Here you are my friend, my twin, your birthday story.
Sweet, wonderful, Mary, enjoy this and know that it came with love from my
heart. Your friendship means so very much to me and I hope that a tiny bit
of that comes across here.
I do not own any of the Forever Knight characters who appear in the
following. Permission to archive it is granted to Mary Jenkins who now
actually owns it since it was written for her.
And now without further fanfare, I very humbly submit,
Sauerkraut & Yellow Roses
Part 1 of 3
Renee Miller
May 1999
In the mysterious dark twisting recesses deep below Dark Perk Mansion in the
secret hideout known as The Ninja Cave, Auntie Ren - The Dark Pink Ninja
herself, sat forlornly in a steel cage which hung precariously suspended over
a vat of boiling acid. She had placed herself here, in her punishment spot,
and here she would stay until the cage exploded or until she thought up a
proper gift for her honorary twin's Twenty-second birthday. Though, if the
truth were to be told, she actually 'knew' exactly what Mary wanted. No, the
problem that vexed Ren so was not what she wanted but rather how to obtain it
or more precisely put, him.
"Ren, I want you to get out of that stupid cage right now!" Laura, The Dark
CERK Perk - The Ninja's faithful sidekick and good friend stood, hands on
hips, steel blue eyes flashing, at the mouth of the secret passage from Dark
Perk Mansion, "Mary is wondering where you are and Shana wants to borrow a
pair of your heels for the party tonight but she can't seem to get past the
attack rabbits you have in your bedroom - she said that it's horrible they
keep throwing carrots and green leafy vegetables at her. Carly wants to talk
to you about going along with her to T. P Ken Starr's house again and
Kimmer," knowing Ren as well as she did the crafty beauty had purposely saved
the best for last, "well, she said something about needing to talk to you
about the final blasting plans for the expansion of the bunker."
Alas, even the tantalizing prospect of blowing something up couldn't budge
the Ninja from her spot, "I can't Laura, I'm not leaving here till I figure
out a way to get Mary what she wants for her Birthday."
"Come on Ren, you know that LaCroix hasn't even spoken to any of us since you
and I blew up CERK and then dropped the Dark Perk Ball of Death on him
when he rang the bell at the front door, how do you think you're going to get
him here tonight for her party?"
"Well, maybe enough time has passed and he's gotten over that by now." Ren
hopefully proposed.
"He was covered from head to toe in dark pink sauerkraut on a warm humid
night in July Ren, I really don't think that he's 'ever' going to get over
that!" Laura's eyes immediately clouded over with pain at the awful memory
of her precious buzz cut love monkey sheathed in shredded stinking marinated
cabbage and she visibly shuddered.
"Well, none of it was Mary's fault, he shouldn't be angry at her!" Ren's
temper flared at the mere thought that her beloved Twinner was being unfairly
ostracized, "Maybe I'll just have to go and have a little chat with the old
bloodsucker and straighten him out!" She mumbled to herself then, her
decision made, she carefully slipped her fingers through the bars and felt
for the release latch, expertly bypassing the numerous booby-traps which had,
at Ren's own request, been set by The Dark CERK Perk to test the Ninja's
skills. The small door swung open with a grating squeal and she gingerly
stood (hey, you 'do' get a little stiff sitting in a cage after a few days)
quickly grabbed the rope that was secured to the side of the cage and swung
over the furiously bubbling pot of death to the other side of the cave where
Laura waited still utterly and totally lost in her horrible flash back.
"Laura," Ren peered into her blank eye's "come on snap out of it, this is no
time to pull a Nick on me!"
Blinking her eyes and shaking her head to clear it Laura was relieved to see
that her friend had made it safely out of the DP Cubicle of Punishment
though she still took a mental note to make the booby-traps tougher next
time, "I'm glad you decided to listen to reason Ninja, you know that Mary
will love whatever you get her. There's really no reason for you to obsess
this way."
