Chapter 45

I blushed deeply as we started to dance using our classic routine we’d made so long ago, to this—her favorite song. She glowed as we danced close enough together to push the ‘girls’ up and against my chest.

I glanced quickly down at them, but I just as quickly, returned to the beautiful face of my future mother-in-law as we danced alone on the dance floor. The music ended as I rolled her out and in, ending with my arms completely surrounding her from behind.

The audience had been as enraptured of her as I had and gave us a very kind round of applause. As we started back to the table, Bert walked to his microphone and said, “That was Charles Newman of Charles & Claire, with his soon to be mother-in-law. That wedding day should be quite astonishing.” The crowd loved it and laughed as we bowed to them.

“Maybe we can get Charles back up here with his usual dancing partner, his fiancée Claire McArthur and watch them dance one of those award-winning routines of theirs?” Bert went on to say.

I let Sarah head back to the table as Claire came forward, getting her own lively round of applause. She waved to the crowd of people as she and I walked back to the middle of the dance floor.

I yelled over to Bert, “Surprise Us.”

He broke into a wonderful instrumental arrangement of ‘Kiss the Girl’ and we smiled and Claire gave me a kiss, then we started our Samba routine, as if we’d practiced earlier, but it’d been quite a while, actually. Nonetheless, my hips and her legs remembered what to do, as we moved together as a single person performing the dance moves from so long ago. We finished along with Bert and his menagerie of musicians.

The audience stood up and cheered us, lauding us appreciatively. All of this racket must have caused Ms. Chenoweth to come out to see what was going on.

I noticed her and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen; Tony Winner, Emmy Winner, along with being voted the Most Popular Broadway Star last year, the Gorgeous Miss Kristin Chenoweth.”

The applause went from us to her, as she motioned us to come over to her.

“I have heard that you two cutie-pies have made some wonderful routines to some of my music?” she said flashing that famous smile of hers.

“Yes, Ms. Chenoweth, to some music from WICKED, however we could easily dance to anything you sing, anything along the lines of ‘Popular’ to Broadway music, that is.”

“That sounds like fun, have you ever heard of ‘Maybe This Time,’ from CABARET. I sang it on GLEE as well.”

“Yes, Ms. Chenoweth—we know that song, we’d be honored to dance while you sing?”

“Well, I am not supposed to start for another twenty minutes, but I won’t tell anybody if you don’t?” She giggled and broke into that beautiful toothy smile of hers again, as I told Bert what was happening. She is only 4ft 11inches tall in flats, but she is a presence to behold!

The piano started. The flute followed.

I heard and felt a quick syncopated Waltz beat, I leaned in and told Claire, ‘Sweetheart Tree—but faster.’

The orchestra started as Kristin started to sing...

“Maybe this time I will be lucky,
Maybe this time he will stay,
Maybe this time for the first time,
Love won’t hurry away.

He will hold me fast
I’ll be home at last –
Not a loser ... anymore
Like the last time and the time before.”

Here’s where we were started dancing, so we moved over and began our routine. We snapped to close and went for it. This was going to be ‘old school’ dancing and we got into the groove of the music, being a little counter to Kristin—Miss Chenoweth.

“Everybody loves a winner,
So nobody loved me,
Lady peaceful, Lady happy
That’s what I long to be.”

“All the odds are,
they’re in my favor,
Something’s bound to begin,
It’s gotta happen—
Happen sometime,
Maybe this time I will win

I knew there was a break coming, so we pulled back; ready to finish with a series of spins.

Everybody,
they love a winner,
So nobody loved me,
Lady peaceful Lady happy,
That’s what I long to be.”

Claire and I finished with Waltz spins, until Kristin was finished with her final note and we stopped just as she stopped.

Damn, we’re darn good – but she’s tremendous!

The audience stood up and applauded for a couple of minutes. Seeing Kristin beaming, we waited, and we bowed after she had.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, these kids are so very good and so cute,” Kristin said, as we waved at the crowd and went back to our table, “Give them a hand, will ya?”

Bert announced, “Ms. Chenoweth will be back in fifteen minutes.”

My ladies all gave both Claire and me, big hugs. Sarah held me for a moment and said, “Damn; you are a great dancer, Charles Newman.”

I sat back down between Claire and Kalista and found out that Mom ordered dinner for us. I blew her a kiss across the table.

“Ladies and Gentlemen ... Miss Kristin Chenoweth!”

The beginning strains of ‘My Funny Valentine’ started, I felt Claire squeeze my hand but I leaned over and said, “No—not yet sweetie, we don’t know her well enough to just pop up and dance.”

What a ginormous voice from this not quite five-foot-tall mistress of song! She followed up this classic song with a couple of songs from her first album, called ‘Let Yourself Go.’ I found that on my iPhone, Googling her. She followed this up with a song of hers I had seen on YouTube a while back called ‘Taylor, the Latte Boy,’ which is a hysterical song, which brought significant applause when it was over.

She took a well-deserved breather and came over to our table, causing all of the ladies to giggle, of course Mom snorted, which made Kristin laugh out loud.

“So, what kind of music do you kids like the most?” she asked, looking at Kalista, who turned away giggling and blushing. She then went to Claire and asked the same question.

