"I don't know Roger. She's only 15. What about school? Her friends?" Alexandra asked looking over at Roger as she sat in bed reading over some papers and Roger wrote lyrics.
"Only 15? Alex, she's HIV positive. She doesn't have the luxury of waiting until she's older." he said putting his notebook and pen down before getting out of bed.
"You think I don't know that Roger? She's my daughter. I just don't want her spending her whole life as a slave to the record companies. You know what it's like." she said looking over at him.
"What record company? She'll be with me. I'll be producing her cd and you can be her manager." he said looking over at her.
"And what about touring? Publicity? She's gonna be away from her friends and school." she asked looking up at him.
"Baby, it's what she wants. It's all she's wanted since she was 8 years old. I know it's gonna be hard, but it's all she wants. I don't want to stand in her way." he said going over to the bed, sitting next to her.
"Does she realize what she'll be giving up? Her privacy, her friends? Did you tell her that?" she asked looking over at him.
"What privacy? Alex, she's our daughter. She hasn't had privacy since we moved out here. And her friends are either in the business or their parents are. They know the deal. She knows what she wants and this is it. She wants to pursue her music." he said looking down at her smiling.
"I don't know Roger. I mean, she's a teenage girl." she said looking up at him.
"You know as well as I do, she is capable of making this decision on her own. All she needs is for us to get behind her on this." he smiled looking over at her.
"OK Roger. But she's not going anywhere alone. That's non negotiable. And I'll be her manager, but there is gonna be no late night parties with adults. I'm serious on that." she said looking over at him.
"She's not allowed to go to adult parties now. Baby, it's gonna be OK, I promise." he said going over to her.
"And you proof all of her songs. I mean it. No inappropriate lyrics." she said looking up at him.
"I promise Alex. She's gonna be OK. She's a smart girl." he smiled leaning in to kiss her.
"I'm just worried about her. I know what this business does to young girls. Drugs, eating disorders, alcoholism, low self esteem. If she doesn't have us looking out for her she could get hurt." she said looking up at him.
"I know Baby, but she's gonna be fine. She has us." he smiled taking her into his arms.
"OK, she can do it." she smiled looking up at him.
"She's gonna be so happy. Thank you Baby. I just want her to be able to do what she loves." he said looking down at her.
"So do I Roger. I don't want to hold her back from fullfilling her dreams. I just want to protect her from this damn town." she said looking over at him.
"We will Alex. I would never let anything happen to her. Just like I would never let anything happen to you either. You're my girls." he smiled leaning in to kiss her again.
"We like being your girls." she smiled wrapping her arms around him to bring him on top of her and they began to make love.
"She actually said yes? Oh my God." Cassandra said looking over at Roger from the kitchen table as he made her breakfast.
"Yep, she said yes. But there are some rules that you need to abide by or the deal is off." he said looking over at her.
"No problem dad. Anything you guys want, I'll do. I promise. I just can't believe mom is letting us do the album." she smiled looking up at him.
"I can't believe it either. I know how against it Alex was." Mark said pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Yeah well, there will be no late night adult parties and you don't go anywhere alone. Your mom is gonna be your manager and I'm gonna produce your album." he said looking over at her.
"That is gonna be so cool dad. You and me recording something for real." she smiled looking up at him.
"Not you and me. It's gonna be just you. I'm just gonna be producing it. It's gonna be all you princess." he smiled bringing the plate of eggs to her.
"But daddy, I want you and me to sing a song together on it. I wrote something." he smiled looking over at him.
"You wrote something for us to sing?" he asked looking down at her as he sat at the table.
"Yeah. I've been working on it for a while. I wanted you to do it with me." she smiled looking over at him.
"I would love to princess." he smiled leaning over to kiss her head.
"Thanks dad." she smiled looking up at him before starting to eat her breakfast.
"Marky are you ready?" Alexandra asked rushing into the kitchen carrying her briefcase.
"Um... yeah Alex, just gimme a minute." she smiled looking over at her takiing a sip of his coffee. "Boys, let's go. Uncle Roger is leaving in 10 minutes. With or without you." he yelled up the stairs.
"OK dad. We're coming." Adam yelled down the stairs as Mark went back into the kitchen.
