A return to normality, of a sort...

The gathering at the Hummel-Warbler house was still going strong at the moment that a new life was brought into the world. Rachel had left early as she had a performance to give that afternoon, and they had all done their best not to laugh out loud when Adam had remarked, "Still the same old Rachel…" to himself, unaware that he wasn't saying it as quietly as he had thought. As she had left, a taxi had arrived bringing two more guests, who had been held up in their arrival at the party by the absence of a suitable taxi at Penn Station. Even with Dave in his current condition, Sebastian still maintained that driving in Manhattan was like attempting to stoke a tiger; stupid, dangerous, and likely to end in total disaster. It took Dave a few moments to get up the steps he had once tackled easily on his crutches, but once they were inside the welcome was very warm, and the ex-football player soon found himself sitting at the head of the table, holding court to everyone. Sebastian was able finally to congratulate Marley on her big break in person, and he was also introduced to Adam, who was most effusive in his greeting, more than pleased to be meeting the young man that was a legend on Broadway, and one of the stars of NYADA.

Grace sighed and rolled her eyes slightly as the conversation in the room took on a decidedly showbiz turn, but then realised that she could use it as an opportune moment to speak to her brother-in-law about Adam's situation. Jeff was only too happy to listen to her, then he turned to Nick, and after a glance there, said, "I can't see any problem with him moving in for as long as he needs, and I will of course charge him the same rent as everyone else pays, being a friend of Kurt. He was there for him at a time when his life was particularly bad, so he deserves to know that not everyone in this city is awful."

Grace was then tasked with prising Adam away from the group discussing all things showbiz; when she succeeded and she told him what had been agreed, to say that he was happy was a gross understatement. In fact, a better word to have described his reaction to the rent that he would be paying would have been flabbergasted. He decided not to ask too many questions, apart from when he could move in. Jeff was a little taken aback when his statement of anytime it suits was greeted with the words, "I will move in tonight!" at first, but then he recalled the reason why Adam had to move, and it made a lot of sense…

The party was on the point of breaking up when Roderick's phone began to ring, and a quick glance at the name on the screen told him he had to answer. The room was noisy with chatter, but a quick hissed, "It's Mason!" brought it down to nil in moments. Roderick answered, then listened, a smile growing on his face. "Well that is wonderful news! I am beyond pleased for both of you!" "Yes, I am still at the party, although it is breaking up now. Would you like me to tell everyone the news?" "Okay, now go and call your parents! You should have called them first, not me! I will come and visit you all as soon as I can." He hung up the call, and sensing the anticipation in the room, said casually, "That was Mason…"

"A fact of which we are all too well aware," said Sebastian with a dollop of sarcasm, earning himself a few chuckles.

"He has a son, and both Jane and the newly arrived Bertram are doing well…"

"The newly arrived what? Is that a new slang term I am not aware of for a baby boy?" asked Ryder.

"I believe that it is a very old English or Germanic name, and used by a novelist who name I cannot recall for his lead character of an aristocratic young English buffoon called Bertram Wooster. I believe that the great Agatha Christie also had a novel set in a Bertram's Hotel too," said Grace, earning her an admiring glance from her husband for her literary knowledge.

"The fact is that he will probably be known, like the character Grace mentioned, as Bertie, or even just Bert…" began Adam. He stopped, as around the room they all wondered if Mason really had just named his son after the character he was about to portray on the Broadway stage…

At that moment, Roderick's phone buzzed with an arriving text; he was confused when he saw the message was from Mason, and opened it quickly in case something was wrong. He read it, reread it, then gasped loudly. "My goodness! The message was from Mason; he says that he forgot to tell me that his child was delivered by a nurse that was trained as a midwife in a hospital near Poplar in the East End of London, and her name was Nurse Crane!"

