A/N: Whew! Sorry, folks. Meant to get this out first thing this morning, but I had to head off to work and the app wasn't working so I had to wait until I got back home to my laptop to post this. But, still managed to get it out today, so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks a lot to Fox Teen for the reviews on the last two chapters. Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sing or any of the characters, Illumination does.

...

Marcus eyes opened to see his son still lying on his chest, fast asleep.

At some point during the night, the infant had apparently moved from right beside him, clinging to his arm to lying atop his chest, curled up into a little ball.

The older gorilla looked to the clock on the nightstand. It was only 7:30, a bit too early to get up on a day off.

So with a slight smile, followed by a yawn, Marcus wrapped an arm around Johnny's small frame and tucked the other behind his own head, and was about to drift back off when he heard someone knocking at the door.

At first he figured if he ignored it, whoever was at the door would get the hint and bugger off. But the knocking continued; whoever it was certainly was persistent.

Marcus let out a soft groan, gently set the still sleeping Johnny down in the mass of blankets on the bed and slipped as quickly but quietly as he could from the room and to the front door.

He fought back a growl as he saw that it had been none other than Lucy at the door.

"You want somethin'?" he all but glared at the elderly female.

Lucy bristled.

"I just came by to-"

"I seem to recall tellin' you I was taking today off and that you didn't need ta come by 'ere," Marcus interrupted, his temper rising. "I know you're old and all, but I don't think even you forgot that quickly."

"I didn't," Lucy glowered back at him.

"So then what're you doin' here?" Marcus demanded. "Johnny and I were sleeping."

"Well, it was Johnny I was worried for," Lucy's lip curled as she eyed her son-in-law critically, not even attempting to disguise her disdain. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't neglecting him again."

Marcus let out an enraged huff and his eyes flashed dangerously, but he refused to allow any more outward reaction. He would not allow his mother-in-law to see how much her words stung him.

It was true, he hadn't been there for Johnny as he should have been during the days following Megan's death. But Johnny had forgiven him, hadn't he? Why couldn't the old lady in front of him now do the same?

But Marcus knew why; she had never liked him. Nor had her husband. Though it had been seven years since he'd married their daughter, and even had a child with her, the pair had never accepted him and it was likely they never would. That was fine by him, to be honest he didn't think much of them either. But bringing Johnny into the conversation was going too far.

"Don't worry about him," Marcus growled. "I'm lookin' after my son just fine, thanks. You can go now."

"So now you want to play the loving father?" Lucy sneered. "And where, may I ask was this paternal affection when Johnny was most in need of comfort? When his mother died and you couldn't be bothered to even look at him, much less speak to him?"

Marcus's glare weakened, but Lucy wasn't done yet.

"You were a bad husband to Megan," she railed at him. "And a bad father to Johnny. You should be ashamed of yourself. What kind of animal are you?"

"Leave," Marcus growled.

"Just realize you failed as a father."

"Just get out," Marcus growled, but Lucy noticed right away that there was not nearly as much anger behind the words as there would have normally been.

She bit back a smirk. She had gotten to him. But why shouldn't she? She only spoke the truth.

Before she could say another word, Marcus closed the door, and turned to head back to bed.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt a small set of arms wrap themselves around his waist.

"Gran shouldna' said that, Dad," Johnny said earnestly.

Marcus said nothing, instead reaching down and scooping Johnny up into his arms. He didn't want to talk about this, he just wanted to spend his day off with his son, and put the unpleasant conversation from a moment ago out of his mind.

But Johnny clearly did not want to let the matter go yet.

"I only heard that last part...about you not being a good dad...but that's not true!" Johnny insisted, holding tighter, as though trying to reassure his father that he didn't think those things. "You know you're the best, don't you? Don't you?"

Marcus forced a smile as he looked down at his young son.

"I...I'm glad you think so," he said finally.

But that still wasn't enough for Johnny.

"Why did she say that?" he asked, looking mournful. "You already said sorry for that, shouldn't that've been the end of it?"

"Should've been," Marcus sighed. "Thing is, Johnny...sometimes grown-up problems take more than that to be fixed."

Johnny frowned, clearly unsatisfied with his father's answer.

"Look, let's not worry about that," Marcus said, forcing himself to smile. "Whaddya feel like doing today? We're already up, might as well get a headstart on the day, yeah?"

Johnny's face immediately lit up.

Marcus fought back a sigh of relief.

Bright as he was, Johnny was still only four years old, and rather easy to distract

"Could we go to the playground at Hackney Downs?" the toddler asked excitedly. "We haven't been out there in ages!"

Marcus chuckled and nodded.

"Sure thing, Johnny m'boy," he said, scratching the top of his son's head, much to the delight of the latter. "Anything you'd like to do after that?"

Johnny thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Could I think about it?" he asked.

