Welcome to my summer story, "Fáilte Baile", a story which takes place during Book III: Bonds during the summer timeskip. I left it out because it took too much away from the main story, but now I have provided it in a nice little story here! The first part will speak of Zeb's past, and his coming to America. The rest will be what was supposed to be in Book III, but expanded into a full story.

Please leave a review, and thank you for reading!

Part One – The Immigrant

Rain fell from a June sky clouded by sorrow. Drops gathered in puddles that human children and bear cubs wearing raincoats splashed around in. Dirt turned to thick mud that clumped up fur and squished between toes.

Eighteen-year-old Theodore Alvin Bedderhead trudged along the sidewalk, paws in his pockets and head bowed low against the rain. He wore only a dull gray suit, no raincoat or umbrella to be had. He had just left the burial of his best friend and coworker, Blaine "Zeke" Seillean.

His mother had tried to get him to ride in the family car, but he had walked right past her, wanting to be alone with his thoughts. Everything was his fault. How could he have been so stupid as to allow himself to even think of food when Zeke had been up at their work spot alone? How could he have left him? How could he have not checked to see if his battery on his radio was working? Maybe if he had, he wouldn't be burying his friend six feet under.

He finally made it home nearly an hour later. He had bypassed his small garage workshop that he usually went to when he needed to think, and went straight inside, not even stopping to greet his family or fellow coworkers that had gathered. Zeke had had no other family in the country, so had no one to hold a funeral gathering. Everything had been paid for by the Bedderheads.

He didn't even stop to talk to Selene, Zeke's fiancé. He went right up to his room, stripped, pulled on a loose shirt, and plopped headfirst on his bed. His head fur was, of course, soaked, but he didn't care. He just wanted everything to go back to the way it was before.

For three days, he stayed confined to his room, leaving only to use the restroom. His mother brought food up for him, setting it on a tray by his bed, but he never felt like eating.

Finally, on the ninth of June, 1974, his father opened the door to his room...

Simon Bedderhead stood in the doorway and studied his depressed firstborn with a sigh. He knew he should let him work through his grief, but letting him sit in his room all day was causing problems, especially since he wasn't eating. "Theo... we need to talk." He moved over and sat on the end of the bed. "Boy, what happened was not your fault."

"Don't lie. I know what you said," Ted growled, looking away from him and towards the dull blue walls. His father had had severe words with him on his irresponsibility. How he never should have left Zeke all alone. How everything was his fault. That his best friend's blood was on his paws.

Simon let out a growl. He knew he had been hard on his son, but damn it! He had been furious! How dare his son think more about his stomach than making sure his equipment worked? How dare he leave his partner all alone?! "Yeah, well, I shouldn't have said what I did."

"Yeah, but you did, so go the f*ck away. I don't want to be yelled at any further by my perfect father."

Simon's eyes narrowed and he grabbed his son by the ear and made him stand on his feet. "What did you just say to me, boy?!" he snarled, teeth bared.

Ted pushed him away. "Just leave me alone!"

"You will not talk to me that way, Theodore Bedderhead!"

"I'm not going back to work any time soon, if at all, Pop! I won't! I'll find another job, then you won't have to worry about me screwing things up and making you do incident reports!"

Simon frowned, eyes narrowing. "Theo... Why are you so damn bullheaded?"

"Because I take after you in that department," he grumbled.

The tall brown bear laughed and let his son sit back down. "That is true. Look like your mother, but act like me. Your brother is the opposite, and your sister is the perfect mixture."

"Yeah, yeah, talk about perfect Brittany," Ted muttered, rolling his eyes. He didn't mean it in a mean way – he had loved his sister ever since his parents had brought her home on his fifth birthday. Sure, more people had paid attention to her rather than him, but he hadn't minded. She was adorable. "Why'd you come in here?"

Simon furrowed his brow and thought, trying to remember. "Oh, yes, yes. Something new has come up."

"New? Come up? What, are you going to tell me that somehow this WASN'T my fault?"

"No... Because that would be wrong, too. I got a phone call today from the New York Immigration office."

"Why would they be calling you?"

"It would appear that my letter to Blaine's family in Scotland never arrived. Theo, his little brother is sitting there all alone, waiting to be picked up." Simon frowned. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about this issue. "I'm going to give you some money, and you're going to take it there and get him sent back home. He has no family here any longer."

Ted blinked, shifted in his chair, and looked at his father in surprised confusion. For a moment, he had forgotten Zeke's real name had been Blaine, he had been calling him Zeke for so long. "We're not going to take him in?"

