STORY: Solo (#5 Allison Caffrey Chronicles; Gen)
Summary: She might have inherited a lot of his features, but this one talent she definitely has from her mother.
Notes: Short story in my Allison Caffrey Chronicles, written for Challenge 08 “Writing Pass It On” and the prompt “Robyn - Dancing On My Own” over at gameofcards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a long time, Neal always wondered about what other people considered “normal”. Back in his heyday as a con man, “normal” equaled “boring”, and was therefore not exactly interesting to him.
But that life seemed to be on a different plane of existence now. Well, a year of being considered dead to most of your family plus finding out that you have a daughter can change your view of the world for good.
In hindsight, having both Sara and Allison in his life was the best gift ever, not that Neal fell back on an old mistake and took them both for granted. Their little girl was a walking talking ray of sunshine, brightening not only Neal and Sara’s life, but everyone else’s too on a regular basis.
As time went by, more and more features from both her parents surfaced. At the tender age of three, Allison already had a sharp mind, understanding things in a way that baffled both her teachers and her family. She definitely had inherited Neal’s immense talent for all kinds of art, resulting in a multitude of paintings, little figurines and other self-made knick-knack on display in several households of New York.
But for all the talents she got from Neal, they were here today in the auditorium of her kindergarten for the very talent (on the physical side) that she had inherited from Sara. Soon after their move back from London (or Paris in Neal’s case), Sara enlisted their daughter in a dancing studio, stating that when she was a child, she always wanted to be a ballerina. For a minute or two, Neal was afraid that Sara was putting unnecessary pressure on Allison, but she reassured him that as soon as they noticed that Allison wasn’t interested in ballet anymore, they would pull her out and introduce her to other sports.
Once again, Allison surprised them with not only being unwavering in her interest, but also to excel in it. According to her trainer, her sharp mind aided her in understanding almost all her commands, most of them upon hearing them only once. Which resulted in Allison being the solo dancer at this year’s Spring festival.
Next to Neal and Sara, the whole ragtag family occupied almost a complete row in the auditorium. Mozzie, Peter, El, June, Diana, Jones, some of Sara’s colleagues from Sterling Bosch - they were quite a group, or as one of the other mothers labeled them, a real “fan club”. Which was answered with a broad smile on everyone’s face.
“You’re ready, Neal?” Sara suddenly whispered, gesturing at the video camera in his lap.
“Yep, though I gotta admit I’m pretty nervous. Nervous and extremely proud.” He looked up at Sara, letting her see all the pride in his eyes. “And grateful that you let me in, not only back in your, but also into her life. I never thought I would say that, but with you and her, my life has a purpose, finally.”
And while the principal of the kindergarten entered the stage, Sara answered to Neal’s declaration of love in her own way - with a kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes: Short story in my Allison Caffrey Chronicles, written for Challenge 08 “Writing Pass It On” and the prompt “Robyn - Dancing On My Own” over at gameofcards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a long time, Neal always wondered about what other people considered “normal”. Back in his heyday as a con man, “normal” equaled “boring”, and was therefore not exactly interesting to him.
But that life seemed to be on a different plane of existence now. Well, a year of being considered dead to most of your family plus finding out that you have a daughter can change your view of the world for good.
In hindsight, having both Sara and Allison in his life was the best gift ever, not that Neal fell back on an old mistake and took them both for granted. Their little girl was a walking talking ray of sunshine, brightening not only Neal and Sara’s life, but everyone else’s too on a regular basis.
As time went by, more and more features from both her parents surfaced. At the tender age of three, Allison already had a sharp mind, understanding things in a way that baffled both her teachers and her family. She definitely had inherited Neal’s immense talent for all kinds of art, resulting in a multitude of paintings, little figurines and other self-made knick-knack on display in several households of New York.
But for all the talents she got from Neal, they were here today in the auditorium of her kindergarten for the very talent (on the physical side) that she had inherited from Sara. Soon after their move back from London (or Paris in Neal’s case), Sara enlisted their daughter in a dancing studio, stating that when she was a child, she always wanted to be a ballerina. For a minute or two, Neal was afraid that Sara was putting unnecessary pressure on Allison, but she reassured him that as soon as they noticed that Allison wasn’t interested in ballet anymore, they would pull her out and introduce her to other sports.
Once again, Allison surprised them with not only being unwavering in her interest, but also to excel in it. According to her trainer, her sharp mind aided her in understanding almost all her commands, most of them upon hearing them only once. Which resulted in Allison being the solo dancer at this year’s Spring festival.
Next to Neal and Sara, the whole ragtag family occupied almost a complete row in the auditorium. Mozzie, Peter, El, June, Diana, Jones, some of Sara’s colleagues from Sterling Bosch - they were quite a group, or as one of the other mothers labeled them, a real “fan club”. Which was answered with a broad smile on everyone’s face.
“You’re ready, Neal?” Sara suddenly whispered, gesturing at the video camera in his lap.
“Yep, though I gotta admit I’m pretty nervous. Nervous and extremely proud.” He looked up at Sara, letting her see all the pride in his eyes. “And grateful that you let me in, not only back in your, but also into her life. I never thought I would say that, but with you and her, my life has a purpose, finally.”
And while the principal of the kindergarten entered the stage, Sara answered to Neal’s declaration of love in her own way - with a kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~