“Ms. Chenoweth, we like all kinds of songs, especially the songs that Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Michael Bublé sing—the ‘crooners’ as Charles calls them,” my lovely ‘almost significant other’ answered.

“Oh, I see that you defer to this cutie-pie of yours, don’t you?” Kristin said to Claire.

To take the onus off Claire I said, “Ms. Chenoweth, two of our most popular dance routines are two songs you and Idina sang in Wicked; ‘For Good’ and ‘I am Not That Girl.’ If you could find a way to do either of those songs—we could really show you our stuff, then?”

“Well, maybe I can—it’s been lovely to talk to y’all?” she said and she went back up to the spot she’d been singing from.

“Hey everybody, a few years back I got picked to be in a Broadway show and I had the luck to meet, rehearse with and sing and act with the most marvelous singer I’d heard, since I began singing in front of people.”

The audience chuckled at that.

“Her name is Idina Menzel, and here she is.”

Idina came out to hoots, applause and wolf whistles, as the music to ‘Defying Gravity’ started. They still have the electricity together they had for their year doing WICKED.

As they sang the song, I looked and saw both of my girls quickly changing into their slippers, hoping against hope, that we might be called up. Both of them grabbed my hands looking at each other and me all though this song.

Our food came during this time, but we all decided to wait, just in case. The song was over with the ladies harmonizing like nobody’s business. It might have been almost eight years since they sang together. They are so good, the hair on the back of my neck went up as the ladies held the final notes so cleanly and in perfect pitch!

My girls and I led the standing ovation for them, applauding very hard and cheering for them.

As the ovation died down, we saw Idina wave at us. Kristin motioned for us to come up.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Kristin said. “My good buddy Michael Bublé and this lady next to me, have both told me, that if I was ever in Columbus, Ohio to get Charles & Claire and the Sparkling Kalista to dance for me. I spoke to these young people earlier and I feel really old right now.” That broke everybody up, including Idina.

We walked up on stage to tumultuous applause, turning and waving to the crowd. I heard Kristin quietly ask, “Which one first, Charles?”

“‘For Good,’ please?”

Kristin and Idina moved over to give us most of the floor to use. I gave a quick kiss to each of my girls as they were getting in position. I nodded to Kristin and Bert. The music started.

Idina started the song, “I’m limited... “ As my girls performed the routine. Both K and Claire were inspired. As K got up en pointe and performed her beginning, I joined them and the routine never felt as remarkable, as it did right now ... I was barely able to contain my emotions.

The ladies singing sounded crisp and exactly as the recording we typically dance this to. The Jetés and Rondés never looked as good as tonight’s; the song, the orchestra, the singers and my dance partners were all magnificent as it all, much too quickly, came to an end.

The audience rose as one, applauding all of us. We bowed and drew our arms over to the ladies and the crowd got louder. The ladies drew their arms back to us and the crowd stayed standing, cheering and applauding. I sent Kalista off-stage, first giving her a quick kiss.

The noise finally lessened as Claire and I got into our starting position for Idina’s live rendition of ‘I am Not That Girl.’ Kristin left her alone, as Bert saw my head bob and began.

Claire and I danced our usual opening moves, in preparation for Kalista’s entrance. With half a measure to go before the singing started.

The music began!

Kalista came running on-stage en pointe and began the performance of her young life, with tears already streaming down her face...

KRISTIN
Hands touch, eyes meet,
sudden silence, sudden heat
Hearts leap in a giddy whirl.
He could be that boy,
but I’m not that girl

Don’t dream too far,
don’t lose sight of who you are,
don’t remember that rush of joy.
He could be that boy,
But I’m not that girl

K danced her much practiced and performed, routine, so beautifully...

Every so often we long to steal,
to the land of what might have been,
but that doesn’t soften the ache we feel
when reality sets back in

Instead of dancing, I simply got in behind Claire, with my arms around her, as 200 sets of eyes were watching this precious young lady emoting at the level of a dancer twice her age...

Blithe smile, blithe limb
she who’s winsome,
she wins him,
gold hair with a gentle curl,
that’s the girl he chose
and heaven knows,
I’m not that girl

Each and every one of her balletic moves garnered a gasp from the audience. Her eyes dripping as her arms led her legs to the next moves, causing me to kiss Claire on the back of her neck. The song was winding down as Kalista prepared to leave, first with her faux exit, then she dropped her head and ran off backwards, en pointe.

You could have heard a pin drop, it was so quiet for about two seconds—than Kalista came back and the three of us all bowed together. I needed her to take her own bow, and she did, smiling at everyone as she broke every heart in the restaurant with her talent, beauty and her smile.

The applause reminded me for a moment of when we performed at Nationals—There again were shouts of encouragement from the audience. She ran over to Idina and they gave each other a wonderful hug.

We got to our table, the food we ordered, although a little cool, was still quite good. There was a short break in the music while two chairs were brought out of stage. The ladies came out and sat in the two chairs—they started some dialogue from WICKED, as the music came in, and Kristin started the song ‘Popular,’ which was a hoot. I was holding my girls hands as it happened in front of us. Sorry, actresses in WICKED on Broadway right now; these two are Glinda and Elphaba; everybody knows that!

