CHARLES CLAIRE KALISTAChapter 35
- 4 years ago
- 29
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We all laughed for the next hundred miles or so as we headed towards our,
31st City
Salt Lake City
One Night
SLC Marriott City Center
We arrived in Salt Lake City about three am. Sarah had gotten us a large suite with two queens and a rollaway. We’re performing at the Salt Palace the day after tomorrow. We were emotionally drained from the last six hours of things happening, so Kalista got in the rollaway, provided I give her a goodnight kiss, which I did, and I crawled into bed with my fiancée, making out for a while.
In the other bed, I heard sounds of love as well, although we both heard the occasional ‘Stop that’ coming from under the blankets. I can only guess that Mom was getting her official ‘Welcome back’ from Sarah. I turned to my right and Claire shuffled in really close and put her hand across my stomach.
“I love you, Charles,” I heard her say.
“Not as much as I love you Claire. Goodnight Lovergirl.”
I heard a cute giggle from her as her beasts pushed up against my back, feeling nice.
The next morning, we all slept in later than usual, from getting to bed so late. I felt a presence hovering over me, so I woke up and saw Mom smiling a great big smile at me. She saw Claire’s arm around me and Claire cuddled up right behind me and Mom whispered with a devilish smile on her face, “Any trouble since this started, honey?”
“No Mom, with her behind me all is well, I turned to face her the first morning we did this and I quickly got my ‘problem,’ so as long as I can stay on my right side, the twins from the car will stay a figment of her imagination, although the twins against my back are another thing. Can I go back to sleep now, I was having a great dream where you crawled into bed with me and we...”
“Don’t you even think of finishing that sentence, young man? Even a dream can cause trouble, if you will remember?”
“Yeah, oopsy—goodnight, sweet Antoinette.”
When we woke up to start our day, it was noon so we all took showers and changed to go to lunch in the hotel dining room.
I noticed they had a Whirlpool Spa next to the swimming pool, so after lunch, we all went down to it and enjoyed the luxury.
“So, Claire—Do you think you are through ‘maturing’ or are you still ‘growing strong?” I asked with a satisfying smile.
“Charles, as bad as your humor has gotten, I believe I’m as ‘mature’ as I will get, until I get pregnant, when I suppose they will get as big as Moms, if not bigger. I do hope to get a little taller, I saw some stretching exercises to grow taller.”
Sarah replied, “Honey, careful what you ask for—if I’d been your size before all of my pregnancies, I could be an H or J-cup by now and I’d need a forklift to walk around.”
That image caused all of us to laugh a bit.
Kalista offered, “I sure hope I haven’t stopped ‘maturing’ Charles? I want to get at least as tall as Claire and get D cups.”
This caused all of the ladies to giggle a little.
“Mom. how is everybody back in Columbus and Springfield?” I asked.
“They can’t wait for your wedding guys. Besides the sadness of Mom and Dad’s death and funeral, your wedding was ‘The Topic’ all of the time. I touched base with Ken and Sarah Jane as well, letting them know the details of the event, which they’re passing around on the McArthur side of things. I emailed Jimmy Bradshaw and the Fleming Family as well. It’s a good thing we will have the stadium to put them all in. There will be a massive bunch of Newman’s and McArthurs and their friends and families, upwards of sixty, possibly more!”
Claire moved from sitting next to me to sitting on my lap. We gave each other a kiss and she quietly said to me, “Can’t wait until October 15th next year.”
“You better,” said both Annie and Sarah, practically at the same time.
We heard a person yelling, “Sarah Rollins, delivery for Sarah Rollins!”
Sarah got up and motioned the young man to come over to us. She had on a dark blue micro bikini, causing the young man to fidget a little as he asked her to sign for the envelope. They exchanged courteous thank you’s as he left and she sat back down.
“It’s the tickets, for us to proof,” Sarah said, sounding excited. She handed each of us a ticket to look at as she sat back down.
I immediately noticed we forgot to put on the ticket the message concerning giving to charity.
“Oopsy,” I said, getting Mom’s attention.
“What Charles?” she replied.
“We didn’t get on the message ‘In lieu of presents,’ will that be a problem?” I asked.
“Typically, people expect to bring a gift to a wedding, unless specified otherwise, honey,” mom said.
“I think they are very pretty,” Special K said. “Just like the Golden Ticket from the movie.”
“If we don’t put it back on, you could end with three thousand toaster ovens, five thousand blenders, and ten thousand microwave ovens, Charles,” Sarah said.
Everybody chuckled loudly at that.
“Everything else looks good, don’t you think?” I asked.
“Everybody’s name spelled correctly?” Annie asked around.
We all poured carefully over the ticket and each of us said “OK” or something near it, to express approval. The map on the back, in full color, looked great.
“When we get back to the room, Sarah and I can add back the missing sentence. Claire, may I give your mother a kiss and a hug for taking care of the tickets so well?”
I saw Claire biting her lip a little, but breaking into a big smile, as she said, “OK, but be gentle, you don’t want to make your mother too jealous, Loverboy?”
I got up and went to Sarah, who had her arms extended waiting for me. We hugged and gave each other a nice kiss.
“Charles, there are some things you never explained to me, some things, that go way back,” Kalista stated looking through her phone. Good girl, she had written it down.
“Sure Princess, like what?” I asked, wondering how far back these may go.
