*Peeks head in doorway* *waves shyly* hiiii! 👋 so uh forgive me for posting so late...but i realized that i'd made a mistake in the last chapter because i didn't originally think that Ava would be old enough to go to preschool at three years old but then i realized she technically would be 😄 also, after doing some thinking about the plot in the beginning, i decided to change the part where Jimmy and Ronnie combined labels. i didn't think it would be realistic to the show. if you get confused when they talk about Ava going to kindergarten or a&a going independent after they were reunited on Helen show, that's why. so i'll go back and edit those parts later but i'll stop my rambling and let you read now :) here ya go, folks! enjoy - Ej

*not thoroughly edited

Twenty Six: Talk Shows & Talents

September 2027- One Month Later
8:30 a.m.

"Alright, Ava. The first step to learning the piano is hand position. So, put your right hand on these five keys right here," Ally positioned her daughter's fingers so they lined up with the middle of the keyboard. She glanced down at her, barely able to contain her excitement. Ally had been anticipating this moment ever since she found out she was pregnant with her daughter. "Good! Now, let's do your left hand. Now, make sure to lift your wrists up slightly when you play—like this." Ally adjusted Ava's fingers slightly before continuing.

"Now, I think you're ready to learn about the notes. You're a smart girl, I'm sure you'll catch on quickly." Ava smiled up at her mom as Ally continued to ramble on about notes, chord progressions and the like. Her smile faded and she knit her brow.

"Um, mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm only four."

Ally shook her head. "Right, sorry. I get a little carried away when it comes to music theory. Let's just start with the basics. This note that your thumb is on, that's called a C..." Ava's face lit up again and Ally soaked in each moment that she had with her daughter before the boys woke up.

"Daddy, wake up!" Austin's eyes fluttered and he jumped in surprise when he saw his two-year-old son standing inches from his face.

"Alex...you gotta stop doing that. You scared me."

"Sowwy, daddy." Alex took a step back.

"Yeah, yeah. You know I can't stay mad at you for long." Austin ruffled his son's hair, and looked over at Ally's side of the bed, frowning when he didn't see her. "I wonder where your mom and sister went." Alex shrugged.

"I dunno, daddy."

"Should we go find them?" Austin asked, sitting up and stifling a yawn.

"Otay!" Alex jumped up and down, pulling at his dad's hand in anticipation. "Hurry up, daddy! Hurry up!"

"Geez, I'm coming," Austin squinted as Alex led him down the stairs and into the kitchen. He ruffled his still-messy hair and threw open the pantry door. "You want some cereal?"

"Pancakes!"

Austin groaned. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm tired of pancakes. We've had them twice in the past week."

"Pancakes!" Alex shouted again. Austin shook his head.

"Nah, I don't feel like making them right now. Let's just have some cereal, okay bud?" Alex stuck out his lower lip and hung his head.

"Otay, daddy."

"Please don't give me that face. You know I can't say no to that face..." Alex lifted his head and tilted it to the side.

"Pweeeease?"

Austin groaned again, throwing his head back. "Okay, fine. I'll make some pancakes. Just don't tell mom."

"And what, exactly, are we not telling mom?" Austin let out a yelp of surprise when Ally spoke up from the doorway to the basement. He jumped back and put a hand on his chest.

"Als, you scared me!"

Ally smirked. "Good." She walked over to where Austin had taken out the box of pancake mix. "Austin, I thought I told you no more pancakes this week. You and Alex are going to eat us out of house and home...well, at least with pancakes."

"I know," Austin said, "I tried to tell him no, but then he gave me that face, and"—

"Don't give me excuses," Ally mused, snatching the box out of his hand, "now find something healthy to eat. We have some cereal in here, and I think there's some fruit in the fridge."

"Fine," Austin grumbled, yanking open the fridge door. After a second of looking, he closed it again. "There's nothing in here," he whined, "you really need to go shopping."

Ally raised her eyebrows. "Well, if you really think we need groceries that badly, then why don't you go shopping yourself while I work with Ava a little longer? You can bring Alex with you, too. It'll be a great father-son bonding experience."

"Sure, we can handle that," he replied, "What are you girls working on down there?"