Ren merely smiled and nodded, this was one mission she needed to carry out on
her own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"May I help you?" A stunning blond woman sat behind the circular reception
desk at CERK -- Toronto's Alternative Talk Radio Station. She was visibly
irritated that she had been interrupted while she was polishing the gold name
plate which proudly announced her name, Gennifer, and newly acquired title,
'Executive Administrative Assistant. She boldly stared down the oddly dressed
individual who stood before her and sighed. 'Oh Jesus, another nut case
wanting to see the NightCrawler -- I'd bet money on it,' she thought as she
fingered the security button that was cleverly hidden under her desk.
"I'm here to see the NightCrawler"
'Bingo.' Gennifer thought as she put on her best, 'Yes, I know that you're
an insane little bug but I'm going to be polite anyway.' smile. She folded
her hands and crossed her legs, "I'm sooo sorry sweetie, no one gets to see
him, ever."
For an instant the woman's classic beauty and haughty attitude intimidated
the Ninja, but then she remembered who she was and the reason she was here.
Tightening the belt on her dark pink Shinobi Shozoku (Ninja's traditional
outfit) she threw her shoulders back and met the inquisitors gaze with a
glare that would have made a lesser receptionist cry for her mommy. This,
however, was no ordinary receptionist.
Having once held the same type of job herself Ren was highly impressed. She
knew of but one way to get past a receptionist of this grade. Reaching into
a secret compartment on her DP Utility Belt she pulled out the Grand
Daddy of bribes, the five-pound box of Godiva chocolates.
Brown eyes that were artificially shaded vivid Paul Newman blue with the aid
of contact lenses flicked contemptuously over the Ninja's offering, "Oh
pleeeeease, does this look like the kind of body that would consume that sort
of crap?" She stood and gracefully turned to show off a long lean figure
that did indeed look as though it had never been touched or even tempted by
chocolate.
Ren blinked, the wench had dared to insult the finest chocolates in the
world. This one was going to be far tougher than she had expected.
With a delicate sniff of her perfect surgically altered nose Gennifer added,
"You're probably a coffee drinker too aren't you?" Suddenly the pieces all
fell together, "DEAR GOD! You're one of those horrible Deep Perks aren't you?"
"That's 'Dark' Perks honey."
"And aren't you friends with that ridiculously perky Tracy Vetter girl?"
Ren's eyes narrowed dangerously, insulting the chocolate was bad enough,
making fun of the DP's name was worse but this was going too far. "Excuse me,
what did you just say?"
"I said aren't you friends of that ridiculously perky Tracy Vetter."
"That's what I thought you said."
There are some things in this world that a Ninja just cannot let go by.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Part 1
Disclaimer in Part 1
Sauerkraut & Yellow Roses
part 2/3
Though he tried hard to ignore it, the date taunted LaCroix at every turn.
March 1 - he was aware, yes painfully aware, of exactly what day today was.
To stay away from her on this special day would be agony for him but his
pride demanded it.
Unbidden, his flawless memory played back every meeting, every discussion,
every look they had shared before 'that' night. The delight he found in her
was unlike anything he had experienced in centuries and it unnerved him. She
stirred his mind and his imagination and brought a warmth to his cold heart
that surprised yet at the same time beguiled him. She was truly a rare jewel
his golden Mary. How he loved the long debates they shared over
philosophical rhetoric not to mention the fact that the mere suggestion of
religion could feed each of their bantering fires for hours on end. Yet
perhaps the most poignant and troubling realization he had come to was that
though he adored all of their conversations he'd found, after a time, that he
was just as content to merely be in her presence. Yes, yes indeed, he would
love to be with her tonight and that simple fact even more than his wounded
pride was the reason that he would not, could not. He would allow no one to
hold that sort of power over him. No one.
The door to his sound booth slowly opened and a woman entered. For a moment
the play of light that fell across the blond hair and the shadows that
partially concealed her face fooled him into seeing Mary. Then he recognized
who it really was and the smile that, in spite of himself, had begun to tease
the corners of his lips flew from his face, "How did you get past the
Receptionist?"
Ren closed the door and turned to face him, "Well, Gennifer's kind of busy
right now trying to pry a size 6 dark pink Ninja boot out of her mouth. You
know, she really should have taken the chocolates, in the long run it would
have been much easier on her bonded teeth."
"What are you doing here?"
