Chuck
I woke being hugged between Julie and Brandy. The two were really hanging on, but I needed to offload pretty soon. Sliding from the grasp of the two women, I saw that Lisa was sleeping with her head on Gina's cushions.
I was going to go back to bed after using the head, but saw it was five fifty already and we were going to shove off early this morning. Instead of going back to bed, I hopped back to the head, showered, shaved, and quickly dressed to go see if anyone else was up.
The galley was empty but someone had made coffee, so I poured a mug before going up to the salon. There, Steve was enjoying his morning coffee, watching a BBC news broadcast. "Morning, Steve, ready to get out of here?"
"More than ready, my friend. It's really difficult to live on this boat and be tied up to a dock. Boats like this need to be out on the water with the sails catching the wind." Steve took a drink of his coffee, "What do you think, want to get out of here? I've already been up to the yacht club and squared our stay here. A couple of attendants are hanging around to help us cast off. Do you need to say anything to the security people before we leave?"
I was nodding that I probably should say something to them. Perhaps say thanks for watching over us.
Outside on the dock, one of the security guys was talking to the attendants when I went up to him. "Good morning," I said, and when I had his attention, "I wanted to thank you for watching over us while we were here. We're about to shove off, so you guys can go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before."
The guy said, "Most of the time we're on a security detail with the embassy staff. This has been a nice diversion. It's pretty cool to be out here with all of the fancy yachts." The guy motioned me off to the side and said, "You're going to the Riviera, Nice, right? I was told to make sure I confirmed where you were going. You're supposed to know that you'll have people meet you when you get there."
When I told the guy that I figured we would have babysitters there, he said, "We observed a couple of guys watching your boat, but found out they were sent to be guard dogs for two women and their kids you have on board. They were sent here by the man you visited with in the restaurant across the street, Giovanni Martinelli. You know, that guy is like the head of a pretty serious group of Italian underworld. Usually when they watch someone, it is just before that someone disappears. We found out they are just additional security for the man's two girls and his grandchildren. Be careful with those two ladies. They have a very strange father."
We heard the diesel engines start, so I said, "We're shoving off now. Tell whomever that we should be docking in Nice in about twenty to twenty-four hours." I shook the man's hand before going back aboard."
Just then, Eduardo was walking fast down the dock. He waved at me and as he approached he said, "Sorry I'm late. Who would have thought it would take so long to get a taxi this early in the morning."
I told him, "Take your bag on deck and we'll find you a cabin in a little bit. Have some coffee in the salon. We're casting off right now."
I had forgotten that Sue wanted Eduardo to help us get around on the Riviera as he had done before.
Steve told me, "Take the gangplank down and have the utilities removed. I've already converted from shore power to generator. You can have all of the middle springer lines taken down. As usual, leave only the bow and stern lines."
I dismantled the gangplank and stored it back into the slot under the deck while the attendants disconnected the utilities. Just as everything appeared to be ready, Mercy came out on deck smiling. She said, "Hey, how about me helping with the lines. It's a bitch to do both ends at once."
I looked at Steve and he was waving for us to release the last two lines. Mercy went aft while I went to the bow and waved at the attendant. He released the big line as I pulled it in. I quickly coiled the line and watched as Steve used the inside propeller, or screw, to bring the bow away from the dock. As soon as there was good separation, the attendant released the aft line and Mercy lugged the big line up and coiled it like a good sailor.
I stayed on the bow, making sure no smaller boats were about to cross in front of us. We wouldn't be able to stop, but we could always be of assistance in rescuing them.
Since we had been tied up right in the middle of the marina, it was easy for us to motor straight out the opening to the artificial lagoon. There wasn't much turbulence around the opening this morning, and that also meant there wasn't much wind. Steve kept the engines at a fairly high RPM as we made it out toward open water. I was looking at the anemometer on top of the forward mast and saw that it was beginning to spin fairly fast. You could feel the cooler breeze picking up from the cooler water we were moving into.
We were only a couple of miles out when I heard the electric motors begin to lift the sail. I went back inside to find the salon filling up with people watching our departure. Kids were coming topside, still rubbing their eyes while getting plastic glasses of juice.
Steve said he needed to use the head and asked me to take over, so I took the helm and began going over the gauges and electronics, checking that the radars were working and pulled up the international weather channel. We were on our way.
