Sequel to We Gather Together, during the Reception Little Joe introduces his wife to all his friends and family, Roy Coffee celebrates his upcoming retirement, and Jamie hides from an unwanted admirer.
The Reception
The wedding ceremony between Little Joe Cartwright and his new bride Alice had gone off without a hitch much to the relief of his father Ben Cartwright. The only issue had been the loud wails coming from the females in the audience when Joe had said the words "I do". Now it was time for the reception.
The reception was taking place in the dining room of the International House. Hop Sing had gone to great lengths to make sure the food was made to perfection. Everyone was sure to enjoy themselves this evening with dinner and dancing. No one would be leaving the reception hungry.
Standing by the drinks table were two law men dressed in their suits with badges on their jackets. One was a short older man with graying hair while the other was tall with dark hair.
"So Roy after tonight you will begin your new life as a retired man. How do you plan to spend your last day as sheriff?" Deputy Clem Foster asked as he took a drink from his punch glass.
"Well Clem starting right now I start my last mission which will end at midnight and after that I hand over the sheriff's badge to you." Sheriff Roy Coffee explained.
"What mission is that?" Clem asked curiously.
"Making sure that none of these curious children try to sneak some of Ben's "Special Punch". Trust me my last mission as Sheriff will be well spent in front of this table." Roy explained as he glanced around each direction of the room.
Clem just shrugged and took another drink from his glass.
Meanwhile Joe was taking the opportunity to escort his new wife Alice around the room to introduce her to various friends and family and thank them for coming to the wedding. Their first stop was at a table where various relatives of the Cartwright family were sitting.
"Now here are some various relatives of my family. This gentleman here is Cousin Will Cartwright and his wife Laura. Their daughter Peggy is somewhere. Then this is Clarissa Cartwright who is Pa's cousin. Then this is Cousin Martha Dorcas and her daughter Samantha. Then we have cousin Muley Jones and his wife Tracy." Joe explained.
"It's nice to meet all of you." Alice with a smile.
"Likewise. Joseph you should have consulted me when it came to the decorating. I could have done so much better for you." Clarissa commented as she looked around the room in disgust.
"Joe what happened to you waiting around for me to get older. Now I have to marry Candy when I get older." Samantha said as she crossed her arms.
"Oh hush Samantha." Martha Dorcas said as she put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Joe do you think you could keep a tighter leash on that new brother of yours. I don't want him corrupting poor little Peggy as she has a promising future ahead of her." Laura said in disgust.
Joe turned in the direction of where Laura was looking at it and saw Jamie who looked like he was trying to get away from an over enthusiastic Peggy who wanted nothing more than to dance with him.
"Oh I'd hate to cut this conversation short but I have so many more people to introduce to Alice before the night is over. Come along Alice." Joe said as he walked away with Alice following close behind him.
"Laura why must you always complain when we go places." Will asked.
"I don't know what you are talking about Will. Now give me your slice of cake. We have to leave early in the morning and I don't want you up all night with all that sugar in you. Better yet give me Peggy's slice too." Laura explained as she shoveled a bite of cake into her mouth.
Will reluctantly surrendered his slice of cake over to his wife. He wondered what had gone wrong in the last few years of his life to get to this situation that he was in.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Cartwright was sitting at a table entertaining some of his old friends. It had been a couple of years since he had been in the company of Luther Bishop, Matthew White, and George Bristol.
"Let me tell you gentleman I never thought this day would come when my youngest son would be celebrating his marriage. It's a miracle that this day managed to happen and even bigger miracle that it brought some joy after the tragic death of his brother." Ben Cartwright said as he toasted his old friends.
However, the three men remained silent.
"Ben we need to talk." Luther Bishop replied breaking the silence.
"Now Luther I understand we ended on bad terms years ago but times have changed and we need to move forward and think of the future." Ben explained.
"Ben it's not that." George Bristol spoke up.
"Well what then. Have I done something to offend you gentleman?' Ben asked growing a little bit concerned about the amonsisty from his friends.
"Benjamin I told you years ago that boy of yours was like any other cabin boy I had seen on my ships. It turns out I was right and in the last few hours after getting to know these two gentleman not only has my daughter died but their daughters as well." Matthew White explained grimly.
Ben gulped down his scotch in one swig. It was certainly going to be a very long night.
Joe and Alice had taken an opportunity to stop at another table of guests. This group of table had various people sitting around with a picture of the late Hoss Cartwright in the middle.
"Now Alice these are some special friends of Hoss. Here we have Bessie Sue Hightower, Skeeter Dexter along with his mother Joy and stepfather Dr. Woods, Waldo Watson, and Obie as well as his dog Walter." Joe explained.
"I am pleased to meet all of you. I am sorry for the death of your dear friend." Alice told them, giving them her dearest sympathies.
"Aw shucks thank you sweet heart. Well would you look at that!" Obie exclaimed.
"Look at what?" Alice asked, feeling slightly confused.
"The way Walter took a shine to you. That means he likes you." Obie explained.
Alice looked down at the dog who was just laying there at the man's feet. She looked confused but smiled. "I am very pleased to make a friend in Walter."
Joe just rolled his eyes. "C'mon Alice there's a lot more people to meet and I'm sure these people would like to continue their celebration of Hoss' life in private." Joe replied taking his bride by the hand.
In a corner of the room there was a table with various of young ladies who didn't know each other but they all had one thing in common they had the unfortunate past of heartbreak with the newly married Joseph Cartwright.
"I can't believe I was stupid enough to kiss his brother." Melinda Banning cried as the tears fell into her glass of wine.
"Why did I have to confess that I was faking blindness during the ceremony of our wedding all those years ago. I think I did truly love him." Tessa Caldwell cried.
"Why did I act like a spoiled child who knew nothing of the world when I could have had him to show me the ways of country life." Morbath Terry stabbed her cake with her fork as the tears fell from her eyes.
Meanwhile a handsome man with blonde hair took an opportunity to sit with them to share his sorrows.
"Aw ladies don't be so hard on yourself I too have had the opportunity to be wronged by Joe Cartwright as well. Why don't you tell Mitch Devlin all about it." Mitch took the opportunity to sit down the the sad ladies.
Meanwhile Candy Canady who had spent the whole day helping getting things in order for his friends wedding was finally getting an opportunity to relax. He was standing at the punch bowl pouring himself a well deserved drink when he heard a voice in the distance.
"Psst, Candy." Said the muffled voice.
Candy turned and saw that Jamie was hiding in the closet with the door partially opened. Jamie motioned for Candy to come over with a wave of his hand. Candy took the short walk over to the cramped closet and went in shutting the door behind him.
"Jamie, what in the heck are you doing in here?' Candy asked, wondering why the red haired youth was hiding in here.
"Oh Candy it's just awful she keeps throwing herself at me wanting to dance with me and I can't take it anymore." Jamie complained.
"Who?" Candy asked, wondering who would take an interest in Jamie.
"That Peggy girl, I think she has a crush on me. She keeps following me and when she wasn't looking I took the opportunity to hide in here. Now I'm just hiding out until everything is clear." Jamie explained.
Candy nodded and decided to open the door to see if the coast was clear. He opened the door and spotted the blonde hair girl dancing with the man who they had seen earlier wearing the sombrero. The man looked like he was trying to get away from her. "Jamie I don't think you have to worry about her anymore."
Jamie took a look and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well that's good but I do feel bad for Senor Stafford though."
"Senor Stafford who is that?" Candy questioned.
"I don't know I think he's a friend of Pa's." Jamie shrugged.