Unexpected Family

Pick a Side

Billie's POV

It was the middle of nap time.

Skylar was knocked out in a fort made of couch cushions and blankets,

and Mackenzie was curled up on top of me like a sleeping cat drooling slightly into my hoodie. I didn't dare move.

And then my phone buzzed.

Kelly.

I stared at the screen for a second, debating. I hadn't talked to her since the guardianship call.

She'd texted a few times, asking for "updates" and offering to schedule a "media-friendly moment" with the girls.

I hadn't answered.

Now, I swiped to pick up, keeping my voice low. "Hey."

"Billie," Kelly said, chipper and fake in that Hollywood kind of way. "Glad I caught you."

"Uh-huh."

"Listen, we've been getting calls," she continued. "Press is loving the angle.

You and the girls the whole 'rockstar turned mommy' thing? Gold."

I sat there, silent.

She kept going. "But if this is going beyond the two-week window... we need to reassess your public image plan. There's a lot on the table.

Campaigns, interviews. You can't disappear into diapers and playdates."

I looked down at Mackenzie's little hand, curled around the drawstring of my hoodie.

"I'm not disappearing," I said. "I'm just... choosing."

There was a pause. "Billie. Be realistic."

"I am being realistic," I said, my voice steady. "I'm not using them for PR. I'm not performing motherhood. I'm doing it."

Kelly sighed, sharp and tight. "So what this is your life now?"

I looked around the messy living room. Crayons. Pancake crumbs. A Barbie floating in the dog's water bowl.

Then I looked back down at Mackenzie's face, peaceful in sleep.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I think it is."

Kelly didn't say anything. Just silence on the line.

Finally: "Let's talk when you're thinking clearly."

And then she hung up.

I didn't move.

Didn't cry.

Didn't freak out.

I just stayed there, holding my girl, and feeling the

weight of what I'd just chosen settle quietly over me.

I didn't pick my career.

I didn't pick fame.

I picked them.

And I'd do it again.