else do you want to do?"

" I don't know. I can play the clarinet great."

" We can do that."

" Yeah, but after this. I have the competition tomorrow. I better get ready to sing my best. I have to memorize the words because they'll only have the instrumental playing."

" Okay, we'll leave you alone then."

Denise smiled. " Okay."

Brian and Leigh left. They went downstairs and watched some TV. Brian flipped through the channels. He saw Nick's picture on the news. " What's Nick doing on the news?" Brian asked himself.

"-The pop star had taken an overdose of a variety of pills. Carter is now at a hospital in Orlando, authorities are keeping the location secret. We will have more news when we receive it. In other news, pop group *NSYNC has won 3 Grammy's and 5 VMA's." Kurt Loder said.

" Oh my God! Nick! I got to call AJ!" Brian picked up the phone and called AJ. " AJ! Is he okay?"

>>>>> 

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