"He's not our responsibility, Theo. We've finished boxing up Blaine's apartment, and we're going to donate all the items like clothing, but we're going to send some things home with the boy."

Ted bit his lip, thinking back on the promise he had made his friend on the day he'd died, to take care of his younger brother. Maybe it was for the best that the cub go home. "Pops, wait... I'll take the clothing. Maybe the kid needs it. Zeke bought most of it for him."

"Take only what you can fit in the station wagon, since sending it by plane would cost too much." Simon got up. "You leave tomorrow. It's a sixteen hour trip, so be prepared." The brown bear left.

Ted nodded and sighed. Boy, this was going to be fun.

.~*~.

The sixteen hour trip was grueling, and spanned into almost twenty, as Ted had stopped several times to stretch his legs, eat the food that his mother had packed for him, and use the public restrooms. Normally, he would have taken a plane, but with the car stuffed with boxes, most of them would have gotten lost, plus his father had been right about the cost.

By the time he had arrived at the immigration office, he was tired and cranky, ready for a long sleep at a nearby motel. He went to the doors and pulled on them, expecting them to open, only to growl when he discovered them locked. "Gods damn it all!"

"Thay closed five hours ago, sur."

Ted blinked and turned, finding a filthy teenager sitting on a lone bench, clutching a knapsack and a large briefcase-type bag with a violin-type carrying case beside it. On top of his head was a floppy hat. "They did? Damn it. What do they do with anyone that is left inside?"

"A'm th' only yin left. Mah brother ne'er cam tae pick me up. Ah arrived three days ago. Ah waaitin' fur mah brother, sur."

The black bear blinked. It couldn't be. There was no way that this was little Alec! He was supposed only be nine-years-old! Not a teenager! "Who are you?"

"Alec S-e-Seillean, sur." The cub clutched his bags tighter to himself when Ted came closer.

"Who is your brother?"

"Blaine, sur."

"How... how old are you?"

The cub's ears flattened immediately. "F-Fifteen, sur."

"Then you must not be Blaine Seillean's brother. He told me his brother was only nine." He looked at the cub skeptically.

The dark-furred cub's forest green eyes widened. "Ye know ma brother?!"

"I worked with him, yeah." The pain of guilt filled his stomach.

The cub giggled and clapped his paws together. "Is he wi' ye?" He hopped up and looked past him, hoping to see his auburn brother.

Ted's ears lowered, and he looked down and away. "No... Blaine's not coming." He glanced up at the sky, noticing that it had started to rain. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately. The skies were bleak and dark. A bad storm was coming.

"Whaur is he?" Alec asked, eyes big and scared as he stopped in his tracks. If he had a long enough tail, it'd be between his legs. "Whaur is ma brother?"

"He died, kid. Buried him a few days ago."

"Whit? Na, mah brother insae deid! He wouldn't! Coudnae! He wirks fur Bedderhead 'n' Sons Construction Company! He promised he'd be 'ere! He tellt mah aunt 'n' uncle he'd be 'ere! Ah cannae gang back hame! They're starving, sae thay sent me 'ere! Whaur is he?! Whaur is he?!" The cub threw down his stuff and charged into the now downpour, shouting and calling for his brother. "Blaine! Blaine! Whaur is ya?!"

Ted watched in silence. He had the only car in the parking lot, and they were miles from the city. He let the cub have his time, and began to think. He really was Zeke's little brother. How else would he know that Zeke worked at Ted's father's company? Ted felt terrible. The cub had said his family was starving, and Zeke had told him that was why Alec was being sent in the first place.

He made his decision. Walking towards the cub that had fallen to his knees crying in the rain, he knelt beside him and pulled him into a hug. "Easy... My name is Ted, and I'll take care of you. I made your brother a promise that I would. He was my best friend..."

The tall cub whimpered and held onto this stranger, just wanting some comfort in the pouring rain.

.~*~.

"How'd you sleep?" Ted asked the next morning as he stepped out of the motel room shower and fur dryer. He glanced at the lone figure on the second bed, frowning. "Kid?"

Soft snores came from the red-furred, tabby-striped cub, whose fur had been cleaned by the rain and the shower in the hotel the night before. His blankets were tangled around him, and he was sprawled out across the mattress.

The black bear managed a small smile. He rummaged through his knapsack, grabbed a fresh plaid shirt, and got dressed. He thought for a moment about staying here and waiting, but then decided to go to the lobby and bring back some of the breakfast, and maybe head out to the car and bring the cub some fresh clean clothes. Kid looked like he needed some sleep.

