Chapter 18

Tommy and Connie stayed in good spirits as they made the drive westward towards Lafayette and the Hotel Arcenaux. They once again split the driving duties and with some cajoling from Connie, Tommy actually drove a few miles an hour over the speed limit. They made even better time on the return trip and pulled up to the hotel at seven that evening.

Pierre met them in the parking lot again, this time his sudden appearance didn't startle Tommy. Pierre seemed genuinely happy to see them as he grabbed one of their bags and escorted them into the lobby. Marie was not manning the desk this evening, instead, a young woman, obviously another of her daughters, was there.

"Hello Salmarie, I missed seeing you last week," Connie greeted the woman warmly.

Salmarie gave Connie a big smile and returned the greeting.

"I was up in Baton Rouge on business," she replied, "but I heard all about your visit."

The woman then turned her attention toward Tommy.

"And this must be the man who has my mother all atwitter. I see why now, he's yummy," she said as she licked her lips suggestively.

Tommy was nonplussed for a second by her outrageous flirting, but Connie gave an amused snort.

"I've already told Marie that you and Michelle needed to find another man to snack on. Where is Marie anyway?"

Salmarie tried to look disappointed, but ended up giggling.

"You are so selfish, Conchita, keeping him all to yourself like that. Mama is in the kitchen supervising dinner. We have an almost full house tonight because of guests in town for the Cotillion party. Mama did reserve the honeymoon suite for you again, though."

While Salmarie was speaking, Tommy was surreptitiously comparing her to her mother. He was amazed that all three Arcenaux women shared the white streaks in their hair, and wondered if it was natural or something they did themselves. Salmarie was about the same height as Marie, five-three maybe, but she was slimmer and less well developed in the hips and chest. She had eyes a shade darker than her mother's, and her skin was the same dusky Creole olive. She was wearing a tailored black knee length skirt, crisp white blouse and a form-fitting black Bolero jacket. She was a very pretty young woman, but Tommy didn't feel the attraction for her that he did towards Marie.

Dinner that night was served in the hotel's large dining room, and there must have been a dozen tables occupied. Tommy and Connie arrived at the dining room a few minutes after eight. Connie looked radiantly beautiful in the same aqua dress she'd worn to church. The addition of three inch heels and some strategically unfastened buttons turned the demure frock into a sexy cocktail dress.

Salmarie seated the couple at a table in front of a bay window that overlooked the rear garden. As soon as they were seated, Michelle, again dressed as a French maid, swooped over and poured them each a glass of wine. Tommy took a longer look at Michelle this time, again comparing the young woman to her mother. Michelle was the tallest of the Arcenaux women. She was probably five-six, although she appeared much taller in her impossibly high heels. She had Marie's hair, but her complexion was lighter and her eyes were green. Michelle's figure was also more robust than her mother or sibling.

Connie smiled when she noticed Michelle position herself in a way that allowed Tommy to look down the front of her costume. Michelle was an exhibitionist of the first rank. When Tommy did not take the bait, Connie could almost feel Michelle's disappointment. Connie made up for Tommy's good manners by taking a lingering gander at Michelle's creamy orbs as the woman leaned over to pour her wine. When Michelle peeked to see if she was watching, Connie shot her a wink and leaned forward.

"Lobby bathroom in five minutes," Connie whispered in her ear.

Michelle's head bobbed up and down and she blushed furiously as she backed away from the table. Connie smiled to herself as she turned her attention back to Tommy. Connie knew very well that being an exhibitionist was not Michelle Arcenaux's only kink.

Connie was making idle chatter with Tommy when she saw Michelle slip out of the dining room. Connie put her napkin on the table, excused herself and casually followed her. When Connie pushed open the bathroom door, Michelle was standing in front of the vanity, a pensive look on her face.

"What are you going to make me do?" the Cajun girl asked in a small voice.

Connie chuckled and stepped closer to the woman. Although Michelle acted as if she was worried, her expressive green eyes shone with excitement. She was sexually submissive to the right person, and for some reason, Connie was at the top of that list. From the minute they met, Michelle couldn't say no to her new cousin. She shivered when Connie reached forward and touched her cheek.

