Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Thirty-four

Preparations

Prince's pregnancy stunned the entire town. Not so much that she was pregnant but the fact that all happened so quickly. She barely arrived a little over two months. And not only lost her innocence but got "knocked up", as Fillmore so cooly put it, on HER first time. She celebrated her marriage and baby news by paying Ramone's shop and having a tattoo done on her right rear side. She had the words "Mrs. Doc Hudson" painted in silver elegant script with a male/female sex symbol next to it. At night it glowed a neon white. Boost was the one who put it on her at her request. She came up with the design. This was her "tramp stamp"- as she and Gemstone called it - to the world, that she was Doc Hudson's. Doc liked the rear end tattoo. A crowd had gathered about near the Doc Hudson museum.

Wingo was on the phone with his mother when news of Prince's expectancy broke. After hearing all of the excited banter in the background of his internal cellular she inquired of it and naturally he revealed to her what the excitement was. Like most females in general Stony was excited over any other becoming with child, even if she didn't know the mother-to-be. Women were like this.

Being a typical dude, Wingo couldn't understand why they got excited over shit that didn't concern them. Right away she wanted to speak to Prince who was standing nearby. Ahh, the wonders of technology; with everyone possessing internal cellphones they could mentally activate it was a piece of cake to do a three-way-streaming call. The Silvia beckoned Prince over.

"My mom wants ta' holla at cha'. And she's gonna end the call with you." he told her.

"Okay." The future mother beamed. Just as he predicted, like a true woman, Prince was too eager to talk to her. She sensed the inbound ping Wingo sent her and answered her cell. "Hello?"

"Mon YE-ESSS..is DIS dey onedatten dey call 'Prince'?" a heavenly Carribean accent greeted her. She was blown away by the elegant charm of it. Although loud and boisterous, the tone was truly breathtaking.

"Yes ma'am." she answered.

"I'm Erica Dempsey; just callenme Stony. Wingo's mother mon."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Dempsey…"

"Mon I hear you are EXPECTING! MUCH CONGRATS TO YOU and your mon! It's a blessing, little ones are. HAVINGDEM may not be; I tell'you now it won't be a blessing in de' labor room, mon; no joke, mon." Prince laughed at Stony's musical description. "Laugh now while you can mon; you wont ten be laughing when your times comes; I promise you girl-lll! You'll be CRYING! Try having TWO'ATONCE!." Storny cheerily advised her.

"Two?" she looked at Wingo.

"I'm a twin; I got a twin sister." Wingo explained to her. How neat to learn that Wingo was a twin.

"Oh my gosh that must have been a struggle!" Prince told his mother.

"Struggle indeedmon! I wanted to killem' both, believe it mon! And their father! Two fuckenlittle Bloodclaats PLUS dem father mon. One baby on de' undercarriage is plenty; try havin'dem pile TWO on your undercarriage after birth! Shit; try pushing two out; no joyride mon! I thought it was just one! Turned into two!" Prince was cracking up at Stony's description of her experience. "But it's all good mon; once you have your little baby on you' belly you'll cry tears of JOY, trust me on it. Congrats again, nice talking to you?"

"And same to you also." Prince cordially ended the conversation before they both hung up. Like Flo's Stony's voice was loud and animated, but as charming in every way that Flo's was. "I love your mother's voice! I know she's some Carribean—I bet she's Jamacian isn't she? Where is she from?"

"You're right; she's Jamacian-born." Wingo confirmed proudly.

"I didn't know you were a twin!"

"Yep, fraternal. Sis is the oldest of us; she came first. I came five hours later and I was the surprise one. Nobody knew my mother was having twins. The midwife thought it was all over and then I shocked the hell out of her. Took my mother a day and a half to have my sister and another five hours to have me. I KNOW I surprised the hell out of her. I heard when her midwife said 'You're having a second one!' my mother was like 'WHAT?!'" Wingo's eye's flew open as he mimicked Stony. He had heard all about his shocking birthday to his parents. Medicine wasn't advanced enough in the early eighties to detect twins when he was born. It was getting there but not quite there.

