A.N.: Sorry this chapter is super long, but it didn't work as two shorter ones. Enjoy!

Gabby stood beside Slappy's table, holding her hand as the elderly squirrel greeted toon after toon, thanking them for coming in her own, unique way.

"Hey, Pebbles, glad you could make it… I'd heard you'd got the stones." Wicked laughter.

"Well, if it ain't the mice with the most. How's that "take over the world" thing going so far?" Wicked laughter.

"Ah, nuts, I thought I told them to make sure your invite got lost in the post." A wink.

Gabby smiled, buzzing with excitement as some of the most famous toons in Hollywood bustled into the hall. Including…

"Babs. Buster. Good to see you."

"Mommy!" Gabby thrilled, clutching her mother around the waist. She thought she could see Slappy over her shoulder, and for a moment she looked sort of angry. But that was gone soon enough, as her mother lifted her for a hug, and the blue rabbit she was with shook first Slappy's, then Gabby's hand.

"Gabby… sweetie… I want you to meet someone very special to me."

"Hiya kid." The blue rabbit had a coarse, throaty kind of voice. He smiled broadly, and Gabby smiled back politely. Shyly, but politely.

"Hi."

"I'm Buster. You must be Gabby. Your Mom's told me a lot about you."

"Oh. She didn't say anything about you."

She heard a loud snort coming from Slappy, who was grinning at them. Under unimpressed glares from Babs and Buster, Slappy cleared her throat and reduced her grin to a smirk.

"Kids. They just say the darndest things."

"Don't they, though." Babs spoke slowly, with a great deal of measured patience, which even Gabby knew was the tone that meant "if you don't have anything to add, you can go somewhere else". Slappy seemed to take the hint.

"Well, uh… I'll leave you kids to it. I have other guests to see…" She shot a wink at Gabby, and Gabby could have sworn she'd heard her mutter "Guests with a better sense of timing."

Across the hall, Wakko and Tellulah were talking quietly and intently at the edge of the stage, and Slappy decided against butting in. Tellulah wasn't taking the pregnancy well, and had near snapped three times that afternoon. She was lucky, Slappy thought, to have someone as patient and supportive as Wakko. He had listened, and spoken to her calmly, but now he was eager to get backstage, and Tellulah didn't seem happy to finish their conversation early.

Dot, meanwhile, had spent the entire party outside, talking on her phone and trying to pretend she wasn't arguing with her husband every time someone walked by. She was somewhere between flustered and detached, angry and icy, pacing about and gesturing wildly. Slappy made a note to steer clear of her, too. Across the hall, Yakko was talking animatedly with her nephew, no longer going by "Skippy", but trying for a cool, grown up edge with "Scott". So, naturally, Slappy strolled over.

"Heya, Skipp." She slapped him on the back, and turned to an attractive young Chipmunk 'toon who was minding her own business at a nearby table. "This is Skippy. My nephew. He wasn't always this tall, you know, he used to be about knee high and sung falsetto 'til he was fourteen."

The chipmunk 'toon, who was one of Slappy's social workers, gave her an experienced smile, and then exchanged a glance with Skippy, or Scott, as she patted Slappy on the back and left. Slappy and Yakko smirked at each other.

"Everyone enjoying themselves?"

"It's a good arty." Yakko grinned, giving Slappy a hug. "I have to say, I'm getting a little nervous about performing."

"Don't be." Skippy (Scott) reclined against one of the tables. "Pretty much everyone here knows who you are; you're among friends."
"True." Yakko nodded.

"Some more friendly than others." Slappy muttered, but when Yakko started to ask her what she meant, he caught a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye. By the door, he could see Babs holding Gabby, before putting her down on the floor to hold hands with the blue rabbit accompanying her.

"Oh crud…" Yakko muttered, as the three of them approached him… no, scratch that, made a direct bee-line for him, bearing down on him from across the room. He shot Slappy a "please don't leave me here alone" grimace, which was interrupted as Gabby bowled into his legs and held her arms up for a hug. Yakko obliged and, as they got closer, he heard her whisper in his ear:

"Don't get angry, Daddy. I love you."

Because that was so reassuring.

Babs stood in front of him, smiling and fidgeting. She met his eye contact, opened her mouth to say "hi", and then looked away without saying anything.