“A word you used that wasn’t in the dictionary I take from place to place—Mojo?” she asked.
“As in ‘someone lost their mojo?’” I questioned.
“Yeah, something like that,” Kalista responded giggling.
“Well,” I said, walking over to K, sitting down and getting her up on my lap, “Losing your mojo means losing your life’s inspiration, or that special spark that makes a person unique. Recently, it’s gotten a more sexual definition, as in referring to a man’s libido, virility or his ability to attract someone they like or would like as a mate. Usually, men use the term to talk to other men, about how successful they are in seducing women.”
“One guy might say to the other something like, ‘I must be losing my mojo, because that beautiful redhead I just talked to, doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.’ After the guy subsequently hooks up with some girl, he will then say, ‘My mojo is back.’”
Mom and Sarah laughed at that.
“Thank you, Charles—but that brings up a new term you just said, ‘hooking up.’ From the way you just used the term, does it mean have sex with?” Kalista asked me point blank.
I heard coughing and snorting from the other side of the spa.
“Your listening and intuition skills are getting better all the time, K—that’s exactly what ‘hooking up’ means, to have sex with, as in, ‘After I marry that beautiful young lady right there, I plan to hook up with her every single night.’” I caused both Claire and me to blush, but hers turned into a delicious dimpled smile.
Kalista glided over to Annie, got up on her lap and asked, “Do you and Sarah hook up?” causing a deep blush on both Annie’s and Sarah’s face.
Sarah said, “Kallie honey, Annie and I will talk to you privately about this, OK?”
“Why? Are you ashamed of being in love with Annie, Sarah?” Kalista asked, again jolting us all to our core with both her assertiveness and her sweet innocence.
Both Mom’s scooted up next to each other, holding each other’s hands. Sarah looked over at Annie and said to K, “No, I am not ashamed of how I feel about Annie, Princess ... but other people are. That’s why we only ever kiss each other if we’re not around others. Society’s not ready for two women, our age, to express themselves in front in public. Maybe someday, but for now—I am very happy. Besides, it would potentially tarnish the image of Charles & Claire and right now, you are our meal ticket, Honey.”
“I love you, Sarah,” said Annie.
“I love you, Annie,” said Sarah, as they leaned into each other holding each other really tight.
“Charles, what’s a meal ticket?” Kalista asked, turning back to me.
“Oh, that’s an easy one, kiddo—the term has been around for a long time, originally meaning a ticket you literally receive, for a meal to be provided later, but it has also become a term meaning ‘the ultimate source of income,’ as in ‘Charles Newman and Claire McArthur are the meal ticket for C-Cask LLC.’” I responded.
“Anything else, Princess?”
Looking at her phone, “OK, what are E-Zones?”
After a giggle and a snort, Annie and Sarah together explained to her exactly what they are and where they can usually be found on both women and men.
Kalista had an ‘Aha’ moment, realizing why we all sometimes moaned and groaned during a massage.
“One more, Charles?” K said. “Back when we were on our date, you used the term ‘Coming Out Party,’ and never got around to explaining it to me.”
“Sure thing, Princess—there are actually two totally different meanings to this term—The first one goes back hundreds of years, back when the ‘upper class’ of society thought it necessary to have a party for a young girl or girls who have reached the age of maturity, typically around 13, 14, or 15 years old. In the United States, it’s usually 15 years old. The party surrounding the event was called a debutante ball, also a Cotillion, but not the usage of the word we know—it was a formal presentation of young ladies, or debutantes, to ‘polite society’ meaning everybody below those who considered themselves ‘high society.’ There are a couple of movies that show what I am talking about. When we get home to Columbus, bring this up again, OK?”
“Thank you, Charles—What’s the other meaning to ‘coming out parties’ you were talking about?” Kalista asked.
I looked over to Annie or Sarah to see if either one of them wanted to run with this. I could tell quickly they wanted me to explain this.
“OK, Kalista—I am going to do my best on this subject, but be warned, that I am not going to pull any punches with this explanation, all right?”
“Kalista, we have talked about sex, babies and other sexually-based subjects. Many people in this country have very strong opinions about what I am about to talk about. I will try to refrain from giving my opinion and just give you facts as I know them. Have you ever heard of the term ‘homosexual?’”
“Yes, I have, Charles,” K responded,
“And do you know what it means, it’s definition?”
“Not exactly—it’s confusing to me.”
I looked over at the Moms as they were mouthing to each other “Yes, it is.”
“Princess, Homosexuality is a combination of romantic and sexual behavior between two people of the same gender, like two men or two women, like Annie and Sarah. You could use the term ‘Homosexual’ to describe either two men or two women; however, there are more common terms, ‘Lesbian’ for two women and ‘Gay’ for two men. The terms I have used are the only proper terms to use for people with this situation in their lives. You may have heard some ‘street’ terms from hurtful people; terms like, homo, queer, or even fag.”
“They are not acceptable terms, because they’re mean-spirited and very hurtful. Some people, very mean people, will say those words hoping they get a reaction from the people they’re talking to or the people they’re talking about. The smartest thing to do is to not call them anything, especially to their face. Some people can handle these ‘street’ terms being said, but others can and will get terribly angry, maybe even physical.”