There were gasps around the room then, and murmurs of surprise, as it appeared someone fictional might have a real life compatriot. It fell to Nick to say what they had all begun to think. "Dear Lord! Well, all I can say is that if she was like the one on that show, then the whole process will have been organised and efficient, but underlain with a deep kindness and love…"

With that good news in the air, the party broke up. Adam had decided to take a taxi back to his current apartment on the Lower East Side, so that he could begin his packing, and nobody was in the least surprised when Roderick asked if he could share it with him, as it would bring him within a short walk of a certain hospital. Nick, Jeff and Wes walked in the direction of Grand Central terminal, where they could board the subway home. A quick call had managed to obtain an easily accessible taxi for Dave and Sebastian in a few minutes, and they invited Marley and Ryder to join them, as it would cut their walk back to the shoebox apartment in Chelsea that they called home. Cooper was left feeling content that the little group was all doing very well, and he could now look forward to a nice dinner with Pam, Sam and Barbra joining them.

Roderick arrived at the hospital in no time, and using the staff ID that he carried with him all the time, quickly managed to infiltrate the defences of the maternity department; his task was easier than Grace's had been years earlier when she did the same to ensure she was the first to meet her nephew, who had been born in a room just a short way down the hall. He knocked gently on the door, then stepped in carefully, happy just to see Mason and Jane in the room with their boy.

"I win! I told you that he would not be able to stay away until tomorrow," said Jane, before she laughed out loud.

"In my defence, there was a taxi coming this way anyway, taking someone else home, so it seemed silly not to take full advantage of a ride most of the way here," replied Roderick. He walked in fully, and smiled as he got his first proper look at the swaddled little boy, still in his mother's arms.

"I guess that you will be awarded the privilege of calling him Bertie," said Mason, "although I am not entirely sure whether you came so quickly so that you could see him, or on the off chance of meeting the real life Nurse Phyllis Crane…"

"No contest; I came here to see this young man!" said Roderick with a grin. "You forget that I work here Mason, so I can come and search out Nurse Crane at any time that I wish. I am curious though; was she anything like her namesake in the show?"

"Definitely. She had us both fully under her control for the entire duration of the process, and has very little time for those that are in the medical profession for the money or the glory. She has also been greatly cheered by the rumours that midwives might become a recognised speciality here under the new healthcare system," said Jane pointedly. "That idea would make a lot of sense, and from what I saw of the NHS way of doing things before we headed back, it would be beneficial for all mothers, but particularly first time mothers like me. Having one person that is fully trained in all areas of childbirth would make such a difference. I had a lovely lady by the name of Joy allocated to me, and had it not been for the fact that we both wanted our child to be born here, I would have allowed myself to remain in her capable hands. Of course, there was also a show to consider. Speaking of her reminds me that I promised to send her a photo when this little one was born; she was determined to keep in touch with all of the mothers she met."

"I have to admit that from what I have read, having that system here would be wonderful," said Roderick. "We have specialist cancer nurses, and nurses that only work in surgery, so why not have nurses that concentrate solely on maternity? Don't get me wrong, it is not a job I would wish to do, and there are probably very few men that are in that role, for the obvious reasons, but yes, the position is overdue for coming into play over here. I am of the belief that they did exist before, but that as birth rates dropped, and medicine became more tied to money, it was cheaper to not have such specialisms, particularly as they grew short of nurses."

"So basically the focus shifted from care to money, and doing away with the role cut the wage bill," added Mason wryly.

"It would certainly get my vote if they decided to bring them back," replied Jane. "I think most women would agree in fact. Someone should let Trent know that, so that it can be a pledge in the manifesto…"

Mason would take the following day off work, but the day after he was back at rehearsals. He did not arrive alone that morning, bringing Mike along with him, hoping that the trained dancer could help tutor Marley in her steps. He was only too happy to help out, and did so with the full blessing of his boss at the City Ballet. That was explained to them all when Mike said quietly, "It would appear that a certain British diva that failed to show up used to pursue the same career as me, and indeed was part of the corps at the company my boss used to be in charge of back in England. Her time-keeping was lousy, she was constantly complaining, and accused not one but five of the male dancers in the corps of inappropriate touching in the course of a week. The man in question had to hold her aloft from behind in a role that she was supposed to take, and well, she kept moving as they tried to grasp her, and voila! When she left to go into musical theatre, she went to the media with an unfounded attack on the company, saying it had ignored her being bullied, and had been misogynistic in the way they treated her. My boss hopes that your production is so superior to that in the West End that everyone sees that she was the problem, not the rest of the cast…"

