Chapter 27

“E-rog-en-ous Zones – look it up. They are places on a woman’s body that, when touched ... or kissed, can produce the female equivalent of your ‘problem,’ at least it makes us feel really good all ‘inside.’”

“A young girl like Claire or Kalista doesn’t know they have places on their backs that control specific parts of their anatomy, and can create a lot of sexual feelings, and in your and their cases, sexual frustration. Be Careful, dude,” Sarah finished.

“Since this doesn’t sound like something I can ask my mom, what would have happened, if I had pressed one of your E-zones?”

“Well, that would have depended on which Zone you hit. There are some that cause deep instantaneous sexual feelings, and there are some that just make you horny – you understand horny, Charles?” She smirked at me.

“Yeah, Sarah ... as a matter of fact, when we dance, especially if you are wearing a dress that is cut mischievously low, that gets me ... a little horny.”

“It does?” She sounded surprised.

“Don’t be so amazed, dear – you are really hot, but don’t tell anyone I said that, or I’ll be back working on my Merit Badges, instead of preparing to go on Tour with Michael Bublé. Go back in your room. Wear something really tight and sexy tonight, OK?”

“OK, Loverboy – I will,” she turned and wiggled her butt as she left.

Oh, boy!

About forty minutes later, we were all showered and dressed, and ready for dinner and dancing. Kalista had on her Little Black Dress, Claire had the Dark Blue dress on again, Annie had on her dress from the baseball game and Sarah had on her dress ... from the Palace Restaurant. She can’t be wearing a bra, Hmmmm!

We found our way to McFadden’s and parked. The moment we walked in, we were surrounded by people of all ages, both men and women shaking our hands, patting us on the shoulder, and there were many who wanted our autographs, including a number of adults. Kalista, Claire, and I did our best to satisfy every request.

All of my ladies were getting catcalls and wolf whistles, as we were being seated right by the dance floor. I asked Mom to order something for Claire and I, and we walked up to the DJ.

He said, “Wow, Charles & Claire – I have got a bunch of the music you like. I got it after you took down YouTube the first time.”

“You got any Michael Bublé?” I asked.

“Sure, name it Charles, all of Pittsburgh is rooting for you guys tomorrow.”

“Thank you very much, How about ‘Sway?’ Feel like doing a Mambo, Claire?”

“Absotively – Posilutely, Loverboy.”

I nodded to the DJ and he started it. Claire and I went into each other’s arms and did the ‘Kallie’ hold -- her arms straight out, on my shoulders and my hands were on her hips. As usual, my eyes went straight to hers, causing us to be oblivious to those watching.

Her hips were mesmerizing, and the crowd loved it. We were dancing all around the floor, occasionally going to closed, to show off, but we kept going back to the ‘Kallie’ hold, and the song was ending. I raised my hand, and she started six consecutive Samba spins, ending up in my lap.

The place went from relative quiet ... to a major kerfuffle, in an instant. All the patrons, the employees, everybody, got up and cheered for us. We turned to all sides of the dance floor and waved back to them all.

Claire looked over at me, and I grabbed her and kissed her, causing the uproar to last a little bit longer. I shook hands with the DJ, then we separated and went back to our table.

“Oh my gosh, Claire,” said Kalista, “That was fantastic, boy you two can Mambo like nobody’s business.”

Mom had ordered us something called a Car Bomb Rib-Eye Steak, which Claire and I shared, feeding each other, which was kind of fun. I saw K itching to dance. I asked Mom if she brought any music with her.

She went into her purse and pulled out CDs labeled, Rhumba, Samba, Mambo, Cha-Cha, Quickstep, Bolero, Jive, Slow Waltz, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Paso Doble, and Tango.

I looked over at K and said, “Six-Pack, K?”

“Oh, yeah!” she said. I took it up to the DJ and he gladly took it, and he said through his microphone, “What song does Pittsburgh like most?”

They all yelled back, “SIIIIIIIIIX-PAAAAACK!”

I looked over at Sarah, who was smiling like the Cheshire Cat, and she nodded her head.

