Nate hung out quietly on the couch as his father fiddled with the entertainment center. William put a few burned CDs in which music from his wedding and reception with Martha had been recorded for them to remember. He also put in some CDs of romantic music that Martha had found in discount bins and so on. Eric stood slightly behind William as he got things ready. In the background, Nate could hear Martha in the kitchen as she was finishing up after dinner.
"Now... I don't know what sort of music they'll be playing at the dance," William said to Eric, "though I'd figure that since it is for Halloween... it'll have some Halloween theme to it..."
"He did the mash..." Nate sung softly hoping for some chuckles. William nodded and Eric raised an eyebrow to it.
"But for the most part, many of the dances that you expect to have will be the same sorts of steps," William continued as he turned back to Eric, "It'll only be the the music that will change."
"Okay," Eric said slowly and stood by.
William nodded and then called to his wife in the kitchen, "We're ready when you are, dear."
"I'm almost done," Martha called in replied, "Just give me a minute."
William nodded and waited patiently for his wife to finish with the dishes.
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Meanwhile, about a block away, Julie Stovall stood calmly as her father and mother moved some sofas and a coffee table to give them the room for some dancing lessons. Their dinner was fine and Julie had felt personally overjoyed at knowing that Eric was her one true love. Butterflies were dancing so hard in her stomach with excitement they made her heart flutter. In many ways it felt like some of the fantasy novels she'd read, where a brave knight fought through either massed hordes of evil armies or the through the great power of a dragon for just a kiss from the princess that had been held captive. To her, Eric was that knight.
"So... what dace steps will you want to start with?" her father, Martin Stovall asked to her.
"Ones that'd be easy to master," Julie said weakly, "Ones that let me stay close to him... and to let me hold him to me."
Martin turned to her for a moment and gave a soft smile and motioned for Julie to approach him. As she approached, she could hear her mother put on some music in the background. It was from an old record player that Martin's family had owned and given them as a wedding present. Despite its age, it worked very well and Julie could hear waltz music playing softly in the background. She reached her father who took one hand and held it out to her right. She then began to reach with her other hand before her mother cut her off.
"Your other hand goes up on his shoulder," Melissa Stovall said slowly, "He is the one that will reach around you to hold the small of your back..."
"Or at the waist at the absolute lowest," Martin added, and waited for Julie to raise her forearm up while letting the rest of her arm hang down, "Many dances will have a similar hold as this... some will be very close while others are held at greater distance. We'll start with some of the basic waltz steps... as it's those that your mother and I know best..."
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Martha joined the rest of the Anderson family shortly after William had announced that they were ready for her as she finished with the dishes. She found Nate relaxing on a couch with William and Eric waiting patiently in the center of the living room.
"So, where do we start?" Martha asked, "So you want hands on practice? Do you want your father and I give you a demonstration? Or..."
"A demonstration would be best," Eric said somewhat weakly.
William nodded to his younger son and moved to hit the play button on their entertainment center. It was this that actually triggered a comment from Nate.
"Hey... dad... I can man the remote for the CD player if you want," Nate offered from the couch, "It'd give you and mom more... uh... room, I guess would be the word."
"That's not a bad idea," William commented, and pulled out a small black remote that was on top of the CD player. He then walked over handed it to Nate. With that done he turned back to Eric. "Okay... Eric, your mother and I will start with some of the basic steps that will go with most romantic dances. It'll be a good start."
William then reached with his right hand for Martha's, which she offered to him. He then moved to put Martha in a position to where she had to turn around. She was presently wearing an old pair of pants, which did fit her, but it left Eric with an obvious look at his mother's rear, which thanks to her respective transformation, mad the pants she was wearing very flattering. Eric wanted to turn away, but couldn't as his father continued with some instruction.
"Now, remember that you take your partner's hand like so and hold it out to a side," William spoke calmly and held out his right hand with Martha's hand still gripped with it. He then reached around with his other hand and placed it on the small of Martha's back. "You place the other hand on the small of the back... or the waist at the lowest."
Eric watched as his father then reached down further and gave his wife's posterior a gentle squeeze.
"Hey!" Martha gave a yelp in surprise.
"If you go lower..." William commented, "it'd better be in private and consensual... as generally, even romantic couples don't grope each other while dancing."
"You didn't have to give a demonstration of that, dear," Martha whispered to him.
She watched as William gave her a very playful smile in response, which she privately figured that her husband had some ideas on what to do before going to bed. She smiled back and said nothing more.
"Now... typically the man leads in dances," William answered, "It is he who takes the first steps and has his partner follow. I don't know the full reason why... I just know that's how it's gone... Who takes the leading role in same sex couples is something I can't say on either. Maybe they agree on who leads... or maybe the partner with the dominant personality takes the lead. That might be something you'd want to ask Samantha or Frances if your curious. I really don't know on how the rule of who leads would apply to same sex couples."
"Okay," Eric answered.
"Now... this first one is pretty simple and pretty common," William commented, "was one of the main dances your mother and I had our reception."
