Disclaimer: Still don't own Dirty Dancing or any of its characters, and I'm still not making any money off of this, it's just for fun…

Thanks to all who are reading, I hope you're enjoying it so far. Please review! I love hearing your comments and suggestions.

A/N: At the dashed line, the story changes from being told by Baby to being told by Danny (her son), just wanted to clarify incase it's not clear.

Chapter 5

"Come on mom," Danny pleaded, "Jack gets to go, why can't I go?"

The way he looked down into my eyes with that poor puppy dog look, I always had trouble saying no to him when he wanted something, he had gotten so tall that he towered over me now; it's amazing what eight years can do to a kid. It had been a little over eight years since that fateful day in the car when I, or should I say we, lost Scott. Danny had changed so much since then, I only wished that Scott could see him now. At seventeen years old he was one of the handsomest boys in school and one of the most talented, if I do say so myself. I suppose that's just a little mother's bias, but I think I'm entitled to it. Despite my constant argument over it, Danny had let his hair grow longer, I think he liked it because it reminded him of Scott and the shaggy way he'd always worn his brown mop of hair. I actually kind of liked it on him, although I'd never tell him that. He reminded me so much of Johnny with his hair that way, all disheveled and messy, it gave him sort of a rogue or rebel without a cause kind of look that drove all the girls' wild. He showed off so many of his fathers' handsome features, and though I still hadn't told him about his real father, I was often transported back to a time when Johnny and I had been together and my mind would often run rampant with thoughts of him.

"Have you had many woman?" I asked innocently, as I lay snuggled close to Johnny's side feeling his warm body pressed against mine.

"What?!" He replied in astonishment that I would ask such a thing.

"Have you HAD many women?" I repeated with a smile, seeing his discomfort with the subject.

"Baby come on,"

"Tell me I wanna know," I prodded nudging his arm a little.

"No, no," he replied immediately sliding out of bed to get dressed and hopefully avoid the question.

I only stared up at him blankly wondering if he would ever answer me.

"You've gotta understand what it's like Baby," he began, while zipping up his pants leaving the top button open, "you come from the streets and suddenly you're up here and these woman, they're throwin' themselves at you and they smell so good. And they're slippin' their room keys in my hands, two and three times a day, different woman! So here, I think I'm scorin' big right, and for a while you think hey, they wouldn't be doin' this if they didn't care about me."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard, he was using them, he was using them all and that meant that I was probably no different. How could I have been so stupid? I felt as though I just wanted to get up and walk out of there right then and there but before I knew it my lips were moving and I was confronting him about it all, "that's alright, I understand," I said, not really knowing why I was even talking to him at that point, "you were just using them, that's all." I stared blankly down at the sheets that covered me, silently kicking myself for being so naïve.

But then his expression changed, his entire persona melted away revealing a different person underneath, "no, Baby no," he began defending himself, "it wasn't like that at all, see, they were using me." He gazed over at me waiting for some kind of response and I could see the hurt written all over his face and it was then that I knew he was right. He hadn't been using all those women, he was just looking for love and comfort, something that he'd been denied his entire life and when put in these situations, had just been too naïve to know any better. But I was different, I wasn't using him for anything, I was truly falling for this man and I think he was truly falling for me, so I looked up at him with a smile and without a word leaned in to kiss him passionately.

"Mom!" Danny shouted trying to get my attention as I had nearly faded away into thought, "so can I go or what?"

It was because of that exact moment with Johnny, that day we'd laid there in his room and I'd realized how naïve he really was and how women would use him to their advantage. It was because of that, that I was so leery to let Danny go away for the summer. I knew that he wasn't as mature and grownup as he liked to think he was and I was terrified that if I let him go that he would suffer the same fate his father had and fall into those same traps. But as I stood there staring up at him, into his big brown eyes that were pleading back at me, I couldn't help but give in.

