Here is the last chapter before the epilogue.

There are quite a bit of songs in this chapter in order that appear in are (all can be watch and found on YouTube, if you want to know what the songs are):

Sobbin' Women- "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) movie starring Howard Heel and Jane Powell.

June Bride- "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) movie.

Sugar Sugar- 1969, Ron Dante, mentioned not sung.

The Battle of New Orleans- Johnny Horton, mentioned in this part sung in an earlier chapter

The Battle of Kookamonga- Jethro and Homer, 60s parody of The Battle of New Orleans

That's Rock 'N' Roll- Shaun Cassidy, 1970s, "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" episode The Mystery of the Flying Courier (1977)

Everlasting Love- Rex Smith and Rachel Sweet version, 1981 (original made in late 60s)


Back at Phil's, the ladies were helping get the place set up for the night. No one had heard from BJ in a while and they were hoping they would be able to make it back in time.

"Say, does anybody know what BJ is planning to be sing?" Paul paused in taking a chair down from a table to ask the ladies.

"Well, last I heard BJ was going to sing "The Battle of Kookamonga, but he might have changed it." Stacks replied breathlessly. She had just finished scrubbing the counter-tops and was helping Callie carry out the karaoke equipment.

"Well if anything this oughta be interesting." Phil chuckled, shaking his head at BJ's song choice. "Well, ladies you better go get in your performance costumes." He said, taking over setting up the stage.

"Yeah see ya in a little bit, Phil." Samantha said herding the girls away.

Meanwhile, on the road, BJ and Jem were discussing how they were going to tell the girls they had gotten married.

"I wonder what everyone is going to say when we tell them that we've gotten married." BJ wondered aloud to Jem.

"I'm more curious about what our parents will say." Jem leaned her head back against the back of her seat as she pondered this.

"Oh, they'll possibly say that they knew that we would get married one day." BJ grinned thinking about his parents reactions.

"Yeah." Jem agreed. "How about some music Beej?" She asked as she stroked Baricza's fur.

"Ok." BJ agreed. "How about that song from that "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" movie that we used to sing all the time? What was it called again?"

"Sobbin' Women and you got it." Jem told him starting to play the chords on her guitar. The two sang the whole sang together, taking turns on the verses. BJ and Jem belting out the last words together and punching the air with their fists letting out a loud yee-haw.

BJ yawned when the song was done, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes trying to clear the sleepiness.

"It's only 8:10 in the morning and you're yawning?" Jem asked him incredulously laughing a little. "You want me to drive?"

"Yeah." BJ replied looking for a good spot to pull over. "I didn't get much sleep last night." He finished with a wink.

BJ pulled over and Jem climbed in the driver's seat while BJ took to the sleeper for a much needed nap. He was so tired that once Jem was back on the road, he never even flinched when BJ and Baricza ended up playing in his lap.

The ladies back at Phil's disco were backstage gearing up to sing June Bride from the same movie that BJ and Jem were singing tunes to before. They were dressed in matching knee length dresses similar to the movie costumes and were giddy with excitement waiting to be announced.

As soon as the previous act ended, Phil stepped up to the microphone. "Up next we've got the young ladies that work for Bear Enterprises." He introduced the all female singing group. As the clapping started the group stepped onto the stage. The music started up and pretty soon the whole room was entranced. Stacks started the singing and each of the girls took a turn singing a line mimicking the performance in the movie. When the song finished the ladies formed a line facing the audience and all took a bow.

"Weren't they great?" Phil asked the audience as they stood and cheered for the singers. "Alright," Phil started approaching the ladies with his voice lowered, "where's BJ?"

"He should be here soon." Callie answered, trying to catch her breath.

"Well they better hurry." Phil told the group before turning back to the microphone to address the crowd. "Up next, we've got a young feller here to sing Sugar Sugar."

Still less than an hour away, BJ woke up. "Where are we?" He asked groggily, gently pushing the chimps off his lap.

"We've got about twenty to thirty minutes to go." Jem answered him, glancing his way. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Yeah." BJ yawned, moving forward to the front seat and kissing Jem on the cheek on his way. Bear and Baricza started jumping up and down in the sleeper, making the couple laugh. "I've got a surprise for you." He sing-songed to her.

"What is it?" Jem asked giddily.

