Author's Note: Thank you all for tuning into chapter 11! This chapter is a bit shorter than the others that I've posted recently, and I apologize. The next few chapters may get a bit angsty and dramatic, so prepare yourselves for it! As always, please feel free to leave a review, favorite, follow, or message! I would love to interact with all of my readers out there!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Nanny at all, but I do own CC's baby.
Opening night. The night that everyone was excited for, yet dreaded at the same time. This was the night that would make or break Sheffield-Babcock Productions to see if West Side Story was going to last as long as anything that Andrew Lloyd Webber came up with. The cast and crew had worked very hard the last several months putting together this production, and now that it was finally time to showcase their talents to the world, they couldn't have been any more ready. The entire cast and crew gathered in a specific spot backstage waiting for the opening prologue act. The cast had all been gathered in the middle section before the curtains, so they were all interacting with one another. After a few minutes of mingling, Maxwell and CC showed up backstage. Once everyone noticed that they were there, they all started to cheer and clap for the producers as they put in as much hard work as they did. "Thank you. Thank you very much," Maxwell said as he waved to the cast and greeted them. Once the slight applause subsided, he finally spoke up again. "Well.. we finally made it, everyone. Opening night!" The cast of the show erupted in cheers once again. It seemed as if everyone was ready to get the show going, but the producers had some things that they had wanted to point out before the show began.
"Once again, we just want to thank everyone for being a part of this production," CC started. "I know it has been a long journey for each and every one of us. Countless hours in rehearsals, memorizing lines, making sure the sets were built correctly, tolerating with your higher-ups.." The cast started to laugh as they immediately thought of the directors and other executives of the show. "Maxwell and I want to thank you all for contributing your talents, time, and effort into West Side Story. Give yourselves a round of applause." At that, the cast and crew applauded each other.
After a couple of minutes of acknowledging the cast and crew's efforts, it was Maxwell's turn to speak seeing that the applause subsided once again. "When I first came up with this idea many months ago, I didn't think that this production would get so much attention. After many attempts at trying to produce something successful on Broadway, I feel that this production really set the bar high for the next productions to come.. and it's all thanks to you. We couldn't have done this without you. I can see potential Tony nominees and winners in this room... well of course, including myself!" he joked. Some people acknowledged that as funny, others didn't and just nodded waiting for him to continue. "But, I wanted to take a moment to thank the two stars of this show that made it all possible." He turned to face Dominic, who was standing near the front of the crowd. "Dominic Pineda, our leading man," Maxwell motioned to him.
Dominic smiled as the cast and crew applauded him for his hard work. "You know, when I first saw Dominic in his TV series, I thought with his personality, he just fit for the role of Tony. He's got charisma, class, and strength.. everything that I'm always looking for in a leading man," Maxwell said beaming at his star. "I knew I made a good decision with him in my production. He proved to me week after week that he was able to take on new challenges.. the leading actress." Dominic, Maxwell, and the cast and crew started to laugh at that comment, but CC found herself frowning at that statement. How could he say something like that about her daughter? Sabrina worked just as hard as everyone else, and this was the kind of recognition she received? Her smile fell and she bit her lip.
Sabrina just so happened to be in the back of the crowd hearing that statement. Her heart dropped all the way down to her stomach and she felt like sobbing. She noticed her mother's reaction from afar seeing that she was just as hurt as she was. Without another thought, Sabrina quickly, yet discretely, rushed away from the crowd and ran back to her dressing room without anybody else noticing. "Anyways, Dominic, I am thankful that you never backed out and gave up. We appreciate you here with us," Maxwell finished.
"Thank you, sir," Dominic answered as the cast and crew started to applaud. CC crossed her arms keeping herself silent. If she wasn't with the rest of the cast and crew in the same room, she probably would've slapped Maxwell across the face for that comment. She stood her ground and sighed waiting for Maxwell's second recognition.
