On Her Own Part 5- Finale free porn video

The gravity of having two people that she had wished were her own parents want to do exactly as she had wished hit her hard. Anita had a mother and a father to love her, a brother to talk to and be there for when things were tough, and a husband who was infatuated with her. She had everything that she ever wanted and was feeling like she had won the lottery in life. Anita needed a while to recover so the Marshalls moved on to Pierre and his gift. He just laughed at the gift they were giving him: early warning that his record label had been chosen to produce the music for two upcoming movies that their production company had started filming. It was the only thing that any person could get him that he'd appreciate- the chance to make music for the masses. The family enjoyed being together but saw the fun interrupted by Pierre's phone ringing. He cringed at seeing the number and calmly asked, "What do you want, mom? I'm a little busy at the moment." Pierre could feel his mother about to let loose on him but he countered, "Before you claim otherwise, no I am not with some prostitute in the Caribbean as was claimed by the media. I'm in Boston, I've been living here for the past four months. I'm sorry for not calling you earlier but we couldn't cancel our plans.. We were forced by some very insistent toddlers and teens to go to a Christmas party last night and we were with my wife's family today." He realized his mistake and swore, his mother angrily said, "What do you mean your wife!" He sighed and carefully explained to her, "I married two days ago to my fiance. We have been dating since early September and got engaged just before Thanksgiving. We wanted to keep things low-key as her friends and their family would make the wedding into a huge event. And I do mean huge, well over 100 people and every one of them who are connected to my wife's friends in some way or other." It was tough, but his mother finally calmed down and asked about her. He gathered his wits then told her, "She's transgender. This wasn't a quickie because she is pregnant, she can't get pregnant. She's only three and a half months into her transition. She's an amazing singer and musician, it's how we met in the first place. Her friends know Ira Roth. Do you remember Judith and Terry Palmer? Their little kid is involved with her friends. And you were right, she wasn't a normal boy- she's transgender as well." His mother laughed and added, "Geeze, Boston and transgender. Don't tell me you've met that group of people who are involved with all of those transgender people." He shot back, "I was with them last night. Her friends are part of the family and all four are dating members including two who are part of the main branch. I've met most of them and it's like any other family. Ira worked with them and even DJed proms for them. He says they are good and I have not seen anything to show otherwise." He stopped deflecting then confessed, "Do you remember the mess back in November? The trial of that Hollywood family who stole millions from their daughter's inheritance and their other daughter freaked out as she was being sent to jail? That was her family. She was Andrew Woods, now she's know as Mrs. Anita Love. I'm still trying to convince her to take my name but it's probably not happening." His mother laughed at hearing that, with her adding, "And you got dragged in because you happened to be a producer?" He corrected her, "Sort of. I was played a demo by trio of girls who were writing and composing a song in just a day and told to look at them as they were really good. She was part of the trio of musicians, she was the singer of the group and wrote a third of the lyrics and music. She had some amazing talent and I couldn't help but try to sign her to a deal. The only problem was she has strong lawyers helping her. We worked together and eventually we fell for one another." He knew the next question and countered, "She doesn't want anything from me. She doesn't need it, she has enough money to live off of for the rest of her life. She has ten times what I have and is going to make a lot more in the near future. She just wants to sing and perform, and she is a huge talent at both. She just needs to refine her skills, which is why she's staying in school and won't be recording a full album until she graduates." He laughed and added, "You've heard her sing. Remember that Butterfly Girls song back in October? It was her singing with her friends. Ira worked with me on the fine tuning and making some adjustments to the electronic beats but it's all them- their instruments, their voices. She's a star in the making." Anita was asked about again, he blushed as she tried to get more dirt to which he mumbled, "Yes we did 'it'. She enjoys it and can't wait to become whole. She's great in bed, better than anyone else I've ever been with. She's slowly blossoming but she's all woman even if she has something extra." His mother asked, "Is it because you are secretly gay? You know we love you no matter what." He had to hold his anger and explained, "I won't lie, we did do some things that you have caught me doing with the guys before. I insisted so she didn't feel like she had to endure for me. I'm not gay, I don't care about doing that stuff. If you have an issue with that I have no problem staying away from you two. I love her and her alone and before you claim otherwise she is all woman. She's drop dead gorgeous." She demanded to speak with Anita, leading him to put her on the phone. His mother tried to give her the "third degree" but it was simply her asking Anita, "Did he pressure you into marrying him?" Anita breathed a sigh of relief and countered, "He proposed because he loves me. Everyone around us had him seeing that we were in love and once we moved in we couldn't bear to be apart. I love him and he loves me, I don't care that he's a survivor of boy band hell or is a powerful producer, I love him anyway." His mother smiled at that subtle jab at her son, which had some undertones to show his mother that she knew that his mother was part of why he was in the boy band. His mother fondly told Anita, "He is old enough to make mistakes, but it sounds like he didn't make one with you. You changed him. That isn't the same man in his 20s who is looking for some way of finding his way in life, that's a mature man. I do have my concerns about him being a father, but that is a talk for another time. Just be open to having children, even if those young children aren't your children by blood." Anita was in tears, countering, "We want to be parents but aren't ready yet. I don't mind adopting, I want him to be a father by his own blood. He is hesitant but will come around. I just hope he doesn't make me do the same, I don't care about making my own so long as he makes his own." That sealed it for his mother, she was truly the one for her son. Anyone who is willing to ensure that he was a father and who loves his child as their own was meant to be her daughter-in-law. It was a good sign for the Duprees, their baby was a man and had found his soulmate. Anita rejoined the Marshalls and Pierre, hiding her tears but getting a subtle hug from Pierre to tell her that she was alright with his mother. Nothing more was said as the family rested until dinner. They had planned on eating at the hotel restaurant but received a surprising invitation from the Finns to eat with them at their home that night, making Anita groan and Pierre shake his head in disappointment. The Marshalls asked what was going on, Anita explained, "They are checking on me. Their kids are all likely with their in-laws so it's going to be just their youngest daughters, daughter's boyfriend, and the Gibsons. They didn't want us to be alone and have no problem hosting the six of us." Pierre named each of those attending then added, "They had to have coordinated all of this ahead of time to see just how you really are reacting to us. Valerie is her lawyer and acting like an aunt to her due to the Stoner girls but her daughters are also close with Anita. She purposely didn't tell us until just now to ensure that we didn't make plans so we had no excuse but to go." The drive felt like an hour but it was really only 20 minutes. The Marshalls kept quiet about the quaint size of homes while Pierre kept Anita form becoming to anxious. Todd and Butch had a laugh as the two were texted that their friend Julius and his husband were keeping clear of the Finns to allow the Marshalls their earned scrutiny by the two Finn girls- Cat and Ella. When they finally arrived, Cat was outside waiting for them and had a look of concern while Ella had a big grin on her face. Valerie sent them inside and greeted the Marshalls while John shook hands with Yuri as if he was an old friend. Todd and Butch were introduced next, with John saying how Todd looked like his mother causing her to smile brightly at the honest compliment. Gavin and JD kept clear of the Marshalls, with Cat being told to go with the boys and give Anita some space. Ella went with them to keep the couple from doing anything, while Valerie added that Cat had better keep things chaste or she was on diaper duty for a week. Cat smirked to which Valerie doubled her sentence and added she'd expect to wash baby clothes as well. Piper and Logan made their exit, telling Anita they were heading to her uncle's home to get stuck with toddler wrangling so the adults could cook. Valerie had to explain to the Marshalls, "Her triplet siblings are a handful, as is her nephew. They delayed leaving so they could see if Anita was alright, my son is going to be pressed for information by my daughter who is staying next door with her in-laws. You met her husband, he shadowed Jo and Phyllis Kaplan in law school as they helped you with a legal case." Yuri added, "Tall, well built man who looks like he belongs on a football field?" Valerie smirked and added, "That's him. He's the one who got Anita most of her inheritance as well as suing her parents." Her casual remark was targeted in case they were putting on a false facade for the family. It also had an intentional extra bit as she showed that Anita had more support than anyone realized. The Marshalls had no way to counter so just nodded to show they understood the hidden meaning. Cat came upstairs again and sat in Anita's lap, making her stake to Anita while giving Pierre the cold look that he felt was due to her not coming by earlier. Anita hugged her to calm her, with Anita leading the girl downstairs while they had a private chat. She knew what Cat really wanted and it was best to just tell her in private than embarrass the Marshalls. Downstairs in Cat's little space, she explained to the teen, "Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have offered to adopt me as their daughter. They had to have arranged things through Todd as we were supposed to go over the Stoners' house today after we had brunch. I guess nobody told you why because you might not take it the right way. I am happy that you care so much about me, it's touching and I love you for that. But I'm alright and don't need your protection now." She hugged Cat who tried to explain, "Nobody told me anything. When they keep quiet around me it's always because someone is in trouble or hurt. I didn't want you to be hurt by them, you always get hurt by people who use you. I don't want them to use you like your old parents did." She spilled her guts and started to get less anxious. Anita wisely let her cry herself out so the boys were unable to see her tears. She cleaned her face and hugged her again, letting her get back to the others. Upstairs, Valerie added, "She wasn't told because it was last minute. Julius and Todd cut it close, Todd didn't give him confirmation until last week. She thought you were in trouble again, but she knows by now to not ask questions and let us handle things or she might do the wrong thing at the wrong time." Todd blushed deeply which proved it to be true, Anita added, "I swear if you don't have someone to tell you what to do you'd be lost. You are 18, shouldn't you be able to use a calendar app by now? It's not like it's that hard, even Aubrey could use one and she's dumber than a box of nails!" That set the others off as Butch added, "He tries but he just can't remember anything. I have to cook and clean because he's so busy writing that he loses all track of time. He's obsessed when he's in the midst of one of his stories, thankfully for his plays he has no choice but to take a break." The group sat down while Valerie finished cooking. Gavin went upstairs to get something which caused the Marshalls to ask about him. John happily explained, "He's no different than Anita with you. His parents are visiting his grandparents out in Arizona and California but didn't want to take him along due to costs. He's been staying with us most weekends since Cat and JD befriended him last year. His parents aren't the best people and are glad to be rid of him when he turns 18. My brother-in-law is keeping a close eye on them to ensure that they don't harm him but they fear my wrath more. I co-own with my cousin's son the garage his father works out of and my niece works alongside his mother at a physical therapy studio so they have eyes and ears on them at all times. Add in my friend is also his pediatrician so they have no leeway with DCF or the police. He has a place to go if ever removed, but he prefers to be here with his girlfriend and classmates close by." Gavin tried hard not to say anything but Valerie hugged him and whispered into his ear which led to him nodding. He went downstairs to which Valerie added, "His parents aren't likely to return so he's of the belief that this is the last time he and Cat can be close before he is sent to live with a foster family in another city. If they don't return, he's going to stay with our friends, the Samuels family. They were looking to foster kids again so it'd be best for him." The talk ended as Valerie left and reentered with the kids. The meal was brought in and saw the kids all trying hard to be on their best behavior. Ella looked down to which Valerie told her, "Flora will be over later, you know how she is with her nephews. It's for the best as you know how their parents are when they have to cook, especially her brother and sisters. She's busy but she's missing you too." Ella nodded but still looked disappointed. The group ate in silence while Cat tried hard to not upset Gavin any further. One look at him showed that he was suffering from depression making it tough for her to be around him without herself breaking down as her empathy overtook her puppy love for him. After dinner, Gavin received his obligatory family phone call. The Marshalls watched as he burst into tears as his parents explained that they were giving him up, they didn't want to be his parents anymore and he was better off without them. Valerie took over and told them that the papers were arriving the next day and she expected them signed and sent back via courier immediately, the second they signed he would be placed into care of a trusted family and would be out of their lives for good. Anita comforted him until he calmed himself, with Cat letting her help him as she went up to her room to keep Ella from telling anyone what was happening to Gavin. Gavin let her hug and comfort him, the instincts in her becoming too much to overwhelm while he was happy to have her attention. When he finally calmed she led him up to bed, ensuring that he was alright before leaving. Anita asked if it was all ready and if his new foster parents were going to let things stay as they are. It took Valerie a second to realize she was serious, John simply told her, "Rick's parents will be fine with him. They dealt with Rick's dating Jaimie and all of that trouble, dealt with Al and her trauma, and put up with the issues involving their son Thomas and his girlfriend's sexual harassment suit." John explained, "She sued the Bruins for assault and sexual harassment against her, getting the medical staff investigated by the state for ignoring sexual assaults and retaliating against anyone who reported any of the abuse. She won a lot of money, but that didn't change the couple. His parents endured all of that and more and are happy to house Gavin until he is ready to move on or he asks for more. We give it a few months until he asks, he has three positive male role models and a great foster father." Gavin came down again and listened as John spoke, hugging Cat as he realized that he was going to be with the best family not named Finn in their city and one that he loved hearing stories about from his friends JD and Julio Lopez- who just happen to also be the brothers-in-law of Rick and Thomas. The boy was happy to get a chance to live a normal life, even if he'd never truly be normal again. Nobody in their school would make fun of him anymore, not with his new family's reputation standing so strong. The Marshalls walked out not saying a word, but clearly impressed by everything that had happened. Anita informed them, "John's brother-in- law lives next door and knew the whole situation from the start- his son plays with Gavin whenever he's around and his parents need a break. The family has a big habit of finding love early, and Cat and he are showing it. He was going to join their family later on, but this allowed him to join much earlier than expected." This side of Anita made the Marshalls happy, it was her being, "One of them" rather than the outsider as they had known her as before. She exuded confidence and understanding, something that could only come from being part of the group and not from observing. The more she was around the Finn family, the more she started to act like her own person and show the real side of her. The Marshalls dropped them off at their condo, with Anita happily calling her new parents "mom" and "dad" while teasingly calling Todd "little brother" much to his annoyance. Butch was given a big kiss, with her happily telling him, "You'd make a great mom, even