Disclaimer: I do not own "Mary Poppins" or its characters. They are properties of PL Travers and the Walt Disney Company.

Author's Note: The following story is a rewrite of my final 2018 story, "More Than Just a House, Michael."

…

"A Visit from George Banks"

By TwilightSparkle3562

…

Michael Banks could not sleep. He just laid in his bed looking up at the ceiling. Boxes containing his bedroom furniture and belongings were laid out around the bed. So much was going through his young adult mind this very night. He had lost control of himself and his sanity, his job was put at risk unintentionally by his children, but most of all, he was suffering the consequences of not being honest with his family.

"A man has dreams," he said quietly to himself, his eyes still locked on the bedroom ceiling. "Of walking with giants. To carve his niche in the edifice of time."

A deep sigh came out of his mouth as he said those words.

"Before the motor of his zeal has a chance to congeal," he continued. "The cup is dashed from his lips, the flame is snuff a boring, he's brought to wrack and ruin in his prime."

The young father of three could only wonder what would happen to him and his children. The house was about to be repossessed and that they were going to lose everything. But, Michael had another thought on his mind.

"And yet, my children proved to me that they are more clever and mature than me," he whispered. "Does anyone see what I saw tonight?"

Suddenly, a low voice caught Michael's right eye and he turned towards the doorway. The ghost of an old man dressed in a black suit was starring at him.

"Yes Michael," the man said. "I do."

"Fa…father," Michael gasped, suddenly rising up from his bed in shock. "I didn't…I didn't know that…"

"I'm sorry if I startled you, Michael," the ghost said, floating over towards Michael's bed. "I saw what happened tonight."

This made Michael feel uncomfortable, for he feared the anger that this ghost had at Michael for scolding his children and Mary Poppins for putting his job at the bank at risk.

"You did?" he gasped, his voice filled with terror. "Father, I'm sorry but I had no other alternative. My job was put at risk and…"

"Just a moment, Michael," the ghost interrupted, looking intently at Michael. "I think I have a sense of what is happening here."

"You…you do, father?"

"I do," the ghost answered. "Michael, do you remember how absorbed I was in my job at the bank? I had forgotten what it means to be a father to you and Jane. It had to take that run on the bank you orchestrated to make me see the error of my ways. I put my career ahead of my family and Mary Poppins saved me."

"But…but, why would you say this to me now?" Michael stammered. "Are you saying that…?"

"Michael, there is a reason to why Mary Poppins came back," the ghost answered again. "She came back to help make you be a better father to your children. In fact, I see that the children, my grandchildren, have become more mature than you."

Michael sighed, feeling more and more like an idiot with each word that was being said to him.

"In fact, Michael," the ghost said. "Why would you not want to leave the house and make your own mark?"

Michael felt his mouth drop upon hearing this.

"What…what are you saying, father?"

"I'm saying Michael is that you are afraid of change. Why are you afraid to make your own mark in life?"

Michael struggled to find the words to his response to this latest question. The fact that he was afraid of change was an understatement.

"Father, I need to be…honest with you," Michael said, with a hint of fear in his voice. "All my life, I've lived in this house. My children are growing up in this house, why should I want to leave here? This house has been my life and I want it to be my children's life when they get older."

"That's the problem, Michael," the ghost remarked, rising up and floating in front of Michael. "This is all it is…a house. When I a young boy, my father decided to leave the house I was born in because he wanted me to learn that nothing ever stays the same in life. A home is only material, you can replace it. But, you cannot replace your family."

The ghost's words hit Michael like a pack of knives stabbed into his heart. Up until this moment, he had been putting his priorities in the wrong places.

"So what happens if you lose this house? You can always come back here to visit all of our friends and neighbors because a human life is irreplaceable and when a human life dies, they just go to the place where lost souls go. Human lives are never gone forever, only out of place."

Michael then began to hear the echo of his children's words from earlier this night.

"Just what my children told me tonight," he sighed to himself. "So, what should I do, just let Wilkins take the house from under us?"

But Michael wasn't prepared for what he heard next.

"Wilkins?" asked the ghost. "Mr. Dawes Jr's nephew? Is he behind all of this?"

"How…how did you know, father?"

"That nephew of Mr. Dawes' is nothing short of a spoiled brat. He is a monster, Michael, raised by a father who worked for a different bank and trampled the lives of those who trusted him in his care. I also saw my youngest grandchild trying to get you to see what was happening. If you had only listened, Michael…"

"I should have listened, father. I mean, Georgie did say something about Wilkins being a wolf or something like that."

…

At that moment, Michael suddenly felt himself being surrounded by a different setting. He was no longer in his bedroom and instead found himself in Wilkins' office.

"Why are we in Wilkins' office, father?" Michael asked, feeling slightly confused at what was happening.

"Look over there, Michael," the ghost ordered, motioning Michael to look towards Wilkins throwing papers into the fireplace.

"He's throwing papers into the fireplace, father."

"But they aren't just any papers, Michael," the ghost added. "Look closely."

Directed to look at the fireplace, Michael looked closely at the burning papers. On the papers were signatures, and not just any signatures. The younger Banks felt his heart sink upon what he was seeing.

"The bastard," he whispered. "My children were telling the truth. Those are the papers confirming your shares in the bank. Wilkins is trying to take the house from me."

"Now do you see the error of your ways, Michael?" the ghost asked. "This is another example of why you put your job ahead of your children."

"What must I do?" Michael cried as he found himself back in his bedroom.

"There is a way to save the house after all, but that is something you will have to find for yourself."

Suddenly, the ghost began to move back towards the doorway and slowly disappear.

"For myself? Father, wait!" Michael pleaded, but before he could stop the ghost, it disappeared. "What does he mean I have to find out for myself? Is there something that can help me both save the house and make me a better father to my children?"

But of course, Michael would find out for himself in due time.

…

THE END