"They said my sister somehow shielded me from being felt or whatever when the doctor examined Mom during her checkups; Sis wasn't no bigger than I was but he couldn't feel me. Her ultrasounds didn't show shit. HE couldn't hear another pulse beat, nothin'. Couldn't feel me or nothin'. All he felt and saw was sis. When she chose a home birth and started planning everything with them the midwives couldn't feel me; all they felt was my sister. They heard one beat just like the doctor."

Midwidfery didn't employ ultrasound imaging as they saw no need for it unless a medical problem was detected, at which point an obstetrician had to take over. Otherwise they wholly supported all natural childbirth from beginning to end. They couldn't even administer pain killers - and wouldnt - since they were not legally doctors or nurses, but they would call a nurse/physician on standby to give the mother pain relief if she wanted it. They would never deny her her wish from pain killers if she insisted but the purpose of midwives was natural childbirth. This was their profession, they were experts at it, and they were always female. Who better than other females to aid another during such a moment? Theirs was the world's oldest profession. There were nurse-midwives... midwives who were actual registered nurses like Becky. Male doctors could be "midwives", many oversaw natural deliveries but even they usually had a nurse midwife present. Wingo's mother chose a home birth which was about as natural as it got.

Prince had a blast listening to him recount how he and his sister entered the world. How Wingo described it was so funny.

"I was a huge surprise; the head midwife was like: 'You're having twins!' and my mom was all 'Whaddoyou mean me havin'twins mon?!'. Had to start the pushing all over again. She told me she thought she was dying. My dad had my sister and I came out looking like 'Yo Mom! What's up?' He said I came out looking like 'Yo it was crowded up in there.' My sister was hollering her little ass off but they said I emerged looking like "What the fuck is THIS shit? Where the hell am I at? Damn I was just chillin' inside something a minute ago... all warm and safe and I out here around all you motherfuckers." Wingo scowled. Prince burst out laughing. "They said I was frowning and looking all around like 'Aw shit; I want back inside'. They said I didn't even cry. Not once did I cry. 'MOTHER' thought something was wrong with me but they told her I was fine. Just not the crying type. She was holding me all worried but they assured her I was healthy. My sister was screaming and according to my mother I was looking at her like 'Just shut up already!' I cried a few days after I was born but when I was born everybody said I didn't even hiccup. I looked confused but when I heard my Mom's voice I was trying to look at her. But I didn't cry. I was lookin' at her like "Damn Mom what did I do to you? You pushed me out for no fucking reason? Damn 'you mean!" Flo had to chuckle. Yes she could picture Wingo newly-emerged just looking around. Prince was awe-struck.

"Really Wingo, you didn't cry at all?" She didn't believe it.

"So my parents said. They and one of my grandmothers saw me born. They said I came out looking more pissed off than anything else. Looking at my mom like 'What the fuck... I want back inside Mom. How dare you push me out. I ain' did shit; I don't wanna be out here. And I was looking at my dad like Who the fuck are YOU? Homie I don't know you at all.' Because they say newborns recognize the mothers' voices immediately and not the dad's. I was looking at him like "I want my mommy; dude fuck you whoever you are. I did not cry for like four days and I just looked at my sister when she cried like "what is your problem?! Shut the fuck up already!'" Wingo explained. Flo and Prince were tickled by his description.

"Some babies don't cry at birth honey it's true. It's uncommon. Some babies don't cry much at all even after." Flo told Prince. She wanted to kill us both." Prince giggled. "I know yo' mama did; I would too if I thought I was havin' just one an' found out there was another one of ya'll'. Having one is hard enough. Just be glad YOU ain gotta' go thru it." Flo explained overhearing the two talk again. Wingo smiled with a chagrined look. "And you standing there smiling. Boy you just don't know know how hard havin' a baby is." Flo scolded him. Wingo was now in a mocking mood.

"She was built for it; all of ya'll are! She got through it. And she had us the natural way too."

