Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock.

Author's Note: So I said there was only one more chapter, but after reading some reviews and thinking over what I wanted to do with each character, I ended up with three more. One reviewer asked me if the car belonged to Jason, which was a perfectly legitimate assumption that still caught me off guard. While it was tempting for a moment, since this story exists in the same universe with Uncle Jason, it couldn't be done. So this chapter brings some closure to Tess' part in the story, the next chapter will be about Adam and the women in his life (the original final chapter), and then there is a very short epilogue (which is already written). The character introduced in this chapter is from Camp Rock Second Session book #2, so I don't own him either.

Tess was lunching with several of her toadies when her cell phone rang. She looked down and grimaced before answering. "What do you want Caitlyn?"

"Good afternoon to you too, Tess," Caitlyn replied. "Can you come over for dinner on Thursday?"

"You know when I said dinner at your house didn't totally suck? That didn't mean I wanted to make a habit out of it," Tess said.

"I'm crushed, Tess. I thought we were best friends now," Caitlyn answered sarcastically. "Adam has something he wants to show us, and he asked if I would have you both over."

"When I agreed to help out with the album, I didn't know I was signing on for life," Tess complained.

"Look, Tess, it seems important to him. Can you just show up? I won't ask you to come over again."

"Fine," Tess said. "What time?"

"Come about 5:30."

"I'm not bringing anything," Tess snapped.

Caitlyn scoffed, "Like that even needed to be said."

Tess hung up the phone and shoved it into her purse. Brittany, one of her lunch companions, laughed and commented, "I can't believe you have to go to another dinner with Caitlyn and her brats."

Tess glared at the unsuspecting woman. "Look, say whatever about Caitlyn, but nobody talks about her girls like that. Got it?"

Brittany's eyes opened wide and she stammered out, "Sorry." Everyone else at the table quickly started eating, not wanting to attract the wrath of Tess Tyler.

Thursday afternoon Tess found herself pacing around her house. She was supposed to be working on a new song, but she couldn't concentrate. Everything was starting to feel a little out of control. She wasn't sure how it happened, but all of a sudden her life was filled with people who expected things from her and maybe even cared about her. It wasn't natural, and she wasn't sure she liked it. But she wasn't quite willing to put a stop to it either. She looked at the clock and saw that she still had an hour before she needed to leave for dinner. Tossing her lyrics onto the couch, she grabbed her phone and dialed.

"Hello, handsome! How are you doing?" Tess laughed at the response. "I don't have to leave for about an hour." After another pause, she continued. "No, I'm not bringing anything. They should just be glad that I'm showing up." Tess frowned before continuing, "I'll think about it. Will I see you tonight?" She smiled and said, "You too."

Tess hung up the phone and began to pace around her living room. After an internal battle she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

"Welcome to Toys R Us," a cheerful voice said. "Can I help you find anything?"

Tess grimaced before asking, "Where are the Barbies?"

"Barbies are on aisle 10, just over that way," the woman replied as she pointed towards the back of the store.

It only took Tess a few seconds to choose which Barbie to get. The Holiday Barbie with the elaborate red dress, fur cape and sparkly crown was the obvious winner. Melody would be thrilled. Barbie in hand, she headed towards the front of the store before coming to a halt. There were two of them, which probably meant she needed two toys. At that point Tess almost put the Barbie back and walked out of the store, but that seemed weak. Last time Tess was over Annabelle spent the entire night playing that lame slide game, so maybe that would work. She grabbed the next person she saw with a name tag, "Where are the board games?"

The store employee gaped at Tess. "You're Tess Tyler," he stammered.

"I know that," she replied. "What I don't know is where the games are."

The young man eventually recovered and volunteered to walk her to the game section. She quickly scanned the shelves, looking for something she recognized. When she saw Mousetrap, she grinned and reached for the box. It had a ton of pieces that had to be carefully put together each time you played; she knew Annabelle would love it and Caitlyn would curse her every time they went to play. Perfect!

The drive from the toy store was quicker than Tess had expected, and she soon found herself standing in front of Nate and Caitlyn's front door. She hesitated as she reached for the door bell, looking down at the bags in her hand. She hated giving gifts; it always reminded her of her mother and how nothing Tess picked for her was ever right. She could just take them back to the car and waltz in with her head held high, but she knew Jordan would be proud of her for trying. She pushed her insecurities aside and rang the bell.

"Hey Adam," Caitlyn said happily as she opened the door. "Oh, it's you." She added. "I thought you were Adam."

"I could tell," Tess replied. Then she glanced back at the driveway, "He's not here yet?"

Neither woman had anticipated that Tess would arrive before Adam. Every interaction they had had in the past six months had somehow involved Adam, and they weren't sure what to do without him there. Caitlyn moved out of the way and ushered Tess inside, neither saying a word. Caitlyn finally noticed the bags in Tess' hand.

"I thought you weren't bringing anything," Caitlyn said sounding confused.

"I like to keep people guessing," Tess retorted. After a moment, she added, "It's not for you; it's for the girls."