By the time he returned, Alec was still sleeping, though at this point, his legs were on the bed and the rest of him was on the floor.

Ted started laughing as he set the food on the table and went over to the cub, picking him up, and putting him back on the bed. It was then that he realized that the young Alec was nothing more than skin and bones with deep bags under his eyes. 'Damn... He wasn't kidding about starving.' Frowning, he went over to Alec's bags and began rummaging through them, finding a single picture frame, a few letters, a little fox doll, and some official paperwork. Reading it, he noticed that it said the cub's age was fifteen. Thinking back, he remembered what Zeke had told him – that his aunt and uncle had to lie about Alec's age in order for him to travel alone on the boat.

He glanced at the meager offering of food, and then at the money his father had given him to send the cub back. He couldn't do that to the kid. He picked up the phone and dialed out.

"Bedderhead residence, whom may I ask is calling, please?"

"Ma? It's me, Ted. Is Pops home?" He grinned at his mother's voice.

"Teddy! No, dear, your father is at work. I'm about to head out as well. I'm just waiting on your brother and sister to be ready to be taken to school. What's wrong? Did you get Blaine's brother sent back home?"

"Ma, he's in bad shape. Nine-years-old, and he looks like a skeleton. He's just skin and bones. He was sent here because his family was starving. He's been sleeping for almost eighteen hours now. I... I've decided that I'm taking him in. I'll work to provide for him, Ma, I promise. He needs us."

"Teddy..." She paused for a few anxious minutes. "All right. Bring him here. I will speak to your father."

"Great. We'll be back home tomorrow. We'll stay in another motel tonight. Thanks, Ma!"

"And Ted, you're too young to care for a cub. I will take responsibility for him. Your father will most likely not approve of this, but... I will deal with him. Just bring him here."

"Will do. Thanks again, Ma. Love you, and see you soon!" He hung up the phone and glanced over at the bed, noticing the he was being watched. "I see you've woken up."

The young bear cub frowned and looked at him oddly. "Whit's that?"

"Hm? What is what?"

"That." He pointed at the phone.

"A... phone? Haven't you ever seen a phone before, kid?" Ted was confused. Weren't there phones in Scotland? He was sure there were. Perhaps the kid's family was too poor to own one. Spotting the embarrassed look on the cub's face, he knew he had gotten it right. "Well, a phone is a way to communicate with people far away."

"Really? How's it wirk?"

"Well, uh..." He frowned. Maybe he should have paid better attention in school. "M-Magic? There are these wires, and the sounds travel through them to a speaker. It's... complicated." He scratched the back of his neck. "D-Do you want some breakfast? Alec, right?"

The cub nodded, looking at the food. "May I?"

Ted laughed. "Dig in. After breakfast, we can do a little sightseeing before we hit the road." He jumped back when the young bear attacked the tray, taking quick bites and stuffing his mouth. How long had it been since the cub ate? "W-Whoa, take it easy. Slow bites! You'll make yourself sick!"

.~*~.

Ted gently rubbed Alec's back as the youngling kneeled in front of the toilet. "I warned you."

.~*~.

"So, here we are. Welcome to Memphis, Tennessee. Home of... well... Me, I guess." Ted laughed a bit and glanced over at the silent cub.

Alec had barely spoken a word since they started on the journey to Tennessee two days ago, but as soon as he saw that they were entering another city, his ears flattened and he pulled his hat tighter on his head. He didn't want to sound ungrateful, but why couldn't Memphis be a smaller town? There were towering skyscrapers, loud noises, and so many people here! And on the car noise-makers, there was a strange voice pouring out of it, singing a weird, bubbly, rock-n-roll song; at least, that's what Ted called it. He had said the singer's name was Elvis. What kind of name was that?

Ted frowned and turned off the radio as soon as Elvis was done. "You okay, kid?" He glanced over at him briefly before returning his gaze to the road. The cub still looked sick, and hadn't eaten much more than a few slices of bread during the trip. He looked scared, too, and Ted had a feeling why – because he wasn't used to all these things.

"How come is it sae muckle?"

"Muckle?"

"Uh... beg? Big?"

"Oh, big? Well, because it's a popular city, I suppose. Tennessee is known as the music state, and Memphis is the home of Elvis, one of the greatest singers of our time."

Alec glanced at him oddly. "Muusic state? Does th' ground sing? Ah haven't heard it sing. Juist honks 'n' ill howfin cars!"

The black bear started to laugh. "No, no, but that'd be neat, wouldn't it? As for the honks and I'm going to assume howfin means smelly, you have a point. I guess you don't have that many cars in Scotland?"