"All the mo' reason to kill both of yaw." Flo retorted curtly. "She didn't do that with our younger sister though; when my youngest sister was born she got shot up for her; she was like 'Fuck that; gimme the shot.' She ended up having to get an extraction cause my youngest sister was breeched. Mom had to have surgery to pull her out. But me and big sis; she did it the normal way… like she should have. No drugs, no nothin'. The way nature intended. Just remember that." Wingo kept looking at Prince as if to give her an idea.

"Get outta here before I kill you." Flo nudged the grinning Silvia away from her. "C'mon honey! It's time for us lady folk to have an excited girl moment wi'chu!" Flo ushered Prince away. "You go on with the boys-'gon. GET!" she shooed Wingo away.

He watched Prince go. She had come a long way since her arrival. He cruised on over to where the men were all congregated in a large mob. At Flo's parking lot the boys gathered with Doc with congratulations.

"You lucky bastard you!" Sarge socked Doc in the shoulder with a wheel.

"Who ever thought you would have gotten so lucky? I mean it's very uncommon for a lady to get planted on her very first time!" Having another "dude moment" Doc mused as he watched his man buddies boast of his performance and of striking it big on the first hit. Males, they were so... forthright. "You didn't waste no time, did you? Man, you got in that pan with a quickness cause Prince went from virgin to straight-up KNOCKED UP. She went from point A to Point C just like that. You really put it down fo' real Doc. I mean, I'm just trippin on you fixin' to be a daddy and all. I still haven't gotten over you tyin' the knot yet." DJ's head shook.

"And before that you were happy just being a loner with no love life. Well, you both deserve all this happiness. You and her. Both of you have been through so much. It's almost like it was you guys's destinies to run into each other like you did." Fillmore remarked. "Yeah. Destiny." Doc pondered that thought.

"Okay, now about this wedding, the real thing. Sally and I were talking and we were thinking about maybe changing ours to a double ceremony." Lightning decided it was the perfect timing to bring up the subject. Doc looked at him. "Look, our wedding is in five months, but we can make some last minute changes. We can just include the two of you into our ceremony." No one had ever even considered that. A double ceremonial wedding of two brides and two grooms. "Why have a plain one-couple only affair when you could have two?" he lifted his windshield ridges in anticipation of a hopeful answer.

"That's not a bad idea, you know. Be kind of nice actually." Sheriff commented.

"I like the sound of that a lot." Doc looked at him with a nod.

There were preparations to make. Although he was certain Prince would have no qualms with it, as his now-wife, it was only natural for him to consult with her and get her opinion of the proposed double-marriage ceremony. As expected she was totally in favor of it. Much excitement buzzed about with the upcoming event. It was not going to be anything huge, just the population of the whole town, and a quite a few celebrities that Lightning personally knew. Among those were some fellow racers. To think of it, yes it was going to be rather large because no doubt the press would get wind of it. They already had. At most the turnout was expected to be about 1,300+ guests total. So yes, it would be rather huge.

The newly-restored Radiator Springs church where the ceremony was held was a historic landmark. Called Our Lord of the Saints Church, it was originally a Catholic Church built by missionary priests who settled here in the early 1800s. The church was here when Lizzy's husband founded the town and he incorporated it into the town. Our Lord of the Saints fell into disrepair as the town faded from the map but since it's revival, had been newly restored back to it's former glory. It served as the holy site for all of Radiator Springs' residents. On Saturdays it doubled as a Synagogue and Mosque as some of the town's inhabitants were Muslim and Jewish. What was especially neat on Saturday worship was that those of the Jewish and Islamic faith worshipped together. Both sects took turns doing things pertaining to their faith in front of the rest, and occasionally even Christians attended.

