In her final interview and shoot before giving birth, a Britney emerges who is both totally relaxed and in control. She even talks baby names with Holly Millea. The sign on the electronic gate reads, “Surviving Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted”. Desperate paparazzi times call for desperate star measures, especially when you're a multi-platinum album-selling Grammy winner worth an estimated $123 million. Tucked inside her Malibu compound, 23-year-old Britney Spears - pop-singing seductress, newlywed, barefoot mother-to-be, tabloid staple - answers the door in short shorts and a blue butterfly-sequin halterneck top. With her hair in a loose ponytail and dangly pink crystal-cube earrings swinging from her lobes, she shoos away her yapping Chihuahua, Bit Bit (which is wearing a white ruffle tank top), and invites me into her living room. Settling on the couch, Spears sits Indian-style, hugging a pillow to her blossoming belly. She and Kevin, a former back-up dancer, now her husband, await, along with the rest of the world, for the birth of their baby this month.

Congratulations on your pregnancy, Britney
I've always known that I was going to have a baby one day. But there are times when I get a little scared. It's mind-blowing to have a child. I think it's kind of healing too. Like, to your body. And therapeutic. All the secrets from your family come out of the closet for some reason. But it's good. They have to come out sometime. You know what I mean?

Do you mean that you're expressing your thoughts and feelings to your family?
Just your needs and your wants. Right before I met Kevin, I didn't talk much. I got kind of introverted. Being an entertainer, especially starting at such a young age, you long to please people and become what they want to see. In the past two years, I've got totally out of that. Having a child and getting married, it's going to help me not be influenced so much, or manipulated, which can happen in a huge way.

You have a lot of people around who might think they have your best interests at heart, but...
And they honestly do, and they mean well. But they don't. And it's a sticky thing because you love these people. The sad thing is that it's usually the ones closest to you. And you have to completely separate yourself.

Being married, you have someone looking out for you
Yeah, and he's that person. Exactly. I was so lucky the day I met him.

Before Kevin, did you have the feeling that your life was living you and you weren't living your life?
Being on the top isn't everything, and money doesn't buy happiness and all those things. You have to make time for yourself, definitely. It was really weird for me at first, because all I ever knew was work. And then you're like, "Oh God, what am I going to do today?"

Are you working on a new album?
I'm just in the studio playing, but it will probably be a year, a year and a half away.

You were offered the Daisy Duke role in "The Dukes Of Hazzard," correct?
Yeah. Ashton Kutcher was supposed to be in it, too. But things change and happen for a reason. That wasn't my time. I'm supposed to be pregnant now. And I'm proud of Jessica [Simpson] - she's doing really well.

And now you're busy on the domestic front
My house is getting done. We're adding on to it. My husband, he won't let me see it right now because it's not completely done.

But you have input?!
Oh, on everything. Trust me: everything. I was like, I want this, I want that, I want this.

Is the baby's room blue or pink?
I don't know the sex. I want to be surprised. But I have a feelin' that it's going to be a boy, and then two girls.

Did you know before you took the test that you were pregnant?
Well, two weeks before I found out I was expecting, I wrote a song about becoming pregnant, like, I did a video for it.

The sex must be really great when you're having it to make a baby
Oh yeah!

All that catholic schoolgirl stuff...
Is out the window!

And when you think of all those years you spent trying not to...
[Laughs] Right. Oh my goodness. It's awesome, though. Wow!

Your mother is going to be a grandmother for the first time. Was she happy when you broke the news or taken aback?
Taken aback. I think she thought I was probably going to wait a little bit, be married for a while. But those weren't the plans of Britney! [Laughs] She's gonna be a hot grandma. And I'm gonna be a hot mom.

Will you have a natural childbirth?
I have a feeling I'm going to have an operation. I don't know why. But I hope so. I don't want to go through the pain. My mum said giving birth was the most excruciating pain she's ever gone through in her life. So... if [a Caesarean] doesn't happen, I'll be like "Epidural, please!" Hopefully my athletic abilities will take over. Kevin's going to hold my hand.

