AN: Wow I can't believe we're already at this point. I'm gonna be really sad to see this story end. PS: got all of the classes I wanted! Hopefully I'll be able to make it so I don't have class Wednesday or Friday!
Disclaimer: the Victorious characters belong to Nickelodeon and Mr. Dan Schneider and all others either are mine or someone else's.
{{ It's about carrying on the legacy and doing something I love and have a passion for. (Nik Wallenda) }}
"CATERINA VALENTINE!" the late night TV host announced. "Welcome welcome please take a seat." I took a seat in one of the large armchairs in the center of the set.
"Hi. Hello. Thank you for having me tonight." I smiled brightly. "New York really is a beautiful city. I haven't been here since I was my kids' age."
"Well I'm glad you're enjoying it. You'll be here until Saturday, yes? Anything fun you all have planned?"
"We got to go to a Broadway show last night and meet the cast so that was exciting," I gushed excitedly. Being the musical theater fanatic I am, any time I got to see a production like a Broadway show, I instantly felt at home and everything was right in the world. The detail that everyone put into the performance was truly spectacular.
"You have a musical theater background, correct? What was it like to go to a performing arts high school?"
"Yeah, I joined an after school theater program when I was, like, six or seven with all my friends. Hollywood Arts, my high school, was really something else," I chuckled lightly. "Performing every corner you turned. They really helped us hone our crafts. We were able to still take our core classes, but also focus on what we loved to do. I'd like to give a quick shoutout to the students at Hollywood Arts high school and middle school." I waved to the camera. "Keep up the great work and this may be you here one day!"
"Wonderful! I'm sure they're really excited and proud of you. Now you must tell us, how's life been since the album release?"
"It's been…really great." I blushed. "There's nothing more I could possibly want. I'm very very happy."
"Well I don't think being married to a former British boybander hurts, now does it?" The host chuckled and the big screen behind us showed the camera panning to my husband.
"No. No it doesn't. It was a great experience for the boys, but it's all about their families now."
"And how are your adorable children? They're getting so big! It feels like just yesterday they were little babies." The screen switched from us to images of my kids throughout the years, some with us, from various events we've attended, from our social media accounts, etc.
"They're good. And yeah, my baby's gonna be eleven in July. Elizabeth will be twelve in a few weeks and Audrey and Camden are teenagers already. Dylan's going for his permit in a few weeks and my oldest is graduating from Hollywood Arts High School pretty soon. Oh my gosh I sound so old saying that." I shook my head, causing the studio audience to laugh a little.
"Well, I'm sure you'd love to talk about your children all night, but let's talk about that album. Number one in almost the whole world and it's still in pre-orders. Impressive!"
"Well, this has been a long time coming. Most of the songs were written while I was in high school. A few I wrote while sitting up at night with the babies or when I couldn't sleep." I smiled thinking back to all the lack of sleep.
"And the album name, DARCIE, it's a very interesting choice. The whole world is asking, 'Who is Darcie'?" The host waved his arms around. "You're not pregnant, are you?" He joked.
"No no. No more babies!" I laughed. "DARCIE is an anagram of the first letter of each of the kids' names. And for you Directioners, you all know it's also the name Harry wanted to name his daughter growing up."
"So you named your album after that?"
"We tossed the name around when I found out I was pregnant for the first time with the twins, but decided against it for Audrey or Lizzy. Harry jokes that albums are like another child, so I guess he kinda did get his Darcy."
"And can you tell us a little bit about what fans will be hearing when they listen to the album?"
"As I said before, the songs range from high school to present day, so there's lots of stories behind everything. All of the kids have a special song dedicated to them. Actually my first single was a song I wrote for my son Dylan right after he was born. The intro and outro are from a video of my first Mother's Day." A picture of Dylan and me appeared behind us. It was taken by my neighbor the day I brought him home from the hospital. God my hair looked awful! My mind immediately went back to that day as I thought about all the days since then that have led up to me sitting here right now.
"Well it's a very beautiful song. I hope the other kids didn't get too jealous!" The host laughed again jokingly.
"No. Or at least I don't think they are. The younger two, maybe, but I think they all understand the place I was in when I wrote it and why I chose it to be the first single. It was just us for a while. He's my special little boy."
"I bet he's glad to have you as his mom!" The host smiled at me then winked.
"I think his friends are more excited about that than he is!" I laughed. "Never thought I'd be a MILF. Oh my kids are gonna kill me!" The remainder of the interview proceeded with questions about touring and release dates. We briefly talked about Harry and our marriage and I performed two songs. Tonight felt like every single opening night I'd ever had all mashed into one. Everything in my life-all the craziness and drama and emotions-it had all finally fallen into place.
Dear Diary,
Hi it's Cat! I just had my first interview promoting the album. Everyone was so nice and all the fans loved the single! I can't believe Dylan's fifteen now. Does that make me an old lady? Anyways, it might be a while until I write to you again. We're planning a tour for next year and we all know how crazy those can be. It's weird to think that this has basically been their whole lives. First it was with Harry and One Direction, then his solo music, and now my stuff. I have a feeling this is gonna be the best one yet! Well, best and probably the craziest. The kids are all own up now, and we'll be on the road for the majority of the summer when everyone's home again. It really is crazy. When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of this. Being on talk shows and performing was my dream. I thought that was all over sixteen years ago. My life was falling apart for so long and I thought I'd never see the light at the end. But I did. My life gained meaning and it's been moving ever since. Now I have a wonderful husband and six beautiful kids. We're doing great and we're successful and I couldn't ask for anything more.
Love,
Caterina
AN: It's really crazy to think of how far she's come from the very beginning of this story or even just from being a young mother of six kids! Makes me feel old. Last Fall in a leadership workshop, I learned that I'm the type of person who doesn't take their own goals seriously. Basically, I'll do something if you tell me to, but if I tell myself I'm gonna do task A by time A, I may or may not do it because I don't take my self goals seriously. In march, I vowed to try to improve on that and this story is my grand example of my progress. Thought it took a bit, I was able to get it all completed and here for y'all.
-Sami
