A Halloween Carol in Texas

'Honeybear? Darling? Can you hear me?' Carol thought out to her beloved. The response was immediate.

'Oh my darling! Yes! I can hear you very well! And I also feel your presence very close to me,' Roger thought back in excited tones.

'Please relax and give me total control,' Carol instructed him. 'I will return it to you shortly, but we can remain coupled together like this for a while if you like.' She then proceeded to review with him everything that Mandy had previously told him already about the process. She also added a few items that Mandy had unintentionally failed to address, especially the steps needed to reverse the process.

Carol reached out and physically touched Roger's soul in exactly the same way that she had done with Mandy the first time that she had possessed her body. Only this time it was no accident, touching Roger's soul was done on purpose. She and Roger, having been wedded in a Church by an ordained minister were already partially soul-bound as soon as the service had concluded. When they made love that night and consummated their marriage, they had completed the process. So there was no soul-jarring shock with Roger as there had been with Mandy. However, she did sense a certain feeling of something happening. The best that she could describe it was a 'renewal' and 'refreshing' of their bond.

'I feel you touching me, Carol!' Roger exclaimed excitedly. 'I don't know about you but this is every bit as intimate as sex! My God, baby! I can feel your love flowing through the bond! This is incredible!'

'I can feel the same exhilarating high, Honeybear. We will have to enjoy it for as long we can. But when I need to step back outside of your body, the corresponding low that comes along with that will be close to devastating from what Blondie has told me.'

'I understand, dearest. But even so, the price will be worth it for the gift that I am receiving right now.'

That is when Carol decided to mess with Amanda's head just a little bit. Since she was still in control of Roger's body, she crossed over to Mandy and swept her up into their arms. Mandy came face to face with Carol/Roger and They kissed her. Mandy initially offered up a small resistance having been caught totally off guard. But she soon melted into their arms, succumbing to the emotions passing between the three of them. Carol pressed Roger's tongue against Mandy's lips and she opened up to eagerly accept the oral digit into her own mouth. Carol then backed up to the love seat and sat down pulling Mandy into her lap while never breaking their kiss.

"I am Carol right now," They told Mandy when the kiss finally ended. "I wanted to kiss you like that when I was still alive, Blondie. I realize that this is a man's body, but technically speaking, that was your first lesbian kiss. You like?" Roger giggled in the back of their head, amused by Carol's cheekiness.

"I love you, Carol!" The excitement in Amanda's voice was undeniable. "Oh, yeah. I would have DEFINITELY kissed you for real...just like that if you had ever tried to make a pass at me. I love you so much, hun! Do you think that we could go to the bedroom and make love?"

"It really wouldn't be the same for you, honey. I mean, I can go down on you and find out what I missed out on from that standpoint, but this is still a man's body that I am in. The only other female that knows about us is my mother. While I am going to merge with her like this before I cross over so that she can feel the close connection, I am not going to make love to you using her body. That would just be so totally wrong on so many levels. I'll also have to be extremely careful not to make contact with her soul and bind it like I did with you. I just touched Roger's soul out of curiosity and we renewed our bond, which was very satisfying."

They spent the next few hours like that, the three of them sharing love before Carol stepped out of Roger's body. She made sure that he was sitting comfortably before she did the procedure. Roger gasped and then muttered, "Oh! Geezus!" under his breath before commenting.

"Mandy, darling. You're right. That gives the word 'lonely' a totally new meaning. That freakin' hurts on an emotional level that is too damn awful to describe in words. Damn it! Carol, honey. Having me sitting down before you left me was definitely the correct call!"

"Darling? You're in a good head-space right now, correct?" Carol asked Roger.

"Oh hell...what catastrophe have you brought down on us now?"

"What the hell, Roger? Why do you think I have a catastrophe to share?"

"Carol, honey. You were the very first love of my life. And trust me, I am extremely thankful for you coming to us in the afterlife and tearing down the barrier that I had placed in between Blondie and myself. I was so very wrong for doing that. But I have loved you and known you for so very long that when you use certain words or phrases, it is an immediate clue to what you're going to tell me next." Roger then released an audible chuckle.