The song started, and K was absolutely brilliant. Her legs move like a prima ballerina, so effortlessly, and we went from rhythm to rhythm as the number went on, our spins were perfect, and we ended exactly with the CD. She gave me a nice little lip-kiss after, and we went back to the table.

“Sarah,” I asked. “Did you call them and tell them we were coming?”

The look on her face told me what I needed to know, so I grabbed her and the Slow Waltz CD, and went back up to the DJ, who took a long luxurious look at Sarah. He gave me a high-five as I handed him the CD, telling him to play the first song.

‘Sunrise Sunset’ started and I waltzed with the most outstandingly beautiful woman in the place, with apologies to my Annie.

With her eyes twinkling, she leaned into me as we danced close together. She’s — quite the woman, and quite the dancer, staying in tempo as we danced around the floor. The song was over, and I gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, knowing there were other families with children here.

We went back to our table. There was an older redheaded man there. He said, “Hello, I am Grant McFadden, the owner of dis establishment, and I wish to tank Charles & Claire, along wit’ Kallie, and dese mighty lovely lasses, for eatin’ and dancin’ with us t’night. Your dinner is on ‘de house, tankyouverymuch. And to quote me Daddy’s favorite expression, ‘Dance as if no one were watchin, Sing as if no one were listenin’ — And live every day, as if it were your last, ‘All of us here are rooting for ya tomorra, boyos.”

Annie tapped her watch so, we got up, said our goodbyes, and left. After we all got in the car, I said, “One thing I agree with, we have lovely lasses indeed in this car, and I love every one of you, regardless of what happens tomorrow.”

“You sound unsure of yourself, Charles?” Sarah said turning to face me after touching up her lipstick.

“Not unsure, Sarah – I know if we dance our best, we’ll win; we just came from an Irish pub; The McArthurs are from Scotland originally, and the Newman’s, at least our branch, are likely from Ireland, so we have been a wee bit blessed tonight, and I don’t expect anything tomorrow, except fantastic dancing.”

“Could I get an upper back rub tonight, Sarah? I’d like one less thing to worry about tomorrow.”

“Sure, if it’s OK with everyone that I do it?” Sarah commented, looking at Annie, then Claire.

“Could I ask for one, too?” Claire quietly asked.

“I don’t see why not?” Annie said. “We’re almost back to the hotel. Oh, I got a text earlier tonight: The Junior II class is getting the biggest auditorium tomorrow, it holds twenty thousand people. We bumped the nineteen-year-olds out of it.”

“Charles, weren’t you going to say something tomorrow, before your dance?” Sarah wondered aloud.

“They wouldn’t let me say it, so I have put something together for the announcer to say, for me,” I said.

“We’re here, come on guys, let’s get ready for bed, Claire and Charles, come into our bedroom for your backrubs, change into t-shirts, both of you, please,” Sarah said.

“I don’t have any t-shirts?” Claire said.

“I’ll loan you a couple, sweetie,” I said.

My white shirt had the words, “Dancing is Fun,” while the blue shirt I handed my girl said, “I love my Dance Partner.”

Kallie came in to watch, as my girl and I laid face down. I caught a very quick glimpse of her covered yet unfettered bosom, hopeful she didn’t see my face.

I got a great rubdown from Sarah, while Annie gave Claire a nice comforting massage of her own.

Avoiding my personal ‘Erogenous Zone,’ I was able to get up afterwards, walking my dance partner to the bed she was sleeping in.

We had a few moments to make out, before K walked in wearing a T I had previously given her that was bright green with no words on it.

Without asking, I gave her a nice goodnight kiss, which had evoked a ‘Hmmm’ from her.

We all left early the next morning, for the David Lawrence Convention Center, which was only a couple miles away. Claire and I had on our all-white outfits, Kalista was in red and Annie and Sarah wore matching Hot Pink dresses, with some bling. The NDCA doesn’t allow bling on the girls during competition. Another reason for going professional.

We found our way to the Auditorium we were performing at, and it was indeed the largest we’d ever performed at. There were NBC Camera’s all over. We walked up to the registrar who was a young lady we hadn’t met before.

“I know who you are, Charles & Claire. I am Cindy. Lori from the Doubletree and I are BFFs,” she said with a big smile.