"What I'm going to let you do tonight, my little Cajun Minx, is continue to flirt with my man. Then for your mother, tomorrow night you are going to..."

Michelle's eyes grew larger and brighter as Connie outlined her plan. When Connie finished, the younger woman nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

"Oh yes," she said excitedly, "Mama is going to love you for that!"

Tommy looked at her funny when Connie returned to the table wearing a big smile. Before he could ask her about it, she kissed him on the lips then whispered in his ear.

"Michelle is showing off for us Baby, so be nice and pay her some attention."

Tommy sat back in his chair, gave Connie a confused look and leaned toward her again.

"I thought it was impolite to stare at a woman," he said sotto voce.

"It usually is Honey, but then again, sometimes a woman wants you to notice her. You are just going to have to learn to read the signs she gives," Connie replied.

Tommy very much doubted that ever happening, but he took Connie's word for it and openly ogled whatever Michelle showed him the rest of the evening. With Connie egging her on, Michelle showed him a lot. The game was fun for all of them, especially when they were the only three left in the dining room. Tommy liked it that Michelle flirted with Connie as much as she did with him.

Tommy was excited when they left Michelle in the dining room at ten that night, but Connie was on fire. The flirting, combined with her anticipation of the next night, had her libido in overdrive. Tommy cried 'uncle' at midnight, as worn out as he'd ever been.

Connie slept in the following morning while Tommy went downstairs to breakfast. Breakfast was buffet style, so Marie sat with Tommy while he ate. Marie was all smiles as she watched Tommy pack away the food. She was incredibly attracted to this sweet young man, and she felt as if she was a teenager when she was around him. He made her giggle and blush and she adored him for it.

After breakfast, Pierre took Tommy to a men's store in Lafayette so he could rent a tux. The fitting went smoothly as the fussy sales clerk discovered Tommy was a perfect forty-four long. There were even off-the-rack trousers that fit him, so he was out the door with his ensemble in less than an hour.

From the men's shop, Pierre took Tommy on a tour of Lafayette Parish and stopped for lunch at the Thibodaux Cafe.

"This is the heart of Cajun country," Pierre explained as they were chowing down on bowls of gumbo. "My people have lived here since the 1750s when the British drove my French ancestors out of Canada and the French aristocrats sent us packing when we landed in New Orleans. We settled here in the bayous with the Indians, run-away slaves and Spaniards."

Tommy was fascinated by history of any type, since he really didn't have one of his own.

"The menu says this place serves Cajun and Creole food. What's the difference between a Cajun and a Creole?" Tommy asked.

Pierre smiled and shrugged.

"A Cajun is a person descended from the French speaking people from the region of Eastern Canada called Acadia. The word Cajun is derived from the name Acadian. As a matter of fact, this part of Louisiana is sometime called Acadiana. Creole is from a Spanish word meaning born in the colonies. Immigrants from the East and West Indies brought the word here with them. All Cajuns are Creoles, in the sense that we were born in the colonies, but a Creole is only a Cajun if they are an Acadian descendent."

Pierre laughed at Tommy's bemused look.

"We are a strange mix, us Cajun Creoles," he said. "We are the real melting pot of America. Just like this gumbo, we are a mix of different things that when stirred together is wonderful."

Tommy nodded enthusiastically at that. He had been as well treated in Lafayette as he was in Brantley.

"Yeah," Tommy said reverently, "and your mother must be the Queen of the Cajuns."

Pierre's eyebrows shot up at that heartfelt proclamation, then he laughed again.

"You have no idea, my friend, but you'll see how true that statement is tonight," Pierre said mysteriously.

Tommy arrived back at their hotel room at two-thirty in the afternoon. Connie was conspicuous by her absence, so Tommy closed the drapes, shucked his clothes, and took a well-deserved siesta on the round gaudy bed. Tommy woke up an hour later. Sometime while he was sleeping, Connie had slipped into bed with him. Tommy guessed that Connie wanted him awake because her hand was inside his Jockeys, lightly scratching his now rigid tool as he slept on his back.

