Part 17

Home at their small two bedroom apartment, Lance took care of bathing his children and shuffling them into bed. He sat between their little beds, reading from a book.

"And Cinderella and her prince lived happily ever after," he closed the book and tucked them in. "Sleep tight."

"Daddy, do you like Miss Ash?" Raquelle asked innocently.

He laughed. "Well, we're friends. What a question." He kissed her forehead. "I mean yeah, I like her. She's creative. She's smart. She can write her own songs."

Little Lance rolled over. "You should marry her if you like her, Daddy."

"Yeah, then we could have a mommy," Raquelle agreed.

Lance sighed. "I know you kids want a mom but it's not that simple. I do like Ash but we're not right for each other. You'll understand when you're older." He kissed his son. "You two get some sleep. Remember your class is going to the aquarium tomorrow." He'd even gotten the time off to help chaperone the class.

Their door closed, Little Lance looked over at his sister. "What do we do?" He asked her.

Raquelle got out of bed and picked up their storybook. She looked at one of the pictures. "Cinderella and the prince had to dance before they fell in love."

"So Daddy and Miss Ash need to dance," her brother said.

She nodded and he could see the gears turning in her head. "The wedding. We have to get Daddy to that wedding so he and Miss Ash can dance. Then they'll fall in love and get married and we'll have a mommy!" She giggled with giddiness.

He nodded. "And how do we do that? The wedding is a whole month away and it's in Redshore."

Climbing back into bed, the porcupette thought about it. "Oh I have an idea…" Her eyes glimmered mischievously.

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When Rosita got home from the doctor the next day, she was almost bursting with excitement. She held the paperwork from her appointment.

Eddie and Norman were packing up boxes. With Moving Day getting closer, there was so much to pack.

"Welcome home, honey," Norman went to his wife. He would have gone with her but they were still concerned about leaving Eddie on his own. Nana was adamant about it. "How was your appointment? What did the doctor say? Did she give you something for the nausea?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately there isn't much we can do about that part. And it might go on for a while yet. For at least another three months." She smiled brightly and guided his trotter to her abdomen.

The boar took a moment to register what she was saying. "Are… are you sure?" He asked.

She nodded and offered him the paperwork. "That's what the doctor says." She kissed her husband.

His face broke out in abject joy. "Oh Rosie, this is wonderful!" He hugged her close. "I love you so much, honey."

Eddie heard their conversation and he could guess what it was about. He had been staying with them for a couple of weeks now and he knew he couldn't stay forever. Even if they said he was welcome, even if they were even moving into his old home. He could move back into the pool house but it wasn't much of a change. He wondered if it wasn't finally time for him to give Buster the last thing he'd asked of him. It was still hard to imagine the rest of his life without Buster in it but he was starting to accept that he didn't really have a choice. As much as he missed his best friend, he still had his own life to live. And his new friends needed him to fill his shoes.

He hadn't told them but in his free time, he had actually started looking into ideas for their next show. He knew how to do that. Before his banishment, Buster would often bounce ideas off of him. It always meant so much that his little koala trusted his opinion even though he knew so little about the theater. All he knew was that Buster's eyes just became so big and bright, shining with inspiration and Eddie would just get lost in their deep pools and daydream of finally just kissing him and potentially performing other intimate acts. He hugged himself, not realizing the melancholy was coming back.

A hand started patting his back gently and he looked over to Rosita. "Sorry… I just… was thinking about him." She nodded in understanding. "But um, congratulations. This is great news."

She smiled at the sheep. "It's alright honey. I think we all still think about him. There's not a day that I don't think of him. I'm thinking we may even name one of the new piglets after him." She was rewarded with a small grin.

"He'd like that," Eddie wiped his eyes. "I just miss him so much."

"I know, I know…" She hugged him. "It'll get better, it'll get easier." He was doing a lot better than he was before but the healing process was slow.

Norman thought. "Hey, what if we all went out tonight, after the kids get home from school. We'll get the gang together and we can celebrate." He suggested.

His wife looked at him gratefully. "That's exactly what we need. I'll call everyone right now. I'll call Nana too."

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Later that evening, while the piglets were playing on the jungle gym, Rosita and Norman delivered their happy news.