“It’s so nice to see that pretty girls can be best friends, without fighting over boyfriends.” I said with a quick look to Claire and Kalista.

“Are we the last to check-in?” I asked.

“No, there are two more couples who haven’t checked in yet,” Cindy offered.

“Well, what position is available to us today, Cindy?”

“First or last, your pick,” Cindy responded. Claire and I looked at each other and said together, “First.”

“That’s so cute, and what are you performing to today?” she asked.

Mom handed me the CD, that only had ‘Saying Goodbye’ written on it, and I handed it to Cindy, who didn’t recognize the song title?

“It was the final song on the final episode of The Muppet Show, Cindy, it’s a Slow Waltz, performed by the Muppets.”

“Oh my, that’s sounds like a wonderful number to me. And your possible Encore Piece, if you win?”

Again Mom handed me a CD that was labeled ‘Lady in Red,’ by the Countdown Singers. I passed it on saying, “This number will be performed by myself and Miss Kalista McArthur, and it’s a Slow Samba. I have something for the Announcer to read, I have had this approved by the NDCA.”

I handed her a sealed envelope that she took from me and she gave it to a runner she had standing by. “Thank you Mr. Newman, we’ll miss you.” Cindy started to tear up.

I placed my hand on hers and said, “Thank you.”

About ten minutes later, we were told to get to the pre-dance waiting area. The announcer came on and listed all the dancers who’d be performing, mentioning us last.

Then he added, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been asked to read something to you, from Charles & Claire.”

The place got nervously quiet,

“Claire and I wish to thank all of those people, who have enjoyed our dancing over the last fifteen months. However, times change, and opportunities happen. Today will be our Final NDCA competition as Amateurs!”

There was a loud murmur starting throughout the crowd.

“On this upcoming Labor Day, we start a two-year tour, traveling with Michael Bublé, around the United States, and then around the World.”

The murmur turned into a hubbub, with a bit of applause.

“We hope to be back as Professionals, next March in Utah. Today, we’re saying goodbye to our fellow dancers, and all the wonderful people we have met while on this journey.
Thank you,
Charles Newman and Claire McArthur.”

The people in the stands were apparently a little shell-shocked.

The Announcer said, “I don’t know about anyone else here, but I’ll miss them. Will the dancers clear the floor, please, except our first dancers of the day?”

Everyone left; the crowd seemed ready for us. I turned to Claire and we yelled together, “Let’s Dance,” which brought the audience back to us.

‘Saying Goodbye’ started — and we began to Waltz, to the strains of the Muppets singing these wonderful words.

We spun and chassed, and we were leaking a little, but we were dancing, and I had Claire dead in my sights, as we did the steps we’d practiced, without hesitation.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the whole place, up and swaying to the lovely melody of this song. We were about through, and as Fozzie Bear sang the final refrain, we were preparing for our final move, a triple spin, that ended with Claire in my arms.

It was over! I so wished Jimmy could have been here.

I have never been to a rock concert, but I have heard they were loud ... but not as loud as this audience was, amidst the cheers and applause, I heard people yelling, “We’ll miss you” and “We love you,” along with “Good Luck” and of, course “See you at Nationals.”

The announcer came back on, saying, “That indeed was beautiful, Will the next couple come out please?”

Nothing, nobody came out?

“Will the next couple please come out?” the announcer repeated.

I saw the next couple and they were crying. They, and the rest of the dancers, didn’t want to spoil our Finale.

The announcer came back on:
“I understand that the rest of the dancers, in honor of Charles & Claire, will not be performing today. Apparently nobody wants to be remembered, for coming in Second.”

A number of people chuckled at that ad-lib, including Claire and I.

“Princess, you ready? The whole dance in face hold, can you do that for me, every eight measures we’ll change?”

“Damn right, I am ready,” said Kalista, to the shock of everyone around us.

“Unbeaten as Amateur Dancers, now performing their encore piece, aptly titled ‘Lady in Red,’ with Miss Kalista McArthur, is Charles Newman. Ladies and Gentlemen, Charles and Kallie.”

