Chapter 40

It was around 5:45 p.m, Tuesday night. The sun had just begun to set over the cul-de-sac, and as Eddy and the rest of the boys were hanging out in Ed's room, Double Dee was nervously preparing himself for his night out at the ice rink with Marie.

Although Marie had once again assured him that all would be alright at lunch time in school, Double Dee was still literally sweating bullets. He had to change out of two sweaters due to his profuse sweating, but finally was able to quell it by the time he reached his green turtle neck. His orange gloves and thick orange winter coat were sitting on his bed, as he applied his cologne, and otherwise made himself look presentable.

Just then, the sound of the doorbell filled his house once again. At the sound of the chimes, Double Dee felt a rush of nervousness flow through him, and he once again was at the mercy of his pores. Although he felt like he had just dropped from the tallest roller coaster on Earth, he made final adjustments to his shirt, grabbed his gloves and coat, and began walking down his red carpeted stairs.

Double Dee breathed heavily as he opened the door. His nervousness went disappeared when he laid his eyes on his beautiful girlfriend. Her black hair was adorned with a green headband that matched her eyes. She was wearing a set of grey earmuffs, obviously for her ears when she was on the ice. She wore a red scarf around her neck, as well as a grey sweater.

"Hi Double Dee!" said Marie smiling excitedly.

"Hello Marie, you look amazing as always!" replied Double Dee.

The couple exchanged compliments, as well as a hug, after which Lee's voice carried itself from behind Marie.

"Yo lovebirds, come on let's go, we ain't got all night!" yelled Lee playfully as she laughed.

Double Dee was so captivated by Marie that he had almost forgotten about their little excursion to the ice rink. He glanced behind his girlfriend to see Lee leaning out of the back door of a mid 2000's crew cab pickup truck. It was red in color, and appeared to be relatively new. There were several racks in the rear bed, carrying various ladders and other construction equipment. Double Dee's cheeks filled with heat, as he was nervous beyond belief.

"Come on dreamboat," said Marie, "Let's go!"

Marie grabbed Double Dee and began leading him down the gravel path of his lawn towards Rod's truck.

Marie opened the back door to the truck. Lee had already taken the far right rear seat, so Marie decided to take the middle seat and give Double Dee the left seat. He closed the door to the truck behind him and glanced towards the front of the vehicle.

May was sitting in the front passenger seat; on her left behind the steering wheel was a man with what would be commonly called a "high and tight" hair cut as well as a blonde moustache over his lips. Double Dee recognized him from the pictures Marie had shown him the previous night.

"Daddy," said Marie, "This is my boyfriend Edd."

At that moment, Rod turned around with smile on his face, and reached his hand back to shake Double Dee's hand, accidentally bumping May's head with his elbow by mistake while doing so.

"It is a p..pleasure..to meet you Mr. Lonergan!" said Double Dee .

As with Tabby, Rod asked to be called by his first name, slightly easing Double Dee's mind. Marie gripped Double Dees hand in hers and smiled at him, as if to alert him that he worried all for nothing.

Instead of driving down the street and turning around in the cul-de-sac most of the adults did, Rod used a quicker alternative. He shifted his truck into reverse and quickly backed it up out of the cul-de-sac while turning left onto the cross street. He shifted the truck into drive using the column mounted shifter, even though it was still traveling slowly in reverse while he did so. Before they knew it, the group was headed towards the edge of town.

In the truck, Rod began making jokes about how he was glad that he could finally have another "Y chromosome" joining him on the trip, and how he has to put up with three females all of the time. Double Dee chuckled with him as he made his jokes, as did his daughters. Of course, Lee and May chimed in and essentially told the story of how Marie and Double met in their own words, slightly embarrassing their sister. It was the first time that Rod had seen Marie since she re-dyed her hair back to her natural black. He acknowledged the change by stating that he is "glad to have his Annemarie back again." causing chuckling amongst everyone.