"Oh, well that's…nice." Caitlyn said uncertainly. She turned and called upstairs. "Girls, Tess is here. And she brought something for you."

Tess could hear the girls squeal and come running out of Annabelle's room. Melody peered down at Tess from between the spindles of the banister. "Hi Tess! Will you play with me?" Tess was surprised by the fact that the little girl seemed more interested in playing with her than in seeing what the present was. "Sure, sweetheart, but don't you want to see what I brought you?"

Melody smiled and nodded, heading down the stairs. Annabelle reached Tess first and sat down in the entryway to open the bag. She pulled out the box and cried, "Oh, cool! Thanks Tess!" She put down the game and gave Tess a quick hug before calling, "Daddy, Tess brought me a new game! Will you play with me?"

Tess was pleased with Annabelle's reaction, but she was actually excited to see what Melody thought of her gift. Tess handed the little girl the bag and watched closely as she opened it. Melody gasped when she saw the doll and hugged the box to her chest. She looked up at Tess and said reverently, "She is the most beautifulest doll in the world."

Tess felt a surge of pride as Melody took the Barbie over to show her mom. She had gotten it right. In the past, Tess had always mocked the saying, 'It's better to give than to receive,' but she could understand now why some people liked giving gifts so much. Not that she was planning on making it a habit, but she could understand the attraction.

Tess noticed Melody whisper something in her mother's ear. Caitlyn glanced over at Tess before saying to her daughter, "Why don't you ask her."

Melody walked over to Tess, still hugging the box. The child looked up at her and asked quietly, "Can I call you Auntie Tess?"

Tess' eyes widened at Melody's question. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Caitlyn frowning. Did Caitlyn actually think she would say no? Tess knew she could be a bitch, but you'd have to be truly evil to reject such a sweet gesture from a three year old. Even though the name 'auntie' did make Tess want to puke. Then she had an idea.

Tess knelt down so she was looking Melody in the face. "I have an idea. How about you call me Tante Tess? That's how they say 'auntie' in France, where they make the most beautiful clothes in the world. Like the ones your new Barbie is wearing."

Melody's face lit up. "So it's special?" Tess nodded, and Melody happily gave Tess a hug.

"How about we go get Tante Tess something to drink?" Caitlyn suggested, choking a little on the new name. She turned to walk towards the kitchen before adding, "Melody, why don't you give me the Barbie, and I'll open it for you. Then you and Tess can play with it while we wait for Adam."

Tess followed Caitlyn and Melody into the kitchen, where she found Nate opening the cellophane on the Mousetrap box. He grinned at Tess and said, "Nice pick. I used to love this game as a kid."

Tess tossed her hair and laughed, saying, "I'm not sure you'll still be thanking me in a few weeks."

"Trust me, anything's better than Chutes and Ladders!"

Tess took a glass of sparkling water from Caitlyn and sat down at the counter while Caitlyn started to open the Barbie. At that moment, Tess' cell phone rang. Looking down at the caller ID, she quickly answered. "Hey, I just got here. Can I call you back when we're done?" Tess paused and listened. "Yes, but for the girls." Caitlyn watched Tess carefully; she had never heard the other woman's voice sound so gentle before. All of a sudden Tess whined, "Do I have to?" Tess sighed before telling Nate and Caitlyn, "Jordan says hello."

All of a sudden, everything clicked - the car, the gifts, the voice. Caitlyn grinned. "Jordan? As in Jordan Davids?"

Nate looked up from the table where he was starting to punch out pieces of the board game. "I haven't talked to Jordan in ages. Can I talk to him?"

"Call him yourself," Tess snapped trying to get off the phone before Caitlyn made a bigger issue out of the fact that Tess' famous ex-boyfriend from their Camp Rock days was on the phone. Tess listened to Jordan on the other end of the phone before saying, "Fine." She handed the phone to Nate. "He wants to talk to you."

"Hey, man," Nate said, getting up from the table. "How've you been?"

Caitlyn got an evil glint in her eyes as she watched her husband head out of the kitchen with the phone. She wanted confirmation. "Nate," she called. "Ask Jordan what kind of car he drives."

Nate gave his wife a strange look, but asked. Caitlyn was not surprised when the answer was a black Escalade. She geared herself up to give Tess a hard time, but then stopped. Jordan was almost as famous as Connect 3, and everyone knew how much Tess loved the spotlight. He must really mean something to her if Tess had managed to keep it a secret this long. And then there was the sound of her voice when she was talking to him. Caitlyn took a deep breath and smiled at Tess, "Jordan's great, Tess. I'm happy for you guys."

Tess looked suspicious. "That's it? No mocking? No rushing off to call Mitchie with the juicy news that I'm back with my ex?"

Caitlyn shook her head, "There are some things that should be off limits, even for us."

Tess looked over at Annabelle and Melody happily playing at the kitchen table. "I know what you mean," she said softly.

The two women stood together in awkward silence, both relieved when the door bell rang.