Chapter 18

Sportacus woke up and looked at his clock. Quickly he bolted from bed. He had promised to only be gone a couple of hours. Well a couple had turned into six. Jumping down the ladder, Sportacus ran to the Mayor's house.

When he got to Mayor Meanswell's he knocked on the door. When no one answered, Sportacus got a little nervous. His crystal didn't go off so nothing was wrong. So he opened the door and entered the house. Sportacus found Stephanie still zonked out on the couch.

Stephanie awoke a little while later to the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. Not realizing what time it was she slowly got up on her crutches made her way out there.

"Uncle Milford, how did everything go with Bessie?" Stephanie said groggily.

"That's a new one. I've been called a lot of names but never Uncle Milford." Sportacus smiled. Blushing Stephanie said,

"Sorry Sportacus. I guess I'm still a little tired. Whatcha cooking?"

"I figured you could use something to eat for lunch. It's already two o'clock. I thought that your Uncle would be here but he must still be over at Bessie's." Sportacus told her. Coming over to her he helped her onto a stool.

"Whatcha cooking, I asked. And where did you get those waffles?" She asked.

"All right, I'll tell you. I'm cooking some veggie burgers and I've cut up some fruit. The waffles I got from Fast Freddie's House of Waffles. Their promise is 'Hot Waffles in Less Than Ten Minutes.' I got them in seven. You enjoyed them right?" He explained.

"Oh yes I enjoyed them very much. You know there is a lot more to you than you let on." Stephanie smiled. Sportacus just smiled and returned to the skillet. Soon the two of them were enjoying their lunch.

They were washing the dishes as Mayor Meanswell and Bessie walked into the house. The two looked very excited. Stephanie started to giggle as she watched their excited movements. Sportacus put away the dishes and asked a question he already knew the answer to,

"So how is everything?"

"Sportacus, can I talk to you for a moment?" Mayor Meanswell asked pulling him aside. He nodded and the Mayor pulled him into the living room. Bessie asked Stephanie if she could talk to her.

"Stephanie, I have two questions for you. The first one being, would you be my maid of honor?" Bessie asked.

"Bessie I would honored. Are you sure you want me to do it?" Stephanie asked excitedly.

"Of course, but that brings me to my next question. Are you ok with this whole thing? I don't know if your Uncle explained that I'm going to move in after the wedding. Are you all right with that?" Bessie asked, nervously.

"I'm totally ok with it. I'm only going to here during the summer anyway. I guess it would be up to you if you're ok with me being here." Stephanie smiled.

"I've always wanted to have a daughter and you have fulfilled that wish. I have no trouble at all. I just wanted to make sure you were ok with it." Bessie explained. Stephanie blushed. Then the Mayor and Sportacus entered the kitchen. Uncle Milford said that he had called a town meeting for four o'clock and must head to Town Hall. Bessie said she'd go with him and they left. Sportacus winked at the Mayor and promised to bring Stephanie to the meeting.

"So what Uncle Milford want?" She asked him.

"I'm to be the best man. What did Bessie want?" He smiled at her.

"Well I'm going to be the maid of honor. I guess you're going to have to come up with a speech, huh?" Stephanie said.

"That's going to be tricky. I'm not very good at writing speeches." He told her.

"I'll help you, if you want. Can we go outside? I think I'm starting to get cabin fever." She asked. Sportacus laughed and helped her off the stool. Nimbly, Stephanie went out the door. Sportacus was surprised at how fast she had learned to use those crutches.

At four o'clock the entire town gathered for the meeting. They were excited about what the Mayor was going to say. Mayor Meanswell quieted the crowd and made his announcement

To Be Continued…