"I'm sitting in between Kenzie and Mads!" I I exclaim as I sit down, "Whew, I won!"

"It was not even a competition." Kenzie tells me as she sits down.

"That you know of." I tell her.

"Don't start bickering." Maddie tells us as she sits down.

"What's wrong?" Bryan asks us.

"Well, they don't want to sit next to Abby." Maddie answers.

"Is there an advantage to sitting next to Abby or a disadvantage?"

"Well, she's the favorite so she gets to sit next to Abby." Kenzie says.

"All right, I think we're just hanging out for a second until she gets ready." Bryan tells us.

We all look at each other, clearly nervous.

"Ten minutes? What is she doing?"

"I need to say that it is so cool that she isn't here!" I stand up from my seat and twirl, "Or maybe it is not, but I don't have to worry about being in the bottom anymore."

"Wait, that's true!" Kenzie smiles, "Yes!"

"Kids, yeah, think of the beginning when we were talking about doing this special, you were a little hesitant?"

"Yeah." Kenzie answers.

"Why was that?"

"I was scared that Abby was gonna yell at me."

"Why would she yell at you?"

"Cause she yells at me all the time. I get yelled at the most."

"What's your expectations for today?"

"I hope we just have fun, and I get a lot of dirty secrets about Abby." Maddie answers.

"Especially those." I agree.

"Like?"

"Why she always has her hair in curlers." Maddie says.

"Where does she go at night?" Kenzie adds.

"She's usually going to, like, McDonald's or something." Maddie continues.

I try to hold my laughter in as Kenzie looks over to Maddie and tells her to stop.

