For disclaimer see Part one

Part 6: The big show

The big show should start at 7 o'clock in the evening but the spectators were coming since the early morning hours. Johnny made breakfast for me but I was too nervous to eat.

"Baby, you are going to eat at least a bit or I wouldn't let you dance tonight." Johnny said.

"Johnny you can't do this. It's my show."

"You bet I can. I know that you are awful nervous. But if you don't eat a bit you won't have the strength for tonight. You have to think about our baby."

"I know that you are right. I try to eat a bit. For our baby. Johnny, did I do the right thing?"

"What do you mean with right thing? Coming to Kellerman´s again? Staying with me? Loving me? Trying to save Kellerman´s?"

"I know that the first three things are the best decisions I ever made in my life. But I was speaking about Kellerman´s. What will happen if I don't get enough money tonight? I don't want to lose it. I want to show it to our child."

"Baby, I believe in you. You will get enough money to save Kellerman´s tonight. And our child will see it, no matter what comes."

I was surprised. Last year it was my part to be optimistic, now Johnny took over the part while I have second thoughts.

Today no classes would be given by any of the dancers so we had some additional time to practice the last things. Lisa took care of the decoration. It all looked really nice.

It was a warm day in August so the show would be outside like Lisa had planned it. She had built a large stage in front of the lake. The visitors were seated in front of the stage and on a near hill. Lisa checked if they would have still a good view to the stage. We were completely booked. And there were still guests coming to see it.

At noon all participant met at the Great Hall. I stood up and began to speak.

"Guys, I just want to thank you. I know that you spent the most of your spare time with practice. I know that the show will be the best the Catskills had ever seen. Even if we are not successful to save Kellerman´s we had all we could. Thank you all."

All of them cheered up.

After that we all went back to our bungalows to get dressed and gain some energy.

At seven o'clock I went to the stage. I was stunned how many people were there. All seats were occupied and there were still much persons standing. Now even I could believe I would be successful.

In front of the dancing some smaller things were shown like Cousin Brucie with his saw. I was just happy it was not my part again to lay there. It was awful last year. Some guests were singing. Lisa was not among them for all our sake. Max and Tito did their step dance. Up until now it seemed to be the season final like last year. But it would be better.

After Max and Tito had finished their dance I went up to the stage together with Johnny.

"Dear guests, first of all I want to thank you for coming tonight. All money we get today will go to save Kellerman´s for getting sold. You surely wonder who is going to save it and why. So I will tell you a short story. My name is Frances Houseman and this is Johnny Castle. We are going to save it. Last year I was in the Catskills for the first time in my life. It should be a nice family holiday but it had changed my life. At Kellerman´s I met Johnny. He showed me what my life could be. He taught me dancing and together we did the last dance of the season, a dance all guests had loved. Kellerman´s is a great part of my life. Without it I won't be the person I am now. I would have never met Johnny, the love of my life. For this reason we want to save it. It should make many families happy in the next years and I want my children seeing it. And now enjoy the performance of some terrific dancers."

The spectators applauded. Now Johnny began to speak:

"At first you will see some parts out of Musicals show at the Broadway. The dancers performing them are the real cast of those musicals. And the final will be a surprise to all of you. Have fun with the dancing."

We left the stage so Tony and his friends could begin with their dancing.

Tony and his friends were great. They danced some parts of well-known musicals. The visitors were amazed. Most of them had never had the chance to travel to New York and watch one of them on the Broadway. The pair performance should be the penultimate act. So we all went up to the stage. The visitors were applauding; even we hadn't started to dance. Some of them knew us from last year. After the applause cooled down we began to dance. It was a mixture of Mambo, Tango and Waltz. I'm sure all of the visitors hadn't seen anything like this before. It was incomparable. And the spectators liked what they saw. They wanted an encore.

But there was still one dance missing, a dance I waited a whole year for.

Lisa, Billy, Penny and Tony left the stage so only Johnny and I were left up there. Slowly we walked to each other and met in the middle of the stage. Johnny stood behind me, one of his arms around my waist, protecting our child. I put one of my arms behind his neck and looked into his eyes. They were full of love. We stand there like this for a few seconds before the first tunes of "I've had the time of my life" came out of the loud speakers. But for me it seemed like an eternity.

I put my hand into his hand, turned toward him, Johnny kissed me on the nose and we began to dance. The guests were speechless. Our whole dance expressed our love.

When we finished the dance and turned to audition I saw their feelings written into their faces. I knew I did the right thing. Lisa and Penny with their boy-friends joined us on the stage and we dance a further dance.

After this all other left the stage and I was left there alone. It was time for the closing, so I began to speak.

"Dear guests, I hope you liked our little show. I thank you for coming up here tonight. So enjoy the remaining of the night and have fun. Good night."