"A dinnae ken. A've ne'er bin tae a muckle toon afore."

Ted stared, confused and trying to figure out what he'd said. 'Muckle' meant 'big' so 'toon' might mean 'town'? "Big town?"

The cub nodded eagerly, happy to be understood. "B-Big toon!"

"Well, kiddo, we'll be living here for as long as we have to. I'd much rather living in Nashville, the true home of Country." Noticing the confused look, Ted laughed. "I like to sing, kid. Play guitar. All that stuff. I want to be a musician, Alec. I want to sing and perform on stage. I don't want to build things and work in construction for the rest of my life. I want my big break." He sighed. "I want to travel and see the world."

Alec looked at him oddly. "Musician? See world? Mibbie Scootlund?"

"Yeah, maybe even Scotland," he laughed. He blinked and saw the cogs turning in the cub's head.

"Then ah wull become a musician, tae. Then ah kin see mah fowk again!"

Ted gave him a small smile, but his ears lowered as he listened to the cub talk about seeing his family again. He didn't have the heart to tell him that being a musician was hard work. That the music industry was grueling and cruel. Many dreamers didn't make it, and out of those that did, only a few made it big, and most ended in disaster and heartbreak. "Yeah... You hold onto that dream. Practice on your fiddle, kiddo, and maybe someday you'll make it big. I'll pray to the gods that you do."

Alec smiled and looked out the window again, a purr in his throat. "Ah wull mak' Blaine, 'n' mah aunt 'n' uncle proud o' me! Ye'll se!"

About ten minutes later, they pulled up outside a lovely two-story light blue American Foursquare home with white accents and trimmings. It had a beautiful wrap-around porch, and a large property, along with a two car garage.

"Dad built her back around when I was five. Before that, we lived in a small house. Mom designed it to fit our family. There are four bedrooms, three on the second floor, and the last is the attic loft. We have a dining room, living room, office, family room, and a large kitchen. My brother and I share a large bedroom. Brittany, my sister, has a smaller bedroom right next to us, and our parents have one towards the front. Yours, I'm assuming, will be in the attic loft, so you have plenty of space. It's a nice room. 406 square feet," Ted explained as he parked in the driveway. He got out and made sure the cub got out, and laughed a little at how startled Alec looked.

"This... This is American hoose? How come sae muckle, er, big? How come sae muckle, er, big space? Ah git tae hae a room o' mah ain?" He pulled his hat off and looked around in shock. Compared to his old, two-room home [a bedroom and a kitchen/eating area] this place was like one of the Highland castles, but without the stone.

"I hope you will like it here."

"Dae ye hae horses? Ah kin tak' care o' thaim! A'm guid wi' horses! Mah uncle owns twa Clydesdales. Thay tend th' fields we rent."

"No, we don't have any horses. Property is too small for that, I'm afraid. Plus, we have no use for them, I'm afraid."

"Oh..."

"Well, gather your things, and let's head inside, shall we?"

Jeanette Bedderhead, Ted's mother, was there to greet them on the porch, and she gave her son a big hug. She was a short black bear like him, with a brown face and a kind smile. "I'm happy you're home! I've spoken to your father, and he's agreed to take in the cub. Where is he?" She glanced at the auburn bear uncertainly, but looked away. "Where is little Alec?"

Ted chuckled nervously and gestured towards the tall cub. "Ma, this is Alec Seillean, Blaine's little brother."

Jeanette blinked her amber eyes and frowned. "What? But... But he's only supposed to be nine!"

Alec's ears flattened.

"Ma, he is only nine. Zeke told me that his aunt and uncle had to lie on his papers so he could travel alone."

"Why does he look like a teenager, then?"

"Maybe he just hit puberty early." Ted glanced at the cub that was taller than him. "Can we come inside now? It's still raining, you know."

The amber-eyed beauty blinked before realizing she'd been staring. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Come along, little one. My, my, you are just skin and bones. We'll get you fattened right up! You're going to be a tall bear, so you're going to need your strength!"

Alec blinked and looked at Ted uncertainly, but the other male bear smiled and gestured for him to go inside. With some more hesitation, Alec did so, still looking quite nervous, but his jaw dropped as soon as he got through the door and saw the beautiful foyer with its cherry hardwood floors, and light green walls. "W-Wow..." He had only taken a few steps when his vision darkened and he collapsed.

.~*The Immigrant*~.