"I'm teaching her piano," Ally responded giddily, "she loves it. Right, Aves?"

Ava shrugged her shoulders. "Meh."

"She only said that because we haven't gotten to the fun part yet," Ally said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Soon, you'll be begging for me to teach you more music theory." Austin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, somehow I don't think she will." Ally rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's get back downstairs." She turned back to Austin. "Have fun shopping, boys. Oh, and I will be double checking the receipt when you get home, so don't fill the cart up with junk food."

Austin nodded. "Got it." Once they'd disappeared down the stairs, he mumbled, "Well, there goes that plan."

Austin pulled into the grocery store parking lot and put the car in park, looking back at Alex in the rearview mirror. "You ready, bud?"

"Yeah, daddy." He turned the car off and went around to Alex's seat, where he unbuckled him and set him on the ground, making sure to hold his hand so he didn't run off (Ally had warned him multiple times not to let Alex out of his sight, especially in parking lots). They walked into the store and Austin put him in the baby seat of the cart. Austin pushed him up and down the different, aisles, occasionally grabbing a grocery item or two. When Alex begged to visit the toy section, Austin immediately gave in.

Alex's eyes lit up as they approached the back section of the store where the toys were kept. They went past the Legos and various puzzles and games, but Austin stopped dead in his tracks when they came to the NERF gun section.

"Whooaaaa," he breathed, picking up a blue, white, and grey one with a rotating barrel. "Alex, aren't these cool?"

"Yeah daddy," Alex replied, bouncing in his seat.

"Your mom would kill me if I got NERF guns," he muttered, still holding the toy as he looked over at Alex, who just stared back at him, his fist in his mouth. Austin gave a slight nod to himself. "Totally worth it." He put the gun into the cart and started seeking out a smaller one for Alex. He was still two, after all, and Austin knew that getting him a giant one wouldn't be a very good idea.

Then again, getting NERF guns in general was a bad idea. But Austin was famous for coming up with bad ideas—to him, they weren't all that bad.

Twenty minutes later, after getting the necessary groceries (plus a few more unnecessary items, like refill bullets for the NERF guns and some candy he'd somehow find a hiding place for), Austin left the store feeling accomplished. They'd gotten everything they needed and more, and since Austin paid for the NERF guns separately with cash and thrown away the receipt, Ally wouldn't even have to find out that he had bought them.

That is, until he and Alex had barged in on her and Ava's piano lesson that afternoon after they'd gotten back from the store. Austin put the groceries away and, double checking to make sure that the girls were still busy in the basement, loaded up the NERF guns, beckoning Alex to follow him. He'd had to stop in the stairway and shush the two-year-old multiple times– "Alex, you're gonna blow our cover!" he'd whisper-yelled in frustration.

As they approached the door of the studio, Austin held his finger to his lips. "Remember what I said about it being a sneak attack, Alex," he whispered, "we've gotta catch them by surprise." Alex nodded, gripping the mini gun in his hand. His right pointer finger on the trigger. "Okay, on the count of three, we go in. Ready? One...two..."

Alex burst into the studio, making Ally and Ava both jump and shriek in surprise as he haphazardly fired the bullets every which way. One zinged over to the drum set, hitting the bass drum square on; another just barely missed Ally by an inch and instead hit a guitar amp behind her. Alex giggled, continuing to squeeze the trigger until Ally got up off the bench and snatched the gun from her son.

"Austin..." From behind the wall, Austin gulped. He was debating whether he should make a run for it until Ally appeared at the doorway of the studio, Alex on one hip and her arm on another. He turned around and smiled sheepishly.

"H-hey, Als. W-what's...up?"

"Are you kidding me!?" she yelled, setting Alex down and taking the gun from him and letting him go. "Dart guns?" She examined it for a second before turning her menacing gaze back toward him. "Austin, what were you thinking?"

Austin looked at the ground. "I was thinking...that...we need to have more fun around here?" he tried. He immediately regretted it, gulping again.

"Mhm, yeah. Nice try." She sighed. "I just—I have so many questions right now. Why would you buy our two-year-old son a toy gun that could easily cause a trip to the emergency room? I mean, think about it. What if he had accidentally shot himself in the eye? I can't—I just can't with you right now, Austin." She turned back toward the studio and called to both her kids, instructing them to follow her back upstairs.