if you don't want to be one. Just as I hate having male parts, you can live with having your parts for a while longer." He sadly asked, "How did you know?" Anita softly explained, "I've met a few like you. You can't hide all of your features, especially your breasts and your nice butt. He loves you for you, I can see it in him. Give him a chance to show you that he loves you, he isn't afraid of what you have because he sees the inner you. Plus, you do look a bit like me so I think he might be seeing me in you- but even so, you are your own person now." Todd gave her a look, all she said to him was, "He's going to be giving you what no man could: a chance to father your own children. Don't push him, you will be ready in a couple of years. I wish it was the same with Pierre but I'm not afraid to be a mother by other means. You met a couple of them already, I know you know about the Stoners especially Julius' cousin Piper. I am just surprised that Sylvia Gibson wasn't here tonight but knowing her husband they probably went over her brother's house to help him with his wife's cooking to keep Christina from trying to cook too much." The Marshalls left the next day, giving Anita a big kiss and telling her that they were filing the next day so they could get things done as soon as possible. The paperwork was looked over by their lawyers, and with Rick giving his OK Anita signed everything before the Marshalls got their flight to California. He told Anita that it wouldn't take long and she should be proud to be one of them in full. Looking at him, she asked, "Are you happy to have a foster-brother?" He smirked and countered, "I had one before, it's not so bad. He will need time to get adjusted, but nobody will mess with him anymore." Monday morning saw Anita going to visit the Finns and seeing Gavin pack his bags. He was talking to a man, who was asking him about his parents and what they had done to him in the past. Gavin told him a lot of things regarding their hidden abuse, but couldn't show anything as they ensured it faded to where nobody could notice it. Gavin noticed Anita and blushed, the man simply told him, "I'll have a talk with Dr. Samuels, I think he has a strong idea about some of your injuries that may have been a bit ambiguous but can be put into a proper light. He made extensive notes of your bruising, some of it was too odd to be from the claimed roughhousing with boys. I am going to ensure that they pay for their crimes, I know you don't want them sent to jail but we may not have a choice in the matter." Exiting, he gave Anita a long look-over but was moved away by Ella and Cat. Gavin hugged Anita tight to which she explained, "Trust me, it'll get better. Mom and dad got away with a lot of things that your mom and dad won't get away with. You don't hurt your kids, no matter how little you like them." She led him downstairs to meet his new foster parents, with Rick and Jaimie hugging him followed by two other couples. Anita didn't have to know who they were, but seeing the large boosomed Al Samuels caused her to feel underdeveloped despite her implants. Al gave her a wink which only caused Anita to feel even more insecure as the young woman looked nothing like any transgender woman she'd seen. Al came over to introduce herself to Anita, with Al giving her a look that told her to follow her. Away from the others, Al told her, "Don't get jealous because of genetics. I've had eight full years of being a woman whereas you only had three months of it. I've seen your parents, be glad that you are looking so natural and not like a total bimbo like your mom and sister. You only needed yours for a sense of self, you won't need them once your boobs reach their full size on their own. I hate my larger size, but I can live with it as it's better than what I might have looked like if I hadn't been lucky to change early on." Gavin was looking for Al and caught the conversation and blushed deeply as Al caught sight of his big reaction. That caused Al to tell the boy, "You know I'm transgender. You saw what I looked like before my accident. I am proud to be transgender even if I didn't want to be. And just because you look at me doesn't make you odd, you just aren't used to girls other than Cat. I doubt you and Willow are around one another enough to get used to her growing boobs, she's bigger than Cat!" He blushed and tried to go off but Al got him into a deep hug and kissed his cheek. She happily added, "You are going to be a good foster- brother. Mom and dad don't get to spoil grand kids much so you will be their chance to be a parent again. And you get my room, which is the best room in the house!" Al led the trio downstairs and kissed Gavin goodbye, with Anita getting a hug and swift, "Seriously, they aren't wroth fretting over. They are going to hurt your back eventually, the weight gets to you. I don't want them too big but I don't want to reduce them so I'm stuck with them." Gavin stuck close to Anita for the rest of the afternoon as Anita helped him move into his new room in the Samuels home then as she got stuck babysitting the insistent Sylvia Samuels. He was trying to be nice to her, but the more he was around her the more he seemed to get nervous. She asked him what was the matter, all he could say was, "I don't know. I just don't know." She smiled and explained, "It's hitting you hard that things are different now. Your foster-parents are the nicest people in the city and are showing great care with you. Sylvia is responding to you as she does to her other aunts and uncles, she accepts you as part of her family now. Your girlfriend is closer by and it means you get to spend even more time with her. Your friends are just as close, so you don't have to be careful with how you mortgage your time. Things have changed for the better, it's alright to be happy." He started to cry, this time clearly showing that he was happy instead of depressed. His hidden wish to be part of Cat's family was fulfilled, even if it wasn't how he hoped it to be. He was one of them in full now, he was part of the family and was finally able to be happy. After that, Gavin was a lot different than before. Olivia and Richard Samuels were grateful to Anita for what she had done for Gavin, but all she would tell them was, "He just needed to let himself realize that he got what he wanted- he's part of your family. He's a Finn by extension, instead of by dating Cat." At home, Anita worked on her song repertoire with Pierre not even trying to influence her work. It was funny to him to see her trying hard to get the right words out and arrange them into something that was somewhat coherent. Seeing her play her instruments to get a sense of how they'd sound was even better as he got a free concern out of it as her lyrics were good but frequently her music was better. Two weeks after Christmas, she received word that she was officially a Marshall. She struggled to not cry but broke down as Pierre hugged her. It was news that she had wanted to hear and made her feel as if she really was part of a family now that she had parents and a brother. Todd called her to tell her that her talk with Butch was making them start to get closer and the two had done some things that he was ashamed of. She set him straight, telling him firmly, "It's just a vagina, it's not going to hurt you. He feels even worse, but is trying to be the boyfriend you need. Suck it up and give in to your lust, think of it as a different hole than his anus." Five weeks later he called back to tell her, "He's pregnant...I can't believe it." She was laughing, but told him, "He loves you and accepted the consequences of what you were doing. He had to have stopped his hormone shots to get himself ready to get pregnant. It's a good thing, you give him something that he felt that he needed and you give your parents their own grandchild. He is still a man inside, even if he is doing something that I'd give anything to experience." Todd grumbled that she should have swapped with Butch, to which Anita happily shot back, "Oh you know me so well! I'd have done that for him in a heartbeat, but it can't be done yet. You are going to be a great father, just let yourself follow your instincts. Be a real dad. And please- put a ring on his finger." She had to endure him complaining again but it was all in good fun as it was clearly teasing instead of the arguments she had with Aubrey. Aubrey was a total pain, she'd torture her mentally just for fun. It was vastly different with Todd, he was closer to how she had seen the Finns particularly Cat and JD. Gavin and Anita spent many afternoons together as she helped him with schoolwork and babysitting him for his foster-parents. He opened up to her about the kids in school and how he was pitied now as it was known that his parents wanted to dump him. She let him vent in a safe manner, with Anita offering a counter of, "It's pure jealousy. They all crave being where you are. They try to mask the signs but it's clear that are jealous. Don't let them get to you, they are only hurting themselves and looking foolish." Gavin looked down in shame as he asked, "Is it wrong that I really wanted to be a Finn? I love Cat but I would want Mr. and Mrs. Finn as parents." She countered, "Everyone wants that, they are the best! You still get that- you could become Cat's husband in the future, you'd be their son-in-law but still a full member of their family. Just like Rick, Mitch, Christina, Courtney, Piper, and Flora are." He hadn't thought of that. He realized what he had said to which Anita added, "She loves you too. Any person who has spent a few minutes with the two of you can see that. She loves you deeply and tries to hide it but most of her actions at home involve trying to be closer to you. She doesn't know what is the wrong way to show it and what's the right way, but she's learning quickly." Richard and Olivia Samuels let the two hug it out before making their presence known. Olivia hugged the crying Gavin and asked him, "We were wondering if you wanted to remain as our foster-child or if it was time to ask you to become our son. We don't want to pressure you, but we wanted to hear you tell us what you want to do. This is something only you can ask, it's entirely your decision." He asked to think it over as he didn't want to make the wrong decision. Anita smiled and nodded to the couple, it was just him trying to find reasons not to give in to what he wanted most. He wanted to be a member of their family more than anything, but he didn't want to seem to be begging or too eager. The next day, Anita asked him if he was going to ask to be adopted. He looked down in shame, telling her, "I want it more than anything but I don't want to cause them any trouble. I'm just a nobody, Rick and Al and Thomas are somebodies. They are a lawyer, gym teacher, and financier. I'm a nobody." Olivia and Richard showed the paperwork to him to which Richard explained, "You are only 13. You are still trying to find yourself in life. Few kids know what they want to be in life, especially not until they are in college. Thomas didn't find out until sophomore year, Al until last year, Rick until senior year. I know that JD and Julio haven't found what the want to be, nor has Cat and Willow. You could be your own person, but as long as you try that is all that matters to us. Try to be yourself, it's all that we ask." He hugged and kissed them, calling them, "Mom" and, "Dad" for the first time. He signed his name and watched as the couple signed their own names. Al and Thomas were told what happened and tried to be apathetic but did tell him that he was what they weren't- the normal one of their family. Anita walked off with a smile while walking over to the Finns to get in some quality time with Cat and Willow so the girls kept busy for the evening as the Samuels family had their privacy. Cat had a look of concern when she was told that Gavin wasn't coming over, but seeing Anita smiling made her see that it was more than it appeared. Willow tried to make a joke, but Cat explained, "He asked to be adopted!" Willow understood and sat down to watch TV, the trio enjoying some, "Girl time" together as JD and his counterpart Julio wisely stayed away from the girls and their bonding. Julio did seem to be jealous that Anita was always around the girls, JD joked, "Are you jealous that Willow is with her and not you?" He blushed deeply while Willow got up and kissed him full on the lips and called him, "My boyfriend". Anita had unknowingly gotten the two together after years of the two feeling odd around one another and not admitting the truth about their relationship. It was sweet to her, they made a cute couple and one that was even longer in the making than all others. It was sad to see JD without someone, but he was content to be like his father and not get close to anyone for fear of them using him to get at his father's money- even if it cost him potential girlfriends. Willow dragged Julio off to her house to be put through the, "Boyfriend ritual" while Anita enjoyed the twins alone. JD and she were alright with one another and didn't really have much interaction, he was a good sport in letting Cat monopolize Anita's attention and was proud that Anita respected his wishes to let Cat have her way. She seemed to get JD without knowing it, he was a normal boy with two friends and no real cares in the world who simply loved to be his own man and enjoy being around others. JD did have a habit of getting Anita to think about things like the future and music when he talked with her. This time he asked her if she was going to perform as herself or if she was going to do it under her pseudonym of, "Butterfly Girls". She had to think it over, then quietly told him, "We will do it under our pseudonyms. It's for the best as the girls won't be publicly known so have some anonymity." JD then asked, "When are you going to stop fooling yourself and perform as your true self?" She had to blush as he had her cornered, it was tough to continue the facade when you are going to be performing in front of millions. The, "Butterfly Girls" would perform, but only Anita would let her name get out. At home, Anita ran the idea past Pierre. He laughed at JD's thinking and agreed in full with it. He called Tabby and Trinity and got their blessing for Anita to reveal that the, "Butterfly Girls" were performing and allow herself to be interviewed by the media. The girls wouldn't be named at their own request, but they would be seen performing and would be part of the whole experience at the GCW's request. The girls prepared for the trip south and got a lot of whispers about why they were getting out of class again while they were stuck doing boring work. Anita didn't let it get to her, while Tabby casually asked if they were jealous of them for having an opportunity to perform in front of hundreds of thousands or if they were jealous that they had to make up work in addition to performing. It was clear that it was a lot of jealousy but when complaints of, "Special treatment" were made Tabby simply told them off. She didn't need to do much as the instructors happily told the complainers that it was common that if a student was afforded a chance to perform at a major event they'd get time off as it was a working gig and those didn't come around a lot especially for newcomers. Tabby was also representing their school so was under scrutiny to not mess up, and would have to work hard to ensure that she made the school proud with the performance. He didn't add that the school had heard the song and had met with GCW to clear them from class so the school was under pressure to release them for a couple of days. The trip south in April took five days out of their schedule as they had to do rehearsals and work with a backing band to get things sounding right. None of them had done that before and the band was upset to have to listen to a trio of teenagers telling them what to do. Pierre did his best to sooth bruised egos but it was grating his nerves at times as they insulted the girls behind their backs. When one finally crossed the line and complained about the, "Tranny freak" he fired them and let the girls perform on their own with no backing band- like they had been doing from the start and doing it as they had intended the song to be performed. It would be their own sound being played, with nobody to lay claim to any of it and no interference from people trying to hone in on their success. Ira Roth was in the area and watched them, then told Pierre, "Let me work with them. I'll make this gig epic and give them a boost that nobody else can give to them." Ira hugged and kissed Trinity and the girls, then told them that he was going to perform with them as he wouldn't let his niece perform without help. She thanked him for doing it, with Anita and Tabby both in agreement that it was best to have him working on the sound to give credibility to the performance. He wouldn't let anyone question their abilities as he was known to never synthesize or fool around with the sounds of live instrumentals on songs, especially ones that featured them so heavily. The group spent Friday and Saturday at the Turner family mansion, with Anita meeting Taylor Turner's family while Tabby giggled at how much Taylor's sons had grown since she last saw them. Trinity was seized by Taylor's toddler daughter leaving Anita to talk with Taylor and her wife in peace. She knew it was coming but chose to hold off explaining to them what she's been up to since Taylor last saw her. Taylor listened and nodded at the whole string of events, with Pierre getting high praise for being the husband that she needed and the rock to keep her anchored to reality. Her new family was what she had expected, especially as they were talked about by her uncle Percy a lot. The real shock was Todd and his now-fiance Butch becoming parents, she hadn't heard he was dating a girl only that he was gay. Anita wisely explained, "He transitioned after high school. He had to cut back on his hormone doses due to issues so was still menstruating