Oh God, it's bad. Like, nuclear meltdown bad.

Babs didn't get speechless or go quiet unless something was really, hideously wrong. Gabby, from her position standing slightly behind her father's legs, reached out and stroked his tail softly. He was twitching again. He shot her a thankful glance.

"Buster, Sweetie, you remember Yakko."

"Hey, Yakks, long time no see." Buster was his cool, chatty self, but Yakko could see a confusion in his eyes; a sort of, part-fear, part-resentment, part-guilt wariness that made it easy for Yakko to stare out the rabbit. Immature? Yes. Satisfying? Very. And it took the edge off hearing Babs call him "sweetie".

"Hey, Buster. Glad you could make it all the way up from Florida."

"Yeah, you know I hear this is the first time in years they're not having a ridiculous amount of rain or warm fronts." Slappy grinned, nudging her nephew in the ribs in a move that completely lacked anything resembling subtlety. "Guess they got a whole less hot air there this weekend."

Babs and Buster stared at Slappy, who stared right back at them, with her best "come on, insult me, I'm old" grin, before she grabbed her nephew's hand and demanded he help her get a drink. Leaving Yakko with his ex, and his ex's new guy. Not fun at all, and Yakko made a mental note that he no longer owed Slappy for anything. Ever.

"So, uh… Yakko." Buster smiled awkwardly, and Yakko suddenly found himself realising that he was a half-a-foot taller than the rabbit, and if it came down to it, he could probably take him in a fight… "We got some news, and we thought it was only going to be fair if we told you first."

Backstage, Wakko puffed air out through his cheeks. Abbi peeked out from the curtains, her tail twitching as she bounced up and down with excitement. Todd was sat next to Wakko on the small bench that ran next to the wall, trying hard to restrain himself.

"Wow, there's a lot of people out there…" Abbi was whispering excitedly. "Hey, look, Mr. Bunny's out there, and Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd! And hey, who's that old lady Slappy's talking to? Is she a deer? She looks like a deer. Hey, Todd, come see…"

"Abbi." Wakko snapped, slightly, having lost his thread for the seventh time as he failed to mentally recap his lines. "Can you just be quiet, please?"

Abbi looked like she had been shot in the paw. Wakko felt bad, but he was too nervous to fully register it.

Todd stopped bouncing beside him, and walked over to hold Abbi's hand.

Yakko swooped in from behind a curtain, his face unusually stern, his shoulders unusually tense. Gabby followed him cautiously, watching him like she was trying to protect him, but hunching her shoulders and clenching her hands. Was she… afraid?

"Yakko?"

"I'm fine." He clearly wasn't. "Where the hell is Dot?"

"I'm here." Dot pushed through the curtain and carried on walking, until she was leaning against the back wall.

"Wonderful. We're all so prepared." Yakko rolled his eyes. "Why did we even agree to do this?"

"Because." Dot spoke in an unimpressed deadpan. "We are kind and loving people who make valued friends."

"Please stop." Wakko sighed, trying (and failing) yet again to recap his lines. Christ, why was he so nervous? "It's not that big a deal. Let's just… do it, ok?" Dot scowled at him.

"That's easy for you to say. There is so much other stuff I could have been doing with this time, you know?"
"Hey, you think I'm not busy? I have a baby to plan for."

"And I have a divorce to plan for."

Todd flinched. Gabby ran over to where her cousins stood, quietly watching the hissed exchange between their parents.

"Will both of you knock it off?" Yakko sighs, in a tone that he dimly recalls using back on the lot, when he was the primary caregiver of kids only a little younger than himself.

Dot and Wakko glare at each other, for a long, silent, tense moment. Eventually, they both back down, still scowling, and glare at the floor.

"She started it." It was a petulant mumble, almost a growl, but clear enough for Dot to hear, and in an instant, she and Wakko are standing, inches apart, pointing in each other's faces and firing off strings of angry words at each other, not even stopping to listen to what the other was saying. Gabby glanced around the edge of the curtain. It was a good thing their audience was being just as noisy.

Babs and Buster sit awkwardly, holding hands and exchanging the odd word, but looking genuinely ashamed of themselves.