To be sure all of them, regardless of religion, even the non-religious, planned to attend this double wedding. Though none of the couples were Catholic, the Priest of the 'Saints Church agreed to do the ceremony One's faith was not an issue where matrimony went and as it was, those of all faiths came together at the Church on Sunday anyhow. Or Saturday. Now to include an extra couple, the wedding was a go, set in five months.

x

A mid-afternoon nap had Prince feeling much better. She was told by Michael to expect the symptoms for about a good two to three weeks more before they let up. Tia and Flo told her the same as both had undergone pregnancy themselves. Flo and Ramone had two grown daughters both living back east. But they were in the process of moving permanently here to Radiator Springs, one of which was a body artist like her father. Her daughters, Flo said, were eager to come here to help her and Ramone out now that the town was alive again.

Even with his two helpers Wingo and Boost, Ramone was still overwhelmed and needed a third employee. His youngest daughter was just like him, perhaps even better at the trade than he was. Amid a congregation of all women, Flo recalled to Prince how excited she was, and nervous when she realized that motherhood was upon her. It was madness when she learned she was expecting.

"Of course, back in them days, dey couldn't tell you that fast if you were pregnant or not. They didn't have all the medical technology they have now to detect a little spark plug that soon like they can now. Back then you found out d' old-fashioned way, waited to see if you skipped three or fo' cycles in a row then went to the doctor who could tell by jabbin' you inside out if you had one in da' pan." Flo told her.

"Is childbirth really as painful as they say it is?" Prince asked her, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"Child, I'm ain' gonna lie to you. It hurts. It hurts like all get out. But once you got that little baby in your wheels eyeballing you like that you don't 'forget' all about the pain, but you'll feel it was well worth it. You'll be willin' to go through it AGAIN fo' the man you love. I'll put it this way, try pulling your lips over your hood." Flo told her. All of the ladies laughed and even Prince had to let a few snickers go. "You thank I'm lyin'? Try pulling your lips over your hood. Better yet, try peeling the opening of yo' oil pan backwards over your whole undercarriage. Oh yeah, you' laughing now but Im'a say this, you ain' gon be laughin' nothin' proper when dem' contractions set in on yo behind. I'm tellin' you girl; when Michael have you down on that reverse lift talkin' bout "push" you gon' be cryin'. Having a baby hurts honey, but like I said in the end it was all worth it. Aside from Ramone my daughters being born was the greatest event of my life. But I won't lie about it when I wanted to bash his trunk in on the delivery lift. I didn't even want him touchin' me when I was in labor. Huh, I didn't even want him in the same room with me. But I was in too much of a crisis to really care that he was even there. I was too focused. Before the seventies daddies weren't really allowed in the delivery room but we was lucky. Thangs started changin' by the time I was carrying. Ramone was present when I had both our girls but the truth was I didn't want him in there with my first one. I was just too scared AND, I tried to do it the natural way. I did have my first the natural way and Honey, that was the LAST time I tried that." The other ladies, including Prince laughed. An older car chimed in.

"The natural way wasn't very popular back then; the doctor always gave you something. It still hurt like crazy. But both my daughters delivered naturally. With my sons-in-law present. That's another thing they didn't do in my time; Back then they didn't allow fathers into the delivery room like they do now. In OUR time, it was inappropriate for the daddy to be there. It was just you, the doctor and the nurses in those days. They do everything so differently nowadays" she spoke.

"I KNOW Doc is going to be there for you. He may be old school but I know he ain' missing this." Flo went on.

"No he wants to be present. We've already decided that." Prince said.

"Which is how it SHOULD be. There ain' nothing wrong with a man being there for his baby's birth. And anyway, Doc ain' no stranger to delivering babies. The kids you see living in this town, he's delivered at least ten of them and when he first came to this town, he delivered babies all the time along with everything else. So he knows what to expect. He just won't know how it feels. Doc's work was easy. All he did was put the dough in da' oven and sit back and watch it bake. You da' one that's gonna' be doin all the work gettin' it out. And work you will. Mark my words, girl." Flo jibed, forcing Prince to grin at her.

"I'm so nervous." she admitted with a serious look.

The older car approached her with a loving smile. "Don't be sweetie. You were born to give birth; embrace it!"

