Chapter 76

“Kallie?” I said pulling her to where we could talk and not be heard.

“Yes dear,” she replied giving me again that smile that radiates love.

“I found an ALS Research Center in San Francisco. They are expecting records from your doctor regarding your preliminary diagnosis. I have emailed you their information and would love it if you took care of doing that in the next 24 to 48 hours,” I asked.

“It isn’t that important, Charles,” she said.

“It is to me, please, Special K, do it for me, sweetheart,” I asked.

“All right, I can do it within the hour.”

“Thank you, you know I love you, don’t you?” I said.

She gave me that smile that always tugs at my heart.

“Sammi, why don’t we design a new Charles & Kalista shirt?”

Everybody heard that, Rose and Kalista leaned their heads on my shoulders to listen closer.

In under thirty minutes, with Michael on the keyboard and mouse, with Sammi having sent him our pictures, a shirt had been designed.

It was a combination of the picture of my first wife, and me with her in the shimmy dress. Michael and Annie were in blue then adding the Sammi, Kalista and me shot. Michael added a remarkable profile shot of his twin sister.

Sammi and I had a disagreement about whether we should include her ... I wanted to, but she didn’t. She won so we cropped her out and resized the photos. The back would say, “Charles & Kalista and The Next Generation, Rose, Michael and Annie!” in the American Typewriter Font, very stylized.

Everyone got a chance to look at it and comment if they wanted. They all approved. I told Sammi to use the colors and sizes as before. Only T-shirts to start, maybe add the other stuff later. As before we would get two dozen to look over and approve before the mass production began.

Sammi sent it to our print house and said it would be three days before we got our samples. Since she knew our schedule, she was having it sent to our Roseville hotel that we would be at in six days.

Out of the clear blue sky, a phone call came from an old friend.

“Hello, this is Charles.”

“I need to speak to the greatest dancer I have ever known!”

“Michael Bublé, my god ... it’s so good to hear from you. What’s going on?”

“I am ... over 59, and coming out of my self-imposed retirement, and I heard you and the gang were back on tour.”

“Michael Bublé, what a voice from the past. The only people you know would be Kalista and me, the rest of the gang have danced to you, but I don’t think have ever seen you.”

“Whereabouts are you on your tour?” Michael asked.

“In Northern California,” I answered.

“Does that include Sacramento or San Francisco?” he asked.

“Uhm, Sacramento around Feb 9, and San Francisco, the end of February,” I explained.

Just then Kalista came in the room, mouthing ‘Who is it?’

“Well, Mr. Michael Bublé, we really need to get together. Are you traveling with an orchestra these days?”

Kalista’s mouth dropped open and grabbed the phone putting it on speaker, “Hello Michael—this is Kalista, so wonderful to hear from you.”

“You sound all grown up, with a family now—right?”

“Yes, I am a bit taller than the last time you saw me. Sarah and Annie are gone, but we’re making do the best we can.”

“I am so sorry for that,” Michael said, “Those ladies kept me on my toes, especially Sarah. I have got to come see you guys. I’ll probably show up at one of your Sacramento performances. How does that sound?”

“Fabulous, go to our old website, and we have our schedule for the next three months, along with where we’re performing,” Kallie said, “Bye!”

“Wasn’t it wonderful to hear from him. I wonder if he’s still married to that Lusitania, or whatever her name was,” I wondered.

“Her name is Luisana Lopilato-Bublé. They are still married. He must be nearly 60 by now,” my lovely partner said.

“They have two children,” she added.

“How are you feeling these days, my dear?” I asked.

“Still wonderful, you don’t have to treat me like some sort of china doll,” she said.

“You are my china doll,” I said giving her a kiss.

We jointly decided not to tell anyone about Michael.

Our Northern California portion was wonderfully received, Petaluma, Fairfield, Chico, and Yuba City.

After two days off, we went on to Roseville (getting our T-shirts) Citrus Heights, Folsom and El Dorado Hills. That took us to our next four-day break, staying in Fair Oaks.

We’re playing, in four days, at the Veterans Memorial Amphitheatre. I went online to find out they also are working on a remodel, started a long time ago. I plan to surprise them with a gift.

After two days of total rest, I got everybody up to practice. Our Set five had so many changes to it; I thought we needed some work. Everyone showed up in their official T-Shirts!