Lisa brought me another mug of hot coffee as I sat back in the captain's chair. There isn't much to do after you set up the auto controls. There are a lot of little islands off the coast of Italy as you head north toward Nice, sailing between Italy and Corsica. You have to aim at the big channel for easy passage. The wind was picking up, so I had to pay attention to the line gauges and figured we needed to do a visual check of the lines out on deck to make sure they were all secure.
When Steve came back up, I told him I would go check the lines, but Sue jumped down from her seat at the bar saying, "I'll go out with Steve. I need some fresh morning air."
The band members were coming up to the salon, waking up from the motion of the boat. Dan said he sometimes got motion sickness, but he said he was doing really well so far. Lisa began fixing Bloody Mary's for everyone who wanted a morning kicker. The helm or bridge area was getting crowded, as all of the band members wanted to peek at the instruments and look out the window at the forward sails. It was crowded because all, and I mean all, of my ladies were up at the helm huddled around me, excited about getting out on the water again.
Gina was very excited, saying that this was her first time out on a boat like this. She said she had been on a big motor launch before, but nothing like this. Gio was equally excited, joining my ladies near the helm.
The kids were all up now and were going in and out of the salon, checking out how nice it was outside. The fun five disappeared, saying they were going to help get breakfast ready. Taiying had taken my mug and brought it back with hot coffee. She sat up in the captain's chair, looking regal and smiling at what she probably knew was a unique sight, a tiny creature in the big captain's chair in front of the big busy console.
The Italian kids came up to look at everything, and Gina's daughter asked me, "Are you going to be my Papa?"
Gina heard her and tried to shush her. I smiled at the girl, and asked in return, "Would you like that? Would you like to be around all of these other kids?"
The little girl said, "But these other children are not your children, how would I be around them?"
Trixie and Dixie were up with me and told the little girl, "We all live close together, and we are with each other almost all day long every day. We go to school together, we eat together, and we all play together. There are a lot more kids at home to play with too. I miss them and wish they could have come with us. You would really like them."
Gina's two kids were talking between themselves as Gina looked on, embarrassed that her daughter would ask a question like that.
Just as Tiani came to the top of the stairs to announce breakfast, Bonita told Gina's daughter, "You should get Chuck to be your dad. We could have a lot of fun together at his house. He has a really neat place to play music."
I suppose it's better to be popular for having a studio than not being popular at all.
I scooped Bonita up and told the amazing little girl, "You know kids can't just pick out a parent. These kids' mother is the one to help make that decision, Bonita. Gina and I have a lot to talk about before anything like that can happen."
Bonita's next statement zinged to my mental being. "You have so many women that one more won't make a difference. You could have two more kids, too."
Gina, Tina, and Lisa were laughing, but Bonita added the kicker, "I'll bet daddy even thinks about Gio for another momma for us kids."
Lisa and Tina were standing right there, and they both put an arm around Gina. Lisa said to the Italian beauty, "We're working on him. You have a good chance if you want it."
Gina was grinning as she hugged Lisa back and said, "It is so strange for your man to have so many women. Don't you get jealous?"
Tina and Lisa looked at each other and actually had to think about it. Tina said, "We share Chuck because we like each other almost as much as we like him. All of us enjoy being around each other, and Chuck is sometimes not home a lot, so it's nice for us to have each other."
Frieda was listening and said, "Yes, it is good to have so many close friends that we live with. I guess we should be jealous of you, but we are all attracted to you. You seem so sweet and maybe even innocent, or what we would call naïve. You can't be too naïve with two kids and the way you act with us."
Gina had a solemn look when she said, "When Gio and I were young, we had no one else but each other. We learned to give pleasure to each other and to enjoy each other the way I enjoy all of you girls. Girls make me feel different than a man. All of you girls have been very good to me, made me feel special, and you share your man with me. Your man makes me feel wonderful because he isn't rough and when we have loved, he makes me feel like I'm the only one in the world.
That made the other women around the helm close in on us to hug me, along with Gina and each other.
Julie gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to the girls, "Come eat, one of you can bring Chuck some breakfast after a while."
In about twenty minutes, Steve came up and told me to go below for breakfast. When I sat down next to Wanda, I asked her, "How come you and John didn't go with the Bell? You could have had a couple of more days in Nice."
Wanda replied, "John and I are enjoying sailing. It is really laid back. The trip from Ireland was nice and we're leaving for home after the Riviera."
"What about you, Jan, you could have gone with the others?" asked Chuck.