"It's Mary's birthday today." She simply stated.
"Is it," he pointedly punched a few buttons on his control panel, "and of
what interest is that to me?"
"Don't play that game with me LaCroix."
Leaning back in his chair he met her angry gaze with a steely resolve, "My
dear Ren, I assure you this is no 'game.'"
"She wants you to come to her party at the mansion after your show."
He made a sound that a brave or very foolish individual would have described
as a snort, "I shall never set foot in that place again nor shall I have
anything to do with anyone who resides there. Now remove yourself from my
presence before I extract the revenge I so richly deserve."
"Now listen here you cranky old Sucubus, none of what happened that night was
Mary's fault. NOT A DAMN BIT OF IT! I take full responsibility for
everything that happened including the . . ."
"DON'T speak of it! Not even in a whisper girl, not even in a sigh." He was
directly in front of Ren before she completed a breath.
Though startled Ren was fully prepared for his intimidation tactics, "For
crying out loud man, it was just sauerkraut! It happened, you survived --
get over it!"
Leaning forward he placed an arm on either side of her trapping her against
the wall and brought his furious face to within inches of her own, "My
favorite Armani suit was ruined, the infernal dye in that nefarious
concoction turned my hair and my eyebrows dark pink for a month and I had to
use Jeanette's cosmetics to hide it, something about the combination of the
chemicals combined with the marinade created the qualities of skunk venom and
I was forced to bath repeatedly in TOMATO JUICE to remove the stench from my
person and, that ridiculous rat-catching Carouche saw the whole thing and
told everyone making me the laughing stock of the community!"
Under the current circumstances the very best Ren could muster was a swallow
and a halfhearted, "Oh."
LaCroix turned from her and stalked back to his chair. He regally sat and
swung around effectively dismissing her from his presence, or so he thought.
Imagining Mary's look of disappointment when he failed to show Ren took a
deep steadying breath and plunged in, "No, I won't accept that. Mary wants
'you' at her birthday party and be there you will even if I have to drag your
tight old Roman ass all the way there."
She saw his spine instantly stiffen, heard the sharp intake of breath and the
low growl. Her right hand moved to caress the Shuriken she carried that had
been dipped in Holy Water and repeatedly basted in roasted garlic, if he
moved to attack her she would go down fighting. The black leather chair
creaked on its axis as he slowly turned back to face her, Ren held her breath
and stared back at the glittering golden eyes.
"Tell me why exactly you are so concerned with what Mary wants girl."
Her answer was simple and direct, "Because she is my friend."
He was momentarily taken aback, "And a 'friendship' is worth risking your
life?"
"This one is." The Ninja proudly answered.
He laughed uproariously the gold actually leaving his eyes, "You preposterous
mortals never cease to amaze me. You would risk your life, your one
pitifully short life just for a friend . . ." He broke off and continued
laughing.
Crossing her arms over her chest Ren observed him for a long moment finally
seeing with crystal clarity what had been in front of her all along, "Why you
poor thing, I never realized it before. You've never had a friend have you?
You don't even know how to deal with a potential friendship do you?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Friendship is unnecessary."
"Yes, unnecessary 'like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value;
rather is one of those things that give value to survival' - C. S. Lewis,
finish the quote LaCroix." Ignoring his scowl she forged on, "You think
about it just for a moment if you can even bear to. Yes, you've had plenty
of acquaintances and lovers, lots of enemies and a sort of family - I guess,
but never ever a friend. How incredibly unbearably sad. You've never in all
your millennia known how truly wonderful, precious and miraculous it is to
have someone who loves and cares about you for no reason other than the
simple fact that they are your friend. Someone who is there for you, to
listen to you and talk to you. Someone who can pick you up when you've
fallen so far and so hard that you think no one will ever find you. Someone,
who can shake you from the depths of your own dark despair and make you see
that there is indeed a light, you just need to get up and move toward it.
Someone who can tell you when you're being a coward or when you're being a
fool. A person who can make you laugh in the face of your own foolishness or
even your own tragedy, Mary is that friend for me, and I hope I'm that friend
for her -- that I'm worthy to be that friend for her. But you -- you, poor
LaCroix, have no one and though you might be able to have that friendship or
even more with Mary, like a spoiled brat you're throwing it away with both
hands and that is truly the saddest most tragic thing I can imagine."