"Well," the director answered candidly, "I cannot say too much as of yet, but there is a possibility that her agent, fed up with her behaviour, along with those that she worked beside in that production in the West End, have decided that it is time that the British media found out the unvarnished truth about her. It would appear that someone might have recorded her saying a few things, and doing much more…"

Marley was very glad to see Mike, as though she had quickly picked up the basic choreography of her role, the more complex stuff would need a lot of work to get her up to speed in time. He had the time to spend with her one on one; he had time to explain where she was going wrong, show her how it should be, and all with the blessing that he did it in a simple, straightforward way, just as he had done for a group of Warblers seven years ago. The rest of the cast had paused to watch at times, and had all laughed in delight as Mike, wanting to show Marley a complex set of steps for a piece she did with Mason, had proceeded to dance it with him, taking her steps and letting him lead, and then got carried away and finished the number. Both of them took a bow as the applause echoed afterwards, but dismissed the suggestion that they should consider a gender bent production called Mikey Poppins instead…

With hard work and diligence, by the time that the end of April was in view, the cast were perfect more or less lyrically and the choreography was more or less sorted out too. The basics of the show were there, even if it was a little bit raw and clunky at times. They had all been introduced to the young people that would be playing the two Banks children, all four pairs of them, and as is often the case, they were better at playing their roles than the adults. The other issue of course for those adults was recalling the names of those eight children, but they had all agreed that it was necessary, as simply referring to them as Jane A or Michael B was wrong…

The first time that they were actually on the stage of the theater in which they would be performing had been a daunting occasion for Marley. That was the first time that she was faced with the most difficult part of her role, and that was the wirework. That Mason had a similar grandstand moment was a help, as did the fact that his was much more complicated, and lasted longer. All she really had to do was stand quite still and let it happen. It was a big help though to see some familiar faces in the orchestra pit in those days, people she knew from her previous job in the radio orchestra. The outrage about its sudden demise was growing, and there were calls for it to be reinstated. It was good to know, but although she might consider going back eventually, for now Marley was finding her new challenge much to her liking. In fact, she almost wrote a letter to the diva she had replaced, to thank her for giving her the opportunity to shine…

It was also on the last day of the month of April that Skylar realised that because of all of his concern over Seth's health, he had made an omission in his communication with his other friends; it was Seth that ended up being the one to point it out to him. They had spent a leisurely day looking through old photographs, talking about their days at Dalton, and then in New York at first, before moving on to Skylar's wedding day. "It really was the happiest day of my life," admitted the young husband, as he looked at a photo of himself with his bride and best man on either side. "Of course, I now also know that it was the day on which things started to go downhill for you, not that anyone told me that then…"

"I suppose that it was, yes," replied Seth quietly. "It was the worst attack that I had had up until that point, and I think it was then that I realised that my life was not going to be anywhere near as long as the optimistic forecasts I had been given. It was a happy day for me too though; I had achieved my mission, and seen that you were happily married…"

"I would still have married Julia if I had known, just maybe not quite as soon," Skylar responded.

"You are of course assuming that she would still have wanted to be your wife if you cancelled the wedding with less than 24 hours notice. She is the most patient and tolerant of women, but even she would have her limits. She would not have agreed to stay in New York, and in all honesty, you and I would still have been in the West Village right now if she and I had not given you the impetus to move back here. You would be having to care for me single handed, more or less, and as I got progressively worse, and needed you to do more and more, it would have impacted on your career too. That is how resentments between friends start, and it might have pushed our bond too far. You certainly would not have been on the cusp of fatherhood…"

"I suppose that much is true, apart from the resentment bit…"

"Hmm, we will see if you still feel that way when we are six months or so down the road, given that you will have two helpless people in the house then. Not that anyone outside these four walls knows about that of course. I mean, it is only a matter of time before some of our fellow Warblers start asking if Julia is gaining weight…."