It had been a week since Alec had collapsed, and Ted was once more blaming himself. How had he not noticed how sick the cub was? Why hadn't he taken him to a doctor sooner? How had the cub managed to get through immigration when he was so sick? Zeke must've been looking out for his little brother.

His mother had called a doctor immediately, and he had said that the cub had a very high temperature, and had probably been sick for days. He said that the sickness was due to malnutrition and climate change, along with being out in the rain for so many nights. The poor cub had pneumonia, but thankfully not a bad case, so he didn't have to go to the hospital. Currently, he was sleeping in the loft attic, which was insulated and had a window for air circulation.

Ted and Jeanette had taken turns in watching over him, with his mother doing most of the work while Ted unhappily went back to work, but doing groundwork only, like measuring pieces, and sending up tools. Fred was learning more about architecture from his mother's interns, and Brittany was off with her friends having fun.

It had taken two days for the fever to break, and when it did, Jeanette and her children breathed sighs of relief, while Simon just "hmphed".

Jeanette and Simon had argued loudly about Alec being brought into the house and already the medical bills that had come up. Simon was not happy at all about the newcomer, and wanted him sent to an orphanage or sent back home like he was supposed to have been.

Even Ted had argued with his father on the subject, stating that he was taking responsibility for the young cub. His father had told him that he would be paying back the medical bills, and then asked him about college, and they got into a row about that, as Ted didn't want to go to college, or continue in the family business, in which Simon told him that he was going to end up in a dead-end job. At that point, Ted told him that he was going to become a musician, and Simon had blown up at him about having dreams that would never come to fruition.

But now, Ted was seated beside Alec's bed, watching him breathe to make sure he wasn't having any complications.

"Aunty Tyra...?"

The black bear blinked and looked towards his face. "Alec?" Was he finally going to stir? "Alec, can you hear me?"

"Aunty Tyra... Sing me lullaby?" the cub whispered, still out of it.

Ted frowned and thought. What could he do? Maybe if he got his guitar? He quickly went down to his room and pulled out his flea-market guitar and went upstairs, starting to strum on the strings, playing a gentle song. He had primped and polished this red-gold guitar, and taken good care of his find. He'd had one when he was younger, but as he reached his teenage years, his father had sold it against his will. His father had once been so proud of him playing the guitar and singing, and now... now he called that dream useless.

Theodore still, however, found peace in music, and would play every chance he could. Now was no exception. If anything, he felt more peaceful than before, and seeing the cub's lips curl into a smile caused him to do the same.

.~*The Immigrant*~.

A month passed, and Alec grew stronger, fatter, and healthier. He was now a whopping 110 pounds, and was standing at 5'6". He had started helping around the house, and was picking up more American words and dropping some Scottish. For instance, instead of saying "muckle" he would say "big", and so on and so forth.

Simon, though still not happy with having another mouth to feed, stopped complaining when the cub began doing chores and proved he was a hard worker.

However, Ted still had to draw his bath, as the first and last time Alec had done so, he had flooded the bathroom, plugged the toilet with too much paper, and broke the showerhead. It would seem that Alec had never used a modern bathroom before, which had led to the chaos. On top of that, he has used the toothbrushes to clean his ears – Simon found that out in the worse way possible the next morning – had tried to drink a full bottle of mouthwash after curiously licking said toothbrushes – which had lead to him getting his head stuck in the toilet as he couldn't figure out the sink – and had broken the toilet seat, trying to get his head out, after which he had accidentally swept some toilet paper into the toilet and pressed the "flush", letting the toilet suck in all the toilet paper and eventually clog it.

Needless to say, that had been the most entertaining evening of the Bedderhead family's lives, and he was never allowed to use the bathroom without someone standing outside the door. Lately, though, he'd begun grasping at what he was to do and not do in the bathroom, and with Ted's help, he'd figured out how to draw a bath, not clean his ears with toothbrushes, and the proper way to use the toilet.

Alec was still embarrassed about that, but he didn't let it get him down. He made up for it in other ways, such as helping pull weeds from Mrs. Bedderhead's garden, mowing the lawn with an old-fashioned mower – as Simon would not let him use the gas-powered one just yet – and cleaning up around the house.

All but one of the Bedderheads showed joy at having the cub with them, as Simon was still skeptical.

"Ted?"

The black bear glanced up from where he was working at his saw table, and eyed the auburn cub curiously. "What is it?" He noticed that Alec was carrying around his fiddle and bow.

"Kin we plaay? Fred said ah hud tae ask ye."

"You want to play with our instruments?" Ted looked at him in surprise. "I've not even heard you play before." He set down his saw and brushed the saw dust off his fur. "Can you even play?"