The rest of the evening was a lot of fun, getting up and dancing with each of my ladies. At the end of the evening, both Kristin and Idina came to our table, telling us how they were looking forward to being at our wedding. Idina noticed Annie and Sarah holding hands and went over to Sarah and said, “Looks like you have gone up in class from Michael, Dear,” which caused Annie to mouth ‘thank you’ to Ms. Menzel.

Back at home, we all changed into bedclothes, with Claire wearing one of my dress shirts, instead of the infamous ‘orgy’ shirt. She still looked fabulous. We were all sitting down in the living room.

“Charles, the reason I like wearing one of your shirts, is that it has your scent on it and I feel so comfortable—like you have your arms wrapped around me,” Claire said.

“And yes, I have panties on, ladies?” she added, giving me a wonderfully little girl smile.

“Anybody have anything they want to talk about before we all head to bed?” I asked.

Sarah’s hand shot up.

“Yes, Miss Rollins—what do you have to say to the class?” I said, causing all to chuckle.

“I want to apologize again, to Claire specifically, and both of you as well—My experience from when I was a teenager after the assault, was very traumatic. I’d decided not to tell anyone after my uncle ... dammit, after it all happened. I thought I’d completely repressed it and I hope we can get past this, because I care so much for all of you, especially this lady who has come into my life,” She broke into tears reaching for my mother’s hand.

Instead, Annie went and sat on her lap, saying, “Charles, after your father left us, I was afraid—I tried not to show it, but Sarah has helped me past the pain.”

“Let’s all get to bed, tomorrow is another day—Remember girls, OB/GYN appointment first thing—Sarah, will Charles be safe with you and he alone tomorrow for a couple of hours?” Annie said with a lecherous sound in her voice, getting off Sarah’s lap.

Sarah got up and climbed into my lap and said, “Mommy, can Daddy and I take a spa together tomorrow?” She looked over to Claire, who busted up laughing and said, “Provided you can keep your suit on. I trust Charles—completely. It’s you that gives me pause, young lady.”

“Well, (kiss) Mommy—Daddy is so nice (kiss) and he has such soft hands (kiss) I may need to give him (kiss) a deep muscle massage (kiss) and make sure ‘all’ of his muscles (kiss) are nice and relaxed.” (Kiss)

Everybody was breaking up through this, including Kalista.

Sarah got up off me and we all went off to bed.

Claire and I were walking to our room as I put my hand on her back and didn’t feel the waistline of a pantie. She looked over at me and said, “Daddy, I am sorry ... you won’t spank me for forgetting to put on a pair of panties, will you?”

“What will I do with you, Claire-Bear?” I said shaking my head in wonder.

“Oh, Daddy—I am sure we can think of something?” Claire said as she closed the door behind her. Odds bodkins!

During the evening, I must have cuddled up too close to her backside, and I heard

“Ohhh, Charles that feels so nice against my butt. Push closer, please? It isn’t sex, it’s only cuddling until you feel really good.”

Her logic was partially flawed, but the brain in my boner had taken over for the moment. To make the moment complete, I reached inside the bottom of my t-shirt and my right hand felt the softness of her right breast, “Please, don’t moan or we are banned forever, all right?”

The rest of the evening was quite blissful, until there was a knock on the door, and reminded her of the trip to the doctor.

Annie, Claire and Super K left for the Ob/Gyn, and I’d never gotten out of bed.

Claire had slipped out, took a shower and changed; all while I was asleep, although she gave me nice kiss as she left.

There was a knock on the bedroom door.

“Come in Sarah.”

She opened the door, with her hair not combed—She had on a man’s button down shirt, with only a single button holding it all together. She walked in, closed the door and took off the shirt.

My alarm clock woke me up from what could have been my best dream ever – dammit!

I got up and got into a suit and went out back and found her in the spa.

“Are you wearing a suit my dear?” I asked.

She stood up, and I woke up again—damn, damn, damn!

“Charles—Charles, are you staying in bed all day?” It was Sarah, I was unsure of anything at this point.

“Sarah, I could use a rubdown, come on in.”

She walked in, wearing a rather tight t-shirt without a bra and her short jeans that showed off her legs and some of her butt as well.

“Where does it hurt?” she asked.

Laughing, I remarked, “Looking at you dressed like that, maybe I should say ‘everywhere.’”

“You sure are good for my ego, do you want me to go and put on a bra, or can you handle the girls flopping around inside a t-shirt?”

“I think I can, Sarah—you are extremely beautiful and you are quite the tease when you are dressed like that. I will do my best, but if I blush or seem distracted, please understand—I am a weak-minded 15-year-old bag of hormones and ... ah shit, never mind.”

“Charles, what a potty mouth?”

“Why didn’t you take the girls to the doctor, Sarah?”

“Your mother offered to take care of that for me, I wanted to stay home and play ... with my Charles.”

“Pinch me, please Sarah—it’s important,” I asked.

She did and everything stayed like it was. Yippee!

I rolled over onto my belly and Sarah started a complete massage, noticing my boxers were off and I was naked.

It might have been my imagination, but I swear I heard a low moan as she started with my feet. As she moved up my leg, I felt her hands melt into my muscles as the tension in them quickly released.

After it was over, with my legs and back ‘popped,’ Sarah climbed into bed with me and assumed the same position Claire usually did, right up behind me, with her bosom pressed against my back. I could tell that her girls were soft.