"Oh my gosh! Congratulations! That's so great!" The praise and adulations came rapid fire and it was hard to tell who said what. Johnny gave their theater mama a huge, gentle hug.

Porsha clapped. "Yay! I love babies!" She said as she ate her grilled chicken salad.

Meena took her turn to hug Rosita after Johnny. "This is great news. I'm getting married and you're having more babies. So many good things are happening." She looked at Alphonso, dreaming of the day they might have similar news to share.

Alphonso nodded. "Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from God, they are a reward from Him." He smiled. "Congratulations, Mrs. Suarez, Rosita." He corrected at a gently-scolding look from the mommy pig.

Behind the crowd, Ryan rolled his eyes ever so slightly. The bull-elephant was nice and he claimed his precious church was more progressive or what he liked to call Modern Traditional, but his previous experiences with these spiritual types had rarely ended well after they learned more about him. Alphonso was just the exception to the rule.

"Yeah, congrats, that's awesome," he said, smiling at his beau. He wondered if there were kids in their future. It would be slightly harder, they'd need a bigger place for one thing.

Gunter probably cheered the loudest, hugging his dance partner joyfully. "Hurrah!"

Rosita laughed. "Of course, this means I won't be able to dance for a while. I can still sing but the moves we do on the stage would be unsafe for the babies."

Nana nodded with her own smile while Eddie pulled out his PDA. "That's okay, I'll make sure I give you a non-dancing role."

Everyone looked over with surprise. Ash smiled. "Eddie, are you actually thinking about something?"

He shrugged. "Well, I was trying to… it's nothing big, it's probably stupid anyway."

"Why don't you let us be the judge of that?" His grandmother pressed.

He nodded. "Alright… but be honest. Be brutal." At their pushing, he sighed. "Anyone here familiar with Cinderella?"

"I love Cinderella!" Porsha said. "It's one of my favorites."

Eddie nodded. "Well, yeah, I was thinking we could do that. Johnny, you'd be the prince. Meena would be Cindy. Rosita, you could be the fairy godmother… there's a lot to figure out. Like I said it's probably stupid and I understand if you hate the idea."

Meena shook her head. "I think it's a great idea. I'd love to be Cinderella, dancing at the ball and losing her glass slipper."

Everyone agreed, both because it was a great idea and it meant Eddie was starting to find his feet again. Nana inwardly praised the Suarez family for their progress with him.

"You should ask Alphonso to sing too," Meena said, smiling at her fiancé.

The ice cream vendor blushed. "No, no, please, don't, I couldn't possibly."

"Oh go for it, Alphie," Tyler pushed his best friend. "Just pretend you're at church and it's worship time."

"Go ahead, Alph," Johnny encouraged him. The rest of the troupe echoed him. "Give us a tune."

He looked around, finding Meena's blue eyes with his own eyes. "Surely goodness, surely mercy, right beside all my days. And I will dwell in your house forever and bless your holy name…"

Jaws dropped hard around him and he blushed. "I'm sorry. It's the only kind of music I really know. At least by heart."

Rosita shook her head. "No, that was great. Don't be sorry. Meena's right, you should be on stage with us. Seriously, it's no different from singing with the congregation."

He hugged Meena. "It's very different. Believe me, I'm quite happy serving the crowd ice cream outside the theater. And singing to the shower head."

"Well if you change your mind, let us know," Ash said. "That was awesome. We can teach you the songs we know."

He shook his head and looked around. "Oh look, our food is ready. I'll be right back." He hurried away to get the large trays. Ryan got up to help him

Meena sighed. "He's so wonderful." Everyone just looked at her with amusement.

Clay shook his head with a rare smile, his eyes distant. "I thought the same way about my Ruby. She was my whole world. I lived and breathed my Ruby."

The young cow nodded in agreement. That's how she felt about Alphonso. "Do you have any advice?" She asked.

He nodded. "Communication. That's the key to any relationship. Be open and honest with each other. You're a team now. Remember that and you'll have a long, happy life together." He told her while reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a keychain with a large red bauble. "Allow me to give your gift early."