"Now I'm ready." he smiled looking up at her.
"Where's Hanna?" Alexandra asked looking over at him as she sipped at Roger's coffee.
"Cancer treatment center. She had to be there early for the opening of the day care center today. She said she'd try to be home for when the kids get home from school." he said looking over at her.
"That's OK, I can get them." Roger smiled looking over at him dishing out breakfast for the boys.
"Thanks Rog. I really appreciate that." he smiled looking over at him.
"Hey, they're my boys too. I'm glad to do it. Plus, I like that Hanna's working at the treatment center. She's doing a lot of good. I'm proud of her." he smiled bringing the plates over to the table.
"Come on Marky, we gotta get going. I'll see you later sweetie." she smiled leaning down to kiss Cassandra's head.
"Bye mom. Knock em dead." she smiled looking up at her.
"Thanks sweetie." she laughed looking down at her before going to Roger. "Bye Baby." she smiled leaning up to kiss Roger.
"Bye Baby. I love you." he smiled looking down at her.
"I love you too Roger." she smield looking up at him.
"Um, Alex can we go?" Mark asked looking over at them.
"Um yeah. Sorry Marky. I'll be home later Baby. Just don't eat pop tarts all day." she laughed looking up at Roger.
"Oh come on. You know I write better when I'm eating pop tarts." he laughed looking down at her.
"Yeah right. Have a good day at school sweetie." Alexandra laughed looking over at Cassandra.
"I will mom. Bye Uncle Mark." she smiled continuing to eat her breakfast as Mark and Alexandra left the house.
"Are you ready for this Mark?" she asked as they got in Roger's car.
"I think so. I never imagined I'd be negotiating a contract at a film studio." he smiled looking over at her as she started the car.
"Yeah well, you are. Just don't worry about a thing. I'll take care of everything. Just let me do all the talking and everything. It'll be fine, really Mark. I'll make sure you're integrity stays in tact." she smiled looking over at him before putting the car in gear and leaving the Davis driveway.
"You know Alex, you're getting more and more like Joanne every day." he laughed looking over at her.
"Thanks Mark. I take that as a compliment." she smiled before they drove away.
"Alex, Mark we're glad you can make it. Come on in." an older gentleman smiled greeting them as they entered the office.
"Thank you Dan." she smiled looking up at him as they sat down at a long table where 4 film executives sat.
"Good morning Mrs. Davis, Mr. Cohen. We would just like to start by saying, we love your concept Mr. Cohen and we would like to produce your film." a young woman smiled looking over at him.
"Thank you Janelle. Mr. Cohen is prepared to sign a 3 film deal, but on his terms. That is non negotiable." she said looking up at them.
"We don't want to change a thing. Mark, we enjoyed your documentary very much and we would like to see what you've got in the works next." Dan smiled looking over at him.
"Well, I was thinking of doing a documentary about cancer and the impact a cancer diagnosis has on their families." he smiled looking over at Alexandra.
"That sounds wonderful Mr. Cohen. We would like to read a draft of what you have in mind and then we'll discuss budget and materials." Janelle smiled looking over at him.
"Thank you Janelle, but about salary?" Alexandra asked looking up at her.
"For starters, how about 150 thousand per picture. I know it's scale now, but that's gonna be for the first three pictures and then we can re negotiate when your contract is under review." Janelle smiled looking over at him. Alexandra smiled looking over at Mark, who just simply nodded at her.
"We'll take it." she smiled looking over at her.
"OK. We'll draw up the contract and I'll messenger it over to your office next week." Janelle smiled looking over at them.
"Thank you Janelle. I look forward to hearing from you." Alexandra smiled looking over at them before she and Mark left.
"That went well." Mark smiled looking over at her.
"Well? Mark, you got a 3 picture deal for 450 thousand dollars, doing what you love. On your terms. I think that went great. And you didn't even have to sell out." she smiled looking up at him.
"I owe you Alex, thanks." he smiled looking down at her.
"No problem sweetie. Anything for my big brother." she smiled as he put his arms around her and kissed her head. "We need to celebrate. How about we go home, pick up Roger and then go to the treatment center and tell Hanna the good news?" she suggested looking up at him.
"Great idea." he smiled as they walked to the car arm in arm.