"Wakey, wakey, my big handsome man," she purred in his ear.

Tommy tried to pretend that he was still asleep, but his lips twitched in a smile. Tommy grunted in surprise when Connie swung herself astride him. Connie was naked again, a state of dress she seemed to prefer here in Lafayette. She giggled as she pulled his turgid staff out of his underwear.

"Come to Mama, you big bad boy," she moaned as she notched him at her hot slick center.

Tommy moaned right along with her as she worked her way down his erection.

When she was fully seated, she sat up straighter so she could look him in the eye. Connie seldom used sex to get what she wanted from Tommy, and she knew she probably didn't have to this time either, but she was hot as a firecracker. She had spent the day plotting and flirting with Michelle, so she decided to let Tommy in on her plan while he scratched her itch. She wiggled her hips until she was in the perfect position, then rippled her internal muscles and started talking.

"I'm going to beg off from attending the dance tonight, Baby," she said.

Tommy gave her an inquisitive frown, then groaned when she squeezed him again.

"I'm not going because I want you to escort Marie there. Michelle, Pierre and Salmarie all agree that it would be great for there mother. Salmarie and Pierre have dates, but Michelle is going to stay here and keep me company."

Connie swiveled her hips in a figure eight as Tommy reached up and squeezed one of her big firm breasts. She shuddered, already on the verge of an orgasm and they'd just started. With a conscious effort, she stilled her gyrating hips.

"I want you to promise me that you'll treat her exactly as you would any of our female friends. Make her feel special ... whatever it takes, make the night magical for her."

Tommy, dressed in his rental penguin suit, was down in the lobby at seven-thirty that evening. In his hand were a dozen pink roses that Salmarie had scrounged up for him. Tommy didn't really know why he wanted things pink for Marie, but when he thought of the dusky beauty, that color kept popping up.

Marie kept him cooling his heels for another fifteen minutes. Tommy forgot all about that, however, when she gracefully glided down the grand staircase that flanked the registration desk. The woman knew how to make an entrance. Marie was wearing a formal gown with a snug bodice and a floor length full skirt. The gown was predominantly black, but it did have a vivid pink sash at the waist. Tommy smiled at that and also at the pink hibiscus flower tucked into her hair. The hair the flower was tucked into was woven into a complicated French braid that hung to the middle of her back. A shy little smile played across her lips as Tommy looked at her in unabashed awe.

Tingles ran through her as Marie stood there and let Tommy admire her. She paused a second and locked her eyes on his. Then she descended the last three steps and stopped in front of him. She reached up and brushed an imaginary piece of lint off his lapel, then laid her hand on his cheek.

"You like, Mon Cher? I wore pink just for you."

Marie's golden flecked eyes had Tommy mesmerized; he couldn't for the life of him look away.

"Tu es magnifique," he said in high school French that popped unbidden into his head.

Marie arched her eyebrows in amusement at his compliment.

"Merci monsieur," she replied as she took his arm and aimed them out the door.

The cotillion dance they were attending this night was one of three dress rehearsals for the Lafayette Grand Cotillion Ball that was held every June. The grand ball was a traditional rite of passage for young women that marked their first public appearance as adults. The venue for the event was the Acadiana Country Club, located about fifteen minutes from the Hotel Arcenaux. Tommy drove them over in Marie's midnight blue Buick Electra.

Tommy was nervous and slightly intimidated as they walked into the country club's ballroom. Marie sensed his unease and squeezed his arm reassuringly as she led them to a table at the front of the room. Tommy looked around as they walked, his eyes taking in all the elegantly dressed women and the debonair men. Tommy blushed when he realized that almost every one of the sixty or so couples in the room was watching Marie and him. Seeing Marie on the arm of a big handsome man, not much older than her son, surprised the hell out of the adults. For the young women in attendance, Tommy in a tux was the big attraction.

