We're a Wonderful Wife - Book 4 of 4 - All Good Things

by Duleigh

©Copyright 2024 Duleigh

Chapter 1

STAVE 1

It was a dark, cold, and wet Christmas Eve in Northern Colorado and Karole Krigbaum was fuming as she waited for her Uber. Incredibly tall with a beautiful face, natural platinum blond hair and a figure that drew stares from men and women wherever she goes, large breasts, narrow waist, sexy round hips and a southern accent as thick as sausage gravy. She has a body that any man would kill for, but she refuses to let any man near her, except for one. Her smile and her heart were saved for him and his wife.

The weather was as undecided and as bleak as her future; it was cold, dark, and dreary with no sign of improving and she tried to resign from her job but at the last minute changed her mind. The cold December rain suddenly turned to light snow, and all that did was highlight her hatred of this holiday. She looked back at the warm dry lobby of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting, bedecked in Yuletide decorations, there were garlands, ornaments, and tinsel hanging from every conceivable portion of the lobby filling the air with a false holiday cheer, bringing a faux joyeux Noël to the office of an accounting agency whose only claim to being a business was a phone bank. Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting was just a nasty, angry contract bill collecting agency and Karole just spent Christmas Eve harassing people to the brink of tears. She made damn sure that the victims of her wrath knew that the call came from the friendly offices of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting, a violation of company policy, but what are they going to do, fire her from a job she is one step from quitting?

Fuck Christmas.

Tired of being cold and wet, she went back inside to wait for her Uber, which was now ten minutes late. She stepped through the doors and turned around, looking out onto the bleak Loveland Colorado parking lot, soon to be covered with a fine layer of ice. She was almost glad that the bank repossessed her pickup truck. It would get her home safely in this weather, but she couldn't afford gas for that beast. What about an electric car? Karole scoffed, why not just get a Rolls Royce? She couldn't afford an electric car, let alone the extensive wiring job on the house needed to build a charging station.

As she looked out on the bleak, unwelcoming world, a deep voice rumbled behind her. "Come on Miss Krigbaum, you know that no one is allowed to loiter in the lobby." She looked over her shoulder and there was Marly, the huge, black as the night security guard. He was bearing down on her like a battleship charging toward an errant rowboat. His name was John Wilson, but he was called Marly by the bill collectors of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting because of the unlit Marlboro hanging from his lips from the hour of 4:30 PM when management left, till whatever hour Marly left. They knew he had secret locations where he would light that smoke. The peons just never figured out where they were.

"Marly, it's raining outside, ah'm just waiting for my Uber, it will be here any time now."

"I can't let you do that Karole. You know that" he implored. Then he recited his script, "the lobby is for customer use only."

Karole looked around the lobby, bedecked in holiday cheer, resplendent in yuletide joy. All that there was for a customer to use was a couch, a chair, a coffee table, and a cashier's window, where overdue bills with unreasonable interest fees were collected. A pair of people from the custodial staff appeared with a stack of plastic totes and began removing the Christmas decorations. What a way to spend Christmas Eve, taking down Christmas decorations. They were as bad as she was. "Ok, ah'm goin'," she groaned.

"Why don't you go across the lot to Don Pollo's for the office party?" asked Marly.

"Slam back a bunch of tequila in a room full of people ah detest working with? Not a brilliant career move."

"I hear ya." A smile crossed Marly's normally impassive face. Of the dozens of people that work here, Marly is the only person who Karole likes. "Karole, I have to ask you to step outside, it means both of our jobs."

"Sorry Marly. Hey, can ah bum a smoke offa you?" Marly eased a pack of Marlboro Red from his pocket, and, with an expert flick of the wrist, he extended a cigarette halfway from the pack and offered it to Karole. "Thanks Marly," she said as she took the proffered smoke. "Got a light?"

Marly extended to her a small butane lighter, but he refused to release it when she tried to take it. The waiting room around them faded to black, the custodial people taking down the decorations disappeared into the dark. The only thing she could see now was Marly, who implored, "Karole, you have to let go of the hate, it will become an anchor chain around your neck."

"It's all ah have left," she responded, suddenly scared of the one man she has ever met that was taller than her. "Why are you bothering me?"

"It is required of every man," Marley replied, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life…"

"Yeah, yeah, ah know the rest," sneered Karole. "Every English teacher ah ever had required me to do a report on a Christmas Carol because of my name." Her southern accent copied a British accent as she said, "And if that spirit goes not forth in life it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world - oh, woe is me! Yadda yadda yadda, ah heard it all before. What cha gonna do, sic a buncha ghosts on me?"

His eyes narrowed as he softly growled, "You will be visited by two spirits and a ghost, their visit means more to you and your son than you could believe…"

"Screw that!" demanded Karole. "Scrooge was right 'What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books…' well, ah balanced my books and ah got jack shit! Ah got nuttin for my daughter, and next week ah won't have a roof over ma haid!"

The intensity faded from his eyes, and the color returned to the room. "Karole, please…" he said softly.

Panicked by his sudden change of personality without explanation, Karole was finally able to pluck the lighter from his huge fingers and she put distance between herself and the guard as fast as possible. She flicked the lighter and lit her cigarette as she walked to the exit. The doors opened automatically, and she turned and tossed the lighter back to Marly. "There's no smoking in the lobby," he called out, shaking his head as if to clear the cobwebs.

"I don't smoke," said Karole, emitting a cloud of smoke. That was mostly true. She doesn't smoke, unless she needs a quick buzz and then a rare coffin nail works wonders. "And ah ain't got no son."

Across the parking lot, they were whooping it up at Don Pollo's Margarita Bar. There was no sign of her Uber, and she was freezing. What was up with Marly? He doesn't even know the script. It was three spirits, not two spirits and a ghost, and he knows she's just got Krissy. Karole shows him pictures of Krissy all the time.

Karole decided that in the end Scrooge was right. Marly must have had something for lunch that didn't agree with him, "…an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you…"

Karole realized that a drop of rain almost put her cigarette out. She's not a smoker, so she didn't know to cup her hand around the stogie to keep it dry. She puffed it back to life and muttered, "I only lie to myself," a rule she tries to live by.

Karole's life was a shit show, and she was trying to pick up the pieces. Her ex-fiancé cleaned out her accounts and shattered her financially. Then, not long after the birth of her daughter, her house was surrounded by DEA, FBI and every local cop they could roust out of the donut shops. Jayce was arrested by the RCMP in Newfoundland for dealing meth and he told them and the DEA that his meth lab was in Karole's garage.

The investigation killed her license to practice respiratory therapy, which destroyed her medical career. They even arrested her next-door neighbor, the one man she loved in silence. Now here it is Christmas Eve, working a schlep job at a bill collector's office. Any extra money she had went to her daughter Krissy's few Christmas presents. Karole had one good Christmas in her life, and she hates herself for giving up the chance for another. She puffed on her cigarette, hating herself, hating the taste of the tobacco, and hating the nicotine rush.

Fuck Christmas.

Krissy is the center of Karole's universe and, as far as she knows, her only living relative. Karole's mom was long gone. She drowned in a drunken boating accident the day Karole graduated from the University of Georgia. All of Karole's childhood Christmas mornings were spent picking up the beer bottles emptied by Karole's mother and whatever redneck she was fucking at the time. She would spend every Christmas day fetching beer and aspirin for hung over human trash and if she was lucky, she would have a dollar store Barbi knock off and a pair of socks to unwrap. When she was ten, she got what she most desired for Christmas: ignored. She spent Christmas day locked in her house while her mother and her current "Uncle" went to St. Augustine for three days, leaving her behind with a box of pop tarts, half a gallon of milk, and a dozen cans of Chicken Noodle Soup. At least the cable was working.