which meant he got pregnant, I guess he took my talk with him to heart. He isn't afraid of being a parent, he just got upset that Todd wouldn't love him for himself. They did and Todd still loves him, it also gave Todd something that his parents had hoped he'd be some day." Taylor agreed while her wife Betty simply asked, "Are they getting married?" Anita grinned and happily told her, "They already did. Dad did the whole 'shotgun' wedding bit and forced them to marry at city hall in front of their friends. He doesn't have any family who accepts him so dad served as his father." Anita asked about Sally Turner and her kids, Taylor shook her head while Betty laughed and shot back, "She shot her mouth off about visiting Disneyworld. They had to take them or the boys would be upset and take it out on them. Thankfully our kids know not to beg to go as they go once a month." When the girls left, Taylor turned to Betty and happily told her, "She's going to do great. She has all of the help she could ever need but she doesn't seek it. We were right all along to just let her be herself and let the music flow, that band was a bad idea but the production staff wanted them for image reasons. Ira Roth will be simply there but not there, people will focus on him but hear them. We are going to make a fortune off of their song and the girls will have their big break beyond their October success!" The next day was controlled chaos as the girls got themselves into the right frame of mind to perform. It was odd seeing Taylor dressed in her wrestling gear and directing everyone in the back to where they were needed and telling them what they were going to do later. She was more important than any of the trio had realized, she was running the biggest wrestling show in the world! Taylor finally calmed down and rested, with the girls being told that she owed them one for calming the kids before her brother-in-law's wedding. Anita laughed, it was so sly and something that she had been the recipient of multiple times before. Tabby groaned and shot back, "I hope it was at least his choice and not a shotgun wedding" to which Taylor nodded and added, "It was, sort of: he got tricked into it!" The girls laughed and got ready to open the show. Taylor went to where she'd be most of the night and had them await their cue. Ira met them and had his own crew ready to setup his equipment fast and to his specifications, which Taylor had gotten cleared days before. When their cue came the girls walked out to a standing ovation as fans saw the girls for the first time and realized that they really did exist. The performance was intense as the girls played their song to a rousing ovation. Ira Roth, in his persona as DJ Ink, did the actual introduction and happily called all three girls his nieces with Trinity getting a big kiss on the cheek. It was followed by the girls showing that they were serious about their music as they tuned the strings and played a quick scale on the piano, with Ira playing a beat behind them to support them but showing it wasn't anything more than just a beat to support their guitars and piano. Anita was the one to get them started, with Ira smiling as he started the beat and led to Trinity's piano and Tabby's guitar as Anita gave it her all as she slowly but strongly started her vocals. It was a strong three and a half minutes, with the trio showing that they were better than anyone could ever believe and made the crowd rock and scream with joy as they finished. The crowd was on its feet in a standing ovation, with the girls bowing and then hugging Ira as they walked off backstage. Ira escorted them to their dressing area and kept everyone away, with him happily telling anyone that they girls had to relax and enjoy seeing their favorite wrestlers compete. The girls finally recharged and left to do some publicity for GCW with Anita taking the lead so the girls didn't have to endure them. She could accept their invasions of privacy, Tabby and Trinity didn't need to endure it. She feared for Trinity, if it got out that she was transgender then things would be tough for her as she still had two years to go in school before her graduation. At the media session, Anita spoke for all three girls by telling the media, "We are the Butterfly Girls. My name is Anita Love, lead vocalist and rhythm guitar as well as co-songwriter. On my right is Tabitha Stoner, our lead guitarist, backing vocals, and co-songwriter. On my left is Trinity Eliza, lead pianist, backing vocals, and co-songwriter. We thank DJ Ink for helping us after our backup band were fired. He has known our manager and Trinity for years and is Trinity's godfather as well as surrogate uncle." She happily told all, "We wrote and recorded our first song, the one that was a hit in October, but kept our identities a secret because we wanted our music to speak for itself. We are all in school so it would have adversely affected us, we chose to let the world speculate on our identities and let our music mean something to people without people feeling like they can't buy our music because of who we are or having fans feel obligated to buy it because they knew us. We are happy to have been asked to write the song that we performed tonight after GCW could not find a better, more experienced group to perform it for the thousands in attendance and millions at home around the world." She answered the typical questions from the media while ignoring the idiots asking about things that had no reason other than to cause her to slip-up or make her look stupid. She smirked and often turned around the question on the reporter asking it, with the other media laughing at her being witty and fun. She had most of them laughing so hard they forgot about Trinity and Tabby, who kept quiet throughout. Things turned around as one of the upset media blurted out a question about her sexuality and that she is transgender. She just smiled, told the offending reporter, "I'm marred to my producer. I won't hide the truth that I was born male but I am female. I am transgender, I am sorry if what I have inside my pants offends you. You seem to have a hard-on for what's in my pants, but I have no interest in anyone other than my husband. I am sorry that your plans to drug me and get me to spill my secrets failed, I know all about your past thanks to the ladies who have suffered from your behavior. You are well-known to me, I went to school with your brother. You know, the one who is trying to get away from your disastrous reputation. I believe you are still wanted for questioning in LA and have several outstanding warrants for your arrest on statutory rape and sexual assault, I hope Tabby's future father-in-law is in a good mood and doesn't ask that nice officer standing behind you to have some words with you as I am sure he himself will want to know more about those pending charges as I believe they may be now bumped up to federal charges given the amount of drugs you have been known to use." The man who made the offending statement was known to Anita through her years of being in the eyes of the paparazzi and she was telling the truth about knowing his younger brother in school. He was a fraud as a reporter, he was really a blogger who asked a bunch of questions in the hopes that one of the responses would be hot enough to use against the targeted celebrity and when that didn't work he'd get the celebrity drugged then put them in a compromising position. As she saw him sitting in the back, she knew exactly what he'd say to her and had to concoct a quick response. Taylor Turner was in the back and had the man kicked out for violating the rules set forth in accepting a media pass for the press conference. She didn't need to make her feelings known on the matter, she was a woman like Anita and would stand by her no matter what anyone said about what she was born as. It would be hypocritical to not do that, Anita was a member of the family by extension thus protected. The officer did as Anita had subtly suggested and immediately arrested him for outstanding warrants. The media had a good story to go along with Anita's outing herself, with the GCW more than happy to give their nondiscrimination policy response as default for why Anita was chosen. Nothing would top a wanted man being arrested after having his offensive question turned around on him, Anita gave them a juicy scoop that wouldn't be topped. The press were now mostly asking about the girls' musical training. Anita answered for the girls, telling any who asked why they didn't answer their own questions a firm, "They want to have some privacy. We are still in school so have to endure being out in the open which makes revealing things about ourselves a bit unsafe. All you need to know is that Trinity is in 10th grade, is dating a lovely young woman, and is the daughter of a doctor and lawyer- one who would not hesitate to sue for invading her privacy or for harassing her daughter and her friends. As for Tabby, she's a freshman in college alongside myself, engaged to a young man whose family is deeply entrenched in the legal industry both as lawyers and as law enforcement. I hope that you aren't dumb enough to try to dig into things that are none of your business as I am sure the federal agents, officers, and assistant attorney generals would protect her. And no, that isn't a threat. Her fiance's family is a law enforcement family." Anita smirked and turned things to herself as she wanted them to focus on her instead. She explained to the others, "As it'll come out thanks to your background digging as it was in the news back in November: yes, I used to be Andrew Woods. Yes, my parents are in prison as well as my sister. Yes, I inherited a great deal of money. Yes, I am producing several movies through my own funding. Yes, I was adopted in good faith by my best friend's parents. All of that is known and I won't deny it. But my private life is private and I will not discuss it with anyone. My husband is a man whom I fell in love with when we met this past fall. We married just before Christmas in a private ceremony. We don't care one bit what the other has in our bank accounts as we don't believe the other's money is our own money. We are happy to be married and will one day have children. How that happens is none of your business as I don't ask about your own sex life and family life you shouldn't ask about ours. That is all you need to know about our personal life, there's nothing else to say on it." There was nothing else to talk about so she ended the press conference. Taylor led her to where they'd watch the matches and sadly saw Taylor being injured in her match as she lost her championship belt to a wrestler that was a close friend of hers. Taylor was being scolded as she walked past the girls, with her wife spouting off medical terms and actions that Anita needed explaining by one of her handlers. The girls were put to use as they wrangled the youngest Turners for the family as Taylor was examined. It was a great help to Taylor's family as they could ensure that the show went fine while Taylor's wife Betty ensured Taylor was forced to rest and keep her injured shoulder safe. The youngest Turners were more than happy to ensure Anita was exhausted as the young Bella Turner giggled at her while her 2nd cousins Wallace and Matt were happy to make her work hard keeping them out of trouble. The night came to an early end for the Turners with Betty struggling to get Bella to stop seeking Anita's attention while the twins slept in Trinity and Tabby's arms. The kids were driven off and followed the girls going directly to the airport to head home, with their bags and equipment already in the cars. Anita had to fight saying something but realized Trinity needed to get home for school in the morning, even if she would be missing half of the day due to jet lag. At home three hours later, the girls fell asleep on Anita's couch. Pierre carried Anita into their room and had Ira help him with Trinity and Tabby. The girls were dead weight to them, causing the two to moan at the girls doing their best to make them work hard. Five hours later, the girls started to stir and saw Pierre making them coffee and breakfast. The girls slowly ate and was told that Trinity would get driven to the school while Tabby and Anita went with them to keep them away from any prying local media. He suspected that the notorious Channel 7 was waiting for them at their school and likely wold have been at Tabby's and Trinity's homes if not for the Finn family's lawyers getting the police to force them to leave the area under penalty of arrest. Ira called to tell them that the media had already started to ask questions about the girls at NESM and it was getting the school angry. They didn't blame the girls, Channel 7 simply wouldn't leave the campus and had to have police escort them away with their lawyers issuing a trespass order against all reporters from that station. Tabby and Anita were excused from class as their instructors had all they needed for a week thanks to their performance, with Anita's dance instructor pleased that she listened to her. Trinity arrived just after lunch and handed in her assignments, grumbling about having to do homework and book reports that nobody else had to do. She complained that John Finn had made her do all of the extra work as penalty, with John happily saying, "Yep, since you missed your classes you had to make it all up. You know the rules, you were only excused because Taylor Turner asked on your behalf." She blushed and apologized, with Anita and Tabby moving along with Pierre nodding to John to let the class get underway now that Trinity's detractors had been silenced. Their escort led them downstairs to the main office and a talk with the principal. Tabby hugged him tightly and introduced the man as Jake Bollinger to Anita, with Anita practically freezing in place as she heard his name. She was going to ask him but he casually stated, "Yes, I'm related to them. Donald is my nephew. You've met his sister Courtney back at Christmas, he got called away early to deal with a website issue so he missed most of the party. Francesca wouldn't let him work alone so went with him so she wasn't there to talk with you about the movie. She needed to thank you for helping her out, the movie brought back a lot of grief but hearing why she was asked to do it made her year. She's glad you remembered her and was proud to honor the author's vision after you brought back those great memories of her childhood." The group talked for a bit as Tabby explained what happened over the weekend, with Jake laughing at the little kids using them so their mothers could talk and enjoy some time before the wedding that the Turners were attending Saturday night. He saw the whole thing for what it was: the girls needed to be calmed before they got too anxious to perform at their best and the kids needed to burn off a lot of their energy before the wedding ceremony. It was a classic move by a couple of seasoned parents, with Matt and Wallace York ensuring it wasn't a boring time. As they were leaving, John entered and told Jake that everything was set and anyone coming by would be explaining to the school why they felt the need to violate a student's rights. He also added, "They are in hot water with the state as their station didn't renew their licenses with the State Police so all of their cars and vans parked illegally or at expired meters will be towed on sight by the police. They are really getting careless, for a station that prides itself on being first to do things they forget some of their most basic requirements for getting access to locations for filming." John escorted the group out and chatted with various people he knew well. Tabby blushed and had to tell the adults to move along, but couldn't stop Ella from hugging Anita and her. Ella smiled brightly as Anita wisely told her, "Don't think you can use this to get anything from us. You know your real friends and you know that anyone trying to befriend you really only wants you for knowing us." Outside, John spotted several paparazzi groups and called security to clear them out. Channel 7 had a verbal fight with security, which John had to help separate and explain to the reporter that it was school grounds and there was no filming allowed on it without approval from the city- which they didn't have. He then loudly told the inept reporter, "Your station was issued a restraining order by the law firm of Vincent, Stoner, and Byrne-Toro on behalf of your target and as such you are to stay away from her. That includes her school and home. As you are on school grounds during school hours and as she is attending class today you are in violation. See you in court." John nodded to two uniformed officers who confiscated the photographer's camera and arrested both the reporter and the photographer for violating the restraining order. He didn't have to do anything else, the reporter started screaming that they couldn't arrest them but when shown a copy of the order both of them tried to claim it wasn't their fault and they didn't know. John just shook his head and texted a few people then told the reporter, "Your computers are seized by State Police. We found the order on them. Your station has violated the rights of victims for the last time. Being a reporter doesn't give you or the station the right to violate privacy or push speculation as facts." The ladies simply didn't say a word and walked with John, Pierre kept on the lookout for any additional reporters and spotted several who were going to give chase but were stopped by a police cruiser that had blocked off the street behind them, keeping the followers from chasing and seeing the officers state that they were illegally parked and were being towed. All of that was just the start of the annoyances, it was going to be a long week for the girls but eventually it would die down as interest waned. Pierre had them think about something else, with Tabby and Anita starting to work on more songs so their minds kept occupied while Anita