"Speaking of our leading actress... which by the way, I hope nobody was taking my comment seriously about her... she's absolutely fantastic," Maxwell pointed out noticing that CC's glare never faded away. He tried to ignore the fact that CC was upset and carried on with the speeches. "Sabrina Taylor.. wow. What a talent I recruited. You know, I never really knew who she was until my daughter, Margaret, had shown me one of her performances on a talk show. She's got such a passion about show business, and I knew she would be perfect for Maria. Her days here have been quite a journey for her. I know at some points she had good and bad days, but there was always something about her that showed me that she never gave up. Once she put an effort into something, she never quit.. and I truly admired that about her. I mean come on, the girl's been working since she was 10! She doesn't have an ounce of weakness in her," he stated trying to make light of talking about Sabrina.
You have absolutely no idea who you're referring to, you sick son of a bitch, CC thought angrily. "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Sabrina. She's been absolutely wonderful," Maxwell said as they all started to clap for her. After a while of applauding, one of the actresses had noticed she was gone.
"Where is Sabrina?" the actress questioned. Soon, that got everyone curious as to where she was, especially CC. Her heart sank wondering if Sabrina had heard what Maxwell said about her earlier. Without another word, CC dashed away from the crowd trying to find her daughter. She figured that she'd run back to her dressing room, seeing as nobody else was in there with her.
CC took a couple of minutes to find her daughter's dressing room and noticed the door to it was closed. She looked around the hallway making sure that nobody else was around her before knocking on the door. "Sabrina?" she called out to her, but ended up not receiving a response. "Sabrina..? Honey..?" her voice grew a little softer and more worried. She couldn't have imagined what her baby was feeling in this moment. All of a sudden, she heard her daughter's shaky breaths and sobs through the other side of the door. She quickly opened the door and walked into the dressing room. The room seemed to only be filled with makeup and hair products scattered everywhere. For a moment, she wondered if the hair and makeup team even came to her daughter's dressing room. Normally, the rooms weren't this messy. The teams would usually take their products with them after they were finished with each client.
"Baby, where are you?" CC called out again until she noticed something at the corner of her eye. She saw her daughter crouched down on the ground, hugging her knees and burying her face in them. She rushed towards Sabrina and knelt down to her level. "Sabrina, you have to be onstage in less than ten minutes," she said as she placed one of her hands on her daughter's shoulder.
"I can't do this.." she mumbled in between sobs. She felt like such a complete lowlife and hated to be the one in this predicament before such a big night.
"Sabrina, please. You have to be ready to go out there.." CC said to her trying to console her.
"I'm not going out there!" Sabrina snapped instantly as she raised her head from her knees. Now her eye makeup was slightly ruined by the tears that had formed. "Did you not hear what Mr. Sheffield said about me? Is antagonizing me in front of the whole cast and crew a way of joking around all of a sudden?!"
CC sighed and rushed to get some of the makeup on the counter and a couple of moist towelettes so she could redo her makeup. She got back down on her daughter's level and started to clean off her face. "Believe me, I'm just as upset as you are, but I really need to get all this off your face so you can get onstage," CC said to her getting the stains off of her cheeks.
Sabrina sniffled looking up at her mother after a silent moment. "First my hair and makeup team never showed up, so I had to do everything on my own... then everybody shunned me when I came out with my costume on... and now Mr. Sheffield is making Dominic seem so high and mighty and he's making me seem so terrible.. what did I do wrong?" Sabrina vented to her mother as she closed her eyes and let CC redo her makeup.
"You did absolutely nothing wrong," CC reassured her as she motioned for Sabrina to open her eyes to finish up her makeup. "First of all, I'm going to fire your hair and makeup team from any future projects, because they should've never forced you to be in this predicament. Second of all, I have no idea what's gotten into Maxwell's head to say something like that, but let me tell you, if it weren't for the rest of the cast and crew out there, I would be giving him a piece of my damn mind." She shook her head and continued to doll her daughter up. "I don't care how stressed out he is. He's got no excuse to speak about my baby like that... and I will tell that to his face once we're out of here."