Skylar looked at his best friend for a moment, then his mouth fell open, and he began to shake his head. "Oh Lord, I was going to announce the news to everyone at the start of the month, but then everything happened, and suddenly my news seemed much less vital. However, you are slightly wrong; Mrs Carmichael does know, and she accidentally let slip to Ollie when he was talking about Julia and your care. Now that I come to think of it, Thad has been asking after her a lot more frequently in the last few weeks, so I think that one of them must have let slip to him too, and he is probably asking to avoid having to ask why I haven't told everyone yet!"

"People need to have some happy news from this quarter after the month that we have had, so there is no time like now to make the big announcement," stated Seth, matter of fact.

Skylar laughed, and he logged in to the alumni Warbler Facebook page, and then proceeded to type out a post for it. He kept it short, merely saying that he was going to be a father at the end of August, and he apologised for not letting them all know sooner. He hit send, and in less than a minute his phone buzzed with the first response. Skylar pulled it up, and chuckled. "Jeff is slipping up; it is from Colin, who says thank goodness I have finally announced it…? I don't understand…"

"You have been so concerned about me that you have forgotten… You told him and Edward a couple of weeks ago when they came to visit me, and Colin told us that they were expecting. I expect he has been dying to tell everyone your secret…" Seth watched as the realisation of that dawned on him, and he nodded along with his words, causing the bachelor to chuckle.

"I have been a little forgetful lately; it is either madness or old age…" Skylar clammed up at once, suddenly feeling guilt at mentioning those last two words…

Seth reached across and took his hand, and said, "It's okay. I want you to get old and grey; in fact, I insist that you outlive me by at least sixty years. I know that is something that you do not wish to picture, but I will be there watching you all the time, and you know that I can only be happy if you are too. Now, whilst we have had this moment, your phone has buzzed quite a few more times. Get it opened up, and read the other replies out to me…"

Thad appeared that evening, which was not a surprise to any of them, and he joined the little household of three in the living room. "Well, my congratulations are in order, although I must confess…"

"That you knew?" said Skylar with a grin.

"Let us just say that it slipped out of my brother's mouth, so used was he to total disclosure on all things related to Seth and his ongoing care. Then when I next saw Julia - she was positively glowing, and showing just the tiniest amount. So when can we expect to meet baby Willetts?"

Skylar looked momentarily confused, until Seth stage whispered, "I think that was something that you omitted from your message…"

Skylar shook his head at himself, and replied, "At the end of August."

"At which point I will have three helpless people to look after," sighed Julia. Skylar looked hurt for a moment, and she continued, "I am sorry, my love, but you have been getting quite distracted lately, which is understandable in the circumstances."

"I think that he needs to get back to the office full-time," announced Seth. "I mean, whilst it is fun to have him here all day, I think he needs to get away from all of this for a break, and go somewhere he will actually be able to do the work he is supposed to. There will come a time when we will need him to be here 24/7, but that is not here yet."

"He does have a point," said Thad sagely. "Your employers have been very understanding of this all so far, Skylar, but you can only push them so far. I think that being away during the work day, five days a week, working around other people, will help you get back into your normal rhythm."

"I shall have his suit ready for him in the morning," said Julia. "And none of us will brook any argument; you need to get back to work."

"I guess that I should go in," replied Skylar, "but on the condition that if anything happens, no matter how small, you call me right away!" Julia nodded, then hugged her husband; as she did so, Thad couldn't help but notice the big smile on Seth's face…

At that, Julia got up, and managed to get Skylar out of the room on the pretext of assisting her in the kitchen, as she knew that Thad would probably want to chat to Seth in private. "He means well," said Seth as soon as his best friend was safely out of earshot, "but it can feel a little stifling at times. I still have the ability to do quite a few things myself, but I can't lift a finger to do anything without him wanting to help me. I can still make myself a cup of coffee, or fetch myself a cookie, or wheel myself to my room to grab a book, but the minute I make a move he asks me what I want, and then he is doing it for me before I can stop him…"

"I could have a quiet word with him about that if you like…" began Thad, but then stopped when he saw Seth shake his head.

"I have the feeling that Julia might be giving him the little chat in question right now, and if that doesn't work, then I will ask for some angelic intervention instead. No disrespect to you, but Wes would be able to talk to him without bringing quite so much personal feeling into it all. The fact is that if you were here, you would be doing the same as him as you want to help me every bit as much. Wes would be the same if he could assist, but he knows he can't, so the conversation will be a much less conflicting one for him to have."