"No, that's literally where she goes."

~~~

"Is she almost ready?" Maddie asks as she plays with my hair.

"Oh, my thighs are gonna be chafing."

"Abby?" Kenzie whispers, "I thought we had more time."

"Oh, you looks nice."

"Hi!"

"Hi."

"Mackenzie, you can't be in it 'cause you don't match us." Abby jokes, "Melanie, if you keep the jacket on, you can stay."

"Okay." Kenzie says.

I look down and look at my outfit.

Abby sits down and finishes getting ready.

"Abby, why don't you tell the girls why we're here today." Bryan says.

"Girls, we're here today to take a little trip down memory lane." Abby tells us, "This is gonna be our last hurrah on television together. Maybe, but who knows what the future holds, right?"

We all nod.

"How old were you when you started the ALDC?"

"I think I was two or three." Kenzie answers, "I'm pretty sure."

"I was four." Maddie answers.

"Four?" Abby asks.

"Four."

The three of them look at me and my eyes wide.

"I was probably a couple months old." I answer, "So I didn't dance for, like, a year, I think?"

"Yes." Abby tells me and I smile, "Maddie's, Mackenzie's, and Melanie's dad, Kurt, went to high school with me, and he knew that my studio was the best studio in our town. He knew that I travelled all over the country with my students, that they went to a lot of competitions, and that they won. When it was time to put his three daughters into dance class, he brought them to me. Maddie made an incredible first impression. She walked into the studio, and she was just this cupcake, this tiny little body and this big head, and these gorgeous big eyes. And you just wanted to eat her up. And she looked at me in the eye, and she spoke for herself, which I loved that her parents weren't speaking for her. And she said, 'I want to take tap and hip-hop'. And I was like, 'Uh, who does this kid think she is?'."

"I don't even remember that at all." Maddie comments.

Sassy little Maddie.

"I said to the teacher, 'You know what? Let her take the class. She's gonna get in there. She's not gonna be able to do it. She's gonna come out crying'. That's not what happened." Abby continues, "That night, the teacher said, 'Uh, who was that little kid in my class?'. And I though, 'Ugh, here it comes.' and she's like, 'She was the best one. She is so smart. She was better than any of the other kids.'. And I went-- ding-- Maybe I have a star here."

"What about your first memory of Mackenzie?"

"I remember the hair, a lot of hair, like Goldie Hawn or something. Like big hair. And those teeth." Abby says, "I'm sorry. She just had that whole little kid thing going on with the roof of her mouth, and she was absolutely adorable. Well, you were a baby. Literally, a toddler. And then you grew up at the dance studio. Every day, you were there."

"What about Melanie?"

"Here it comes." I say.

"She wasn't there the first day. She came in later." Abby tells everyone, "She was about four months old, but she surprisingly looked a little older."

"Something she has always had." Maddie comments.

"And she was like a mix of Maddie and Mackenzie." Abby continues, "That brown hair and those blue eyes, she almost looked like a doll."

"Not the weirdest comment." I shrug.

"She started dancing when she was two, and it was like Maddie all over again, she was so dedicated, even though she was a literal toddler. But she danced so well with the older girls, her only disadvantage was her height. Besides that, it was all perfect." Abby finishes.

"I just remember the first day of Dance Moms, I think everyone was super excited." Maddie says, "We were like, 'We're gonna be on TV'. I had no clue that we were gonna learn a new dance every week. I-I thought--"

"No, neither did I."

"--We were just gonna do the same dance at every competition. I didn't even realize--"

"I didn't even know what the show was about." Kenzie comments.

"I just followed everybody else around." I comment, "And like you were excited, I was excited. Typical toddler behavior."

"Yeah, I didn't think it would just become what is has been-- about all the moms fighting and then you being, like, the main focus." Maddie says.

"You think I'm the main focus?" Abby asks Maddie.

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yes!"

"No, I-I kind of think you're the main focus, babe." Abby puts her hand on Maddie's shoulder and I look at Kenzie confused.

The two of the keep on blabbering about that and soon we move on.

"What was going through your mind during those first six episodes?"

"I try not to remember those first six episodes." Abby answers.

"We look completely different." Maddie adds.

"How 'bout me? I didn't think I was ever going to be on television with that hair and the makeup. I never thought anybody was gonna watch this show."

"You look the most different."

"I would have done my hair and my makeup. I would have worn something better. I was just in there trying to get routines finished and choreograph stuff. All I knew is this might be a chance to do something wonderful."

"So, let's take a look at what you all looked like during season one."

"Not the hideous hair, not the hideous hair." I say and cover my eyes.

"Your hair looks amazing." Maddie tells me.

"Easy for you to say, but mom accidentally pulled my hair when she worked with it, so it hurt pretty bad." I tell her, "I was also a messy toddler who could get a pair of scissors in seconds."

We all watch the Ziegler introduction of season one. and boy was that weird.

"Mackenzie, that right there. See, why did I not just forget about Maddie and take you, move to Hollywood, and make you the next actress star. Look at that face!"

"So, throughout our time together today, uh, you guys are gonna be answering some fan questions. So, right on the table in front of you are fan questions. So whenever you're feeling it, I want you to reach over, grab a question."

"Go ahead, Mackenzie."

Kenzie takes a question and reads it.

"Mackenzie, what's pyramid really like?" Kenzie reads.

"Pyramid is grueling." Abby answers, "Seriously."

"On Dance Moms, pyramid is two minutes long. Not even." Kenzie explains, "But, actually, it's four hours long."

"I see you laughing all the time and talking and everybody's eyes wandering. Fingers in the mouth. Oh, I see it all, I see it all."

"Once you take off the paper, you say, 'You're on the bottom because of your mom'. And then the moms get crazy. And then it just takes longer."

"Sometimes we'll take breaks, we'll leave, we'll come back and finish it." Maddie continues.

"Then someone either walks out or you walk out and we don't finish pyramid." I finish, "We can't even say anything!"

"Well, that's the thing. You can't sit there. You have to stand." Abby says.

"That's why I liked the old pyramid." Maddie says.

"And a dancer doesn't like to stand. What was the old pyramid?"

"That's why I liked the first season." Kenzie says, "We got to sit on the floor."

 "And we got to stretch." I add.

"Well, yes. That was better." Abby agrees.

"Abby, talk about the first pyramid. Do you remember it?"

"The very first pyramid was a chalkboard. Literally."

"And your chalk broke." Maddie adds.

"Yeah, the chalk would break, it would screech, I would get chills. It was horrible. I do remember physically turning the chalkboard around because the wheels were broken, one of them fell off, and we would have to, like, lift it up and flip it around."

"I remember that I was on the bottom." I point out, "And on the final pyramid, I was at the top."

"That is called progress." Abby tells me.

"Girls, you sometimes get annoyed with mo during pyramid."

"I usually get annoyed by my mom because she talks about the moms in front of their faces, and I'm just like, 'Well, you shouldn't do that'." Kenzie answers.

"Talk about them behind their back, mother!" Abby adds, "What's wrong with you?"

"And not just that. She goes, 'Oh, well, Melanie does this, and Mackenzie does this, and Maddie's amazing'." Maddie continues, "I'm like, 'We don't care, mom', and no one else cares either."

"So you don't want her speaking during pyramid at all?"

"No. I don't want her talking during pyramid at all."

"We don't want to get yelled at."

~~~

"Abby, weren't you closer with the Ziegler girls than the other girls?"

"The girls and I share several bonds." Abby answers, "There were some difficult times while you three were at the dance studio. Their mom and dad got divorced. I think that your dancing kind of protected you, a little bit, from all that. And you had somewhere else to be and something to keep your mind on. After that, it wasn't long that, um, my mom got sick. I think that's what made us closer. In those final days of my mother's life, Melissa was there every day."

"She would always drive me in her Cadillac car, and I remember she would come to our rehearsals. Sometimes she'd bring Baby in the room, and Baby would run around when we were dancing and it was really fun." Maddie says.

"She was really sweet to all of the girls." Kenzie adds.

"I remember the gift she bought me for my third birthday." I say, "I think I was a little spoiled."

"Little?" Maddie asks, "You were the favorite baby in the studio! Everyone would buy you so many presents."

"That's true." I smile, "Wonder where those gifts are now."