Cameras came out, as Kalista and I went to the middle of the dance floor, popping flashes like it was the Olympics or something. Our music started, as we wiggled our hips together, in perfect unison, as we went, from my holding her face, to her holding mine.

Much like with Claire, the crowd seemed to vanish, and it was only me and this ‘Young Lady in Red’ here tonight, and she was so confident in her dance moves, it made me feel quite good about myself and my ability to teach dance to another person.

As we were near the end, I set us up for the triple reverse turns, during each of the fading ‘Lady in Reds,’ that conclude the song. What a dance. What a dancer. The hell with it, I thought, and grabbed her and kissed her ... hard.

The place was so loud; it might have registered on the Richter scale. The announcer came back on, saying, “What a way to go, Charles and Kallie. Take that, YouTube,” which caused a secondary layer of laughter to pass through the overwhelming wall of noise.

I waved at Claire, Annie and Sarah to come on out and join us, which brought some catcalls from the crowd. We formed a circle, each facing a different direction as we just kept waving and the crowd was cheering, and crying, and applauding. I don’t think they wanted us to leave.

As we walked off the floor, a young lady that we recognized came up to us, with a microphone that had the NBC logo on it, along with a cameraman, who had a hand-held, asking “So, Charles — This was your last NDCA competition as Amateurs, is that correct?”

“Yes, it is Carrie – We’re taking three weeks off from dancing, to unwind. Then two weeks of getting ready to go on Tour with Michael Bublé.”

“One more question please, you guys – Where’s the first city on this tour?”

“You’ll have to ask my PR gal, Sarah?” I replied.

Sarah walked over and leaned into Carrie’s microphone and said, “Our entire schedule will be sent to all networks, as soon as it is finalized. Mr. Bublé is still negotiating with all the venues that want Charles & Claire. Believe me ... everybody wants these three world class Dancers, Charles, Claire and the Sparkling Kalista!”

“Thank you,” Carrie said. “Good luck to you.”

All the dancers suddenly surrounded us, and they all said to us ‘good luck’ and ‘have fun on the tour’ and one pair even was honest enough to say, ‘Thank you for leaving, so someone else can win,’ but they smiled, so, it was probably, only a half-truth.

People were coming up to us, in very large groups, asking for our autographs. By the time we were through with them all, the Adult Dancers had start coming in, to warm up for their competition. A couple of them said, “We plan to retire as soon as you start dancing in our category.”

We had them worried!

Our ‘Party of Five’ stayed as we got our Fourteenth and Final Amateur Trophy. Even the NDCA people were telling us how much they were going to miss us.

We climbed into the Land Rover and headed back to the hotel, where everybody there was shouting ‘Congratulations’ at us, actually throwing ribbons at us, like we’d gotten married or something.

I saw Lori waving at us, who must have engineered this whole thing. Getting a nod from Claire and Annie, I went up to Lori, and gave her a great big kiss, which made her blush, but I doubt she’d forget today for a while.

As I walked back to Claire, Sarah quietly said, “You dog.”

I put out my hands to quiet everyone for a moment and said, “It’s been people like you, regular people, doing everyday jobs, who’re supporting us in what we’re doing. Thank you, and Goodnight!”

They gave us a round of applause as we got in the elevator. We waved until the door was shut.

“God, I am so tired, I could fall asleep standing up. My arm hurts, and my fingers hurt; but my back felt so good today; thank you Sarah. Mom, I love you, thank you for taking me to get new pants, last June. Kalista, thank you for being the first person I saw, the day Brian and I first met the McArthurs, and Claire; thank you for being the beautiful red-headed enchantress, at my first Cotillion. Now ... I think I need to go to sleep.”

I had to be helped to the bed. I was trying to get my shirt off over my head, but I got stuck, so somebody helped me; it was Claire.

“I love you, but I really have to sleep for a few weeks, before I can dance again, Claire-Bear. Goodnight sweetheart.”

And ... I was out.

I woke up, watching Kalista and Claire asleep.

I carefully took my bag and went into the bathroom and changed into proper sleeping clothes. I came out and got back under the blanket and over the sheet. I fell back asleep.

