I own none of the characters of Party of Five since they belong to the powers that be.

This story takes place about a year after the season finale. I pretty much explain everything in the story. I had this idea and I just had to write about it. It centers around Claudia and it will later branch out to the others.

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Enjoy.

Claudia couldn't believe this was actually happening to her. She was playing in Carnegie Hall. This had been her dream since she was a little. Granted she did get sidetracked from this path but she always found her way back to the violin. She couldn't believe that she has completed an entire year at Julliard and she loved every minute of it. However, there was one thing that was not perfect. Claudia really wanted her family and boyfriend there at her big debut as first chair violin. They all made excuses here and there, she understood but she was still disappointed.

Before every show, it was a ritual of Claudia's to check on the audience. As she peaked out of the curtain on stage right, she couldn't believe her eyes. Right there in fourth row center. There was everyone . . . well almost everyone. She saw her brother Bailey who was sitting in the aisle seat. Bailey and Claud had always had a special relationship and she was glad that he was there. Bay was just completing his junior year at the University of Pennsylvania and he was happy. He finally started to put himself first. She had only seen him a hand full of times in the past year but she could see that some things never change. Bailey was complaining to an usher that something wasn't perfect.

Next to Bailey was his best friend Will. Will had been Bay's best friend for as long as she could remember. Claudia thought of him as a surrogate brother. Will and Bailey live together in Pennsylvania and are still best friends.

Will was sitting next to Justin and Julia who were both reading the program and laughing hysterically. They both lived in Washington DC and were as content. Justin was going to graduate from Georgetown in a week and Jules she finally found her passion in doing work for the National Organization for Women and to top her full time job she carried a full class load. Claudia was really touched that they found time in between exams and everything else in their hectic schedule to travel the hours to New York for her concert.

On the right of her sister Julia was Todd. Her boyfriend of more than a year even though they were both based in different cities. Growing up, Claudia had always envied Julia for having Justin because they seem to complete each other and they made each other better people in the process. Claudia feels that she has finally found it in Todd. He has been the main reason that she is here. He is the one who got her to play again and encouraged her to go to Julliard. He was going to Northwestern for Pre Med and loving every minute of it. The two lovebirds utilized their free cell phone minutes and flew out to see each other every chance they got. She knew he was for real and the others were just for practice.

Next to Todd were her best friend and former violin teacher Ross and his significant other Victor. It had been over a year since she set them up unwillingly and they were still going strong. Now that Claudia thought about it, she wasn't surprised that Ross flew across the country to see her concert. Growing up, taking lessons from Ross, he always pressured her to go to Julliard. They made a deal that if she ever played Carnegie Hall that he would be right there cheering her on. Victor started out as the family nanny but grew into a member of the family. Claudia cringed when she saw what was in his hands. It was a video camera that he must have smuggled in.

Claudia smiled that everyone was here. And soon all the nerves that she had inside of her were vanished. When the conductor announced that it was two minutes to curtain, and everyone was to take there places, Claudia had to abandon her curtain.

That night Claudia was probably without a doubt the best performance of her career to date. And to top it off when her name was announced her family gave her a big standing ovation and Todd and Ross both brought her flowers.

After the performance, everyone greeted Claudia backstage. Claud was putting her violin away and someone came up from behind her and hugged her. It was Bailey who definitely was playing the role of the proud parent.

"Wow, Claud, I knew you were good but not that good. Trust me you rocked"

"Thanks Bay, I think I can kill each and everyone of you for keeping this a secret. I thought that I was going to be an orphan tonight."

"We just thought it would be more fun to surprise you" Julia claimed

"Yeah, Yeah, thanks for coming everyone. And Victor. I could kill you for that video camera."

"Well, blame your brother I promised Owen that I would do it. He wants to bring the tape in to show and tell to show off his sister. And Charlie sends his regards, he had his plane ticket and everything but at the last minute Kirsten and all of the kids came down with the flu."

She had to laugh at how much Charlie had changed over the years. He was happily married to his soul mate Kirsten and was the legal guardian of Owen who was going on eight. He also had a daughter Diana from a previous relationship who was there half of the time. And he had a son Nick who was less than a year old. And just last week he let Claudia know that they were expecting another child this time a girl in the fall. And to add to his busy schedule he ran his own business and looked after the restaurant.

"Hey, Victor You need to make copies of that tape for Joe, Luke and Daphne, Griffin and Stephanie", said Julia.

"Great now I have to live this night down for ever." Said Claudia sarcastically but she was smiling.

"Come on Claud. You were amazing. You are always too hard on your self." Todd commented and he kept going into all of the technical stuff about the performance that only the three violinists could appreciate.

Julia, Justin, Victor, Will, and Bailey were getting bored with this conversation since none of them had a great appreciation for the symphony.

Finally, Bailey made a suggestion. "Lets go and eat somewhere I am starving."

They all gladly agreed. Most of them did not have time to eat since they all met at the concert early to get good seats and Claudia was full of nerves to eat.

After much debating, they decided to go to this diner across the street from the concert hall. They were lucky that place had a big enough table for everyone. It was a disgusting place. But none of them cared all that matter was that they were all together.

While deciding what to eat, everyone broke off in his or her own directions in conversation. Bailey and Victor began to discuss Owen. Justin and Will began to try to devise a contraption to keep the table from wobbling with packages of Sweet and Low. Julia and Ross were discussing the latest legislation that she was working on which will give more rights to gay marriages. Claudia and Todd sat at the end of the table taking very quietly to each other.

All of a sudden the waitress appeared. "Hey may I take your order."

The whole table looked like they have seen a ghost.

Almost immediately, Bailey's mouth dropped and he turned around and said, "Sarah is that really you??"

Please read and review and make me feel loved and also let me know if I should bother continuing this story.