figured out if it was worth the trouble to remain in school. She found solace in helping Hannah Smith with her script as Hannah came over each day to bounce a few lines of dialog off of her to keep things from sounding, "Too Boston" as several directors claimed her works tended to be. Anita shook her head and asked her, "Isn't it set in Boston? I mean, it's where it is set so how is it 'too Boston' when you are writing with a local mindset about a place you know better than the morons who are complaining? Hell, you never hear movies being 'too LA' or 'too New York'!" Anita's words fired-up Hannah and got her to alter dialog to fit how she really wanted it to go while giving Hannah additional lines to give characters more snark and less of an edge while keeping them true to their source material. She was so into the script after those dialog pieces that Anita had to work with Hannah's husband Pete on lunch for the group while she kept Hannah's twins from getting too out of hand for Tabby. Tabby constantly complained that Anita was the best among them with children yet Anita was the one who had the least time with them! She hadn't realized that it hit Anita hard, Anita smiled and thanked her while crying at night over her not being able to be a mother. Pierre knew to let her work it out, then told her, "You could always talk to an egg donor and use a surrogate. I mean it, we can do this. We can be parents." She nodded but asked that they wait until the summer. He made all of the arrangements and had her see that he was serious and would be by her side as she donated sperm and froze more doses just so she had a chance to make as many as she needed to just in case of issues. He did the same, not wanting to tempt fate and end up without a means of producing sperm in the future. That weekend saw Pierre groan as his parents announced that they were in the city and wanted to meet their new daughter-in-law. The Duprees were met at the airport by son and daughter-in-law with both hugging deeply. Dawn Dupree looked Anita over and gasped at the sight, while her husband Axel let out a big laugh as his wife was at a rare loss for words and got caught expecting the worst from Anita. When she pulled herself together, Dawn could only say, "You are beautiful, sweety." She hugged Anita tightly and led her off to their car, with both crying as they reached the door. Anita wasn't sure if she should say anything, but Dawn fondly told her, "I expected a man in a dress, not a young girl who is what I pictured Pierre would marry. I'm sorry for thinking the worst, but our friends kept putting that image in our heads. You are beautiful. You sing beautifully. Everything about you is beautiful." Axel didn't say a word while Pierre drove them home. His parents were a bit put off by the show of wealth but Pierre told them, "It's for safety reasons. I'd rather we lived in safety than live in fear of a crazed stalker or fan trying to harm Anita. Plus I got a good deal on it from the former owner. It came highly touted by his teammate who happens to be brother-in-law to one of Anita's lawyers." When the Duprees were settled, Pierre sat them down and explained his plans. Dawn screamed with delight and hugged Anita tightly while Axel simply asked if he had it all worked out with a lawyer so there were no legal issues that arise. Pierre countered, "Anita's lawyer is pretty thorough, it's not the first time that a surrogate and donor were used that she helped. She's been the babysitter for a set of triplets born to a couple like us. They are different though- their pregnancy was both sperms used and taking hold. It was a major screw-up but things are now more secure now than it was then." Anita added, "My probate lawyer is like me and was the victim of an error that cost her any chances of having more children. She was lucky to have two eggs fertilized, her husband's sperm fertilized another one. They are considered triplets due to sharing the same womb and being no different than any other set of fraternal triplets but it's really three unique kids who are a lot harder to handle than they seem. We are taking precautions and vetted the fertility center thoroughly so it won't happen to us." Pierre added, "Her lawyer's colleagues looked over their finances and history and cleared them. She also had her main lawyer ensure that her sperm is safe and only one dose is accessible at a time. She is still making it but the longer she's on hormones the less she makes and it's starting to drop to sterility level." Dawn got the message and moved on, but kept hugging Anita and kissing her cheek as her excitement of being a grandmother overtook her. Pierre told the couple that Anita was going to work on an album as she had a large list of songs done and wanted to perform that fit her feelings for an album, and would finish recording just in time for her surgery. It was news to Anita, but he calmly told her, "You need it done for your own sake. It'll be a full year and I asked Dr. Allen about it and she is of the belief that it's just a formality at this point. You have been thriving on all levels as a woman and the only things that are at issue are your motherhood needs and your body. Both of those will be dealt with soon." Looking at his parents then at Anita, he then timidly explained, "I talked with NESM and after all of your hard work this semester it's the belief of the faculty that you aren't getting much more out of the school. Your piano skills are advanced enough to perform complex songs but you'll never be a concert pianist as most of your classmates are intent on being. The same goes for your dancing and singing, you aren't an opera singer and your vocal talents are too unique even for them to help you. As for your dancing, you are above average but not good enough to be a ballerina or specialist. They think you are good enough now to perform on your own with your own blend of each style yet not fully one style. It's a push for you to be the best that you can be, not pushing you out of the door. It's a big endorsement by them: it's them saying that you are ready for the world. I think Valerie will want you to work on courses to earn a degree, perhaps in business so you can produce alongside me?" Anita nodded to which Dawn added, "These schools are all about classical performances: dance or music you'd see at a symphony or at a ballet. You aren't either of those, you are your own person. It's a good thing for you, you are free to do as you please now. Take the opportunity, become your own woman." Axel didn't have anything to add and listened as mother and son discussed business. He learned long ago to let his wife do what she needed to do even if her son was already ahead of her. Anita was of the same belief and watched the two hash out something that Pierre had done already just to appease his mother's need to contribute to his life in some way. Axel eventually asked Anita if she was doing anything else. She blushed and told him, "I've been trying to help Hannah Smith write the screenplay for the movie I'm producing. She is almost 2/3rds of the way through the screenplay but is working hard on how the climax builds. She keeps telling me that I am getting co-writer credits for the screenplay since I have done a large percentage of it alongside her." Anita realized it was tempting fate and sure enough, Hannah called to tell her that she was on her way to the condo to discuss things. Anita blushed as she had her twins in tow, with Pete doing his best to be the doting husband and keep Hannah from overdoing things in her pregnant state. She would either be in a good mood or she would be grumpy, complaining as she trudged through the script. Hannah arrived and was in a good mood, with the twins rushing for Anita while poor Pete tried to keep Hannah from going overboard again. Lillian and Harry hugged and kissed Anita then plopped down to play in the corner while the adults talked. Hannah happily told Anita, "I think I've worked through some of the rough spots but I have to make some more connections between plot points. I am struggling to do it for some of the characters and don't want to leave things unresolved. You know this book inside and out, I can't do this without you. I need your help to do this." Pete shook his head as he caught sight of the Duprees while Pierre tried hard to not say anything as the fun would have been spoiled. Both waited for Hannah to take notice of the couple, with the kids taking the unsure Anita to the bedroom to watch TV while their parents talked. Hannah was so busy setting out her notes that it wasn't until she finished that she finally noticed the Duprees present and watching. She blushed, then Pierre calmly told her, "Meet my mother and father. They came for a visit, which was why we were out for a while. Did you check your texts or just come over on your own?" She blushed even deeper but then introduced herself as, "The Honorable Lady Hannah Smith, Baroness Gosfield, and friend of Anita." Pierre countered their looming question, telling them, "Yes, she really is an English lady. It's by both adoption and by her husband's title inheritance. It's complicated to explain but suffice to say that she has had a lot of people trying to get her to write her family's story. She's the real deal, only she doesn't act like a lady most of the time." He blushed deeply and added, "She wrote 'Closet Secrets', the movie about the crossdressing drug addict street thug who was murdered when he started to confess and talk to the feds. You loved it so much that you told me to stay away from the city when I told you I was going to spend a lot of time in Boston. That was her uncle. The family are close with Anita, her two cousins are closer to her than anyone else except Tabby Stoner. Her aunt is also Anita's primary lawyer." The twins brought Anita back out and sat down in front of the TV to watch their favorite show while Pierre and Pete talked with the Duprees while Anita and Hannah worked on the script. Neither Dupree could say anything as it was clear from the onset that they were close and the way Hannah reacted to the suggestions from Anita it was clear that Hannah was listening intently. Pierre hid a smile on his face as he watched the two work, but the couple saw it right away and were seeing how their son really felt about Anita as her barbs and jokes caused him to cringe as well as fight a chuckle and finally break down laughing as he realized it was Anita toying with him as she added them into the script. The subtlety was cute and the couple showed that they loved one another, and seeing that Anita had in Hannah a strong friendship helped the Duprees see that their son was in good hands and wasn't stuck alone in Boston without any support network. The couple listened to the various names that the two had mentioned in a span of a few minutes and got a good idea that Pierre had a stronger base than he let on and he was closer than he realized to others. What's more, the way that Pete was talking about other men and women gave them the indication that it was real friendship that he hadn't noticed yet. When Hannah left, Anita sighed and apologized. She meekly told the Duprees, "Hannah was really here to check on me to ensure that you didn't have a bad reaction to me and I was going to be alright. She could have held off working but she wanted to ensure that you weren't upset that I'm transgender and married to your son even if you say that you are alright with what I am over the phone. She's seen families who say one thing but are really different in private, she didn't want you to be like that. She really did need me to help her, she might have bitten off more than she could chew but I know the books well so I can help her through tough spots work around what she is struggling with." Things were quiet after that as the family ate a quiet dinner and spent much of their time together for the next two days. Anita was what her mother-in-law believed her to be, a young lady who wanted to be the doting wife of Pierre but who was also her own person. Pierre was a great husband who showed that he was going to be a good father in the near future. When they left on Monday, Anita was in tears as Dawn insisted that she call her "mother" as it was something that she had hoped a daughter would call her. Axel did the same, with him giving her a big kiss and telling her to not let Pierre overwork himself. Anita went to class with her head held high and feeling on top of the world. She met with her adviser and the school's dean of students and listened as they asked that she withdraw from school as they had nothing to teach her that she didn't already know nor couldn't learn easily on her own. She accepted the request but told them that she'd appreciate if it wasn't made public as the school didn't deserve trouble. She would finish out the rest of the semester as a student and be granted the opportunity to return as a professional student to earn an advanced degree after she had earned her bachelors degree from another school, which worked into Valerie's request that she earn her degree in business and make something of herself beyond music. She sensed that it was a bit of Valerie covering her so she had a chance to return if things didn't work out, but all felt that wouldn't happen. The semester wore on and saw Anita enjoying Boston without harassment thanks to all of the local TV stations and newspapers steering clear of her. When she did appear in the newspapers it was due to one of the other students at school being the focus and her actual connection was glanced over. Being close to Anita was seen as a badge of honor among students and the few who were able to get close were the ones who were actually friendly to her and wanted to be around her for herself. Anita enjoyed many "girls night out" with classmates, with Tabby dragging her cousins along to make it an even number of ladies and ensuring that nobody hassled them. The girls brought their boyfriends as well as Pierre, with Pierre acting as the big brother to all of them and keeping any alcohol away. It was great fun to them to see movies, with Anita pointing out who were total frauds or were genuinely nice people among the actors, directors, and producers. The ones that made her laugh the most were ones that Aubrey had been in, with the girls laughing at the horrible acting and scratching their heads over how she got into a major movie like, "Closet Secrets" but realized that she was sleeping with the director and was only in a small part for a couple of lines. Tabby had to explain how they had met some of the people in the movie indirectly, with Logan cringing as he listened to Piper tell them, "Logan was in the picture of them in the prison at the start of the movie." The girls actually liked being around Anita and sought her out for advice, showing Anita that they had a true reason for wanting to be around her and not just because they benefited from her fame. She loved to be that confidant, with the girls talking freely over time and eventually getting Anita to open up to them about things that she only talked with Tabby, Aggy, Melinda, and Piper about. Tabby grinned and told her warmly, "Congratulations on making real friends, you need others besides the four of us." When the semester ended, Anita tearfully bid the girls goodbye but wasn't leaving their lives. They had a right to their own life and she wanted them too know that she was a friend and would be there for all of them even if she couldn't be there in person. The girls told her the same, she wasn't going to be out of their lives and would be there for her when she needed an ear. During March, tragedy struck the Finns and saw Anita jumping into action to help the kids deal with the news that one of their future cousins wasn't going to be their cousin. Hannah's sister-in-law Paige Smith was involved in a horrible car accident that cost her the unborn daughter she was seven months pregnant with. She wouldn't be able to have any more children as both ovaries and her uterus were damaged beyond repair requiring surgery to remove them. Anita helped the children understand that tragedy happens and you have to accept that even the best of families can have accidents that change lives. She spoke with Paige's twins Bradford and Ophelia about it at length, letting them talk freely without fear of what their relatives would say and ensuring that the two now seven-year-old kids didn't grieve what they couldn't change. She felt their love and was happy to have them call her "Aunt Anita" as they talked with her, giving her a chance to feel like a true aunt. In early June Hannah gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that she named Elise Anita Smith, in honor of her mother Karen and her good friend and co-screenwriter. She asked Anita to be Elise's godmother, as she had earned it by helping Elise's siblings deal with losing their unborn cousin back in March. Anita tearfully accepted the honor and vowed that she would do the same for Hannah. With Hannah's loving gesture weighing on them, Anita and Pierre talked with the surrogate selected to be inseminated and worked with her to do what needed to be done ahead of the insemination. She moved in with them in late June after the first insemination, and was crying tears of joy for the couple as it was confirmed that she was pregnant with Pierre's child via a donor egg. Anita had to hide her tears as she called both the Marshalls and Duprees to tell them that they were expecting their first child, with the Duprees both crying over hearing that Pierre's semen had been selected for the first child. The pregnancy gave Anita fuel for her songs and got her writing for much of the summer while Pierre did his best to work with her to ensure that she made something that was close to how she wanted to be yet wasn't a vanity project that wouldn't sell many copies. It worked as her album was a mixture of pop music, slow music, love songs, and upbeat dance songs. It appealed to just about everyone and had the kind of music that top 40 stations loved