Nick Jonas

Phoenix, AZ

The next morning, we head to the venue to drop Laine and my cousins off for their rehearsal before driving over to the hotel to pick up both families. While the boys get ready for their show tonight, we are all going to go hiking at Papago Park and visit the zoo that is inside of it.

"Al, are you ready to see the tigers?" I ask Alena, and she nods excitedly at the thought of seeing her favorite animal later.

When we arrive at the park, we clamber off the bus and Danielle picks Valentina up as we walk to the park entrance.

"Did we want to go to the zoo or hike first?" Denise asks.

"I say the zoo. The kids will want to see the animals," Paul says, and everyone seems to agree, so we start there.

The parents walk together, swapping stories about their kids' musical careers, while Danielle, Priyanka, Alena and Valentina run ahead to see all the animals in the short time we have. I hang out with Sophie, Kyle, and Brittany as we stare aimlessly at the animals, taking it all in and talking about the concert later.

"I'm excited to see Laine! I mean, I've seen him perform on American Idol and I've heard him in his room, but never at a big venue. And never as an opening act to one of the most popular bands!" Brittany exclaims.

"He's always great. And I'm sure he'll be glad to have some family in the audience," I tell her.

"Probably. But the way he talks about you guys, you'd think you were his family as well," Kyle says.

"Well, we've spent so much time together because of this whole experience. It tends to bring people closer," Sophie laughs.

"I can understand that. I hope us being there doesn't make him nervous," Kyle says.

"It shouldn't, right? We've seen him perform live before, and he wasn't nervous," Brittany says.

"Guys, he'll be good. He's a real performer now," I say, and Kyle laughs.

"He's changed a lot from the shy kid he used to be, that's for sure," he says.

We've reached the tiger exhibit now, and Alena asks for a picture with all of us in front of the animal. We all happily oblige; she's so cute when she asks that there's no way we could say no. Then, we all get ice cream from the small snack bar at the front of the place.

"Thanks, guys," Danielle says sheepishly as we walk out of the zoo and back into the park to go hiking.

"Of course! She and Valentina have been nothing less than perfect throughout this whole tour. They deserve it," Sophie says, and I nod as we hike towards Hole in the Rock.

When we reach the top of the rock, we take tons of pictures together with the beautiful landscape of the park behind us. Full group pictures, pictures with my own family and then, at Brittany's request, a picture with just Laine's family as well. Then we have to make our way back to the bus, because the show tonight is an earlier one and we want to meet up with the boys before they perform, of course.

After a fifteen minute ride on the overcrowded tour bus, we arrive at the venue, Talking Stick Resort Arena. We are allowed in the back entrance, right to the hallway where the dressing rooms are, and notified that the boys are just finishing up. Apparently, they are perfecting Joe's entrance during Flame, making sure the biggest moment of the whole concert goes off without a hitch.

"Where should we wait?" Barry asks, looking around at the different dressing rooms.

"The boys will probably want to hang out in their separate rooms for a few minutes before dinner, so do you want to wait in Laine's?" Paul says, and they nod, locating his room and going inside.