Broadway Baby

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or Mary Poppins, unless you cound DVDs and soundtracks.

Summary: Anna learns the magic of Broadway. AU, companion/sequel to "The Trouble With Dancing"

After posting "The Trouble With Dancing" I had several people suggest I write more of this little universe, and truth be told, I've fallen in love with it.

Kate stands in front of their bathroom mirror putting the final touches on her makeup for the evening. She lines her eyes, swipes the mascara, and puts a faint brush of blush on her cheeks. Her lipstick waits on the edge of the vanity while she steps away to find her clothes.

She's standing in the middle of the walk-in closet in only her black dress pants and bra when she hears the door squeak open and the sound of her daughter skipping.

"Mommy, you're not dressed yet!"

Kate laughs and leans down to scoop Anna up and onto her hip. Anna reaches out, her fingers skimming over the jackets and shirts hanging all around her. Her hand lingers over what happens to be Kate's favorite leather jacket. A dark chocolate brown, with a draped-style collar and zippers everywhere. "You have a lot of clothes Mommy."

Kate laughs again and nods. "Yup, I do." She does a little one-eighty flip so that Anna's looking at the other side of the closet. "But so does, Daddy."

The little girl looks at the long rack of suit and sport coats, dress shirts and flannel – Kate loves the flannel – and the couple random costumes hanging in the back. "I think Daddy has more."

"Really?" She looks around, does a little mental math. "You're probably right." She kisses Anna's cheek before putting her down on the little cushioned chair she keeps in the back corner.

Anna scoots back as far as she can in the chair, pulling her little feet up so that the bottoms touch in front of her. "What are you gonna wear?" Her eyes trail Kate as she paces from one end of the rack to the other, gently pushing things out of the way to consider her options.

"What do you think I should wear, Anna Banana?" Kate watches as Anna scrunches up her nose, thinking. She loves that Anna has little bits of both of them like this, how much the five year-old looks like Rick when she's in a playful mood. She decides to help speed up the process and pulls two choices out.

One, a green, sparkly, short sleeved top, with far too many sequins than she would normally allow, the other, a purple, silky halter that was just modest and appropriate enough, but would leave just little enough to her husband's imagination.

"Which do you like best?" She holds them out for Anna's opinion.

Anna hums, eyes bright at the responsibility of picking what her mother wears. "Umm…the green one! It's prettiest!"

Kate smiles and quickly pulls the top over her head, checking for a second that there are no loose threads or sequins looking to jump ship. "What do you think, Sweetheart? Do I look good enough?" She strikes a little pose for Johanna, loving the way it garners a giggle.

"You look beautiful Mommy! Can we go pick out my clothes now?"

"Yes," Kate laughs and holds out her hand, waiting as Anna does a little jump off of the chair to take it, "let's go. You were very good for waiting for me."

"I didn't want to, but Daddy said to let you get pretty first and then you'd help me get pretty, and that we had to wait for Gram and Papa anyway, and then we could go see Alexis."

"That's right," Kate somehow keeps up as Anna pulls her across the loft and up the stairs, not missing Rick's smirk from the couch where he sat with his laptop, "and what comes after we see Alexis?"

"We go see the show!" She practically screams.

"What show?"

"Mary Poppins! I practiced my jumping and everything!" Anna ran over to the spot where she had laid out a number of her drawings and started jumping across them. "Like they do to go to the carousel!"

Kate kneels down in front of her, halting the jumping for a second. "Sweetie, you remember what we talked about? How sometimes stories are a little bit different when we see them on stage then when we see them in movies? Or read them in books?"

"Yes, Mommy. Alexis said it's different, but I wanted to practice anyway just incase."

Anna looks up at her with innocent, playful eyes, and Kate can't help but smile back at her. "Alright. Now," she stands and moves to open the closet doors, "what do you want to wear tonight, little girl?"

Anna skips over to her side and wraps an arm around her mother's legs, "I dunno. Something pretty."

"Do you want to wear a dress? Or a skirt?"

She looks up, jamming her chin into Kate's thigh, "Can I wear pants like you?"

"You don't have dressy pants like these, Sweetie. But you have lots of skirts and dresses."