"We—hey, at least I got him the small one!" he called after them. Sighing, he went over to the closet and set the dart gun down on the highest shelf so the kids couldn't reach. He sauntered back into the studio, grabbing his guitar and sitting down on the piano bench. Austin strummed a couple of chords and threw his head back, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Why can't I do anything right?" he mumbled.

After a few minutes, Austin admittedly started to get bored. He set his guitar back down on its stand and stumbled up the stairs, nervously anticipating what might be waiting for him.

Austin cleared his throat and strode into the kitchen nonchalantly. Ally was at the kitchen island, cracking eggs into a bowl. she barely gave him a second glance as he strode over to her, smirking.

Ally looked over at him and groaned. "What'd you do now?"

Austin frowned. "Why do you always assume I did something? Trust me, the only thing I've done that could possibly make you mad was buying those NERF guns." She eyed him suspiciously. "Obviously it worked."

Ally sighed, wiping her hands on a napkin. "You know I love you, Austin. I really do."

Austin leaned down on the counter, cupping his chin with the palm of his hand. "Go on..."

It took every ounce of willpower for Ally not to roll her eyes at that. "As I was saying...I love you but you really need to..." she paused, muttering, "how do I put this nicely," under her breath. "you have the same maturity level as Alex."

Austin raised his eyebrows, letting out a sarcastic laugh. "Me, have the same maturity level as a two-year-old?" he scoffed. "Please. I know me and Dez used to goof around a lot when we were in high school, but I've grown up a lot, Ally."

This time, Ally raised an eyebrow. "You say that as if you and Dez don't still goof around."

"We don't!" Austin argued. "Ally, we're all grown-ups now. What makes you think that I'm immature?"

"The only reason you guys never goof around anymore is because you haven't seen him in two years," Ally said, "and yes, Austin, I do think you're a little immature because you didn't think logically about giving our very energetic and hyper two-year-old son a gun."

"It's a NERF gun!" Austin shot back. "All I was trying to do was bond with him like you and Ava are doing through piano!" he paused, looking down at the ground as his cheeks turned pink. "I-I guess I figured since he's too young to start an instrument, we could bond through something else." Another pause. "Obviously I was wrong."

Ally bit her lip. "Austin, I—"

"Nah, you're right. I am immature, and I obviously need to ditch my 'fun parent' act and grow up. I'll just...find something else for me and Alex to do together." Austin walked back down the stairs of the basement and into his man cave. He grabbed a controller and turned on the console.

Twenty minutes later, after his avatar has died at least three times (if he was honest, he hadn't been counting), Austin slammed his controller on the ground and put his face in his hands. He was still processing what had gone on upstairs, and truth be told he didn't know exactly what he'd been feeling or what had motivated him to buy the NERF guns until it came out of his mouth. Am I really jealous of Ally and Ava's relationship?

Nah, I was just saying that. I just want to be able to bond with Alex like Ally does with Ava, but he's still too young...it's not fair.

Okay...maybe I'm a little bit jealous.

Austin's thoughts whirled around in his head for a few more seconds and he became so lost in them that he hadn't noticed Ava standing in the doorway. "Daddy?"

Austin jumped, making his gamer chair roll backwards. He rolled out of it awkwardly and got to his feet. "Hey, Aves."

Ava said nothing, but walked toward him and placed a sheet of paper in her hand. Austin grinned when he saw it. "Where did you find this?"

His daughter just shrugged. "I dunno, daddy."

Austin continued to stare at Ally's rough draft of "The Butterfly Song," wondering how it had managed to survive after all of these years—and how she had managed to keep track of it after going through the moving process twice. He looked over at his daughter again. "Did mommy send you down here?"

Ava shook her head. "No, daddy." He smiled again.

"Ava, how would you like to learn a new song?"

"Alright. The melody itself is pretty simple, so you should be able to catch on pretty easily." Austin strummed a few notes in his guitar, trying to figure out how to transpose it into a range that would be easy for her to sing. A couple seconds later, he said, "Aha!" and looked over at her again.