to play, especially as she was a name to look out for. She recorded the songs throughout August, with the only ones who knew of their existence being Anita, Pierre, and their surrogate. She didn't care for music and simply kept to herself at the condo, Anita tried to be friendly but struggled to connect with her. When she finally asked the surrogate why she was being so distant, she received a tearful, "It's just gong to be easier on us as I don't have to worry about being emotionally close to you making separation a lot easier on all of us. You are good people and I thank you for trying, but it is for the best to just let me keep my distance." The two hugged and let it go, but Anita did tell her, "You shouldn't have to hide yourself. Being friendly is something that shouldn't make you feel bad. I doubt any of our friends will let you feel alone either." The recording took its toll on Anita but she was forced to take a lot of breaks and only did one song a day regardless of how much time was left in the day. Pierre used all of the extra time to ensure that the backing music was great and the instrumentals were at the right speeds. He laughed as he could feel her telling him that it might be too fast for some songs but not disagreeing with him. The album was better than Anita could have hoped and saw all of her friends agreeing that it would be a huge hit when it was released. Pierre lined up a record publisher to release it, with him ensuring that it wasn't able to be used by anyone else in case they tried to get around Anita in favor of another singer. It would be expected of them, her being transgender would put off many but he held all rights to it so if it was going to be an issue their contract would be terminated and he'd take the album to a rival publisher. The album was released in December but saw Anita having to go on a long international publicity tour to promote it starting in October. Pierre was by her side for the whole trip to ensure that there was no mistreatment of Anita but also saw their surrogate going to stay with the Duprees so she wasn't left all alone. Dawn spoiled the young woman, giving her affection that she hadn't realized that she had missed with her own parents and showing care that the melted the Dupress' hearts. The tour took a lot out of Anita as she delayed her surgery until December when she was finally over the need to perform on multiple TV, radio, talk, and cable shows. She was constantly bombarded with questions about her sex life and her sex change, with Anita simply asking anyone who asked why they felt that they had to know about who she slept with or what she had in her panties. She loved to make the hosts cringe as their questions were turned around on them and used against them by their rivals, with Anita knowing full well most of them deserved that public humiliation. Her first single did something nobody expected: it shot up the charts and stayed at #1 for a month as it was the perfect theme for the change of seasons and was used by several sports teams as inspiration to improve their play. When it was used by the New England Patriots as part of one of their ways to build their teamwork, it became a national obsession and had people debating it while it received play on a slew of sports talk shows bringing her to a wider range of listeners while earning Anita a good amount of money from the payments to the record company for playing the song. She didn't know that the song was chosen on the recommendation of Mitch Gibson, who didn't reveal that he knew Anita personally but knew that it was the perfect song to use to help motivate the team. Anita's second single did just as well, replacing another song that November and staying at the top for three weeks before getting knocked down in favor of a standard pop song. The follow-up success had Anita being sought for more appearances but it was turned down in favor of her having her surgery and the record publisher letting fans know that she'd tour that summer. She hadn't agreed to that and when he heard about it Pierre told the publisher that she wasn't touring until she was ready and if they tried to force her out on the road he'd terminate their deal- Anita's health came first, she might not be ready to tour then and might not even want to tour as she had fulfilled her obligations for publicity already. The surgery was routine but saw Anita feeling horrible for much of her recovery. She received visits from all of her friends and even got to meet her newborn nephew, with the infant trying to suckle from her breasts causing her to feel terrible but having Todd complain, "He does it to everyone! He did it to me too many times to count and made me look foolish in front of mom and dad." The little boy gave up when he saw his bottle, Pierre happily told her, "You could take supplements to do that with our baby. It's starting to become common now among transgender women, the hormone in the supplement simply stimulates your ducts and lets nature work its course. It'll take time but it'll be worth it for you to do it if only to give you peace of mind." That news caused Anita to weep, with Todd complaining about her being so darn girly. His husband Butch gave him a whack and added, "She can't help it if she's not apathetic to parenthood like you are. Just for that, we are having another one!" He gave Anita a grin, he wanted to give Todd a second child before he gave up on the last part of his female life and had his surgery to remove his female parts. Anita looked to Todd who was in a daze as he tried hard to fathom if it was the truth or if she was lying, with Pierre telling him, "He means it, he's going to give you another kid. He loves you enough to give you your 'heir and a spare'." The Marshalls met the Duprees as Anita recovered, with both getting along wonderfully as the Duprees were eager to meet the people who were the real parents of Anita while the Marshalls wanted to gauge the real feelings of the people who raise the perfect son. Both traded stories about their children and saw the Marshalls laughing at teenage Pierre's antics while trying to keep his boy band from becoming like so many other boy bands in history. Anita's fussiness was a topic and saw the Duprees seeing that she was trying extremely hard to prove to be a good house guest when all she needed to do was just be herself as she had already won over the family simply by being Todd's friend. When she was fully recovered, Anita started a long dance regimen to get herself into shape to do all of the complex dances that she had done before the surgery. She spent hours at a dance studio under the careful watch of Amanda Kelly, Aggy Stoner's future mother-in-law and friend of the Finns. Amanda was a tough taskmaster who ensured that Anita didn't hide any pain and took regular breaks to ensure that she was doing alright and didn't strain any of her muscles, not wanting her to permanently hurt herself trying to push herself too far too fast. Amanda taught her how to move more fluidly now that she no longer had to deal with fear of crushing her genitals or feeling twinges of pain when her testicles whacked against her legs. She also worked to get Anita to take breaks in-between her songs so that she rested her muscles and gave body a chance to get some fluids. She then told Anita that it wasn't wasted time, it might be worth it to use her natural personality to get the audience into the songs and share stories to pass the time until she was ready. Anita asked her how she was so knowledgeable about what she needed to do as a dancer, Amanda gave her a big smile and happily told her, "I had to make those adjustments after my surgery. It took a while to get used to not having anything between my legs but it was worth it to be complete. As for your own resting periods, it's the intensity of the dances. I'd suggest ballads or piano songs between the dancing-heavy songs so your legs can rest but that's up to you to choose." It took two months for Anita to get back to normal but when she was ready she had to hold off starting her tour because of the birth of her first child- a daughter. In late March, their surrogate gave birth to little Clara Hannah Dupree and saw both Anita and Pierre in tears as they held the little girl just after birth. Their family came together to celebrate the birth and say goodbye to the surrogate, with the girl receiving a hefty payment for her assistance and a job out in California with the Marshalls' production company once she recovered from the impact of giving birth. Anita and Pierre announced to the world that they were parents, heading off any rumors and telling all who tried to ask that the baby was Pierre's child biologically but both were the parents on paper. It was an international sensation as Anita's songs were still popular and her albums were now certified to be 5x platinum in the US alone. Anita fought off any demands for pictures of the baby, and successfully sued several newspapers for publishing pictures taken covertly in their condo building. The world tour to support the album started and saw Anita taking Clara with them instead of leaving her with her grandparents. It wasn't an issue until two months in as a few complained that they were harming the child. When pressed on how it was harming her, they couldn't pinpoint one actual sign of harm and when it was pressed further the critics went after her being transgender as being harmful and that the child had to be removed from her because she was a danger to the child no matter what. Anita fought back and asked how her being transgender was a danger then showed that the ones who had been complaining about her being transgender had multiple arrests for spousal and child abuse yet she had never laid a finger on anyone before. She turned their crowd against them, especially as she showed that two had sexual assault claims against kids which made the leader force the group to go after Anita to keep her quiet. It was desperation but only a few actually listened to him. The four went for Anita who moved back out of reach causing them to fall on each other as they tried to get out of each other's way. She didn't move much at all, letting them make fools of themselves as they screamed homophobic and transphobic slurs at her. One finally got up and went for her, striking her in the chest with a knife causing her to pass out from the shock as she realized that she was on the verge of dying. Anita was in a place between places, floating around the people trying to save her life while trying hard to keep Pierre from killing the man who stabbed her. She saw rage in his eyes, with security and police doing whatever they could to keep the two separated so neither were injured. The man who stabbed her was on the ground in handcuffs, fighting hard to get away while shouting obscenities at Anita's body and seeing his friends trying hard to get away from the crowd as the crowd held them firmly in place. She started to see lights and felt herself lifting upward, she tried to fight it but the pull yanked her up so hard her limbs were jerked back. When the pulling stopped, she was in a place of light and calmness, a place that she could only describe as, "Heaven" yet something was off. She looked at the other people in the place and saw looks of concern and apathy- it wasn't heaven, it was purgatory. She was called forward to a large desk and asked to state why she was there. All Anita could remember was that she had been stabbed but nothing else. The person at the desk just nodded and gave her a look that was almost as if they were peering into her soul. After a few seconds, the person stated, "You aren't supposed to be here yet. Your death is scheduled for your 96th birthday and surrounded by your children and descendants. The one who was supposed to die was your sister, but things changed due to clerical error. She gets to live for a while longer, her death is being given a reprieve so she can be given a chance to repent her ways and change. You are just an unfortunate mix-up that will be dealt with administratively, but your near-death experience is being used as a way of helping thousands of people change their views on people like yourself. Your attack altered reality, your career is about to explode due to it." The person added, "You were supposed to face a challenge and win, this challenge was simply enduring the pressures of fame and the bigotry of others which you did before this error. You were supposed to see if you can face your inner self and accept what you are or if you fight your inner self and lose the battle and continue to lie- hiding away from society for being shunned by small-minded fools who are of the belief that they are following the words of a man who claimed to know God's words but who was really forcing his views on others. You won, you accepted that you were female and succeeded beyond what it was supposed to do to your soul. You grew as a person, accepted motherhood, and was going to be a huge star remembered for all time. You kept on going forward, found your needed support from a few of the best possible sources, and finally found your one true calling in life. It isn't as a performer: it's as an inspiration to others to live a life as yourself not as others see it. The man that stabbed you altered that course again, this time you are helping to bring reforms to places that are in need of it and showing that theocracy isn't the answer when it is used to force the views of a few in power on others. You are doing something few could do- you brought actual change by almost dying from an error by us. We don't make mistakes often, and almost always those mistakes are undone. This can't be undone. What happened was too important to undo, all of the good would be lost." She felt a sudden rush as she went back to her body and awoke in a hospital bed, with Pierre and Clara by her side. Clara immediately tried to suckle from her but she couldn't due to the medications in her body. She cried, but hearing her mother's voice soothed the infant and calmed her back to sleep. Pierre tried to ask if she was alright now, Anita nodded then was told, "The man who stabbed you is in a secure prison facility. His being there was no accident, he was part of a larger hate group that wanted to 'sanitize' music and TV so the views of the group were the only ones allowed. Your friends and their parents went at them hard and bankrupted every member of their group, anyone who gave a penny to them lost all of their money through lawsuits, and the group itself suffered a hefty penalty from the states for lying on tax records. No member escaped prison, but he got it worst of all." Looking away, he explained, "He has been beaten to within an inch of his life and was stabbed multiple times by fellow prisoners. He lost both testicles and has been raped by most of the inmates at his jail. It turns out that you are highly popular among convicts as none of the groups could find anything wrong with your music. Going after you was one of the few things that all agreed is a step too far for anyone, so he hasn't left the hospital or solitary confinement out of fear of death." He sighed and added, "Your album hit #1 again and stayed that way for a month. It's gotten another two million sold but has been banned in several countries due to being done by an 'undesirable'. That hasn't kept sales from happening, and sparked complaints from the public about why it's banned." He looked at her again and told her warmly, "You are back in Boston in a rehabilitation hospital. We flew you east so you could recover at home. You've been in a coma for two months. It was medically induced due to the damage to your internal organs and infections, but lingered after you were supposed to come out of it. We were scared that you may never recover, but you are awake now." He cringed and confessed, "Clara missed you deeply, she won't stop trying to suckle from my nipples. Mom and Mother keep annoying me about it, Todd joked as well but he's having trouble dealing with it as your nephew does it to him. Butch is doing better and gave birth to a daughter, then went in for his final surgery to remove his sex organs and have his penis elongated. Todd tried to dissuade him but it didn't work. He looks a lot more masculine now without breasts, Todd can't stop drooling over him." He saved the best news for last, telling her, "We are going to be parents again. Your semen was used this time and it took immediately. Our new surrogate insisted on helping as she feels responsible for making you leave school. She donated her egg for the procedure, we tried to convince her not to but she wanted a piece of her to live on as she chose to not be a parent and raise a child of her own. Your new son will be born in May, just after the semester ends. There is still more semen so we can use the original donor at a later time, so Clara has a biological sibling to go with her non-biological one." Anita was in tears as Clara cooed and giggled at Anita's reaction, with Pierre adding, "She approves, it's tough to say no to that cute little face." Anita tried hard not to laugh but failed, giving her a shot of pain down her sides from the sudden movement. She felt better knowing that her family was growing and they'd be parents for a third time. Anita's recovery was slow as pain and muscle atrophy wracked her body. Pierre was always with her as she went through physical therapy under the watchful eyes of Jessie Pena, Rebecca Samuels, and a tough taskmaster named Eric Vincent. All three refused to let her overdo things and told her that they had higher orders to ensure that she didn't overdo her recovery- from Hannah Smith herself. She knew Rebecca through her in-laws and realized that Jessie was Donald Bollinger's sister. What she didn't know was Eric Vincent was Hannah's second-cousin, thus was under more pressure to ensure that she didn't try to go too far too fast. If Anita hurt herself tying to do too much too fast, he'd have her to answer to for letting her ignore his warnings. Anita had a constant stream