Tommy began to have an inkling of what Pierre had been talking about when he noticed the respectfully deferential treatment that Marie received from everyone at the dance. Marie was a legendary figure in these parts, well known for her ability to see glimpses of peoples' future. Not a person there could recall a time when Marie's advice was incorrect.

Tommy and Marie took the two empty chairs reserved for them at a table for eight. The other officers of the cotillion committee and their husbands occupied the other six. Marie made introductions all around and Tommy put to good use the manners he'd learned as a lad. Before long, Tommy had everyone at the table laughing. He was glad about that, but he was ecstatic that Marie seemed to be having as much fun as anyone there.

At a quarter after eight, the twelve piece band finished tuning up and launched into the first waltz of the night. Tommy automatically sprang to his feet and extended his hand down to Marie, just as Rita Fricke had trained him to do.

"Miss Marie, may I have the pleasure of this dance?" he asked in his most dignified voice.

"J'ai le plaisir, mon amour," she replied.

What happened next delighted everyone in the ballroom as, for the first time anyone could remember, Marie's smile reached her eyes.

Marie's smile grew brighter when Tommy started waltzing her around the floor. Connie had informed Marie that Tommy was an excellent dancer, but the reality of how they fit and moved together surpassed all of Marie's expectations.

From Tommy's point of view, she danced so well he felt like a clod. That is he felt that way until she locked eyes with him again. After that he felt feather light as they swept around the room.

The evening became magical for Marie, Tommy and everyone watching them. The only reason either of them danced with anyone else, was because politeness dictated it.

The band took a break at nine-thirty, so Tommy and Marie walked out of the ballroom and onto a large verandah that overlooked part of the golf course. It was a glorious pre-spring evening, with the temperature in the low sixties. A slight breeze blew in off the Gulf of Mexico, and the cloudless sky was splattered with stars that winked like diamonds spread on black velvet. Tommy took off his tux jacket and gallantly draped it over Marie's bare shoulders. Marie tugged Tommy down the steps and onto the paved path that led to the first tee. When they arrived at a bench just outside the tee box, she pushed him down on it and perched on his lap.

Marie put her hands on either side of Tommy's face and tilted his head so that they were eye to eye.

"Look at me, Thomas," Marie softly directed.

Tommy eagerly fastened his eyes on hers and once again, he fell into them.

"That's right ma chérie, look deep, open up your mind for me and show me your heart," Marie crooned.

See, Marie's gift was the ability to judge a persons character by reading them through their eyes. Because she knew a person's real character, she could accurately predict how they would respond to a situation or even whether they were telling the truth or not. Sometimes she actually even saw little snippets of those events in her mind's eye.

Staring into Tommy's clear, hazel eyes confirmed her initial feeling about him. Tommy's soul was unblemished by the normal scars that comes with growing up. He also had not developed any of the bad traits everyone picked up as they age. Tommy had been a good kid at twelve, so when he reverted back to that age, all the bad had been erased. Amazingly, as he grew up this second time, there seemed to be no room in his heart for the negative things of life. Rene Arcenaux was the only other person she'd ever met like that.

As Marie gazed at the enthralled young man, one of those little snippets played itself out on her brain. In it, she saw herself playing with a little Hazel eyed boy with a sweet innocent smile. Marie shivered and broke their connection. Tommy blinked a couple of times to reacquire his bearings. Marie kissed him softly on the lips.

"We better go back inside, sweetie. I hear the band retuning."

Tommy, awash in the most contented feeling he'd ever experienced, nodded compliantly.

The rest of the evening passed as a sweetly remembered blur for Tommy and Marie as they danced and socialized. They even joined Salmarie, Pierre and their dates at a long, half-filled banquet table. Both of Marie's children were thrilled to see their mother having such a good time.

The dance ended at a few minutes before midnight, in accordance with the Parish blue laws. Tommy drove back to the hotel with Marie contentedly snuggled against his side. Tommy parked the car, then held Marie's hand as they walked into the lobby. Marie kept a firm grip on Tommy's hand as she led them past the elevator and onto the wide carpeted staircase.

