Boston to Birmingham Ch. 06

Suddenly there were two loud raps at the head of the stairs. It was Marcus, dressed to the nines in period clothing, holding a large cane. He had a small, almost invisible headset on.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

His voice echoed and boomed all over the ballroom. courtesy of a very discretely place PA system.

"In your time honored tradition of your ancestors,

it is time for the presentations. Dancing will commence shortly afterwards. Places please! We will commence in exactly five minutes."

The 'presentations' were for the younger women to be formally introduced to the elite of local society. Afterwards, every couple would go up a back stair, to be introduced and proceed down the main stair into the ballroom, to appropriate applause. The hostess and her family were always presented last. It was said that the importance of your ranking in society was revealed by the order of presentation, with the most important going last.

The girls were presented first. Marcus would rap his cane twice for attention, and then announce them. Melissa was the very last.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you Miss Melissa Sue Wilkes, escorted tonight by Master James Madsen."

Melissa remembered the night for the rest of her life. She told her children years later she knew then how Cinderella must have felt.

The adult introductions started, couples gliding down the stairs to polite applause. It was getting closer to the end before the dancing.

Hildy and Greg were to be introduced, then Daisy and her escort, and finally Gwen with Hardy.

Hardy thought Gwen was acting strange, and she thought he looked nervous as a cat at a dog show.

The curtain opened and Hildy and Greg appeared.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Canaday!"

Gwen blurted "What?"

Greg looked over his shoulder with a grin as the curtain closed.

"We eloped last weekend."

Daisy stood with a smug smile, Hildy told her earlier in the week, making her promise not to ruin the surprise.

Gwen got another shock when Aunt Daisy stepped up to the curtain with her escort.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Daisy Howe, escorted by Mr. Joshua Hardy."

Daisy had on a black, lace accented dress, with red trim and a red shawl. Josh had on a sergeant's uniform, in honor of an ancestor who won the Confederate version of the medal of honor.

Most knew she would never see another Cotillion, and their applause let her know just how much she was valued.

They stepped up to the curtain. Hardy arranged for Marcus to hold the curtain for a moment.

He held her hand tightly for a second, before dropping to one knee.

"Gwen, I thought about how to tell you just how deeply I love you, but words fail me. Just know, I never want to spend another night away from you,

my lover, my woman, my wife. Will you marry me again?"

Gwen looked into his eyes, blurted out "I'm pregnant" and in the grand tradition of Southern Belles going back over three centuries, fainted dead away.

Marcus thought he heard the signal, rapped twice, and announced them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Hardy Wilkes!"

The curtain opened to Hardy, down on one knee, holding an unconscious Gwen.

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There was a collective gasp from the ballroom, and Marcus quickly closed the curtain. There were two doctors in the crowd, and they were rushed to the top of the stairs.

Gwen stirred, waking up in Hardy's arms while he was still on his knees. It all flooded back to her, and she grabbed his head kissing him repeatedly, and with passion, stopping occasionally to profess love for him.

The doctors, upon arriving on the scene, smiled and pronounced her sufficiently recovered to resume the festivities.

They did get to a do a belated grand entrance, and the reason for the delay shot round the ballroom with the speed of light.

When the curtains opened, the applause lasted three minutes.

Melissa and Hildy met them at the foot of the stairs. Melissa gave a little fist pump and said "You go, Mom!", then patted her stomach.

"And you too, little brother or sister."

Daisy, Gwen, Hildy, and Melissa hugged in a group, crying, even Daisy. They all had to retire to the powder room to fix their appearance.

The Cotillion turned into a personal celebration for the Wilkes/Canaday clan. After being assured by the doctor it was all right, they danced the night away. All things end, so at midnight the ball was officially closed.

There was a run on bedrooms as the younger generation changed into party clothes. As a gift for Melissa on her eighteenth birthday Hardy and Gwen had rented one of the smaller halls at The Club, a nearby landmark, and turned it into a dance club, complete with lights and a DJ.

Hardy and Gwen were the official hosts and chaperones, as well as four other couples. He had rented rooms for them, as well as the bridal suite for himself. Greg and Hildy were going home to their house, the farmhouse they had renovated.