of visitors, with her nephew being her favorite as the little boy had grown so much since she had seen him. He didn't pay her much attention, but the little one kept eyeing her and fell asleep in her arms as she talked with his fathers. Seeing Butch looking so masculine now that he had gotten full breast reduction surgery it was tough to not feel some stirring in her loins as he was stunning and fit Todd perfectly as they were the same size but Todd had more muscle mass. Her little niece slept through their visits, with the little one not having a care in the world as she was so used to the adults talking around her. They did tell her that she was a screamer when she needed a new diaper, causing Anita to add, "Tell me about it. I think infant girls are given louder voices just to cause us to get annoyed and help them faster." Tabby, Aggy, Melinda, and Piper visited each night and dragged their fiances along for protection as well as for support. Sydney came by a well, showing off her wife's newly bulging womb as she happily told Anita, "She got jealous of you and wanted our second child. We were planning on waiting until she graduated but seeing little Justin looking jealous of his cousins made us give in. He wants it to be a girl so I can have a daughter to be like me, I think he means biological but he is getting a bit too smart...I know, the genius having a genius son is fate being fickle!" Rose happily added, "He's smarter than normal, he might be a genius but he's too young for testing. We hope he's average, we don't want him to feel like an outcast for being ahead of others his age. He's his mother's son, we all see Sydney in him so hopefully he can be what Sydney wasn't." After a week recovering and a month in rehabilitation, Anita was finally released. The media tried to get images of her leaving the hospital but were met by a wall made up of Anita's friends and members of the Finn Family, with the uniformed police members making the media back away immediately as David Peterson and Miles Finn grinned widely and told them to move along or be arrested for violating an active restraining order as well as patients' rights to privacy. The old orders keeping them from being close to Anita were still being enforced, leaving only the paparazzi to try to get images of her. Anita's trip home was long as they purposely went around the city before heading to her condo. Clara had a big smile as she enjoyed the fun, with Pierre complaining that she was enjoying his frustrations a bit too much. Anita could only smile as it was actually her acting like her father when he was happy. She rested for two weeks before being told by her doctor to get some exercise, which meant to her to go to the dance studio to workout with Amanda Kelly. Amanda helped her get back into dancing shape, it wasn't that hard but she ensured that Anita didn't overdo her dancing nor mask her wincing. The two spent hours dancing and saw Amanda being used as a confidant for Anita as she tried to make sense of how things could go from amazing to horrible in a span of seconds." She sighed and shot back, "It hits you when you are least expecting it. My husband's first wife was filled with joy giving birth to their son one minute then suffered a stroke and died the next. I was performing the lead solo for Ohio Ballet one afternoon then that evening I'm being told that I was fired because of being a liability to the company. Joseph Johnson, Valerie's father, was talking on the phone with her one minute then dying en-route to the hospital the next. It hits us when we are least expecting it, you never know when or where it'll hit but you have to accept that bad things happen for no reason." Amanda sat her down and explained further, "Good things can come out of these horrible situations. He lost his mother but became close to Kylie Pena and her friends, leading to his father becoming friends with John and Valerie and the others. If was thanks to that closeness that he was asked to take me on a double-date by his friend allowing us to fall in love at first sight. Junior is a strapping young man and the son that I wished I could have. As is his older brother Dante, he is the light of my life now that he found his calling in life. He came into our lives via being abandoned as a baby and going through foster home after foster home, suffering from constant abuse and neglect, but found his way into our hearts. He became the older brother that Junior had wanted. He found his real parents through DNA testing, he met them and was happy to never see them again. He saw how horrible they were as people and vowed to better himself for his family's sake. He has kept to that vow and will be one of the best businessmen when he graduates- I can see it in his eyes." She sighed and confessed, "This happened last June and rocked our family to the core. Joseph is Valerie's father and died suddenly but suffered heart troubles for the past 10 years that he tried to keep hidden from all of us. He was the grandfather to many of the kids who don't have a grandfather and was the surrogate father for a lot of the guys. From his death we learned a truth about his life that he had kept hidden from his wife and daughter- he had a second child, a young woman born out of a major mistake during a drunken fling while in Boston when he was just starting out at his law firm. She ended up in his life years later without ever knowing their connection, but he knew exactly who she was and it broke his heart to see her struggle. When he died, the truth came out and made our family even stronger as her connection was one that finally made sense all of these years later. Her name is Lilly Peterson, you talked with her for a while when you had your surgery. She is the spitting image of Valerie and we never took stock of how much she was alike, only their height, hair, and eyes are different." She let Anita process that, adding a sad, "From tragedy comes the truth and the truth is you are one of the best performers in the world today and have made thousands of people happy with your music and your shows. There's a reason why your songs are hits and your album sold so well- you are amazing. The girls all admit to being jealous of your natural talent, I'm jealous that you are able to pickup so much so fast. You are a rarity in entertainment: a true renaissance woman." The two watched as Amanda's students filed in for their evening classes, with Anita having to duck out before Cat Finn spotted her. Amanda casually told her, "She knows you are here and is keeping away to give you a chance to be alone. She may be clingy, but she truly cares about you and wants you to get back to what you do best even if it takes a long time to get into the right mental state. You can't hide from her forever, just remember that you are still their cousin and aunt even if you don't see them." She caught sight of Cat and hugged her, with Cat hugging her back and going on her way while Willow Reagan and Trinity tried to not say something about the hugs. Trinity told the other girls and boys in the class that Cat was close to Anita and she hadn't seen her in months while also giving them a clear look that told them to back away from her or else. Anita walked out feeling better, while Amanda told the teens, "She's still recovering but Cat needed that hug to let her know that Anita is doing better. It's a personal matter between them, you all know how Cat is with people she cares about." Anita became a quasi-fixture at the studio as she stayed to watch the teens dance at Cat's insistence. It was also helped that Trinity and she talked about music and none of the parents were upset that she was there. The parents seemed to know to not make a fuss over her being there as Anita was simply there as a performer and not for attention or was she taking away from the kids' hard work. She spent some time watching with Lilly Peterson and asked if it was true about being Valerie's sister. Lilly nodded, adding a somber, "He took care of me all of these years but didn't want me to spoil how I remembered my family. It explained my parents' reaction to my being pregnant with my daughter, it was bringing back old memories to them of my mom cheating on my dad. Dad did the wrong thing but he did the right thing in helping me out without my ever knowing it. He got me a scholarship offer to Rutgers to get me away from my parents and he helped ensure that my youngest daughter became my daughter. He took a strong interest in you and would have helped you more but we now see why that didn't happen. He wanted you to do well, even if he couldn't be there for you as he wanted." Anita had unknowingly helped Lilly get out some grief. The stoic woman shed tears over the memories of a man who was closer than he appeared, with Anita being someone who was getting helped by him like so many others. Anita was part of his legacy, one of helping those in need who needed it. Anita spent three months working on her upper body strength in the morning with Eric while Amanda worked with her dancing in the afternoons. She spent most evenings with Pierre as he worked on other artists and managed Anita's finances while Anita played with Clara. He was forced to take on other acts by Anita so he didn't focus solely on her career, even if it meant he'd have to go on trips to seal deals. Anita the mother was a sight to see for her friends as all six were happy for her. Trinity was the one to react negatively, but it was only because she was under constant watch by both of her mothers and her girlfriend's parents. None of the four wanted a repeat of what happened to Sydney and Rose. Her four other friends kept their distance as they focused on their schoolwork but did visit on weekends to give Anita a break and enjoy quality time with Clara. The girls weren't looking forward to being a mom but did enjoy being an aunt to someone who could turn on her cuteness easily. Clara had the four wrapped around her finger, with none of the girls realizing she tricked them into doing what she wants. When she finally got the all clear from her doctors, Anita was right back into things and scheduled her tour to begin in a week with Boston getting a free performance as she felt the city deserved that special honor for giving her space even if the media sometimes didn't. The fans packed Boston Common for the event, as she gave all of the fans all of her hits as well as a couple of covers that she saved for special occasions. It was a huge success, especially as fans couldn't believe that she was capable of playing so many song styles from so many different genres especially hardcore metal and rap songs. Cat and her dance school colleagues were involved in the performance as one of Anita's slow songs had a long classical interlude that worked the kids' dancing while Anita took a breather as she played piano during the interlude showing it wasn't a fluke and she really could play it. Trinity was a large part of the dance as she performed with the others instead of playing piano alongside Anita. It was Anita's own request that she join them as she was one of them and she didn't want her to stand out among them. The performance was recorded for broadcast nationally but found itself being broadcast worldwide as it was deemed special enough to showcase globally. The fact that she was almost murdered in front of a large crowd because of her past and came back to perform better than ever was something that couldn't be ignored nor denied. She was a major artist and her concert earned her an even bigger following. Anita was exhausted after the last encore song was sung. She worked hard all evening and ensured that it was a night worth remembering for all involved. The ones who had the most fun out of anyone were the dancers, especially as she got Cat and Trinity to join her for a bit of fun that was meant to give her backing band a breather as well as show how close Cat and Trinity were to her. She was taken to a hotel for the night so people didn't see her go to her condo. Pierre kept fans and the media away, with Pierre telling the few media who complained that she had a right to privacy and they were why she wanted to remain private. He then told the offending reporters, "Just because you are the local entertainment reporters doesn't give you special access nor does it give you the right to complain if someone doesn't give in to your badgering. Your job is to report on entertainment stories, not to try to create ones. I have lived and worked in Boston long enough to know that none of you are real reporters and all of you only got your jobs because you looked good and slept with your general managers!" The other reporters laughed and added, "True," while the entertainment reporters threatened to sue. He happily countered, "Please, try. I would be glad to cite the divorce cases where your sleeping with the GM was cited as the reason for the divorces. You slept your way to your job instead of earning it the hard way, as these fine reporters have done over the years. My sources are as strong as yours, it'd be a real shame if your falsified resumes or your plagiarized classwork were released to Boston viewers." That got them to leave, with one reporter whom Pierre trusted adding, "He will ensure she's protected." Pierre nodded and added, "I trust William or else I wouldn't have gone head to head with them. He'll be honest and give the right evidence, it's their fault for not realizing his connection to my wife by now." Inside their hotel suite, Anita asked what that was about. Pierre simply explained, "I have firepower to burn the careers of those hacks thanks to Amanda's husband William. You know how she cares a lot about you, well he takes care of friends of his son and future daughter-in-law. He has the retaliation all ready to go and by tomorrow afternoon all of those hacks will be out of the job. He hates how they got their jobs and are able to keep them and waited for them to go too far. They went too far tonight." Anita was all over the news for days as her concert was replayed and people talked about it constantly. She knew that her tour would be tough on her but she soldiered on and set out with Clara and their new surrogate for the long trip across the country. She chose to not go international this time as she wanted to keep their surrogate close and have her relax, making her feel like family and not a hired helper. The tour spent three months traveling across the country hitting major cities but working smaller arenas due to timing issues. She personally demanded that their first stop be in the same city where she was stabbed, with the message that she wasn't afraid of a bunch of nutjobs being shown to all. She loved the performance and gave the fans a night to remember, but chose not to meet anyone after the show. In California, she was asked by Aubrey's doctors to visit her sister in prison. Anita was shocked to discover that Aubrey was both pregnant and looking frail. She revealed to Anita that she had an affair with a guard and saw the man getting fired while having to endure the shame of the result of her tryst. Aubrey begged her to take the child and let him or her live a normal life, she couldn't give that to her child and she knew that Anita was going to be the better mother than her. Aubrey was remorseful, for once Anita saw that she wasn't acting and desperately wanted her to take her child off of her hands. Pierre agreed to do it, provided that the former guard's family gave up all rights to the child and never contacted the kid again. Rick Samuels worked with Anita to get the paperwork signed and explained to Aubrey that she was to be away from Anita from then on and when the adoption was finalized she was to never contact Anita for anything again. Aubrey gave in, not even trying to fight her sister and feeling as if it was the best for her child even if it meant that she'd never know her little one. Aubrey gave birth a week later and saw the family naming the little boy Todd Butch Dupree after his uncles, with Anita and Pierre being granted full custody as well as enjoying the thrill of Anita being a mother again. Clara was happy to have a new baby brother and gave her mom a big smile as she kissed her new brother. The Marshalls joined Todd and Butch and their own kids as the lot gathered together for an impromptu family gathering, with the surrogate happily taking pictures for her employer and enjoying seeing the family come together as one. The tour ended back in Boston with Anita giving the crowd a big goodbye as she awaited the birth of her third child, with Clara and Todd being oblivious to the chaos around them. Todd fed from Anita's breasts while Clara kept Pierre busy, and after a couple of hours of hard labor little Andrew was born. He looked so much like Anita it was hard to not cry, especially as Todd was put next to him and he too looked like Anita making the Woods family line shine strong even if they'd never know their family. Anita decided that she'd hold off on their fourth child, waiting for the three kids to get older so she had a chance to experience motherhood over a longer period of time. It was already tough to have all three kids going full steam and needing attention, but it was a problem she loved to endure. Pierre wisely told her that she'd have help, even if she didn't want to hire someone she was getting a nanny to help. Anita breastfed the two infants while Clara had weened off of the milk early on. She giggled as the two fought her to get milk, with Pierre shaking his head at her taking after him. Motherhood was a blessing for Anita as the time off from touring meant she could focus on other things and saw her getting into her college classes and finishing several over the course of a semester while putting herself ahead of schedule to earn her degree, something she kept trying to put off until the boys were born. During her time at home she had a steady stream of friends over to help her deal with having multiple young kids. Her nanny was a huge help as she did much of the childcare while Anita did the