"Of course you know, this means baby shower for you." Mia began. There were shrieks of glee around a blushing Prince as she bid her girlfriends good night. She headed home to find Doc already inside, up reading up on parenting. She nudged the canopy sides out the way and cruised in, where she immediately collapsed on the large mat.

"I got a question for you." Doc grunted from his desk near the window. "A rather personal one," he turned to look at her. She waited. "I noticed how you looked when Michael asked you about... the...' thing'."

"...Thing?" Prince asked confused. It was like Doc didn't really want to come out and openly discuss that female issue with her, even though he himself was a doctor. He had asked hundreds of female patients that very question Michael asked her. It wasn't that he didn't want to ask, he was really toying with Prince. He was in the mood to tease her.

"Yeah; you know, the 'thing'. The monthly thing, you know." Doc egged. Immediately Prince's look changed to that of a timid youngster-and she started blushing. She looked away. "Why do you always do that?" Doc questioned her seriously as he came up to her and entered, parking next to her.

"Do what?" she asked him mock-defensively. "THAT! What you're doing right now? You look like you want to crawl away in reverse and hide under a table. Just like you did in Michael's office when he asked you about the... "Thing"." It's a normal, healthy female function, what is it that you're so ashamed of?" Doc pressed the issue, partially sincere, partly to just heckle her.

"I suppose YOU know what it's like to have one, right?" she retorted in playful sarcasm. "I don't believe you Sir, are in any position to brief ME on what are normal female bodily issues."

"Does it really bother you that much to talk about your cycles?" Doc was fervent in his curiosity about her revulsion at such a topic.

"No... it's just that, it has nothing to do with it being a male doctor. I don't like it when female doctors ask me about leak cycles. I just don't. I never did. They're embarrassing to talk about to me. They just are. Always have been. They're just the one thing that make me wish I was a boy for three days out of each month. They SUCK, okay? Normal or not!" Prince shot back, earning a laugh from Doc. "Go on and make fun of me. You're not the one that has to endure all the pad changing and the cramps and all of that." Doc looked at her critically.

"Suppose we have a daughter. When that time comes to give The Talk, about how girls change, how would you deal with that? You're the mother, a female like her, it would be your responsibility. Would you expect me to talk to her about it?" He asked seriously. Prince was silent.

"I'd have no qualms telling her about cycles, but she'd probably wouldn't want her father discussing that with her. She'd expect Mom to guide her in that direction. Are you gonna shy away from that also?" "No I wouldn't. I'd do what was expected of me." He saw her response was honest.

"You know you're going to have to get over that. The whole not liking talking about leak cycles. I can tell you right now you'll be doing a whole lot of leaking when you go into labor." He told her and grinned as it earned a timid chuckle from Prince.

"Besides, you're gonna have Michael checking you out down there quite a bit." Doc gently bumped her. She smiled. She had to admit, Michael was every bit as caring as Doc was and she was looking forward to him being in charge of seeing her along in her journey to motherhood. With Michael's expertise and her unborn's father also being a doctor, she knew she was in good hands.

"What do you wish for Hudson? Boy or girl?"

"Oh, I don't care. Girl. Boy. Makes no matter to me. If it's healthy, that's all I ask for." Doc told her.

"You?" he looked at her.

"I have no preference. I only pray that it's healthy. Nothing more."

Doc approached her with the look he had when he wanted to express his affection for her. He began nuzzling her cheek and she parted her lips to receive him as he enveloped her mouth in a slow, passionate kiss. He was such a tender lover. It was a side of him no one ever saw except the females that interested him enough to become his romantic partners from way back. By his very nature Doc was a very sexual individual, showing intense emotion in every act he performed.

Something as simplistic as a kiss was turned into erotic harmony because Doc had the ability to turn the inside of her mouth into an erogenous zone. Her still-sensitized lower half was even affected by the intenseness of his kiss. She could almost feel his tongue probing from her mouth down to the spot where she would bear his child even though he was nowhere near that region of her. She shuddered against him as he gently broke away nuzzling her again.

