A/N: A pantomime may be an English thing - I'm really sorry if it is, but it's a MASSIVE part of my personal Christmas - there's usually fifteen of us in one big rowdy party. Which is the best way to spend Christmas.
"Oh no he didn't!" The actor on the stage shouted down.
"Oh yes he did!" Jay was as loud as the kids around him and Lonnie couldn't hold back her smile. Her beau had been in Auradon for many years now, and while he mostly seemed coolly unaffected by the way Auradon operated, Christmas got to him every year.
It made him a big kid again, which was great for their kids and the multitude of the nieces and nephews they had amassed. Christmas was always a mass of torn paper, toys singing, food and chaos. Boxing Day was no better; the other family came to visit and that's how Lonnie found herself in a packed theatre watching Dick Whittington being played out as a pantomime.
Every year the story changed for the Royal Players, and each of the Royal Families of Auradon offered up their story to the Players to be the butt of the jokes for the festive season; last year it had been Cinderella, the year before Snow White. It was as big a tradition as putting up a Christmas Tree in Auradon – it gave the ordinary folk a chance to laugh and enjoy themselves at the light-hearted expense of the Royals.
Jay was just as excited as the kids, and was thoroughly enjoying himself as the bumbling character on stage was chased by ghosties and ghoulies while the brave Hero tried to fight them off. Lonnie & Jay, alongside Audrey & Chad had been given babysitting duty this year, and they had elected to ignore the tiny Royal Box in favour of sitting with everyone else along with the mass of children. Lonnie was basically in charge of the theatre gang, she had realised with a sigh when the families all discussed plans. She had all of the kids; Evie and Doug's children, Ben and Mal's, Audrey and Chad's, Uma's and Harry's, Jane and Carlos', and her own – all fifteen of the kids were sat around them excitedly chattering away to the others and being generally noisy as kids should be.
They screeched with delight when the actors started to throw sweets into the audience, and Lonnie was vaguely pleased to see that Jay stayed seated rather than grabbing for the chocolate missiles which she half expected him to do.
The others were all doing various charity pieces; Uma and Harry had headed back to the Isle to ensure that the remaining inhabitants were warm and well fed, Evie and Doug had gone west to help out at a big gathering of children's homes, Mal and Ben were hosting a huge Christmas Dinner for the vulnerable and Jane and Carlos had headed north to help out with the icy winds that had brought down powerlines and had rendered places unattainable. It was exhausting. She was exhausted, but she was also super pleased to watch the babble of children around her, her husband included.
"Why does Dick Whittington have a beard?" The pantomime dame said to one of the other characters on stage.
"What do you mean why does Dick Whittington have a beard?" The bumbling character looked mock-outraged back and then did a double take at Dick Whittington who was stood innocently to the other side of the stage, pretending to hear nothing. "Ey, why does he?"
"Because nine out of ten owners know that their cats prefer whiskers." The dame guffawed and amidst the crowds of laughing children Lonnie and the other adults groaned. The jokes got worse and worse each year but it was a Christmas tradition she wouldn't swap for the world.
Then again, she mused suddenly as the panto dame started to make their way through the audience straight towards the royal party with a rather determined look in their eyes and a wet sponge in their hands – maybe she wouldn't do panto duty next year.
A/N: Players is an old word for an acting company, sorry if this confuses anyone. If you want to, you can google something like Elizabeth I's Company of Players for an old example.
The whiskers joke may be an English thing – sorry if it is.