laundry and washed the dishes. Anita refused to let the nanny do those, it was her job as a mother to do them. As the kids grew she started to get the urge to write and perform and saw the family start to see a spark reignite inside Anita. After the boys' first birthday, Pierre looked over Anita's hard work and told her it was time for her second solo album. The kids would be alright touring with her, and would see her going on a tour of North America leading to long stretches of closeness for all of them on the road. Recording took longer than the previous album, but featured more musical styling to cater to Anita's abilities. She used the guitar more and went with a keyboard for several songs instead of the piano. She added backing vocals that were meant to contrast her own voice at times while adding some that were different yet supported her main vocals. The nanny was going along with them on the tour this time, she was part of the family and they refused to allow her to stay behind while Anita spent four months on the road especially as it would be tough to separate the kids from their nanny as they had gotten so used to having her around. Their nanny enjoyed the chance to be with the family for the trip and saw it as a long vacation with pay, especially as the kids got to enjoy the trip alongside her and kept her from getting too bored or too comfortable. It was even more fun for her as she had never visited any of the places they were stopping at, making it a once in a lifetime trip- one that she was being paid a good sum of money to enjoy. The tour was a success, as was the album. It sold well and featured several #1 hits, but it also was a lot of work for Anita. She swore that after her third album she'd take a hiatus to enjoy her children, while also giving Pierre a chance to work with others as his record label flourished. Anita rested for the next six months, only taking time off when Aubrey was released from prison and gave her a request to meet with her. Seeing Aubrey made her cry as her older sister was gaunt and looked as if she was dying. It was right, as Aubrey was dying of cancer and was only released due to having been given notice that she had only a couple of months to live. Anita felt terrible for her sister but Aubrey insisted that it was all her fault as she ignored the warning signs and believed the misinformation about vaccines and what they'd do to her. She wanted to make amends with her sister while she had the chance, begging Anita to accept her as her sister as she didn't want to die alone. Anita asked if she could do the same, hoping that her sister would see her as her own sister instead of as a boy who mutilated his body to look like a woman. The two cried for hours as Anita told her all about what she had done since Aubrey moved out of their home and into their grandparents' mansion. Aubrey was shocked to learn how much she had done in such a short period of time but realized that it had been over four years since she was arrested. Anita had done more in that short period of time than Aubrey had in her entire life, causing her to see that her sister was the real talent of the family while Aubrey was the actual disappointment. Pierre was shown to her, followed by Clara, Todd, and Andrew. Seeing Todd caused Aubrey to weep, he was his mother's spitting image which Aubrey had to admit was a blessing. She softly told her sister, "His father is of Greek origin and has a strong olive complexion, but he looks so much like you. You are dad's spitting image, I look like mom. I am glad that he looks like you so he never has to ask why he is different than his brother and sister. Take good care of him, please sis?" Aubrey was moved to their condo in Boston so she could pass on in peace. Anita was in tears when the time came and Aubrey passed on in her sleep, with Pierre comforting her as she let out her grief. She had struggled for years with Aubrey's abuse, but she was saddened to lose her sister just after the two found the courage to reconcile with one another. Anita broke the news to her parents in person, telling them both that Aubrey had died and she had left a legacy thanks to her only child. She then announced that they had another grandchild, one that was blood and not adopted as they suspected. She finally told them that they'd never see their grandchildren as the kids didn't need to know their biological grandparents as they were nothing to them anymore. It felt good to finally confront them as well as seeing their reactions. She proudly told them that she is a married woman with three kids and was planning on a fourth in the future. She then happily added, "I'm also an international recording sensation with two successful albums and tours under my belt. I've used the money you profited from my inheritance to fund a movie that is projected to be an Oscar winner. I will be sure to not thank you should we win any awards, you don't deserve any connection to it." She walked out and smiled, adding, "I already won an Oscar for Best Original Score as well as one for Best Original Song. I added another one for my own movie, complete with a cameo of me singing it in the movie itself. It's going to be a huge blockbuster, the actress is simply divine!" Anita wasn't kidding about the Oscars, as she chose not to be part of the telecast back when she was up for the award the first time. She chose to let her co-composer have the honors all to himself and he happily told those in attendance that she was the co-writer and deserved to be there with him but she chose to not be exploited by the ceremony in an attempt to appear to be diverse. He also added that she had done the writing for the winner for Best Original Song thus was the music behind the entire movie. She wasn't far off about Hannah Smith's movie as Francesca Herman won the award for, "Best Actress" then saw Anita win for both, "Best Original Song" and, "Best Picture" with Anita sending her proxies, the Marshalls, up in her stead as she chose to not receive the spotlight. As her parents had been the ones to secure additional funding allowing Anita to lessen her financial load on the movie it was something that they had earned and as family to her it was hard to argue against them being there. Her one concession was that she sang her song on stage and with sadness she sang it during the tribute to those who had died during the past year. As the last picture showed, she shed tears and let out a sad, "I'll miss you, sis" on seeing her name linger behind her. It wasn't meant to be heard but was picked up by the microphones but was a fitting end to her song and showed that the deceased do have family too. She walked off in tears and hugged Pierre as he came out to get her away from the cameras. The crew tried to capture the hug but were cutoff by the director cutting away to the crowd's reaction and polite applause. There was no way the director could show the emotional embrace, it would detract from the rest of the awards and leave the happy moments upstaged by the moment of sisterly sadness. The sad scene was replayed thousands of times the next day as Anita's actual reaction to seeing her own sister on the list of people who had died causing her to breakdown in tears while playing the ending of her own song was too sweet and sad to miss. There were plenty of detractors but few could argue that it wasn't one of the most powerful moments in Oscar history. The fact that she was estranged from her sister for so long and who had actually sent Aubrey to prison wasn't lost, as even the most bitter of rivals can still love one another despite being so against the other for so long. Anita spent a good deal of time resting and enjoying her college courses. She immersed herself in the world of academia through her online courses that it was tough to get her to stop and eat at times. If it wasn't so beneficial to her Pierre would have stopped her after the first deep dive into her books. Time passed fast and Anita felt recharged enough to start on a world tour. It was going to be for both of her albums so it would take a chunk of the evening but she was fine doing all of it herself. She had a lot of ideas that would be worked into the performance, especially a couple of comedy bits that she liked. The tour would last for a year and see the kids going from country to country alongside her. They had to part ways with their nanny due to issues with immigration in certain countries, but they made up for it by having the Duprees with them for the tour. The seven had a great deal of fun and saw all of them taking great pride in the cities that they visited, with Anita letting the locals know that she had been to see their favorite sites and understood their customs and traditions even if they were odd to her. Anita got a kick out of visiting England and meeting Hannah's grandparents, with Anita blushing as the couple told her they had heard quite a bit about her from their five grandchildren and four elder great-grandchildren- especially Melinda's fiance Ethan Smith. She was at a loss for words but when it was told that they were happy to know that Hannah had someone who could talk with her on her level and ground her when she was writing she eased up on her anxiety. The kids loved the attention of the two elders while the Duprees made polite conversation while the Anita prepared for her concerts. When they returned home, it was different for them. Hannah worked with her on Hannah's books to the point that she was inspired to create a story based on Anita's life but framed it in a way that kids would be able to read yet not be scared by the seriousness of what happened to Anita. It was a tough book to write, but Hannah made Anita out to be a hero while making Aubrey into a villain yet showing that it wasn't all bad for her as she could be redeemed by accepting that her sister was truly better than her. Anita was also able to get used to the fact that she was now, "Aunt Anita" to the various younger kids, especially Hannah's three and her niece and nephew. Little Elise took to her godmother with great care and was always trying to be with Anita even when Anita was busy. She took the news that Anita had to do a lot of work hard but it was something that she accepted even if she was disappointed in her. Pierre received a huge offer to reform his boy band during the boys' 2nd birthday while the family was still on tour, with Anita telling him that it would be best to just enjoy the reunion as it was going to help the others get out of debt and turn their lives around. He only accepted if they were drug-free and they kept themselves faithful to their wives. He held their music rights so unless they wanted to pay him to perform they would have to follow his rules and remain sober, clean, and faithful. Their tour started after the Duprees returned home from Anita's tour. She happily supported them and was at their first four tour dates, unknowingly driving up ticket sales as news leaked that she was there. It was funny as she never made a full appearance except at the end to kiss and hug Pierre who revealed that he was happily married to her and proud to be there due to her support of him. The group's tour was only a reunion tour meant for the summer but saw the group being asked by their old record company to record new songs. Pierre declined, he did the tour because Anita asked him to do it but his heart wasn't in performing anymore. He'd agree to allow them to use the songs provided that the group follow the same rules that they had on the tour and the record company hired someone that kept the guys from indulging in their vices while on the tour. Pierre had songs written that were good for the group and had them record the songs but ensured that he again kept the songwriting credits and was paid for his work by the record company. He ended up making a small fortune from the album and tour, especially as the group performed their old hits and the new songs. Their old albums ended up selling well again, adding onto his already hefty fortune and giving his kids something to have for their future as it was all found money to him now that he had his own record label and was making steady money from songwriting and producing albums for others. Anita found herself enjoying the time off and finally decided to have their fourth child. She hired a new surrogate to carry their baby and this time used the same egg donor that had been used for Clara. It was tough to tell the little girl that she would be a big sister again, but she seemed to understand that her mom was special and wasn't able to have babies like other mommies had. The nine months were tough on the surrogate but Anita was by her side every day. She worked with the young woman and helped her with her classes while she herself worked on her classwork. Anita was a full year ahead due to all her free time despite most of her NESM credits not being able to be used. When she earned her degree, she was in tears and saw the kids hugging her tightly while Pierre was all smiles. She kept her degree low key and only attended commencement due to the family insisting, but she ensured that the school didn't alert the media and saved the announcement that she was a graduate until after she had received her degree. The whole ceremony was long and boring but knowing that it was possible to earn a degree and still be an international music sensation helped her college gain a lot of new admissions as well as ensured that Anita would be seen as a hero and mentor for kids for years. The baby was born late in July, with it being a healthy baby girl that she named Aubrey Hannah after the two aunts who had such an impact on her life. She was beautiful and looked a lot like her to the point that Clara said, "Mommy has a baby mommy" which made Anita's heart melt while the normally stoic Pierre had to hide his own tears over his daughter's honesty. The Duprees and Marshalls were all in attendance for the birth, with Todd and Butch doing the honors of being the child wranglers as the five younger kids were kept out of trouble until they could meet their sister and cousin. The birth of Aubrey was the turning-point in Anita's life as she started to focus more on her home life and the kids and only really recording songs for movies or as part of a duet with other artists. She had a big love for family and friends, so she decided to simply become a stay-at- home mother until the kids were old enough to go to private school and she could tour again. She told Pierre that she was taking a long time off to focus on motherhood and saw him happy that she was taking the role seriously as he was more than happy to do the same as well as be the main breadwinner for the family. With Aubrey's birth the family had to move out of their condo and into a home in Endicott, a town 25 miles away but had a few families close by who were known to Anita and who were perfectly fine with children who were not, "Normal" or whose families were, "Odd" compared with others. Anita happily told the kids that the big man who scared them, Ian Bailey, was the nicest man they'd ever meet and his wife Sheila was an amazing woman, then told them that their kids were fun to play with which allowed the kids to see that it was alright. The couple were distant from Anita during the years that they had met her, but it was due to their jobs and both were ecstatic to have Anita as a neighbor. Pierre commuted to Boston and left Anita to care for the kids, then saw Anita taking care of her new friends' kids whenever they needed help or a day off. She was their, "Aunt Anita" and after a few long talks with the Baileys' younger son helped him see that his feelings weren't bad feelings and if he was really a girl inside then his parents would help him be what he needed to be. He thanked her but kept quiet for a long time, with Anita telling his parents that he would find the courage on his own if they showed that they still loved him even if he was a girl inside. Endicott was a great town, but it still had its share of homophobia and transphobia. She endured fights with the town over parking fines and illegal fees forced on her home, with Anita ending up on the end of multiple victories while the town was forced to pay her for their constant harassment. It helped that the town's new chief of police was an imposing man who wouldn't allow his town to be used to break the law and force their false views of a few on a resident, a man who just so happened to be her next door neighbor and friend: Ian Bailey. The townspeople started to see the real side of many of its prominent residents and grew increasingly upset at their actions, leading to several being voted out of office or having their businesses dropped as places to go for food or sundries or clothing. Anita was a resident that should be touted as someone the town should be proud to call one of their own, what was in her pants didn't matter to them. The town had enough trouble trying to retain residents, her living there was something to be proud of. Anita took it all in stride and enjoyed three years at home before the urge to record again hit her hard. It was time for the kids to go to school, which meant that they needed to hire someone to take care of the kids while she was away. Pierre chose to hire a tutor for them, giving the kids an education while they could focus on the tour and the album. The kids started to get used to moving around the country and the world, especially as they got to do a lot of things that most kids didn't get to do. The four were darlings for the crew, so much so that they went out of their way for the kids and enjoyed making their time fun. Anita got jealous frequently, but the laughter of the kids always got her to see that it was a good thing. After her third album Anita took another year off, this time to rest and recover from the stress. It was taking a toll on her body but she hid the signs from Pierre. When she started to show that she wasn't fully healthy he put an end to any talk about any touring and even canceled all appearances on any of the