Chapter 39

I heard the water start, I went in the bathroom, she changed out in the room. She knocked and we exchanged places. I went back in to see her adding bubbles to the tub. I stepped in and laid back, she got in and sat in front of me. She reached over to make the water a little hotter, then turned it off. We settled into each other and lay back.

“Oh this feels so good ... and so bad Charles—I can’t believe we’re actually doing this, but we have been in a spa together many times? Why does this feel so ... different, and so naughty?”

“Because we’re engaged to be married and we actually engaged in subterfuge, but Kalista found us out. Do you think she’s going to tell on us?”

From just outside the bathroom, “What would she tell us, that you wanted to take a bath together?”

“Sarah?”

“Mom?”

“Don’t get up, either of you—are you naked or not?” Sarah asked point blank.

“Not, mother—we just wanted to be alone, that’s all. Sorry, now keep the door closed—or you’ll be letting in all of the cool air.”

Sarah replied by saying, “Call, if you need any help?”

“If I needed any help, I wouldn’t be in here with your HOT daughter, Ms. Rollins.” Both Claire and I laughed at that and just quasi-floated.

I put my hand on her tummy and she put hers over mine. God, what a wonderful moment, with someone you love as much as I love her. I’d never had this particular view of her chest before. For being only a few months from turning fifteen, I really got lucky that first Cotillion. I leaned forward and kissed her on the neck, causing her to moan a little, which turned me on a bit.

“Claire?”

“Yeah, Charles?”

“I love you more every day I get to be next to you. I hope you know that?”

“Oh, Charles,” she said, leaning back into me. “That’s so romantic. After we’re through dancing, I mean really through, I just want to make love to you every single day of our lives.”

“That’s my plan, Claire-Bear.”

We got out and drained the tub. I had a suspicion everybody was waiting for us, so I grabbed a towel and removed my Speedos. I gave Claire a towel, closing my eyes and she undressed, wrapping herself into it really good. We walked out hand in hand, holding our suits, causing gasps from all three ladies.

“Mother, why didn’t you tell me how good tub sex was?” Claire said, but wasn’t able to keep from giggling.

“Yeah, Annie—best sex I never had,” I said as they all threw pillows at us. I heard a gasp, a giggle, and a snort.

I grabbed a change of clothes and went back into the bathroom, while Claire changed in the bedroom. We came out and Kalista suggested we go get something to eat, so we wandered downstairs to the Grant Grill.

After eating, we headed for the San Diego Convention center, where Michael had taken over the entire ballroom. You can tell where the room breaks into separate entities, but we got the whole thing, at least for three days.

“Charles,” Michael said, “Any changes you want to make to anything in the set list?”

“How about ‘Feeling Good, ‘ a Samba? We will let you start it and when it goes Jazzy, we will roll out on that section,” I suggested.

“That’s sound like a pretty good idea, Charles,” Michael said. “Hit it boys?” The violins started the song...

“Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin’ on by
You know how I feel
It’s a new dawn,
It’s a new day,
It’s a new life
For me and
I’m feeling good”

Here is where it changes to a good old Jazz number, or in our case a sultry Samba. It would even work as a striptease number – I may give Sarah that idea!

I started by pulling her leg up on my hip and pulling her out on stage in a new method, the Moms hadn’t seen before. Claire was alluring as can be.
“Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom on the tree
You know how I feel
It’s a new dawn,
It’s a new day,
It’s a new life
For me—and I’m
feeling good.”

Claire and I were using a lot of moves from our ‘Crazy Love’ routine, but obviously in a whole different sequence and a whole lot sexier than we’d danced this before. I saw Kalista swaying back and forth as Annie and Sarah were aghast and amazed at our new routine. My hands were lower on her back than I’d ever placed them before, practically on her butt.

As the song was finishing, we just went back and forth between Traveling Voltas and Reverse Turns—until the orchestra faded out.

And it was done.

Kalista was applauding tremendously, Michael seemed amazed and Annie and Sarah walked up to us with Sarah saying, “Magnificent you two. If you weren’t getting married, Annie and I would never let you perform that, but you are, and you will bring the house down when you do.”

Sarah walked over to Michael and gave him a kiss on the cheek saying, “Great Song, lover—Love it when you wail like that.”

“How about we close the show with that, Michael?” I asked.

He agreed and we left to our hotel and changed into something more suitable to check out San Diego.

The next day we got there ready to practice all day, carrying our performance clothes with us. After a full day of rehearsal, with the new stuff, ‘Daddy’s Little Girl, ‘ ‘Crazy Love, ‘ ‘Summer Wind’ and ‘I’m Not That Girl, ‘ and ‘Feeling Good’ all going well, everybody changed into their first dance clothes.

The evening started well, with Michael and Sarah’s duet of ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside, ‘ being loved by the crowd.

With two dance routines to go in the set, Claire came up to me and asked, “Charles, I can dance in it, do you want me to change into the Mini-Dress for our Finale?”

“For our mother’s sake, can you wear show pants under, or will they show?”

“They will show about two inches, but they’re exactly the same color as the dress?” Claire smiled.

“Do it, Claire-Bear.”

“OK, Charles—go dance with your mother now?” my hot fiancée said. We kissed quickly.

“Mom—you ready?”

“Yeah honey—but I am awfully nervous, what do you do when Claire or K gets nervous?”