Sabrina shrugged and frowned as she still let CC work on her face. "Honestly it's nothing new.." she mumbled. "I've gotten worse comments from costars and colleagues. Besides, I sometimes tend to believe that their words about me are true. I can be a real pain in the ass, and it just proves them right." She waited patiently until her mother was finished on redoing her makeup.
Once she had finished up the redo, she reached her hand out to Sabrina and said, "Come here." Sabrina hesitated to take her mother's hand for a moment, but then gave in, because she couldn't resist that. She stood up slowly and walked towards the mirror to where CC was guiding her. "Look at yourself and tell me what you see," CC said placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders from behind her.
"Uh.. a hot mess.. and a washed up pop star?" Sabrina guessed pursing her lips together. Her voice had gotten quiet out of vulnerability. She felt insecure and unhappy with herself when tonight was supposed to be a big night for her.
"Wrong. Let me tell you what I see." CC shook her head and then wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders, her chin propping up on her daughter's head. That caught Sabrina's attention, so she listened intently to CC. "I see... tonight's shining star... a girl who's going to make a difference in the community... the big pop star with the biggest heart... and most importantly.." CC continued leaning in to kiss the girl's cheek. "My pride and joy," she finished off whispering. "You are an amazing individual who has made such an impact on many people's lives out there. Don't let one person's hurtful words ruin that."
Sabrina's kind words from her mother made her smile slightly. She sighed contently and leaned in her mother's embrace needing more of this attention before she were to head out. "Why do you always know the right things to say?" she asked CC looking at their reflections in the mirror. She felt so comfortable and didn't want to let go of her. "It gets kind of annoying."
CC laughed softly at her daughter's comment and then said, "I know! Doesn't it suck having someone cheer you up?" She joked around with her daughter as they both ended up laughing. Eventually she turned to face her and cupped Sabrina's cheek with her hand lovingly. "You know you did amazing at those press conferences and interviews the other day. I knew you could do it and face your fears."
Sabrina shrugged playfully and then said, "I guess I did alright. My temporary agent kept me in check."
"Temporary? Well you can just forget all of the perks I was about to give you," CC gasped as she placed her hand on her chest sarcastically. "It's a shame Bernie isn't capable of you meeting Javier Escobar in person. I'm the one who invited him to opening night."
"WHAT?!" Sabrina asked excitedly at the mention of her mother inviting the Spanish actor to the show. "Oh my god no way! You didn't!" CC could only laugh and nod her head at Sabrina's reaction. The younger girl started to jump up and down at the mention of that news. "I can't believe Javier is coming! Oh Bernie is so getting let go.." she finally said after a moment of celebration.
"Hey, you didn't hear that from me. Don't try to get your hopes up about him. I'm not sure if Javier is going to make it here in time. His agent said he had a long flight from Mexico to New York," she reminded her daughter.
Sabrina huffed in frustration. "Damn it. I had plans to publicize something with him to the press after the show was over," she said crossing her arms. "Oh well.. if he doesn't show up, I'll just make out with Dominic to gain publicity. That'll get a crack out of those reporters since we despise each other so much." They both shared soft chuckles as CC brought her daughter closer, hugging her tightly. She basked in the silent moment with her before looking up at her. She felt her mother pressing their foreheads together. "You know... I'm actually glad I'm a part of this show. Who knew that my own mother would be a part of it? Without Broadway, I wouldn't have found you again. I'm just so thankful that you accepted me back in your life." The girl bit her lip trying not to cry again as she had her makeup redone.
This time, it was CC who tried to hold in her tears. For years now, she had been wanting to find her baby girl again, and now that she was back, she couldn't have been happier. She was especially touched by the words from Sabrina. CC smiled and held her daughter's face in her hands. "My sweet girl," she said softly. "Without this show, I wouldn't have found you again.. but my goodness, I'm so glad we recruited you here. I should be the thankful one! I thought you were going to hate me forever for what I did to you."