"Think about it while we're headin' to the park," Marcus gave the boy a nudge toward the bedrooms. "But you'd better get dressed first. Don't wanna be running 'round outside in your pajamas, do you?"

Johnny giggled and shook his head before scampering off.

...

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"You think I could get a skateboard?"

Marcus didn't take his eyes off the road as he pondered Johnny's question.

"What do you want a skateboard for?" he asked.

"I've seen other animals ride by on 'em sometimes and it looks like a lot of fun," Johnny answered, seemingly fixated on one such rider now; a young antelope riding by on the pavement on a sky blue skateboard with black streaks. "And m'birthday's comin' up, so figured I'd ask. Could I get one? Please?"

"D'you even know how to ride one?" Marcus questioned, already knowing the answer.

Johnny frowned before perking up again.

"I can learn. I'm a quick learner," he said with a smile.

"We'll see," his father answered before redirecting his attention to the road in front of him.

Johnny's smile faded into a scowl. Dad was using that tone that indicated the answer probably wouldn't be a yes. Nevertheless, the infant remained cautiously optimistic that the answer hadn't been a no.

...

Johnny laughed and panted as he ran from his father, who even holding back, stayed right behind him the whole time the pair ran.

Finally, the larger gorilla swept his son off the ground and into his arms and Johnny let out a squeal of delight as Dad fell backward onto the ground before pulling him into a playful headlock.

"Gotcha!" he smirked down at Johnny, who began trying to tug himself loose.

"Oi! Johnny!"

Johnny turned to see a young Cape buffalo calf about his age waving to him across the park, near the playground itself.

"Liam!" he grinned and waved back as the calf hurried over to him, followed closely by a large Cape buffalo bull.

"Been a while, Johnny," Liam said as the two reached each other.

"Yeah, it has," Johnny agreed. "Hey, looks like your horns are comin' in!"

"Dad said after I turned five they'd start in," Liam said, proudly showing off the small buds at the top of his head. "Won't be long 'til they're big and sharp like Dad's."

The calf turned to his father and pretended to prod him with his partially formed horns.

"Might even be bigger than yours," he teased.

The bull, Liam's father Oliver, smirked at the calf before gently pressing his own fully formed horns against his son's.

"Just don't get too big for your britches," he laughed before nodding at Marcus, who nodded back.

"So Johnny's headed back Monday then?" Oliver asked as Johnny and Liam took off across the green of the park.

"Yeah," Marcus answered. "Said he was excited to start back."

"Surprised me a bit when Liam told me," Oliver admitted. "I thought with everything...you know..."

"It'll do 'im good to spend some time outta the house," Marcus replied. "Clear his mind and all."

Oliver could tell Marcus didn't want to discuss the matter, so he chose not to say anything else on it.

"Supposed to meet with their teacher sometime," the bull spoke, deciding to switch topics. "Her name's Ainsley. Supposed to be pretty good."

Marcus grunted.

"We were gonna meet her a couple weeks ago," he said, his voice lowering softly. "But, well-"

"No one told me we were meetin' here!"

A leopard cub sped over to where Johnny and Liam were still running and joined in the game while the elderly leopardess accompanying him made her way to where Oliver and Marcus stood.

"Oh, thank goodness," she laughed as she saw the children racing about together. "James has been full of energy all day. If anyone can tire him out, it's those boys of yours."

"Afternoon, Evelyn," Oliver greeted with a smile.

"Oliver. Marcus," Evelyn smiled at the pair. "I must say I'm surprised to see you out and about, Marcus. Johnny manage to drag you away from the garage?"

"Had the day off," Marcus shrugged as though it were no big deal.

"Well, in any case, I know James is happy to see his friends before school starts again," Evelyn said cheerfully as the three turned to see James wrestle Liam to the ground.

"I am the vicious predator!" the small cub declared, pretending to flex his claws, which he made sure were had not been retracted. "And you two are my prey!"

"Yeah, right!" Liam snickered, as he tried to push the former off him. "Johnny's a gorilla. You might be fast, but he's the strongest. Doesn' matter how fast you are if 'e gets his hands on you."

"Then I'll take out the biggest threat first," James leered before launching himself at Johnny.

"No you don't!" Johnny called out, grabbing the cub and wrestling him to the ground, pinning his arms to his sides in a bear hug-like move his dad had shown him before letting him go.

James hit the ground, letting out a soft mewl as he landed in a heap.

Johnny gasped.

"James!" he quickly knelt beside his fallen friend. "I'm sorry! I'm real sorry! Did I hurt ya?"

James looked up and grinned.

"You're the worst predator ever," he teased lightly. "Real predators don't ask their enemies if they're okay."

"Well, it's a good thing for you we're not enemies," Johnny retorted good-naturedly as he helped James to his feet.