“This.” I grabbed her and gave her the kiss of her life, well maybe my life, wrapping my arms around her and crying a bit.

“Ooh, Charles—Thank you, sweetie. Naughty boy,” she slapped me perfunctorily on my shoulder.

“Let’s Go,” I said.

‘Summer Wind’ started, we waited for Michael to get to the break and we came out. Boy, did Mom have a bounce in her step. Our dance was counter to Michaels singing, when the instrumental section came, Annie turned it up a gear and we had a blast dancing to this song, with Michael singing ... as it slowed down and we spun in place, until it was over. The crowd applauded quite appreciatively, as we bowed, (her very discretely), then left the stage.

Michael busted into his beautiful rendition of ‘Stardust, ‘ using some of the guys from his orchestra as the background singers. Claire came out, looking like a million bucks.

“Are you going to stay inside that dress you think, beautiful? I don’t want you to have a nuclear problem here,” I said, openly leering at her.

“Charles, Sarah got me some two-sided tape like the runway models use. The girls aren’t going anywhere I don’t want them to, OK?” She gave them a shake, to prove her point, and provide me a big smile.

I stepped back and looked her over, amazed at how stunning she looked in this outfit, with new 3inch heels as well.

Kalista came out and whistled at Claire and said, “Wow guys!”

Mom came out, having changed and looked at Claire and couldn’t get her mouth to work, which meant the effect was complete.

“ ... the final dance of the evening, ‘Feeling Good.’”

The orchestra’s violins start this number, until the jazz section started and we came out with her leg up on my hip very suggestively, to applause and cat calls and we danced in a combination of Samba and Rhumba steps we’d put together, along with a couple of pot-stirrers to fill in some places. Claire added consecutive Rondés, as we got towards the end, ready for the layout at the end.

Everybody got up en masse, applauding, cheering, whistling, and just appreciating the dancing of Charles, Claire, the Sparkling Kalista, Adorable Annie and the Saucy and Sexy Sarah.

When it was over, Michael came over and said, “Charles, that singly was the most outstanding dance number I have seen in my entire life. I am so very proud to call you all friends and collaborators.”

We stayed and signed autographs for a very long time. Some older guys were hanging around Claire, so I went up to her and reminded everyone that she’s only, not yet fifteen, and I had her show off her engagement ring. She was severely jiggling as she signed her autographs. We finally stopped and Claire went to change, along with Kalista. Sarah went in as a guard of sorts.

Annie came up to me saying, “That was exactly the number I was expecting out of you two, when I first heard it. Whose idea was it for Claire to wear that dress?”

“Mom, she had to talk me into letting her wear that outfit. She tried it on and due to her recent ‘endowment,’ I thought that she would never stay in it, but apparently Sarah approved, giving her some model’s tape to the keep the girls at bay.”

“I wish I’d looked like that when I was her age, Charles?” mom said.

“Miss Antoinette Moynihan, I have seen pictures of you and you were and still are, the hottest Mom in my life. I love you, so let’s gather up the girls so we can go out to dinner, please?”

While waiting for my ladies, I was thinking that I should create a number with just Claire and Kalista dancing. It’s got to be just the right music and just the right dance.

We kept the set intact for the additional San Diego Performances, as well the

11th City
Long Beach, CA
Two Nights
Hotel Royal

12th City
Anaheim, CA
Two Nights
Anaheim Marriott

13th City
Bakersfield, CA
One Night
Four Points by Sheraton

That finished up our So-Cal mini-leg and we all boarded Michael’s jet on the way to our,

14th City
Waikoloa, Hawaii
Two Nights
Hilton Waikoloa Village

It was a 9-hour flight. Each of my girls, including Annie and Sarah spent some time on my lap. Sarah spent some school time with Kallie and Claire allowing me to sleep a few hours. Michael rested the whole time.

We landed and went to the Waikoloa Village, where the moment we stepped into the place, we were greeted and ‘leid’ by some very pretty and lovely ladies. We all fell in love with the place. We walked through the Village as we entered the Hilton hotel, proper. As Sarah was checking us in, I took Claire aside.

“Claire-Bear, I know we just got here, but I feel it is the perfect spot for our honeymoon, what do you think?”

“Charles, this place is beautiful and I would simply adore coming back here as Mrs. Claire Newman.”

Sarah, Annie and K all left to go the rooms, Claire and I walked up to the counter.

“Hello, my name is Charles Newman, me and my fiancée here are getting married October 15^th next year and we want to make a long-term reservation for October 17^th through the 21^st, please?”

“Just a minute, please?” The lady said.

She picked up a phone and within seconds a gray-haired gentleman walked up.

“You are getting married and wish to make a reservation for a week, over a year in advance? May I see some id, please?”

“Do you know who this is?” A belligerent voice came from behind us.

“Sarah, don’t bother the man? We can book it at a different hotel, where people don’t jump to conclusions right away.”

“Excuse me, should I know who you are?” The gray-haired gentleman said with a bit of amusement and a bunch of sarcasm in his voice.

“Either you do or you don’t—that’s all right with me, your hotels’ loss though,” I remarked.

Sarah took us up to the rooms where they were indeed magnificent, with a view of the Pacific Ocean that was superb and a King bed with twin size sofa sleeper, along with a Kohala Spa bath. The clock radio even had a connection for a MP3 player.