"Honeybear, I really do love you. And you're right, but it isn't what I would really call a great catastrophe. It's just a little bit of a case of putting the cart before the horse, as it were."

"Roger honey," Amanda had instantly seen where Carol was headed, so she had picked up the narrative. "I love you so very, very much. So please don't be angry with either Carol or me. I'm pregnant with your child, dearest."

"Honeybear, I have carefully calculated the timeline and it had to have happened from when you made love to me for the first time since I passed. This didn't happen the following morning when you made love to Blondie while I was at my mom's playing with Jeremy." Carol could easily read the confusion on Roger's face, so she continued. "Honey, do you remember just a few moments ago when I joined you inside of your body? You felt my presence, right?"

Roger nodded in the affirmative.

"So I discovered that one of my 'superpowers' as a ghost is that I can detect the presence of another soul if it is in the same body that I am possessing. It was on the ride home when I was still in Blondie's body that I detected the new soul of your next child. Mandy has not missed her next period yet and a pregnancy test taken today will probably come back negative. But I promise you that she will miss her next period and in 9 months, you're going to be in the delivery room with her holding a new baby."

Roger took several moments to gather his thoughts. He thought about the fact that he had been making love to his dead wife and through that action had impregnated his new lover. He thought about Carol encouraging their relationship and giving her blessings to Roger and Amanda. He thought about his true emotions for Amanda and realized that they were only second to the emotions that he had felt for Carol. It was in that moment that he realized that he would shortly ask Amanda to be his wife anyway, baby or not, to honor Carol's memory and wishes. The fact that she was already pregnant with his child made absolutely no difference in that outcome either way.

Roger quickly crossed over to Amanda and took a knee. "Baby, please understand that I am NOT doing this just because you are pregnant. I will admit however, that the baby growing inside of you has caused me to look inside myself and search my own feelings. But I would be doing this very soon whether you are pregnant or not. Amanda Katelyn Pierce, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"

"Oh Roger! Yes, darling! Yes!"

XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO

The three of them discussed the marriage matter further. After a lot of give and take, a mutual decision was made between all of them that Roger and Amanda should elope to Las Vegas on the up coming weekend of December 8^th and 9^th. Then after they got back, all of the adults in their immediate family would be told the news and Amanda's mom along with Roger's mom could plan a larger wedding officiated by a church ordained minister.

Carol was adamant about the church wedding because she knew from firsthand experience that it was needed to form a more permanent bond between Roger's soul and Amanda's. Roger and Amanda had already made love several times over the last few days without Carol's presence, so some bonding was already in place. But Carol knew that it could be much, much stronger if certain ceremonies took place. It was like casting magic spells to a certain extent.

"We're not going to get married by an Elvis impersonator, are we?" Mandy asked Roger.

"Only if that is what you desire, dearest. Personally, I would prefer something more traditional and romantic."

"We were certainly meant to be together, then! That is exactly what I want too!"

Roger went to a jewelry store that afternoon with both girls in tow. Carol hitched a ride inside of Mandy because she wanted to see what they would choose. Mandy fell in love with a 2 carat Emerald cut diamond ring on a yellow gold setting with large emeralds bracing it on both sides. Roger saw her staring intensely at it and asked their associate if she could try it on. Amanda took the ring and looked for a price tag before she did anything else with it. The tag read $3,995.00.

"No, no, no," she said as she set it back onto the flannel that the associate had on the glass showcase.

Roger snatched it up and looked at it for a moment. Then he took Amanda's left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger.

"Roger! Darling! That ring is way too expensive! I don't want you to spend that much money on me! And I certainly don't need you to do it either!"

Gathering both of her hands into his, Roger held her with as much love and devotion as he could express. "Mandy? Carol's life insurance policy paid double even though I didn't expect it to. So far I have not touched very much of it. I used some for the funeral, but the rest is still sitting in certificates of deposit and earning interest. The price of this ring is roughly one single year's interest that I get on those investments. We can afford it."