"You just take it easy. I'll make dinner." he told her.

Five months later:

Prince had her bridal gown and train custom made. She was a good artist; she drew it out, designed it and had it made. She was paying the seamstress $25,000 for it. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Prince was high-maintenance. She knew she didn't have to be, but she wasn't an idiot either. Her hubby had money, and she'd be foolish not so spend at least some of it. But it wasn't an issue with Doc. Prince was both high-and-low maintenance.

Being married to a rich wheel didn't go to her head and that's what he liked about her. Like all females, she got in her moments where she went on wild shopping sprees. For a weekend she would fly out to Los Angeles or Mexico City to shop, or drive to Phoenix's wealthy Scottsdale district and blow money all day doing whatever females did shopping. Gemstone, the Twins and Sally often escorted her on her excursions as they were shopping addicts too. Prince was wined and dined by Doc, but she was just as happy eating at a regular joint as well.

Doc realized that his wife could be frugal like he was; she didn't always go for extravagance. When she remodeled his place she went half-and-half. Half of the decor was highly expensive imports but other items like pictures and dishes she actually bought at the local dollar store. A buck each. They looked expensive and functioned as intended. Prince had a good head on her because she knew when to blow money on something and when not to. Speaking of his garage, it was now being expanded to more than half its size because she was planning ahead. The kid's room was being built onto it as well as a large family room.

For the first three years of his or her life, the baby would be in the same room as its parents. The main garage was also widened to include the nursery. The only thing that would separate the nursery from Doc's and Prince's area of the garage would be a small curtain pulled around it. Large curtain rather because the nursery section was rather large, for a newborn at least. Once the child hit four, maybe three, he would get his own room. Or she. For the time being what would become the child's room was left blank, not even painted since the child's sex was undetermined. It was too early to tell what Prince was carrying and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know. She was okay with Doc finding out but he would have to wait another month before the fetus developed enough to know what it was.

Again, Prince and Doc discussed maybe letting the child decide what color he/she wanted his or her room first. Not all boys liked blue and not all girls liked pink. There were many other colors and the kid might wind up wanting a red painted room. So what would eventually become their son's or daughter's bedroom was left alone for now.

The main area was the nursery, and Doc liked what he was seeing. His wife wasn't an interior decorator; she was a connoisseur. It was beginning to look like a little royal palace in its corner. Well, her name was "Prince" and the name he had selected for his child was one of royalty also, so a castle-like nursery was fitting to Doc.

x

The day for the wedding had arrived. Prince and Sally both were dressed up by Ramone and Wingo in white accents along their bodies. Both had their engagement caps on which were sized down enough for their actual marriage bands to fit around the outside of them on their left wheels. Both wore veils on top of their roof- like heads. White silk, satin and rayon dangled elegantly from their sides. Prince's veil was long, dragging all the way behind her in a train. Sally opted for a much shorter one made of victorian lace.

A simple bouquet of stargazer lilies and white roses was attached to their front right rims. Sally spent all week practicing how to roll in on just three wheels. Either that or hop along on one front tire which would look silly. It really wasn't that hard to to. For Prince the move was a piece of cake considering many of her dance acts required her to roll on two wheels. Three was nothing. Doc and Lightning had been painted all black with white fronts.

As expected the ceremony went without a hitch, it was nothing lavish but no less beautiful. Sure enough, there were some paparazzi present. The reception was to take place at the Wheel Well Motel.

DJ had the honor of spinning the music, everything from 60s, to 70s, 80s, 90s, to present, and he went all across the board from The Supremes to The Dazz Band to Linkin Park and Kid Ink. And everyone danced to everything he put on, no matter what it was. The wedding reception also had a karaoke session. The first participant was none other than Flo, performing a rendition of Alice Russell's "Breakdown". Just by listening to Flo talk it was evident she could sing her tail fins off but few had ever heard her do it. Sister Flo didn't "sing", she bellowed. Her song voice hit a wide range of notes and commanded to the audience to listen to her. It was easy to picture her as a 60s vivacious show car, shaking it as she sang it up. And to say she blew the guests away was an understatement. Her version of the song was even better than Alice Russell's.