Due to the length of the flight, combined with the time change, most of us decided to drop for an extended nap. Annie and Sarah took the sofa sleeper, while the three of us took over the King bed.

We’re performing in the Grand Ballroom, also within the confines of the Waikoloa Village. We all took a leisurely walk over to it and found Michael and his gang setting up for rehearsing. They arrived by a dedicated commercial flight.

“Aloha,” Michael said to us all.

We all greeted him in return.

“Claire, Nau Ko’ u aloha”
(Claire My love is Yours).

“Charles, ‘O Ku’u Aloha No ‘Oe”
(Charles You are indeed My Love).

Annie said, “Another language for these two to talk in? First it was Italian, now it’s Hawaiian.”

“Mother, I just told her how much I love her? That’s all,” I said.

“Same with me, Sarah,” Claire said.

“I know dear; I love him too, you know that,” she said.

I went to my phone and started to look for Hawaiian music to dance to. I gave Claire the other ear bud as we walked around inside this very spacious ballroom. We were arm in arm while the rest of them milled about.

I found some music to listen to, but nothing got us excited until we heard a wonderful older song called ‘Tiny Bubbles’ by Don Ho, the fabulous Hawaiian singer who had died just a few years earlier, a really upbeat Tango.

We started dancing right where we were, with our hips and Claire’s hips and butt were really moving. It was a lot of fun, although it is only two minutes and forty-five seconds long.

I threw her, popping her ear bud out, but she did two perfect spot spins on the carpet, no less. I went to her to make sure her ear was OK and she said it was. We turned to the crowd and it appeared they must have enjoyed it, although they couldn’t have heard it.

We casually walked over to them and told them we found a Hawaiian song to dance to. Michael thought it was a good idea to add a piece of local music, so we put in it the set just before our break between the two halves of the set.

As we were walking back to our rooms, I sent everybody ahead except Claire and me and we approached the front desk, again.

“Hello, Sir—How may I help you today?” A twenty-something young man asked us.

“I am Charles Newman and this is my fiancée Claire McArthur. We would like to book a suite for our honeymoon in about sixteen months. We’re getting married in Columbus Ohio, but would like a reservation for October 17^th thru the 21^st and would like a Palace suite with a single king bed?”

“Certainly Mr. Newman—We require a fee in advance for such a reservation. Do you have a charge card to put that on, please?”

I handed him our ‘Charles & Claire LLC’ Visa card, which any of us can use. He looked at it, then looked at us and broke into a great big smile.

“Yes, sir—Mr. Newman, thank you for booking with the Hilton Waikoloa,” he ran the card and produced a reservation sheet for us. He handed us the sheet and said, “Is there anything else I can do today for either of you.”

I thought of telling him of the gentleman who mistreated us, but I realized how petty that would be. I saw his name and said, “Sam, thank you for your time and trouble. You are one of the good ones.” He smiled in return.

Claire and I went to the bank of elevators and were recognized. We signed a few autographs and waited for our own elevator. As the elevator door closed, I grabbed at Claire and started to make out with her, surprising her at first, but pushed her up against the wall of the elevator, kissing her with everything I had.

As we got to our floor, we cleaned up a little, Claire cleaning off my face and hers, also she straightened up her dress and we went to our room. Just before we walked into the room, Claire smiled and said, “You are a bad boy, Charles.”

“I know,” I said as I smirked at my fiancée.

“Where have you two been?” Kalista asked.

“That’s an excellent question, Charles,” Annie added.

We proceeded to tell them about our booking the hotel for our honeymoon, but not what happened in the elevator. A gentleman never kisses and tells.

The two performances here in Hawaii went quite well. They particularly enjoyed our including, ‘Tiny Bubbles’ Tango. Claire and I are really starting to enjoy our ‘Feeling Good’ routine, as anyone could tell by the look on our faces during it.

Next up,

15th City
Las Vegas
Three Nights
Flamingo Hotel

With my approval, Sarah had sent out a Press Release that Charles & Claire & Kallie were coming and a crowd of one hundred or so of our loudest fans met us at the airport, where we gave autographs to them all. We got a rental to drive around and see all there was to see after we checked in. Once again, due to flight length and losing the hours traveling east, we checked in and crashed.

Claire and I were the first to wake up, so we changed into our suits and took a wonderfully relaxing soak in the oversized tub that had a few whirlpool jets in it. After we’re married and looking for a place to live, if Annie and Sarah will let us move out, a nice big Jacuzzi or Whirlpool tub is a must.

Invariably, there was a knock on the door and a voice said, “Having fun in there?” It was K.

“Yes,” Claire said. “This is a blast K, put on a suit and you can join us.” I looked at Claire and she gave me a naughty smile and said, “We have to include her from time to time, Loverboy.”

Kalista came in and looked delicious, causing me to growl. Claire said, “Down boy and I mean that in more ways than one.”

K got in and now all of the legs intertwined, although I must say, all of the legs looked marvelous.

“Claire, can I switch places with you for just a couple of minutes? Charles looks so yummy.”

We all giggled over that as Claire got up and K and her switched places. K settled down on my lap and gave out a sweet moan as I placed my hands on her tummy.

Claire was keeping a very close eye on both of my hands as well as Kalista’s, as K leaned back and closed her eyes. Annie and Sarah came in to see what was happening and they laughed at the configuration we were all in. They both looked at me—then left.