“Oooh, I can see why Claire likes this—you feel nice, Charles, we have got over an hour, don’t stress.”

“Yeah, my fiancée is getting a prescription for birth control pills, while her mother is in bed with me, seducing me, trying to get me hard, which happened the second you walked into the room.”

“Relax Charles,” Sarah said as she put her hand ... just above the waistline of my boxers.

Lord, give me strength!

“CHARLES XAVIER NEWMAN—what the ... hell is going here?”

The ladies must have come home quieter than I would have expected.

Rubbing my eyes, I said, “Sarah gave me a complete body massage. it wore both of us out and we fell asleep. Nothing untoward happened, honestly honey!”

Pulling the sheets off of us, and seeing my boxers off and I was hard as a rock, and her ultra-tight top, fully encasing her big boobies, but with her nipples fully extended, Claire said, “OK, then—Mother you can get up and leave my fiancé alone, Please?”

Pretending she was just waking up, Sarah said, “What? Oh sorry honey, I was having a dream, with just Annie and me.”

I added, “I have had that same dream Sarah, but it was both you and Annie and you were both nak...”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence, Charles?” Claire said.

Everyone laughed at that.

“What are we doing today Charles, anything specific?” Annie asked coming into the room.

“I thought we should take a vacation from our vacation and just vegetate and do nothin’ today. I had an idea to get over to Ohio Stadium while we’re back in town, to check out the facility. Sarah dear, could you arrange that? Also, when I talked to Ken, he asked if we wanted to update any of our pictures, prior to them going on sale with the Wedding ticket—think about that? Claire, get back in bed with me please—I missed you?”

Claire pushed everyone out and latched the door. I saw her pull the shirt out of her pants, unbuckle and drop her jeans and reach-in and remove her bra. She climbed in and it felt all so very comfortable.

When Claire and I woke up, I glanced over at the clock and saw it was two pm. Her hand was on my boner, so I got up, took a cold shower and changed into a t-shirt and sweats. I leaned over and decided to give my fiancée a wake-up kiss.

The second our lips touched, she pulled me down to directly on top of her, although blankets and my sweats were now between us. As I felt her tongue enter my mouth, I pulled away and rolled off, hearing her say, “You are no fun!”

“Yes, I am dear, but we still have over a year. Like that song that Michael sings, ‘I have Got You Under My Skin,’ my darling delicious delectable, Claire – Wait!”

She got up and took some clothes in with her and came out about fifteen minutes later looking ‘truly scrumptious.’

We found everybody downstairs, with Annie and Sarah working in the kitchen together. It was fun to watch them, as they would occasionally stop what they were doing and gave each other a kiss.

“What’s for lunch, beside two orders of Cougar and a female cub?” I asked.

They laughed at my retort and Annie said, “We will have some lasagna ready in about 20 minutes, with a make-your-own-salad buffet, so wash up you guys.”

“Michael,” Sarah said, “I’d prefer to be called a Milf.”

Annie slapped her on her back and said, “Hush, you!”

I picked up my phone and looked that up, blushed to myself, cleared my history ... and turned my phone off! Geez!

After our late lunch, we headed out to Ohio Stadium. Sarah had called ahead and we arrived and met Brittan Roth, Assistant Director of Event Management, as we were taken on a complete tour of the facility. It was indeed massive and I told Mr. Roth our goal of breaking the Attendance Record.

“Charles, since the day the record was set, September 12^th, 2009—I have seen some events come along that tried ... but fell short of even getting 90,000 people here—but with the energy I have seen behind the Charles & Claire movement, I wouldn’t doubt for a moment that you could get this record. I understand you have requested 110,000 tickets plus 500 infield tickets. That gives you the potential to bust the record by nearly 3,000—good luck to you. We will see you again right after Labor Day next year?”

Sarah replied, “Yes, we will touch base right after we get back from our International Tour, Mr. Roth—Thank you for your time today, seeing the place makes it all real.”

“I understand completely folks, have a great day.”

*******

After looking at the edifice we were getting married in, I was jazzed to go dancing somewhere. The first place that came to mind was The Bradshaw Family Cotillion, so we went home and we all changed into Cotillion quality clothes—I was unsure, it being a Wednesday, which ages of dancers were there tonight, but I can’t wait to see the look on Jimmy’s face, when we walk in.

It wasn’t quite late enough, so we went and had a light supper first.

Right at seven pm, we pulled up to the facility Jimmy had moved into after our National Award flooded him with newbie’s. We saw Brian and Susan getting out of a vehicle and we all talked for a minute before we walked in together.

Jimmy had his back to the front door, talking to a parent about something.

“Dancing is Fun, So Have Fun Dancing,” I said loud enough for him to turn around and run to us, hugging everyone.

“Claire, look at you—you look fantabulous and Charles, you are keeping yourself in great shape. Are you here to watch, or could we twist your arm and dance for us?” Jimmy said sounding very excited.

I couldn’t hold it in and I said, “Charles & Claire would love to show off for the fifteen-year-olds tonight, Jimmy—We have got our entire musical repertoire with us, along with the four most beautiful women in Ohio. What are you teaching tonight, anyway?” I asked.