Ren glanced down for a moment to collect herself and when she looked back up
her face showed a range of emotions, most vividly her own joy at her
realization and true pity for the one who sat before her, "I'm sorry Lucien,
so very sorry for you. And, I've realized something about myself too, I
don't need to deliver 'you' wrapped in a dark pink bow to let Mary know how I
feel about her, I can tell her myself. So, you just go ahead and sit here in
your dark cold studio all by yourself tonight and every other night if
you like. Who knows maybe, just maybe, if you're very very lucky someday
somehow you'll find the courage to open up that lock-box of a heart of yours
and let someone in and then you'll understand why I came here tonight." With
a last look at the stoic vampire Ren turned and walked out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Part 2
continued in part 3
Sauerkraut & Yellow Roses
Part 3/3
(please excuse my horrible French in this part)
Disclaimer in part 1
A party at Dark Perk Mansion was always a major event, but a party at Dark
Perk Mansion specifically for the famous and beloved Godmother of the Dark
Perks was an earth shaking one. The Victorian Gothic mansion glittered and
sparkled with light and music of all types could be heard over a block
away. Those who happened to be driving by the estate were heard to comment
that it almost seemed as though the building itself was swaying in time with
the beat.
All of the DP's had dressed in their very finest. Though the male DP's had
put up a bit of a fight they each looked ruggedly dashing in their various
styles of tuxedos. Each of the female thugs sparkled gloriously in various
creations made up of silk, chiffon, velvet, spandex, leather or any
combination thereof. Shana was a heartbearkingly delicious vision in deep
burgundy velvet that was cut dangerously low in front and back and slit up
the side to allow her freedom to move and to allow the viewer enticing
glimpses of her long legs. Laura dazzled the eye of each and every beholder
in a tantalizing off the shoulders number in deepest midnight blue that
complemented her creamy skin and deepened the color of her eyes to an
irresistibly intriguing shade of blue gray. Carly showed off her toned arms
and stomach with a black strapless midriff baring outfit that she had
tastefully completed with a daring pair of thigh high black leather boots.
Even the demons sported tiny pink gelatinous tuxedos, except for Burp who had
draped himself over his beloved Rose's shoulders like a soft pink shawl. The
party had been catered so that Mrs. Hitchcock could join in the festivities
and, to avoid any potential lawsuits over
food poisoning issues. Getting into the spirit as only she could the beehive
coifed octogenarian wore one of her ancient stage costumes that was left over
from her heyday as the infamous magician Norman
Damson's "Lovely Assistant." She left fluffy bits of pink feathers and
sparkling multicolored sequins behind every time she moved.
Everyone who was anyone was either at the party, on their way there or trying
to crash which entailed getting past the enormous bouncer who stood at the
front door checking invitations, "But, you don't understand. I must be on
the guest list; I used to be Mary's Boss at the store! Check again you
Neanderthal, my name is Julie Camacho."
Running a huge finger down the guest list Bubba suddenly stopped, squinted
down at the names before him and quickly looked up, "Did you say 'Julie
Camacho'?"
"Yes, of course I did. I didn't stutter did I?"
"Well, well, you sure are right Lady, your name definitely 'is' on this
list." Placing the clip board down and crossing his trunk sized arms over
his massive chest Bubba smiled and glanced toward another hulking figure who
immediately recognized the silent signal and quickly moved to comply.
"NO, wait, you put me down you brute! You can't do this to me I'm a Manager!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a long mahogany table behind her rapidly filled up with beautifully
wrapped gifts, the guest of honor stood at the doorway to the ballroom
graciously greeting her many admirers as they entered. Beautifully clad in a
shimmering silk sheath a glorious shade of dark pink Mary was a sight that
had stopped more than one man dead in his tracks to stare in openmouthed awe.