Thirty minutes later we were out, changed and ready to eat, plus whatever else we decided to do.

I suggested, “Claire, since it’s Vegas, why don’t we include the ‘Paso Doble’ from GREASE. This is the place if any ever was. It could swap places with ‘Feeling Good.’”

“I was just going to suggest the same thing Loverboy,” she said giggling.

“After we eat, let’s go to the Convention Center and check it out,” I said.

Everyone agreed.

We headed out. I checked with Sarah for autograph pens and the girls’ ballet slippers. She gave me a look—I gave her a kiss on the cheek and grabbed her and Annie’s arms and the girls walked ahead of us. Everywhere we walked, there were folks of all ages stopping us, some asking for us to pose in a picture with them, but mostly asking for autographs.

It being Vegas, people were everywhere, including some people dressed quite strangely, with hair of all colors, designs and styles. One gal even wanted my autograph across her mostly exposed chest, but both Claire and Sarah shooed her away.

I might have appeared too eager!

We ended up at the Brand Steakhouse and Lounge, which has a full menu of expensive food and a full bar, along with a nice-sized dance floor. The second we walked in, we were greeted by a very pretty young lady named Veronica, in her mid-twenties or so, with blonde hair and green eyes, and a nice sized pair of...

Claire immediately squeezed my hand, causing me to look at her face and give her a kiss. Veronica walked us to a table near the edge of the dance floor.

She said, “The Brand Steakhouse welcomes Charles & Claire along with your entire party. In about an hour or so, our DJ starts up. We would be honored if you would like to dance this evening. We knew you were coming into town and we thank you for coming in.”

“Would you ladies like to start the evening with a glass of wine?” Veronica asked Annie and Sarah.

“Thanks, but no thanks dear,” Sarah said. Annie waved her off as well.

“Then how about some appetizers?” Veronica persisted.

I’d looked at the menu and said, “How about a double order of Crispy Calamari, Veronica. That and water all around should do us.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Newman, May I see the ring please, dear?”

Beaming like the sun cutting through the clouds, Claire raised her hand up and Veronica looked at Claire then I and said, “Thank you, it’s beautiful.”

I quickly rejoined, “Not even a tenth as beautiful as she is, Veronica.”

Everyone ‘awwwed’ at that, as Veronica left. I grabbed Claire by the hand and kissed her with open mouth. Claire was returning the kiss when Sarah said, “Get a room!”

“We got one already for eight days. Although you may not see us for a couple of them, will they Claire-Bear?” I said, rubbing noses with my gal.

“Maybe four days, Loverboy,” Claire said, “But he may be walking funny for a while.” I blushed a great deal.

Kalista had a look on her face that told me she slowly understood our reference. She blushed, but still giggled.

Veronica came back with our Crispy Calamari and our water.

We all ordered and talked about what was coming up on Tour. A gentleman walked up and told us his name was Sammy and he was the DJ for the night.

“Charles & Claire—and this cutie must be the Sparkling Kalista. Before we get too busy, would you like to dance for our patrons. I would certainly love it and I know they would. I have every video that ever got to YouTube, guys?”

“Which one is your favorite?” Kalista asked him, her eyes sparkling.

“Don’t laugh, but my favorite is ‘I’m Not That Girl;’ Kalista has my heart. I know she’s only nine-years-old, but I really like that number. Your food will probably take at least thirty minutes—Please?” he implored.

The girls were changing into their slippers, as I got the CD from Sarah.

Sammy announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a real treat for you tonight. Charles & Claire, along with the Sparkling Kalista, are here having dinner. They have agreed to dance for us.”

A nice applause as Kalista cleared off, ready as I nodded to the DJ to begin. Claire and I performed our opening, when Kalista came from nowhere, en pointe and was tremendous ... performing her smooth ballet as she was crying and dancing. Her steps were light and perfect as she went through this fascinating dance. Her hand and her leg positions were brilliant again as she effortlessly performed this routine. As usual I couldn’t keep from crying watching her, even with my fiancée in my arms.

The song ended with Kalista leaving backwards at the same pace she entered with.

The audience stood up, cheered and applauded for her, as did Claire and I. Claire, K and I bowed together and went back to our table, just as our food had arrived.

I turned to Kalista and asked the question I’d been putting off, but I finally felt compelled to ask.

“Princess, what do you think of, that makes you cry so much while you dance that?”

I was prepared for the worst, hoping it wouldn’t be about Claire and me.

She said, “Charles, I think of June, my mother and the fact that she died breathing life into me. Then, I also think about the parents that raised me, Sarah and John. Lastly, I think about how much I love you and how lucky Claire is to be engaged to you.”

We were all on the edge of crying as she said this.

We left quite full, having also danced to ‘Big Blue Earth.’

The next evening I suggested, “Let’s go to Excalibur and try to get into the Tournament of Kings?”

Sarah got us a cab, using her great legs and we went to the entrance of Excalibur. When we got out, Sarah went to pay the cabbie, he said, “It’s on the house folks ... Now, I can say I carried Charles & Claire.”

I glanced at his license and said, “Thank you, Sylvester, you didn’t take us out of the way, you just did your job.”

He replied, “The main trouble is there are too many people who don’t know where they’re going and they want to get there too fast. You nice folks are the reason I got in the cabbie business, ‘bye.”