“The Jive, Charles—What have you got in Jive routines?”

“Slow or Fast, Mr. Bradshaw?” I responded.

“These kids are ready to see Charles & Claire show them what a Jive can look like, when done right—your pick?” he said.

“Sarah, ‘All of Me.’ Kalista, you remember the Jive?”

“Just ... try to keep up with me, Mr. Newman?” Super-K responded.

The rest of the girls all giggled at that.

She grabbed my hand as we went through the crowd. I said ‘Hi’ to those I remembered by name. They all backed up as Jimmy went up to his microphone and said, “We have a very special surprise treat this evening—Charles and Kallie are going to show us all what an award-winning Jive should look like.”

The group of kids were all shell-shocked, but slowly started an applause that grew quickly to shouts of ‘We Love You.’

K and I were ready and she gave me a kiss. The music started and we started the routine and the smile on her face was wonderful. She has grown as a dancer, but even more as a young lady. Her legs were perfect, with her steps sharp and brilliant. We were having a blast as Michael sang in the background, some of our steps weren’t up to ballroom standard anymore, but we enjoyed dancing as much as the people enjoyed watching. We did a step-spin we’d created a while back, that could be used in any dance rhythm, so we ended with a series of those as the song faded out.

All of the kids, as well as the adults there applauded and cheered, as Jimmy walked over to his microphone and said, shaking his head, “Wow—All I can say is Wow! While that dance was magnificent, I am sure most of you remember that night we all first met Charles Newman and Claire McArthur. Well, Charles and Kallie are just as good. Let’s all applaud them for that some more. Charles, what else would you like to dance for your fellow fifteen-year-olds?”

From the crowd came some people saying, ‘Marry You’—’For Good,’ but the most were saying ‘Time of My Life.’ I nodded to Sarah who got the music out. The floor parted with Kalista leaving and Claire walking towards me. They stopped and gave each other a ‘high-five’ as Claire came up to me. I motioned to the kids to back up, as they did, but still were jostling for position.

Jimmy motioned the music was ready; Claire gave me a kiss, causing giggles all through the hall.

I got behind Claire as the song started and we began this wonderful routine, which has become our most requested number. We were getting into it, as I had expected as we dirty danced to this iconic piece of music. We moved into the middle section of the routine, which showed off our updated leg and hip motion, causing ooohs and awws as we readied for ‘that moment.’

Claire took a run and—we hit it, to the applause and cheers of everyone in the room and we went on to finish the number with everyone clapping to the music as we did our One-Arm Spins that made this routine a Charles & Claire instant classic.

The two of us bowed to our fellow fifteen-year-olds, as K came up to us; and all three of us bowed.

As the noise settled down, Jimmy came up and said, “Everybody take five minutes and we start back up with the lesson for the night. Thank you Charles, Claire, and Kalista for revving the engine of the dance.”

All three of us turned to Jimmy and said, “Dancing is Fun, So Have Fun Dancing.”

I didn’t want to disrupt the place all night, so I gathered up our group and after giving Brian and Susan big hugs, we all left.

We got back to the house, after our successful visit to the Bradshaw Family Cotillion. My girl seemed a little down in the dumps, so after we changed for bed, I told her I’d found a really cool song.

Claire: “What’s it called?”

Me: “I can’t tell you.”

Claire: “Why?”

Me: “Because ... I love you.”

Claire: “That’s silly?”

Me: “Are you calling me silly, Claire-Bear?”

I took my iPhone, selected the song and turned the volume up all the way...

“Claire
the moment I met you—I swear,
I felt that there’s
something somewhere,
Had happened to me
which I couldn’t see.“

“And then,
the moment I met you again,
I knew in my heart
that we were friends.
It had to be so,
It couldn’t be no.”

“But try—
As hard as I might do,
I don’t know why.
You get to me in a
way I can’t describe.
Words mean so little
you look up and smile.”

At that point she started to cry in my arms as we danced in place kissing and hugging. The smile that came to her face was golden as we clinched and started the most soulful kiss between us in quite a while.

As we broke up our kiss, we heard people clapping behind the door. I opened it and both Mom and Sarah were crying really big tears, as Claire and I went up to them, giving each other’s Mom a tremendous hug.

“Charles, I haven’t heard that song in years,” Annie said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Charles—That song is one of the main reasons the girl you are marrying is named Claire?” Sarah said.

“We heard you singing through the door, Charles?” Kalista came from behind them. She opened her arms and we hugged as well.

“Is everything OK in here, you guys?” Sarah asked.

“Uh-huh, just fine mother—if the three of you could leave, I want to let my fiancé know just how much I love him. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out ladies.”

As they all left, I heard Annie say, ‘Remember your promise.’ as Claire locked the door and pushed me down on the bed.

THREE DAYS LATER
I woke up this morning entwined in the arms and legs of my fiancée. She felt so good in my arms, but the gentlemanly thing to do was get up and out. I was only in my boxers and she was looking so ... damn good, in one of my dress shirts again—and I don’t know what else?

As I pulled away from her, she said, “Nooo Charles—come back to bed, please—I am so horny for you right now.”

“My dear sweet Claire—that’s exactly why I have to get up and take a shower—because if I don’t get up right now, we could be in deep doo-doo, dear.”