"You'll find out when we get there." BJ replied secretively.

"Why not now?" Jem asked with a fake pout.

"It wouldn't be much of a surprise then." BJ said, raking his hand through his hair.

"Alright." Jem conceded.

At Phil's Callie kept looking at the clock, nervous that BJ wouldn't make it after all. "They're late." She told her friends, looking slightly dejected.

"Who? BJ and Jem? We already know that." Stacks replied, looking at Callie like she had lost her marbles.

"Not them." Callie told her with a shake of her head. "BJ had me make a phone call to Milwaukee. Something about getting his and Jemima's parents up here." The other girls were wondering why BJ wanted Callie to make the phone call and were asking lots of questions about it.

"Well why'd you bring it up?" Terri asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah why did you?" Geri mimicked, copying her sister's pose.

"Oh-uh...gee why did I bring it up?" Callie sat down, puzzled by the direction this conversation had taken. She looked up in delight as the subjects of her quandary came in the door. Mr. and Mrs. McKay and Joseph and Clair Evigan sat down at the nearest table they could find. "Never mind I think that that's them now." She said, nodding to the table.

"Aren't you going to fill us in on the big secret, Callie?" Angie asked, a little frustrated.

"I would, but I have no idea." She said, raising her hands in surrender. Just as she said that BJ, Jem, Baricza and Bear walked in through the doors. "There they are." She yelled in excitement.

When Jem saw her parents, she looked to BJ questioningly. "BJ, what are our parents doing here?" She looked up at him quizzically.

"That was the surprise." BJ's gaze softened as his eyes met her grateful ones.

"Do they know?" She whispered.

"Not yet." He whispered back in her ear. His arm came around her shoulder and started to guide her over to them. Before they reached the table, Phil interceded them.

"It's about time you got here." He sighed with relief. "Go get in your costumes and make it fast."

BJ glanced at Jem before agreeing. "Alright." He took one last look at their parents before ushering Jem backstage to change. Bear and Baricza ran over to their "grandparents" to sit with them while they waited for their owners to return.

As soon as Phil received the signal that the singing duo was ready, he stepped up onto the stage. "Alright, folks. Now the singer that we've all been waiting for….BJ McKay!

Out stepped BJ decked out in a white western shirt, jeans with a big western buckle on his belt, a western hat and boots, his guitar was strapped over his shoulder. He waved to the crowd and looked toward the stage where Jem was sticking her head out of the curtain, shaking her head no. He motioned her out determinedly and she shyly came out onto the stage dressed in a red sparkly button down top with a blue mid-length skirt that hit 2 inches above her knees. She also had a western buckle on her belt and her white cowgirl boots popped against the stage.

Her guitar was also strapped over her shoulder and as she met BJ on the stage, she asked him softly, "Battle of New Orleans?"

"Yeah, something like that." He agreed, smiling that she had remembered his song choice. "Start strumming." They began to play the tune of "The Battle of New Orleans" but BJ started to sing the words for "Battle of Kookamonga".

"In nineteen and fifty-nine we took a little hike with our Scout Master down to Lake Oneeganite, we took a little pizza and we took some sauerkrauts and we marched along together till we heard the girl scouts." It was at "girl scouts" that Jem joined in and they sang together: "We're the boys (girls) from Camp Kookamonga, our mothers sent us here for to study nature's ways. We learned to make sparks by rubbing sticks together but if we catch the girls (boys) then we'll set the woods ablaze." Their voices blended well together as they each sang the lines according to their genders.

BJ sang the next part of the song alone. "Well, we crept up to the water and we see the girls a-swimmin', there musta been a hundred of them pretty young women. They looked so fine even birds forgot to sing, we lay down in the poison oak and didn't say a thing."

Jem and BJ strummed along and then sang the chorus together. "We're the boys (girls) from Camp Kookamonga, our mothers sent us here for study nature's ways. We learned to make sparks by rubbing sticks together but we catch the girls (boys) then we'll set the woods ablaze."

BJ sang solo again. "Well, our counselor said we could take them by surprise, if we didn't say a words till we looked them in the eyes. We kept real still and we had our eyes a-glued, we saw how they were dressed swimming in the...well now…"

Jem joined in again to sing the chorus with her hubby. "We're the boys (girls) from Camp Kookamonga, our mothers sent us here for to study nature's ways. We learned to make sparks by rubbing sticks together but we catch the girls (boys) then we'll set the woods ablaze." She trailed off after the chorus and waited for BJ to finish singing the next part.