Jan said, "Chuck, Don and I are enjoying being with you and Steve. This setting is so much more relaxing than what we do for work. I'm really enjoying being out on the water too." Jan looked at me and asked, "Could you do us tonight? You know marry us out at sea? This will be the last opportunity to do it when we are sailing."
I smiled at my good friend, "You're on, how about right after supper?"
Jan hugged Don, looked at him to get his agreeing nod, "That would be great, Chuck, you are the perfect person to do it for us too."
Glenda had been listening to the conversation and said, "I'll make a cake. I've always wanted to make a wedding cake and what a place to do it, on a big sailboat out in the Mediterranean."
The kids seemed to be pretty hyper this morning, and I told Lisa, "What do you think about running the kids around deck this morning, then getting out the pads for some martial arts training?"
Turning to Don, I asked, "Are you up for some Sensei responsibilities this morning?"
Don said, "I'd love it. We haven't had much exercise lately." He asked Wanda, "How about it, want to help me teach this morning?"
After breakfast, Lisa took the kids out on deck and they began walking around the boat. In very little time, most of the boys were running, enjoying the exhilaration of the wind from the sea as well as the fun of the pack running around the deck. Some of the little girls didn't run, but walked in bunches talking about whatever little girls talk about. Bonita, Lizzy, and Corine had become fast friends and enjoyed hanging out with each other.
Wanda, Jan, Don, and I pulled out the mats and soon had everyone who wanted to join us doing Tai Chi forms to stretch our muscles. When Lisa, Wanda, and Don began going through the instructional phase, I noticed the four Italian kids with the others, learning some basic moves. Both Gio and Gina were with the kids, learning as well.
Steve and I swapped to the outdoor helm and enjoyed the warm morning sun. As it got hot, we put up the sunscreen. That's when we became aware there was a parade of women going up to the sundeck. The kids were inside playing, or should I say mimicking, the band guys while their women sunned themselves.
I could hear Bonita was getting the band guys to play the songs they knew, but after a while, Kenny and Fred were the ones teaching the kids some new music. Greg came out and asked, "Would you come in and set up the Roland drums. I want you to play them for a little while so I can watch to see how you do some things.
I asked him, "I thought you were more interested in bass?"
Greg answered, "I am, but I want to learn drums too. I've been practicing the rudiments you taught and I'm getting pretty smooth doing them, but the drum set is a whole different thing. I want to learn."
Steve told me, "Go in, play with the kids. I see Lisa in there, so teach all the kids; they will enjoy it."
Inside, Kenny exclaimed, "Hey! Our drummer is here. Do a couple with us while we teach these kids a new piece. Jack ran off some copies of the score he made up on the midi. He says you have a fancy office with a copier on the bottom deck."
The band, Lisa, and I worked with Kenny and Fred to get a couple of pieces together. The kids were doing really well reading music to play their parts. I mentioned to Kenny, "We need some brass, we can't continue to just play rock blues, we need some brass to get real funky."
Kenny said, "We've tried it several times, but side guys just don't want to work as hard as we do. I have almost all of our music with scores for trumpet, trombone, and sax. All I have to do is to find the players."
Lisa asked, "Why don't you have Rags' people play with you. I know two trumpets, a trombone, and two sax players came down with them. I'll bet they'll work with you. You guys need to come over and we can work some stuff up in our new studio."
Dan was in agreement, "We should do that. We might be getting stale working out only in our place. A new studio might be a way to get inspired for some new music."
By noon, the kids and the band were playing together like a well-oiled machine. Jack was busy adding some flavor with the controller, but I think he was also making sure he recorded every note and musical phrase coming from the mass group.
Fred had Bonita to the side teaching her some very complicated riffs. It was not any surprise to hear her mimicking her present mentor, while adding to each of the riffs with some fingering and picking of her own. Carlos and Lizzy were having a good time complementing the music with their harmonicas. Actually, the place was almost just a lot of noise, but there were many instances that some really good blues came from the accumulated kids.
After lunch, the kids settled down a little and played out on deck. This only lasted as long as it took the band to catch a quick nap. The couples were enjoying some private time on the boat, with the portholes open, listening to the boat slide through the water.
Some of the women wanted to get some more sun and I only lasted up there about twenty minutes. I said I was going to get some exercise, so I headed down to the sports room.