“Deep doo-doo dear—you are so sweet Charles, gosh I am so lucky we met that day at Cotillion. I couldn’t believe it when the cutest boy in the place walked up to me and said, ‘You can call me X!’ I fell in love with you that very moment. Have I ever told you that story?”

I was picking out some clothes to change into as she was saying all of this to me.

“Charles Xavier Newman—are you even listening to me?”

Oh—Boy!

“Yes Claire—whatever you ... Aww shit,” I said as I plopped on the bed holding my head, dropping what I had in my hand.

Claire came over to me and put her arms around me asking, “What’s wrong, honeybuns?” She was using her ‘little girl’ voice.

“Something Brian said to me a very long time ago—Talking about you, he said, ‘treat her nice and with respect’ and he also told me ... if I thought I was losing an argument with you, to just say ‘Yes, Claire ... whatever you want?’ I just caught myself about to say that to you—but the bigger problem is that I don’t ever want to argue with you. I love you and love is a better use of our time then arguing could ever be, so if you really want to—we can make love right now, but we need to be careful—I don’t want to get you pregnant.”

This is a non-traditional strategy I was trying here. I waited for her to do or say something. She waited for me to say or do something.

She jumped back in bed and said, “Take your shower—I have to think.” She pulled up the covers with a flourish.

I picked up my change of clothes and went into the bathroom. I wondered the whole time in there what I’d be facing when I came back out—would she be mad, naked—or what?

She’d fallen back asleep. Since I was only in sweats and a t-shirt, I crawled back into bed and put my arms around her. “Hold me, please?” was all I heard as we stayed like that for a while.

“C-Cask Meeting in five minutes in the living room,” I yelled.

The five of us were all sitting across from each other, with Annie and Sarah cuddling, Kalista bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and me and my fiancée quasi-cuddling—I had my laptop in front of me.

“We’re leaving on a trip that none of us ever expected at this point in our lives, starting in Canada and working our way around the globe. I thought it might be prudent to give us all some tips to make our traveling be as trouble-free as possible. Since I am not aware of how much traveling Annie and Sarah have done before, I hope you two lovebirds can provide help during this discussion.”

I glanced over at them and saw Mom leaning her head on Sarah’s shoulder.

“First, a couple of obvious things; Always have your passport with you wherever you are. Ladies—the larger the purse, the more likely someone may try to steal it—I know you gals carry the ballet slippers and the music everywhere we go, just be warned. Since we got our passports, I have read that it’s wise, if traveling in unfamiliar surroundings, to carry authenticated copies of the most important documents in a money belt, under your clothing.”

“Charles—will it be like that, everywhere?” Claire asked.

I looked over at the Moms—”Anywhere we travel to, don’t advertise the merchandise quite so much ... Sarah.”

“In other words,” Sarah said back to me, “I need to pack some over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders, Charles?”

All of the ladies laughed with her at that.

“Yes, that’s true for all of you lovely women, blending in with the crowd is important. Anywhere we go, after a performance, dress down for travel and so forth. We’re going to be in the larger cities, so it might not be as bad as all that, but better safe than sorry—Got it?”

They all affirmed.

“If you are assaulted, scream your bloody heads off and use pepper spray. If someone tries to steal your purse, fight back; but if they produce a knife or something—let them have it—a purse can be replaced—the four of you are irreplaceable. Use good old common sense, all right?”

They all affirmed.

“That’s it for now. Someone should go and get us five money belts and some Mace or Pepper Spray for each of us to have. When you get back, we will start to learn some routines to some new music I downloaded recently.”

“I’ll go,” said Annie.

“I’ll go with her,” Sarah said, grabbing her hand.

I saw Claire give Kalista a look, which caused Kalista to smile and say, “Can I go with you guys?”

They turned back to us and all waved goodbye, with Mom mouthing ‘behave’ to both of us.

“Claire—Can we sit and talk for a minute, before we decide what to do while they’re gone?”

“Sure—Nice Buns,” she said.

“What?”

“It’s my new ‘just between us’ nickname for you. Get over it Charles, OK?”

I took a deep breath and asked, “Are you mad at me, Claire?”

“No ... a little,” she sighed.

“Why? Because I keep turning down your offers for ... intimacy?”

“No—well, a little,” she sighed again. “Charles—I am horny all of the time. I don’t know why—but all I have to do is to start to think about you and I just can’t hardly control myself.”

“When did it start, Claire?”

“Well, to a lesser degree it’s been a while, but since I started on these damn Birth Control Pills two days ago, I wake up and want to tear your clothes off and do ‘things’ to you?”

“So—Stop taking the pills and see if it goes away?” I reasoned.

“But if I stop taking the pills, then I am potentially pregnant-able, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, but I don’t plan on doing anything like that with you until you aren’t pregnant-able, which isn’t even a word,” I assured her.

“Let’s take a spa,” Claire suggested. “You can play me some of the music you have downloaded, while we spoon, OK?”

“Yeah Baby,” I confirmed. She kissed me on my nose and headed upstairs.

We were both going through our swimwear drawers. I looked and quickly decided to put on a speedo, even though they’re rather tight. I heard the bathroom door close and Claire was changing very quickly, so I dropped my sweats and put on my speedo, just getting it up my butt cheek as Claire walked through the door looking like a billion dollars—I am a millionaire, so everything else needs an upgrade – everything except Claire.