We were all awoken by a loud shriek, which came from Sarah and Annie’s bedroom suite. I rushed in, followed by Claire and Kalista, seeing Sarah, with the laptop open and her eyes, filled with tears.

“What happened?” I asked.

“An Email from ... John. I decided to check my email, and there it was – An Email from that ... slimy ... two-faced ... bastard that ruined my life. Go ahead, read it, please – I can’t. I am too mad at him right now.” Sarah was quite furious, and close to hysterical.

I took the laptop off her lap, gave her a kiss on the head. Mom scooted over and they held each other close. Claire and Kalista got on the other bed, holding hands, and they all waited for me to read this to them.

“Sarah, are you sure, you want everyone to hear about this?” I asked after glancing down at the page.

“Charles, we don’t have any secrets between us, at least not any that really matter — please; go ahead and read it, it’s OK,” she said.

“OK, here we go.”

“My Dearest Sarah,
“Since our loud ‘discussion’ in the kitchen after the barbeque, I have been thinking about you and your whole group of new friends. I know you have every reason to be mad, enraged and worried. So here’s the story of John and Daniel McArthur.”

“Since the day we all met; June, you, Daniel and I seemed to have a kinship, the four musketeers. Daniel and I often talked of the great luck we had, finding a pair of sisters, that were both beautiful on the outside, and so very lovely and smart as well.”

“We indeed, enjoyed playing pranks on you two, by going out with each other’s girl, but never crossing the line by doing anything overt, other than kiss.”

“During those times, I started to develop real feelings for both you and June. Daniel, who told me how much he loved ‘his little Sarah,’ had found out he had an inoperable form of brain cancer, that was going to kill him in five years, or less.”

“Time passed, and Daniel and you were married, and a few years later, June and I tied the knot. A year after your marriage, Daniel went in to find out how his cancer was progressing, and was told he had only about two years to live. At this point, your son, Kenneth was born, and you were pregnant with Esther; both with Daniel.”

“I — I didn’t know Daniel was hurting, and had cancer?” Sarah said starting to cry all over again. Mom was holding her close.

“It’s obvious, he was keeping it from you, because he loved you Sarah,” I said hoping that didn’t sound like justification.

“Go on, I am — I am sorry for interrupting, Charles. You are doing a marvelous job, honey,” Sarah said trying to smile.

“Where did I leave off, oh yeah...”

“Both with Daniel. We were playing our usual game of trying to fool you and June, by dressing in the same clothes, and walking into the kitchen while you were fixing dinner and coming up behind you and giving you a kiss on your neck. You always liked that, and I always liked giving you that kiss, making it terribly difficult for me to become jealous of my brother, Daniel.”

I saw Sarah softly place her hand on her neck. She saw I noticed, smiled and brought her hand back down.

“Daniel and I were playing this ‘game’ the evening he died. June called us over, and before the police arrived, I swapped my wallet for his.”

“Since he knew he was dying, he also knew that you’d be left husbandless with a three-year-old boy and an about to be born girl, so he and I’d made a ‘deal,’ that if he died before me, or while we were ‘playing,’ I would assume his identity, and raise his children as my own. June and I’d put off having children of our own.”

There was a gasp from the quartet of ladies, listening to me telling this story.

“He didn’t know I’d fallen in love with you, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to take on his identity/persona. Esther was born, and then came ‘our’ children, John Matthew, Russell Patrick, Robert Francis, Josiah Peter, and the lovely Claire Tiffany. Every one of them I have loved, and still do.”

“One day, as Daniel, I was over at June’s and she was bemoaning that she wanted to have another little girl, even though she’d given her new husband Randall Johnson, a boy and a girl, ten years earlier.”

“She said he wasn’t interested in having regular sex any more with her. She was over forty, and apparently Randall thought she was ‘over the hill.’”

“What’s that mean?” asked Kalista.

“Ssshh, K – We’ll tell you later,” said Claire, as she held her cousin so very tightly, both of them listening raptly to this amazing story.

I thought, since she was the woman I married, that she needed some TLC, so I held her in my arms, and one thing led to another, and we made love. I wanted to tell her who I really was, but I didn’t want to unravel everything, so I led her to believe that her brother-in-law made love to her, and of course, you all know that she died giving birth to Kalista.”