Below decks, with my sports leg on, I ran on the dreaded treadmill for a half hour, followed by another fifteen minutes on the elliptical. The elliptical is tough as I can't put the necessary pressure down with the one leg, so I have to over use that arm. I spent fifteen minutes with the multi-station machine, emulating lifting, before I called it quits.
In the cabin, I was just getting into the shower when the Asian sisters came in with Frieda and Gina. They said for me to get the water ready as they would join me. Oh man, more teasing.
Frieda hugged me as soon as she got in, pressing her bulging body into me. We kissed until we were being mauled by the Asian sisters. Sing was the first to kiss me. She was funny as she climbed my body and wrapped her legs around me and put her arms around my neck to hold herself up.
A mysterious hand grasped me, making sure I was hard and directed me inside the tiny girl. The little woman grinned up at me with her narrow slanted black eyes and mouthed, "Give it to me, give it to me, give me a baby."
Considering the squeezing Sing was doing, it didn't take but a short while until I was filling her small body. I was wondering if this was practice or if it was for real. When Sing's shudders had calmed, she pulled free of me and before she let go, she whispered, "That was fun; that might be the way I want you to do it for real."
Frieda gave me another loving kiss and said, "I need you, but I can't do it in the shower. Save some for me when we're done."
Taiying imitated her sister by climbing my body and wrapping herself around me. Another mystery hand placed me to slide deep within her. Taiying went through a bunch of gyrations and squeezing that had her panting as pussy drool ran down my leg. As she shivered through her orgasm, she kissed me deeply before she leaned away from me smiling. She held out her left hand, showing her ring and kissed me again.
I guess I did good to give the rings.
As I tried to wash, another set of hands began stimulating me. It was Gina who was becoming very amorous. I clutched her luscious body to me and said, "You must be careful, Gina. I could easily make you a mother again." The beautiful Italian shuddered and shook through a kiss as I think she climaxed or orgasmed just thinking about our joining.
Gina kissed me and took hold of me. When she looked at me, I could see her desire. As gently as I could, I turned her and had her lean against the shower wall. As slowly as possible, I eased my way into her. She was tight, extremely tight and kept gasping, exclaiming alarm and pleasure simultaneously. In a very short time, Gina was slamming her body back into mine trying to achieve what she had not had in a long time. When Gina came, she was nearly screaming, almost falling as I caught her around the waist. Surprisingly, I was able to hold off and not blow a huge load into her fertile chamber.
When Gina turned around and kissed me passionately, she held my hardness and began slipping to her knees. I kept her up, kissing her and telling her, "Save some for Frieda. She is waiting for me." Gina smiled and we finished washing.
As soon as I hopped from the shower, I was attacked by Brandy and Tiani, who literally dragged me to bed. Nancy was between Frieda's legs and rose up with a wet face and glazed eyes, "She's ready, do her, make her a mommy all over again."
I was welcomed into Frieda's arms, and remained there as we made love, until she said, "Let me turn around and do me on my hands and knees, I mean really do me. I need to feel you slamming into me."
That worried me as I don't know how women are when they are pregnant. Will that hurt them? Will that hurt the baby, or in her case, babies?
As soon as Frieda was on her hands and knees, I was inside her and she was lunging back at me exclaiming her pleasure. In seconds, or at least not longer than a couple of minutes, Frieda spasmed, screamed into a pillow, and collapsed. She rolled over and hugged me to her; she whispered into my ear, "I love you, I love you, Chuck."
My, oh my, my funny five may not leave me to be by themselves after all.
I lay on my back relaxing after the exertion Frieda had just put me through. Nancy wouldn't let me be and sat on my stomach, leaned over and kissed me while I was fitted into her welcoming receptacle by one of her cohorts. She worked herself up and down with her eyes closed. I could feel her insides clutching and internally caressing me, as she squeezed her eyes tighter and shivered. She came down to me to kiss me, squashing her belly into me. She said, "This is so special."
With Nancy resting beside me, I was very satisfied, satisfied until Judy lovingly took me into her mouth and gently sucked me a little. She came up, kissed me and asked, "Please, I need you in me but I don't think all of you will fit. Please do me, but be gentle and don't put everything into me."
How could I refuse? We made love. I was gentle and she was receptive until she groaned from the pleasure of orgasm. Judy kissed me passionately; smiled and mouthed that she loved me. I was touched.