Good. Gabby thinks, sparing her Dad a sorrowful glance, as he tries to ignore his arguing siblings. He has his hands over his eyes, like he's trying to push all of his thoughts deeper into his brain, so he doesn't have to think them. Gabby knows it won't last.

Abbi silently slips her hand into her cousin's, staring at the floor. Gabby's heart feels like it's melting in her chest as she sees her cousin, so lacking in her usual happy energy, staring mournfully out into the audience.

She's staring at her mother, who is looking, Gabby realises now, very tired.

Wakko and Dot are still arguing.

Yakko reaches his breaking point.

"Oh, will the pair of you please just shut up? I've got enough going on in my life without listening to you two snap at each other's throats."

"Stay out of it." Wakko scowled, exasperated and anxious.

"I'll get involved if I want to." Yakko felt himself squaring up, daring Wakko to answer back. "As the only schmoe around here with any sense."

"Sense? Don't start pulling that "big brother" thing now, you lost those rights." Dot practically spits it, before throwing herself down on the bench.

Yakko doesn't waste time in turning on her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, trying to make everyone happy. You know, this is so you; you're fair-weather at everything. The moment there's a problem, or someone needs the attention more than you, you're gone."

"That is not true…"

"Great. Another spat very well-handled, Yakko…"

"I'm not talking to you…"

The children stared at their parents. Their parents who were bickering selfishly, taking their frustration out on each other, taking it for granted that they would come back for more.

Gabby tore her eyes away and glanced out over the audience. The conversation had quietened, but most of the assembled toons were still paying them no notice.

Except for two.

Bugs had turned away from his conversation, a look of extreme focus in his face, his ears twitching as he listened. He caught Gabby's eye, and gave her a sympathetic look, which was full of sorrow and disappointment. He leant over and whispered something in Slappy's ear. Slappy was nodding, like she already knew. She smiled weakly at Gabby.

They haven't learned anything.

Somehow, looking from Bugs' crestfallen face, to the arguing Warners, to her cousins, who both seemed so small, and resigned… and then to Slappy, who was arcing one eyebrow at her. She knew that look.

"What are you gonna do, kid?"

Gabby felt something spark in her chest, spreading up her spine to form an idea in her mind, and down into her stomach to form a solid strength. She gripped Abbi's hand tighter, and her cousin glanced at her.

"D'you want to make this better?"

"How?"

"Do you?"

Abbi nodded dumbly. Gabby turned to Todd, and gripped his hand, too.

"Todd? Will you help us?"

Todd tore his eyes away from the arguing adults, and nodded.

Swiftly, Gabby made her decision, and acted on it before her shyness could talk her out of it.

They marched out on stage, holding hands, standing in front of a sea of their supposed elders and betters. Slappy and Bugs were watching them closely, not commending, but not condemning. They waited.

"Hello."

Gabby's wavering, high pitched voice cut through the crowd, and everyone fell silent to watch them with interest. The cousins squeezed each other's hands.

"My name is Gabby Warner. Mrs Slappy is a friend of my Dad's, but she's my friend too because she looks after us sometimes, and comes out with us when we do fun things."

Abbi wasn't sure where the words came from, but she knew, just like Gabby had. She had to say what she felt.

"Mrs Slappy means a lot to us, and we wanted to make sure she had the best birthday ever. Which is why we're here talking to you, and not our parents."

A ripple of laughter spread through the audience. Abbi felt reassured.

"I'm Abbi Warner, by the way, and this is Todd Strizlecki."

"Warner."

"We're all cousins, and we just wanted to…" Abbi stopped. She blinked down at Todd, and exchanged a brief glance with Gabby. Todd stared up at them, before smiling out to the audience.

"I'm Todd Warner. The Strizleckis are a nice family, but they're all foxes."

His voice was… soft. It had the inexperienced catch to it, as many young children's do, as though they don't quite have control over their vocal chords. It was soft and tickly, and made Gabby think of fleece or being hit with a feather pillow. She beamed at him, and then at Abbi. She could see, in the wings, their parents had stopped arguing and were gawping at them.

"I don't really know what I am, but I'm not a fox. I don't have the ears for it."

Another ripple of laughter, this time peppered with a few cooing noises.

Gabby, another idea striking her, leapt down off the small stage and sat at the piano. A few people at the back of the hall craned so that they could see her.