I heard Kalista start crying, and I went over to her, soothing her, rubbing her back, and she asked, “So, my biological father isn’t Randall Johnson, it’s Claire’s ... Father? What does that make me to Claire?”

“That makes you two, half-sisters, the same father, different mothers,” I answered. “And John was your father, technically, but he’d assumed Daniels’ identity,” I explained, as I made my way back to Sarah’s side, giving her a big hug, which she returned.

Claire and Kalista started hugging each other even more, causing us all to start crying over the love they have for each other.

“Get back to the email, Charles?” Annie asked. “This is starting to make some sense. Go on.”

“ ... died giving birth to Kalista.”

“Ohh. That’s why Kalista became a McArthur, wasn’t it?”

“Yes Charles, go on,” Sarah said this time, anticipation clearly showing on her face now.

“OK, Sweet Lips – just for you.”

“ ... died giving birth to Kalista. Randall and June still made love from time to time, so he thought he was the father, a perception I wasn’t going to argue with, but his kids with June; Russell and Jennifer; were almost thirteen and eleven.”

“He didn’t want any more kids to raise, and since June died, Randall, you and I struck a deal, and brought Kalista home with us, and raised her as our own, with her and you, believing Randall was her father.”

“I know I have hurt you deeply, and you have every right to be pissed as hell. I got a scathing email from Ken and a phone call from Esther, that made me realize that the only thing for me to do, is to just ... tell you everything, admit my love for you, and each of ‘our’ children.”

“I won’t contest a divorce, if that’s what you want. I don’t expect you to take me back, now or anytime in the future. All the Insurance papers and trust accounts made over the years have been signed by both of us, making them still legally in force.”

“I intend, to send you a check each month for $3500, to continue to raise Claire and Kalista. If that’s not enough, just email me, and I’ll increase it; The insurance industry has been good to me ... us, and I’ll do all I can to help you and the girls.”

“I understand, if you want to press charges, but doing that would put in motion many things, including an IRS freeze on all assets, including all bank accounts, including all the kids trusts. You could be in court for years, and I don’t want that for you.“

“Attached to this email, is a signed Quit-Claim release form, taking my name off of all documentation regarding, Insurance, Bank accounts, the House, and such; just download it, sign it, and send it off to the people I wrote on it. Add to it, as you will.”

“Lastly, a truly remarkable young man has come into your life...”

“Oh, Mom, can you finish this please?” I asked starting to weep.

“Sure honey,” Annie said. I moved to Sarah’s side as my mom took over reading.

“ ... young man has come into your life. Charles Newman is a one in a million young man, with a steel trap of a brain, smart – doesn’t seem too full of himself, and he loves both Claire and Kalista, as do I. He seems to brighten your mood as well.”

“Regarding your business matters, specifically the Tour, I would recommend, creating a LLC, which is a form of incorporation, which takes only about two weeks to be filed. The kids, being under eighteen, cannot be members, but you and Annie, as their legal guardians, can be the officers of the corporation. You have to create a document called the Articles of Organization, but even that can be done online. Do it quickly, before you send the Quit-Claim, to keep the IRS at bay.”

“I miss you all, so very much, I went by the house to get my clothes and saw it all locked up. All the rented stuff had been picked up, and the McArthur Cousins took down, and brought inside the dance floor.”

“I know it’s a bigger house than Annie’s, so if you all want to live there, feel free, or do whatever it is you want. I want all of you to know how deeply sorry I am for the deception that I played upon you all.”

“I am starting to wonder, if my mistake about our honeymoon was intentional, meaning I might have wanted you to finally know the truth, but I was frightened. You wield a deadly frying pan – that’s for sure.”

“Ha,” said Sarah, as an un-intentional kind of oops.

“That’s about all I have to say, wherever you are and whatever you do, remember, Daniel loved you ... and so do I.”

“Yours, John Marshall McArthur”

Annie looked up from the laptop, to see us all crying, especially Sarah, who was now in my arms, after Mom had taken over the reading. Sarah was sobbing, and I held her close to me with my hands clasped just below her bustline.