Of course, Brandy needed some loving, followed by Tiani, then Maria wanted me to give her a dose. As I was lying on my back, trying to recover, a mouth was gently sucking me back to attention. Lisa kissed me and said, "You have two more of us, Lover. Julie is waiting and I'm going to be right behind her. Do her, make her a mommy too."
That is always a stimulant and I was soon thumping Julie until she nearly screamed her way into unconsciousness. I was amazed at how responsive she was knowing, or at least thinking, that she was beyond child bearing age.
Lisa was gently kissing and caressing Julie, calming her. With gentle pleasure, I made love to Lisa. She made it special as I knew we were so right for each other. When I couldn't hold it any longer and began groaning, Lisa tensed and came with me, shuddering and shivering, squeezing the stuff out of me.
As I rolled over on my back, little Tiani sucked me into her mouth before rising to kiss me. She said, "You are our stud. You did us all, every one of us, and I think you could do some more." The little pixie kissed me, as a head came to rest on my right shoulder, while another, Julie, laid on my left.
The right shoulder person rolled to me and I felt the heavy breasts of the only one it could be, Gina. She said, "You make me feel good. You make me know I am a woman."
All I could think of was how gorgeous Gina is, but is this going to be the right move for her to leave her home and family?
I really didn't think about it for very long as I drifted off to a well-deserved nap.
A voice was calling me, "Wake up, Honey, you need to come up and play with the kids. Kenny thinks he can put something together to have a set with the kids in Nice. That would be a hoot to have the kids up on stage with us. I think they're almost good enough and it would give the group a lot of points with their younger listeners."
I smiled up at Lisa who kissed me warmly. She said, "You proved you are the stud of the week this morning. You did all of us and Taiying said you did Gina in the shower. I hope you were careful or you'll be taking another woman back to the states with you."
I smiled and pulled Lisa down to me. After some kisses I said, "Yes, I was careful. No way or no juice to make babies. She was tempting though."
Lisa said, "I know, I can't get enough of her either. The other girls and I have been face deep in her since you fell asleep. She just left to go up to see if her kids were all right. I think I want to keep her."
I smiled at Lisa, "Then you better get someone to help out. I don't think I can handle another. As it is, it's almost impossible to work my way through my lovelies, or would that be lovers."
Lisa said, "Lovers is what we are. Some are pregnant lovers, and some hope to be pregnant lovers. You are going to be the proud father of many very soon. But don't worry about needing help, not in our house. We girls enjoy taking up the slack." She kissed me as she laughed
Lisa repeated, "Come on, get up, we need you up top."
I did get up and the two of us took a quick shower. Just looking at the sweet Lisa had me hard as nails all over again. Lisa said, "Save it for later. I'm flattered, but let's wait."
Up in the salon, the band guys and kids were playing some good music. Bonita had a class going with the four new kids that were older than she is. She was teaching them the basics of guitar playing. The little one was amazing as she had the four doing some basic fingering and strumming. It made me realize how far the original kids had come.
When Kenny and Fred saw me, they met me at the bar where I was having some juice for energy. Fred said, "Look at that kid, she's actually teaching those four kids how to play the guitar. They are already doing some basic chords. She is amazing."
I nodded, "That she is. I'm thinking she is some kind of alien that has come down to taunt us with her ability. She's going to be better than any of us soon." I looked at Kenny, "Did she play the violin for you yet? She's even learning some country stuff on it while she's learning the bass, and has also been practicing drums. You two have to get her to show you some of her original music. She's composed it on the piano and used the midi to print it out. She's even used the controller to dub a couple of pieces with the guitar accompanying the keyboard."
Kenny said, "She played a couple of CDs for us. One had the other little girl, Lizzy, playing the harmonica with her. That sounded really good."
With a smile I asked, "So what should we learn to highlight to show off the kids."
Kenny said, "Let's learn Pop's instrumental that they all know, and the one with vocals Lisa and you do after that. That should be a real show stopper for an audience. Bonita gave out the scores to Dan, Fred, Carlos, and me. All of us had a good feel for both tunes. Let's work on the instrumental first."
Because the kids had worked on this piece of music, it didn't take long for us as a group to sound pretty good. The four part harmony of the acoustic guitars was a really good background wall of sound. Kenny and I let one of the kids play bass, and another drums, with us just doing background rhythm.
It only took about three times through with a couple of stops to correct the areas where we were having problems. Jack was grinning and saying, "I have it. That was great. We need some video cameras to catch these kids doing something like this. We could add it to our preshow video."