We hustled a little to get to the ticket counter to buy tickets for the seven pm show. We’d heard just in front of us they were sold out. Suddenly, I heard a shriek, the employee put up the sold out sign, but motioned for us to follow her.

We were being taken to a special location usually reserved for big-named celebrities, she had told us. We passed some of the actors putting on the last of their hardware. One of them stopped, kneeled and said, with his hand over his heart, “It is the fair maiden Kalista and the magnificent Charles & Claire of the Kingdom of Columbus.” They all kneeled, performing the same gesture, us as we passed by, with all of my girls giggling incessantly. I heard Sarah give a growl.

We were escorted to a table and a quite beautiful brown-haired woman, dressed somewhat provocatively said, “I am your wench, Katherine tonight, what you need I can bring you. Your first portion of dinner will be dragon’s blood. Does my lord and ladies want anything else specific to drink?”

I couldn’t take my eyes off this woman; Claire had to hit me on the shoulder saying, “It seems my Lord is taken withee wench. Since he appears unable to speak at the moment, could we all get a flagon of water?”

“A lady who speaks to the commoner like me, is truly beautiful both inside and out, when your lord can speak, remind him of this, fair lady,” and Katherine left.

I got my composure back, although they were all laughing at my behavior.

“Where’s the silverware?” Kalista asked looking around.

“Everything they give you to eat, you have to eat using your hands. All we get to start is our Dragon’s Blood and our drinks. They put on a show that I have only ever read about. At a point during the proceedings they bring out the meal. After the meal there is a ... kind of tournament; The Tournament of Kings,” I said with something of a flourish, just as Katherine the wench brought out our Dragon’s Blood, along with our drinks.

“It appears your young lord has regained the use of his tongue, by expositing the events that are upcoming this night, and a handsome lad he is as well. Who are these wonderful looking wenches you have with you, Lord Charles?” Katherine asked, as she set our drinks down.

“The young wench on this end is the fair Kalista, with beauty of face and terpsichore extraordinaire, next to her, my fair Lady Claire also fair of face and heart, to whom I am betrothed, in October of our 16^th year. On the far end, is my wench and concubine Sarah, whilst next to me is thine own mother, Queen Antoinette of Springfield. From wherest thou is the fair wench, Katherine?” I said surprising everyone, including myself with my Elizabethan exposition.

“Alas Lord Charles, I am a wench from Antebellum in the land of South Carolina.” We all snickered at her pontification.

She left as we all started to drink our Dragon’s Blood, washing it down with water. After a moment there was a musical flourish and a large poof of smoke and someone looking like Merlin the Magician appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the dirt level of the auditorium. He started to walk around watching us watching him. After some set dialogue between him and the jester who appeared as well, he walked up to just under us and said, “My Ladies and Lords, we have visitors here tonight who have taken a long journey from the land called Ohio, in a kingdom called Columbus.”

This got quite the laugh.

“I believe it is Lord Charles and Lady Claire and the fair Maiden Kalista who wait your approval to continue our affairs of the evening. Please stand and see all that you can see, Lord and Ladies?” Good adlibbing, I thought.

I got up, raising Claire to stand and then walked over to Kalista, placing them on either side of me. The roar of the people was quite impressive.

We waved to everyone as Merlin stopped and let us enjoy this moment. We stepped away and sat back down. Katherine slipped in and very quickly gave me a peck on the cheek, saying, “You certainly know your stuff, young man. I will be back with your food in a moment.”

Next, King Arthur is introduced, along with the knights aboard galloping horses, with each of them adorned in beautifully colored regalia. As they pranced about the stadium, a large round wooden table is dropped into the middle of the arena.

Katherine appears with our food, along with another ‘Wench in training,’ and they quickly gave us all of our food. They topped off our drinks and took away our Dragon’s Blood vessels. I pulled Katherine to one side and said, “We never paid?”

“Excalibur is taking care of you tonight, enjoy the food and the competition, Lord Charles.” She bent over deeply, showing serious cleavage as Claire pulled my attention back to the stadium.

We each got a roasted Cornish game hen, steamed vegetables and a hefty plate of biscuits to share. I watched K try to figure out how to pick the hen up to eat it, so I got her attention and just placed my hand on either end of it and dug in. K smiled and did her best to emulate my style of eating.

The knights were eating as well, sitting around ‘the round table,’ talking boisterously and clanging their vessels in toast after toast. After they were done eating, they decided to hold a competition to determine who’s ‘Best of the Best!’

The competition is interrupted by the evil Mordred, who attempts to steal the entire kingdom from Arthur. Really good dialogue and action sequences alongside the special effects made for exciting story telling as the evil Mordred is defeated and vanquished as the knights unite to save the Kingdom.

Katherine brought each of my ladies a scarf to give to their favorite knight. I mouthed ‘thank you’ to her as she left. The knights were fighting for position as the ladies thoroughly enjoyed this obvious improvised portion of the evening.

First, Sarah had a yellow scarf as the knights fought for it as it was dropped from about fifteen or so feet above them. The young man, who got it, smelled it and put it to his heart and stepped away. Sarah came back to the table, grinning.

Next, Annie had a purple scarf, the remaining knights looked like they were really putting some effort to make this look real, the one who caught hers, blew her a kiss and she plucked it from the air, as the crowd was eating this up.