"Can I look? And you tell me if it's good? Cause that's like what you asked me."

Kate nods. "I think that's a very fair deal." She steps back and watches as Anna gets on her tiptoes to look at what's on her hangers. With a tug she pulls out a blue dress with a pink bow at the waist, a black skirt covered in white polka dots, a green shirt with a glittered flower on it, and a pink dress with ruffles on the bottom. She piles it all on her little arms and starts to march over to her bed. "Can you carry all that?"

"I got it Mommy." When Anna has it all laid out she takes a step back, chewing on her tongue. "I don't think I wanna wear a dress." She sighs, adorably critical of her wardrobe. "Can I wear my skirt and flower shirt?"

"You definitely can, Anna." Kate grins and helps Anna change.

"Mommy we match!"

"We do!"

While her daughter is twisting back and forth to make the end of her skirt fly up, Kate digs out a pair of her nicest white socks from the dresser and gets her black Mary-Janes from the closet. "Here, Sweetie. Can you put these on by yourself?" The shoes have a buckle, so she thinks for a second that it might be challenging, but Anna is determined – like her mother – and will insist.

She plops down on the floor and reaches for the shoes and socks. "Yeah. I can do it." She pulls on the socks without a hitch and gets her right shoe on and buckled with only one little stumble of her fingers, and is halfway through buckling the left when the doorbell rings. Anna pops up from her place on the floor as soon as she finishes. "They're here! Let's go! Mommy," she grabs Kate's hand and pulls her out and to the top of the stairs, "come on! I wanna go!"

"Slow down there, we don't want to fall on the stairs." She's nervous as Anna practically leaps to each step, relieved when she hits the bottom and takes off to see her grandparents.

When she reaches the group Anna's sitting on a barstool while her father and Martha question her about what she's most excited to see at the show.

"I wanna see the dancing Papa! In…what's the song called Mommy? The one on the roof."

Kate brushes her fingers through Anna's hair, thankful for how well it's behaving after being blow dried earlier in the afternoon. "Step In Time."

"Yeah, that one!"

The adults continue to pepper her with questions as they gather their belongings. She's all smiles and excitement while they make their way to Broadway and the pizza place where they're meeting Alexis, and can't stop humming the songs and dancing in place throughout their meal.

The second they hit Times Square though, Anna's silent. She's up on Rick's shoulders, mouth wide as she takes in all the lights and sounds. They hadn't realized Anna had never been here at night until the middle of breakfast.

"What do you think Anna Banana?" Alexis gives Anna's foot a little shake, giggling at the way her sister's head is whipping back and forth, looking at it all. "Are you excited?"

"Lexi it's so pretty! Look at all the colors!"

"I know! And a lot of people, huh?"

"Daddy!" Anna pats the sides of Rick's head, "You didn't tell me all these people lived here!"

"Well they don't all live here, Baby." He laughs.

Jim slides up to Rick's other side, "Some of them are visiting from other states, and some of them are coming to see a show like us, or have dinner."

"But-" She looks down at her grandfather with a sigh, "it's a lot of people!"

They turn on 42nd Street and come up on the New Amsterdam theatre. Rick reaches up to put Anna back down on the ground, calling Alexis back over. "Here, Anna," he puts her in front of one of the posters hanging outside, "take a picture with Alexis."

Kate snaps the picture, then insists that the girls take one with their grandparents, then Martha insists that they switch so that Rick and Kate can get in with the girls.

Once they get inside Anna yanks Alexis over to the counter where they're selling souvenirs. "Daddy, can I get something? Please?"

Alexis grins when the adults walk over, decides to go with it and be a little kid again for a night. "Please? Can we?"

Rick nudges her gently, amazed at the amount of stuff they're trying to sell.

"Here, girls," Jim pulls them both into his side, "I'll buy you each a t-shirt. Early birthday presents." They thank him and Alexis pulls Anna in front of her too look at their choices.

"Okay," she starts, "which do you like the most, Anna?"

"I like…that one." She pokes her finger at a black shirt covered in bright letters. "It says the word right? Supercali-"

"fragilisticexpialidocious," Kate finishes for her.

"Yeah, that." Anna smiles up at her mother, turns back to her grandfather. "Can I get that one Papa?"