Kathy heard Jack and disappeared below. A couple of minutes later Kathy appeared with a video camera and a camera stand. She set up the camera, inserted an SD card and told Jack, "There you have about two hours of video time. You can edit what you want."
Kenny had the kids gather around him and he asked, "I know we'll have to ask your moms and dads, but I want to ask you. If we can, would you guys like to be on stage and play with us? I would love to have you guys play a set with us on stage."
There were excited squeals and a lot of laughter and chatter. Kenny said, "I'll be sure to talk to your folks tonight. I really think it would be hot for us to do a set with you guys."
Lisa was extremely pleased that Kenny wanted the kids she had taught to be on stage with her. Lisa was contemplative and began leafing through an older fake book. She opened the book at a piece and waved Kenny and I over to her. Lisa asked, "How about if one of our pieces for the set have Bonita and Corine playing their violins?"
I thought it would be a great idea, "We'll have them backing Lisa's vocal with the backup singers augmenting. This ought to be perfect."
Lisa had chosen an old Peggy Lee song, "Is that all there is?" This would be perfect for a violin lead in and to have them quietly backing her up. Kenny was excited and worked out some of the chorus to have our lady backups shine with the kids.
Fred worked with the kids to get them to play gently, to strum their guitars so that the whole was much better than the individual player. By the time we were ready to practice the piece for real, most of us were excited about it.
Lisa took a few minutes to go over the words and to get the feel of what we were doing. Jack had run down to the copier to make scores for the groups of guitar players and for the two violins.
Kenny was acting like a conductor and brought the violins up to lead into the heart of the music. Lisa had her guitar in her lap, just gently stroking it, but when we came to a break, she was doing a crazed, melodious riff that fit beautifully.
When we finished, I actually saw some tears in Kenny's eyes. Several people in the salon where applauding. Jack held up a CD and said, "I'm going to work this one right here on this controller. I think we'll put this out as a single. Man, that is so good."
It was late, after five. We had been practicing for nearly five hours. The kids were still enthusiastic about playing, but I knew we needed to get them wound down. I told all of them, "You guys can be assured that Kenny is going to work you into the show. We have a couple of neat pieces that show how good all of you are. Lizzy, I really liked your harp when Lisa was letting go, during the break. Okay guys, put your guitars down and relax before supper. We're going to play what we've learned for all of the adults on board tonight. We'll get their opinion."
The band joined me at the bar, Fred said, "This is so uncanny. I'm actually enjoying playing with a bunch of kids. These kids are really something. Did you see Bonita directing the four kids she's been teaching? She has them doing background chords that fit the harmony. All that while she's playing violin for Lisa; amazing."
We had a beer, but supper was called before we could drink too much. Sue was at the helm so I told her that I would help to move it inside and she could go down to supper. We did that and she disappeared below deck.
About a half hour later, Mercy came up and told me to go eat. She asked me, "Are you going to really do what Dewey wants? Are you going to really try to bankrupt the casino?"
I assured Lisa, "I seriously doubt I can dent the reserves of any of the casinos. I'll do what Dewey wants to the best of my ability."
Mercy recommended, "You, me, and Missy should probably hang out together for us to get a feel for what we're doing. Between the three of us, luck shouldn't have a lot to do with it. Chuck, go eat."
Before I could get to the stairs, Mercy hollered, "I looked up a wedding service on the internet for you. Don and Jan worked up individual vows so their ceremony should be a good one.
Steve
Supper was good tonight. We were having some real fried chicken. The galley reeked of the grease the chicken was fried in. Glenda had been teaching some of my women how to fix the chicken with the special ingredients she rolled the chicken in. I think the Asian sisters were the most interested in how Glenda made the treat.
The girls served the chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and homemade rolls. I think the band guys and girls were near over full enjoying the tasty meal.
Back up top, I took over the helm for a while so some of the other folks could take a leisurely walk on deck to settle their supper. As I was smiling, watching the various couples while they strolled the deck, a surprise was Lisa and Gina coming to visit me at the helm.
They each gave me a warm hug. Lisa had Gina sit in the captain's chair while she talked to me. "Steve, Gina asked me to talk to you about her possibly coming back home with us. She said that she felt you could help Chuck make up his mind to keep her around for a while."
I told Lisa, "Shouldn't that be Chuck's decision? I think Gina should talk directly to Chuck. You shouldn't even be a part of the conversation, Lisa. Let Chuck make up his own mind."