Danny had been in dance lessons practically since he could walk, he loved it more than anything in the world, so when the opportunity arose for a summer job down at Kellerman's Mountain Resort in the Catskills he was thrilled at the idea. He'd always dreamed of someday getting the opportunity to teach dance, but I think somehow had always thought it was an untouchable dream. But now it was staring him in the face and he was ecstatic about it, ecstatic that is except for his fear of leaving and hurting me. I think Danny sensed that some of my hesitation to let him go came from the fear that he might meet a girl who would someday take my place in his life. And although he always insisted that I was his best girl and nothing could ever ruin the wonderful mother son relationship we had, I knew better.

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That was the summer of 1982, that was after President Reagan came into office, after the first airing of the David Letterman Show and before MASH ended its eleven year run on TV, when I couldn't wait to become a dance instructor and I wanted more than anything to finally get out on my own. That was the summer I went to Kellerman's.

My mothers black Chevy Impala sped down the curvy mountain roads on our way to the resort. It was a beast of a car, nearly taking up the entire lane, it beige seats were speckled with a hideous array of stripes that were nearly unrecognizable from years of abuse. Mom had bought the car second hand shortly after dad, uh, I mean Scott died. The Mercedes had been totaled in the accident and without Scotts sizable income to keep us afloat, things changed a fair bit for us, not that we lived the highlife before or anything, but what we'd been reduced to was not what you would call glamorous. Mom continued working at the hospital as a nurse where she'd been for several years already, it paid pretty well but not enough for us to keep the penthouse in Manhattan we'd lived in when Scott was alive. I didn't really mind moving though, I actually liked the small apartment she found us out in Brooklyn and my new school was pretty, well, shall we say, colorful, which always kept me on my toes.

Mom had insisted on driving us to Kellerman's, I think she was having a little trouble letting go of her precious baby boy, although I knew she'd never admit it. But that didn't seem to be the only reason she wanted to drive us, I couldn't put my finger on it but there seemed to be something more behind her reasoning. I'd asked several times with no real response, but I knew something was up. I remembered grandma telling me stories about the summer they'd spent at Kellerman's resort when mom was a teenager and I always got the feeling like she was leaving something out, almost as if the story I was told was the PG version or something.

Finally the bright red roofs and stone walls of the main house came into view and I got my first real look at what was to be my new home for the summer. The resort was quite amazing considering its age and looked as though it had been well maintained over the years. I usually wasn't one to get too excited over things but now that I could see the place in plain view I realized how excited I truly was, it had been my dream to instruct dance for years and now it was finally going to happen, plus I was finally getting the freedom I'd been craving for so long. I mean don't get me wrong, I love my mom and everything, but when a guy gets to a certain age he just needs a little more space, If you know what I mean.

"Come on guys," mom smiled as she put the car in park and stepped out onto the gravel driveway in front of one of the larger main buildings.

"Jack!" I shouted back to my best friend of almost ten years who was sitting silently in the backseat with his nose shoved in a book. He only looked up at me over the rim of his dark glasses and without a word laid his book down on the seat and got out of the car. Jack and I had met a little over ten years before, when we both had been transferred into Miss Kitty's dance class, we'd both been in dance for the majority of our young years and had excelled quite quickly. When we got into Miss Kitty's class and discovered that we were both there due to our strong abilities it didn't take long before the competition began. We were always competing against one another, even though we were in the same group and had always been taught to work together, somehow it was a constant struggle to be the best. But somewhere in the middle of all the fighting and competing we realized that we had more in common than we'd realized and an unbreakable friendship was developed. Don't get me wrong though, we still compete, I know I'm a better dancer that he is, though he'd never admit it! When I got my reply letter back from Kellerman's offering me a summer position to instruct some dance classes and fill in with some other odd jobs around the resort, I was thrilled! Jack had applied for the same job, so when I was accepted I knew that meant that I'd beat him. But only a day later Jack had gotten his letter in the mail as well accepting him for the same position, as it turned out, there had been two openings and the pair of us had been chosen due to Miss Kitty's glowing recommendations.

"Well let's get your stuff unloaded and take it all up to your rooms," mom smiled unlocking the trunk to help with the bags.

"It's ok mom," I began hesitantly, not wanting to hurt her feelings but at the same time really not wanting her to stay any longer, possibly cramping my style, "you don't have to worry about us, we can handle our bags and get settled, why don't you just head on home?"