"I could never hate you, Mom," Sabrina responded with a soft smile. "Best believe that."
CC closed her eyes and pulled the girl in for another hug. She felt as if Sabrina needed this kind of encouragement and attention before she went out onstage. It was a big night for her, and to know that she was Sabrina's main source of comfort was an honor to her. She gently swayed her daughter in her arms for a couple of minutes before she planted a kiss on her head. "I love you," she said to her before pulling away to look at her. "You're going to be amazing out there."
"Thank you," Sabrina said still keeping a grip on her hands. "I love you too."
"Break a leg out there, Shark Princess," CC said as she motioned for her daughter to leave the dressing room. Sabrina complied and then rushed out of her dressing room to join the rest of the cast for the prologue scene. CC walked out of the dressing room moments after and leaned against the doorframe. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that her own daughter was now a Broadway star. After a moment to collect her thoughts, she went back out into the audience to watch the show.
Many scenes, dances, and song numbers had passed, and the show seemed to be doing very well. Now it came to the final scene of the show: Tony's death. The entire cast circled around Dominic and Sabrina, who were still acting as Tony and Maria respectively. This was the scene where the two rival gangs finally came together to unite as one. It was a story of drama, action, and love. As the two gangs were ready to do Tony's procession, Sabrina as Maria stayed behind still in the middle of the stage holding a single red rose. She held it close to her chest and sang a few more lines from the final number of the show. After she sang, she fell to her knees and dropped the rose on the ground. The lights turned off onstage and the curtains finally closed as the crowd erupted in an applause. Sabrina got up from the stage and then made her way to the back of the crowd to where she had to walk out with Dominic for the curtain call. When she stood next to him, she looked over at him and smiled. "You know, for a pretentious swine... you actually did great tonight," she complimented.
Dominic wasn't expecting Sabrina to tell him some kind words after the performance. He couldn't make eye contact with her due to the fact that normally, he wouldn't really have anything nice to say back to her. It took him a moment to actually think of something. "You... didn't do so bad yourself.." he stammered trying to think of some sort of insult to throw back at her. "...cow."
Sabrina smacked his arm playfully. "That's not gonna work on me," she said chuckling and rolling her eyes. "Did you lose your touch, Dominic? What happened to your usual insults you throw at me?" she giggled knowing it would make it more difficult on him.
All Dominic could do was stay silent for a while. He looked down at Sabrina, who had a smug smirk on her face knowing she just won their little banter battle. "I think I lost touch after you walked out with that red dress on," he muttered hoping Sabrina wouldn't hear that, but her eyes widened and she furrowed her brows at him. "What?" he asked trying to play coy.
Unfortunately for him, she did end up hearing him, and she couldn't help but blush and look away. "Just shut up, take my arm, and go bow," she instructed him as they both hooked arms and walked out onstage watching the entire audience stand up and applaud them. They bowed and waved to the audience seeing all the flowers fly onstage for them. Sabrina especially felt all of the love from the audience seeing the cameras flash and some of the people chant her name. Dominic eventually backed away from Sabrina so she could have her own moment of applause. He couldn't help but clap for her himself. The girl was very overwhelmed by all of the love and appreciation she was receiving by everyone around her. For a moment, she finally believed everything her mother said to her in the dressing room. She truly was a shining star and was making an impact on the community. Everything had felt so right.
About a half hour later, the audience had already departed to make their way into the lobby. They were waiting for the entire cast of the show to come out and listen to their interviews and sign autographs. Most of the cast had already made their way out, and the audience were frantically attempting to gain autographs and photos of the cast. Dominic was already out in the lobby being conducted several interviews from different news platforms. As the audience and cast of the show were interacting, Maxwell and CC stood in the background watching everything go down in front of them. "I say CC, that was probably one of the best opening nights we've had," Maxwell said beaming at how his production had turned out.