"Ah kin plaay! Ah kin play gey weel! Mah uncle taught me!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I can barely understand you." Ted shook his head. "We can't play here. You know Pops doesn't want us wasting our time this summer." He sighed. "It didn't always be this way. Fred and I used to put on performances for our family every week, and now..."

Alec's ears lowered from beneath his hat and he sighed for a moment. "Thare is a steid in th' forest by th' burn. We cuid dae reels 'n' strathspeys thare!"

Ted blinked several times, not understanding a word he had said. "I... Tell you what, why don't you go get Fred, and we'll follow you, all right?" He moved over to a hidden cabinet and picked out his guitar.

The cub gave an excited cry and dashed off in searched of the bigger teenager.

Ted was ready by the time he returned, and the trio set off. Ted with his guitar case, Alec with his fiddle case, and Fred's harmonica in his pocket. They reached the stream in the forest, and settled down on a couple rocks in the clearing near it, listening to the water trickle over the rocks.

Alec's ears twitched, flicked, and flicked again as the droplets of water dripped. Drip, drip, drip... splash. His fingers started to twitch and fell upon the strings of his fiddle and he slowly drew the bow across the catgut strings, matching the melody of the trickling water. Drip, drip, drip, splash.

Ted was next, plucking away at his guitar strings a few minutes later, copying the trickling, moving in harmony with it, his ears flicking when he heard his brother joining in with a soft tune on his harmonica.

The music that filled the air was like a symphony. One with nature and the spirits. The wind blew gently on the reeds and across the cattails, and a few fish splashed about. The croaking of a few frogs added to the melody.

The sun was nearing its final destination for the day before the trio set down their instruments, all grinning from ear to ear.

"Now that was amazing. You sure can play, kid. You said your uncle taught you?"

Alec nodded. "Uncle Ciaran, ya." He smiled brightly, looking at the fiddle with fondness. It had been made by his Uncle shortly before his journey, since his Uncle knew the young cub had wanted one of his own.

Fred grinned. "That was fun! We should do it again."

"Aye, maybe. I did have fun with it. Yet... Something is still missing. I don't know what it is, but I don't think we're complete."

The younger bears glanced at each other, and then at Ted. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there's something missing. It's like we're not complete, you know?" Ted shook his head. "I don't know. But bands usually have three or more people. We don't even have a drummer."

"Why not John Matthews?"

"The hippie?" Ted looked at his brother in surprise. "He's already tied down with his wife and newborn baby. Why would we need him?"

"Well, he's a drummer. Pretty good, actually. And he's always playing with drumsticks at the work sites. He's got a nice strong beat."

"Yeah, but he's also married to a black lady. Not that I care that much, but if we were to be a real band, people might not come see us because they're racist."

"But if you're worrying about that, doesn't that make you a racist, too?" Fred pondered.

"I... shut up, Fred. I didn't mean it that way and you know it."

The brown bear grinned. "Listen to him play at some point. If he's good, then maybe we can have him join us?"

"Hm. That sounds like a plan. Anyone else in mind?"

"Well, there is this one guy. Newcomer. Bit sensitive, but he's got a voice, and I think he plays an instrument. Not sure what it is, though."

"What's his name?" Ted questioned, glancing at Alec, who was just staring between them, trying to keep up.

"Tennessee O'Neal. Pops just hired him about a week ago. You haven't seen him yet?"

"Nah. Maybe tomorrow." Ted smiled. "I think it's time we started back." He looked at Alec. "Sound good to you?"

The cub nodded. "Uh-huh. Ah wid lik' some fairn, please."

"Fairn, fairn. Food?"

Alec nodded eagerly, his stomach growling.

The Bedderheads laughed.

.~*Failte Baile*~.

Alec sat next to Ted in the park as they waited for the invited guests to show. Fred had gone to pick them up, and Alec had wanted to play at the park, though he knew he looked too old to do so, and kept getting odd looks, which had made him give up playing and had come to sit sullenly under the tree.

"Ted, dae ye think this wull wirk? If it does, kin ah see mah fowk again?" he asked, sighing.

"Well, kid, it just might. Say, you have a birthday coming up soon, don't you? In October? Couple months away. What do you think? Do you want to celebrate the age of ten, or do you want to celebrate, uh, fifteen? Sixteen?"

"Suppose tae be sixteen, bit... A'm waantin' tae celebrate mah tenth, if ah kin? A'm aye a bairn. It'd be a wee pairtie, richt?"