Fuck Christmas

This is not an example of life in South Georgia, it is an example of Karole's alcoholic mother. Most of Karole's friends had warm, loving Christmas holidays, and they used those memories to taunt Karole at school. Last year was the best Christmas Karole ever had. She spent it with friends who waited on her hand and foot. She was pregnant with Krissy and received more gifts for Krissy than she believed possible from people she barely knew. Now, with her certification to practice at the hospital revoked, she lost her job, her truck, and she's going to lose her house. Here it is on Christmas Eve, and she has nothing to give to her daughter. Karole's greatest fear is coming true. She's turning into her mother.

Don and Lanh Campbell are her next-door neighbors, and they are the only thing besides Krissy that has made this entire shit-show of what is now Karole's life any form of bearable. When Rural Electric cut her power, they took her in, even though they're having money issues of their own. Don is the only father that Krissy has ever known, and his Asian wife Lanh dotes on Krissy like a second mom. Hell, Lanh was Karole's birth coach, holding her hand while her husband Don was right there mopping her brow as Krissy came into the world.

Don and Lanh opened their home to Karole and Krissy, feeding them when money was scarce, housing them for weeks at a time when the power was shut off, babysitting every time Karole needed a babysitter. In return, all they asked for was the opportunity to help even more. They would take her home to their family farm on holidays, where their entire family adopted Karole and Krissy and doted on them like they were family. They were showered with love and acceptance and Don and Lanh's family begged Karole to stay in Minnesota, and Karole kicked herself every time they returned to Colorado, but she wanted to stay close to Lanh… and Don.

Although Karole is absolutely in love with Don and Lanh, one small part of their lifestyle drives her nuts. Don and Lanh are Christmas crazy. Their decorations go up on the day after Thanksgiving and don't come down until January 5th, which Don informed Karole is "The twelfth day of Christmas." (Counting on her fingers showed he was right)

The Campbell home becomes a romance channel Christmas movie set; it is always festooned with lights and garlands and pine boughs and trees, a Christmas railroad threads its way through a Christmas village at the base of their perfectly decorated Christmas tree, their mantle over the fireplace is an explosion of holiday spirit with candles and pine boughs and holly and ornaments and stockings for Mr. Don, Miss Lanh, and of course Krissy and Karole. Every doorsill in the house was adorned with holly garland and red ornaments, illuminated with the tiniest white lights that Karole had ever seen. Even the paintings and photographs on the walls were removed and replaced with Christmas themed artwork, the frames of which were hand carved by a German wood carver that overdosed on peppermint schnapps, eggnog, and holiday cheer. No matter how overdone their house was decorated, it's nothing compared to Don's father's farmhouse. And everyone blames Lanh for that, and Lanh takes the blame proudly.

Karole and Lanh became best friends immediately after Karole moved in next door, which shocked Karole. Karole didn't make friends easily. Being raised by a drunken single mother who hauled her from trailer to trailer as she moved in with her "new beau" too many times to count ensured Karole grew up depending on herself and no one else.

Often Lanh and Karole hang out or go shopping together and they make an interesting looking pair, Lanh is a tiny Asian, slim with light skin, jet-black hair, and coal-black eyes, while Karole is over six feet tall, curvy, with skin that will go to a deep tan in the summer, light green eyes, and natural platinum-blond hair. They can spend a day shopping together, buy nothing, and come home to a sleeping Krissy whose face is covered in any sort of sweet mess, and Don cleaning the kitchen from his baking extravaganza with Krissy. Then later that evening Karole will spend the night yacking on the phone with Lanh, or Lanh's sister Kim-ly, with whom Karole found herself close to.

The only man on Karole's radar was Don. Both Karole and Kim-ly have a crush on Don, and both have promised to keep it to themselves, but Karole knows that if anything happens to Lanh, it will be a race between her and Kim-ly to see who gets to Don. Could this be the reason Karole refuses to take up the offers she's received to move to Minnesota? To remain close to Don?

And now here she is, standing in the freezing rain, waiting for a tardy Uber driver. Karole pulled out her cell phone to call Don and tell him she was running a bit late. Karole refused to admit her feelings about Don. They were wrong. She couldn't endanger her friendship with Lanh, she couldn't anger the family, and she couldn't embarrass Don, but she couldn't be separated from him. She was even willing to put up with intravenous egg nogg and gingerbread at Don and Lanh's house if it means getting out of this cold, wet weather and being near him.

"Hello, Don? Hey, I'm running a bit late, the Uber is late and…"

"It's ok, we're reading stories," said Don. Karole could hear Krissy's babbling in the background. She's 11 months old and getting closer every day to speaking. "Listen, why don't you…"

Karole was distracted when the rain turned to snow like someone threw a switch. The snowflakes swirled around her like being in a snow globe. Don would love this; she thought as she gazed at the swirling flakes. They reminded her of the only place she ever felt at home, Minnesota. She chuckled; he would call this Christmas snow; however, she knew that in the twenty miles between their two locations, the weather patterns could be vastly different.

Smiling for the first time today, she noticed the snowflakes had stopped. They were hovering in midair. She reached out to touch one and before she touched the snowflake; she felt a sudden jolt go through her. Not an electric shock, but like someone bumped her in the back. It was followed in rapid succession by ten more jolts, and then someone appeared next to her. Surprised at the sudden appearance, her feet slipped out from under her, and Karole dropped to her hands and knees. Her cell phone landed on the ground in front of her and Don was talking to her. She realized she hadn't heard a word he said and was trying to look up at the person who appeared when the apparition spoke.

"Ok, let's get this started. We need to get this right; this is the last chance we get," said the apparition, which had a familiar, haunting appearance…

…and then Karole recognized it and Karole's eyes rolled back in her head as she slumped to the ground.

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Chapter 2

STAVE 2

Karole returned to consciousness and slowly sat up. "What happened?" she groaned.

"Same thing as what always happens," muttered a voice behind her. Karole heard the distinct sound of chewing and the popping of gum.

"Same thing as what always happens?" demanded Karole, without turning around. She patted the back of her head and checked her hand for evidence of blood.

"You turn, see me, scream, and faint. Every time, like clockwork. I can't believe I became such a wimp."

Karole turned and saw a young woman dressed like a Country/Western version of Cindy Lauper. She was wearing a Garth Brooks concert T-shirt, over that a man's plaid work shirt tied off below her boobs, blue jeans, cowboy boots, a sweater tied around her waist, and enough cheap necklaces for a full Mardi Gras parade. And that hair, Ugh! A fluffy she-mullet with the last four inches of her platinum blond tresses dyed neon purple. She was leaning against the building, playing with a familiar-looking phone. "That's my phone," Karole grunted as she tried to get her feet under her, but the walk was slippery with the ice from the rain and now a dusting of the newly fallen snow.

"Correction, it's OUR phone, they don't have cool stuff like this in my time yet." The young woman looked down at Karole, and Karole froze; that voice, the hair, the attitude, it's Karole 12 years ago. The young Karole looked at her and grinned as if waiting for something. She finally hefted her large firm boobs and asked, "Do these things ever stop growing?"