"It sure was," CC said looking over at the cast interacting with everyone in the lobby. She was hoping her daughter would come out of the theater eventually, but she knew Sabrina had to get into something more comfortable before she went out for autographs. She kept looking around for Sabrina, but sighed heavily when she saw someone else other than her walk out.
"What are you looking for?" Maxwell asked curiously noticing her motions.
"You mean who," she snapped a little bit. "I'm looking for Sabrina. She hasn't come out of the theater yet. Do you think she's okay?" CC asked him with concern, knowing he probably wouldn't have the same amount of concern that she did.
"I'm sure she's fine, CC. She's probably just overwhelmed from all of the attention," he pointed out. He then looked over at the other stars who seemed to be comfortable in their own element. "I didn't expect that loud of an applause for her! I - I mean.. she really did surprise me tonight. Whatever you did to her between the pep talk and the start of the show really made her shine," Maxwell added as he brought his arm around his business partner. "Thank you, CC.. for taking good care of Sabrina. She turned out wonderful.. and she seems to really like you."
CC blushed at the touch of Maxwell's hand around her shoulder. Oh she had wished that this kind of affection happened on a daily basis, but he was always so distracted by Nanny Fine. She finally felt like she was gaining his attention after all those years of trying to win over his affection. By taking care of her own daughter, CC felt like she was being validated by her business partner. "Oh gosh, Maxwell, it was nothing!" she said before muttering under her breath so he couldn't hear her. "But by god you have absolutely no idea."
At those words, Sabrina walked out wearing a knee length white dress while carrying her small handbag. She had finally gotten out of the theater after an overwhelming amount of people congratulated her. As soon as she walked out, cameras immediately started to flash and the reporters began to move in on the girl. Sabrina frowned seeing them crowd around her. It reminded her of the nightmare that she had a couple of weeks prior to the show. However, the crowd didn't last long as CC stepped in to back off the reporters. "Will you all quit it and let the girl breathe!?" she screamed at them. All of the reporters were stunned by the woman's reaction and Sabrina hid behind her mother hoping that the chaos was over. "Thank you! One at a time!" CC shouted at them before she stepped away from her daughter and let her be circled by the reporters. Sabrina took a couple of steps forward before they started to interview her one by one.
"Miss Taylor, that was an incredible performance out there! How long do you think you'll stay on Broadway?" one of the reporters asked Sabrina as the moved their microphone to her face.
"Well, this is my first show, so I kind of want to enjoy this project while it lasts! I think West Side Story has been really exciting, and I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of these shows. However, if there is another opportunity, I may find that opportunity to jump onto the project," Sabrina replied hoping that she satisfied the reporter's question.
"Miss Taylor, there were a lot of critics out there during tonight's performance. Usually the shows done by Sheffield-Babcock Productions either close early or never make it out to two weeks. What would you think if the critics gave bad reviews?" another reporter asked Sabrina.
"Hey! I don't think you all should assume the worst out of this production," Sabrina defended them and looked over at the two producers, most notably at her mother. "I think Mr. Sheffield and Miss Babcock worked just as hard as the rest of this cast and crew, and nobody should put them down so easily!" The reporters seemed a bit shock at her defensiveness in the two producers. Clearly, she hadn't seen any other productions from them before. "Why don't we all wait until the critics actually give some reviews before we jump to conclusions on how this is going to go? Next!"
More reporters started to try and gain her attention and Sabrina picked one of the new reporters that she hadn't heard from before. "Sabrina, I'm Jody Harold from People Magazine. What would your plans be after West Side Story's run is over?" the reporter asked.