William then nodded to Nate. Nate raised his hand and pressed the play button on the remote for the CD player. Eric watched as soft music began to play in the background. The beat was steady but fairly slow, and he watched as William and Martha danced together. They moved slowly and somewhat side to side as they did so. Eric watched carefully danced and did his best to follow each step that his father took as he danced with his mother.
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"This isn't working," Julie sighed weakly.
She and her father had practiced for a while and they played through a few of the songs on the record. She tried to mimic her father's steps, but didn't have much in the way of success. Occasionally she stepped on Martin's feet, and she was sure that if he hadn't been wearing strong shoes that he would have winced. After a while, she looked down to better track her feet and so not to step on her father's feat, and while that helped allow her to avoid stepping on Martin's feet, she still found that she couldn't fully match her father's steps and she fell out of step when she had to move her feet to avoid stepping on her father's feet.
"You're trying to lead, dear," Melissa commented, "you don't lead... He leads."
"Why? Why does it matter if you're with the one you love?" Julie asked.
"In reality it probably doesn't matter," Melissa answered, "but by tradition... in ballroom dancing, the men lead. So, in that sense... you don't copy your partner's moves, but follow them."
Julie looked down for a moment.
"Why don't you flip the record over and let your father and I show you," Melissa offered, "Neither of us will ever be on Dancing with the Stars... but we can at least give you a demonstration..."
Julie complied and moved over to the record player. It was on a small stand next to the rest of their family music players, which was in a corner of the room. She quietly flipped the record while her mother moved to take her father's hand to dance with him.
"Now to remember to follow how move," Melissa spoke as Julie set the new side of the record to begin playing.
Julie watched, and as the music started, parents danced. This then went in a slow circle, and she followed how her mother moved. Her steps were similar to her father's moves but not quite. They moved sort of half-way in order to follow Martin as he moved, rather than copying Martin's movements. She watched the two moved through the steps.
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Eric's first practice went a little bit better. He had followed as his parents danced together though the first song on the CD before they pulled apart. Nate paused the CD as the first song ended and William and Martha slowly pulled apart at the end. As they pulled apart the two smiled to each other, remembering the wedding, which had been nice, and while Martha's womb was pushing forward with her pregnancy with Nate at that time, it had been a good ceremony. Martha even remembered that William had proposed before she even knew she was pregnant. The dance had reminded Martha of her wedding and the reception, which she truly hoped Jennifer Harper would get to enjoy with her fiancee.
After they pulled apart, William turned to Eric and gave him a soft smile.
"Now... that that's with one specific type of ballroom dancing," William said slowly, "it's fairly slow... fairly simple and easy to at least get a rudimentary knowledge of... and it will keep you close to your partner."
Eric nodded.
"Now... why don't you take your turn," William asked, "do you want to try to lead... or should we reverse roles and let you follow Martha to get used to it?"
"I think I can try," Eric said slowly and stepped up to Martha. She offered him her hand, and she carefully took the same sort of position and grip that he had seen his father take. Eric found it was a bit different from what he had experienced in his impromptu dance practice with Julie. Martha was taller than he was, partially that he hadn't had a real growth spurt yet and partially that his mother had grown taller when she became a werecat. Even in her human form she had gained some height on him.
"It's okay," Martha assured her son, as she noticed his look of unease, "this is to help you get better..."
"Practice makes perfect," Eric said slowly.
Martha nodded to Eric and then looked over to Nate, "Rewind to track one, please."
Nate nodded and pressed the rewind button and the CD player flashed a switch backward from two to one on its demonstrated screen. The first song soon began to play again. Eric didn't necessarily get started right away as tried to remember the steps his father had used, but after Martha gave his hand a gentle squeeze he did begin. He did his best, and did manage to repeat his father's steps, though it meant that he fell slightly behind the beat in the song being played, but his mother didn't do anything to rush him as they went through. That went well for him, though much of it for Eric wasn't instinctively. It was as if he was consciously remembering his father's moves to copy rather than truly dancing, but he figured that since he was just starting that was the way it would go. In time, he'd surely get better. He'd do that for Julie.
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Copying her mother's steps to follow her father worked a bit better and Julie did feel a bit proud of getting through one waltz without either tripping over her father's feet or her own. She still had to look down on occasion to look down to make sure that she didn't step on her father's feet. She didn't feel completely comfortable with things, but she did feel good about being able to get through the waltz without making too tremendous mistakes.
"That's a good start," Martin smiled down to her.
Julie smiled at the compliment and Martin couldn't help but smile back. He had some unease with how young Julie was and how fast her romance with Eric Anderson was progressing. But, at the same time he was happy for the fact that Julie had found love and that she had found a very bright and respectful young man. He wished that this might have waited until she was older, and he knew that the way things were progressing, it was a real possibility that Julie and Eric might not be able to wait until they were sixteen... let alone until they were eighteen.
"I could still be better," Julie commented.
"We can keep practicing in the evenings until Halloween comes up," Martin assured her, "with some time and practice... you'll get better."
"Thanks, dad," Julie smiled and hugged him.
"Why don't you go on and get ready for bed," Melissa said to Julie, "or deal with any other last minute things you have to do. Your father and I have a few things to clean up down here before I'll come up and talk with you."
Julie nodded and soon went upstairs.