"She always had her hair in a french twist." Kenzie finishes.

"Yeah,. My mom wanted to inspire children to love being on the stage. And I think she did all with all of you." Abby tells us.

"Let's take a look at that clip with Mrs. Miller."

The clip was when ABby announced in pyramid that Mrs. Miller was dying, and that there was nothing anyone could do anymore.

"I think my mom thought of you three as her grandchildren that she never had." Her voice breaks.

"We think of her as a grandma too." Maddie tells Abby.

"Because we lost her too." I say and everything goes silent.

She predicted that you would be stars." Abby says, "I know she's watching every move that you make."

"You did something a little unusual at the services, Broadway Baby?"

"Oh, I remember my baby cousin went with my mom to visit Mrs. Miller, and the whole she was playing with Broadway Baby." Maddie says, "She thought it was real."

"That's so weird." I comment, "Like, imagine waiting for Baby to move."

"Where is Broadway Baby now?"

"My mom and my dad's ashes, and my dog, Broadway Baby, are in a gorgeous, gorgeous cemetery in Miami, Florida." Abby tells everyone, "They are together in the casket, in the wall, and my place is right next door to them."

~~~

"I was always a star in my own mind." Abby says.

"Oh, I know." Maddie smiles as Kenzie and I laugh.

"Wherever we were competing on the weekend, when we would get off the bus and walk in to the auditorium, there were hundreds of people, like, screaming our names. Every week, there were more people there."

"How has being famous changed Abby?"

"I think fame has really gotten to Abby." Kenzie laughs.

"What does that mean?" Abby laughs.

"She goes, 'Water! I need water!'." Maddie says, "You yell at a lot of our crew."

"You yelled at me."

We continue talking about a lot of random stuff, that's it, until I take a fan question.

"Melanie, how did it feel beating Maddie twice?" I read, "I was on top of the world."

"More like on top of the pyramid." Kenzie says.

"No, it was amazing, because no one thought that I could beat Maddie, and I did it more than once." I smile, "But I don't know how though."

~~~
"We're near the end." Bryan says, "It is time to say goodbye now. You guys have a very long history together."

"I am not gonna say goodbye to Abby, I'm gonna."

"I know, I'm mad, I don't want them to leave." Abby says.

"It's been an amazing six years for Dance Moms, so let's take a look back."

We all watch a video that it was basically everything that happened to all three of us during Dance Moms.

Wow. Times flies.

"Well, that was nice." Abby smiles.

"I know."

"So I kind of want to know, um,  what is like like to have created three of the most famous tweens in the world? I mean, not many people can say that."

"It's thankless. Ingrates." She chuckles, "No I'm-- Uh, I also hope that I've instilled in you not only the dance stuff and the showbusiness and stepping on stage in your hair and makeup, but I've instilled in you to be young women who stand up for what they believe in, who don't look the other way. But to be kind, I hope that you've learned that from me as well. Okay?"

"Well, thank you for giving us all of these opportunities." Kenzie says.

"And thanks for teaching me how to dance." I say, "All about it."

"And for the best six years ever."

"And don't even think about going on a date with a boy until I meet him." Abby tells us.

"Okay." Kenzie smiles.

"Oh! And don't even think about going on a date with a boy until we meet him." Maddie tells Abby.

"We have to make sure he's cute." I add, "And good."

"What do you mean by that?" Kenzie asks with a grin.

"Mackenzie, not like that!" I burst out laughing.

"Girls, do you have anything you want to say to Abby?"

"I hope your dream comes true where you can get a date with Tom Cruise." Maddie says and we laugh, "And thank you for liking me more than Mackenzie and Melanie."

"I think we were the actual favorites." I say, "Abby was just playing with you, Mads, Kenzie and I were Abby's favorites all along."

"Come here, baby doll." Abby says and Kenzie and her hug.

"So where do you go from here?"

"So I think Maddie, Mackenzie, and Melanie will remain in my life forever. That's simple. I think differently than my students that are in New York, or here or there, everywhere, I'm gonna make sure of it. I'm gonna hound them, I'm gonna show up at their workplace, and I;m gonna say, 'Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, I want to see that outfit. I want to see those shoes.'. I'm gonna be nubby, nubby, nubby, old aunt. That's what I'm gonna be. I want this to continue. It's just the beginning. And perhaps, I'll do it again with three other little girls."

"What's the future of the ALDC competition team?"

"The future of the ALDC competition team is really up in the air. I think there's wonderful things in the horizon for all of us, but, if it all ended tomorrow, I would be happy with what we've achieved."

"Same." Maddie says.

"Me too." Kenzie says.

"Of course." I say.

"Good job." Maddie says and we high-five.

She does the same with Kenzie and Abby.

"That's a wrap!" Bryan exclaims, "That's the final curtain."

We all stand up and read the other questions.

"Those were pretty good questions. "I say, "We should've read them all."

"Let's do it fast!" Kenzie exclaims.

"We're over."

"Oh."

That's a wrap on Dance Moms.