"Mr. Calloway, it's already enough of a gift to have you there," Meena said. "You don't have to…"

"I want to. It's the key to my lake house. For your honeymoon," he explained.

She accepted the key. "Thank you. That'll be beautiful." They hadn't even talked about the honeymoon yet. She found herself getting nervous about what would come next. She'd had this talk with her mother a few nights ago but talking about it only made her more anxious. What if she messed it up? She looked over at him and realized he and Ryan were talking. He seemed to get very uncomfortable before coming back, getting very quiet as he helped to pass out the food. "Are you alright?" She asked softly and he just smiled.

"Of course, goddess, just tired I think," he said, but she could see it was a lie. Whatever Ryan said had definitely put him in a bad place. "We had a really busy day at the truck. It did not stop once."

Tyler nodded quickly. "Yeah. I don't know what was different about today but the market was much busier than what we're used to." Meena didn't miss his dark look towards Ryan. "Maybe we should take our food back to the hotel?"

Alphonso nodded and Meena was about to join them but he stopped her. "Stay with your friends please. I don't want to stop the party on my account. I'll see you back there in a bit." He kissed her goodbye before leaving.

Suddenly all eyes were on Ryan. "What?" He asked.

Rosita covered her mouth. "Unless I miss my guess I think whatever you said to him hurt his feelings. What was it?"

Ryan shrugged. "I just asked him to stop talking about his religion all the time. It was getting old." He looked around. "Come on, it was getting a little bit much, right? I couldn't be the only one who thought so."

Gunter whistled and grimaced. "Ja, maybe, but he didn't seem to mean anything by it."

The tiger looked at Meena. "I really didn't mean to hurt him. I just… I've had bad experiences with religious people before and…"

She shook her head and looked at Johnny. "I'm going to go back too. I'm sorry. Sorry, Rosita. Congratulations again." She hugged her friends. "Thanks again for the gift, Mr. Calloway. Goodnight guys."

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The rest of the party slowly broke up from there and Johnny and Ryan went home. Ryan felt bad about putting a dampener on the festivities.

"I just don't know how you can give Alph a hard way to go when he's been nothing but accepting and respectful. Klaus is the one who's been busting our chops," Johnny said as he hung up his jacket and his key ring.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "He has not been busting our chops," he protested.

"Okay, he's been busting my chops. Since he got here, he has not stopped making sure I know he thinks I'm not good enough for you," Johnny snapped. "Alphonso asked us to be in his wedding party, for Pete's sake. So what's the problem?"

The tiger shook his head. "What if he's just being nice to us because of Meena. These religious types are all the same. You heard him. Every word is either a Bible verse or something about God."

"What? I think that's just how he communicates," Johnny argued. "I'm going to bed." Ryan started to follow but he held up his hand and pointed to the sofa. "I have a headache. But think about this Ryan. How do you feel when someone tries to ask you to hide who you are just so they don't feel uncomfortable?" He went to the bedroom and closed the door.

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Meena got back to the hotel to find Alphonso deep in his Bible. She wanted to go comfort him but Tyler pulled her aside.

"I'm sorry about Ryan," she told the orangutan. "He didn't mean to be hurtful."

Tyler nodded. "I'm sure but… Meena, there's a reason it's been just him and me for so long. Outside of the church, he's always had a hard time making and keeping friends because it always goes the same way. He can't help it. He has trouble putting his thoughts into words so he turns to the Bible for what to say." He sighed. "He's afraid it's about to happen again. And he's afraid that you…"

Meena shook her head and ran back into the room. She took his hand and pulled him over to the sofa. "Alphonso, I'm so sorry that Ryan hurt your feelings."

He shook his head. "No, he's right. I talk about my religion way too much. I'm sorry. I… I love you Meena and I'm sorry if I made you or anyone uncomfortable. I won't do it anymore, I promise. I'll keep it to myself."

She kissed his cheek with her trunk. "No, no, Alphonso. I love you. I love all of you, even the spiritual side. It's part of what makes you you. You don't have to hide who you are from anyone, especially not from me." She promised.

Tearful eyes looked at her and she hugged him. "I love you, Meena." He sighed, letting her comfort him, trying to heal the old hurt of losing friends over his faith. "I love you so much."