I stopped for a moment, finally getting over the nerves of talking about this, especially with Annie and Sarah hearing me. I felt a hand on my back, it was Sarah who leaned in and quietly asked, “Charles, don’t bring up bi-sexualism, please—stay with what you are talking about. You are doing a tremendous job honey, just stay focused and don’t worry about us old hens back here.” I laughed at her self-deprecating remark.
“OK, Princess—Now you know something about Homosexuality. Not everybody wants everybody else to know they ‘are’ homosexuals, so those who are keeping it to themselves are called ‘in the closet’ or ‘closeted’ meaning they live their lives, but keep their sexual orientation to themselves, for personal reasons.”
“Those who gain confidence in their sexuality, will decide to let people know that they’re gay or lesbian, so they will—Everybody say it with me, ‘Come Out of the Closet.’”
“Kalista—people are very protective of their sexuality, some more than others. While Annie and Sarah have become very close, using any of the terms I have discussed today around them would be inappropriate, because they’re still in the ‘falling in love with each other stage.’”
I said, smiling at the two of them. “Just because they’re falling in love with each other, doesn’t mean that they both don’t still love all of us, does it ladies?”
“That’s right,” the Mom’s, said together, causing giggles all around the room.
“Lastly, not all gays and lesbians are created equal and there are even Famous People who have ‘Come out of the Closet,’ such as...”
“Singer, songwriters
Clay Aiken, Ricky Martin, Lance Bass”
“American Actors
Zachary Quinto, Rupert Everett, Alan Cumming”
“American Actresses
Cynthia Nixon, Wanda Sykes, Sarah Paulson”
“Musical Theatre composers
Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein”
“Roman Catholic Archbishop
Rembert Weakland”
“Artists
Leonardo Da Vinci, Andy Warhol”
“And many, many more.”
“Just remember that gays and lesbians are people, just like us. They listen to music, buy our posters, come to see us on tour. I have recently read that statisticians suggest that about 1 out of every 77 Americans is Gay or Lesbian, while another story suggested as many as 1 out of every 20 is a homosexual—it’s probably somewhere in between the two sets of statistics. I hope I explained without boring you all to tears about this. Talking about this bothers me, but I can’t really explain why?” I concluded.
Annie and Sarah came over to me and each hugged me saying, “I love you” to me.
Kalista came over and got up on my lap and said, “I am going to kiss you every chance I get Charles, to make sure you don’t become a gay.”
Although that remark would be offensive on its face, this young lady on my lap is so very full of love.
Claire strode over to me saying, “Ain’t gonna happen on my watch, Kalista.” She started a truly remarkable kiss between us. I separated us and we all got out of the spa, Kalista gave both Annie and Sarah great big hugs.
After we all wrapped towels around our waists, Kalista grabbed a hand from each of the moms, while Claire and I followed behind, in awe of this young girl, who’s so rapidly getting ‘streetwise.’
After changing into dry clothes, Sarah and I added the missing sentence to the ticket and sent it off, with an OK to produce based on the finalized artwork—We also asked for 600 tickets that had no seat and row numbers on them, just saying FIELD ACCESS, for the orchestra, entertainers and family that we ask to the event.
Getting my laptop out, I told everyone we had some more decisions to make concerning performers at the wedding event.
“Like before ladies, I will list 4 artists and you give me a thumbs up or down. Once again, you don’t have to explain yourself at all to either Claire, or me, all right? Remember, it takes at least 4 of us to pass someone on, OK?”
“Yes, Mr. Cowell,” Sarah said giggling.
“Alicia Keys, Usher, Faith Hill and Lady Gaga? --- OK, we will contact Alicia, Usher and Faith.”
“Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift? --- OK, we will contact Kelly and Taylor.”
“Last group for now is Sarah Bareilles, Maroon 5, U2, R. Kelly? --- All right, Sarah, Maroon 5 and Mr. Kelly.”
“That gives us a total of 20 artists now, our cap is 30, or we can change from two numbers each to three numbers, or just have Michael’s orchestra play some instrumental music to settle people down prior to the wedding music and the wedding itself. Sarah, when did we say we’d contact these folks by?”
“Labor Day this year, if not earlier, Loverboy,” Sarah said.
“Sarah!” Annie exclaimed, causing all of us to chuckle a little, since it was usually Claire making the retort to me after one of Sarah’s outbursts.
We all agreed a nap was in order, after which we would head out somewhere nice for dinner.
The next morning, after stretching, showering and changing, we headed to the Salt Palace to meet up with Michael and his Orchestra.
Although they weren’t boldly affectionate with each other in public, I noticed that Annie and Sarah have now begun holding hands when they walk side by side. I saw Michael see this, but he said nothing about it.
“Charles, any changes you want to make to the set list?” he asked.
“No, not really—except to say Claire and I would like be able to swap back and forth the last number between ‘Feeling Good,’ and you and Sarah singing ‘I have Had the Time of My Life.’ Is there a problem switching between the two?” I replied.
“No, Charles—not at all, just give me proper notice,” Michael asked.
“How soon will we be getting the International SST Schedule, Michael?”
“We should be getting that to you sometime before we start our Northern California Mini-leg. I do know we’re planning to start in Canada and end up in London, England.”
“Starting in British Columbia, I assume Michael?” I said.
I saw an expression of surprise on his face as he said, “As a matter of fact, I am—you Googled me, didn’t you ... that’s how you knew my middle name?”
“As a matter of fact, I looked you up in Wikipedia—everything you wanted to know about Michael Bublé, but were afraid to Ask.”
