They are the very picture of a happy family – perched on the kerbside they chat and laugh as they admire the latest addition to the family.
But just months ago this scene would have been unimaginable. Back then Britney Spears was estranged from her mother Lynn and younger sister Jamie Lynn.
But there was no hint of the horrors of the past year as the teen idol celebrated her two son’s birthdays yesterday with a family reunion.
She spent a relaxed day with her mother Lynne, father Jamie, 17-year-old sister Jamie Lynn and Jamie Lynn’s three-month-old daughter Maddie Briann.
Jamie-Lynn had flown in from her home in Louisiana to Los Angeles to celebrate the birthdays of Britney’s sons, which are only two days apart.
Sean Preston’s turned three on September 14 and Jayden was two on September 12. It is not clear if their father Kevin Federline, from whom Britney is divorced, was present at the party.
Looking at the family portrait it seems incredible to think that in June last year the 26-year-old even served her mother with a restraining order to stop her having any contact with the singer’s two young sons.
In January in an image that shocked her fans she was pictured sobbing uncontrollably on a curb at the side of the road with only her puppy for comfort.
Britney then suffered a very public meltdown, shaving her head and losing custody of Sean Preston and Jayden to her ex-husband Kevin Federline in February.
Her increasingly erratic behaviour led to her being taken into psychiatric care under a mental health order. A judge made her parents her guardians, giving them control of her money to stop her being taken advantage of by hangers on.
Since emerging from the mental health unit in the spring Britney has remained at home in LA with her father Jamie, getting her life back together.
Having been virtually estranged from her parents, Britney is now described as being ‘incredibly close’ to them again. This represents a major turnaround, since at the height of her troubles Britney publicly blamed her woes on her father.
Now, Jamie says: ‘We’ve grown a lot. I’ve been able to come back into my daughter’s life, and that was an adjustment anyway, because I’m an alcoholic and it’s the first time we’ve really been able to share.
‘It’s wonderful. It’s new for both of us. She sometimes calls me 50 times a day and asks me things that light my life up. But, like all daughters, she is very cunning. So she gets what she wants a lot.’
(source)