Damn!

I stopped and got us both a towel as Claire ran past me, slapping me on the butt, on her way by saying, “Tag—your it.”

I knew I was beat, so I walked safely downstairs and found her floating in the Spa, waiting for me. I got in and leaned back into her putting my iPhone on the edge of the spa.

“You feel so good on me, Charles,” she said.

“Ditto from on top—Sweet Rack.”

“What... ?”

“You gave me a new nick-name. You should get a new one too?” I reasoned.

“Sweet Rack, I kind of like that—but don’t use it in front of Kalista for sure. So, let’s listen to some of your new music.”

“Ooh, that’s pretty—what’s it called?”

“‘Pachelbel Canon,’ by an unknown acapella group, it’s almost as beautiful to hear as you are to look at ... Sweet Rack.”

“Next Charles. Oh, I recognize that one, ‘Every Breath You Take,’ but its acapella too—I love you,” she kissed my neck with a soft touch to her lips.

“Bakatya, Kiddo. Here’s the next one,” I said.

“I saw this movie, THAT THING YOU DO, acapella again. I am beginning to denote a theme here Nice-Buns. Who’s this?”

“An Acapella group called Vocal Point. Here’s the next one, Claire?”

“Oh, a slow start—Oooh, great beat—changing it up, isn’t this Disco?” my beautiful one said to me.

“Yeah, We’re going to learn a brand new rhythm today. The song is called ‘I Will Survive,’ by Gloria Gaynor. This next song I picked for Kallie and me, it’s Celine Dion singing ‘Alone.’”

“Ohh, it’s beautiful—perfect for the two of you—Give me a kiss please, Charles?”

I turned over and lying directly on Claire, we started kissing really little soft kisses. I moved to her neck and started kissing her up and down her neck, hearing her whimper a little as I moved from one side to the other. Her hands came to rest on just above my butt as the door opened and we heard a warning, “Yoo-Hoo—we’re home, Kalista check the spa, but cover your eyes.”

That sounded like Mom.

Claire and I were back in our original positions although I was now on the bottom and she was on my hyper-extended speedos.

“They’re in the Spa,” Kalista yelled.

“Ooh—what’s that Charles?” my fiancé asked.

“What?” I responded nervously.

“I mean the song, Charles—I know what ‘that’ is,” she said with a giggle.

“This is Paul Anka, He recorded a lot of music back in the late 50s and 60s, he also wrote a lot of well-known music of the same era. This song is called ‘The Teen Commandments,’ and it’s kind of short but I really like the message, unless you think it’s too corny for this day and age.”

“Play it again, Charles?” Claire said, listening intently.

We listened to it and I was suddenly aware of our circumstance.

The ladies came in.

“Hey, did you find everything you were looking for?” I asked.

“Yeah, it looks like you did too, Charles,” my mother said with a wonderful smile.

“Charles, let’s get out and learn our new dances, all right?” Claire said. “Let me get you a towel before you get out, OK honey?”

“Sure—thanks?” I said as I dunked my head under and came up to four sets of really pretty eyes. I stepped out of the spa facing away from everyone except Claire, who had handed me a towel that I wrapped quickly around myself. I handed her a towel as we went upstairs together. I turned and said, “We need to burn some CDs ladies, please have some ready?”

Claire came up to me and gave me a super hug and kiss, then patted my butt and told me to go take a cold shower.

Ten minutes later I was doing much better, until I saw that Claire only had a towel on—but all was good as we kissed again.

“I will be quick, Nice Buns,” she giggled.

We headed downstairs arm in arm to a bunch of really big smiles—”Kalista, you first?”

I instructed Sarah which songs to put on the CD, and in ten minutes we were ready.

“Princess this is called ‘Eso Beso’ by Paul Anka—a Cha-Cha, just like ‘Marry You,’ but it’s slower so all of our hip and leg moves must be in perfect sync, all right?”

“You got it, Baby,” Kalista said, giggling a bit.

We went through all of the Cha-Cha steps together to remind us of them all, then we started to organize the sequence, with Princess having some great ideas about some of her steps. We had it well enough that I asked someone to video us as I nodded to Claire to start the music.

We started with K performing a series of pirouettes, then we went to closed and hit it—I can’t call her a girl anymore, with the way she dances and the way she looks—she’s carrying herself like a teenager and dancing like a long-time professional dancer. Her legs are so straight; I am constantly looking at her and gawking at her dancing ability. The song is moving along quite well, we did some close-in spins together and she kissed me at the end of the song. ‘Eso Beso’ is Italian for ‘That Kiss!’

Our ladies were all in tears, Claire was especially beaming as she went up to Kalista and gave her a great big hug.

Claire and I went on to make a routine for ‘Every Breath You Take,’ performed by Rockapella. We made a nice slow Paso routine to it, adding in a spin every eighth measure, Claire was sparkling in this dance, throwing in a Rondé at the bridge and as we approached the end, I said, “12 measures out—pot stirrers” and I raised my hand and she moved into place as we ended doing them, ending perfectly with the all-boy group.