“Michael Stephen Bublé ... born 9 September 1975, a Canadian vocalist, songwriter, actor and record producer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards...”
“That’s enough of that, Charles,” Michael said, “I get it, you did your homework on me. You three will have a Wikipedia page, sooner than you may think?”
Everyone laughed at that.
“There are already eight ‘Charles Newmans’ in Wikipedia,” I said, “And five of them are dead!’
We went over the set list, song by song. Everything was in great shape heading into tonight’s performance. As we were leaving to rest up before performing, Michael came up to Annie.
“It sure is good to see you again, Annie ... I am sorry for your loss.”
She very sweetly gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked over to Sarah as they grabbed each other’s hands as we all headed back to our rooms.
I asked Claire for a rubdown, which she did wonderfully, as we lay down together for a quick rest. We all changed back into our performance clothes and headed back to the Salt Palace Hall E, where there will be over 7,000 people tonight.
Claire and I scoped out the place regarding our lift at the end of our number and there appeared plenty of room to do it on the stage platform. She was happy for that.
The evening went well, from start to finish, with our final number wowing the 7,000 people right out of their seats. We had our usual long line of autograph seekers, with most of the women wanting a look at Claire’s new engagement ring. Eventually, the place thinned out and we all met up to fly to our,
31st City
Caspar, WY
One Night
Hilton Garden Inn
32nd City
Billings, MT
One Night
C’mon Inn Hotel
33rd City
Spokane, WA
Stopover
Holiday Inn Express
34th City
Seattle, WA
One Night
Hyatt House Hotel
35th City
Portland, OR
One Night
Hotel Deluxe
36th City
Eugene, OR
One Night
Phoenix Inn Suites
37th City
Salem, OR
One Night
Phoenix Inn Suites
We got on Michael’s plane and began the Northern California Mini-leg with our,
38th City
Sacramento, CA
Two Nights
Citizen Hotel
We got a Suburban Rental from the airport.
We’re performing at the Sacramento Convention Center Complex in the Ballroom, which holds 2,500 people, for two nights.
We will be staying in a little different arrangement than usual—Sarah got a Deluxe Bedroom with two doubles for her, Mom and Kalista, while she got an additional One Bedroom Suite for Claire and me to have to ourselves ... although they will be on the same floor of the hotel, they’re not even close to each other.
What’s that old expression ... Give someone enough rope and see if they hang themselves with it?
Or they just trust us to be alone without close personal supervision. I did notice our room ... just a minute ... I have got to say that again ... our room ... Whew ... Our room has an extra deep soaking tub (meaning room for two)—with a view of the city.
The Announcer came on: “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls; school’s out and guess who’s back joining us? Charles & Claire!” A wonderful round of applause came up from the crowd, the returning kids smiled at us, the new kids glared at us. “But they are last today, so let’s get started.” He went on to announce the first competitors and it began. Things were moving along, I felt a bit more nervous than usual. Claire came up to me and said, “Charles, remember we’re waltzing today, this...
About three hours later, we’d gone through our new routines, polishing them all up a bit—also going over every routine we’d won a trophy using. Some of those were quite fun, since we hadn’t performed them in such a long while. “LUNCH!” The three of us all came in to see a layout of food that was amazing; we had lasagna or meatloaf to choose from. Also, there were Pan-fried home-made French fries, which is a specialty of the ladies, and the usual Salad Bar, but it had more things to choose...
“Wow, Charles—that’s quite ambitious and crazy, like you said. The minute we touch down, I will do all I can to make that happen. You certainly have been the showman this past year, introducing me, special guests that I sprung on you at the last minute like Idina and adding those fantastic musical routines that include all of your ... harem,” Michael said. “That’s what you pay me the big bucks for Michael,” I said, feeling a pull on my shirtsleeve. It was Claire, who wanted a kiss. Never...
By the time I looked it up, Claire had gone back into our room, Kalista was looking for a suit and the ladies went back to their room to change. “Charles, I may need you to put some sunscreen on me, later?” Kalista said swishing her hips as she went into her bathroom. She knows how to turn me on! I got up and saw my fiancée walking out of our bathroom, with a delicious red bikini on. “Come on X Man, we want to get there before they leave for the day,” Claire said. As quickly as I could, I...
Excusing myself from the ladies for a moment, I went back upstairs to take a shower and shake the ‘Claire-webs’ from my mind. I quickly got dressed and went to BallroomDancer.com, (real!) to see which steps I wanted to add to our various routines and there was a knock on my bedroom door. Rather than my usual ‘come in,’ I asked, “Who is it?” “It’s Claire, Charles ... Annie and my mom said I should come up and talk to you. We need to talk.” “Just a minute — All right?” I was feverishly...
“E-rog-en-ous Zones – look it up. They are places on a woman’s body that, when touched ... or kissed, can produce the female equivalent of your ‘problem,’ at least it makes us feel really good all ‘inside.’” “A young girl like Claire or Kalista doesn’t know they have places on their backs that control specific parts of their anatomy, and can create a lot of sexual feelings, and in your and their cases, sexual frustration. Be Careful, dude,” Sarah finished. “Since this doesn’t sound like...