After around a half hour of driving, conversing, and some embarrassing yet funny stories about Marie as a little girl, Rod had finally pulled his truck into the parking lot of the ice rink. Everyone got out of the truck and began walking towards the arena, with Marie and Double Dee holding hands the whole way.

When they reached the arena, Rod led everyone over to his co-worker Patrick, who was the new Bulldozer operator for his company. He quickly introduced everyone to him, including Double Dee as "Annemarie's boyfriend".

After some small talk, Marie grabbed Double Dees hand and pulled him over to the skate rental booth.

"See cutie," said Marie after she asked the worker for her and Double Dee's skates, "All of that worrying for nothing, they practically fell in love with ya!"

"I must admit, that I am quite relieved." said Double Dee as he took his pair of skates and followed Marie to a bench. He sat down and began sliding the skates on.

At this point, Double Dees mind was no longer fearful of Rod's reaction to him. His main fear right now was making a fool of himself out on the ice rink. He decided to be completely honest with Marie.

"Marie, I must admit that I have absolutely no experience with roller skating, let alone ice skating!" said Double Dee.

"Don't worry." said Marie, "It's easy, just hold my hand and you'll be fine!"

Double Dee and Marie finished putting their skates on and stood up off of the bench, heading towards the rink. Double Dee could barely walk on the metal blades of his skates.

"Are you okay?" asked Marie giggling, watching her boyfriend almost trip. She quickly grabbed his hand and helped him walk.

"I can barely walk in these Marie, and I am sure that I will make a complete fool of myself out there on the ice. Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked a nervous Double Dee.

"Double Dee, I could barely walk in skates the first time I did it!" said Marie, "Besides, remember, just because you have never done something before, doesn't mean that you'll look like a fool!"

Marie was right, and Double Dee couldn't help but smile at her.

"Come on, let's get you out there, May and Lee are already at the door." said Marie.

The couple walked across the carpeted floor and through the door that led to the outdoor ice rink. The ice rink was large, and was flooded with light by several spot lights located around its perimeter. The theme of this particular ice rink was retro 1960's, and the house speakers were currently playing older Doo-Wop music. There were many couples and children skating around in a clockwise direction. Lee and May were already standing at the entrance to the rink, and Double Dee and Marie rushed to join them.

"Outta our way girls." said a playful Marie, pushing her sisters away from the door, "Are ya comin or no?"

"Hold your horses!" said Lee, "I'm just fixin' my glove."

Lee glanced around the rink for a little while, when her eyes set themselves on one of the male college-aged officials that monitored the skater's safety.

"Mmhm, now that's a hunk of a man!" said Lee, while grinning, "I'll see ya later girls, something just came up!"

Lee jumped onto the ice and skated into the crowd.

"Well now that Lee's found herself something to do, I guess it's just us three!" said May while laughing.

May pushed herself out onto the ice, and began sliding slowly.

"Come on Double Dee!" said Marie as she stepped out onto the ice, holding the side barrier,

"Hold the wall for the first few minutes while you get your balance and step out onto the ice."

Double Dee gripped the wall tightly, and he stepped out into the ice. He couldn't believe how smooth the ice actually felt under his feet, and how much more difficult than roller skating it really was. After a while, Double Dee got used to the feel of the skates, and traded the wall for Marie's hand.

"May, can you get his other hand." said Marie.

May grabbed Double Dees other hand and before he knew it, he found himself gliding around the rink at moderate speed with the two girls holding him up.

"See, now you're getting it." said Marie as she smiled, "Now we're gonna let go okay?"

"What!" yelled Double Dee. Before he could protest, the two girls let go of his hands and he found himself gliding across the rink with perfect balance.

"WHOOO!" yelled Marie, "Go Double Dee!"

Double Dee turned around to smile at his girlfriend, neglecting that the rink was elliptical in shape and that there was bound to be a point at which he had to turn.

"DOUBLE DEE WATCH OUT!" yelled Marie as she pointed behind him.

Double Dee had no time to react; as soon as he turned back around, he collided with the wall of the ice rink. The resulting collision caused him to fall onto the ice, hitting the side of his arm.