I receive lots of applause.

I went to Johnny and hugged him. I was totally exhaust and happy that it was finally over. Now I could enjoy a few days with my family. Lisa brought me a glass of water.

"Here Baby, drink. You are totally exhausted. It's not got for you."

I took the glass and sipped on it.

"Baby, the show was great." Penny said.

"It sure was. But it was your earnings, too. I have to thank you. I just hope it was good enough."

We all went out and enjoyed the warm summer night together with our friends and family.

It didn't last long for my parents to find Johnny and me. I couldn't hide.

"Baby, there you are. It was a great show. I had never seen something like this before. And your dance was great. I know that you had a talent for dancing. Johnny, you did a great job by teaching her." Marge said.

"I think that, too. Baby you were great. I didn't believe you would do it, but you did it. Congratulation, I'm very proud of you. Johnny, congratulation you too."

"Thank you Mr. Houseman. It was fun teaching them. Dancing is all I want to do in my life until last year. Since then I wanted to be with Baby. Even more than dancing."

"But now you will get both, me and dancing. Mom, Dad it was a stressful day and I'm tired. I want to go to bed. Would you like to have lunch with us tomorrow? There are some points we need to discuss with you."

"Baby, I would love to have dinner with you. See you tomorrow. And Johnny, take care of my Baby." With this my parents left and we went straight to our cabin. It was no lie, I was really worn out. I managed to take a fast shower and went to bed. I didn't even notice Johnny joining me there.

When I woke up on the next day it was about eleven o'clock. I had a shower and got dressed for lunch with my parents. Johnny were nowhere to be seen, but I had an idea were I could find him. So I went to the patio room. There he was, looking through his records.

"The last time you did this, Neil told you to try some other dance at the final show." I said. Johnny turned around.

"Baby, I didn't hear you coming. Yes I remember it, but the time before it was much better. You were teaching me how to Cha-Cha. How do you feel, darling?"

"Fine, it couldn't be better. I just wanted do know how much we earned yesterday but I think Max will still need a few days. So are you ready for lunch with my parents? You know it's time to tell them about the baby."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm not looking forward to it. I don't think you parents will be happy about it."

"It doesn't matter what my parents think. It's our child and I'm very happy about being pregnant with your child. And I'm happy to become your wife. So, now let's go over to the Main Hall."

Hand in hand we walked the way to the Main Hall. A few guests congratulate us for the show. All of them had liked it.

My parents were already waiting for us on a table at the terrace.

"Johnny, Baby, take a seat. What do you want to drink?" my mother asked. We ordered our lunch and had a bit of small talk.

When we had finished lunch my mother began to speak.

"Baby, yesterday you said there are some points you needed to discuss with us. Well, I thought about it the whole night and didn't find a topic. So are you going to tell us now?"

"Well, it's not easy to tell you. I'm very happy that you are here. I missed you. A few days ago Johnny asked me to marry him and I accepted. I will marry him."

"You will what? Baby, you aren't old enough to make such a decision." My dad said.

"Jake, will you calm down. First of all, congratulation Baby. Johnny, I know you will make my Baby very happy. I just need to look at you and see the love you feel for each other. Jake, you know that I wasn't much older when we got married and your parents were against the wedding. But we still got married without your family. Do you want the same for your daughter? Baby getting married doesn't mean to lose her. She will ever be your little girl. But Baby has her own life now, Jake. So please accept this."

I didn't know that my grandparents were against the wedding of my parents.

"But that's not all. Johnny is going to move to New York, where we are going to look for an apartment. I will finish College and will help Johnny to lead Sam's dancing school. But in the next few months I won't do much dancing."

"Baby, are you ill? This would be the only chance to get you from dancing." My mother said.

"No, Mom. I wouldn't call it ill, just pregnant. We will get a baby in about 5 months."

This was more than my parents could digest. Even my mother was speechless. We sat there for a few minutes then Johnny began to speak.

"Mrs. Houseman, Mr. Houseman I know you are shocked about the news, but I will do everything to make Baby and our child happy. I know I can do this. Baby is my whole life. I love her with all my heart. The last year was the hardest in my whole life and I had many bad years. But not being near to her was more than I could take. When I arrived here and Baby was also there my world got its color back. I don't want to lose her again. I hope you understand this."

"Yes Johnny, I understand you. I felt the same when I met Jake for the first time. I'm happy you have found true love. I still think I'm a bit too young to become a grandmother but I'm looking forward for my first grandchild. I ever thought Lisa would be the first one of you two. But I'm happy for you. You both will be good parents for your child. Jake I think we should leave them alone."

So the two of us were alone again. "Baby, would you like to take a walk at the lake?" Johnny asked.