"I'm going to sing it once through first so you can hear it, and then we'll sing it together. After that, I'll have you try it on your own. Sound good?"

Ava nodded. "Yeah, daddy."

Austin played through the chorus once, surprising himself with how clearly he remembered the lyrics. It had been over ten years since he'd sang the song for Ally when she couldn't because of her stage fright; now it was time to pass it on to her mini-me.

"Are you ready?" he asked. When Ava nodded, he counted her in and just as he suspected, she was just as talented as her mom. They sang the song together, and when he was confident that she had the melody down, Austin harmonized with her.

"I'm a butterfly...I'm a butterfly...I'm a butterflyyyy..." Austin smiled as he struck the last chord and reached over to give Ava a high-five. "Awesome job, Aves! Mommy's gonna be so surprised. Wanna do it one more time to make sure you have it down?" She nodded again. Austin smiled as he started to strum the chords again and she sang along, more confidently this time.

"Austin, Ava! Breakfast is ready!" Ally yelled down the stairs. She frowned when there was no response. "Hey, guys! Come eat!" Still nothing. She looked back at Alex, who was in his high chair, munching on some cereal happily. I can leave him alone for just one minute, right? Ally shrugged. He'll probably be fine.

"I'll be right back, Alex. Don't feed the dog anything while I'm gone, okay?" Alex ignored her, turning his attention to the food on his tray as she descended the stairs. Ally crept up to the door of the studio, her eyes widening when she heard the song that Ava was singing.

It can't be. I lost the sheet music for that song years ago.

"I'm a little butterfly, I can soar through the sky..."

I can't believe it.

Ally had never pulled out her phone so quickly in her life. She took a few more steps forward and pressed record, trying her best not to breathe loudly, as it would give her position away. It seemed to be working so far, because although they were both facing the door of the studio at an angle, neither one of them noticed her.

As Austin and Ava sang the last verse of the song, Ally felt a tear slip out of her eye (a happy one, of course). Just the sight of Austin singing to Ava was enough to make her smile so wide her cheeks hurt. He struck the last chord and let out a cheer, giving Ava another high-five. Austin pulled his daughter in for a hug, and that was when he saw Ally standing in the doorway.

"Oh, h-hey, Ally," he stammered. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just long enough to know that we've got a little prodigy on our hands," Ally replied with a smile, entering the room.

Austin returned it, looking over at Ava with what could only be described as pride. "Yeah, we do. Did you hear the song?"

"Yeah." Ally narrowed her eyebrows. "How did you even find it? I thought it got lost when we moved here."

Austin shrugged. "Ava brought it to me. I have no idea where she found it."

Ally looked from Ava to Austin and back, then shook her head. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter where you found it, just that you found it," she said, taking the sheet off the music stand on the piano. Austin nodded, setting down his guitar as Ally explained that the scrambled eggs were ready. When she got back upstairs, Ally took the video and posted it to all her social media accounts, captioning it, "My little mini-me singing the first song I ever wrote. So, so proud. ❤️ "

Three Hours Later

"Austin, you are never going to believe this." Ally ran into the living room, nearly stepping on the cat because she was glued to her phone. "That video I recorded of you and Ava? A million views on YouTube."

"Seriously?" Austin exclaimed, leaning forward on the couch. Paris lifted her head and galloped toward them, barking excitedly. She was excited, but she definitely did not know why.

"Seriously!" Ally confirmed, plopping down on the couch next to him. "And it's gotten a few thousand likes on my Tweeter page, too. Can you believe it?"

Austin shook his head. "No, I can't. That's awesome." He paused. "Wait... you recorded us?"

"Well, duh!" Ally responded with a laugh. "It was just too darn cute. I never thought it would get this many hits, though!" She paused as she scrolled through the comments and read them aloud to Austin. "Here, listen to these. People are saying she's cute and talented, and some of them are tagging Helen. Can you imagine going back there with our two little tornadoes?" Austin chuckled along with her.

"Well, Alex is the only tornado, really. Ava's pretty calm. Besides, I thought they banned you from the premises?"

"That was a temporary ban," Ally replied, "It wasn't even that big of a deal."

"Ally, the last time we were on her show, you destroyed set. Again. I wouldn't let you back on if I were her."