Following Annie was Claire, who had a bright blue scarf and pointed at me to come over to the edge, so the audience could see her put it around my neck as she pulled me toward her and we kissed a really nice kiss and the knights moaned below us.

We all stepped away leaving Kalista alone ... with her red scarf.

She realized the game and started to let go, but didn’t, inciting the knights and the crowd. She saw the knight who had spoken to her when we first arrived at the hall and pointed to him, causing the other knights to walk away, acting disgusted. She dropped her scarf to him and he took it and kissed it and crawled up the wall to get a kiss from her. Sarah was ready in case he tried anymore then a peck on the cheek. He got up and over the precipice and kneeled.

Kalista gave him a kiss on the cheek. He hoisted her upon his shoulder and the crowd was in a frenzy. Sarah whispered, “She’s nine years old.”

He responded, “I know mom, this is just for show. We only do this maybe once or twice a year.” While he was talking to Sarah, he was still waving at the crowd as the spotlight went off him.

Merlin started speaking in the background as this knight walked through our area, saying to me, “You have hit the proverbial jackpot without even gambling, Lord Charles.” He turned and said, back in character, “Fair maiden Kalista ... until we meet again,” and he left.

With the same flourish he appeared, there was a poof of smoke and Merlin was gone.

Katherine returned with sweet pastries for desert for everyone. She had a great big smile on her face as she was serving us.

“What’s making you smile so large, wench Katherine?” I asked.

She whispered out of character, “The knight who won Maiden Kalista’s scarf is my boyfriend. The knight who climbs to reach the Maiden or Lady gets a big bonus.”

“You mean besides ... being your boyfriend?” I flirted quietly as well.

“What would this have cost us if we’d paid for it?” I added.

“About 65 dollars a person ... Why do you ask?” she responded.

I reached into mom’s wallet and took out a hundred-dollar bill and folded it once and carefully placed it between Katherine’s hefty bosom saying, “You were the best wench I have ever had, Katherine.”

She started to tear up a little. I pushed her out saying, “Go to him and tell him you love him.”

Our ‘wench in training’ came and got us and took us back to the entrance where we started, 80 minutes earlier. We need one of these in Columbus.

I had Claire on my arm with Kalista in front of us and Annie and Sarah behind us. I quietly asked Sarah for some pens, which she had at the ready.

People were exiting the stadium, wanting autographs, quickly surrounding us. The three of us signed a lot of autographs very quickly and then started to move along to not block the entertainers exit. We had people smiling at us, telling us their favorite number, many liking ‘For Good,’ but just about as many liking ‘Marry You.’

The crowd finally started thinning as a number of folks walked out of the entertainer’s area and joined the throng, each wanting an autograph of their own. Many of them had our posters in their hands. One gentlemen who wasn’t familiar to me like the rest, came up to me and said, “You were quite the showman yourself tonight, young Charles,” he said in his Merlin voice; he was probably only 25; Wow!

After everyone else was gone, one last couple walked up to us. She had flaming red hair and a red scarf around her neck and he looked like a professional athlete. She handed me my poster and I wrote, “A Wonderful Knight and a Wonderful Wench, Yours truly, Charles Newman.” She asked to see Claire’s ring up close while he knelt in front of Kalista and said, “When we have kids someday, I want a little girl just like you.”

Kalista remarked, “You have gotta marry her first, Charles told me you are supposed to be married to have babies.”

What a shock to our group of people as Annie and Sarah started to giggle, snort and gasp.

“You know Kalista, you are exactly right?” The young man said.

He stood up, grabbed something from his pocket and kneeled again, this time in front of Katherine and said, “Mary Katherine Powers ... Will You Marry Me?”

Before he could put the ring on her finger, she started to jump up and down, screaming and crying. My girls surrounded her and they all congratulated her. He was still on his knee and asked, “Does that mean, Yes?”

“God Yes, I have been waiting for this slug to get off his butt and ask me to marry him for two years?” Katherine said.

“Oh, my name is Daniel Majors, Katherine and I met and fell deeply in love, here at Tournament of Kings a little over two years ago and we kept putting off doing anything, because of money. Kalista choosing me earned me a great big bonus tonight, so now we can afford to get married. Thank you all very much, especially you, Kalista. Charles is absolutely right, a couple is supposed to get married—then have babies, not the other way around. We plan to buy a full set of your posters, so we can come to your wedding.”

“Sarah, hand me two discount cards please?” I asked.

“Yes sir, Mr. Newman,” she said rather smugly.

“Daniel and Mary Katherine, there is a code on each of these that will get you each a free, complete set of our posters. You are the first two people I have given one to and you certainly are the most deserving couple I can hope for. You both played your parts quite well tonight, both on and off stage. Wait until Labor Day to order your posters ... Oh, how soon are you planning on getting married?”

“Probably tomorrow, you are all invited?” Katherine said quickly.

“Unfortunately, we have to practice tomorrow, so the best of luck to you both; you two deserve to be married. To say to you what has been said to Claire and me more times than I can count, ‘Your children will be very beautiful,’ Goodnight,” I said.

We all hugged each other and then parted. We walked out and Sarah hailed a cab.

Amazingly, it was Sylvester again! We got in asking to go back to the Flamingo Hotel. Once again, he refused payment and told us he was going to go ice-skating. He said it made him feel content.

