Trigger Warning: Implied domestic violence.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Part 101

"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest heights…" the cast sang, skipping along the path to the park and Mary Poppins flew off with her umbrella. "Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring. Up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear. Oh, let's go fly a kite!"

The audience stood and applauded wildly as the curtain fell. The curtain rose again. Calloway and Suki stood on either side. Johnny stood beside Calloway and Ash. Ryan stood in the center with Rosita and the twins. With the orchestra playing the instrumental of the ending song, they bowed deeply.

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"Ryan!" Lorraine cried for joy at seeing her grandson. She hugged the young man.

Ryan fumbled to hold onto his chimney broom and hug his grandmother. "It's so great to see you, MeeMaw. Were you surprised?

She laughed. "Very much so. That was wonderful. And is this Johnny?" She moved down the line of the meet and greet.

The gorilla chuckled. "It's great to meet you, Mrs Hunter."

She hugged him. "Oh tush, you call me MeeMaw. We're family. This is my husband."

"Fergus Hunter," the older male grabbed his hand and pulled him into a strong arm hug. "Papaw to you."

Johnny grunted with surprise and laughed, hugging back. "It's great to meet you both. Ryan told me all about you. It's nice to put a pair of faces to the stories."

"You both did really well. We are so proud of you, Ryan," Lorraine said, ruffling his head fur. "We should continue on down."

Ryan nodded. "If it's not too late, you should join us for the Cast After Party at the hotel. You too, Mom and Dad."

Katherine took her turn to hug her son. "We'd love to, Ryan. You did wonderfully out there. You too, Johnny. Don't you agree, Jackson? Jackson?" She looked around, realizing he wasn't there.

"Did he get lost in the crowd?" Rosita asked as she looked around and over the guests.

"Katie! Katie!" Jackson's voice rose over the din. Ryan's mouth fell when he saw who was with him. "I got lost in the crowd but look who I ran into." He gestured to a young leopardess with a cub. "It's Chelsea. You remember her, right Katie?"

Johnny felt his heart leap into his throat while Katie nodded. "Yes, Miss Tibault, it's nice to see you. What are you doing here?"

The young woman smiled. "I apparently won some sort of contest that I didn't know I entered. The prize was two tickets to tonight's show."

Rosita frowned. "Odd, we didn't do any sort of promotion…"

"What's that matter?" Jackson asked. "Oh, Chelsea, does Bert look familiar?" He asked teasingly. He was very aware of the pointed looks he was getting.

Hazel eyes looked up at the chimney sweep. "Ryan? Is that you? Oh my gosh! I thought that might be you but the name in the program threw me off."

Ryan sighed and smiled. "Hey, Chels, it's been a long time. Yeah, I changed my name recently. I got married." He put his arm around Johnny.

She laughed as she read the situation. "Oh, congratulations! Thank God, you finally figured it out."

The tiger tilted his head. "You mean, you knew?"

She shrugged. "I knew you were never really attracted to me. You tried but I knew, I could tell. And I caught you subconsciously checking out the guys in the weight room or even on the football team. Oh, this is my daughter, René. Sweetheart, this is Ryan. He was my high school boyfriend."

Ryan had to try not to look amused. "Hi, René, it's nice to meet you. This is my husband, Johnny. Johnny, this is Chelsea."

Johnny extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"So how have you been?" Ryan asked congenially.

Katherine smiled. "As much as I'm sure you want to catch up, why don't we all meet at the hotel for the after party and let the rest of the guests through." She glared at her husband and pulled him along before he could say anything else.

"I actually have to get René home for bedtime but let's meet up while you're in town," Chelsea said, quickly. "Let's exchange numbers and we can coordinate."

A few minutes later, she was leaving with her daughter. "It's nice to see she's doing well," Ryan told Johnny. "I haven't seen her since… well, it was before I told my dad that I wanted to be a dancer… right before I left home…"

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In the middle of the line, Ash joined with her kids. "You guys did great. Raquelle, great job. I'm so proud of you for trying again."

Raquelle hugged her. "It was very scary, Mommy. Were you scared?"