Her heart thumping in her ears, she started to play.

"Maybe you're a dog…" She sang to Todd, smiling. Abbi and Todd grinned back, picking up on the song immediately. "A cute little dog, with ears and a tail that you can wag…"

"Hey, go and fetch my slippers and play tag!" Abbi giggled, putting on a demanding face. Todd stuck his tongue out at her. Yakko and Dot were supposed to do this routine with Abbi, asking her what she was. But they liked this way better, and still knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing.

"Maybe I'm a cat, Whaddaya think of that? A lovely cat that all the world adores…" Todd's singing voice had the same whispery tickle to it, but it was louder, more confident. "And here's my kitty paws, with little kitty claws, which I like to sharpen on your couch!"

Another ripple of laughter shot through the room, and Gabby glanced around to see some people swaying and singing along to themselves.

"Maybe you're a bunny, hopping round here happy as you please! Or penguins where it's cold and it makes you sneeze!"

Todd promptly sneezed and fell over, landing on his bottom. Abbi grabbed his arm and pulled him back up, swinging him around into a piggy back.

"I've got it, of course! Maybe you're a horse? You can live on oats and hay, and run and jump and laugh and play and we can ride on you all day…"

Todd leapt off her, and feigned anger. "No way."

Abbi sat on the edge of the stage, and sang to Gabby.

"Hey, maybe he's a skunk?"

"No that would really stink."

"A dinosaur could be real fun!"

"But then he'd be extinct!"

"Maybe he's an insect… do you like bugs and bees?"

"You girls are buggy in the head!"
"Maybe you're a giant flea!"

Abbi stood, and began circling Todd, still singing with Gabby. She poked him, and he made weird faces.

"Maybe an electric eel?"

"A seal?"

"Get real! Hey wait a minute, I've got it now!"

"You do!"

"Yes I do! He's not a slug and not a bat, or a dog or a horse or a thing like that, what he is, is clear and absolute! What our cousin Todd is…"

"Is cute!" All three of them harmonised, and the audience applauded. Abbi held her hand out for her cousin, and Gabby gratefully accepted the helping hand back up onto the stage.

"Thank you." Abbi smiled. "It's good that you liked that."

Gabby smiled, feeling excitement rush through her. She saw Bugs and Slappy, grinning at her like she'd chosen the right answer.

"Well, I think our parents have finally stopped being silly, so they're going to come out here and entertain you now instead." Abbi smiled, gripping Todd's hand. Todd gripped Gabby's hand, in turn.

"Please be nice to them." Todd smiled, his face the picture of childish innocence.

"Sometimes they're not as mature as us." Gabby nodded, to a wave of laughter. They ran offstage, just as their parents walked on. Gabby and Yakko made eye contact, and he smiled at her. She stuck her tongue out. When she had walked past him, Yakko mimed kicking her, which the audience laughed at. The Warner cousins hugged each other as they got off stage, before breaking into excited whispers as their parents continued the act. They were amazed, everyone was amazing. Todd even spoke another few words, although he still wasn't as chatty as his cousins. Gabby hugged him again, whispering about how brave he was.

Then Abbi hugged them, and they all fell over.

Then Abbi and Todd had to run back on stage for the next sketch they were in.

Gabby sat down, glad and a little nauseous.

Yakko stood backstage, his forehead resting against the cool brick wall, his breath beginning to even out again.

He'd forgotten how much he loved performing.

He felt light, delicate hands on his shoulders. They moved so that they twined around his chest, and he felt a smaller, slimmer individual than himself giving him a hug.

"We are doofs."

"Yup."

"Massive, massive doofs."

He turned around and hugged Dot back, resting his chin on her head. He was secretly quite pleased he could still do that.

"Yup. We just got schooled at showmanship by our own children."

"Who are still in elementary school."

"I'm ashamed. But proud."

There was silence, as Dot nestled her head into her brother's chest.

"He's talking." She said, eventually, and Yakko could hear the emotion in her voice. "He's talking, and his first statement to the world was to declare that he's a Warner."

"Well…" Yakko grinned, rocking her slightly from side to side. "We did know he was a smart kid."

Dot laughed. They continued to sway.

