Chapter 36

The conference that initially lured Andi to Western New York ended on time considering its rocky start delayed by a blizzard, and with that complete there was so much to do! There was Christmas shopping, presents to be wrapped, pre-marriage classes with Macy and John, and dance practice. With the furniture moved aside, the library in Paul’s house was a fine ballroom, which both Paul and Andi suspected was its original purpose. Their neighbor Veronica van Köster came by with her dance coach Mitch and gave Andi and her fiancé Paul some pointers. As a couple, they looked a little odd on the dance floor. Andi is curvaceous and sweetly cute with long dark blond hair and large breasts, but she’s under five feet tall. Paul is over a decade older than her, slim and very tall, with a hook nose and thinning hair. They look mismatched until you see them together and then you realize they were truly placed on this earth for each other.

Dancing at the Crikit House, a local tavern, was much more fun and became almost a nightly event, and Andi was becoming good at several types of country dancing. Occasionally, their neighbor Veronica von Köster joined them with her coach Mitch and put on a show of country style ballroom dancing that had the rest of the people in the bar applauding.

“What’s Worzil’s?” said Andi, as she returned from an expedition to find her twin girls’ new clothes.

“It’s a pub just up the road on the corner,” said Paul as he studied a document.

“Veronica said it’s a good place to eat.”

Paul glanced at the clock and was shocked to see how late it had gotten and he hadn’t started dinner. “Would you like to go there for dinner?”

“Go! Go! Go! Go!” chanted Andi’s twin girls, Sandy and Madoline. They look identical, but their attitudes can be light years apart. But this time they were in lock-step. Finally, Madeline said, “What’s a pub?”

“It’s a place where they serve beer,” said Andi, “and food.”

“Grab your coats.”

The soon-to-be family of four trooped up Howard Ave through the old neighborhood, boots crunching through the snow, their breath white in the cold air, the twins trying to catch the errant snowflake on their tongues. Most of the houses they passed were Victorian, one was fifties retro modern and one was eight sided with a porch that went around the entire house. Finally, they reached Worzils. Paul held the door open for his girls and from behind the bar, a woman cried, “PAULIE!” The co-owner, Julissa Tanaka, came out to greet the family. “How long were you going to hide them from me?” she asked. Short and matronly, with thick brunette hair, Julissa rushed up and hugged Paul. Being a retired USAF Sergeant, she looked like that mom that you never wanted to cross, even though she never had children. Julissa is almost 100% of German descent, the Japanese name came from her husband.

“Do I have to drink a beer?” asked Sandy. “I’d rather have pop.”

As the middle-aged brunette shook hands with Andi, she turned to the twins and said, “You’ll drink what your momma gets you.”

Andi breathed a sigh of relief; the twins are masters at twisting people around their little fingers and Julissa just shut Sandy down. “Thank you for that.”

Sandy was plotting to get an orange soda and whispered something to Madeline about it, and Madeline whispered she preferred root beer. The bartender and Julissa’s husband Ayato Tanaka leaned over the bar and said, “Sorry, we can’t sell you a pop under the age of ten without your mother’s permission.” Ayato is 100% Japanese, and he was an officer in the USAF. He and Julissa retired together, put on civilian clothes, and got married. Although Ayato has poor eyesight and wears thick glasses, he has incredible hearing; it’s rumored that if you drop a quarter, he can tell what the image on the back of the quarter is from the sound it makes when it hits the floor.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” pouted Sandy, and she followed her family into the dining room with her head held high. The twins vowed never to whisper again, without using TwinBabble™.

“I guess she told me,” muttered Ayato with a grin as a half dozen bar flies laughed at Ayato’s dressing down at the hands of a five-year-old.