And they all lived happily ever after... Again!

Recently I was reading the classic fairytale, Cinderella, to my friend’s 4 year old daughter Anna. As I read the much loved & slightly overused final line “And they all lived happily ever after”, she turned to me with a puzzled look. “What’s wrong?” I asked, immediately looking down to check for tell tale puddles, I’d seen that look all too often in the potty training phase. All clear. Phew.“What happened next?” she asked. I stared blankly at her. “That’s it”, I answered. She was not impressed and leaving me with a disappointed & somewhat pitying look, off she toddled. That evening, after little miss inquisitive had gone to bed and after a glass or maybe 2 (bottles) of wine my friend & I enjoyed another classic fairytale, this time of the (relatively) more grow up kind, Pretty in Pink. As the credits rolled (much like our eyes at this stage) we decided to take a leaf out of Anna’s book & play a game...What Happened Next... ...to some of our favourite “fairytale” couples. Andie and Blane in Pretty in Pink? Baby and Johnny in Dirty Dancing? Angela and Jordan in My So Called Life?

...Andie Walsh and Blane McDonnagh moved into a small apartment over Trax records while Andie went to fashion college. Blane could have went into the family business and bought them a mansion but he just wanted to live like common people for a while. A move that he would recall to his english cousin Jarvis one day and inspire a song that would go on to become a number 2 hit in the british charts in the 90’s. Andie went on to become a world renowned designer, her forte obviously being debs (prom) dresses and eventually had more money than Blane’s parents could only dream of. Blane McDonnagh, realising his wife Andie is now far richer than his parents cut all ties with them & as a final two fingers to them changed his ridiculous name by deed poll to Jack. They lived happily ever after....again. …

Frances “Baby” Houseman and Johnny Castle married and went on to obviously open their own dance studio called “Baby Steps”. After a rocky period in their marriage, where Baby’s obsession with bringing Johnny large fruits & announcing it constantly and Johnny’s insistence on wearing his “Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner” t-shirt every time they visited Baby’s parents (let it go Johnny), threatened to tear them apart, the couple returned to Kellerman’s to rekindle the romance. While there, they realised Neil Kellerman was now in charge but an out of control heroin and prostitute addiction meant the business was going under rapidly, so Baby & Johnny returned to their spiritual home for good, bought the business, and they lived happily ever after...again. …

Angela Chase’s love of Jordan Catalano’s leaning (“I just love how he leans”) soon dwindled when they moved in together and every time she went to get something out of the fridge or the wardrobe or just open a door, there he was, either leaning against it or falling through it because he had been leaning against it when she opened it. Jordan did eventually propose to Angela but he’s still waiting on the answer because it’s like... you know... like... sort of... a big deal... like... kind of. We can only assume they once again lived happily ever after but we only got one series so for all we know Jordan died in the second series and they may never have had a chance to get to happily ever after (yes I’m still bitter).