A day after her sister Jamie Lynn gave birth to a baby girl, a serious-looking Britney Spears returned to Los Angeles on Friday to a crush of rowdy paparazzi at the airport.

After the group - consisting of Spears, assistant Brett, father Jamie and bodyguards - made their way down a terminal escalator, Jamie Spears pushed photographers out of the way. Britney, wearing sunglasses, was bumped several times.

Hours earlier, the pop singer gave a tearful goodbye to family at the New Orleans airport after being on hand for the birth of her niece Maddie Briann. On the plane, Spears kept to herself in first class on the Delta flight, which also included celebrity passenger Amanda Bynes.

Jamie Lynn Spears’s hometown of Kentwood, La., was buzzing with the news she gave birth, with friends and relatives expressing surprise, relief and confidence the 17-year-old will be a good mother.

“She’s awfully young to be a momma,” says distant cousin Margie Busby. “But that’s what they make %26#91;grandmothers%26#93; for. They have to help. That’s the way it is with our circle of friends.”

Second cousin Janet Bridges acknowledges, “I didn’t even know she had the baby,” but gives a thumbs up to the baby girl’s name. “Ooh, I like ‘Maddie,’” says Bridges.

The birth was the talk of Kentwood. “I’m really happy for her and her family,” says Jennifer Pike, who works at the corner store where the Spears family often shops. “There will probably be some rough times and some bumpy times, but I wish the best for her. I wish her all the luck in the world.”

Adds another friend, “She was so excited about having this child. (She was) looking forward to it so much.”

The days have passed slowly for Spears and fiancé Casey Aldridge, who had finished preparing for the baby a few weeks ago. “It seemed like this day would never come,” says a cousin of Aldridge. “They’ve been getting ready, but everything was pretty much done by last month. So they just had to wait.”

Now that Maddie Briann is here, family members hope that Spears and Aldridge are good parents. “It’s easy to have them, but hard to raise them,” says relative Charlie Spears. “I hope she’s healthy, and I hope they raise a good baby.”

• Additional reporting by RUTH LANEY, STEVE BARNES and WENDY GROSSMAN

Britney Spears has arrived at the Mississippi hospital where her sister Jamie Lynn is expected to give birth to her first child today.

On Wednesday, Britney - along with her father Jamie and brother Bryan - arrived in her hometown of Kentwood, La., to be with Jamie Lynn. Mom Lynne has also been with Jamie Lynn, helping prepare for the baby’s arrival.

The Spears family spent a relaxing evening together in Liberty, Miss., where Jamie Lynn recently bought a home, the night before. “They have had nine months to deal with this,” says a Spears family friend. “Last night was very low-key. There was no last-minute panicking. No one was worried.”

Britney Spears is at home in Kentwood, La., to be on hand when her sister Jamie Lynn gives birth, PEOPLE confirms.

After taking an early morning commercial flight from LAX, the singer, 26, touched down in New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon with her father, Jamie, 55, her brother, Bryan, 31, and her assistant, Brett.

The Spears clan then headed home to the Spears family Serenity mansion in Kentwood. Their arrival comes just before Jamie Lynn, 17, is expected to give birth.

By now, sadly, it is a familiar sight: Britney Spears, driving around L.A. in the pitch dark with her lights off, engulfed by a meteor shower of paparazzi flashbulbs. On Jan. 7, hobbled by a flat tire and wreaking mayhem on L.A. traffic, a smiling Spears - in a slinky silk top and red boots - and her assistant Karla finally ditched their Mercedes on the street (police later impounded it) and hitched a ride home…

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Britney Spears’s father intends to sell her Studio City home in the latest liquidation of her assets, it was revealed in Los Angeles probate court Tuesday.

The hilltop house, located in a gated community, has been the scene of the recent drama in the singer’s life, including the night in January she was taken from the property in an ambulance and forced into a psychiatric hospital.

It was not immediately clear where she intends to move. But a source close to Spears said, “Having more privacy and wide open spaces for her to raise her boys has been a goal for some time.”

Also, her court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham, said in court that Britney would be out of state for several days - but he did not offer an explanation of why or where.

Another source tells PEOPLE that Spears is set to head back to Louisiana this week to be by her sister Jamie Lynn Spears’s side as the younger sibling welcomes her first child with fiancé Casey Aldridge.

The source says Jamie Lynn, 17, has “not been feeling well” recently, causing the family to push up their travel plans. Their father, their older brother Bryan and Britney’s assistant are all expected to make the trip, as well.

Although Britney Spears and Kevin Federline were in Las Vegas on Friday, the former couple managed to navigate the social scene without running into each other.