Karole's head spun; she was a "late bloomer" as her mother called her. When she hit the age of 15, none of the promised secondary sex characteristics had appeared, but within a year they struck with a vengeance. She was buying a new bra every month and her so-called friends in high school accused her of "stuffing" until they saw the changes that occurred to her body in the gym locker room, then they accused her of "silicone poisoning." She would be in college when her body finally settled down, but not after growing several inches in height and settling on a 34 DD bra.

This child that stood before her had all the earmarks of an 18-year-old Karole, right down to the shoulder length platinum blond hair with the final four inches died neon purple. "Who the hell are you?" Karole groaned as she tried to stand again, but her feet kept slipping on the ice-covered sidewalk.

"Honey child, ah am you," grinned the girl. "You 'n me, we are one, did'n that peckerwood Marley tell you ah'd be coming?"

"Marly told me some weird shit about three spirits tonight."

"It ain't three spirits. It's two spirits an' a ghost. Come on Gawd dog it," huffed Past Karole. "Let's git this over, and you gotta git it rat this time, 'cause we don't have 'nuff time left for no more chances, now git yo ass up!"

Karole took the girl's hand, and she eased herself up to her feet, and when she did, she felt light as a puff of wind, as substantial as a dust mote drifting through a warm sunbeam in a summer living room. Karole released the girl's hand and looked down and saw that her body was still kneeling on hands and knees on the icy sidewalk. "What is this? I must have hit my head; I must be hallucinating…" she panicked.

"Well, if that's the deal, then you need to call 911," said the girl who held out the phone to Karole. Karole tried to take the phone, but it slipped right through her fingers and landed on the sidewalk in front of the stricken Karole on the ground. She stooped to pick it up, but her hand went right through it and right through the sidewalk as well.

"What the fuck?" Karole cried.

The girl grabbed Karole's shoulders and hauled her up to a standing position. "Look, here's the deal. You're going to meet a ghost that's going to scare the living shit out of you, it's my job to get you ready for that. Because if you blow it again…"

The girl raised a fist in a threat, and that's when Karole realized she could see through the spirit's fist, and when she raised her hand to block the blow, she discovered she could see through her own hands as well. While Karole was pondering this, the girl continued. "Look, I am you, I just graduated high school and I lost my virginity to Micky Fields under the grandstands at Folkston High School. It sucked and so far, it's been the best sex I've ever had, please tell me it gets better."

"It… it kinda does," sputtered Karole, who was still marveling over her see-through hands.

"Here's the deal, I'm going to show you some things. Pay attention, if we do it rat, you're going to save a very important life."

"Who, Tiny Tim?"

Past Karole suddenly grew dark and angry. "You can't possibly believe how important this life is," she growled slowly. Karole swore she could hear thunder in the distance as the Past Karole raged.

"Ok, ah'm sorry, who are we going to save? What do ah have to do?"

"Take my hand and follow me," said an angry Past Karole. Karole took Past Karole's hand and followed her through Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting's front door, but instead of the lobby, they entered a hospital room. There on the bed lay a woman who was clearly in the last few minutes of her life. In the room there was a doctor and two nurses, and the woman's family. An older couple, who were probably her parents, a man in his twenties, and a young boy about seven.

"It's ok mommy," whispered the little boy who was trying to be brave, "I can take care of daddy."

"I know you can dear," gasped the dying woman. Her once youthful, beautiful face was a rictus of agony.

The doctor wordlessly gestured to the nurses and the three medical professionals left the room, so the family could be alone with the woman and say their goodbyes. They had no way of knowing that "I know you can dear," would be her last words.

Karole and Past Karole watched as the family spent their last few minutes with the dying woman. Finally, Karole whispered softly, "What are we doing here?"

Past Karole said in a plain voice, "You don't have to whisper; they can't hear you."

"Ok," said Karole, still whispering, "what are we doing here?"

"I can't tell you, it's one of those things you need to figure out for yourself."

Karole rolled her eyes in disgust. Was she such an asshole at 18? If she were honest with herself the answer would be yes, but years of taunting and being called the "Carpenters Dream" (flat as a board and never been nailed) then suddenly being called "more boobs than brains" in high school was partially to blame and having the type of mother who celebrated Karole's high school graduation by drinking herself unconscious at Karole's graduation ceremony had a lot to do with it as well. And if she was honest, she has changed little in the past 6 years. "What does this have to do with me?" she asked in her angry mom's voice.

"It DOESN'T. It has nothing to do with YOU," shrieked Past Karole. "Not everything is about YOU. There happens to be a FEW OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET." Past Karole crossed her arms and stared at the dying woman, ignoring Karole's pleas and demands for an explanation. Finally, the woman passed on. The heart monitor began screaming its plaintive wail that all cardiac activity has stopped. The little boy turned to his grief-stricken father and wrapped his arms around his dad. The older couple hugged them and wept. The woman's family grieved their loss and hated themselves for feeling relief that the woman's suffering, and theirs, was over. Tears flowed in the room and one tear trickled down Past Karole's cheek.

"There you go," Past Karole finally said. "Lesson over, moving right along…"

"You're crying?" asked Karol. "I thought you said it meant nothing to us."

"YOU watch this play out a dozen times, maybe you'll learn some empathy. Maybe you'll shed a tear for someone other than yourself. I CAN FUCKING ARRANGE IT!"

"I just wanted to know," whined Karole, her voice trailing off.

"Oh, and by the way. Merry Fucking Christmas," sneered Past Karole. "That kid's Christmas present was to watch his mother die slowly in agony. You know, there just might be something worse in this world than someone calling you Christmas Karole… Just sayin'… bitch."

Past Karole led Karole through the weeping family that was gathered around the hospital bed, and through the hospital room door that didn't lead into the hospital corridor, but instead led into a high school gymnasium. The gym was decorated for a holiday dance, red and green crape paper streamers lined the walls, Christmas trees with gayly wrapped boxes sat in each corner, a DJ dressed as Santa Claus spun actual records, while faculty and parents stood at the ready to quash any and all unauthorized necking, canoodling, or touching. In the corner, a group of boys, probably high school seniors, were taunting a younger boy.

"Check this out," Past Karole told Karole, "It's a great trick, these boys are friends with the DJ, so they know when a fast song will lead into a slow dance. They're going to trick that nerdy sophomore to ask a nerdy wallflower to a fast dance, but instead it will be a slow romantic dance, and everyone can all make fun of their embarrassment. Check this out."

"Why would they do that?"

"To embarrass the crap out of two unpopular nerds! You need to see this."

Karole, who was the butt of many merciless jokes during her entire high school experience, didn't want to watch. The thought of bullies humiliating younger and weaker kids made her stomach turn. "No, I don't want to…"

"Just Watch." Past Karole's forceful voice was accompanied by a distant roll of thunder. Out of fear, Karole watched.

"Go on man, it's going to be hilarious," Bully #1 egged on the Butt of the Joke. The Butt of the Joke was short, skinny, wore outdated worn-out clothes and cheap eyeglasses held together with electrical tape. He could have been good-looking if it wasn't for an embarrassing acne eruption.

Bully #2 gave the Butt of the Joke a knowing elbow, "yeah, she's going to be all spastic with her arms and hair flying around."

Bully #3 put a fatherly hand on the Butt of the Joke's shoulder. "Come on dude, what do you have to lose? Besides, there may be a spot opening up for a sophomore on the swim team, Jamie Davidson's family is moving at the end of the quarter, we'll need a middle-distance swimmer."

The Butt of the Joke loves swimming, and he had heard about Jamie's family moving, but he knew he'd never make the swimming team. "You think it will happen?" he asked about the girl, not the swim team.