The hem ended dangerously high on her thighs showcasing the shapely legs
that seemed to go on forever but did eventually end in a pair of three inch
high spike heels that perfectly matched the color of her
dress. The neckline draped down softly and if she had chosen to lean forward
far enough she would have offered some very lucky man a tantalizing view. No
one had been that lucky -- yet. The back of the dress was cut to the waist;
four strategically placed strands of delicate pearls were all that kept it
from falling off her smooth shoulders. When she turned around to check the
time on the nearby grandfather clock a tuxedo clad waiter carrying a tray of
full champagne glasses was so distracted by the dazzling display of her
exquisite back that he slammed into Nick who was happily engrossed in a
detailed flashback about the time he'd spent as a roadie for Ozzie Osbourn.
Nick was attempting to untangle himself from the waiter when a sweetly
perfumed vision in burgundy velvet sank gracefully down beside him, "Oh poor
Nick. Here let me help."
Blinking and covered in champagne Nick gazed up at Shana in awe, "I seem to
have had a bit of an accident."
"And, you're soaking wet Luv!" Shana leaned forward and gently pushed damp
golden hair back from his blue eyes, "We really should get you out of these
wet clothes right away and have them dried."
"I, I'll have to go some place to change. Is there somewhere, private, that
we could go?" Nick was unable to tear his gaze away from the angel who knelt
before him.
"Oh, I think I can find somewhere." Shana whispered huskily.
Completely oblivious to the commotion before her Mary caught Laura's
attention and waved her over, "Have you seen Ren?"
A worried look flashed across Laura's lovely face, "No, and I'm starting to
get just a little concerned. It's not like her to be this late. I'll think
I'll check down in the Ninja Cave again."
"Lookie ere! Ol Screed is sure nuff appy ta be ere ta be wishin ya th
appiest of birthdays Luv!" With that Mary was swept up off her feet into the
embrace of the positively giddy Carouche who proceeded to twirl her wildly
around.
"Screed, put me down!" Mary squirmed, which actually did little to convince
her captor since he was rather enjoying the sensation of her lithe silk
encased body wiggling against him.
"Come on now Mate, put her down. It's not considered good taste to manhandle
the birthday girl at her own party you know."
"Leave it ta ol Vachonetti ta ruin me fun." With a grumble Screed gently
returned Mary's feet to the floor, and quickly took off in hot pursuit of a
beautiful red haired vixen in a pair of delicious thigh high boots.
"Thanks Vachon." Mary flashed him a grateful smile as she adjusted her dress.
"Any time Chica. Happy Birthday!" The Spanish Vampire appeared to have
blatantly ignored the "Black Tie Please" request on the engraved invitations
but he still managed to look dazzlingly handsome in a pair of impossibly
tight black jeans that he topped off with a while silk shirt that appeared to
have lost several if not most of the top buttons exposing his lean muscled
chest. He took Mary's warm slender hand in his cool one and gallantly kissed
it. Then, still gently holding her hand in his, he straightened, his velvet
brown eyes met her sapphire blue ones and he gave her that look. The very
same look that he knew from years of experience contained enough power to
reduce many a female to little more than a stammering, quivering pool of
giddy perfumed goo. Many a female that is with the notable exception of this
particular one.
"Thanks so much," Mary yanked her hand away and stood on tip toe so that she
could look over Vachon's head toward the front door, "have you seen Ren?"
Vachon, sighed and smiled, he was infinitely patient. He had, after all, all
of the time in the world. She would come around, of that much he was
certain, "No, I haven't, but I certainly do hope to." Noticing that there
were others waiting behind him to see Mary he winked at her and headed off
toward the several attractive and openly panting female DP's who had gathered
nearby and were obviously far more appreciative of his allure.
"Mary, Happy Birthday Cheri! That dress is tres manifique! Your taste is
exquisite, you will allow me to borrow it some time non?"
"Of course Jeanette, I'm flattered that you'd ask." Mary leaned in and turned
her face each way for the beautiful French vampire's elegant air kisses,
"Thank you so much for coming."
"But of course mon petite, I wouldn't have missed this for the ..."
Janette's broke off her thickly lashed dark blue eyes widened and her
exquisite face took on an entirely different type of look, "Mon Dieu! Who is
that?"