She rubbed his back. "I promise, Alphonso. There's nothing you could do that would make me not love you. Ryan obviously has some sort of personal problem that he's going to have to get over somehow." She assured him. "Just be patient with him. But you never have to hide who you are. Any part of it."

He nodded. "Thank you, Goddess." They sat together, just holding each other.

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Ryan felt like kicking himself as he struggled to sleep on their large, overstuffed sofa. He knew the elephant wasn't trying to make anyone uncomfortable. He was different from other religious types. He had been nothing but respectful, polite and even included him and Johnny in his wedding. And he'd made him feel bad about sharing something he cares about. Something that was obviously a large part of the bull elephant's life. And in doing so, he'd ruined what was supposed to be a very happy occasion and made things awkward between Johnny and someone he considered family.

He thought of all the times he had been asked not to be so open about himself. Alphonso had not asked that of them once. Even though he and Johnny were very public about their relationship. Yet, he turned right around and did it to him. Johnny was right. He just didn't know how to fix it. It still made him uncomfortable. It just seemed like Alphonso was hiding behind his Bible rather than saying what he really thought.

Finally, he gave up and went down to the dance studio. He saw Kickenklober was up too. "You are down very early, Ryan. It is only 3 in the morning."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Sleeping on the couch sucks," he turned on the practice music and began going through his warm-ups.

Klaus nodded. "Ahh, so you are having a lover's spat. I'm not surprised. I knew he was not good enough for you." He said. "Don't worry, you will find someone someday."

Ryan stopped. "What? We had a fight, we didn't break up." He corrected his teacher. "And why do you get to decide who's good enough for me? I love Johnny."

Klaus sighed. "Then what was the fight about?" He asked, joining Ryan in his practice.

"I hurt Alphonso's feelings. I didn't mean to, I just wanted him to stop referencing his religion all the time. It's like all he can talk about. God this and Jesus that," Ryan rolled his eyes.

Klaus scoffed. "Ugh, those sort of people put a bad taste in my mouth. If this Alphonso cannot accept you for who you are, then he is not a friend you need. And Johnny should be sticking up for you." He argued.

Ryan shook his head. "It's not like that. He HAS accepted us. He's been nothing less than a friend to either of us." He sighed. "And I was a judgmental, hypocritical jerk." He groaned and sat down in a chair, shame filling his gut. "Johnny's right. He wasn't hurting me or trying to make me uncomfortable. I think I need to apologize."

"Bah, you don't need to apologize to no one. You have the right to not want to be preached at," Kickenklober did a pirouette around the room.

Ryan stood up. "Except he wasn't preaching at me. He was just congratulating Rosita and Norman on their expected litter. Ugh, I screwed up." He pulled out his phone and dialed. He knew it was late but didn't think it could wait. "Hey, Alphonso, yeah, I'm sorry I woke you. I just… I think we should talk. Yeah, look, I'm sorry man. I shouldn't have said what I did, it was wrong. You don't need to stop being yourself for me. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry for waking you up again. Sure, we can continue this in the morning. Goodnight." He hung up, feeling a little better. "I'm going to try and go to sleep again." He told his teacher. He needed to make things right with Johnny too.

He opened the bedroom door and he could hear his lover was still awake too. "Johnny?" He asked. He climbed into their king-sized bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble with you and your friends. I was wrong to say what I did to Alph. You're right…" He waited for a response. "Johnny please, talk to me. What can I do to make you forgive me?"

The gorilla rolled over. "Promise me that you'll never ask me to choose. Between you and my friends. Please. I love them so much."

Ryan pulled him close. "I will never ask you to make that choice. I love you and if you love them then I love them too. I'm sorry. I was being a hypocrite." He pet his head, grateful to be holding him again. His natural musk filled Ryan's senses and the tiger felt his eyes close in sleep, everything in his world right again.

Johnny felt him fall asleep and chuckled. "I love you too," he whispered before falling asleep with him. He'd hated trying to sleep alone but didn't know how else to make his point clear.

AN: Upcoming, for real and stuff this time, the gang travels back to Redshore to help Meena and Alphonso celebrate their nuptials with a couple of unexpected stowaways. Please review!