"Heyyy..."

Austin put his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry, but it's true! She has a reason not to let you back on her show." Ally rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

"Just admit it, I'm right."

Ally scoffed. "I most definitely will not."

Austin shrugged. "Whatever." They both turned back to the TV show that was playing and sat in silence for another few minutes until Paris interrupted them, pawing at Ally's leg, indicating she needed to be let out. Ally got up with a sigh and let the dog out, waiting at the edge of the deck as she came back up.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Austin went into A & A Records to check on some things, despite it being Saturday. Hailey Starr was about to release her first single, so naturally the whole company was abuzz, preparing for the release date. Needless to say, Jimmy had not been happy that Hailey chose to sign with Austin's label instead of her uncle's, and he had given Austin an earful about it, even threatening to take it as far as court. Ally had warned Austin about the possibility of this kind of situation arising, though, and he had hired a team of people to defend him if need be. He was not about to let Jimmy get his way again—not this time.

The next day, the Moons didn't do much of anything. They slept in, ate a late brunch, and then Austin and Ally had a chance to relax as the kids took their afternoon naps. Both sat on the deck in the reclining lawn chairs as Paris and Pickles basked in the sun in the ground next to them. Ally took advantage of this much needed quiet time to finally finish her book, while Austin took a small nap (though he did get interrupted a few times by work calls). Their relaxing afternoon was interrupted by a call to Ally this time, and she grinned when she saw who it was. She answered it and Austin gave her a skeptical look, to which she responded with a lame shrug.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Ally Moon?"

"This is she," Ally responded. Even after being married to him for almost seven years now, she still wasn't used to hearing her first name paired with Austin's last. It was weird—a good weird, though.

"Hey Ally, this is Brian—I'm Helen's assistant. I'm calling about a video you posted yesterday of Austin and your daughter, Ava singing together?"

"Oh, hey Brian," Ally greeted cheerfully, trying her best to be nonchalant. "How can I help you?"

"Well, Ally, I'm pleased to pass on this message from Helen herself— she wants you invite you, Austin, and the kids to be on our show next Friday afternoon at 12:00 p.m."

"Wow, um, yeah! We'd love to!" Ally replied, smirking at her husband.

"Great! We'll be in touch with you about further details until then, but we look forward to having you on the show."

"Awesome. Thanks, Brian." Ally hung up the phone, giving Austin an 'I told you so' look.

"Guess who got invited to perform on the Helen show?" Ally asked, imitating Trish. This time, Austin was the one who rolled his eyes.

Five Days Later
Day of Helen Show Appearance

Ally darted down the stairs hurriedly, barely giving her husband a second glance as she searched through the cupboards for a remedy that would resolve the current predicament she found herself in. Austin raised an eyebrow at her.

"You...okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just—ooh, I wonder if this will work—uh, Ava got some gum stuck in her hair, and I looked up some remedies on the internet," Ally mumbled half-heartedly as she dug around through the drawers of her kitchen. "First we'll try peanut butter." She went back toward the stairs, looking back at him for a split second. "Don't forget to take the dog out before we leave—which is in thirty minutes, by the way!"

Austin sighed. "There's no way we're getting to the studio on time," he muttered as he took Alex upstairs to get him dressed for the show.

"Ava, hold still!" Ally frowned as she worked on removing the wad of gum from her daughter's hair—except now she was also covered in peanut butter, which wasn't helping matters. Ava squirmed as Ally tugged on a chunk that just didn't seem to want to come out, occasionally letting out a yelp of protest. "We'll never get to the studio on time if you don't let me get this out," Ally tried, speaking soothingly to the four-year-old. After another fifteen minutes of tugging and half a jar of peanut butter, the gum was out. However, Ava's hair was still sticky and Ally insisted on washing her hair super duper quickly because she would not be letting Ava make her first TV appearance smelling like something you put on toast (her words, not mine).

"Okay, we are officially five minutes behind schedule which means we need to get in the car now. Go, go, go! Move, move, move!" Ally ushered each family member out the garage door, throwing Ava a towel haphazardly, saying that she could dry it on the way there. They piled into the car and Austin went about ten miles over the speed limit the entire ride to the studio where "The Helen Show" was filmed (when there weren't cops around, of course).