Mary glanced in the direction that the long red fingernail was pointing,
"That would be Kerry, the newest male addition to the Dark Perks."
"Is he, spoken for?"
"To be honest Jeanette, I'm not really sure."
"Well, then, I suppose that I shall have to find out!" With a sly smile the
raven haired beauty glided off.
"Happy birthday Mary!"
"Tracy, oh I'm so glad you made it!"
Giving Mary an affectionate hug Tracy added, "Well of course, there's no way
I'd miss this, you know that!" Suddenly her pale gray eyes narrowed, "Tell
me, is that Vachon over there surrounded by salivating scantily clad women?"
Mary shrugged and grinned, "Well, they are DP's after all, ya can't really
blame 'em for trying."
Tracy laughed, "No, I guess I can't. But, I think I'll head on over and make
sure my brand is still on him all the same."
"Oh Tracy, before you go, have you seen Ren?"
"No, I haven't. Is something wrong?"
"No, I'm sure it's nothing. She's just really late and no one has seen her
in hours . . ." Mary trailed off when she noticed the circle around Vachon
steadily becoming tighter. It reminded her of a pack of lionesses around a
particularly delectable zebra, "Ummm I think you better go and rescue your
man, looks like he may have bitten off a little more than he can chew -- if
you'll pardon the pun."
"Mary," Laura gently pulled her to the side, "Ren is no where to be found."
"You went down to the cave?"
"Yes, she's not there and her Ninja disguise is gone. I'm afraid that she
may have gone to try and get LaCroix to come over here."
"By herself? Oh Laura, she wouldn't have!"
"She had it in her stubborn head that unless she could get him here tonight
you wouldn't be happy."
Mary was visibly shaken, "We'd better gather the Thug's together and go out
and look for her. Even the Dark Pink Ninja is no match for an angry 2,000
year old vampire."
"Oh ye of little faith!"
"REN!"
"You two didn't really think that I'd let that cantankerous geezer . . ."
Ren's tirade was cut off when Laura and Mary both launched themselves at her
and she found herself enveloped by their relieved hugs. For a wonderful
moment she allowed herself the luxury of simply basking in the warmth of
their precious friendship for there truly is nothing in all the world warmer
than the hug of a true friend.
"Pardon me ladies I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I've been asked to deliver
this note to Miss Laura."
"Thank you Nigel." Laura picked the folded piece of dark pink paper off of
the silver tray that the butler held out for her then giggled as she watched
him walk away and gamely try to avoid the lascivious bottom pinching fingers
of an extremely tipsy Mrs. Hitchcock.
"Laura, open the note!" Mary peered over her shoulder as she unfolded it.
"Who's it from?" Ren leaned in for her own peek.
A soft gasp escaped Laura's lovely lips and a mysterious smile immediately
lit up her face, "It seems that I have a secret admirer who is asking to
meet me in the garden."
"ARE YOU GONNA GO?" The twins yelled in perfect harmony.
"What do you two think? Of course I'm going!"
"Hmmm, suspicious don't ya think?" Ren whispered conspiratorially as Laura
headed off.
"Yeah, I really do think." Mary replied, "Should we?"
"Oh, yeah."
With that the two blondes followed along behind -- at a discreet distance
of course. They wound their way through the mansion dodging guests who
wanted to give Mary their congratulations and demons who wanted to play
games. Laura slipped out the door of the Conservatory into the frost covered
garden with Mary and Ren not far behind.
"Damn it's cold out here!" A shivering Ren whispered.
"Oh, tell me about it!" Mary yanked on the fabric of the Ninja outfit that
Ren still wore then pointed to the sheer material that was the only thing
between her and the blustering March winds, "How do you think I feel?"
"Well, probably cold but you do look good."
"Shhh, look." Mary pointed and they crouched down behind the remnants of
Shana's rose bushes.
"Where'd he come from?" Ren gasped, "And how'd he get a leather tuxedo?"
"Well, well, well," Mary seemed pleased, "sooner or later they all come to
Toronto. Even the ones who get thrown out of Sunnydale."
"You think she'll be all right if we leave her here alone with him?" Ren
seemed hesitant.