"Okay fine," Mandy surrendered. "But I am only wearing this one on special occasions after our Vegas Honeymoon is over. I'm going to buy something cheaper, with my own paychecks if I have to. But I don't want something this valuable on my hand every damn day. Can you imagine my devastation if I accidentally lost it or worse yet someone stole it from me? Nope! I'm not risking that."

"That's fine dearest. I'll buy them both for you."

They ended up settling on a red gold diamond ring with a 1/4 carat total weight and 5 stones, all diamonds for her 'everyday' ring. It only cost them $599.00 and both Roger and Carol were in agreement that they thought it was prettier than the other one. Amanda liked them both, but she knew that when a matching wedding band would be bought that it was going to be red gold also and get welded to the cheaper ring. In the end, the expensive ring would go on her right hand when she had special occasion to wear it. Other than that, she kept it in Roger's fireproof document safe under their bed.

Roger went online and booked their tickets on Southwest Airlines® with a December 7^th departure from William P. Hobby airport. He took a moment to say a prayer, just in general. The various dates that kept randomly presenting themselves during this adventure were exceedingly creepy to say the least. The coinciding phenomena staggered the imagination with the irony of it all. He certainly hoped that Carol's return into their lives had not also brought some weird sort of curse along with it.

Carol's mother was the only one that was clued into the reason for their sudden weekend getaway. But the pregnancy was still kept confidential between the three main conspirators. They all knew that Jennifer was going to have to be told about the elopement since they needed her to care for Jeremy in their absence. Of course, Jennifer was ecstatic once she heard the news of their engagement. She took both Roger and Amanda into her arms for a group hug, kissed both their cheeks, and wished them much happiness.

Carol had discovered over time that once she had slept inside of Amanda's body several times that she could almost do the same while floating nearby someone that she loved. She had managed to take a nap of sorts as she rested near Jeremy while he lay sleeping. So while Roger and Amanda were out of town, she stayed with Jeremy and took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy more quality time with her son. Jeremy for his own part bonded with his mother very well. From time to time they would discuss Carol's pending 'return to Heaven'. Carol could tell that it saddened her son a little, but he himself assured his mother that he was happy that she was going to be spending time with God (the Father) and Jesus.

They also talked at length about his Aunt Amanda. Carol explained to Jeremy that once she returned to Heaven that Amanda wasn't going to be his aunt any longer. She coached Jeremy on calling Amanda something other than 'Aunt' once she was gone. Little Jeremy thought about it long and hard for the entire weekend. By the time that he and his biological mother were settling down to sleep beside each other on Sunday night, Jeremy inquired of Carol if calling her 'Mother Mandy' would be acceptable. Carol smiled at her brilliant little boy and assured him that it would work out just fine. She also told Jeremy that his father was married to Mandy now and that he should probably begin using 'Mother Mandy' starting with the very next time that he saw her. Jeremy smiled and nodded.

XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO

Monday afternoon, after Roger and Amanda returned from Las Vegas, they took their bags home. She was now officially Amanda Katelyn Preston complete with the legal documents from the State of Nevada to prove it. Before retrieving Jeremy, they made their first stop at Roger's parents home. The elder Prestons were overjoyed with the news.

As to be expected, Mrs. Preston (the elder) immediately complained to Mrs. Preston (the younger) that she felt cheated out of attending a big beautiful wedding. Amanda politely informed her that she had permission to call Mrs. Pierce and begin planning with her for an April 21^st wedding. Roger nearly broke his own neck as he snapped his head around to stare at Amanda.

"Darling," Amanda told him, "That was a story that was told by Carol over and over again. She actually loved doing that special favor for you and it made her exceedingly proud. In the end she was happier by far than if she had picked the day herself. It meant so much more to her than she could have ever imagined with the two of you being connected to the Republic of Texas for all time. I know that she would be honored for us to have a combined memorial and wedding service in her name. You and I both know that December 8^th will always be our actual anniversary. But I want to do this for her."