Leading the applause was Kalista, who ran up to Claire and gave her a big hug. Again, Annie and Sarah were in tears, but holding hands while listening to this anthem from the 80s.

Next, would be a song Claire hadn’t heard yet. I’d listened to some of the CDs Josh Groban gave us and my favorite song of what I’d heard so far was a song called, ‘You Raise Me Up’—which could have been danced to as a slow Samba or Tango. We hadn’t had a new Tango in quite some time, so that’s what I decided. After listening to it all of the way through, I changed my mind.

We will start out a Tango, until the singing starts, almost a minute into the five-minute song. Then, we will segue into a Samba. The song is really beautiful, especially the orchestration.

JOSH GROBAN
“When I am down and,
oh my soul, so weary.
When troubles come
and my heart burdened be,
then I am still and
wait here in the silence
Until you come
and sit awhile with me.”
“You raise me up
so I can stand on mountains.
You raise me up to
walk on stormy seas,
I am strong when I
am on your shoulders,
You raise me up
to more than I can be.”

About a half hour later, we had another new routine. We went on to make a routine to all of the songs Claire and I had listened to in the spa.

“Sarah, may I talk to you privately please?” I asked in front of everyone.

“Sure,” she said taking me outside. “What’s going on, Charles?”

I waited until we were all the way outside. We sat down on either side of the picnic table. Sarah looked at me and smiled.

“I assume that there are different brands of birth control pills, some stronger, some with different main ingredients?”

“Y-Yes?” Sarah responded hesitantly.

“Claire asked me to ask you if she could get a different brand, or strength?” I said, trying to broach the subject as carefully as I could.

“Sure, there are about a dozen brands Charles, but why does she need to change? Why are you asking me, instead of her?” Sarah questioned.

“There’s an apparent side effect with what she’s taking—she says that it’s causing an increase in her sexual desire?”

“It’s making her ‘horny’ Charles? Is that what you are trying to tell me?” Sarah smiled.

“Yes, in so many words. She’s so embarrassed about this that she asked me to talk to you about it; she practically attacked me this morning; it was all I could do ... to keep from giving in to her – obvious charms.”

“Really, Charles?” Sarah responded.

“Do you not believe me—or do you simply want to know what we ‘didn’t’ do?” I said with a smile.

That made Sarah blush, which surprised me a little.

“Charles, I have personally never heard of birth control pills causing horniness—the opposite is usual, a lessening of the libido. I do recall hearing that starting the pill can cause the perception of horniness, due to the fact that you can have sex and not get pregnant, it’s a sort of an ‘euphoric rapture’ that occurs,” Sarah said confidently.

“So, Claire might not really be horny per se, she’s just become a little less inhibited?” I perceived.

“Yes, exactly. I’d suggest you give her a couple of days, if she doesn’t—calm down, I will take her back in for a different prescription, all right?”

“In the meantime, can you give me any pointers on how to deal with this?” I asked seriously, but I saw her smile turn devious.

Sarah looked deep into my eyes and said, “Charles, if you were my guy, I’d be all over you all of the you time, so ‘Just Say No’ and take plenty of cold showers Loverboy, all right?”

She growled at me!

“Thank you Sarah. I knew you were the one to ask this to.”

She leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek, but I couldn’t resist and moved my face so we’d kiss on the lips. She stopped at that point, but I didn’t. It didn’t take much time for us both to really get into this kiss, in a big way.

“MOTHER!”

What. Just. happened? Claire?

I unhesitatingly said, “Claire—this is all my fault. We talked about a couple of things ... and—and Sarah went to kiss me on my cheek, but I moved and started what you interrupted ... I am so terribly sorry Claire, I have been a bad boy; haven’t I?”

She grabbed my hand and walked me from the spa area, through the living room, where Annie and Kalista were talking and up to our bedroom, where she slammed the door and pushed me down on the bed and said, “Why are you still kissing my mother, when you have me to kiss and make out with?” She got very emotional. “Charles, I am so—I am just so in love with you. I know what we can and can’t do, but I am afraid I am going to lose you if we don’t make love really soon.” I saw a tear.

“Claire, think about what you just said; it sounds like you are afraid that you are going to walk in on me making love with Kalista, Annie, or your Mother.”

“According to your mother, if she and I made love—I couldn’t walk for a week or more; if I did anything with Kalista I’d feel like a pedophile and if you walked in on Annie and me in a bed together—we’d all be in therapy for years and they’d never get the smile off my face.”

That brought back the big smile and giggles and she fell on the bed and we made out for a while.

“LUNCH!”

Claire and I got up and cleaned up a little. I went in and combed my hair a little and brushed my teeth. Claire combed her hair and casually removed her bra from under the T-shirt she was wearing. I looked at her face and then down and said, “Are you trying to start a fight with your mother?”

“No, I just want everyone to know what you have access too, but haven’t decided to take ownership of yet?” she giggled and gave her ‘girls’ a shake, to prove her point(s).

“I thought your mother was devilish, but you are becoming quite the jezebel, aren’t you?”

She asked, “Remind me what that means, Nice-Buns?”

“A wicked, shameless woman, Sweet Rack,” I said with a smile on my face and attempting to maintain direct eye contact.

“Damn right I am—and don’t you forget it,” she said.