~Chapter Thirty-Five~
"How do I look Marbles?" Ada asked as she pulled a strand of hair behind her ear.
Finals were over and it was Christmas Eve. Despite pre-exam anxieties, everyone had passed their classes and were now offcially a year and a half away from their Bachelor's degree.
It was 6:00 P.M and Marbles and Ada were getting ready to leave and watch a production of "The Nutcracker" at Cybersite *Ceol *Damhsa, a cybersite dedicated to the performing arts. Ada was wearing a red Victorian ball gown with black lace trimmings across the collar and at the end of the sleeves which went to her elbows. She wore her golden hair in a bun with a strand falling from each side and around her neck was a lace choker. Marbles eyes widened as she walked out of her bedroom, once again, in awe of her regal beauty.
"You look... beautiful," he stuttered.
Ada smiled and curtsied, making her look even more beautiful.
"Well we better be going now," Marbles said linking arms with her as they headed downstairs, "We don't want to be late for the show."
"And you've absolutely made sure the new cyber-coupe is resistant to magnetic force fields?"
"Affirmative love."
As they walked out the door, Margaret walked in from the parlor and noticed them.
"Oh my, Ada!" she said running up to her daughter, "You look just like I did the first time I wore this dress. I knew it would look splendid on you!"
"Thank you Mother," Ada said smiling.
That reminded Margaret of something. "Speaking of mothers, where is-"
"Upstairs with Nanny," Marbles answered, knowing who his caretaker was talking about, "Nanny is helping her with her hair."
"I see," Margaret nodded, "Well off you go you two! Don't want to be late to the show!"
Marbles grabbed his coat and Ada's red cloak from the rack and the couple got into their cyber-coupe and left.
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"I do wish that there was a faster way we could get there," Ada sighed thirty minutes into the drive.
Unfortunately, Helping Hand Land and Ceol Damhsa were an hour and a half apart from each other.
"Well hopefully once Motherboard commercializes her portals we can just take one there," Marbles reflected.
"You know she won't let us do that," Ada argued, "She'll go on and on about how it should only be used in emergencies."
Marbles laughed. "And yet she frequently uses them to visit her cyboid friend in The Forest."
Ada rolled her eyes.
"Anyway," Marbles continued, "I have devised a way to make travel by cyber-coupe faster."
"Well?"
"I call it a site-warp*," he explained, "But it can be rather dangerous sometimes. The last time I tried this the vehicle nearly collided with a palm tree in Solaria."
"Well I am not about to get myself stranded again because of you," Ada sighed, "So we'll just have to take the long way."
"I know," Marbles said as he turned East.
Silence ensued for another ten minutes or so before Ada started speaking again.
"Ava was certainly glad to see you again," she said as she remembered the ten year-old neighbor's child's excitement when the three returned for Christmas break.
"Yes," Marbles laughed, "She's such a sweet little girl."
A year ago, during the summer, a divorced woman had moved next door to the Lovelace household. She had a daughter named Ava whom was in summer school after failing a math class. Marbles had been hired by the woman to tutor her and eventually he had formed enough of a bond with the child that he worked for free. Since then, little Ava had not only improved in mathematics, she had developed a strong liking to it. And even when he was away at college, Marbles would still tutor her over the phone when necessary, or even just to keep in contact with her. He pretty much saw her as an adopted daughter.
"Pity we couldn't take her with us," Ada said and then laughed, "Even if our names do get mixed up every now and again."
"Well she really isn't the type of child that's interested in ballet," Marbles pointed out, "She is pretty much absorbed in Math and Science."
"Kind of like someone else I know," Ada said batting her long eyelashes.
Marbles smirked. "Are you mocking me dear?"
"Oh no of course not," Ada said and then paused before fake coughing the words, "Fermat's Theorem."
"Oh don't remind me of how much that experiment failed," he groaned as he turned the vehicle North-East.
"We did our best love. There are just simply some things that aren't mathematically possible."