Amanda kissed her new father-in-law on the cheek for the first time and bussed her new mother-in-law as well. Then the couple departed en route to the Pierce abode. The reception that they received as soon as Mandy showed off her new ring was nearly a carbon copy of what had occurred just about a half hour previous at the Preston residence. Amanda then took her father aside.

"Daddy, would you and Mom mind helping me pack up some of my things from my room tomorrow? I'm not taking everything. But there is probably about two trips worth of things that I will need now that Roger and I will be living together under one roof."

"Absolutely princess! You know darn well that we would be glad to help you out! Your mother and I were sitting in the den right after Carol's funeral and we both said then that we wanted this happy day to come! I've always liked Roger. It almost seemed like you were part of the family with him and Carol as much as the three of you were together. This is the best outcome for everyone and you both have our full blessings and support! I am so incredibly happy for you baby girl!"

"Thanks, Daddy!"

So Amanda moved in with Roger and Jeremy. She and Roger were both stunned at first when Jeremy started to address her as 'Mother Mandy'. But he fell into the habit rather easily and never called her 'Ann Mandy' again. Roger and Carol were able to make love over the next few days with Amanda's assistance, but she also made sure that Roger and Amanda had their own private time together by sleeping beside Jeremy in his room.

As predicted, Amanda was late for her next period. A home pregnancy test was already on hand having been purchased the same day as the jewelry store outing. They waited for 48 additional hours past the evening that Mandy had calculated for when she should have started her period before she peed on the stick. Waiting for the indicator to appear was merely a formality. From the very beginning, no one had ever doubted Carol and her pregnancy prediction.

The celebration that evening turned out to be bittersweet, however. It was shortly after Mandy had donated her urine to the test that Carol began to feel something odd was happening. It took about an hour but she realized that there was some unseen force pulling on her soul and urging her to return to the cemetery.

"Honeybear? I need you to call my mother and tell her to drive over and meet us at my graveside right away. Something is pulling on me and trying to force me to return there. I think our time is up."

"NO!" Roger and Amanda both shouted in unison.

"Blondie, honey! Roger, dearest! I'm not ready to leave you guys just yet, but Saint Peter is calling my name. It isn't up to me! Please be happy that we had this time together. Hold that memory close over the coming years and know that I will be there to meet you when your time comes too. Please don't despair! We were given extra time that the rest of the world never gets to have."

XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO XOXO

And so it was that Carol went into the master bedroom for one last look around. Roger and Amanda were already house hunting, so even with Carol fixing to cross over tonight all of this would soon be wiped away since the apartment was rented, not owned. Carol had made plans with Roger to do much the same thing before she died, but their financial situation had never been strong enough before she died to actually pull the trigger on anything.

Now that Roger had the investments from the life insurance payout, he and Mandy had decided to find a nice piece of property with no deed restrictions on it and build their dream home. Roger was adamant about Home Owners Associations being kept out of the picture. He wasn't going to deal with the same headaches that his own parents currently dealt with. They were so fed up with all of the ridiculous drama that they too were ready to sell and buy something else with no HOA involvement.

After browsing some of her old possessions that Roger and Amanda kept on display, she stopped off in Jeremy's room to memorize everything there as well. The two of them had certainly made good use of their short time together. She would be taking wonderful memories with her when she crossed over and she knew without a doubt that Jeremy would love his biological mother forever. He would keep his special memories, made with her, inside of his heart for the rest of his natural life and beyond. She hoped that one day when he met the girl of his dreams that she would be open minded enough that he could share those memories with her without any discord coming between them.

Once she had finished her final tour of what had once been her home, she teleported to her grave-site to await the others. The first thing that she noticed was the difference in her headstone on the grave. The stone cutter contracted by Roger had made the requested changes and her daughter's name was now present along with hers. Carol smiled as she thought about her daughter and knowing that she would be reunited with her very soon. Another entire chapter of her life awaited her on the other side of the veil.