"Yes of course." So we went down to the lake. After a couple of minutes we found a nice place to sit down.

"You are feeling okay, Baby?" Johnny asked.

"Yes, we are both completely fine. It is really sweet that you are worried about us, but there is no need for. I promise you I will tell you if I feel sick. Okay?"

"Okay, but you know it's my first pregnancy."

I laughed. "Well, same goes here. But we are fine."

"So, I think it's time to make some planes."

"What kind of planes?" I asked.

"Like when we are going to marry. Do you want to marry while pregnant or after you gave birth? I can wait, now I know you will marry me. I just want to be with you."

"I would like to marry you as soon as possible. So that gives us about 4 months. I don't think I want to marry when I'm nine months along. The season will last about two months from now, which means I'm not going to do the last dance this year."

"So we would have two months to organize a weeding in New York. But we still need to look for an apartment. You can stay at the campus for a while but where should I stay?"

"Well, that's a real problem since I don't want to stay at the campus with the knowing that you are only a few streets away from me."

"So I think we should start looking for some New York papers. I don't think we need to stay here for the rest of the season. Billy and Penny can take over most of my lessons. And I'm sure Max will understand our reason for leaving earlier."

"Okay, then we tell Billy and Penny that they have to take over your lessons. I will go to Max; perhaps he has some news for me. See you later, Darling."

So I went to Max' office. "Baby, good you came. I was just going to look for you."

"Hi Max."

"I work all night. It was a great show. I have never seen something like that before. I know you would be a great owner for Kellerman's but unfortunately the money isn't enough. You will need still about 10.000 $, at least."

"No Max, please tell me you are joking."

"I wish I was. I'm sorry, Baby."

I left the office and went to a lonely place at the lake. There I let me tears fall. I didn't know how long I was sitting there when someone came up to me.

"Baby?"

It was my father. I didn't react. "Baby, are you all right?"

"No, nothing is all right. Max just told me that me show was great but not great enough. I will at least need 10.000 $ to save Kellerman's. Everything was for nothing."

"Oh Baby, I'm sorry. I know that you tried your best."

"Yeah, great but my best wasn't good enough. My friends were hoping I would be successful. Now they have no job next year."

"Baby, you tried everything you could. That's more than most people would have done. I'm very proud of you."

"Well, thank you, but that doesn't help me or my friends."

"I know. Baby, please look at me. I know we had some problems in the last time but I love you and will ever love you. I see that you love your Johnny and that he is a good guy. He will take good care of you and my grandchild. I'm happy that you have found him."

I didn't react. I was so overwhelmed by the words of my father. Finally he had accepted Johnny. Wiping away the last of my tears I went back to the bungalow. Johnny was already waiting for me.

"Is it okay for Max when we leave earlier?" he asked.

"Oh, I haven't asked him. He got the results from the show."

I felt tears welling up again. "And what had he said?"

"It was a great show but we still need 10.000 $. Sorry but I screwed things up."

"Baby, you did the best you could. You know the others won't be mad with you."

"Thank you Johnny, but I just feel bad. I have hoped I would be able to save Kellerman's. I would like to show it to our child. What will be now? It will be sold. Perhaps the new owner is going to build a new, big hotel without all the small bungalows and the dance studio and the patio room. That's what makes Kellerman's such a nice place. The whole atmosphere is warm and nice. I don't want it to be changed."

"I know what you mean, but it wasn't your destination to save Kellerman's. Let's see what the new owner is going to do with it. Perhaps it won't change much."

"I hope so. It would be a great mistake. So, do Penny and Billy take over your lessons?"

"Yes, they will. We are free to go to New York."

"That's great, I don't think I can stay here a minute longer. I need some space to think about all of this. Perhaps I find another way. So start packing, I will tell Max, Mom and Dad that we are going to leave tomorrow morning."

So I went back to Max. He understood that I needed some time but he was disappointed that the both of us weren't going to do the final dance again. I told him that I hadn't done the dance even if we were staying because of the baby. Max was surely surprised.

Then I went to my parents. Dad had told Mom about our talk at the lake. They had planned to stay another week to make some holiday so they weren't coming back with us.

The last person I informed was Sam. I told her about the show. Again she offered me to give me the rest of the money but I refused. I needed to do it myself. Sam was going to go back together with us. She offered us to stay with her since we had no place to stay so far.

Back in New York we started to look for a nice apartment. We found a little nice house not far out of New York City. The college and the dance studio were in good reach. The house was just beautiful. I loved it from the beginning. It had a big garden for our kid to play. It was a two story high house, white painted with white fence. The rooms were terrific. It even had an open fire place. No question we were going to buy it.

The next weeks we spend with decorating the house. It was becoming a warm and cozy home. And we even found some time to plan our wedding. It was going to take place on the last Saturday in September. It was the day of last years Final show.