At that point, Sarah and I had scheduled seven days off to recharge and refresh in Dallas, only three hours away at the Cooper Hotel & Conference Center. The place was awesome. I even scheduled a Swedish Massage for everybody in our group - each in their own rooms, which costs extra, but we’re all worth it. While in Dallas, we went off to Six Flags Over Texas, only thirty minutes away from our hotel. We even got Annie and Sarah to go on some of the rides. The place was pretty cool. While...
Leaning into Kal, I said, “I think you can do this better than Claire could, but you know I can’t tell Claire that and you can’t either, ever! You promise me? Pinkie Swear?” She put out her Pinkie, attaching hers to mine. I heard her say, “Pinkie Swear, Charles.” I looked over and saw a delicious smile on Claire’s face as K started to try the cut time tempo. She was hesitating. “Look at me, Princess? This song is called, ‘Hold On’ so you can hold on to me and I know you can do this. Try it...
2nd City Grand Rapids, MI Radisson Hotel Here, we performed at the DeVos Place Convention Center in the DeVos Performance Hall, which seats 2,400 people. Mr. Bublé told me we got in here because Harry Connick Jr cancelled, and we got the date. The irony of that is that the two of them have reasonably similar singing styles as well as they sing a lot of the same old crooners’ tunes. From there, we schlepped to, 3rd City Detroit, MI Holiday Inn Woodhaven 4th City Akron, OH Sheraton Suites...
We all got out of the Spa, changed and had something to eat. Both refrigerators, as well as the chest freezers in the garage were quite full, so we have enough food to last until we leave on tour, maybe even longer. I suppose we could pack some food to go with us? Annie spoke, “Today is July 25th guys, midway between Charles & Claire’s birthdays. In celebration of this, kneel, Claire McArthur and Charles Newman.” Kneel? Claire and I looked at each other, not knowing what was about to...
Having brushed up on all of our routines the past couple of days; we were ready to begin rehearsals for the US Something Special Tour. We made our way to the Battelle North Room at The Performing Arts Center in Columbus and found Mr. Bublé there, along with his twenty-nine-piece orchestra and the Arts Center Staff working together to get ready to rehearse. Michael waved at us, as we came into the room. “So, Charles – did you really create a routine to ALL of my recorded music?” Michael...
Sarah went to her daughter and hugged her, tightly. “Yes, I do,” she said just loud enough for us all to hear. My mother started back up, “Claire, calm down. I believe you, but I need you both to be thinking clearly these next few days ... about only dancing! You may become stars whether you win this competition or not, if David Letterman has his way. He may even ask you to go on his show. I believe it broadcasts from Manhattan. I had better go and talk to Jimmy about this.” “Go ahead and...
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...
Even Pam and her cameraman Eloy, from WSYX-TV, were there, along with Dave the DJ and his following. I saw my girls changing into their slippers as I mulled over in my head which dances to perform. I quickly decided on ‘The Only Exception’ a Waltz with Kalista, and our new ‘Encore piece’ ‘Xanadu.’ Out of breath, Pam came up to me and said, “National in two minutes, Charles, please?” “Thank you - two,” I responded. Pam laughed. An energy always pulses through me every time I know we’re...
“I am glad you like it so much, Loverboy. If we move into your grandpa’s home, we better have a spa in the backyard, if not inside somewhere too.” “Yeah, inside—that’s the term your mother was using on me too.” We went out to dinner and got back early enough to work on our new routines some more. First, I got Kalista and we worked all of our numbers, then I got Claire to do the same. Lastly, we did out group numbers and the Claire/Kallie numbers as well. It was after eleven pm by the time...
I came back down dressed for the spa, Sarah was already in, so I checked and asked, “You do have a suit on, right Sarah?” She stood up and had on a beautiful one-piece swimsuit, that had the American Flag on it, but there was a mesh portion over the bosom area that flashed a bit more ‘skin’ than I had been expecting. I got in and turned my back to her saying, “Be gentle, Mrs. Robinson,” which caused her to laugh a bit. Just as she was starting to rub my shoulders, everybody came through the...
We all looked at one another and did not understand what she was saying to us. She tried again, “That man who just left here ... is ‘John McArthur,’ not Daniel. It was Daniel who died in June’s arms, all those years ago. John swapped ... all their credentials and took over the life of Daniel, including, being the f-f-father of all of my children.” She was sobbing very hard again. I remarked, “It seems like John and Daniel played the same kinds of tricks on everyone, being twins? Including...
Last year, being thirteen-year-olds meant we danced on Tuesday, but this year (2013) since we both will be tuning 14 in late July, we’re probably moving to Thursday nights. However, we got a letter from Jimmy with the upcoming Cotillion schedule. Things have changed considerably; Monday is now 17/18-year-olds, Tuesday 13/14-year-olds, Wednesday 11/12-year-olds, Thursday 15/16-year-olds, Friday is the 9/10-year-olds, and Saturday at ten am, will be the 7/8-year-olds. This was explained by an...
“MOTHER!” She was on a roll, so Sarah kept going, “Sorry Claire, but the truth is the truth. Most girls your age are getting ready to go to high school and plan to sleep with every boy they meet, until they find the one to bring home to Mom and Dad. You, however—hit the mother lode; he’s cute, he’s smart, he treats you like he’s known you for a dozen years, but it’s been barely over a year and a half, from when you first met.” “I know I didn’t originally understand what was going on with...