Ash nodded. "Definitely. I'm always scared before a show." She knelt. "I'm going to let you both in on a secret. When you're scared before a show, it means you're doing it right."

"Your mom's right," Meena interjected. "I used to get stage fright too."

Raquelle gasped. "You got stage fright, Aunt MeeMee? But you're such a good singer." She was very incredulous.

"Yeah, everyone said so but I was afraid too. I was afraid I'd forget the words or I'd fall or… I even knocked out a guest with my microphone," she laughed sheepishly.

"What did you do? How did you stop being afraid?" Lancey asked.

Meena smiled wistfully. "Mr. Moon… he gave me the key. He told me that… once I start singing, I'll stop being afraid because I'm doing what I love." She turned her head away for a few moments and Ash patted her shoulder. "The point is… that's how you do it. When you feel yourself getting stage fright just start and you won't be afraid anymore."

Raquelle nodded. "Thanks, Aunt MeeMee. I had fun though. What about you, Lancey?"

"Yeah! It was great! I want to do it again!" He cried gleefully clapping his hands.

Rosita nodded while shaking hands and accepting her well-earned accolades from the guests. "You will, on Tuesday night's showing. We're taking tomorrow off because it's Easter. Remember Caspar and Hannah are alternating with you two." She didn't want any of the children working too much. Even if it was fun, it was still work and they were only children. "But it looks like that's everyone. We should start getting ready to head back to the hotel. Johnny, Ryan, did you tell Mrs. Hunter which hotel?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, I'm texting Mom the details now. Sorry about my dad. I don't know what he was hoping would happen." He laughed.

Johnny laughed. "Guess he felt he had to at least try. It's alright. But it was interesting meeting her. She seems very nice."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. She's the one who pushed me to take the chance on going with Klaus…"

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18 year old Ryan sat in the treehouse that his dad had built for him when he was just a child. He flopped backwards. He looked over as he heard footsteps and the boards creaked as someone joined him.

"Your mom said you were up here," the teenaged leopard said as she sat down. "What's wrong?"

He looked over at her. "I got accepted into East Texas University. On a football scholarship. A full-ride and I can major in almost anything I want."

She smiled. "That's great. So why are you up here moping instead of celebrating."

"Chelsea, I hate football. I'm only on the team because my dad wants me to be," he said. "I was looking forward to never playing football again. Ever. I don't even want to see a football again."

She nodded. "Well… What do you want to do?"

"I want to dance. I love being on the dance team. But Dad is insisting I have to take this scholarship," he sighed. "I want to dance, Chelsea but I don't know how to tell him. He'll never forgive me." He rolled over, his dark eyes glittering up at her. "Mr. Kickenklober says that he can teach me to be one of the greats and he has friends in Redshore City. I could dance for Redshore City."

She giggled, admiring the excitement in his eyes. "Have you tried telling your dad what you want to do?"

"He'll never let me. He'll never agree. He'll hate me," Ryan said. "And we'd have to break up."

She sighed. "Well… I don't want to be in the way of your dreams. It's okay, Ryan." She helped him sit up. "You know what you want. If your dad can't handle it, oh well. Too bad for him." She took his hand. "You need to stop worrying about your dad. You need to do what makes you happy." She kissed his cheek and climbed down the ladder.

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Johnny held Ryan while he reminisced about his younger days. "Do you have any regrets?"

Ryan shook his head. "None. Not a single one. But I do kind of owe her. If it wasn't for her, I might not have taken the leap." He hugged him, kissing his cheek.

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The leopardess and her daughter returned home to the dark house. She turned on the lights and jumped. "Honey, you scared me. I thought you went to bed."

Her husband, a stern-looking leopard glared at her. "And where have you both been?" He asked crossly.

Chelsea patted her daughter on the head. "Go get ready for bed, sweetness. Mommy will be in to tuck you in in a bit." She waited until she was gone. "I told you that I won two tickets to Mary Poppins tonight."

He stood up. "You never told me about any tickets. And you left me without dinner." He approached her slowly.

Notes:

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long. I was trying to think up a plan. Based on how the chapter closed, can you guess why Jackson arranged for Chelsea to be at the show? Please leave a comment, I love reading what you have to say.