"Your dad teach you that?" Liam asked.

Johnny smiled and nodded.

"Might have to use it on Rory when we get back in school," James said.

Johnny's smiled faded and Liam glared at the young leopard.

"Did you have to bring him up?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Fat chance it'd work on him," Johnny said, now looking at his feet. "You seen him. He's way bigger than me. Probably a lot stronger too. And meaner."

"He's only like that 'cause you let him pick on you," James frowned. "He'd leave you alone if you didn't let him push you around like he does."

"What am I supposed to do?" Johnny asked. "In case you hadn't noticed, he's huge compared to me."

"Look, we were having fun a minute ago," Liam interceded. "Can we just play or at least talk about something else? Rory already ruins enough during school. Let's don't let him ruin the last of our summer holidays too."

Johnny and James nodded.

"I heard we all get Miss Ainsley," James smiled. "My two older cousins had her when they were in our year. Said she was real nice. She's probably the nicest teacher in the school, they said."

"Dad says he's heard lots of good stuff about her too," Liam added. "I can't wait to get back."

Johnny's mood lifted again.

"Me neither," he said. "You two wanna come around mine after school Monday? Dad's gotta work, but he said my mum's friend Olivia'll be looking after me that day. Gran's takin' a bit of a break."

Both boys nodded.

"Johnny!"

Johnny turned to see his father waving him over.

"Well, gotta go. See you two Monday!" he called over his shoulder as he ran back.

...

Johnny tightened his grip on his father's hand as they entered their house.

The day may not have been just the two of them as originally planned, but it had definitely been a fun one. He'd gotten to see his friends, he'd gotten to see a movie, he'd even convinced Dad to stop by that little sweet shop down the corner just before reaching the little neighborhood where Johnny's family had lived his entire life. And best of all, tomorrow was Sunday, so Dad would be off work tomorrow too. So tomorrow could be just the two of them.

...

After supper, and after Johnny had had his bath and was in his pajamas, the infant could feel his eyes growing heavy.

But before he could even think of falling asleep, there was one thing he needed to do...

Hesitantly, he hurried into his bedroom before emerging and making his way to where his father sat in his chair.

Last time, Dad had said no. Johnny desperately hoped he wouldn't this time...

...

Marcus looked down as his son set a book on his lap.

Johnny didn't say a word, but the look in his eyes gave his silent pleading away.

Marcus sighed a bit more heavily than he meant to and for a moment, he could see sadness in his son's eyes, something that made what felt like heavy weight press down on his shoulders.

Johnny was remembering the last time...

No, Marcus wasn't repeating that mistake.

"You gonna come up here or what?" he smiled and patted his lap, indicating for Johnny to climb up.

Johnny smiled brightly and hurriedly scrambled up as Marcus opened the book and began to read.

Little Johnny settled further into his father's hold and snuggled against the silverback's chest as he continued, his deep voice tugging at Johnny's heartstings while sleep also pulled at his eyelids.

...

After an indeterminable amount of time, Marcus closed the book when he heard a soft snore from beside him.

He looked down and chuckled as Johnny's cheek rested against his shoulder while the infant murmured and moved in his sleep, adjusting this way and that.

Much to Marcus's relief, the child didn't wake when he stood and lifted the tiny frame.

No, his only response was to nuzzle his face into the crook of Marcus's neck.

With as much silence as he was capable of, the mountain gorilla moved down the hall to his son's room.

He crept inside, and shifted Johnny into one arm while he worked swiftly but silently with the other, piling the small number of blankets atop one another, taking care to leave a couple in the center while the others acted as something of a border.

Finally, after a few moments, he stood back to admire his handiwork.

There had been a time when gorillas in the past had built nests. While it may not have been widely practiced now, it was something Marcus himself, along with his departed wife, had done with blankets and pillows in the past, something the pair had passed along to their son. For his part, Johnny never refused a blanket nest. In fact, he insisted upon it.

When he was satisfied with the formation, Marcus laid Johnny in the center of the now completed nest before carefully tucking him under the blankets in the center.

Johnny let out a sound of contentment as he cuddled further into the nest, cradled in the soft embrace of warm blankets.

Marcus reached out and gently laid a hand on the sleeping child's head.

"G'night, Johnny," he muttered before standing back up and heading for the door.

He had just opened the door when he caught a glimpse of soft brown eyes in the glow of the nightlight in the corner.

"G'night, Daddy..." came a soft whisper before those eyes closed again.

...

...

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, that was chapter 6. I hope you liked it, and I have some exciting news. In the next couple of weeks, I'm going to start working on more one-shots for Christmas in Calatonia, so be sure to check those out. If you have any requests, feel free to PM me and I'll see about giving it a try if I can. And the next chapter for this story will be out on Monday, November 15th. Until then, everyone!