"Oh sure, Spike's a big teddybear underneath it all. Laura can handle him,
she knows how."
As though she were proving Mary's point Laura grabbed the blond vampire by
his leather lapels, yanked him toward her and laid a big kiss right on him.
"Well, I guess that's our que then. Let's go Twinner you've got guests
waiting for you and presents to open."
Back inside the mansion the birthday girl and her best friend headed for the
kitchen for coffee. After they had each filled their extra large coffee mugs
from the silver carafes that were always filled, obtained the perfect mixture
of cream and sugar and taken several long gulps Ren reached into a pocket and
held out a small box that was wrapped in dark pink paper and tied with a
white satin bow, "Happy birthday Twinner! I know that it's not what you
really wanted, but I hope you like it anyway."
"Oh Ren, it doesn't matter!" Mary happily untied the bow, tore open the paper
and lifted the top off of the white box. "Oh," she lifted out a sparkling
necklace. Tiny dark pink beads mingled with larger clear ones, at the very
center hung an engraved pewter heart, "it's beautiful Ren, I love it!" She
dropped the box and paper on the floor (where it was promptly snatched up by
giggling demons) and clasped it around her neck.
Beaming with happiness Ren began, "I made it for you, that's . . ."
"Why you were so late," Mary promptly finished for her.
"Yeah, well part of the reason anyway, I couldn't find anything that I liked
at the jewelry stores . . ."
"Well, you 'could' but you couldn't afford any of them.. . .
"Yep, so I decided to make one myself. You know it's really hard to find . .
."
"Dark pink beads."
Still talking and finishing each other's sentences the two blondes started
toward the ballroom when they heard a knock at the front door. They paused,
surprised that anyone would be arriving this late.
"Okay Sunshine, come on let's see your invite. Oooooh ya don't have one huh?
Well, now ain't that just too bad, nobody gets in without an invitation. Hey
look don't try that scowl crap on Bubba 'cause that dog don't hunt with me."
"Kindly remove your paw from my person 'Bubba' or I'll remove it from it's
socket -- permanently."
There was absolutely no mistaking that incredible voice, "BUBBA NO!" Mary
and Ren screamed and ran toward the door and the well meaning about to be
devoured bouncer.
Mary arrived first and slammed into Bubba shoving him away from the front
door. Ren was right behind her and threw the door wide open.
"I'm sure that under the circumstances you understand my reluctance to
utilize the doorbell."
He stood at the doorway resplendent in his perfectly fitted black tuxedo arms
filled almost overflowing with white roses that he handed with a flourish to
a radiant Mary as he walked in. From somewhere in the masses of those
fragrant snow colored blossoms he produced a single yellow bud and turned to
Ren who still stood speechless at the open door, "I believe my dear that this
one is for you."
Ren's breath caught in her throat as she reached out and slowly accepted his
offering.
"I was informed by an overly helpful florist that yellow roses signify . . ."
"Friendship." Ren finished for him.
"Indeed." Turning to Mary LaCroix smiled, "My dear, how incredibly beautiful
you look. I hope that you managed to save at least one dance for me?"
"I believe that I did. As a matter of fact," Mary tilted her head slightly
toward the ballroom, "I believe this is it."
Mary took the arm that her handsome vampire gallantly offered her and turned
to Ren, "Coming Twinner?"
"In a minute Twinner," Ren grinned, "you go on and make an entrance. Knock
'em dead!"
As Ren watched the gorgeous couple walk away Bubba came up and stood next to
her, "Well Bubba," she looked him up and down and realized that he really was
rather handsome, once you got past the bald head and all of the tattoo's,
"care to join the party?"
"I don't mind if I do." He replied with a devilish grin, then still looking
after LaCroix and Mary he added, "You know they remind me of a quote,
'Please remember, people, that no matter who you are and what you do to live,
thrive, and survive, there are still some things that make us all the
same...everybody needs somebody to love.' "
"Why Bubba, that's beautiful! Who said that Emerson?"
"No, Elwood Blues, The Blues Brothers."
"You know Bubba, I think you're gonna fit in here just fine!"
The End
Happy Birthday Mary!
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