"Oh Steve," Lisa said, not pleased that I didn't want to get involved, "Sue and Mercy told me that Gio was coming home with you guys, so I thought you might want to help keep the sisters and cousins together."
Uh oh, I didn't know Gio was coming home with us. Did I miss it when my two women let me know they were keeping the woman and her kids? Just what I need, another woman and two more kids. I looked at Lisa and Gina, "I'll tell you what. You talk to Chuck about this and if and when he wants to talk about it, I'll put in a good word. Now, go find Sue and Mercy and send them to me."
Gina must have been happy with what I had offered, as she gave me another hug along with a kiss on the cheek. The two women went outside where they had seen my scheming women. When Sue and Mercy came in, they had Gio with them. All three gave me a hug, but Gio wanted a kiss that began turning passionate. That was distracting, so I disengaged from her and had all three sit on the seats surrounding the helm.
I looked at each one of them before beginning, "You three have decided on something that I think I should have been involved in. I just heard that you have decided that Gio was coming home with us. There's more than just saying she's coming home with us. We would have to get her and the kids a visa, probably along with a health check. What about their family? What will they think about her, and maybe her sister, coming to the states with us? You guys are talking about a major life change."
It took me a few seconds to compose myself. I didn't want to come across as angry, just concerned. "What do Juanita, Kathy, and Mickey think about this?"
Sue said, "You can imagine, Mickey is all for it. Kathy and Juanita think it will be good for all of us as we could be good influences on the kids."
Mercy added, "Since Chuck is taking Gina back with him, the sisters and cousins would remain together."
"I don't think Chuck knows that it's been decided that Gina was going home with them." These women were beginning to become devious. God, I loved them all so much, but another woman could be too much.
"Look you three; Gio, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I need to think about this. Sue and Mercy, I want you two to have a very serious talk with Kathy, Juanita, and Mickey. This is something we can't do on the spur of the moment. Let's do some serious thinking and talking about this." I turned to look at each one individually, "Now go talk to the others. I'm not saying I'm against it, I just want this to be a real family decision, and not just you wanting a beauty like Gio."
The three left without a departing hug, a little miffed that I didn't immediately give in to them. They really did need to think about this some more. Playing with a beautiful woman is nice, but what are you going to do the other twenty-three hours a day. What was I going to do with another woman and two more kids? The kids are neat and I would enjoy having them around mine. They would all have a good time together. I'd bet that the only kids they get to play with before now have been Gina's kids. Oh my, Chuck is going to shit when he finds out these women have made up their minds.
Speaking of Chuck, he came up to the salon with a couple of pieces of paper that he was studying. He came over to me and asked, "Have you ever done a wedding ceremony for someone? I know you're a notary and notaries can marry people, but this is something different. This is probably not a binding marriage, but it's what they want. They said they would go get a license and have a judge or minister do it again for them. You could even do it or maybe Wanda. Yeah, she would be good, Wanda and Jan are buddies."
I asked, "So how do you plan to do this?"
Chuck said, "In a few minutes everyone will come up into the salon. I'll have the two of them stand in front of me, facing everyone, and I'll read, or rather recite, these words. Don and Jan have written vows they want to make to each other, and after that it will be 'kiss the bride' time."
I said, "Glenda has made a three tiered wedding cake. I saw she had even made tiny stick figures that she made little clothes for. The cake is really neat."
I figured I would worry him the same way I was worried, "What do you think about taking these two women, these Italian sisters and their kids, home with us?"
You could see the indecision on Chuck's face. He said, "The women have just about made up their mind that it is a done deal. I'd bet yours have done the same. I don't know, Steve, I'm with you; I think it's too fast. We don't know either one of these girls well enough to take them from what they know and their families, and haul them away. I have to have a serious talk with the girls, a very serious talk."
I told Chuck, "Just so you know, Sue and Mercy just told me we were taking Gio home with us. They mentioned that it would be good to keep the sisters and their kids together."
Chuck needled me, "So you are taking both of the women into your home now? You are going to be busy with two extra women and four more kids."
I was laughing as Chuck knew it wouldn't happen like that. "Look, Chuck, I usually let the women make up their minds on things and usually go along with them. Mine seem adamant about keeping this girl. Whether it is to keep her in the household or whatever, I think that if they make too big a deal out of it, I'll just go with the flow and see what happens."