"He doesn't care about the swim team," whispered Past Karole conspiratorially. "he just wants to dance with a girl. He's tired of being lonely."

"Why doesn't he just ask her himself?"

"You've never been so depressed that you're terrified to talk to anyone other than that stupid ol' one eye cat or that witch out in the swamp?" demanded Past Karole. Karole winced; Grandma Noah was her only friend in middle school and Mr. Peepers was her only friend during high school.

"Dude! It's in the bag! All you have got to do is ask Miss Prim and Proper out on the dance floor. These guys say that the next song is going to be a real rocker."

The Butt of the Joke muttered "But I can't dance."

"Dudes aren't expected to know how to dance, girls practice all the time. My dolly tells me that this bitch is so spastic she can't even tie her shoes without falling over," grinned Bully #2. "Now go!" and Bullies #1 and #2 gave the Butt of the Joke a shove.

As the Butt of the Joke walked slowly across the dance floor, Karole's stomach was tied up in knots. "I can't watch this," she moaned. Her stomach was really starting to hurt for those poor kids.

"Watch," hissed Past Karole, "believe me, it's a riot."

The Butt of the Joke walked up to a group of girls who parted like the Red Sea before Moses, revealing Miss Prim and Proper, a tiny, little Asian girl with waist length black hair, thick square glasses, and a mouthful of braces. "Care to… I mean would you… uhhh… like…" the Butt of the Joke was dying; he hasn't spoken to a girl since the second grade, and that was his dying mother and now he's suddenly come face to face with her.

"He's been in love with this girl for a year and she doesn't know he exists!" Past Karole said with a grin. "He's a true candidate to be a stalker."

"Dance? She'd love to!" called out one of the girls standing with Miss Prim and Proper. Obviously, the girls were in on the joke too. They pushed the girl out onto the dance floor, where she stood staring at the lanky young boy. Now that they stood looking at each other, Karole recognized them immediately and gasped, realizing that this was a moment in history.

"Oh God," groaned Karole, "those poor kids!" but Past Karole just grinned.

The song was ending, and the gyrations of the other dancers slowed as the song faded. "I really don't dance," said the Butt of the Joke.

"I don't either," said Miss Prim and Proper so quietly that he could barely hear her.

"It'll be fun," assured the Butt of the Joke trying to bolster his own courage, then suddenly his heart sank. Elton John began singing and everyone in the gym could name that tune by the opening three notes. Karole whimpered and stifled a moan of sadness for the two embarrassed nerds.

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside…

"Your Song by Elton John! oh God" groaned the Butt of the Joke inwardly, one of the sappiest, most romantic slow dances on earth! Normally, all the dating couples would step out on the dance floor, but the Butt of the Joke and Miss Prim and Proper were all alone out there, and a spotlight just illuminated them.

"Oh no," gasped Karole, "the whole damn school was in on it! Those bastards! Those cocksuckers!" She was actually crying for those kids. It reminded her of a Steven King novel. She expected someone to grow ten feet tall and tear the heads off of everyone involved or some other Steven King madness. She looked over at Past Karole, but Past Karole just watched those kids, just 2 years younger than her, and she smiled a wistful smile.

"I could watch this part over and over for the rest of my life," she whispered to no one in particular.

Both the Butt of the Joke and Miss Prim and Proper decided "what the hell" when they realized they were both the Butt of the Joke. After a moment of fumbling, they figured out how to place their hands. Don even held her right hand with his left hand because he saw it in a movie. The last female whose hand he touched died before his eyes nine years ago. With more confusion than they could have believed possible, they started rocking in time to the music. Finally, the Butt of the Joke said "Hi, I'm Don."

"I'm Lanh," muttered Miss Prim and Proper.

Don had seen her name in the town paper when she and her family moved to town. "I know, Lanh Nu-guy-en?" Don suddenly blushed crimson red. Here he was dancing with a girl, the Entire School was watching them, and he slaughtered her name. He was so embarrassed; he nearly ran from the gym. God! She's so cute! He's been stalking her with his eyeballs since their freshman year.

Lanh gently giggled. "It's pronounced Win."

"I hear your name on the announcements and didn't make the connection… I'm so sorry," sputtered Don. "How do you get Win out of N-guy-en?"

Lanh looked up at Don and shrugged. "Don't know!" and she giggled again, but it wasn't a nervous giggle, it was more of a giggle of relief. He was a real person!

"I like the way you laugh," smiled Don, terrified that if he said the wrong thing, she'd run from him, and he'd be alone… again.

"I like the way you blush," smiled Lanh, "it's cute," which made Don blush even more. Suddenly Lanh gasped, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"No, it's ok, it's just… I've never…" Don sputtered trying to explain the ocean of feelings that were exploding in his head, how do you tell someone that you fell in love at first sight over a year ago? And as their embarrassment faded and their friendship blossomed, they stopped their Frankenstein-like rocking and began swaying to the music. They didn't become Fred and Ginger, but they became comfortable with each other. Little by little, their bodies grew closer together. "Awww," sighed Karole, as the young couple grew close, and their eyes remained locked. The world around them disappeared, and Elton continued singing.

…how wonderful life is while you're in the world…

"Lanh told me about this," said Karole, softly remembering their conversation over a glass of wine one warm evening. "I didn't realize…" the words caught in her throat as she watched her dear friends meet. "She said it was so awkward and embarrassing. It's not, it's sweet."

"It's their very first dance together," said Past Karole as she led Karole toward the big double door exit. "This was the moment they met. They'll never need another dance partner as long as they both live. Kinda sweet, isn't it?" They turned back to look at the couple. They continued to hold each other even though the song ended, simply enjoying the closeness and the depths of each other's eyes. "They're going to dance one more, then sit down and spend the night talking," said Past Karole before the door closed.

Then Past Karole led Karole out into the High School hallway, which was a museum quality display of photographs of Don and Lanh as they became the absolute best of friends. The pictures started out with them studying in the Nguyen's kitchen, and in the Campbells farmhouse. "Lanh's father put his foot down," said Past Karole, as they watched Lanh help Don with his homework. "No daughter of mine is going to date anyone with below a B average!" As they watched the pictures come to life, there was a lot of studying, and more peeks at each other.

It wasn't all studying. There were lots of photos of the couple ice skating at the arena, with Lanh's sister Kim-ly and her twin brother Bao skating with them as guards and as chaperones. Here was a picture of Lanh standing on the stern of a rowboat in a pond coaching Don as he swam, and there was a picture of them working on his father's farm, she was driving the tractor as he stood next to her on the tractor leaning back on the tractor's fender. The grin of accomplishment of driving that machine on that tiny girl's face was priceless, as was the look of pride on Don's.

Past Karole pointed out a series of pictures of the teenage couple ice fishing, a grinning Lanh and Don holding up a stringer of perch. Their glowing faces were framed by the fake fur of their parka hoods.

More pictures followed, family gatherings, sometimes with Lanh's huge Vietnamese family, and sometimes with Don's smaller Norwegian and Irish family, and sometimes with the families mingled. Parties, parades, the ice cream social in the park, the fireman's picnic, the Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery, gazing up at the Fourth of July fireworks. Don and Lanh in smalltown America, holding hands and loving life for the first time. Karole's favorite was a picture of Don and Lanh lying side by side on a blanket, their eyes locked to each other's, soaked to the skin after an impromptu dip in the pond on a hot summer afternoon. Karole longed for the days when she could be silly like that again.