"I don't want the night to end yet, Mon Cher, and I have a good bottle of Cajun wine up in my apartment."

Tommy felt the same way about the evening. He looked up the staircase to the landing, then impulsively swept Marie up in his arms. Marie squeaked in surprise and held on tightly to his neck.

"I agree, Scarlet," Tommy said, as he bounded up the stairs, Clark Gable style.

Marie actually giggled at his crazy antics and bad accent.

"Why, I do declare, Rhett Butler, you do give a damn," she vamped right back at him.

Once in her three room apartment, Marie sat Tommy on the couch and uncorked a bottle of homemade Muscadine wine. She poured two glasses and handed one to Tommy. Tommy took a sip and gasped as the fiery purple liquid burned its way down his gullet. Marie laughed and clinked her glass against his.

"My cousin Boudreaux made this. I think it is more wild grape brandy than anything else, but Boudreaux calls it wine to keep it legal."

Before Tommy could catch his breath to reply, Marie drained her glass in a gulp. Tommy watched in amazement as she polished off the glass, there was no way he could do the same. Marie put her glass on the side table and her hand on Tommy's shoulder. When he made eye contact with her, she squeezed her hand.

"We are wasting valuable time, Thomas. Come to the bedroom with me so you can show me how Conchita says you honor your women friends."

The words were barely out of her mouth before she was in his arms again, headed towards the bedroom.

Marie Arcenaux was a very sensual woman. Consequently, a good number of men had possessed her body over the years, but Tommy was only the second to touch her heart. Tommy spent thirty minutes learning her body with his lips and tongue, before positioning himself above her. Marie had enjoyed everything he'd done, and climaxed a number of times, but this union was what she craved. When he was lost in her eyes again, she gave a slight nod and he slowly filled her with his steely shaft.

They never lost eye contact as they languidly moved against each other. Neither wanted anything more than the slow sweet pace he set. When Tommy picked up the pace as he neared his completion, Marie stayed right with him, shuddering through one small orgasm after another. Then his moment arrived and he stiffened rigidly above her. As Tommy's face registered his ecstasy, Marie had the largest climax she'd ever experienced. Marie Arcenaux was forty-three years old, in perfect health, and ovulating like crazy. Her eyelids fluttered as she imagined the millions of sperm swimming strongly towards her patiently waiting egg.

Marie knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd become pregnant tonight. It would be a little boy of course. He'd be sweet and hazel eyed like his father ... and she'd name him Rene...

Tommy returned to his room an hour later. A contented smile etched on his face. He had done exactly as Connie had asked, and in the bargain, had found another woman he loved.

Marie had walked Tommy to the door and returned to her warm and tousled bed. She snuggled under the covers and hugged the pillow Tommy had laid on to her breast. Tommy had filled her twice with his potent seed that night, but he had also filled her heart with joy. During the intensely emotional love making they shared, more of Tommy uncomplicated soul had been exposed to her and what she saw made her even happier. When he told her he loved her, she had almost passed out from the shining intensity of the truth she read in his eyes.

He'd promised to come back and visit for a weekend in April and she was satisfied with that. Being five hundred miles away didn't bother her at all because with her sensitivity to his aura, she wouldn't be able to survive being with him all the time. Besides, she could almost feel the tangible proof of their shared love taking shape in her womb.

Tommy unlocked the door to the honeymoon suite as quietly as he could so as not to wake Connie. As he slipped through the door, he saw that he had nothing to worry about in that regard. The bedside lamp was on and Connie was kneeling naked on the round bed facing away from him. Tommy was not surprised to see an equally naked Michelle also in the bed, but his eyebrows rose when he saw she was tied to it. Tommy chucked as he took in the thoroughly disheveled Michelle. Her hair was matted to her forehead and her face was shiny with sweat and Connie.

Connie heard his chuckle and turned her head towards him. She gave him a sexy smile, her eyes shining with lust.

"Hi Honey," she greeted him perkily. "We've been waiting for you."

Tommy chuckled again and started removing his clothes. He could not imagine his life ever being dull with Connie in it.