“You had me worried there for a minute, Tiger,” she said giving me a new nickname. “I thought I felt your hands moving towards my butt.” “They did ... a little, but I was in control of my hands the whole time, OK Love.” “OK Love,” she repeated quietly. Jimmy told us that during the next week we would likely still be working on the Tango and Cha-Cha. Claire and I only needed to refine our steps and learn a few more. We must keep Jimmy satisfied. ==== It was Saturday night, and Annie and...
“I am in a spa with four very healthy and attractive women; my mother, my girlfriend, my soul mate and my potential mother–in-law. The last thing on my mind is having fun. Wait a second ... that didn’t come out quite right.” “Charles,” Claire said swimming over to me, “Do I make you nervous right now?” “Not n-nervous, Claire. More uh — uhm, well ... uncomfortable,” I lied. Claire started to walk towards me with water dripping off ... everything. “Claire,” said her mother, “Don’t tease...
The next couple of days were something of a haze, with the practices, the new routines and such. Mom repeated that the musical guidelines for time are, to avoid a penalty, between 150 and 210 seconds. “Annie’s Song” was 180 seconds, but a song that goes 223 seconds, like “Footloose” does, might be stretching it just too much. Claire told me that Josiah could trim music from the front or the end of the song to make it fit the 210 maximum. So, I asked her to have him cut the opening eight...
Breaking the mood, Sarah said, “He’s not the greatest dancer ever, but he’s darn close. Thank you for stopping by,” she added, rubbing my back saying, “She’s not too far from the truth, Charles?” I leaned into Sarah and cried for a bit. Fed, showered, and dressed - we showed up early for our second Carnegie Hall Performance, these folks paid $2,500 each to see us, so we really needed to be jazzed and ready. Walking up to Michael, I saw he’d actually put on the T-shirt we got him. “Hey...
“Back to the Countdown, all right?” I hopefully asked. That settled them all down, at least a little. Claire said, “You were at 14, Charles.” “Thanks honey,” I said with a kiss. “Number 14;” 955,000 Sarah “Marilyn Monroe” pose “What’s that mean?” Kalista asked. I said, “There was an actress in the 40s, 50s and early 60s named Marilyn Monroe, Kalista. She exuded sexuality and one of her many famous pictures was with her bent over in a low-cut all-white dress, with her ‘girls’ pushed...
“Let’s get back to the hotel everybody,” Annie said. “Michael, when do we leave for Russia?” “In three days, we fly from here to Novosibirsk, Russia, about 2,950 miles, then on to Moscow, an additional 1,730-mile leg, after that to St. Petersburg, our final Russian stop,” Michael said. “Good, I might just sleep for the next two days Michael,” I said. Claire leaned in close and said, “Not without me, you won’t?” The realization of the previous evening, hit me when I woke up. I had my arms...
When they saw us walk up to their ticket windows, there was a scream from within, and they called their supervisor who gave us all free passes for the day. Ever-present Sarah showed me she had autographing pens with her. First thing we did was to take the Behind the Scenes Tour that showed off their zoological support area, and Jonathan, our guide, made a prideful point of mentioning all of the endangered species they had at their park. After the Tour was over, our guide, Jonathan stayed...
What was that? Did they say we had moved on, or were they telling us to leave the floor? The crowd was stunned and started to applaud very loudly. I guess that meant ... We made it! We waved back to the crowd, and Claire took me by my collar and kissed me in front of everybody there. I knew this was likely to come back on me, but I responded and kissed her back causing the other dancers around us to start applauding as well. We broke up both equally embarrassed, but happy as can be — we...
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER (2032) “Charles?” K said, now 28. “Yes, Princess?” I responded, now 33. “Everybody’s gone, leaving us alone.” “Where did they all go to?” I asked. “Claire, Annie and Sarah with Rose and Michael, along with Ken and his brood, went to check on the newest Charles & Claire Dance Studio in Pittsburgh. On their way back they were going to Columbus for the day, to check on the studio that Brian and Susan, and their family, are in charge of.” “That leaves us all alone,...
Well, again, Tuesday night couldn’t come soon enough for me. This week, Brian’s mother took us to Cotillion getting us there early so Claire and I could confer with Jimmy. We told him about the BBQ and about all the steps we learned. Mr. Bradshaw looked at us flabbergasted and said, “You have learned The Natural Turn Progression? I usually don’t even try to teach that to anyone under fifteen; they ... just can’t grasp it. You two really are something special, you know. Next week, I will be...
We got up, showered and met up with the group for a small and quick breakfast. Sarah got us a room in the hotel to practice in, we went through all of our newly restored routines two additional times letting the girls flash them up a little. We took a cab ride out to Wembley Stadium to check it out. We saw a very large dance floor being setup, it was maybe 80ft across by 100ft deep, easily the biggest we’d seen so far. As fast as they were setting it up, Michael and his merry men were...
That caused Jimmy to smile big as he said, “Now ... Charles & Claire will show us all, the Tango,” starting “Hernando’s Hideaway,” a different version than we had danced to before, but quite lyrical. Claire turned to me and said, “Charles remember, No rise and fall!” What a wonderful dimpled smile was on her face. We proceeded to Tango ourselves into a lather using steps that we know Jimmy wouldn’t be teaching tonight, but when you love to dance ... you do what you do, and what you...