"Go' head girl! SANG fo' us sista!" Gemstone called.

She had to give her props to a fellow "sista" like herself. Many heard Gemstone sing - when she thought she was alone - and loved her voice as well. Elders like Flo or younger milennials like Gemstone, it was something about the "black" folks singing that everybody seemed to like. They had a style no other ethnicity had, so it went, though African-descended cars thought they were no better. But everyone else just seemed to like their singing in particular. Gemstone was too shy to sing in front of others but Flo had no such reservations. She had a serious voice on her. The best way to describe her voice was a blended mixture of R&B/Pop singers Jazmine Sullivan, Adele, and Shug Avery in "The Color Purple" church scene.

"Sista' Flo" could blow on the mic. In her fabulous 60s show car days at weekend talent contests to her brief stint at Motown Records as a backup singer for Al Green and Aretha Franklin, this was how Flo bellowed on the microphone. Just barely 19 then, she still sounded youthful now as she did then. Her vocals lost none of its soulful elegance, true to her African-American roots. And she certainly had the moves. She had the sassy moves then and still had them today. She had the huge reception hall of guests in an uproar, bouncing methodically to her. Cheering, rooting, tapping their tires and voicing their approval. Just as he did the first night he saw her perform at Motown, Ramone pulled up to the center stage where she was and swiftly lifted up on his front wheels, planting a sweet kiss on her lips as she concluded her act. Everyone swooned. The very first time he saw her perform he did the same thing, then a total stranger.

"Oooo baby you can sing. Just like 1965." The two sets of newlyweds all gathered around Flo and hugged her, loving her tribute song to them. Gemstone darted up to her.

"Flo-girl, you weren't 'singing'. You was SANGIN'." she beamed.

"Thank you honey, it's in my gears." Flo told her.

"You go girl!" DJ wooped.

"Good job Flo!" Sarge called out.

"Dang Flo; I didn't know you sing like that. You got a serious voice." Wingo was genuine in his compliment.

"No kidding man; I didn't know you had it in you like that. No wonder Ramone fell for you if you serenaded him like that." Fillmore added.

"Tha-aaaank you honeys." she cheesed at both of them. She would purposely make eye contact with Ramone in the front row and focus on him as she sang, directing her sassy moves at him and all. He asked her to marry him a week after they met.

"I love you Flo; I never tire of that voice of yours." Doc told her. He excused himself from the small group around her when he spotted King. The retired Strip Weathers who had congratulated Lightning and Sally now turned to Doc.

"That was a nice ceremony Doc. I gotta tell you, you and this Lamborghini make a mighty gorgeous couple there. And now you are going to be a daddy." Doc was beaming as he observed his wife on the dance floor dancing with Wingo.

"Thank you so much, King. I'm excited, nervous, a little apprehensive. I wonder if she's as scared as I am of that day. The big day, that is. HER day." King decided to answer Doc's questions in the order relayed to him.

"Don't be, man. You are going to make a good father just like I know Prince will make a good mother to your child. As far as the big delivery day, well," the King glanced down for a second. "It won't be easy for her in the labor room. It was quite harrowing to see my wife in that amount of pain. It was a lot of discomfort for her because it took thirty hours for the twins to be born. But I was with her every step of the way and I can say this, there's no feeling like watching your child, something you helped create coming out of the carriage of the woman you love. It's a sight you never forget. Beautiful at that. Come on Doc you delivered babies, you know!"

"Yes, but, this time, it's MY baby. Which is why I'm so nervous about it. About Prince."

"Aw, she'll be alright. She's in good rims with you and Dr. Schumacher." King assured him. The King's twin sons were also present, mingling with the guests as was his wife. Having one baby was harrowing enough, it seemed. He couldn't imagine having two at once.