"Here's an interesting picture, it shows Lanh's desire for a life together," said Past Karole as she pointed to a picture of Don and Lanh standing in front of his father's barn, Lanh is wearing a battered straw cowboy style hat and a stem of hay sticking out of her mouth.

"How do you mean that?" challenged Karole.

Past Karole touched the picture frame, and the picture became a doorway that they stepped through into a farmyard on a warm late spring day in Minnesota. The sweet smell of hay and the pungent aroma of cow manure, the smells of money to thousands of farmers, hung heavily in the air. It made Karole long for a return to Minnesota as soon as possible. Don and Lanh were nowhere to be seen, but the Past Karole seemed to know where she was going; she led the way to the barn where the voices of the youngsters could be heard. Inside the cool darkness of the barn, Karole marveled at the collection of antique tools, and over there was the gray and red tractor she saw in the photos. And up there in the hayloft were Don and Lanh, sitting on bales of hay, putting their schoolbooks away. Karole looked at Past Karole and raised an eyebrow with a grin.

"No, they were not fucking, or necking, or even holding hands. They were studying, getting ready for upcoming exams. Lanh is a straight A+ student, and with her help Don's grades have shot up to A for the first time since his mom died. This is the end of their sophomore year, and the sixth month of their friendship. At this point in time, they're close buddies… Listen," Past Karole gestured toward the teens that were now climbing down the ladder from the hayloft. Don was plotting out his plan for his future.

"After I enlist, I'm just going to stay in the military long enough to learn a trade and get the G.I. Bill so my college is paid for, then I'll come back here," said Don as the two exited the big side door.

"Then what?" asked Lanh. She looked up and saw Don's dad, Ralph, walking toward them. He pulled a camera out of his pocket to take a picture of the kids. Ralph takes lots of pictures, then gets double prints and gives the second set to Lanh's parents, Duong and Mai.

"I'll run the farm; with the skills I learned working on military equipment I'll work on the machines here, and with my college education I'll do accounting, ya' know, taxes and stuff, and manage the farm's finances." Don looked down at Lanh, and their eyes met. "It's a lot of work, but I love this farm."

Lanh grabbed the straw hat off of Don's head, put it on her own, and put the stem of hay she was holding in her mouth and said, "Sounds like a plan."

Just then Ralph Campbell's camera flashed, and the moment was etched in time, the two youngsters staring at each other with soft intensity. "When she put on his hat and started chewing on the hay from his farm, she was telegraphing her desire to share that dream with him," said Past Karole as they walked around the frozen teens whose entire world was no larger than this farm, the Nguyen restaurant in town, and their school.

"Did he pick up on that?"

"A little bit," said Past Karole, "mostly subconsciously, but then she always understood their feelings for each other long before he did." Karole walked around Don and Lanh, studying their eyes. His blue eyes locked to her dark brown, almost black eyes. Both of the teens were so comfortable in their relationship, so at ease in each other's company.

"Wow," Karole whispered. She knew Lanh was dearly in love with her husband. She did not know how far back her love for him had gone.

Past Karole led Karole over to the farmhouse where Don grew up and inside it wasn't a farmhouse. It was a continuation of the Museum of Don and Lanh. "What happened here?" Karole asked as she pointed to a picture. It was Lanh and Don in a rowboat, Lanh was rowing, and Don was sitting in the stern, and he was in terrible shape. His arm was in a sling and his face was bruised up. He looked miserable.

"That was their junior year, a senior named Joshua Grimes found Lanh in a hallway and assaulted her. Don heard her scream and he charged at Joshua." Past Karole looked almost as pained as Don looked. "As you can see, Joshua got the better of Don, but Lanh got away, and that's all Don wanted."

"Wow," said Karole as she watched Lanh pulling the oars. "She never mentioned this."

"It's the closest they ever got to breaking up," said Past Karole. "She thought he was blaming her for his injuries, and he thought she was going to dump him for being weak."

As Karole and Past Karole moved through the display, Karole saw the couple age. Don lost his acne and his gawkiness and shot up into manhood. Lanh lost her braces and grew her gentle curves, yet she remained tiny. Karole saw Don and Rosa Mendez receiving medals for swimming, medals they attributed to Lanh's coaching. Here was a picture of the two of them wearing their school letters: Don for swimming, Lanh for debate. There is a picture of them at the senior prom. Don wore a simple black tuxedo that made him look like a dashing young James Bond. She wore a Cheongsam Qipao dress, the quintessential Chinese dress. It's a high collar, skintight sleeveless red silk dress that hangs down past the knees and split on the sides nearly up to the waist. Her dress was red with cherry blossoms and a golden dragon, and it made her look simply beautiful. "The dragon lady and the secret agent," gasped Karole.

"You know about that?" asked Past Karole.

"Her sister Kim-ly told me all about their little game." Karole couldn't bring herself to say his code name without laughing, Agent Double Oh Seven and Five Eighths. They started playing that game in High School.

There were so many Christmas pictures! Christmas parties, unwrapping gifts, posing for pictures in front of the tree, Lanh posing in front of a small fish tank that was decorated for Christmas, Don and Lanh napping cuddled together on the couch on Christmas Day. Christmas seemed to be most of the photographs, and many of them were animated, like mini movies. "What is the Christmas fetish with these two?" Karole finally asked.

"That's actually Lanh's fault," explained Past Karole. "when her family found out that Don's mother died on Christmas, they decided to show Don that Christmas wasn't a time of pain and sorrow. Lanh became the lady of the Campbell house and reintroduced Christmas to Don and his dad." She pointed out a picture of Don and Lanh at the local VFW volunteering at the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Don got a lot of ribbing from those old veterans for saying that he wanted to enlist in the Air Force, yet in the end, the wizened old marines patted him on the back for his decision to man up and serve.

Past Karole led Karole through a door that led them into the living room of the farmhouse of Ralph and his son Don Campbell. Lanh had just finished setting up decorations on the mantelpiece and was standing on a stool putting up a sprig of mistletoe in a doorway between the dining room and the living room when her parents and Don walked in the front door. Don had been tasked with picking them up for a Christmas Eve dinner at the Campbell farm and Lanh finished decorating the house while they were out. "Let me help you," said Don as he hurried over to Lanh, whose stool was wobbling. But when he got near, the stool slipped, and she fell backwards… right into Don's arms.

"My hero!" she sighed with a grin, wrapping her arms around his neck, ignoring the cackling admonishments in rapid fire Vietnamese from her shocked parents.

Don and Lanh had been practicing their faux-fall for hours to shock their complacent parents. "I'll always be here for you," he said as their eyes met.

It wasn't the line they practiced; it wasn't close, but it was what came from his heart. In return, Lanh whispered, "I'll always be here for you too." He slowly lowered her feet to the ground. Their eyes remained locked, their arms remained around each other, and then unconsciously their lips met. It was a little peck like they had done dozens of times before, but then their lips met again and parted. Their tongues gently explored each other and suddenly, like a silent explosion, their friendship blossomed into a passionate, all-consuming love. They broke for a breath, and she gasped, "Tighter, hold me tighter. I won't break."

Again, another kiss, more hungry and more loving than the first, and Don did indeed hold his tiny love as tight to him as he could. And then everything stopped. "Awww, why did you stop it there?" asked Karole, as she considered the two youngsters, frozen in their first kiss of passion, from all angles. She especially loved the expressions on the three parents' faces. Each smile said, "I knew it all along."