"You most certainly can, Munchkin. What about you, Lexi?"

"The same one, please" she squeezes Anna's shoulder, "we can match, right, Anna?"

"Yeah! Like me and Mommy!"

They make their purchases, and head into the theatre to find their seats. Sitting, Kate snaps a few more pictures of her baby's first theatre night, Anna with her playbill, Anna sitting on Rick's lap as he reads the actors' names and song titles to her, and one that Rick takes of "his girls," Kate, Martha, Alexis and Anna, all beaming from their seats.

The house lights dim and Anna squeals when the orchestra starts playing. "Mommy! It's starting!"

Kate shushes her, pulls her into her lap so that she can see a little bit better. "Just watch, Baby."

Anna settles back into Kate's lap, leaning against her chest as Burt sings the introduction, she shivers in excitement when the Banks' house pulls forward on the stage and opens up, like a dollhouse, and when Mary Poppins comes flying down to the stage, over the audience, Anna hops to her feet.

Kate pulls her back down before she can annoy the people behind them or in front of them. "Sit down, Sweetie."

"Sorry, Mommy," she whispers.

For a brief moment Anna seems frightened when the toys come to life, angry, in the nursery, teasing Jane and Michael, but when her Gram takes her hand and squeezes she settles again.

When the lights come up at intermission she looks around, confused. "Gram, why did it stop? That can't be the end!"

"It's called 'intermission' darling. So the actors can take a break, and you can get up if you need to."

"Why?"

Kate stands with Anna and nods to her mother-in-law. "Do you need to go to the bathroom, Anna?"

"Oh." She thinks. "Yeah."

Martha stands and takes Anna's little hand. "I'll take her, kiddo, let you stretch your legs for a bit."

Kate nods and moves to catch up with how college is treating Alexis. The pair gets back with seconds to spare before the house lights dim again and they're watching as Mr. Banks' childhood nanny takes over Cherry Tree Lane. Anna's just as excited during the second act as she was during the first, but when the opening chord of "Step In Time" blares out, she squirms forward, trying to look even closer at the scene she's been absorbed in for over an hour.

By the time the cast is taking their final bows Anna is oozing with delight. They step out of the theatre as she swings between her father and sister, chattering on and on about the dancing statues, Mary's magical bag, and her most favorite number.

"Lexi, did you see how he tap danced on the ceiling! I want to do that! Daddy, can Miss Jane teach me how to do that?" She's so hopeful and elated that Rick can't find the right words.

"I don't know, Sweetheart, you'll have to ask her when you go to class next week."

"But that's all the way next week! She breaks her hold and skips a little ahead to take her Grandmother's hand. "Gram, can you teach me how to tap dance like that?"

Martha frowns, "I'm sorry, kiddo, but I don't know how to tap dance at all. Maybe you can teach me one day."

"Maybe," the little girl sighs, dejected for a split second before pepping up again. "Mommy! Did you see the kites?"

"Yes, I saw the kites, Anna."

"They were so pretty! And, and, Mary Poppins' pink dress? And the big umbrella with the parrot?"

The whole party was abuzz with laughter and talk of how amazing the show was as they walked down Broadway. It was on the quieter side for the city, but when the crowd did get thicker Rick pulled Anna up on his shoulders again.

Rick nudged his littlest daughter's leg from where it rested against his shoulder.

"What do you think, Anna? Cupcakes to finish off your very first outing to the theatre?"

"Yeah!" She cheered from her perch, then looked down. "Mommy?"

"What, Sweetheart?"

"Can we come back again?"

Kate laughed, shaking her head, "Soon, Anna Banana, soon."

First of all, Mary Poppins is absolutely one of my favorite productions. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's magical. Seriously.

Second, I started writing this and DID NOT expect for it to end up pushing 2,000 words. So, I'm a little shocked with myself.

Third, I've got a couple other pieces in mind to go with this, with no promise of a time-frame to when I'll get them done. This little 'verse seems to be my stress-relief, which I'm perfectly fine with. All I can promise is that more definitely WILL be coming eventually.

And of course, thank you to everyone who's read this, and everyone who's let me know what they thought. I'm so glad it's enjoyable, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Tappin
=)