Once Austin had parked, the four of them rushed up to the entrance to quickly that Austin just barely remembered to grab his guitar in the process. By the time they reached the check-in desk, Austin and Ally were both out of breath. Ally leaned up against the counter, heaving, and Austin bent over to pick Alex up, making sure he didn't get any ideas about running off.

"Yeah, we're the...the Moons and we're going on the He...Helen show at...at noon," Ally managed to get out. The security guard looked at them skeptically.

"Hmm, let me see. Oh, here you are. The Moons. I'll have somebody show you to your dressing room." She tapped a button on her headset. "Dave, can you show the Moons to their dressing room?" she paused. "Yes, the Austin and Ally Moon. I know you're a big fan, can you just come escort them, please? Thanks." She turned back to them. "Dave will be here shortly to show you to your room."

"Thank you," Ally replied, taking a seat in one of the comfy chairs in the lobby.

Ten minutes later, a very enthusiastic-looking guy in his mid-twenties approached them, introducing himself as Dave. He led them to their dressing room, bouncing practically the entire way there. Austin thanked him and they got situated as Ally led Ava over to the chair and started to fix up her hair, as the wind had messed it up again.

"I hope I have time to fix her hair," Ally mused, pulling some hair product out of the backpack she'd brought. "How much time do we have?"

"It's ten to noon," Austin replied. He was on the opposite side of the room, styling his own hair. He put his hand down after applying some gel and frowned. "That isn't nearly enough time. You can't rush perfection."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Well, you're gonna have to. They'll be here to call us out there in, like, five minutes."

Sure enough, somebody was there to escort them out almost exactly five minutes later. Ally took Ava's hand and Austin picked Alex up as they headed out the door and over to Helen's studio.

"Everyone help me in welcoming back to my show, Austin and Ally Moon!" Helen introduced them and the crowd went wild as the four of them came onto the stage. Austin and Ally both sat down next to each other on the red couches. Austin pulled Alex onto his lap and Ava sat down right next to her mom.

"Well, it's certainly been a long time since I've seen you two," Helen commented, motioning at the four of them. "So tell me, what's new?"

Ally laughed. "As you can see, a lot has changed," she replied, looking over at Austin. "The last time we were here, I was fresh out of college and Austin had just finished his second tour."

"Right, yeah," Helen said, "You guys sang that song, which you later released on your first independent record, and fell in love all over again. Isn't that right?"

"Yup," Austin piped up, "It was 'Two in a Million'."

"And then you proceeded to destroy my set a second time."

Ally let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I was kinda hoping you'd forget about that."

"Well, I didn't," Helen responded, "and let me tell you, neither did my bank account when I had to buy a new set." The audience laughed along with her and Ally bit her lip.

"I said I was sorry," she mumbled.

"So, tell us about your new music and everything else you've been working on. I heard that you guys started your own record company?"

"We did," Austin said, his face lighting up. "Back in 2022, right before Ava was born," he nodded toward his daughter, "we decided to take the risk and start it. It's been a challenge, but it's also a ton of fun."

Helen nodded. "And I heard that there has been a little bit of drama with your former record producer, Jimmy Starr. Anything you have to say about that?"

Austin sighed. "There isn't much to say, really. I just signed his niece to my label and he got a little mad. I still respect him as a person, and I hope we can still be civil towards each other even though he has a family member signed to a label that's competing with his."

"Well put, Austin," Helen said, nodding again. "So, is it safe to say that we won't be getting any new music or tours from you two anytime soon, or...where are you on that?"

"We definitely want to make more music," Ally replied, "and we have some songs in the works right now that we can't wait to put out. As far as tours, it would be fun to get on the road again, but as of right now we're pretty busy with these two youngsters and managing our company."

"Of course." Helen got up from her chair and pulled out her dance moves again. "Well, we're going to take a short break, but we'll be back soon. Stay tuned, we'll be back with plenty more Auslly after this."

"Well, this is definitely going better than the last time we were here," Ally mused, "I'm going to run to the bathroom quick. I'll be right back."

