A/N: So, I went to my sister's ballet concert the other night and I was inspired (although, I swear, I was paying attention!). For the purposes of this story: Jimmy is 10 y.o., Nerys is 8 y.o., Katrina is 5 y.o. and Ebony is 3 y.o. It turned out a little differently to what I was expecting, but I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Ballet Blues

"Do you know what's going on?"

Michael turned his gaze from the dancers on stage to glance at Jimmy, "Not really," he whispered back.

Jimmy crossed his arms and sank lower in his seat.

"I don't see them anywhere," he grumbled a few moments later.

Michael grinned, "That's because they're not on stage yet," he whispered.

Jimmy gave a small derisive snort, causing Michael to chuckle quietly and Jackie to shoot him a censoring glance.

"This is so stupid," Jimmy muttered.

"The girls love it, Jimmy," Michael reminded him in an undertone.

Jimmy's only response was to pull a face as he turned his attention back to the dancers.

He hated ballet. It was boring and he never understood what the story behind the dance was meant to be.

He groaned inwardly as a group of little girls came fluttering onto the stage dressed as fairies, he was sick of fairies.

He was about to make another comment to his father, who he knew only endured it for his daughters' sake, when he caught of sight of someone familiar. Returning his full attention to the stage his face brightened when he recognised Katrina amongst the fairies.

Of all his sisters, Katrina was his favourite; she was as close to having a younger brother as he seemed likely ever to get and it was mainly for her that he was willing to sit through the performance.

Not that he wouldn't do it for Nerys or Ebony; he was just closer to Katrina.

Also the pink flouncy costumes and the dance routines gave him ample material to tease her mercilessly for weeks afterwards. Jimmy grinned wickedly as he began to take mental notes on how to use this fairy dance to his advantage.

Absently he noted that she was quite good, she would never be as naturally graceful as Nerys, who even he admitted was a natural, but she was still pretty good.

His wicked grin turned into a snicker as Ebony bounced onto the stage with her class. He never quite understood why the ballet school that Nerys and Katrina went to had a class for three-year olds, but he had to admit that they were pretty cute.

And very funny.

He wondered as they scurried off the stage whether there was anything that Ebony's group had gotten right.

By the time it was Nerys' turn to dance Jimmy had come to the grudging conclusion that the night wasn't a complete waste of time.

The dances with kids his age and younger were much easier to understand than those of the senior classes and, as much as he hated to admit it, watching his sisters dance was a definite highlight.

Despite all these grudging admittances, no one was more surprised than he was to find himself giving Nerys a standing ovation.

She had been smiling secretly all week and hinting to her parents and brother that she had a surprise for them at the performance. None of them had expected her to have been given the lead role in her dance, which required her to do some rather difficult manoeuvres for a girl of her age.

Of course, she had performed brilliantly and Jimmy had been unable to remain seated when several of the people around him had stood to applaud his sister.

He was so wrapped up in how well she had done and how proud he was to be her older brother (though he would later deny it) that he completely missed the amused glance that his parents shared.

As he settled back down in his seat and watched Nerys flit off stage, he reflected that perhaps there was something in this whole ballet thing after all.