"Yes," Marbles replied.
"So shall we listen to some carols?" Ada asked.
Marbles smiled and nodded yes. Ada turned the radio on and put in a Christmas CD of her favorite cyber-singer. The couple listened to it on replay until they arrived at their destination. Marbles opened the passenger's side door and held out a hand for his girlfriend as she got out. After entering the theater, they took to their seats in the balcony, hands entwined as they waited for the ballet to start.
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"You look so lovely Motherboard!" Nanny exclaimed as she finished styling the eighteen-year-old's hair.
And the young adult did indeed look beautiful. Her blue hair was straightened and then pulled into a late-Victorian bun with a cyber-lilac hair-pin holding it in place. She wore a holly-green version of Ada's gown and had her usual smoky eye shadow make-up.
"Thank you Nanny," she replied as she stood up from her vanity seat, "I do hope that Antoine will like it."
They then heard the door bell ring downstairs.
Margaret got up from the sofa to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw a handsome young man with nut-brown hair and emerald eyes wearing a tuxedo. He held a bouquet of red cyber-roses and cyber-poinsettias in his right hand and a perfectly wrapped gift box under his left arm. Margaret knew from her conversations with Melissa exactly who he was.
"Good evening," the woman said curtsying, "You must be Antoine Klemmons. Melissa has told me so much about you."
"Yes," Antoine said blushing from embaressment, "And I take it you are Miss Margaret Lovelace."
"I am. Please, do come in. I'll tell Melissa you're here."
"Its alright Miss Lovelace," Melissa said from the top of the stiarcase, "I'm here."
Antoine felt his heart skip a beat as his girlfriend walked gracefully down the staircase. She looked so radiant in that gown, her hair shined so brightly, and her posture was always so perfect as she walked.
"Motherboard," he said shyly, "You look... beautiful."
Melissa just smiled and blushed.
"Uh..um.. these are for you," Antoine said handing her the bouquet.
"Oh Antoine you always buy me the most lovely flowers," she said taking them, "You really do spoil me way too much."
"Well that's not all I bought you," he laughed as Melissa went to the kitchen and filled a vase for the flowers.
Antoine turned to Margaret who had been standing there trying not to laugh at how adorable the young couple was.
"Will you place this under your Christmas tree?" he asked, "Make sure she doesn't open it until tomorrow."
"Oh don't worry Antoine," Margaret assured him as she went and put the present under the tree, "I'll be sure she waits until Christmas morning!"
"Alright," Melissa said as she came back into the living room and took her waist-length black cloak off the rack, "I'm ready when you are."
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St. Frances Cathedral was much closer than Ceol Damhsa with only a forty-five minute trip. It was the biggest cathedral in all of Cyberspace and floated on its own just as the cyber grand council building did, with a large three floor hangar bay beneath the main floor.
"It's so beautiful here Antoine," Melissa said as the couple took their seats in the front row of the massive sanctuary.
"I know," answered Antoine as he looked around.
The entire cathedral was decked in Christmas finery: a wreath adorned the main altar and mistletoe and holly could be found on every corner. It only added to the already beautiful building which had golden walls, stained glass paintings, and a large chandelier.
"Its a perfect place to hold a wedding," they both secretly thought to themselves.
Just then the lights dimmed. The oratorio began.
Christmas Day:
Margaret and Nanny woke the three teenagers at 9:30 A.M while the snow fell outside. Both couples hadn't come back home until well past midnight the previous night, Marbles stayed up wrapping presents at the last minute, and the girls had stayed up chattering about their dates for at least an hour.
"Oh Nanny just five more minutes," Ada complained as she heard the house maid knocking on her bedroom door and telling her to get out of bed.
"Now Ada don't be like that!" Nanny said from outside the room, "Its Christmas day. You can get your beauty rest tomorrow."
Yawning, the young girl got out of bed and put on her purple slippers and threw on a purple bathrobe. Likewise, the other two teenagers down the hall threw robes over their pajamas.