"I have to go, too, mommy!" Ava exclaimed, following her mom toward the exit.

"Me, too!" Alex added, jumping off Austin's lap.

"I guess this means I have to go too, huh?" Austin sighed, following the three of them out. "I didn't know bathroom runs were a family affair now."

"Two minutes, people!" a roadie exclaimed, bustling around the various people backstage, trying to locate the Moons. "Two minutes!"

"We're here!" Ally shouted, ushering her kids forward as they sprinted toward the set. "We're here. Just had a little...bathroom incident."

"I didn't ask why," the roadie muttered, walking in the other direction.

"Why'd you have to tell him that?" Austin whined. "It isn't a big deal!"

"Austin, our son fell into the toilet. We had to mop him up with toilet paper."

"Well, it wasn't my fault!" Austin argued as they took their seats on the couch again. "Big opening, small kid. You do the math."

"Just...whatever. Let's just drop it." She turned to Ava. "So, Ava, are you ready to sing your song with daddy?"

Ava's facial expression changed from amused to worried and she shook her head, ever so slightly. Ally looked over at Austin. "Well, why not? You love music!" Ava didn't respond and just buried her head into Ally's shoulder. Ally gulped. I didn't think stage fright was genetic.

"Aaand, we're back!" Helen exclaimed as the crowd cheered yet again. "So, guys, I didn't get a chance to ask you about these kids of yours. Tell us about them."

"Of course," Ally said with a smile. This is Alex, he just turned two not too long ago. He's Austin's mini-me, and not just with looks. He's so energetic and playful and fun, but incredibly sweet. Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Yeah, mommy," Alex replied, bouncing up and down on his dad's lap.

"Show them what I taught you, Alex. Remember?" Austin looked down at his son. The bam!"

"Bam!" Alex repeated, attempting to cross his arms. The crowd went crazy with laughter and "awww"s. Helen smiled.

"So adorable. And what about your daughter?"

"Well, this is Ava, she's four," Ally introduced, looking down at Ava, whose head was still buried in her shoulder. "She's a bit more reserved, but she absolutely loves music. She's starting preschool in just a few days. I'm also teaching her piano right now."

"Isn't that sweet?" Helen commented. "And I hear that Ava and Austin are going to sing something for us, is that right?"

"Well they were going to," Ally grimaced, "Not quite sure that'll be happening anymore. Fingers crossed."

"We'll be back after this," Helen said as the crew turned the cameras off. She got up from her chair, going backstage to check on something as Ally turned to Austin.

"Austin, I don't know if she'll be able to perform."

"Why don't you just talk to her quick while I go grab my guitar? I'm sure what you have to say will make her feel better." Ally nodded as Austin motioned for Alex to come with him so they could leave the girls alone.

"Ava?" she cooed, "It's just me here. It's mommy." Ava lifted her head cautiously. "Are you ready to sing with daddy?" Again, no response. Ally lifted Ava onto her lap and continued to talk to her softly until Austin came back.

"Do you want to know a secret?" she asked. The four-year-old lifted her head a little and gave a slight nod. "I used to be scared of performing, too. Can you believe it?" Ava shook her head. "When your dad and I first met, I couldn't even get onstage. Then, this mean girl named Tilly started to post mean stuff about your dad, and threatened to keep doing it if I didn't sing my song in front of lots of people at the mall. That's when your dad got up on stage and sang 'The Butterfly Song' instead of me, because he didn't want me to embarass myself." She smiled. "And also because your dad's amazing."

"Did you write the butterfly song?" Ava asked shyly. Ally nodded.

"I did. When I was in kindergarten, so just a little older than you."

"Can I write songs too?" she asked, lifting her head up.

"Ava, you can do anything you put your mind to."

"Really?"

"Really."

Austin stood a few feet away, his guitar leaning against his leg and Alex balanced on his left hip. "So, I take it things are going good in here?"

Ally looked up, giving him a grin. "We're making progress." She turned back to Ava. "So, what do you think? Do you want to sing the song with daddy?"

Ava looked around the studio cautiously. "Ummmm, okay." Austin cheered and gave her a high five. Ally squeezed her daughter with a hug.

"That's my girl."