"I would accept that much is true, so no offence is taken at all. I would have a lot of time staying objective in the face of Skylar's reasons for acting the way he does, but it is only because he, like all of us, cares for you so much. Of all of us amateurs involved here, I would suspect that Mrs Carmichael is by far the easiest to deal with…"

"Yes, as I suspect that she was in the position that Skylar is in now with her brother, and knows that it doesn't work, just stokes up resentments and causes arguments in the end. So, moving on to a different subject - how many days is it now until this years Nationals? If I recall, it is this weekend…"

"It certainly is!" said Thad, and he spent the next hour happily talking away about the current crop of Warblers, and how he rated their chances at the culmination of this year's competition. He also disclosed in confidence that he had decided to give Peter Smythe a solo…

The National Championship was being held in Philadelphia that year, the city of brotherly love, and Thad had suggested songs for the group that reflected that even before they had known they would get that far. As a result, they had been able to register their numbers early, and ensure they had the rights to those songs that best suited the talents of the group of young men. They would mix their trademark acappella sound with accompanied tracks, and a healthy amount of dance. They had nominated a local MND charity as the one that they would promote, not that Seth was aware of that, and should they win, the money that they would receive for that as part of their prize would all be donated there. That was an added incentive to perform at the best of their ability.

The fact that Peter had been given a solo had ensured that Julian and Isabelle, as soon as he told them in confidence of his luck, would be in attendance at the event. Sebastian would have joined them quite happily, had it not been for the fact that his preview performances of Waiting for Godot were scheduled to begin on the Thursday of that week. Peter knew that his uncle would watch his performance on the television if he was able to, which was more than enough. Even better news came when Thad announced the itinerary that the boys would follow, and that would include a visit to see the show in question on the Friday night. There would be opportunity then for Sebastian to see all of them, and to wish them all the best; even to give his nephew a few tips.

The visit to New York was easy as Thad had opted to book his party into a hotel in New Jersey rather than booking them into one in the city in which they would perform; it was less expensive, and it gave them a degree of freedom from possible spies. It would also give him the chance to see how Sebastian was coping with his work and home balance. He had confided in the Head Warbler that he was more than ready to get on with the show. He had found the rehearsals hard going at first, worrying about his husband, but then he had discovered that in Russell Tovey he had a sympathetic ear. He was a good listener, and he also was able to share some words of wisdom, that had in the end been enough to help Sebastian get his old mojo back. He divided himself in two, and zoned away from his home issues once he left the dressing room, allowing his inner performer to the fore instead. That man was very much up to the challenges of Beckett's work…

On the night of his first preview, those in the audience included Cooper and Mason, both knowing that by the time the official opening night came along, they would be far too busy with their own new production to comfortably attend. Marley had declined to come with them, and instead would keep Jane company for the evening, a doting 'aunt' already to young Bert, and a help to the slightly frazzled Jane. Mason had then offered her ticket to Adam, and he had accepted it, especially when he pointed out that he might well get a chance to talk to Carmen Tibideaux for the first time since he returned, as she had the habit of showing up for first previews as well as opening nights….

Sure enough, they had found her in the foyer when they arrived, and she had pleased Adam no end when she saw him by listing all of his major parts to date one by one, then commented on the favourable reviews that he had been given for The Mousetrap. As she headed off to greet someone else, both he and Mason wondered what her opinion would be when she came to the first preview of Mary Poppins. Adam quickly realised that in all likelihood she would spend most of her time giving notes to Mason and Marley, given that his part in the production was smaller…

They took their seats in a box, much to Adam's initial surprise, and then they were joined by Carmen. That left one seat empty beside Adam, and when the occupant of that seat arrived, cutting it fine as ever, his day was all at once much more memorable as Bette Midler sat down beside him and introduced herself. He managed to overcome his shock to do the same, and then she asked him how he was managing with learning all the comic aspects of his role. He was still stunned that she even knew who he was as the lights went down, and they were all treated to a wonderful performance by two young men in the prime of their careers. The fact that he would be able to meet Russell afterwards was just the icing on Adam's cake that night…