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"And this one is for you Ada," Marbles said handing his girlfriend a gift bag.
"Why thank you my dear," she said taking the tissue paper out to find one of her most wanted gifts at the bottom.
"Natalie Jenkinson's poetry collection!" she exclaimed holding the book, "Darling you shouldn't have!"
"But I wanted to," he said smiling.
They both gazed into each other's eyes while the other three in the room tried to stifle their laughter.
"Sshhh," Melissa said to the two older women as she tiptoed to the window sill and grabbed the mistletoe that had been hanging from the window next to the Christmas tree.
The girl quickly and quietly ran over to the chattering couple and hung the mistletoe oveer their heads.
"You know the rules," Melissa teased.
Marbles and Ada leaned towards each other and kissed, making Marbles turn a bright red.
"Awww!" Nanny sighed as she and Margaret clapped.
"Oh I just remembered," Marbles said suddenly and sprinted upstairs, "I uploaded a present for Ava. I must retrieve it for her."
"Don't run up the stairs," Margaret called after him.
She rolled her eyes as she heard him still running and went to grab the gift Antoine had brouht with him.
"Motherboard," she said catching the young adult's attention, "Antoine asked that I give you this today."
"Thank you Miss Lovelace," Melissa said politely, taking the gift.
She had been so excited about seeing him yesterday that she had never noticed the delicately wrapped package. It was rather large but also light. The wrapping paper was a shining gold with a silver ribbon as the finishing touch. Melissa carefully unwrapped the gift and then opened the box. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw what was inside. And all the ladies let out an awed gasp when she took it out.
Antoine had bought Melissa a beautiful floor length ball gown made of pure silk. It was a shade of blue ever so slightly darker then her skin and had beautiful frilled sleeves that came just below the elbows.
"Oh Motherboard its gorgeous!" Ada exclaimed, "It will go so perfect with your skin!"
"She's right dear," Nanny said, "This Antoine fellow made a good choice with that gown."
"There's a card here too," Melissa said as she put the gown on the sofa and took the card out from the bottom.
It was a red card in the shape of a heart with green lace around the rims and Christmas bells imprinted in the upper right corner. She opened the card.
"My darling Motherboard,
It was at a ball that we spoke to each other for the very first time and oh how beautiful you looked that night! When I saw this ball gown standing in the display window at the boutique, it made me think of that glorious night. The color reminded me of your smooth sky-blue complexion, and its overall beauty and elegance reminded me of how regally radiant and lovely you are! I'm so blessed to know you and to have your love. May you have a very merry Christmas! I love you more than you will ever know!
Yours forever, Antoine"
Melissa had read the card aloud and Ada squeeled at the last part.
"Alright," Marbles said coming down the staircase with a wrapped gift, "It took me forever but I found my latest invention lying in the closet and with it, I was able to wrap Ava's gift perfectly symmetrical. Does anyone want to come with me to her house?"
"I'll come dear," Ada said, "I'm always happy to visit the little angel."
"What about you Motherboard?" Marbles asked his sister.
But the only response he got from his sister was a long sigh as she held Antoine's card close to her chest and fell into a seated position on the sofa.
"Give her a moment Marbles," Mararet said, "She's in another world right now."
That she was. Melissa was in her own fantasy dreamland, with Antoine.
Ceol- Irish for music
Damhsa- Irish for dance
Site Warp- Only seen in episode 102 "Castleblanca"
This took a lot longer than I expected. Starting from now, I'll be trying to speed up the plot a bit so be prepared. If you want an idea of what Antoine's present looks like, watch Disney's "Cinderella." In the ball scene, when the prince is bowing to different women, one woman with black hair and a blue gown walks up to him and curtsies. That is the gown Antoine bought.
And yes Natalie Jenkinson is a cyber spoof of Emily Dickenson
Its August as I'm writing this, but if you're reading this in December, Merry Christmas!
See ya in Cyberspace!