Charles & Claire Ch. 42

CHAPTER FOURTEEN


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.”

I couldn’t help myself, so I started singing the song too,

“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 when 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.

Sarah said, “Charles - That song is one of the main reasons the girl you’re marrying is named Claire?”

“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 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’m 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’re so sweet Charles, gosh I’m 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 unique 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 5 minutes in the living room,” I yelled.

Inevitably, 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’m not aware of how much traveling Annie and Sarah have done before, I hope you two lovebirds can 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’ve 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.

“My biggest concern is when we’re in South America, Claire-Bear. There’s enough theft and mugging that goes on, I’d recommend we not go out at night at all, except to rehearsal and performance. If we must, remember the things I’ve said, along with carrying something to defend yourselves, such as a can of mace or pepper spray. Carry as little cash as possible, our credit cards are protected in case of theft.”

I looked over at the Moms - “Oh and, in South America don’t advertise the merchandise quite so much… Sarah.”

“In other words,” Sarah said, “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. After a performance, dress down for travel, and so forth. We’re 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’re 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’ll 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’m 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 lessor 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’m 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’ve downloaded, while we spoon?”

“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’m 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 real 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,” mom smiled - I smiled back at her.

“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’ll be quick, Nice Buns,” she giggled.

*********** ***********
We headed downstairs arm in arm to a bunch of real big smiles - “Kalista you first?”

I instructed Sarah which songs to put on the CD, in 10 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 may be only 10, but she’s carrying herself like a teenager, and dancing like a long-time professional dancer. Her legs are so straight; I’m 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’ve 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’ll start out a Tango, until the singing starts, almost 50 seconds into the five-minute song. Then, we’ll segue into a Samba. The song is really beautiful, especially the orchestration.

“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 30 minutes 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 assumed, “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’re 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’ve personally never heard of birth control pills causing horniness - the opposite is usual, a lessening of the libido. I do remember 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’ll 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’m terribly sorry Claire, I’ve 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’m so - I’m just so in love with you. I know what we can and can’t do, but I’m afraid I’m going to lose you if we don’t make love real soon.” I saw a tear.

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

“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.