Joshua escorted Daisy home, and spent the night, sleeping in the same bed with someone else, the first time in over thirty years either had done so.

The kids had a ball, and kept the floor full until two thirty. Most had rooms reserved with the families, but a few, including Melissa, decided to go home.

Gwen objected.

"No one will be there, I hate to think you'll be alone."

Melissa was looking down and blushing furiously.

"Uh, Mom, I won't be alone."

Realization hit, and Gwen gave the small look a woman gives when she understands her daughter is no longer a child.

"Be careful, honey, promise me."

"We will Mom. I love you, and don't tell dad, okay?"

She stood at the entrance watching as Jimmy pulled up and opened the door for Melissa, before heading back to the suite.

As she walked she rubbed her tummy absently, wondering how many more will give her the heartbreak of watching them grow up and venture out in the world.

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And now we're back to the start of our tale.

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The little girl finally got her hair braided and bounced into the arms of the man who had just entered.

"Grandpa, is Grandma a Yankee?"

He looked at her, the light of his life for forty years, still a beautiful woman in his eyes.

"Well, she was honey, but she got over it."

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EPILOGUE

Joshua died eighteen months later, but not before he got to hold his great grandsons, Joshua Hardy Wilkes and Gregory Canaday Wilkes in his arms. He said later it was the proudest moment of his life.

Yes, Gwen had twin boys the first time out, followed by Annette Daisy Wilkes, named for Daisy and Hildy, whose real name was Annette. She never said how she got the nickname Hildy.

Daisy passed shortly after Joshua, but not before she got to hang the portrait of Gwen and Melissa beside the one of her and her beloved sister Ginny. Marcus found her in a chair, facing the paintings. True to her feeling, she never got to attend another Cotillion.

Marcus became instantly very wealthy and ended up marrying a girl he met in college. She was white, a Chapman, ironically, another cousin. They had four children.

Gwen kept the maintenance up on her home, allowing the Daughters of the Confederacy to use it as a base. She would go every once in a while, when she was feeling old or missing Daisy, and sit beneath the portraits, remembering.

Greg and Hildy moved to Boston, but after one winter they were back to stay. He settled down to raising Highland cattle, becoming one of the foremost breeders in the country. Hildy discovered a passion for horses, and her Arabians were considered some of the best to be found.

He passed at seventy five. Hildy lived another dozen years, but most of the sparkle was gone from her eyes. She said before she passed that her greatest comfort was knowing that Gwen had taken her place, and that the family was in good hands.

Gwen and Hardy lived in Birmingham for eight years before they both retired to the farm.

They stayed because Gwen spent two terms as District Attorney and one as a Circuit Court judge. Guess Paul was right.

J.T. passed, quietly. Will Rob said it was the first thing he ever did quietly.

Will Rob finally retired after two more terms as sheriff, and he gave Gwen the framed news article and the tanned snakeskin.

Allen Hovis was in jail three years, wearing the bitch tag of an hispanic gang, before he was found with his head in a toilet, drowned.

Vincente Escobar disappeared during a cartel war. He was never seen again, although rumors persisted for years he was living in Italy with his family.

Anne Burnside retired with full honors, and married, a beautiful woman named Victoria, and they run a resort in the Bahamas. She seems happy with her life, although occasionally she will see a blonde couple at the resort and indulge in a daydream.

Melissa Sue Wilkes attended Alabama, and took her law degree at Harvard.

Joshua joined the Army and made it a career.

Greg studied law, but ended up entering a seminary and becoming a Baptist minister.

Annette Daisy married badly, twice, before finding a good man. They've been together ten years.

Roy miscalculated and ended doing ten years.

June bug graduated while he was incarcerated.

When his family needed something, a cousin was always available. Hardy and Gwen paid their living expenses until he got out. By then, he retired, draws a check, and laughs at the world.

Hardy and Gwen? They love each other madly, and spend their days in harmony. Gwen is is the undisputed matriarch of the family, helping them wherever she can. Many went on to college on mysterious scholarships and grants. The Sunday dinners have become legendary.

This really is...the end.

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Oops. Not quite. I already have a series about Melissa Sue plotted out, but it will be a little while, got too much going on right now. Thanks for reading.