“OK, last subject – turning professional and going on this tour. I am beginning to believe, that we are going to like dancing for people on this tour more than anything else, so I suggest we all turn professional right away, informing the NDCA at the proper time. We go on this US Tour, and maybe even Michaels’ World Tour as well.” “Then we maybe find out about going on the World Dance Council International Tour, or starting our own Tour, something along the lines of ‘The Claire and Special K...
“Ooooohhhhh — That was a joke, Charles? That was my soon to be fourteen-year-old sons’ idea of a joke. Ha-Ha. Hmmm ... you knew I was behind the door, didn’t you? Well, you got me pretty good there, Chuckles. I must admit.” She started laughing with us; so, I guess she was OK, but I am going to start being more careful, generally speaking. RING “Hello, this is Charles Newman, who may I ask is calling?” “This is Kalista McArthur, Mr. Newman. Calling to see how you are doing?” “Kalista. So...
Not having been there for over five years brought back memories. It was an all-new orchestra, with a new conductor, Herbie must have retired or passed on. After getting everyone settled, I walked up and introduced myself and met the new conductor, Harold Watson, better known as Hal. He was aware of who we were and had a large number of our music ready for us. There was no live singer this evening, just a nice meal and dance music. I sat between my wife and my daughter. “Daddy,” Rose said...
The next morning, after working out and coming back to take a shower, I looked at our list of cities we’d gone to so far and determined that we have been to 30% of the total cities, and we’re about eight months into our 24-month long Tour so far, which ... matches up. We’re less than two months from Kalista’s 12th birthday. Our second Anaheim performance was as electric as the first, then we had a day off, then Fullerton for a single, the next day was our ‘Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon...
I chuckled, put the phone down and ran to Mom in the kitchen asking her if Claire could come over in the morning to practice. Of course, she said, “Are you ready to be a proper gentleman this time, young man?” I bowed my head and said, “Yes, ma’am. I have got Claire holding on the phone. Could we get her this time, instead of one of her family having to drop her off, please?” That probably sounded a bit needy. “That was the perfect amount of groveling. Go tell her we will be coming to get...
The performances the next four days in Sydney, were quite outstanding. Kalista was extraordinary, and Claire was at the top of her game as well. I’d begun to go to the gym now and work out every morning. I did look up the latest news on Happy Birthday, finding that only three weeks earlier (On September 22nd) a judge in Los Angeles ruled that none of the companies that have collected royalties over the years, held a valid copyright claim. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Randall Newman (No...
Claire said, “I guess we’ll find out who wins the battle of the chesticles, won’t we, Mom?” Sarah did a shake and said, “In sheer size, dear – there’s no comparison.” They all laughed and snorted. “All right let’s go ... Dammit! The stat site is down, I need to call Ken about this!” “Oh,” Sarah said. “We got a request from Disney to make our posters available in the non-USA Parks. Without running it by anyone, I said to go ahead, but only in Japan. I figured we could find out how...
“Both of our mothers, along with our future stepdaughter, would kill us both if we did something as stupid as that,” she responded. “You’re right Claire, and when you are right – you are right,” I said, first looking over the delicious body of my soon to be wife, then starting another kiss. “I am so horny, and you are so gorgeous – a deadly combination, my dear.” “I am up for a little ‘afternoon delight,’ Charles?” she said grinning at me, reminding me again of that wonderful June evening...
After we got home, I changed into a swimsuit and practically jumped into the spa. Being that everyone else was of a like mind, within a half hour, I was joined by my entire C.A.S.K of ladies. Kalista came up to me and asked, in an alarmingly sexual tone, “Whatcha doin, Loverboy,” and she sat down on my lap, spreading herself out in a leisurely manner. “Well, Special K, you sexy lump of clay, you, I was looking at the final leg of our US SST tour.” I had my laptop on a stool...
“Can we wait and not have sex, until we’re married? Too many kids rush into their first time and end up regretting their decision.” “Absolutely Charles, that’ll make it that much more exciting, when we finally do make love to one another, for the very first time.” Of course, that was exactly when Sarah walked in, knocking and saying, “I want the two of you to know something about love. There’s lust, and it is a very powerful and strong emotion, that can break up friends forever. It can ruin...
“I am so excited,” Annie said. “How do you calm down when you get this excited.” Michael knew, so he walked over to her and gave her a nice kiss, possibly the best kiss they had yet shared. She touched her lips and seemed calmer. “He certainly takes after his father,” Kallie said. “Charles did that to Sarah once, and she was never the same again.” “Five minutes please,” our tech girl announced through my headset. I passed that along to the gang. Turning to my wife, I said, “Ready for...
Eventually, we all changed into rehearsal clothes again. We had less than four full months before we leave on ‘The Next-Generation Tour’, and these routines needed to be automatic. I introduced the third set into our regimen, two weeks later we added set number four. Six weeks later all seven sets were worked into the rotation. Sammi was right — the kids were catching on, smiling as they were barely out of breath after a day’s rehearsal. My daily workout did its job; I was back in the best...
The rest of the day was a blast, the farthest thing from dancing we could do. Occasionally, Sarah grabbed my hand as we walked to the things we wanted to see and accomplish. We’d gotten tired, and let our guide give us a mini-tour, while we stayed in the cart. We weren’t being bothered for autographs that much, but if someone asked, we’d stop and gladly do it. We were all dried out now. I’d seen a place on the Park Map I wanted to go to, so I asked to go to Topper’s Hat Shop. I got a light...