It was at this moment Sabrina froze. She knew exactly what to say, but she couldn't afford to let that cat out of the bag. The reporters held their microphones to her face while the girl fidgeted with her fingers nervously. Her smile fell and she looked down at her feet. "Um.." she hesitated before looking over at CC silently asking for her help. CC smiled at her and nodded her head knowing she was more than okay with her response. She mouthed, 'It's okay, baby' to Sabrina who then took a deep breath and looked back at the reporters. "I plan to retire from show business," she replied after a moment of silence.
As soon as she responded, the reporters erupted with questions and the cameras flashed. Maxwell couldn't help but stand there in complete shock at what had just happened. He had full faith that Sabrina wasn't going to answer some idiotic response to the reporters, but seeing that she did, he grew quite furious. "What... the bloody hell did she just say, CC?" he turned angrily asking his business partner.
"Well... who was the moron that put that thought in her head?" CC sarcastically asked him shaking her head. She felt like she just let Maxwell down, but in all her fairness, she wanted the best for only her daughter and didn't quite care that Maxwell was upset. "I'm going to have a talk with that young lady when we get home later," she added trying to make it seem like she was upset with her. Truthfully, she wasn't. She was proud of her for telling the truth.
"And why do you want to retire from show business?" The reporter asked anxiously wanting to know this story just as badly as everyone else.
Sabrina knew that her nerves were quite eased at this point. She took a glance at CC again and smiled. "To be with my family," she responded. That was the only indication and answer she would give, leaving the people wanting to know the mystery behind that.
Sabrina waited for the reporters to calm down as she started to shake trying to think of a way to get out of the predicament. Soon there was some babbling from them about how they needed to retrieve publicity from her and what kind of stories they would sell from her. "You want publicity? You want a story? Well, fine! I got one for you!" she shouted as she walked over towards Dominic, who was in the middle of an interview. She reached over to tap on her costar's shoulder to gain his attention. "Hey Dominic," she called out to him.
Dominic felt the girl tap on his shoulder and sighed heavily. "Will you all excuse me?" he said to the reporters politely before he turned around to Sabrina, irritated that she interrupted his interview. "What the hell are you doing? Can't you see I'm in the middle of -" Dominic couldn't respond because the next thing he knew was that Sabrina grabbed his jacket and pulled him towards her, kissing him passionately. He was distracted by this predicament, but eventually gave in and kissed her back.
Seeing the sight before them, the cameras started to go off on the two costars that were making out in the middle of the theater lobby. In the background, CC's jaw dropped seeing her daughter like this with the costar she so happened to... despise. Why does this remind me of something? Wow... I can't believe Niles and I did the same thing in Maxwell's living room two years ago.. damn.. he was a great kisser.. wait, what am I doing!? CC, your kid is making out with a boy! You need to go and stop it! she thought to herself. Just as she was about to rush over there, Sabrina pulled away from Dominic leaving him in a state of shock, but also satisfaction. He leaned in and asked his costar, "Did... did you say you were going to retire?" Sabrina nodded her head. "That.. is so hot."
Sabrina smirked and then leaned in to whisper to him, "Pick me up at 8 tomorrow. I'll give you the address later." After the ordeal, Sabrina walked away from Dominic, which then made the reporters all go to him for more questions. She went to stand over beside her mother, who wasn't pleased at the act her daughter had just pulled. Sabrina sheepishly pursed her lips and looked up at her mother trying to act as if nothing had happened. "Hi Mommy," she said after a while smiling up at her. CC didn't respond and crossed her arms giving her the silent treatment. "How was the show? Did you like it?" Sabrina asked her mother, seeing that CC didn't budge. Sabrina huffed, "Oh come on! I told you that was going to be my last resort if Javier didn't show!"
"I thought you were just talking out your ass! I didn't think you'd actually do that," CC whispered to her gritting her teeth.