"Sure, kid. Small party. Ma will bake you a cake, and Pops, well... I'm not sure. Anything you want in particular?"

"Waant?"

"Yeah. A gift."

"I..." Alec hadn't really thought about it. He wanted to go see his family, but at this time, that just wouldn't be possible. If he did, he might not be allowed to come back! "I..." He frowned. Could he get a pet? It was quite lonesome up in the attic. "Cuid ah hae a ferret?" He had seen some rather cute ones at the pet store the one time Ted had taken him. He didn't want a dog, but he also didn't want a cat.

Ted blinked. "A ferret?"

"Aye! they're super cute 'n' playful. Ah pure lik' thaim a lot!" The cub went on and on about the little creatures. "A'm waantin' a tan yin wi' a black mask sae ah kin name him or her Bandit! Ah wull tak' guid care o' it, ah wull raise th' dosh tae buy th' fairn, ah wull wash th' cage, 'n' ah wull loue 'n' tak' care o' it, 'n' we'll be happy, 'n'..."

Ted laughed. "You've really thought a lot about this, haven't you?"

"Ya!"

"Well, I'll talk to Ma and Pops and see what we can do." He smiled at him and ruffled his lengthening hair.

"Yay!"

"Ah, there's our guests." Ted got up and greeted the human, John, and the short, cinnamon colored black bear with short wavy hair. He was definitely handsome, and probably had left behind a string of broken hearts. "Hi. I'm Theodore, but you can call me Ted. You must be Tennessee, and you must be John." He shook both of their hands/paws, and looked over the thin, lanky, blond, long-haired human curiously, taking note of the clothes he was wearing: bellbottom jeans, a tie-dye shirt, and a suede vest with dangles. He also had on some big, metal-framed sunglasses. The bear, on the other hand, was simply wearing overalls with rainbow straps.

"Tennessee O'Neal," the bear introduced himself, setting his instrument box on the table.

"John Matthews," the human announced with a smile. "Some call me Roadie. Used to be in a band, and that's what I did for them. Wasn't very successful, though. We all went our own ways, and I married the girl I loved."

"Which do you prefer?" Ted asked. "John or Roadie?"

"Roadie, please."

Alec blinked. "Ro... Roa... Roadie?"

Roadie blinked and eyed him curiously. "Yes?"

"Don't mind him. He's from Scotland, and still learning the language here. Well, the Americanized English," Ted explained.

"Ah. What's his name? Why does he have stripes? He looks like a zebra," Tennessee commented.

"They ca' me..." Alec frowned. "Zeb-ra?"

Ted grinned. "Zebra? You know, that does fit. Your brother, Blaine, had the nickname of Zeke. Why don't we call you Zeb?"

"Zeb?" Alec mulled the name a few times, and grinned, nodding eagerly. "Ah lik' it! Zeb!"

Ted laughed and nodded. "Then Zeb it shall be."

Tennessee and Roadie glanced at each other, wondering if they shouldn't leave.

Fred cleared his throat, drawing Ted's attention back to the subject at hand.

"Oh, right. Okay, so we've been thinking about starting a band, but we need a drummer and..." He glanced at Tennessee. "What exactly do you play?"

"A one-string thang," the shorter bear replied.

"A what?"

"My own creation, and she has quite the beautiful sound." He took his instrument out of the case and played a few notes on the single string, surprising them all with how good it sounded.

Ted clapped appropriately, and Alec – now Zeb – followed suit. Ted glanced at Roadie. "And you?"

"Well, we don't have a drum set here, unfortunately, but there's a music shop just down the way that I could show you my stuff on."

Ted nodded and got up, as did Zeb, and the group of bears and the human walked along the sidewalk, talking.

Zeb did his best to keep up with the conversation, but half the time he had no idea what they were talking about. They were using words he didn't understand, and now they were talking about... ladies? Oh! "Wee bonnie lassies!" he grinned, pulling his hat down when they all gave him an odd look.

"Uh, no, Zeb. We're talking about machines. Uh, we call them ladies," Ted explained.

"Why?" Machines that were called ladies? Did they wear clothes? Dresses? Odd. Were they maybe some kind of toy?

"Uh, well, I'm not sure why. I guess that behind every great bear is a woman?" Ted responded, unsure himself.

"Well, that's true. My wife is my support," Roadie agreed. "And she is a great mother, too."

"So you do have a kid. Aren't you only twenty?" Tennessee asked, surprised.

"Twenty-one, actually. I've done my time in the army overseas, and now I'm going to settle down and work a job close to home, though we've been thinking about moving," the hippie responded.