While Spears, 26, relaxed and sipped water in a cabana at the Cinevegas party at the Palms Place, Federline drank Jack Daniels at Strip House only a few miles away. And while Spears’s night ended early, her ex kept the party going past 3 a.m. at Prive Las Vegas, where he was honored as %26#34;Father of the Year%26#34;.

At around 2:30 am, Federline headed to the back kitchen of the club, where he was presented with a “Father of the Year” trophy out of the public eye, an honor he told reporters “surprised” him.

Spears, celebrating Father’s Day weekend with her dad Jamie, ate fresh fruit and sunned herself for three hours Friday at the newly opened Palms Place pool. Later, she began her night with a low-key dinner with a friend and a member of her security staff at the Palms restaurant Nove, where she feasted on an artichoke dish.

After donning a short black cocktail dress, the singer attended the Cinevegas party with her father, Palms hotel owner George Maloof and his business associate Jon Gray. In a private cabana, Spears showed little emotion as she sipped water and chatted with her group for two hours.

Spears is reportedly staying the weekend in Las Vegas, while Federline is expected to head back to Los Angeles on Saturday to spend Father’s Day with his children, including his sons with Spears, Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1.

As Britney Spears continues on her road to recovery, a friend of Spears says things are going well for the singer.

“She’s doing great,” Palms Casino Resort owner George Maloof tells PEOPLE.

Maloof, who recently had dinner with Spears twice in L.A., says that the two are “good friends,” and adds it would be fantastic to have her perform at his Vegas venue.

“I’d love to have her here at the Pearl %26#91;Theater%26#93;,” says Maloof, who stopped by the premiere of The Rocker, starring Rainn Wilson, at the Cinevegas Film Festival. “It would be great.”

“Britney left L.A. for Vegas for an extended Father’s Day weekend with her dad %26#91;Jamie%26#93;,” a source tells PEOPLE. Despite reports that Spears’ cameo in the upcoming Pussycat Dolls video was cut, Britney is still plugging away at her other projects: She’s scheduled to work on songs with Sean Garrett in three weeks.

Meanwhile Spears’s ex, Kevin Federline, is also headed to Sin City on Friday for Father’s Day purposes: K-Fed will be there to accept his “Father of the Year” honors from Prive Las Vegas.

Reporting by Mary Margaret and Tiffany McGee

Lynne Spears’s memoir about raising her famous daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn will be released this fall, the publisher confirms to PEOPLE.

“When Jamie Lynn got pregnant, it was put on hold,” says a spokesman for Thomas Nelson, which publishes inspirational books and Bibles. “Lynne never stopped working on it because she wants to express her love for her children and tell their stories through a mother’s eyes.”

Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World” is likely to be released in September, says the spokesman.

Spears’s manuscript “will not be a parenting book,” Nelson says. “It’s her story of what it was like being a mom and raising two very famous people. It’s a memoir.”

The writing of the book is complete. Craker and Spears are now just selecting pictures.

Britney Spears and Mel Gibson had a smokin’ date Tuesday night - at an exclusive Beverly Hills cigar club.

For more than two-and-a-half hours, the singer, 26, and the actor-filmmaker, 52, met in what was confirmed to PEOPLE as a more of an ongoing guidance session than a business pow-wow.

For their rendezvous at the members-only Havana Club, both showed up separately shortly before 7 p.m., well into the third game of the NBA finals between the L.A. Lakers and the Boston Celtics, which was playing at the bar. As for the smoking and watering hole itself, habitués include Ben Affleck, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Danny DeVito.

“She looked pretty in her new Capri jeans a blue blouse, white shoes and a brown bag,” says a photographer. Earlier in the day, Spears was seen shopping at the Lisa Kline boutique in Beverly Hills, where she purchased the new jeans and tried on several necklaces.

“Britney looked like a doll with bright red lipstick,” added the photog, who described her as “very quiet” and “with a serious look on her face as she walked in to the Havana Club.”

By contrast, an upbeat Gibson left his silver Lexus with the valet and walked in holding what was described as a “man-purse” up to his face and a look of “okay, you got me” as paparazzi snapped his picture.

Around 9:30, Spears left the club for home, while Gibson hung around until about 11.

The two - once neighbors inside a Malibu enclave (Spears now lives in a gated community in Studio City) - began being seen in public together in March, at dinner in a restaurant. It was then learned that Gibson and his wife, Robin, had been looking in on Spears once she had checked out the hospital in February.

In May, Gibson and his wife, and Spears and her father, all vacationed together in Costa Rica.

• Reporting by PERNILLA CEDENHEIM and JED DREBEN

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