I stared over at her just hoping that she'd take my comment ok and not be hurt.

"Yeah Ms. Edwards," Jack finally chimed in after being silent for so long, "we'll be fine."

At first mom looked a little hurt that I'd want her to leave and not even see my new room, but then the look of hurt melted away and I knew she understood, "alright then, if you're sure you'll be fine, I have a bunch of things to get done at home anyway so I'll be off." She smiled pulling me into a hug and whispered in my ear, "please be good Danny."

"I will mom geez," I replied sarcastically.

"Ok, well you boys have a great summer," mom chuckled at my embarrassment as she let me go and reached over messing Jacks' hair up with her fingers, "Jack please call your mother, I don't want her worrying about you all summer."

"Yes Ms. Edwards," Jack replied sarcastically.

"Bye boys," mom smiled one last time before getting back into the car and driving away.

We both stood there waving for a few seconds but then not wanting to look like a couple of mama's boys quickly lowered our hands and with a tough manly grunt we cleared our throats and picked up our bags heading off to reception to get our room keys.

With my backpack slung over my shoulder and suitcase in the other hand I found it quite difficult to maneuver through the crowds of people filling the main halls but finally up ahead I saw the front desk. Jack followed close behind me as we approached the young, rather pretty, dark haired girl that stood behind the counter.

She smiled over at Jack and then at me, flipping her long dark, almost black hair behind her shoulder, "may I help you?"

"Uh yeah," I replied trying not to stare at her too much, "we're the new dance instructors, I'm Danny Edwards and this is Jack Gardener."

"Oh great, just a second," she turned and began shuffling through the many papers and files behind the desk and finally returned with two keys and several forms in hand. "Here are your rooms keys, Danny you're be in cabin #5 and Jack you'll be in #6, I just need you to sign here and fill out the bottom of this form."

Jack and I proceeded to fill out our information as directed and passed it back to her, she quickly pointed us in the direction of our cabins and turned to go back to her work. But before I even got two steps away from the desk I heard Jack ask, "I'm sorry but I didn't get your name?" I could tell by the way her was looking at her that he was interested and had no intention of leaving the room until he had her name.

"Kai," she smiled shyly, "my name is Kai."

"It's nice to meet you Kai," Jack replied gazing back at her.

After standing there for several moments not really knowing what to do, I finally gave Jack a nudge in the side and laughed, "come on lover boy, let's go."

He quickly snapped out of his daze and turned to follow me, "uh yeah, ok, um, Kai," he stuttered, "I'll see you later, won't I?"

"I…" Kai began to respond but her words were cut short when a tall slender but muscular middle aged man came up beside her.

"Kai, can you file these for me please?" He smiled over at her then glanced quickly at Jack and I still standing there.

"Sure," she replied.

I gave Jack another nudge feeling that we'd been standing there silent for way too long and it was really time to leave, finally he and I seemed to be on the same page so he made one final attempt with Kai and we were on our way, "I'll see you later Kai."

"Oh Jack, Danny, wait!" She called after us as we'd only taken a few steps away.

Jack quickly turned around, excited that she'd called him back and I was quick to follow.

"You guys said you were new dance instructors didn't you?" She asked with a sweet smile as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Uh yeah," I replied.

"Well seeing as you're here you guys should meet our head instructor," she pointed over to the tall man who'd come up while we'd been talking previously.

He immediately took a step back toward the desk interested to meet us. His medium brown hair was slicked back with gel but I could tell it was longer than it looked if he'd let it loose. He was well tanned and had almost grey eyes that were shadowed with light lines of age, he looked pretty good, I'd bet most wouldn't guess his age, but I could tell he had to be in his early forties for sure.

I was pretty excited to meet a fellow dancer and especially one that I'd undoubtedly be working fairly close with if he was the head instructor, so I quickly stepped forward stretching my hand out to shake his, "it's nice to meet you, I'm Danny Edwards."

He grasped my hand firmly shaking it in return and replied, "hi Danny, I'm Johnny Castle."