For everyone who's up the hill, busting their asses, dancing until their feet bleed.
"Hang on," I tell Maria.
I close the door and walk around the back of the car, where the crowd is spilling out onto the sidewalk. Smoothing my hands over my hair, I pull my sunglasses down. "Hi everyone!" I call. "Y'all surprised me before I'd had my coffee. How's everybody doing?"
The cellphones come out, and it's picture after picture. A few autographs for the more old school crowd. You know, the people my age.
God, I've missed this.
"You're really here! I wanted to be a Sassy Cat when I was little!" someone gushes. I smile until my cheeks hurt.
I'd forgotten what this was like. My chest is full and tight, in a good way. I feel alive.
"Mommy, are you coming?" Paisley yells through the rolled down window. "Rehearsal's not gonna wait. No one likes a late diva!"
My own words echoing back in my ears make me smile. I catch the amused look on Maria's face as she sits in the driver's seat, patiently waiting for me.
"Well, she's right. I can't keep the whole cast waiting. Thanks for coming out, and I hope to see you all at The Edison!" Might as well give the theater a shout out.
I hurry to the other side of the car, waving and smiling as I slide into the seat. I keep the pleasant expression on my face as we drive away, knowing that one last shot from a roving camera can end up splashed all over the internet.
"Mommy, are you famous like Daddy is? When did you get famous?"
My heart breaks a little that she doesn't know me in any other context than being her mother. On the other hand, maybe that means I'm not messing it up too terribly? "I used to be famous. I was a singer in a group. With Mandy. You know, Tenley's mom."
Paisley already thinks Tenley is the bomb from their one playdate. She's making lists of the things they're going to play together the next time Tenley comes to visit, which should be in a few days. Mandy's coming to see me in a show.
"Can I have a sleepover at Tenley's? She has bunk beds."
I have no clue how my four-year-old knows about bunk beds, but whatever. If that's exciting to her, so be it. "I'm not sure about a sleepover, but we'll see. I think we're going to visit when I'm done with my shows." I turn around to look at my daughter, sweet and innocent. "You know I'm an actress too. That's why we're here. I'm working."
"Yeah, but that's just your work." She says it so nonchalantly, like my work somehow doesn't mean anything.
Ah, the reasoning power of a four-year-old.
"Being a singer and an actress is work, honey. People pay me for my talent."
"Is the show going to be on Nick Jr.?"
"No sweetie, it's a live show. I perform every night."
She shrugs and looks out the window. "That's too bad. Maybe someday you can be on Nick Jr."
Actually, the Sassy Cats were once featured in an episode ofMaximus the Magnificent, but ever since the tween star, Cody VanTwizzle, went off the rails with a porn career and human trafficking charges, the network made the show disappear. The only other show to get yanked so quickly wasZoey 101when Jamie Spears got pregnant at sixteen. Somehow, I don't think the two sins equate, but they got the same punishment. Either way, the Sassy Cats episode ofMaximus the Magnificentis harder to find than a virgin at the Playboy Mansion.
My daughter doesn't know this about me. In my quest to fly incognito, I eschewed everything from my past.
That ends now.
"Actually, I was on Nick Jr. once. When we get back home to California, I'll show you the episode." I glance back to see a slack-jawed Paisley, wonderment on her face.
"Do you know Peppa Pig?"
I can't contain the laughter, and neither can Maria. "Nico was much the same when he was little. It never occurred to him that his parents were as famous, or even more so, than his favorite TV shows. They were just Mom and Dad, but Steve from Blue's Clues—nowhewas a star."
"Kids."
As we're pulling into The Edison, Maria's words continue to rattle in my brain. "Wait, so how does Paisley know he's famous if Nico never did?"