Getting back to our rooms, we all changed into sleepwear and went straight to bed, although it was only ten thirty at night. What a whirlwind of memories that I will have from this evening, I thought, as I fell asleep the moment my head hit my pillow.

Waking up the next day feeling quite rested, the girls and I stretched before we went off to the convention center. First thing, we showed Michael our number from GREASE, explaining we would swap it back and forth with ‘Feeling Good.’ The practice went well and Michael kicked us out at five pm. We went back to the room and I called a C-Cask meeting.

“We need to discuss what will be on the ‘Wedding Ticket’ and if we’re going to limit the number of tickets any one person can buy, along with how many we want to allot each day in sales. Anybody with something to say about what should be written on the ticket?”

“Annie?”

She remarked, “Charles, I am something of a traditionalist. Something like, ‘Antoinette Newman and Sarah Rollins would like to invite the bearer of this ticket to see and enjoy the wedding of Charles Xavier Newman to Claire Tiffany McArthur.’”

Sarah chimed in with, “In lieu of presents for the couple, please contribute to any of the following; your local public library, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity or...”

“The Boy Scouts of America,” I added.

“That’s a great sounding list,” Claire said.

“Great, you guys—brainstorming works with the five of us, since we all seem to share a brain,” I said.

They all laughed at that.

“OK, limiting how many any one person can buy—should we worry about scalping or not?”

“Charles, what’s that?” Kalista asked with an anxious look on her face.

“No dear, it’s not literally scalping. That’s what it’s called when a person buys tickets and then tries to resell them making a profit in the process. It’s allowed some places, but most of the time it’s frowned upon, or outright illegal.”

“Since nobody has an opinion about this, we won’t worry about it. Next up, my original idea was take our 110,000 tickets and divide that by 365 days which comes out to just over 300 tickets a day; we could cap daily sales to guarantee there will be tickets every day to sell,” I said.

Sarah was quick to respond, “But that sounds like people getting tickets in the last couple of weeks might have trouble finding a place to stay last minute. Remember, these people will be flooding the greater Columbus area looking for hotels, flights in and such?”

Annie asked, “Why not raise the sales per day to 400, then how long would that take to sell out Charles?”

“That would be 275 days, Mom,” I replied.

Claire said, “That’s really scary how quickly you can do that math, honey-buns.”

“That would mean if they all sold as quickly as we hope, they would all be sold in just over nine months, giving the last people three months to make plans. If we went to a 500 limit, that would give us a sellout in about seven and one-half months. The last people to buy, no matter what, will have a tougher time booking flights and hotels, but that also gives them more time to make alternative plans of some kind,” I said.

“Let’s try it from a different direction Charles,” Claire said. “If we wanted to sell them in six months, what would that make our cap?”

“Every day, 601 tickets. You think we could sell that many a day, Claire?” I asked.

“Charles, the last time we talked about it, you said we had sold almost seven million posters and that’s only been since when?” Claire asked.

“About 9 months ago, so 7 million posters in 270 days is around 26 thousand a day. Crap. Without a daily cap we could sell out in less than 5 days, conceivably. I like Claire’s idea; 600 a day, any not sold would roll over and be available the next day. If we sell them all, we make $11 million dollars and have a technical sellout. If they all show up, we have a physical sellout and Columbus gets a kick in the economy, like they hadn’t seen since Ohio State used to win all of their games.”

“OH, Geez ... Ohio Stadium doesn’t have permanent lights! Did we negotiate for lights at our wedding Sarah?” I asked, suddenly sweating.

Sarah got up and came over and sat in my lap, much to the consternation of Claire, who giggled as she got out of the way.

“Charles (kiss) do you think (kiss) that I would let my daughter (kiss) marry the young man of her dreams (kiss) and not have any lights?” (big kiss on the mouth)

Pulling from the suction she was causing, I said “Sorry Sweet-Lips. I think you just broke my lap?”

Everybody laughed at that as Claire pulled her mother off me, not for the first time either.

Kalista brought up, “Do we need to put the address of the stadium on the ticket, or would that already be on it?”

“That’s bloody brilliant sweetheart—you are absolutely right. Make a note of that somebody. Does that conclude all we need on the ticket?” I asked, looking around at each of them.

Sarah said, “To confirm, it comes with aisle, row and seat number already on it. We’re adding to that what Annie and I suggested and now the address. We’re getting the tickets to look like gold, do we want a map to the stadium on the back of the tickets themselves? I negotiated a ticket with data on both sides.”

I went over to Sarah and got up on her lap, giving her a great big hug, with Claire being ever watchful of the two of us.

I got up, turning back towards the group. “What time should we open the place up to cars?”

“What time do we want to get married Charles? How about dusk?” Claire asked.

“Sarah the computer, please?” I asked. “Thank you.”

“Sunset on our date is at 6:52pm, so an eight pm ceremony with any and all other performers starting no later than five pm, figuring how long it will take for all of the people to arrive and get settled. Hmmm, we should suggest people start arriving around ten am. It’s a New Moon starting around noon that same day. Sarah, what do you think?”

“Everything you just mumbled matched perfectly with what the stadium people told your mother and I. It’s impressive how you did that massive calculation in your head, so ‘Gates Open at 10am’ should be on the ticket as well, anything else Loverboy?”

“MOTHER!”

“Sarah, go ahead and mock that up at your earliest convenience, so we all can proof it before sending it into them, please?” I said.