"Because their parents will stop it pretty soon," said Past Karole, "but this is the very point in time where The Big L becomes part of their relationship. Up until now it was all buddy-buddy fun. They had confessed their love for each other a year prior, but here is where they both realize that this thing between them really is a forever thing. Now is when they both realize that their future is together."

"So sweet…" cooed Karole, as she walked around the frozen teenagers. Lanh was Karole's best friend, not because she was Karole's only friend. She was the best friend Karole ever had, and watching her love for Don blossom like this drew her even closer to Lanh, if that was possible.

"Let's fast forward a year," smiled Past Karole, and with a mind-boggling display of flashing colors and flickering images, the young lovers ended up under the mistletoe once again. This time Don was wearing a red coat and a Santa hat, and from her pointy green hat and her fake elf ears to her curly toed shoes, Lanh was dressed as the most adorable Christmas elf you ever saw. This time, all of Lanh's family was there; mom, dad, Grandma Tri from Minneapolis, three older brothers and two older sisters. They were all gathered around Ralph Campbell's table.

"This is their senior year," said Past Karole. "They have just a few short months of school left and then Don ships off to basic training in Lackland Air Force Base. He signed up for a six-year hitch which would give him a stripe right out of basic, another stripe in 6 months, so he'll have stripes on his blues to wear at his wedding before shipping off to wherever his first duty assignment takes them."

"Have you been a good little elf this year?" asked Don.

"Yes, I have Santa," answered Lanh, avoiding eye contact by looking down to her right with a smile.

"Ho, ho, ho!" called out Lanh's father Duong, which caused loud laughter from the family seated around the dining room table. The family had finished a huge Christmas Eve dinner at Campbell's farm. The old farmhouse was built to feed an enormous family and plenty of farmhands, but for so long, it was just Ralph and Don. Since their first Christmas as a couple for Don and Lanh, it had become a tradition for the entire Campbell and Nguyen families to have a big Christmas dinner together. It felt good to have the house filled with laughter once more.

"That was my line," said Santa Don, causing even more laughter. Then to Elf Lanh he said, "Still not exactly a Pudgy Elf yet, are we?" he emphasized that by tickling her ribs, causing both Lanh and Tam to laugh, remembering their very first kiss.

"He's really getting into this Christmas thing," said Karole, who stood with Past Karole behind the audience of the Nguyen family, Ralph Campbell, and Sandi Petersen, Ralph's friend from church.

"This is going to be the best Christmas yet!" said Past Karole.

"Get on with it!" shouted all five of Lanh's older siblings.

Santa Don leaned over a little bit and said, "Whisper into my ear what you want for Christmas little elf."

Playing the bashful little elf perfectly, Lanh said, "What I want for Christmas is…" and with that she drew in close and instead of pretending to whisper into Santa Don's ear, she began nibbling on his earlobe and exploring his ear with the tip of her tongue, something she knew that "Santa" REALLY enjoyed. It was delicious payback for him going off script last year, and she never shared that fact with anyone.

Recovering his wits from her exquisite tongue action, Don stood and said, "Ho, ho, HO! You want a kiss from Santa, little elf?"

Lanh played coy, biting the tip of her finger and twisting from side to side until her brothers and sisters yelled, "Get on with it!"

Lanh yelled, "Yes!" at the top of her lungs and launched herself at Don. The moment their lips met, Lanh's oldest sister, Tam, slapped her hand down on a cheap plastic timer. The Nguyen children used that same timer when playing games in their youth. They started cheering and jeering at their youngest sister as she passionately kissed the man she chose.

"They're betting on how long they will kiss?" asked Karole.

"Yeah," shrugged Past Karole, "Lanh bet her brothers and sisters that she and Don could kiss for a full minute in front of their parents."

The siblings knew how the game was played, at a pre-arranged time Huy rapped his fork against an empty glass and all the Nguyen youngsters groaned like they lost the bet, rose, and started a disheartened clapping saying, "You win Lanh." Don almost pulled away, but Lanh knew her siblings were up to something, she had warned Don about this ploy and wrapped an arm around Don's shoulders and held his head in place with her small hand. There were groans and the siblings sat back down defeated, they couldn't get the new guy to break the lip-lock before the allotted time, so they waited out the final seconds until the timer went DING! Don and Lanh kissed a little longer then stepped apart and bowed to the applause of the entire audience. Then, smiling in innocence, Lanh went and collected a crisp five-dollar bill from each of her brothers and sisters.

She walked back to Don, fanning herself with the money, her face aglow with pride and the joy of pulling one over on her brothers and sisters. "What do you think honey?" and then so quietly only Don could hear, "a start on our house?"

Then, just as quietly, Don replied, "I'm going to ask him."

"When? Tonight?"

"Now."

Lanh squealed and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and planted rapid fire kisses on his face and whispered in his ear, "And my angels are watching!"

"She sees us?" gasped Karole.

"Shush! I love this part!" cried Past Karole, then covered her mouth with a glance upward. Karole looked and saw Don and Lanh standing in front of her father.

"Sir," started Don, his voice started out a little nervous, but it suddenly became assured, "Lanh and I want to marry. We love each other dearly, and I will spend the rest of my life sheltering her, protecting her, and loving her. I want to be the father to our children that you are to Lanh and my dad is to me. All we ask is your blessing."

Duong Nguyen's features went stone cold. He noticed his baby's tiny hand in the hand of this youth, this usurper! ALL of his children have foresworn marriage until their chosen degrees and accreditations were complete, and tiny Lanh hasn't even finished high school. How dare he! "You know her older sisters haven't married yet," growled Duong.

Lanh squeezed Don's hand tightly. This was a trap that she had warned him about. "I wasn't aware that there was a Vietnamese tradition of allowing your daughters to wed by age." Don's voice was steady, but inside, his guts were in turmoil. If Lanh wasn't holding his hand so tight, he would have run off by now.

Duong glared at Don. Don was right, of course, but he couldn't let this cur win. "I know you are both eighteen, but that's too young, there's no way I can give you my permission to…"

"I asked for your blessing… sir."

The Nguyen siblings never saw their father go so silent for so long. He was clearly getting ready to explode. Poor Don and Lanh! Duong's gaze fell on his daughter. "What do you want little one?"

Lanh's eyes filled with tears, "I want to stop saying goodbye every night daddy. I want my best friend next to me for the rest of my life. I love him daddy… we want babies daddy…"

How Duong's face didn't crack is a miracle. Lanh's sisters were sniffing back silent tears, watching their baby sister professing her love for this young man. If only they could have such courage when their time comes! Karole noticed that Huy and his girlfriend Ahnjong were clasping hands tightly, their faces masks of fear. They were next!

Finally, Duong spoke. "Your mother," he said, pointing at Lanh, "your father," he said, pointing at Don, "And I have spoken long about this, we saw this day coming and we think you are crazy. You're too young to start with! …and being young you are prone to do stupid things," he ended sadly. He paused for a long time, glaring at the young couple. Slowly he took a deep breath, then suddenly, with a bark, he exclaimed, "You want to get married when he is done with training? That's stupid! And why? Because you want your wedding pictures with Don in his dress blues?" Lanh nodded; her eyes filled with tears of terror. Then at Don he yelled, "and what if I tell you that you don't have my permission to marry my daughter?"

Terrified but still firm, Don replied, "I respect you and Lanh loves you so we will obey you and we won't get married, we will live together in sin and raise our family without you until we do get your permission."

Turning to his wife and Ralph, he said, "See? Stupid! There's no way they can afford to live together on an Airman First Class salary!" Then he turned to Don. "If you're not married you will not get housing, you will not be given a food allowance and have to eat in the chow hall! It will be tough, there's no way you could raise our grandchildren without those benefits, and you cannot get them until you marry. Did you think of that?"