I opened the door to a wonderful scent, thank you Ken, and Claire and I quickly started a load of laundry, then stripped and got naked into our spa. I got a text from K, “Can I spa with U?” I asked Claire and she said ‘Sure’ and I texted K back. She was over in a flash. I was planning on putting on some boxers, but my legs felt so good, I stepped into the spa, naked. K came in already in a suit. “Princess, right now - naked only.” She got in, put Claire between us and stripped herself...
“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,...
Things were breaking up and our group quickly surrounded us, as we exchanged hugs and kisses. I looked around and didn’t see Kalista anywhere, at least not until she was in the air, on her way to me and I caught her. I won’t be able to hold her much longer, she has gotten taller and thus, heavier; I certainly wouldn’t say that to her face. She went for the deep kiss, but Annie and Sarah were there in time, to stop it from happening. After signing autographs for over half an hour, Annie...
We laughed all the way down to the kitchen. I pulled the chair out for Claire and we went about our business. I made her a salad and brought it to her, then made us each a cheeseburger and grabbed some chips and took it to the table. Lastly I poured us a couple glasses of water and realized I was the only person moving at all. The ladies seemed perplexed over Claire’s ‘ensemble,’ but nobody actually said anything. Claire looked up and said, “Are Charles and I the only ones having lunch...
Our Three Sports Stadium Performances were not technical sellouts, but they were the loudest frikking amounts of people we ever had, with Dan the Man in his elements. Well, back to the Tour: 40 cities left in California; starting in Oxnard, then Ventura and Santa Barbara for 3, Santa Maria for 2, Bakersfield for 3 (In a new multi-use stadium capable of holding 125,000), followed by Visalia, Clovis, and Fresno for 2, Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento for 3. We were planning an extra two days...
“Yes, a Terrible Tango routine,” I said. “Must find just the right music,” as I started rummaging through our music collection. “What about ‘Hernando’s Hideaway,’ Charles? We have practiced to it a couple of times?” Claire suggested. “No, Claire ... it’s a great song to Tango to, but I want something that works for only you and me ... so nobody else will dare dance to it, after we do.” “Aren’t we getting a little full of ourselves, Charles?” mom asked. “No Mom, the music is important;...
Finally, we went back to dancing. I thought we could now practice the Cha-Cha and the Tango. Those were the dances we were expected to know for Cotillion later. We went back over the four Basic patterns, the New York step, along with both the Spot and Walkaround turns again. I added to that, the Crossover steps, and a really cool derivative step called The Chase. After going through this without music, I looked at their selection. They had the Eliane Elias version of “Oye Como Va;” a perfect...
Disney’s Hollywood Studios was impressive. With twenty attractions to choose from, including Rock ‘n’ Roll Coaster, Star Tours in 3D, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, that Annie and Sarah wanted nothing to do with, Toy Story Mania, the newly refurbished Fantasmic, and a 25-minute long Live truncation of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ with five of the wonderful songs from the movie, including the Oscar winning ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ We also watched the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt...
She pounced on my slightly diminished erection, enjoying it like a kitty cat that just got a fresh plate of milk. She got me clean and pushed me on my back. She dropped her butt down on my erection, causing her to practically scream bloody murder. I threw her a pillow, as she performed at first a ‘Cowgirl’ then without stopping turned it into a ‘reverse.’ I pulled out and got her on her hands and knees and I plowed right into that beautiful butt of hers, again doing most of the work. Only...
My girls all came up to me wondering exactly what I was going to say. As usual, I said that I didn’t know yet, I’d planned to wing it. The cameraman was getting instructions through his earpiece and I got Claire and Kalista on either side me. He backed up a bit and gave me a 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1. The reporter handed me her mike, and I said, straight into the TV camera in front of me, “Ladies and Gentlemen, and kids of all ages, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Welcome to the Columbus Mall, in...
We got back to Caesars about twenty-five minutes before things started. The same gentleman we’d spoken to before helped us to our seats. The lights dimmed. As part of her show, she does many of her most popular musical selections, including practically all of her music that we had. After her first couple of songs, she took her microphone and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, last fall I was lucky enough to be part of a very special wedding event. It was at a football stadium in Columbus, Ohio....
“I plan to ask her to marry me at graduation, not to marry me at graduation. I know many teenagers as well as older folks seem to think two or three months is plenty of time to be engaged. I hope to be engaged for two full years so when we turn twenty, that year’s McArthur Family BBQ could become our Wedding Day.” “I know you usually hold it in June, Sarah, but that year it could be the Sunday between my and Claire’s birthday’s in July. Could that be planned? Maybe you can get that dunk tank...
We landed in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the first of four performances in the 49th state. Fans in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau all loved our Next Generation Tour. Our hop from there to Hawaii was wonderful. Our Tour of Pearl Harbor was amazing. Michael explained it to his ‘girls’, causing all three of them to cry a little. Sammi did the same with Lily. My Great-great grandfather, Richard Noble Newman, was shipped to Pearl Harbor during the late summer of 1941. By the grace of God, he...
The next night’s performance was something of a letdown. Michael Bublé performed flawlessly, but every one of us fumbled something. After saying goodnight to him and getting our money, I called a meeting for when we got back to the hotel to pick up Sammi and her crew. After we all assembled outside our vehicles, I said, “What happened tonight was totally unacceptable! Even I messed up!” That garnered a laugh. “In the entire history of Charles & Claire, that has never happened. I don’t...