"Where to?" Fred asked.

"We'd prefer a small town, to be honest, but at the same time, small towns can be more prejudiced. As you're probably aware, my wife is black, and our baby mixed. But we both also love music, so somewhere near Nashville."

"Oh, I want to live in Nashville. You have no idea," Ted responded.

"You know Pops wants you to take over the company, Ted," Fred reminded.

"Yeah, but he also wants to expand it, Fred. And one of those expansions includes Nashville. He's already been out there looking for places to set up shop," the black bear retorted. "And if I can become the head of that office, you can bet your ass that that's what I'm going to do."

Zeb frowned and grabbed his arm. "Ted? Ted, whit aboot me?"

"Well, I am your guardian, so of course you're coming with me, kid," Ted grinned, giving him a one-armed hug. "Besides, you have a nickname now. You have to stay with us."

Zeb grinned brightly and hugged him, earning very odd looks from the others.

Ted cleared his throat. "What?"

The others looked away, shrugging, and continued on their way.

Ted held back a bit, though. "Kid, you're not going to be able to do that very much if we do get this band up and running. For one, people will think we're together, and ano-"

"Bit we ur th'gither! We're th'gither 'n' talking richt noo!"

"No, not together as in hanging out, I mean together as in boyfriends."

"Bit we ur laddie mukkers! Aren't we?"

Ted sighed. "We are boy friends, Alec, but we're not boyfriends."

"Huh?"

"Okay, we're not in a relationship. Not like, uh, your Aunt or Uncle or my Mom and Pops. We don't kiss or anything. Besides, you're a kid. And we're friends. We may be boys and friends, but not boyfriends."

Zeb still looked confused, but nodded, if only to stop his head from hurting with Ted's explanations.

They soon arrived at the music store and listened to Roadie play on the drums in a practice room, all nodding appreciatively.

Ted, who was friendly with the staff of the music store, was allowed to pick up and play an electric guitar, and Fred picked up a bass guitar, while Tennessee opened up the case for his one-string thang, and Zeb picked up his fiddle he had brought.

"Now, let's see how we sound together. Uh, what's a song everyone knows?" Ted asked, looking at the group.

"Hendrix?" Tennessee asked. "I know some songs of his, but I prefer country."

The others nodded and began to think of what country songs they knew, throwing out suggestions until they all arrived on just one – The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band.

Ted was surprised that young Zeb knew the song, but then again, it was one of the songs that he played the most on his record player.

Zeb grinned, preparing his, and grinned. To the others' surprise, he took the lead on the song, singing strong, and every word perfect, though there was an accent, while he played the fiddle like an expert. Out of all of them, he could play the song the best, but they were all laughing and having fun with it.

"You know what? I think we have a band. What do you guys say?" Ted asked, looking at them curiously.

"I say yeah," Fred grinned. "But we can't meet often. I have school."

"So do I," Tennessee agreed. "And work at your father's company, now that I'm old enough to actually work the sites."

Zeb frowned, knowing the only thing he did was help around the house or hang out with Mrs. Bedderhead in her office.

"Well, Winter Break is coming up at the high school, right? Why don't we all meet in my garage?" Roadie asked. "I have a drum set there. It's meant for a car, but right now we can't afford one and the apartment on top of groceries. So I just have my drums out there. Most of the people in our building go out on vacation during that time. It'd be the perfect time to practice."

Ted nodded. "And until then, we can meet up a few times there on the weekends. Pops doesn't let anyone work on Sundays because so many frown on that."

Roadie nodded. "I'll talk to my girl, and we'll work something out."

.~*~.

Several months passed, and it was now April 1975. Within the past few months, all five of the band members – whose band had named The Country Bears – had moved to Nashville, where Ted had been assigned to lead a small construction company there. Fred and Tennessee shared an apartment, while Zeb and Ted shared another, and Roadie and his family had their own smaller apartment a floor below them.

Setting their hours so they had more time for practice while still doing work, the band improved and had written at least three songs of their own.

However, the day of the Pendleton tornado had them all up in arms as they watched the news coverage of the mighty tornado. Ted was immediately on call with his father, asking him for help in helping out the people whose homes have been damaged, and it wasn't but a few days later that they all went out to the small town and got the job to help rebuild a music hall.

Several months later, there was a talent show, and the music hall became Country Bear Hall.

Twenty years, three world tours, ten national tours, and ten albums later, The Country Bears broke up in 1991 after their Farewell Tour. Eleven years later, in 2002, a small bear cub named Beary reunited them, and the rest... is history.