Don stood firm. His knuckles and Lanh's knuckles were white, their hands were clasped so tight. "Yes sir, we did. That's why I asked for your blessing, not permission."

Duong scowled even deeper. He pulled out a pocket calendar and rifling through it. He looked up at Don and said, "And I suppose if I refuse to give you my blessing you would run off and get married in spite of my wishes."

"No sir, not to spite you, but yes, we would get married."

"Without my blessing?!?"

"Well sir, we both love you dearly, but… you're not the pope."

What a great response! Karole shrieked in laughter, but the room was still silent in terror. Trying his hardest not to laugh, Duong rumbled, "youth is wasted on the young…" he grumbled some more then he stared straight into Don's eyes. "This is the way it's going to be young man, if you insist on marrying my youngest daughter, the wedding will be on June 17th."

Lanh and Don stared at her father in shock. A collective gasp rose from Lanh's sisters Tam and Kim-ly, Lan's brothers Huy, Trung, and Bao stared wide eyed in shock. Ralph was having trouble keeping a straight face, as was Lanh's mother, Mai. June 17th was only three days after their June 14th graduation. It was months sooner than they had dreamed of getting married and weeks before his enlistment date in July.

Duong continued, his voice still growling. "What, it's not good enough for you?"

Don was in shock; it was almost like a dream come true. "No sir, I mean yes sir, it's just…"

Duong's voice softened slightly. "Son, and I am going to be proud to call you my son, you made your father and I proud, you stood up for my daughter's hand like a man. BUT I am NOT going to send off my baby daughter without a proper honeymoon. You two will have weeks together before you ship off to basic training. I don't want to have a hormonal teenage daughter pacing the halls waiting all summer for her wedding. It's going to be bad enough with a hormonal teenage daughter pacing the halls waiting all summer for her husband. PLUS, I can ship her off to you as soon as you finish basic training, and you can take her with to your technical school… EXCEPT!"

His shouted "except" hung in the air like a spinning sword. Don and Lanh were clueless. Duong crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the young couple. Mai tried to send a hint by fidgeting with her wedding ring, but neither child could understand her signal. Lanh's oldest brother Huy mouthed the words "ask her" but they didn't get that either.

Duong made them sweat for a good long time until he finally opened his arms and, with exaggerated graciousness, said, "Ask Her!"

"Here? In front of everybody?" Don squeaked involuntarily. He had planned to ask her later, after her folks went home. He was going to ask her in the warmth of the fireplace by the light of the Christmas tree and the candles. She looks so beautiful in the candlelight.

"Don, you had the guts to dress down Mr. Nguyen in front of his entire family," said Ralph. "You could at least honor his one request." Which brought out chuckles from the family.

"Ask her!" Grandma Tri practically shouted, "before I ask you!" causing all to convulse in laughter.

"But he doesn't have a ring," said Lanh in a tiny voice.

"Actually…" Don pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket and slowly eased to his knee. The box he scrimped and saved for his share of the farm's profits was all in that box. Opening the box, he held it up to her and said, "Lanh Nguyen, I love you more than I ever thought possible, you are my entire world, my reason for living. Would you complete me by becoming my wife?"

Inside the box was a simple gold band with a small diamond mounted on it. It was simply and exactly an engagement ring, nothing frilly or ostentatious about it. She stared at it wordlessly. How many nights had she dreamt of this exact moment, all the endless possibilities (her favorite fantasy was being proposed to naked in the pond on a hot summer afternoon), but here! In front of her entire family! It was then that she realized that this was an Americanized version of a traditional Vietnamese engagement ceremony.

Her hands started shaking so bad she almost dropped the box, she could only whimper, her ears were ringing, and her heart was pounding, she couldn't hear her brothers and sisters demanding "Say yes!" Don realized what was happening and took the box from her shaking hands and took out the ring. He poised it over the tip of her ring finger and, looking up into her beautiful eyes, asked softly, "Please?"

"Yes!" she gasped breathlessly, and the ring slid on to her finger; a perfect fit. "Yes, yes, yes!" she cried, her voice returning as she sank to her knees, "Oh God yes!" and their lips met.

"Why did you stop it here?" whined Karole.

Past Karole considered the newly engaged couple from all angles. She walked slowly around them, locked in their passionate kiss, her spectral body passing through the table and Lanh's relatives. "Remember this moment," she whispered, "remember their love, their passion…"

"Why? What happens? Do they fall out of love?"

Past Karole looked at Karole, and her shoulders slumped in exasperation. "You talk to Lanh every day! Does she sound like someone who hates her husband? Whether you know it or not, you are her second-best friend, right after…" and she gestured to the frozen 18-year-old Don. "She would confide in you even before she'd talk to her sister if there were anything wrong with their relationship." Past Karole sighed, "Just remember this moment." She looked at the teens and stifled a sob, then stepped through the kitchen door outside.

Outside, Minnesota basked under a warm, sunny spring day. The sun was hot, yet the breeze was cool and refreshing. The Campbell family farm had become a wedding destination. White silk bunting draped from the blossoming apple trees and the barn doors. Rustic backdrops for the photographer were set out around the barnyard. A small gazebo on a stage was erected for the couple to be married under. The old gray and red tractor was washed and decorated with tissue paper flowers; empty soup cans were tied to strings behind it. Next to it the big old green John Deere sat, its engine and transmission rebuild still in progress as far as Lanh knows, but the decades of dirt and grease scrubbed away and replaced by tissue paper flowers and soup cans. Across the front of both tractors was mounted a sign that reads "Just Married."

People swarmed the farmyard, so many of Lanh's relatives came from all over the country to celebrate the wedding of Lanh, the miracle baby. "Miracle baby? What's that all about?" asked Karole, and she tried desperately to grab a drink at the open bar.

"Lanh was tiny when she was born 15 weeks premature, she wasn't expected to survive," said Past Karole. "That's why she was a year behind at school. As for Don, he lost a year when his mom died and never tried to catch up. He didn't take school seriously until he met Lanh. She wasn't really crazy about living, suddenly becoming the only Asian in a rural school she felt like a circus sideshow freak, a leading candidate for teenage suicide until she met Don."

And now they were saying their vows in front of a Catholic Priest, a Lutheran Minister, and a field full of people. "They're beautiful!" gasped Karole, as they pledged their love to each other. Don wore the same black tux that Karole saw in the prom pictures. Two and a half years on the swim team trimmed his waist and broadened his shoulders. The tuxedo fit like it was tailored for him.

"It's not a tuxedo," whispered Past Karole. "Lanh's Aunt Suong is a seamstress and made that tux from a thrift store suit. She also made Lanh's áo dài."

"Wow," gasped Karole, as she looked around at the wedding site in awe.

Lanh wore an áo dài, the traditional Vietnamese outfit. It featured a high collar long sleeve silk blouse that hangs down to mid-calf and is split on the sides. Underneath, she wore traditional silk trousers. The áo dài that Lanh wore was white, as were the trousers. Normally a Vietnamese woman would wear bright red at her wedding because white in many Asian countries is a color of mourning. Lanh wanted to wear white to advertise that she made it all the way to the wedding altar a virgin. They came close, damn close, several times, but they made it, and tonight is their night. Over the silk áo dài, Lanh wore a white silk vest embroidered with dragons and flowers by her Grandma Tri, all in gold. The vest served one function only, to preserve her modesty. Beneath the áo dài she was completely naked, and the light silk áo dài would become as revealing as a screen door; a surprise that she knew Don would appreciate.