"Alright, Aves. Remember to keep your eyes on me, not on the audience. Okay?" Austin asked as Helen announced the duo. She nodded. "Alright, here we go." He played the intro chords on his guitar and nodded. His face lit up with a smile as soon as she started singing.

"I'm a little butterfly,

spread my colorful wings

even though I'm small and frail,

I can do most anything..."

Ally watched from backstage with tears in her eyes. She held Alex's hand to make sure he didn't run off—although his attention span seemed to keep getting shorter and shorter, so she knew there wasn't much time before he wriggled out of her grasp.

"Caterpillar in my cocoon

I'm gonna be a butterfly soon

I'm a little butterfly,

I can soar through the sky

So glad I ended up like this

thanks to metamorphosis..."

Austin didn't tear his eyes off his daughter for a second throughout the entire performance, and the smile on his face made Ally feel like she was sitting by the fire, sipping hot cocoa and wrapped in a blanket. There was no other way to describe it. He continued to amaze her every day with the way he made her feel.

"I'm a butterfly

I'm a butterfly

I'm a butterfly..."

The audience went crazy as Austin pulled Ava into a hug. Ally cheered wildly from backstage; she was a mess of tears and emotions but she didn't care. Seeing her little girl sing the song that she wrote when she was her age gave her a weird sense of deja vu and a type of nostalgia that she didn't even know existed. Helen gave the final remark and just like that, the show was over.

Ally ran out to the stage and picked Ava up, giving her the biggest bear hug. Austin picked Alex up and a few seconds later they were engaged in a big group hug.

"I'm so proud of you, Ava," Ally said, beaming from ear to ear. "You did amazing out there."

"Thank you, mommy."

"Yeah," Austin agreed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you could be an overnight internet sensation one day."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Let's go home."

Three Days Later- the following Monday

"Hey, Austin did you see this?" Ally asked as they were sitting in his office at A&A Records. "The video of you and Ava singing the butterfly song at the Helen Show literally got a billion hits on YouTube."

Austin forced himself to tear his eyes away from the email he was reading. He gave a small smile. "Y-yeah, babe. That's great." He turned back and the smile faded. Ally frowned. She was expecting a much bigger reaction from him, as this was quite a monumental milestone. "Hey, um, do you have the contact information for those lawyers that you were looking into hiring?"

Ally narrowed her eyebrows. "Um, yeah," she said hesitantly. Why?"

"Well," Austin started, looking back at her and swallowing hard, "It looks like we're gonna need them. Come look at this email I just got from Jimmy." She stood up and took a few slow steps toward Austin's desk, bending down and placing one hand on his desk and another on the arm rest of his swivel chair. She smiled a bit reading the first part of the message, but her eyes widened upon seeing the last paragraph.

Austin,

I saw your performance on the Helen Show Saturday night with your daughter. I've gotta say, it was pretty cute. I definitely see a lot of Ally in her, but she takes after both of you in musicality, that's for sure.

What you said about me in your conversation with Helen, however, is a whole different story. You can't sign a close family member of mine to your label and expect me to be civil about it. We both know that Hailey only signed with you because of your success, which was because of me.

I've expressed my doubts about Hailey signing with you before, but seeing the way you talked about me on the Helen Show last Saturday confirmed my worst fears. The fact of the matter is, I am the only one who knows what's best for her. Your stardom doesn't make you qualified to manage other up-and-coming artists. I am willing to fight for her, even if that means in the courtroom.

Regards,

Jimmy

wow um ok so that happened xD I didn't originally intend for this chapter to end like this but I was inspired by a comment on the last chapter, talking about how she was curious to see how Austin and Jimmy interact now that they're in real competition with each other. Now, I've actually added a chapter so we can see what goes down between them. Anyway, lmk your thoughts! How cute was Austin and Ava's performance on the Helen show? That part was inspired by Bloggers & Butterflies, obvi, and i thought it'd be cute since Ava is around the same age Ally was when she wrote the song. Remember to review, favorite and follow this story and me to get more updates on this story and future auslly fanfics! I've got a lot of ideas planned after I finish this fanfic (mostly oneshots, but I've also got an idea for an AU). Have a great day/night/afternoon everyone! :) -Ej