“Anybody else got anything to say about anything at all?” I asked, stifling a yawn. “I am tired, I am taking a nap, but could someone give me a back massage first, my sore spot is back.”

Looking over at Kalista, I suddenly realized, “Sarah, please add that The Sparkling Kalista Rosemary McArthur will be the Maid of Honor.

That caused Kalista to light up like a Christmas tree.

“I’ll give you your back rub,” said Claire. “After I rub him, I will probably lay down too.”

After we all got back up, about an hour later, Sarah showed us all what the ticket will look like, using the laptop.

“It’s so pretty,” Kalista said touching the screen.

“The map is spot on, Sarah. You have got some mad computer skills baby—now all you need is a man! Oops, sorry about that, a person to love,” I said, giving her and Mom a look. They smiled back.

“Hey everybody, before we go out for dinner, let’s start talking about who we would like, of those who have expressed interest, to perform for the crowd, prior to the ceremony? If we have people start arriving at ten am, I suggest we start performers at five pm, letting them each do two numbers with either Michael’s Orchestra or with a piece of canned music they provide us.”

They all agreed with this concept.

“All right, I will list four artists and you give me a thumbs up or down. If four of us give thumbs up, they pass. You don’t have to explain yourself at all to either me or Claire, OK?”

They all chuckled at my scenario.

“Jack Jones, The All-girl rock band Heart, Leanne Rimes, Helen Reddy?”

“OK, we will contact Leanne, Jack and Heart.”

“Natalie Cole, Blake Shelton, Brandy and The O’Jays?”

“All right, we will contact Blake and the O’Jays.”

“Jewel, Freshmen Fifteen, Shania Twain, Josh Groban?”

“Charles, these artists do realize they aren’t getting paid for this?” Annie questioned.

I looked over at Sarah, with her saying, “I made it clear after the first few came in, that this was voluntary and unpaid, but these big-name people still want to perform?”

They gave me their response to my last group and we will be contacting the F15 and Josh Groban.

“One last group of five, Hayley Williams, Sheryl Crow, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel and Al Green?”

“OK, all of them; that gives us 12 artists so far, with 3 hours to fill, so we either give them each a longer set, or we need 18 more artists. This event is over a year away, remember.”

“Next, We have 808 US cities who want us to come to them for our AP Tour. Don’t worry! Annie, Sarah and I will work these out. Is anybody besides me hungry?”

Claire stood up and said, “I am thirsty for a tall drink of Charles Newman,” causing laughter all around the room.

We got room service and Claire got her ‘drink’ as well, which resulted in everyone getting a ‘sip’ of their own.

“Poster sales, everybody,” I said, getting up on the bed as they all gathered around me, making some whoops and hollers as I sat down on the bed with the laptop, opened the site and refreshed it and then started.

“As of right now, Ladies and ... Ladies,”

“Number 20;”
666,000 Claire & Charles newest pose

“Number 19;”
697,000 Sarah & Charles newest pose

“Number 18;”
715,000 New Charles Open Collar

“Number 17;”
748,000 Annie & Charles newest pose

“Number 16;”
888,000 Kallie & Charles newest pose

“Number 15;”
937,000 Charles in Blue Suit

“That’s my sweet fiancé in my Favorite Suit of his,” Claire said.

“Number 14;”

“DING DONG”

“Sarah, could you get the food please?” I asked.

“Sure thing Loverboy?” she said seductively, on purpose.

“MOTHER!”

Sarah opened the door to a female attendant who announced the food we ordered was here. She brought it in and after explaining to us to leave it outside the door when finished, she asked, “May I please get an Autograph?”

I said, “Sure. What’s your name?”

“Kathy Burkett.”

She pulled a tube out and we all signed a five heads and a Dance Pose poster for her. “Thanks,” she said as she left the room.

Kalista said, “Did anybody else notice she couldn’t take her eyes off Charles?”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Claire said. “But I didn’t want to break her scrawny little neck.” Everybody laughed heartily at that.

“Where’d I leave off somebody?” I asked.

“In a second, honey,” Claire said.

“When Kathy walked in, what was the first thing you noticed about her, be honest. I want to know how my guy thinks,” Claire said.

“Will you hit me, if you don’t like my answer?” I responded.

“No, I won’t hit you, you can be totally honest with me, Charles,” Claire said.

“OK. When I see a girl or woman for the first time, I am drawn to her face; that happened with Claire, Sarah and Kalista; second how quickly it turns into a smile and how big a smile it is. K has the biggest smile of the four of you.” K beamed.

“Not what I expected?” Sarah said.

“I am not done yet. Next, are the legs. The young lady Kathy, who just left, had nice legs, like Mom does. Then up the legs to the butt, hers seemed about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, with Annie’s butt being perfection.”

“Aww, honey—that’s so sweet, naughty, and weird?” Annie said.

“Lastly, my eyes go to her chest, unless she’s very big, like Claire, Sarah or Idina, then I may go there first,” I finished.

“That’s interesting,” Sarah said. “Mine are bigger than Idina’s, but she carries hers higher by wearing a bird-dog bra.”

“A bird-dog bra?” I questioned.

“Yeah, it takes a pair of setters and turns them into pointers,” Sarah said, having suckered me into an apparent punch line, as all of the ladies started laughing, snorting, and jiggling.