"What were you so upset about, earlier?" She looked up at him. All the tense, preoccupied and misdirected anger from earlier was gone. Her eyes were overflowing with concern. Yakko sighed.

He considered denying it, saying "nothing's wrong" and moving on. But he knew it would be a bad idea.

"Babs." He stopped swaying, hugging Dot tighter again. "She and Buster are… getting m…" He couldn't say it. He cleared his throat.

It hurt too bad.

Sure, he was over her. He wouldn't go near that trainwreck if you paid him, but she was the mother of his child, and the fact that she could do this made him hurt. It made him feel… slow. Insignificant. Angry. Any number of words raced through her mind. He tried a different ploy.

"Buster proposed."

Dot tensed. She rested her head on his chest again, listening to his ragged breathing. She closed her eyes.

"She always has been wildly inappropriate."

Yakko chuckled, grimly, leaning his back against the wall. Dot kept hold of his hands. "You don't need her. You've got me, and Wakko, and Gabby. Todd, and Abbi, too. All of us, we're here for you."

"I know. But… Yurk." He finished, making a weird face. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Do you still love her?"

He sighed.

"No?"

"Really? You're not going to be judged by me, of all people. Do you love her?"

"No."

"Well then. You'll live. It's not ideal, but Gabby can go see her over the holidays, if she wants. And you don't have to. You can get on with your life… We. We can get on with our lives. We'll be single divorcees together."

Dot smiled at him, and Yakko felt himself smiling back. He stood up.

"You're going through with it, then?"

Dot nodded.

"He's not the man I married. He's… different."

"Fair enough." Yakko wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and they left the backstage area together. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I never liked him anyway."

Abbi ran around the tables, dancing to whatever cheesy music was playing over the speakers. Tellulah rested her head on Wakko's arm.

"I'm sorry."

He rolled his eyes, smiling.

"It's not your fault the Warners have a history of inappropriate responses to conflict."
"I'm horrible lately. I think I need to see a doctor." She sighed, her eyes sad. "I shouldn't be this upset, not all the time. I just… I worry that…"

"You always worry, 'Lu." He wrapped his arm around her, kissing her forehead. "It's your thing. It's one of the adorable things that make you who you are. But you're going to worry yourself silly. So let me worry, for once. You just keep yourself happy."

She smiled, and hugged him. He hugged back.

Abbi ran up to them, smiling.

"There's drinks being made in the kitchen. Would you like anything?"

"No thanks, Ab." Wakko smiled, but Tellulah saw what her daughter was getting at. She saw the nervous flicker in her daughter's eyes, the slight twitch of her tail.

"I'd like some water, please. And a great, big hug.

Abbi was more than happy to oblige.

Todd looked out over the happily crowded room, seeing his family and, for once, feeling at ease. He wasn't happy about his parents splitting up, of course he wasn't. But he could see his mother smiling now, and, if it meant they both got to be happy, he could stand a little rough patch. Besides, he had Abbi and Gabby to help him get through it.

He looked at them. Abbi had made up with her mother. Gabby was stronger, now, and she and her father were closer than ever. He wondered if Gabby would be joining him or Abbi at their theatre classes after such an impressive show. He doubted it; just because she stood up there once, doesn't mean she would want to act any more, but he'd love to see her perform some more.

And what about him?

Bugs rested a gentle hand on Todd's shoulder.

"That was a good job up there, kid. You should be proud."

Todd smiled up at his principal.

"Are we gonna be hearing more from you in the future?"

Todd shrugged. He smiled again, saluted, and ran off into the crowd, tackling Abbi and joining forces with both cousins to wage acts of mischief.

"Huh. At least one of them knows how to act their age, huh?" Bugs grinned at Slappy, who was observing her guests quietly. He sat down next to her.

"That's a scary look on your face there, Slap."

"Huh? Who, me?" Slappy batted her eyelashes in what had to be the most sarcastic expression of innocence ever.

"Yeah, it looks to me like you're thinking. Last time that happened, we needed three ambulances. So answer me this. How much of tonight's entertainments did you have planned?"

"Enough." Slappy shrugged. "Let's get that old tail of yours dancing."

It wasn't a happy ever after. But, as the Warner siblings and Warner cousins danced together, laughing and hugging, they realised that all of the problems seemed a lot smaller, once they all admitted they had had enough of growing up.