"Oh please, like you probably haven't done anything like that in your life before," Sabrina scoffed and chuckled to herself. CC rolled her eyes at that statement. She wished that wasn't true, but alas, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
"Just... shut up," CC replied hesitantly shaking her head and chuckling. After a while, she looked around and saw that a good majority of the people had vacated the theater, including Maxwell. It gave CC an opportunity to wrap an arm around her daughter and walk her away from the crowd of people. "You did amazing out there. It takes a lot of guts to perform as incredible as you did just now. I'm so extremely proud of you... and I'm even more proud to be your mother."
Sabrina felt like she was going to cry just hearing that, but instead she just wrapped her arms around her once again. She knew they couldn't display any other form of affection, but this was good enough for her. "Thank you," she said softly staying in CC's arms a little bit longer.
"Although you do realize what you just told those reporters could potentially close the play," CC stated before Sabrina pulled away from her mother and gave her a glare. To save herself, CC spoke up. "Honey, I don't care if the play closes or not. I just want the best for you. My baby matters more to me than any show on earth." Sabrina sighed contently and leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. CC then took a glance at her watch seeing that the theater should've vacated the rest of the crowd by now. She was waiting for someone to show up for Sabrina. "You know, even though Javier didn't end up showing, I do know that someone else was dying to see you on opening night."
Sabrina furrowed her eyebrows wondering who her mother could've been referring to. "Really?" she asked her incredulously. "Are they here now?" Just as she asked that, Niles walked out of the theater holding a large bouquet of flowers. He was searching for the young star for a moment and then finally noticed her making his way towards her. Sabrina's eyes widened in excitement seeing that the butler had shown up to the show. "Niles! You came!" she cried out in excitement as she rushed to him immediately embracing him closely. "I thought you had to work late," Sabrina said after pulling away from him.
Niles returned the embrace, still keeping a tight grip on the flower bouquet so it didn't drop. "I got everything done early so I could get to the show. I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said genuinely before handing her over the bouquet of flowers. She easily took them and held them close.
"You really thought it was good?" Sabrina asked him. She was hoping he wouldn't just say he liked the play to make a good impression.
"Between you and I, all of the past productions that were done before you arrived were nothing short of one star ratings.. although if that were possible, they probably would have been," the butler mused to himself before looking back at the girl. "Believe me, it was one of the best productions I've seen, and you made the entire play look fantastic. It was enough to make a man cry!"
Sabrina couldn't help but get more surprised with how he reacted to the show. "You cried?" she asked him with a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry.. I was just acting."
"But the talent you have made every scene so believable. I felt your emotion," Niles said as he wrapped an arm around her and started to head back to where CC was. "My dear, it takes a lot for a man to cry. Ask your mother, he knows," he said pointing over at CC, who shot him an annoyed glare with his zinger. Sabrina looked back at him trying so hard not to laugh.
After a while of trying to get over Niles' zinger, CC walked over to the both of them with her hands on her hips. "You both are on thin ice," she warned them sternly watching Sabrina's smile only get wider. She quickly covered her mouth trying not to laugh. CC then narrowed her eyes once again at the both of them. "May I remind you both who is managing your retirement fund.." she emphasized that statement for Niles. "...and who is managing your life," she emphasized that for her daughter. She was trying to be intimidating, but caught both Niles and Sabrina stare at each other thinking at how crazy she was in that moment.
"What? You can't take a joke?" Sabrina asked her mother.
"Yeah, Miss Babcock. You can't take a joke?" Niles repeated after the girl in the same fashion that she did. He then looked around and saw that the lobby was practically empty. "We should all probably leave. The theater is nearly bare now," he pointed out as he lead CC and Sabrina outside the nearest exit.
"You both are the absolute death of me," CC muttered as she walked alongside them. For a moment she caught a glimpse of her daughter and the Sheffield's butler walking alongside each other. She couldn't help but smile at the sight knowing that Niles was keeping the promise that he made to her. She could tell that he was growing to adore Sabrina and tend for her when she needed it the most. As they moved a bit further away from CC, she said to herself, "And I wouldn't have it any other way.."