A few months later, Caroline smiled as she danced with her ballet group at the concert. She looked so happy and pretty up there. Amelia could not wipe the smile off her face, watching her little sister so happy.
After the concert, Phineas and Charity walked out with their arms interlocked. Amelia walked behind them, holding Helen's hand. The two sisters brought a rose bouquet for Caroline since they did it after Amelia's performances.
Meanwhile, Caroline was still with her little dancer buddies.
Charity chuckled as Helen tried to stand on her tiptoes in her dress shoes when Phineas noticed Amelia look over to a group of people. He watched her look flustered as her cheeks heated up, bright pink.
For the first time, he saw his little girl look at someone the way he first looked at Charity all those years ago.
"Hey, sweetheart, who's that young man over there?" Phineas asked, looking at Charity, making Amelia quickly turn to look at her parents.
"Oh, that's Phillip Carlyle. A bit of a scandal, they say. His last play was a hit in London." Charity explained, looking over at Phillip while he was talking to a few people.
"Play?" Phineas scoffed a little.
"Mmm." Charity nodded when she noticed how Amelia kept glancing over at Phillip, and she smiled to herself.
"You pay good money to watch people stand around and talk for two hours, and they call me a con man." Phineas continued to scoff to himself when Amelia glanced back at him.
"You are a con man, Dad." Amelia chuckled, smiling at her dad.
Meanwhile, Caroline walked out with her classmates when they were mocking her. "Ew, what's that smell? Do you smell that?" One of the snotty little girls said, looking at Caroline.
"Ew... Something does smell." Another one of the brats added.
"Oh, I know what it is... Peanuts." The first girl smirked, making the other little girls chuckle, before they walked away, leaving Caroline, who sighed, turning to look at her parents.
When they left, Charity and Helen walked forward while Amelia walked behind, listening to Phineas and Caroline's conversation. "I can see it right now. "Youngest prima ballerina in the history of the City Ballet." Next to her great, big sister, the elegant ribbon ballerina." Phineas smiled when Caroline reached for Amelia's hand.
"I'm quitting." Caroline sighed, holding Amelia's hand, who stopped to look at Caroline.
"What? Why would you quit, Care Bear?" Amelia asked, looking at Caroline.
"I started too late. I'll never catch up." Caroline sighed, looking at the ground.
"Caroline, you were the best dancer on that stage... And if I can pick up rope, ribbon, and dancing, you can do this." Amelia smiled when Phineas stopped, seeing Caroline try to catch up to Charity and Helen.
"Mimi's right, Care," Phineas said when Caroline stopped, letting go of Amelia's hand when she scoffed at her father. "What? You think I can't spot talent?" Phineas asked when Caroline sighed.
"Ballet takes years of hard work. It's not like the circus. You can't just fake it." Caroline said when she walked into the carriage when Phineas watched her.
Amelia sighed, seeing how upset her sister was before she glanced to see Phillip getting into his carriage. Caroline was right. In Amelia's eyes, a guy like Phillip Carlyle would never look in her direction if she continued to be in the circus.
"Mimi..." Phineas went to say when she got into the carriage with her mother and sisters.
*That Night*
"She can't quit. No... No, I mean, she just... She just feels out of place with the other girls." Phineas said, sitting in the chair beside Charity, who sat at the vanity, brushing her hair. "And she shouldn't have to take out her frustrations on Amelia... They both are so talented and so is Helen." He continued to say.
"Well, I should certainly hope so. I've never seen so many little prima donnas in my life. And she didn't mean what she said to Amelia... she was just upset." Charity said, looking at Phineas.
"Yeah, but those prima donnas are the most important thing in the world to her right now," Phineas said, watching Charity take her earrings out.
"She'll learn to ignore them just like I did. And just like Amelia did." Charity said, making Phineas scoff.
"She shouldn't have to."
"New York society will never accept us. If they did, they'd have to stop judging and actually do something with their lives." Charity told her husband, who did not grow up in a wealthy family as she did.
"This isn't about me." He said, getting up from his chair and placing a kiss on her lips.
"Oh... So, it's different than everything else, then?" Charity asked, turning to see him take his coat off.
"I just want her to be proud of who she is, of her family... like Amelia always has been," Phineas said, setting his coat on the little bench from the bed.
"She is proud. We don't have to be the Carlyles." Charity said when Phineas got an idea.
~841 words~
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What if We Rewrite the Stars?
FanfictionAmelia Barnum grew up with her parents telling her that she could do anything she wanted. She grew up loving to do tricks and dance around the rooftop of their small apartment complex. After her father, Phineas T. Barnum, gets a grand idea, Amelia...