But first, I asked Michael, “Are you ready to show me ‘I’ve Had the Time of My Life?’”

“Yes sir,” he said. K got us a large enough room to practice this particular number in.

After getting down there and setting up, I saw Michael and Lily ready. Annie was there to watch.

He nodded to me. I started the boom box.

They were right on with both attitude and amplitude. I saw them get to the rhythm section, and you could tell Lily had gotten some help from my wife. Her hips made you stare and her smile beams at you.

It was going great as the lift portion came up. Michael moved down ready for the flight. I was counting to myself and Lily practically floated above the ground, as Michael caught her, and they rolled it into the ending, perfectly.

Lily came to me and Rose went to Michael, giving them great big hugs. Michael said, “I am glad I ended up doing this with Lily. She’s so light and lithe.”

“Are you calling me fat?” Rose said getting into his face.

“Me, uhm ... no. You are very pretty—you know that. While Annie is pretty, just as pretty, just smaller ... did you see how high she got?”

“It’s OK, Michael,” Rose said. “I was just ... messing with you.”

“Michael, I must admit that routine was marvelous. It’s yours now, don’t fubar it.”

Lily asked Michael, “What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you later, sweetie,” he said giving me a look.

“All right, let’s go through Set five in order everybody,” I announced.

After 90 straight minutes, the routines and the transitions between them smoothed up noticeably.

I released everyone to be on their own until dinner at six pm. Rosie stayed behind.

“Daddy, could we practice ‘I’m Not That Girl,’ please?”

Between her ‘Daddy,’ ‘Please,’ and her dimples, I said, “You couldn’t perform it much better than the last time, Rosie.”

“Pleeeeease?”

Kalista behind me was enjoying this ... too much.

“All right, get in position ... and begin...”

K and I did our little thing, and Rosie ... burst out of the corner of my eyes, sobbing as she did this marvelously staged number.

I contagiously started to cry as I saw the most magnificently danced routine, with ethos and pathos. I never took it that way before, but with the outstanding silhouette of my daughter, it was also highly erotic as she got up on her toes and went backwards into the corner.

We both applauded as she came out again. She hugged Kalista, and then me. I whispered to her, “Any boy over the age of fourteen should have an erection by the time that routine is over, my dear!”

She whispered back to me, “As long as you are hard, that’s all I want, Charles.”

They had standing-room-only at the Amphitheatre. We had ‘It Was a Very Good Year’ to end our first set. The new and improved, ‘Time of Our Lives’ ended the second set.

I came out, asking them for quiet. I got the organizer of the event, Stan Goodman, and said, “We greatly appreciate those who are trying to improve their facilities. Whether it’s a backstage space issue, or adding more seats, we all enjoy dancing for you as much as you enjoy us. Here is a check for $500,000 to get this fabulous facility larger, or cooler or more stalls in the bathroom.”

Stan was not expecting this, and he took the check and gave me a nice big hug. I waved good-bye and we left, with our check from him.

I had Sammi ready our print studio to build an inventory of our new shirt, in three adult and two child sizes. We would wait a week, then it would be orderable through our website. All sizes were $9.99 each.

We went back to the hotel and got our luggage and the rest of our clan and headed off to, in order, Rancho Cordova, La Riviera, North Highlands, and Antelope. There was a two-day break in there, and we next traveled to Rio Linda, North Sacramento and Sacramento proper for three performances.

All three are at the Sacramento Convention Center in the Memorial Auditorium, which holds over 3,800 people. This is where I expect Mr. Bublé to show up. I am excited for the kids. Hell, I am excited for myself. It’s been forever since we saw him. If he’s going to perform again, maybe ... ahh, forget it, Charles!

We’re staying at the beautiful Citizen Hotel. We need to be pampered every now and again. Michael took care of explaining which luggage goes where as my wife and I went up to the counter.

“Good evening,” a sixty-ish year old gentleman said. I have got my tickets already to watch you folks dance. I see we have you in three separate rooms, is that correct?”

“Yes, two should be connecting,” I said.

“Yes, here are the keys and welcome to Citizen Hotel.”

I saw him giving Rose a once over. She grabbed my other arm, and we walked into the elevator.

“Some old farts only know how to gawk at women, don’t they Kalista?” she said.

“Fortunately, Charles knows much more than they do, doesn’t he?” Kallie said.