Chuck just stared at me before he said, "Damn, that's the way I've handled a lot of things, but my group is getting ridiculous. Have you noticed? Julie is becoming a permanent part of my family. She and Lisa have formed some kind of symbiotic relationship that has them both really close to each other, but another woman? I can't even count that high any more, it's ridiculous."
I asked Chuck, "So what's the name below the Lucky Lady? What does Seraglio mean? You may have your answer right there. Our women are just adding to it."
My friend was shaking his head, "When I added that to the name, I didn't think it would mean a growing group of women who wanted to add to the harem. So what's your excuse?"
We both laughed at the ridiculousness of our plight.
Wanda came up from below and said, "We are getting everyone up here for the wedding. Don is going to be up here and Jan is going to come up the stairs to make it a little more ceremonial. John is going to videotape the ceremony for them so they will have a record for their album. Kathy said she would take a bunch of pictures. Are you ready, Chuck?"
The salon quickly filled with all of the women, the band members, and all of the kids joining the adults. Don came up to stand by me. That is when there was a surprise. Lisa began to play the wedding march with the keyboard on organ voice.
Jan came up the stairs in a white dress, complete with a veil and tiara, carrying what looked like flowers. Accompanying her was Martin, who was going to give her away and act as best man. Jan was grinning from ear to ear as she approached Chuck and Don.
Martin handed Jan to Don and stood aside. I had the couple face the crowd and I stood in front of them. It only took a minute to do the ceremony part, but they both made lengthy vows to each other. The two exchanged rings, smiling the whole time. When Chuck said, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." The place became bedlam. How about that, this was his first wedding ceremony and the boat's first wedding."
Holding to tradition, Jan turned her back to the crowd and threw her bouquet over her shoulder. It was almost an 'oh no, ' as Gio and Gina caught the flowers together. I even saw Chuck grimace at the sight.
Glenda had the sound man, Jack, carry the big cake up to the salon. Fred and Dan brought up paper plates and plastic forks. Pictures were taken by several people and John continued to video the cake carving and the two newlyweds feeding each other cake.
Kathy had begun opening champagne and poured full goblets for all the adults and poured small portions into plastic goblets for the kids. All of us toasted the newlyweds as the two continued to have moony eyes for each other.
Kenny and the group were organizing the kids in the music area, then turned and said through the amplifier and speakers, "Hey, everyone, I want to celebrate this beautiful wedding with a couple of pieces of music played by the "Lucky Lady Blues Band."
Chuck and Lisa were playing with the other band members and all of the kids. The neat part was that the kids were the ones being featured, not the regular band members.
They did three pieces, and surprised us with Corine and Bonita playing their violins. The song was perfect for Lisa, a slow sultry song from the past, "Is that all there is?" Something Peggy Lee did when I was a kid. Lizzy added an eerie feeling to the song with her harmonica while the kids, along with the wives, did backup vocals adding to the music in a good way. This was a really good piece of music.
When they finished, Kenny announced, "I've talked to the agent and he has agreed to do something for me. These kids and the band are going to play this set at our concert Friday night. How about that; you have some real musicians on board and soon the world will know it. I will need your formal consent and permission, so please work with the agent on that."
Jack was holding up a CD saying, "I'll make copies of the set for each of the kids and all of the parents who want one. I think you will all agree, what we just heard is worth saving."
The kids wanted to hear the band do some more of their music, so they played several of the new songs they had introduced at last weekend's concerts. Watching Frieda and Nancy was cute, as the two pregnant women were so happy they had to keep running downstairs to use the head.
It became late, so the kids were sent to bed. Mercy said she would handle the helm until midnight when I was going to come on. I decided to nap until then, and Chuck went to bed to get a few hours of sleep, as tomorrow had prospects of being a long, busy day.
A little later, as Sue prodded me, she softly said, "It's almost midnight; you need to get up to relieve Mercy. Juanita is up there with her, so move it, they need their rest too."
In minutes, I was dressed and up in the salon where Juanita had made fresh coffee for me. I did a quick visual of the lines and sails out on deck and came in to give Mercy and Juanita some hugs and kisses before they went to bed.
After they left, and I had checked the gauges, radar monitors, and the weather, it was time for me to sit back and contemplate this Gio problem. The more I thought about it, the more undecided I was. I was actually leaning toward going along with the girls because it would be easier, but in reality, deep down, I wanted to keep her and the kids. I really did like Gio's two kids and Gio too, of course. Wonder what Chuck's deciding?