"Well, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles, they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go. They ran so fast even we couldn't catch them, Lake Oneeganite all the way to Buffalo. Well we ran right after them till everyone was pooped, so we rested for a moment and our forces we regrouped. Then we saw the girls behind some evergreens, captured by a company of United States Marines." Jem did a military salute as BJ finished singing the line.

They started the next part together. "We're the boys (girls) from Camp Kookamonga, our mothers sent us here for study nature's ways. We learned to make sparks by rubbing…"

"Girls" BJ interjected, making the audience roar with laughter.

Jem stopped playing and turned to stare at the troublemaker. "Sticks." She corrected him. "You said 'rubbing girls together'."

"I know what I said." He replied, grinning cheekily. "You rub what you want together."

Jem rolled her eyes and started to play again and they finished the song together. "...Rubbin' girls (boys) together. And if we catch some sticks then we'll set the woods ablaze."

They took a bow while the audience clapped and cheered for the humorous performance. Then they went to find their parents to finally share the good news.

BJ hugged his parents before sitting down at the table and Jem did the same. "That was great." Mrs. McKay smiled at the pair. "It was like listening to you two from when you were little."

"Ma..." BJ started, then looked to the rest of the parents sitting there. "Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Evigan…"

Jem's dad, Joseph, interrupted him before BJ could finish. "BJ, first names please. It makes me…" He trailed off as his wife, Claire looked at him."...us feel old."

"Ok, Mom, Pop, Joseph, Claire." He started again. "We've got something that we need to tell you."

He was interrupted again, this time by Phil on stage announcing the next act. "And the next song for the evening...Jemima Evigan!" He pulled Jem up on stage.

"We'll tell you when she gets done." BJ announced to the table.

"BJ, would you come up here and play the saxophone?" Jem asked into the microphone.

"Yeah, you bet." He said, walking onto the stage and picking up the sax to strap it on.

Before Jem started her song, she told the crowd. "Feel free to clap your hands, do whatever you feel. It's called that That's Rock 'n' Roll and for you that don't know what that is, it's a Shaun Cassidy song." The band started to play and Jemima danced along, mimicking Shaun's dance moves that were on "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" episode The Mystery of the Flying Courier.

"Well I was sixteen and sick of school, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I bought a guitar, I got the fever, That's Rock 'n' Roll. I played at parties, played in bars. I spent my money buyin' new guitars. I screamed my heart out, but how I loved it, That's Rock 'n' Roll."

As BJ played the saxophone, she sang the chorus. "Well, come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down, That's Rock 'n' Roll."

"It's where the smokin' and the heat, have got your heart pounding right with the beat. Don't try to fight it, just get excited, That's Rock 'n' Roll. Now don't you worry about being a star. It doesn't matter who or what you are. Just get the rhythm and let it fill you. That's Rock 'n' Roll."

"Well come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down. That's Rock 'n' Roll."

Jem turned her back to the crowd, picked up a tambourine and shook it to the beat. She turned back around, slung her hair out of her face and started to sing the chorus again, shaking the tambourine in rhythm to the music.

"Well come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down. That's Rock 'n' Roll." She put down the tambourine and continued. "And if you feel it, clap your hands, let's see some sweat for all the boys in the band. Now let me hear ya, let me hear ya. That's Rock 'n' Roll. Well come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down. That's Rock 'n' Roll. Whoa yeah, well come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down and get with it. Come on everybody, get down. That's Rock 'n' Roll. Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

She finished the song and the duo took another bow, joined hands and made their way back to their parents, hoping that now they would be able to finish telling their news.

"That was great you guys." Jem's dad told them, standing to give his daughter a hug.

"Now I know why you didn't want me to know the song." BJ told her, shaking his head a little. "You still like those Cassidy brothers' music. Don't you?"

"Yeah, well if you remember a lot of people in school said that I looked like David Cassidy." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"I wouldn't go that far." BJ raised his eyebrows and gave her a secretive look, making her blush. He lightly touched her crossed legs under the table caressing them lightly.