Past Karole led Karole to the big back lawn, and they were in the big tent at the reception. Lanh was wearing a traditional white wedding gown that she and her sisters Tam and Kim-ly found at a thrift store. It's a beautiful gown but has a horrible stain that is completely covered by the white silk vest she wore over her áo dài. "She changed wedding dresses?" asked Karole.

"Oh yes," said Past Karole. "And she will one more time into a red áo dài that her sister Tam will wear at her wedding."

Don and Lanh were over on the temporary dance floor, their arms intertwined, their eyes locked, their bodies swaying in rhythm as they danced their first dance as husband and wife.

It's a little bit funny this feeling inside…

Around the dance floor, the guests were gathered, wearing an eclectic variety of clothing, from simple farm clothes to tuxedoes and dresses that rivaled Don and Lanh's wedding party. The crowd was a mixture of Lanh's Vietnamese relatives who journeyed up from Minneapolis, and Don's Irish and Norwegian relatives from the local area, but Don and Lanh didn't see them.

Don looked at his bride of two hours and saw the nervous, smiling high school sophomore that stole his heart two years earlier and he was too terrified to speak to. To Don, his bully's prank was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. Lanh looked up finally, when their song ended, and they kissed long and passionately on the dancefloor as the cameras flashed and the crowd applauded. When their lips parted, the huge smiles returned, and their eyes never parted.

"Come on you two!" called Lanh's sister Tam. "the photographer wants more pictures, whole wedding party!"

"Ugh, more pictures," groaned Lanh as they walked to the blossoming apple tree where the photographer wanted the pictures staged.

"You're the one who wants more pictures in eight more months," responded Don, remembering their vow to pose for wedding pictures in his dress blues.

"I wonder if this áo dài will fit in eight months," said Lanh, patting her belly.

"I hope not," grinned Don. He was as eager as Lanh to start a family.

Karole and Past Karole watched in amusement as the wedding party lined up for their photos. "Wait a minute, I recognize that guy! The best man, he's…" Just then the photographer's camera flashed, and the scene became a painting on the wall of an art museum. Karole and Past Karole considered the painting as Karole said, "He's the bully that promised Don a spot on the swim team."

Past Karole smiled, "Yes, he did, that's Craig Lewicki and he came through with his promise. He honestly thought that they were doing Don a favor setting him up with a shy girl, he didn't realize it was a prank. They became friends on the swimming team. And they did pose for more wedding photos after Don's basic training was over." Past Karole led Karole into a photograph of a pond and Karole found herself on a small rise overlooking a lake with a dock. A rowboat was pulled up on shore next to a dock. "This is Lanh's favorite place, in the winter they ice fish and ice skate, in summer they swim and have parties back here. Right where you are standing is where she wants to be buried."

"Here? Why here?" Karole looked around. It was a nice place at the edge of a small pine forest.

Past Karole smiled, "this is where she and her sisters found their peace with each other, they would come here and go swimming after they cut and baled hay for Don's father."

"Lanh and Kim-ly and Tam baled hay?" Karole was shocked. She only knew Lanh and Tam as doctors, professionals in teaching and practice. Lanh was a speech therapist and Tam was a psychologist, while Kim-ly was an accountant who lived here in the Campbell's farmhouse.

Past Karole nodded, "oh yes, they first did it as an exercise to work out resentment between them, then Ralph paid them, and they found the money irresistible. On the other side of these woods is a few acres that they use to raise vegetables for their parents' restaurant. This is where sisters became friends."

Just then, the unmistakable putt-putt-putt of a tractor reached their ears and, turning, they saw Don's green John Deere tractor approaching. Lanh was driving wearing a western style wedding dress and Don in his wedding tuxedo. They stopped at the edge of the forest and Don stepped down. Then he lifted Lanh off the tractor and carried her a few steps into the woods, where he set her on the edge of a picnic table of a campsite. He reached under her skirt, and she made some high-pitched whines, then said, "Stop that and help me with your belt."

"I want to make sure you're ready," Don insisted.

"I've been ready for two years… please!" she cried as she fought with his belt. Giving up on that, she hopped off the table and lifted the skirt of her wedding dress. She was not wearing panties.

"Damn!" gasped Karole, as Don picked Lanh up and sat her on the table again. "That girl is ready!"

"They were virgins," said Past Karole, "but they weren't innocent. They had become quite good at oral sex in the past year and have been getting ready for this moment." Karole and Past Karole watched as Don dropped his pants and his erection sprang up and Lanh propped herself up on her elbows to watch her deflowering.

"Damn!" gasped Karole, "that kid is all dick!"

"Some girls have all the luck," Past Karole agreed.

"No shit!" said Karole as Don's cock eased into Lanh's pussy. Lanh suddenly tensed up, and Don stopped.

"Are you ok?" Don's voice was almost shaking with concern.

Instead, Lanh nodded her head and smiled. "More."

"Let's go," said Past Karole as she pulled Karole's arm and led her to a doorway. "Let's give these two some privacy," and stepping through the doorway, Karole found herself back indoors in the museum. Past Karole showed Karole a beautifully painted portrait of the couple, Don's hair much shorter, yet he looked snappy in his dress blues. Sadly, Lanh's wedding áo dài fit perfectly.

There were so many more pictures as they wandered through the museum. Don's first assignment was in Germany, they spent three years in the country that originated many of America's Christmas traditions. This is where Don and Lanh got those hand carved Christmas picture frames and where they ensured that the houses of all their relatives were adorned with hand carved Black Forest cuckoo clocks. Karole saw Lanh's happy fascination with German culture and architecture, and when Don went on a Temporary Duty assignment to Aviano, Italy, Lanh was lonely and bored, sitting in a foreign country all alone. Ahn Lieu Nguyen-Brown, the wife of Don's Maintenance Supervisor, another Vietnamese Air Force wife and a very distant relative, convinced Lanh to take a trip with her. The two women grabbed their passports, packed a bag, and took Annie's car to Italy.

They got rooms at a quaint little hotel right off the main town square in Aviano. The hotel was a favorite place to dine for American Airmen, so when Don and his maintenance team came trooping in after a long day on the flight line, expecting a plate of the best lasagna on earth for dinner, each got a surprise. Don's waitress was a slender Vietnamese woman in a French maid's uniform who said, "Is there anything I can get you?" Another honeymoon has started.

His next assignment was at Grand Forks Air Force Base, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Not the most glamorous assignment ever, but it was only a two-hour drive from Grant Valley, so they could travel home and visit family as often as they wanted. Karole saw pictures of Don and Lanh fishing in the summer, ice skating on the frozen Red River in the winter, wearing huge, heavy parkas, and ice skating on the hockey rink at the college. It was like being a teen again! They skated every chance they could, hand in hand, and occasionally they were able to get the DJ to play "their song" but now they could kiss all they wanted when the music played.

The work was hard, the Inspector General was unforgiving, it was incredibly cold there, but the summers were warm and sunny, and they wouldn't trade that experience for the world. What they would have traded was the news that they received from the base hospital. Years of blissful, joyful, unprotected sex, and yet only one miscarriage in the second month of pregnancy. Test after test followed, and the answer was unanimous. Lanh was infertile, and the doctor gave them that news on Christmas Eve.

That was a preview of We're a Wonderful Wife - Book 4 of 4 - All Good Things. To read the rest purchase the book.

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