morning talk shows until further notice. Anita was forced to be a full-time mom again, which the kids loved but she felt bad about being forced to endure. She loved performing too much to miss out on the fun, but thankfully the kids kept her busy with little things that she had missed: school trips, playdates, and simply visiting friends' houses. It was tough to endure, but knowing that her friends were all hoping that she'd stick around for a while made it worthwhile, especially as they were approaching their own jump into parenthood. Anita could only hold off for so long and after two more years she finally forced Pierre to allow her to perform again. She recorded an album and plotted a full world tour, with the kids joining her again but also having a tutor to go along with their grandparents' oversight. The kids endured the tour for Anita's sake but it was long, grueling, and took a toll on the kids along with Anita. The highlight of the tour was performing in London in front of her own goddaughter, Elise Smith. The little girl was there with her aunt, uncle, and new cousin Anne, giving Anita a chance to meet the little girl who just so happened to share a common issue. Anita spent time during her three day engagement in London to hang out with the Smiths as well as meet Hannah's newborn son Pierre- named in honor of his godfather and enjoying making his namesake's visits miserable. Anne was a lovely kid who needed a real family to love her. Anita was happy to tell her that she was no different than Anne and like Anita, Anne had the Finn family to support her. She was also lucky in that she had one thing Anita never hat: she was a Finn in full through her new dad, not just by friendship. Anita's own children spent hours with Anne and never noticed anything different about her, with Clara all but telling her that she was her friend even if she was adopted. Clara whispered in Anne's ear when she thought Anita wasn't listening, telling her, "I'm adopted too, mommy is like you. Daddy is my real daddy but mommy isn't my real mommy. I love mommy anyway, she's the best mommy ever." Clara warmed Anita's heart and made Anne feel loved by people other than the Smiths for the first time. It was tough to separate the kids, but Anne was told that they'd be seeing her on the weekends when the family got back to Massachusetts after the tour. Anita felt some shame in introducing them just to have to break them apart, but knowing that Anne was in good hands while also making a friend in Clara was worth the potential trouble that their separating would cause. The tour lasted a year and a half and saw the family visiting every major city for several days while it also hit smaller ones for one night only. It was unlike any other tour before, with Anita feeling just how bad it was by the end of it. She was starting to get tired and sick, so much so that she was barely able to perform the last few nights of the tour and slept much of the day. Back in Boston, she was told that she'd need to stop touring and rest until further notice. She might be feeling the itch to perform, but she would be limited to staying close to home and only accepting small gigs at either the Boston Garden, Foxborough Stadium, or Fenway Park. It was devastating to her, but it was the sign that she needed to retire from touring and announce that her next tour would be her last. The finale tour was just a tour of her favorite cities, hand selected by her to give her a sense of pride as each was a special moment in her life. Boston was automatic, as was LA. The surprise were stops in New York City, Orlando, and the same city that she was stabbed in. She proudly told anyone who asked, "These are all special to me. LA was where I was born and raised and where my family still lives. New York is where I made far too many talk show hosts look foolish and earned respect from fans and the real media. Orlando is where I made my true debut, at GCW's Wrestlecade. And Boston is where I was able to see the true person inside of me and become what I really was as a person. It's where I met the best people I've ever met, my lifelong friends and people who are as close as sisters to me. Plus it is where I met the love of my life, my husband Pierre. I'm just glad that he loved me more than he loved the money I was going to make him- but it was a tough battle for him to lose." That last part got the media laughing as she intended, with Pierre grinning brightly as she kissed him on the cheek and continued, "The other location is the place that changed my career. If I hadn't been stabbed I'd just be another novelty act who had a gimmick that wouldn't keep interest in fans. I'd be washed-up, trying hard to keep relevant. After it happened, people took notice and I was seen for what I was- a talented musician. It's a place that I want to wipe away the bad memories of, giving fans a chance to show that they are above the few who hate. It's why I'm also ending the tour in Boston. Boston is my hometown, but it's also where I endured being framed for a crime, being extorted, being made to think that I was less of a person because I was trying to be what I was inside, and where I got to perform in front of a crowd who only saw me for me and not my family name. It's the true birthplace of Anita Love, physically I was born in LA but Boston is where I become my true self. It's my home and the place that I'm going to perform at from time to time when the itch arises." She left with her head held high and her tour in full swing. The kids were joining her and would show the world that Anita Love was giving up touring to be with her family and chose to live as a mother than dying on stage from any number of ailments that her touring was causing. It would be the first and last time that she'd showcase the kids, with the media told to not bother them after the shows. Each stop was like saying goodbye to people that she loved. The arenas were packed, with fans in tears as she played her final song for them. Each stop was different, with Anita giving fans their own special goodbye and song to remember her by. In LA, she had both the Marshalls and Duprees on stage alongside the kids. She was happy to say that she was born a Woods but she was a Marshall and Dupree and proud of all of them. She had the crowd cheering as she lifted up Andrew and Annabelle, her niece and nephew, and proudly told them that the two weren't blood to her but their father had been her best friend and brother in all but name for years before she was adopted into the Marshall family leading to the two kids hugging her tightly. Her stop in Boston was the hardest on her as she called all of the Finn family onstage and told the fans that she was blessed to be brought into a family that was more than blood, marriage, and adoption and had given her six amazing friends who were the greatest friends you could ask for. She didn't have to elaborate, she happily played for the Finns while Trinity and Tabby joined her in performing while the kids danced around them. Anita's bright smile and singing with the kids made the performance all the more poignant as the kids knew the lyrics and knew the right cues for singing, making the song one of the highlights of the entire tour as she avoided breaking down due to the kids' support. Gavin Samuels was the only one on stage who didn't try to sing with Anita. She had something special for him as she had him sit on the piano and sang to him a song that she had written specifically for him to show that he was loved and had a real family now, not people he was related to. When the song was over she confessed the real origins of the song and hugged Gavin tightly, showing to the world that it was meant to help someone who needed the support and became a hit song on its own merits. When the final song was finished, Anita tearfully thanked all of the fans and cried into Trinity and Tabby's shoulders. Her career was finished, the last song sung. She walked out of the arena just a mom and someone who had a lot of prospects for the future but no clear picture of what to do. Days after the final performance, Anita started working at Pierre's record label as their newest talent scout. She had an eye for people who needed some polishing and would be hits, which was what he hoped would happen. Her business acumen was rough at the start but she learned how to work out a solid contract with new artists based on their abilities and paired them with complimentary songwriters if they didn't write their own songs. Anita was a huge help for the record label and saw the acts that she supported prove to be top acts that had a steady following and earned money throughout their contracts even if they weren't chart toppers. She worked on countless songs during her time, doing so mostly with Tabby and helping Tabby get her foot in the door in the industry. The two earned a hefty amount of money from the work as the two were a heavily sought-after writing team, with Anita giving Tabby most of the credit for their work. Tabby earned multiple Grammy awards alongside Anita's own Grammy wins, none of which she had accepted in person due to her refusing to accept the praise. In her eyes, Tabby was the one who earned the awards and should receive them instead of her even if Anita was the real brains behind most of the songs on her second, third, and fourth albums. The academy finally accepted that she wasn't going to accept the awards and moved along once her wins were announced, with the crowd applauding politely. When Martin and Sondra Woods were finally freed from prison she took pity on them and bought them as small, semi-private house to live in, with the duo forced to find work the hard way. They tried to used their contacts to get in on movie deals as well as rekindle their acting careers but saw themselves being blacklisted by all of Hollywood. The Marshalls took them under their wing and showed them how actual successful producers and actors worked, with the couple being forced to admit that they were living on a legacy and none of the actual work that they had done had helped them in any way. Anita funded a movie on their behalf and got them parts in it to allow them to get back to work and to build their resume again, with the two told that it was their only shot to perform and make the movie a success. The two thought Anita was joking but seeing the contract and the script both were forced to set aside their egos and perform as the duo had been trained to do as kids. They found their true strength and proved to be better than anyone had thought, and were told that if they had done that from the start instead of using the Woods name to get whatever they wanted the couple would have won at least an Emmy if not an Oscar or two already. The movie took months to make but saw the couple taking on other small jobs as buzz started to build around their roles. Word got around and their small bit-parts grew steadily leading to higher pay and a few more jobs that went beyond cameos and into serious acting. Their guest spots on top dramas were a highlight to their careers as both earned Emmy nods from them. The movie itself turned into a surprise hit and earned both high praise for showcasing just what they had been able to do all along but didn't allow themselves to do. The couple were barely holding on to their past but with the new lease on life in Hollywood they were able to start moving forward. They had no plans to thank Anita for making it possible, but the fact that neither had called her "Andrew" and had acknowledged Anita's help in both financing and securing their roles showed their true feelings. With her biological parents finding their footing and trying to rebuild their lives on their own with the push from Anita, her adoptive parents happily announced that they were going to retire and would be leaving the company to Todd to sink or swim as the new head of the company. He and Butch had been involved in the aspects of the company since graduating college, but the time had come for the two to takeover the company and run it as they saw fit. The two were of the same mind as the Marshalls and sought the same mix of guaranteed blockbusters as well as smaller art house feature films that weren't going to be huge financial successes yet would earn Oscar nominations and a critical awards. Anita declined to take part in the business as she simply wanted to enjoy the music industry. She went only as far as providing much of the music for the movies that they produced, but kept their companies separate from one another. It was Todd's legacy, he wanted to be part of it for years while she wanted to be a part of the music world so each was living their own dreams without the other's interference. Anita kept music close to her heart and only stepped back when her health wasn't the best. Pierre had her keep care of herself, but it was tough to do with her stubbornness. After five years of semi-retirement, she finally gave up and retired for good, with Pierre selling the label to a publisher but ensuring that he kept the backlog of music that he had written and produced. Anita finally stopped fighting Todd and Butch and agreed to join the production company as one of the top executives, buying a stake in the company and merging her smaller company into it. She was able to be their voice of reason and happily helped the couple find new projects that would be worth the time and money to produce, showing just why she was one of the executives and earning a large salary as well as portion of the profits for the hard work. Todd never had to second-guess her choices, she was one of the few in all of Hollywood that he didn't need to question as her instincts were better than most of the lifelong producers and his trust was never in doubt when it came to her. Anita's hard work was supplemented by the steering of roles to Sondra and Martin based on the couple growing in integrity and reputation. The harder they worked, the better Anita looked, and the stronger her reputation as a mogul grew. The couple were a hot ticket as their range was seen as one that fit a lot of movies and TV shows and their previous stereotype of housewife and grizzled tough guy were gone. Martin and Sondra got to meet their grandchildren a few times, with little Todd, Aubrey, and Andrew causing the couple to shed tears as they were seeing Anita as both a little girl and how they had raised her in the three children. The trio didn't care for the couple and never asked who they were, they stuck close to their mother and showed that they loved her and would protect her from the couple. Martin and Sondra were at a loss for words, they remained silent and let Anita get her business out of the way so she could move on, but it was clear that she was trying to not say anything about the kids and kept them close to her while Pierre handled the fine-tuning of the business they were there for. The couple wept after the family departed, with Sondra bawling as she realized who Todd actually was to them and how they'd made a mistake in treating one daughter like a queen while their other daughter was treated like garbage. Their grief and sadness drove their next few performances, with the couple not in any condition to take on comedic or action roles and saw them performing in tough dramas that further showed just what they could truly do as actors. The couple sought out Anita multiple times, trying hard to show that they were changed and that they wanted to reconcile with her. They had accepted her past and saw her as their daughter, apologizing for the way they treated her and hoping that she could forgive them. The fact that they did so via friends in the business and with the couple not actually trying to go to Anita showed that it was true feelings, they were trying to make amends and reconcile with her. The meetings became more and more frequent and business was never brought up. Their only questions were about the children and saw each trying hard not to cry as the four kids were growing so fast and were always smiling and happy to greet them. They never asked who they were, but the kids seemed to know that the couple were important to their mother and desperately tried to both be their best behavior and to ensure that they didn't upset their mother whenever Martin and Sondra were there. After months of meetings, the children were told the truth. Clara was protective of Anita but she didn't need to be, all they wanted was to tell here the truth and let the children decide if they were going to be in their lives or if they were going to be just another couple that their mother knew. The kids chose to take things as they were and let Martin and Sondra make a mistake, they had everything to lose but the kids had nothing to lose and would easily refuse to see them again. Old tensions faded as the family grew closer. Anita didn't see them as her parents but did respect them and allowed them to be in the kids' lives. They would never act unless they chose to and she wouldn't let anyone trick them into accepting roles no matter how much Anita's name would guarantee success- her children would be normal children and not act until they were in high school at the earliest. The kids did get the acting bug but kept their roles to small parts that they performed over the summer when they weren't in school. It was fine with Anita as it allowed them something to do and gave their friends a lot of material to talk about as the kids endured Hollywood from the other side of the camera. Anita kept a low profile and had the kids' private lives clamped down, but it was tough to not have the family's past brought up especially as their grandparents were involved indirectly through acting roles. Anita and Pierre enjoyed their retirement by watching their kids grow into teens then into adults, with only Todd and Andrew continuing to act after the first couple of roles. The couple still had a spark that they always rekindled, much to the kids' disgust. They loved their family and enjoyed their lives, even if it was a wild ride for them. The End.