"Jemima," BJ's mom caught her attention, "I noticed while you two were up there that you're now wearing a ring on your ring finger."

"Yes, ma'am." She told her, looking at BJ nervously. "That's what we wanted to talk to you guys about."

"What is it dear?" Her mom asked, brow wrinkling in concern for her daughter. "Are you two in some sort of trouble?"

"No, not at all." Jem replied quickly.

"BJ, did you and Jemima do what we discussed on the phone?" Jemima's father asked the young man, narrowing his eyes slightly at him.

When BJ nodded in the affirmative, Claire spoke up. "What?" She was thoroughly confused by now.

"BJ asked Jemima to marry him." BJ's dad told her softly.

"Oh that's wonderful." BJ's mom clapped her hands in glee. "When's the wedding going to be?" She looked to her son and what she thought was his brand new fiancée.

"That's where it gets complicated." BJ answered, grabbing Jem's hand and holding it in his larger one.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked in surprise.

"We got married last night." BJ said with a sigh of relief. It felt like a 50 pound weight had just been lifted from his chest.

"Well that was kind of surprising." Mrs. McKay told her son. "I mean we all knew that you two would get married but we kind of figured that it'd be a family wedding, if anything."

Their conversation was again interrupted by Phil, who had overheard the conversation between BJ, Jem and their parents, was now standing back up at the microphone. "Alright everyone. Our last song for the evening will be coming from BJ McKay and his new bride." He whistled for the new bride and groom as they made their way to the stage.

Stacks, Terri, Angie, Samantha, Gerri and Cindy were dumbfounded by this news and sat there in shock just looking from one to the other.

Samantha was the first to come out of it and ask, "What does Phil mean by BJ's bride?" She asked the group sitting with her.

"So that's why he wanted me to make that phone call." Callie realized starting at the newlyweds who had just made their way onstage.

"So what are we going to play this time?" Jem asked her husband.

"How 'bout Everlasting Love?" He suggested kissing her softly on the lips, which had the crowd in Phil's Disco cheering and hollering.

She smiled, slightly embarrassed from the attention, and agreed with a soft, "Okay."

The band started to play the music and the couple started to sing, mimicking Rex Smith's and Rachel Sweet version and BJ took the first verse, looking only at his new bride. "Hearts go astray, leaving hurt when they go. I went away, just when you needed me so."

Jem took the next verse and locked eyes with her husband singing only for him, totally tuning out the audience. "Found in your way, you came back, wanting me. I'm gonna stay, lovin' you endlessly."

When the next verse started, they sang together, this time looking at the crowd. "Open up your eyes, then you'll realize here I stand with my Everlasting Love. Need you to be by my side, there's no need to hide. You'll never be denied, Everlasting Love."

BJ took the next verse, singing solo again, looking at Jem as he sang. "Look in my eyes, see my love burnin' strong. No more goodbyes, in your arms I belong, baby"

Jemima's turn was next and this time she snagged her husband around the waist as she sang to him. "Our time has come, all my dreams have come true Darlin'."

Wrapped in each other's arms they turned back to the crowd and sang together. "Two hearts as one, lovin' me, lovin' you. Open up your eyes, then you'll realize, here I stand with my Everlasting Love. Need you by my side, there's no need to hide. You'll never be denied Everlasting Love. From the very start, we'll opened up our hearts, we'll be a lasting part of Everlasting"

BJ sang the last line to Jem. "When I nearly froze, no one really know."

Jem tapped on BJ's shoulder, replied with the next line. "To someone there to show the way to lasting love."

BJ sang. "Like the sun it shines, Endlessly it shines..."

Jem sang back. "You always will be my, Everlasting Love."

And they finished up together belting out "When other loves are gone, ours will still be strong. Well love our very own, Everlasting Love. Open up your eyes, then you'll realize, here I stand with my Everlasting Love. Need you by my side, there's no need to hide. You'll never be denied Everlasting Love. From the very start, we'll opened up our hearts, we'll be a lasting part of Everlasting…"

As they finished singing the audience were clapped and cheered. After they had taken their final bow, their chimpanzees decided it was time to get in on the attention and leapt into BJ and Jem's arms chattering and clapping.


I hope you liked it. I'll try to get the epilogue posted within the week.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.