They giggled as we got out on our floor. Claire and X were sitting on the luggage taking a ride.

Everything was placed correctly as we went in. Rose took a beeline to the bathroom, as I gave our bell person a tip.

“It’s past eleven pm, let’s go to bed. I don’t want to leave the hotel just to eat. We can have a big breakfast.”

I sent Michael a reminder about working out. He sent me back a happy face and the words ‘OK, Dad!’

I stripped to my boxers, K to a T-shirt and panties with Rosie snuggling behind me in only panties.

“Good night, Daddy!”

“G’night Ladies,” I said.

“Rose,” K asked. “Where is your right hand?”

“Around Daddy’s pecker.”

“Good night you two,” K said as we fell asleep.

I awoke to a hand job being done by my little girl. She moved her mouth to mine, and we kissed at the same time. She moved down just in time to catch and swallow my morning load. I looked and saw it was almost six am, so I got up and put on my suit with a pair of sweats over it. I put on a gray T-shirt and gave Rosie a kiss on her nipple as I left.

“Oooohhhhhh. Daddy!”

“Dad, shouldn’t this be getting easier as we go?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, it should, but we have strange hours, and sometimes it is difficult to awake...”

“Especially with a naked girl next to you ... right Dad?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Or two!”

We went from one device to the next as I saw our ladies getting in the spa, “Michael, curves ahead!”

“Thanks Dad, that driving sign always made me think of mom, now K & Rose.”

I laughed at that, remembering thinking the same thing as a young man ... that and ‘slippery when wet’ meant one thing before, and a totally different thing after I had started having sex with Claire, then Sarah and my own mother!

We walked to the spa with our girls waiting for us. We stripped down to our swimwear and got alongside.

“Annie,” Michael said, “Your birthday is coming up next week. I’d like to give you something special. Maybe we can go out together shopping tomorrow morning?”

“I would love that, Michael,” she said giving him a wonderful kiss.

I had my arm around my daughter, not yet able to bring myself to kissing her in front of the others. I held her very close as the other two broke for oxygen.

I gave Michael a wink, and they left to go back upstairs.

Rosie straddled me and started a kiss, a really emotional wet kiss. She is such a marvelous daughter. We heard people walking our way, so we got up and out.

I had her put her shirt back on, so not to cause any accidents along the way. She had her hand on my butt practically the whole time we walked into our room.

We got back, took a shower together. I fucked her against the wall, filling her with a ‘daddy load’, as she called it. We dried off and got back into bed naked.

“Didn’t I tell you that shower sex was fabulous Rose?” Kallie said apparently not asleep.

“Almost as good as when Charles gets inside my butt. Since we have a performance tonight, I think we should wait, don’t you, Charles?” my luscious daughter remarked.

“You are getting so mature Rosie. Thank you for understanding that. I need some sleep. K, get behind me please?”

She did, with Rosie moving up against my front, and we fell asleep.

I was getting excited over the possibility of seeing Michael again. How did he look? How gray or silver-haired is he? Does he have any kids? All kinds of questions were rumbling through my mind.

We got to the Memorial Auditorium, finding it full to the brim. That also is so self-satisfying. While we’re showing off the kids now, I still do have an ego, and applause feeds it like nothing else.

I got a text just as our show was about to begin!

I trotted out with a cordless mike, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Charles & Claire, got their break because of a really great man who took a chance on us. Now, we are Charles & Kalista with the best dancers possible. That really great man is in the house tonight.”

“Give it up ... for Michael Bublé!”

The place went quiet. Had Michael been gone too long? I saw a silver-templed gentlemen coming down the stairs, and the applause was starting.

I heard music going, he brought some with him. It was ‘Summer Wind’, as the crowd went crazy. He nodded to them, and then gave us each a crushing hug. I pulled K over to let him have some glory. She knew all the dances, so we started dancing alongside a great friend. He still sounds smooth and elegant.

When it was over, I yelled, “Multiple Grammy winner, having sold over 60,000,000 albums worldwide, Michael Bublé ... come on people make some noise for this man?”

They did, as we hugged him again, and then sent him back to watch us. I signaled for our music to start and we officially started our evening. During our ten minutes between sets, Michael came back stage.

I introduced him to my twins and Annie, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Rose, kissing her hand, which made her giggle. We talked for a couple of minutes. Our music started and our second half of our show commenced.