The day we moved in was great. We had a small party for the two of us, Sam and some friends coming down from Kellerman's. My parents were among them, too. I haven't seen them since we left. Of course we spoke on the phone but most times of it how I was feeling and what our new home was doing.

We had a good time. My father was finally accepting Johnny as part of my life and it seemed the he was even looking forward for his first grandchild. At this point of time I was showing of that I was pregnant. Penny and Andy were planning their wedding, too since Penny decided that Andy was the best guy she could get and that she was really in love. We were going to marry on the same day. Billy and Lisa were still together, enjoying the time they had. Even Dad noticed how happy Lisa looked.

On the next morning I got mail. A letter from Kellerman's. I haven't heard a word about the status since we left. And I didn't have the time to think about another solution. I went to the kitchen and sat down on a chair, not sure if I should open the letter. But I was curious what it was going to say. So I slid it open and carefully took out the paper.

'Dear Baby,

as a member of the management I would like to invite you and your soon-to-be-husband Johnny to our annual Final Season Show.

This year it is going to be the last show organized by the old owners Neil and Max Kellerman.

The show will be something you have never seen before. All staff-member are going to show some unique acts but the best part will be the last dance of the season.

Since I heard you have big planes for the last weekend in September the Management agreed to stay open another week. We all would be honored when you would spend a part of your honeymoon at Kellerman's. The final show is going to be our wedding gift for two great persons.

Let me know if you take this offer. We would love to see you here.

Greetings, Neil Kellerman.'

I couldn't believe it. Kellerman's was going to be sold. When Johnny came and read the letter he just said that we would be going to Kellerman's. Perhaps it was our last chance it see it like it was now.

The day of the wedding was a warm, sunny day. I was so happy I could remember I think of the wedding afterwards. I just know it was perfect.

Like promised we spend the next week at Kellerman's. There was no sign of the new owner or even that the place was sold. It just looked like the same we left about three months ago. Most of the time we spent at the bungalow, since I wasn't up to walk long distances. The evenings we spent with our friends. Sometimes we met Max or Neil but none of them said a word about the new owner.

On Saturday I was really curious about the show specially who was going to do the last dance. Penny and Andy hadn't show up this week and I didn't thought they would be that couple.

I got dressed in a nice dress Johnny gave to me. He had said when he saw it in the store he just had to buy it for me. And it was a nice dress, ankle long with half long sleeves. It was made of blue satin. Johnny wore a tuxedo in which he looked very nice.

We were brought to our table be a waiter. We got the best table just in front of the stage.

After a couple of minutes the show started. Well it was better than last year, since Lisa wasn't going to sing. And the staff did a great job. I loved what I saw; pity was it was probably the last time they were doing it.

Even Cousin Brucie was there again. He gave the same jokes like the last time, but the visitors laughed.

Then the final dance would soon begin. I didn't know the music but the two dancers. It were Lisa and Billy. I must say they were really good. I missed dancing actively but it was good to see some great dancers.

After the dance most of the visitors were going to go when Neil came to the stage.

"Dear guest, please don't leave. There are some important news I have to give you. The last year wasn't the best for me and Kellerman's. Because of some mistakes I made Kellerman's was going to be sold but there was a young lady, willingly to try everything to save Kellerman's. She organized a terrific show but it wasn't enough. She was really disappointed. Like she said often Kellerman's was a great part of her life and it was worth to save it. Well it needed some time but now Kellerman's is save. I'm sure not much will change. I'm proud to present you the new owner of Kellerman's. Mrs. Frances Castle. Baby, please come to me."

I didn't understand what Neil was saying. Okay there was no question I was the one who tried to save Kellerman's but he can't be mean me as the new owner. I didn't get enough money to buy it.

"Baby, I think you should go up to Neil. He is waiting for you." Johnny said.

Like in trance I stood up and went up to Neil still not realizing what was happening. But there was no question. Neil said again that I was the new owner. I just didn't know why.

Back at the bungalow Johnny spoke to me. "Baby, are you alright?"

"No, I don't think so. I think I have some hallucination. Did Neil say I'm the new owner?"

"Yes, my Darling. You are the new owner of Kellerman's just like you planned it since you know about Neil's problem."

"But I don't understand. I haven't done anything. I didn't buy Kellerman's. And you know that. That had to be a mistake."

"Baby, please listen to me. It's no mistake. You are official the new owner of this place. Your Dad gave the missing money. He said he would show you that he had accepted your decision. He has accepted me and our wedding and our baby. He just wants you to be happy. And now he knows that you are happy since you have everything you need for a happy life. The guy you love, a nice home and more than enough work."

I gave Johnny a kiss. Now my life was perfect.

The End.

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