Have you thought of baby names?
We watched this thing on TV on wacky baby names. I was like, oh my goodness some of these names these people come up with are craaazy. I don't want to say any of the name, because I don't want to offend anybody. But ever since I was a little girl, I thought for a boy I love Sean Preston - I love that name. Or London Preston. Isn't London pretty? And, er, for a girl, I love Addison Shye. I think that's pretty.

Being pregnant do you feel more vulnerable moving through the world?
Emotionally I go through stages... There are times, like, If Kevin's late, I'll just go [makes a sad face]. But [physically] I feel more empowered. All my little sister's friends are like, "Can I touch your belly?" And I like it.

What is Kevin's best quality?
I get kind of crazy sometimes. And he's like this [gestures a straight line]. And I can tell him anything and he's awesome. And so humble and just loves me no matter what. And I love that about him.

How hard was the initial public reaction to the fact that Kevin had another relationship and a baby on the way when you met him?
I didn't really think about that at the time. I didn't care. I loved him. And so they could talk all they wanted. It really doesn't matter to me.

You've weathered the tabloid coverage like a real pro...
It's hard. I worry about my little sister. I see Jamie Lynn in that light and I'm like, you know, I was always mad because I was always overprotected, and now I'm just going to overprotect her!

Her show, Zoey 101, got nominated for an Emmy...
Yeah, her little show's doing amazing. I'm so proud of her. I really love her. She's very sweet - and dry. She's the person when you're in a room that says things you want to say but you don't say. She just blurts it out and you're like, "Oh, that was an air breaker!" She's very smart.

She's getting to the age you were when you...
I know, she's about to be in the ninth grade, and that was when I had my first serious boyfriend.

Have you given her the 'birds and the bees' talk?
Oh, she knows a lot more than our generation did at that age. And she hasn't done anything.

Not that you know of! Kids these days, you have to talk to them about sexuality in life and death terms...
It's crazy.

Scary, too. Did you vote last year?
Um, no. I did not.

Britney!
Oh my God. [Puts a pillow over her face] I'm so embarrassed.

OK, tell me about practising Kabbalah...
Kabbalah has helped my soul. I was brought up a Baptist, and there are religions and all that stuff, and the Bible's written - everything's in codes. And the thing that drew me to Kabbalah is, it all comes from light. This sounds so weird, I know, but I'm just trying to explain it in a way that - like, it all stems from light.

Do you actually read the Kabbalah books?
Yeah, I read them and I meditate on them.

Are they in English?
No, they are all in Hebrew. I don't understand everything. But it's kind of OK that you don't.

Is Kevin practising Kabbalah now, too?
Not as intensely as I am. For some reason I'm thirsting for it. But he looks at the books every once in a while.

What would you say is the best thing about being married?
The simple thing of just having somebody to lay your head on. Oh [fanning her face with her hand], it makes me want to cry right now. At night, when you just have somebody that loves you unconditionally, no matter what. Oh [her eyes fill up with tears], it just makes me want to cry right now.

Didn't you ever think you would have that with someone?
[Tears stream down her face, she wipes them away] Oh, why am I [crying]? This is so silly. I thought I would have it, but not like that. It's deep. Your love grows. And it's awesome.

It's a gift, speaking of which, let me see that wedding ring
This isn't the real one, though. I'm getting a newer one which is even better.

Wait a second, is this a real diamond?
Oh, it's totally a real diamond. But it's not the final. I like this, but it catches on everything.  I want something that's not as pokey-outy. The one I'm getting is a bit flatter. And it's just more of a rare diamond.

Get the upgrade before cutting your hair - pregnant women are notorious for chipping it off and freaking out their husbands
Next week I'm getting some new extensions. They look really pretty and natural. I feel better with long hair. And for my baby, I want to be a goddess.

Your new fragrance is called Fantasy
Mmm-hmm. The first scent was Curious. Fantasy - and I'm not just saying this - it really does smell better. I like vanilla anything. And it had a bit of China musk. I love going to stores and getting all those cheap little scents. But Fantasy doesn't smell very cheap. It smells very sexy.