The pain of falling on ice was much greater than landing on concrete, and Double Dee was sure feeling it radiating through his elbow. Marie and May skated over to him.

"Double Dee, are you okay!" yelled Marie. May was trying as hard as she could not to laugh.

"Come on, let's get you up!" Marie and May worked together to help him up off of the ice. Once he was up, Double Dee braced himself on the wall for a few minutes. He looked into Marie's eyes and couldn't help but begin chuckling. Double Dee was now comfortable around Marie not to be embarrassed about his blunder, and was able to share a laugh with her and May.

At that moment, Lee skated up to the group.

"Yo girls, your doin it all wrong!" yelled Lee, "He's not supposed to crash into the wall!"

"We know that ding bat!" yelled a laughing Marie, "He just got a little confused."

"Well teach him already so that he can skate around with us!" yelled Lee as she once again began skating around the rink.

"Alright, are you ready to try again?" asked Marie.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," said Double Dee nervously. His legs were currently trembling. Double Dee once again found himself in between the two younger Kanker sisters as they led him around the rink.

After around 10 minutes, Double Dee began to catch on to how to propel himself, and began skating around the rink on his own, with the two sisters by his side.

"Look at that," said Marie, "You're a natural."

"I suppose I am!" said Double Dee as he smiled at Marie.

"Now try this!" said Marie.

Marie suddenly increased her speed for a split second, before sliding into a spin. Marie flawlessly executed what would commonly be called a Pirouette of around 8 rotations in figure skating terms, before she lost momentum and returned to regular skating. Double Dee was stunned by Marie's display of athleticism.

"Oh Marie, that was nothing!" yelled May, "Watch this!"

May slid on the ice before jumping and performing a maneuver that is known as a Fouette. She successfully landed and skated backwards towards Marie's position while sticking her tongue out at her sister.

"Marie, I am speechless!" said Double Dee, "That was absolutely amazing, I have never known you two girls to be figure skaters."

"We practiced the moves on our kitchen floor." said Marie, "In our socks, the floor is almost as slippery as ice!"

Marie chuckled.

"After we mastered them without skates did the best we could to master them on the ice whenever we got the chance" said Marie. She paused and glanced over at May.

"I guess we got a little bit of Mom's dancing blood in us!" said Marie as she and May giggled.

"Well you have certainly proved your confidence with the sport!" said an excited Double Dee.

"If you think that was good, you should see Lee!" yelled Marie.

"Yeah!" said May, "She can land axel jumps!"

Double Dee smiled as he listened to the two sister's talk about figure skating and the maneuvers that they have practiced.

The couple skated around the rink for a few more minutes. Double Dee had finally become competent enough with the skates to be able to keep up with Marie at a decent speed. Marie grabbed his hand and attempted a laced finger hold; unfortunately, the thickness of their gloves forced them to resort to a traditional grip.

"I see you're really catching on." said Marie.

"Yes, I truly am!" said Double Dee, "This experience should also help me become slightly more competent with roller skates, as it's only a matter of time before Ed and Eddy force me to participate in another athletic endeavor."

Double Dee paused before looking into Marie's eyes as he continued

"I know it's strange, being a male and despising team sports" said Double Dee, slightly embarrassed. Marie chuckled at Double Dee's joke.

"Double Dee," said Marie, "Being a man to me is being polite, kind, courteous, and romantic." Marie skated in front of Double Dee and turned around so that she was traveling backwards. She grabbed both of his hands in hers and leaned into his face.

"And you are all four of those things ten times over." said Marie.

Marie leaned in and pecked Double Dee's lips quickly while giggling, before returning to his side, holding his hand.

"Just out of curiosity," said Marie, "I know that being athletic is not your strong point, but what makes you so fearful to even try playing any kind of sport?"

Double Dee was taken aback. He had just been posed with one of the two questions that he absolutely dreaded to be asked before he met Marie.

The first was anything pertaining to the reason for him wearing his ski hat all of the time. The second was about his fear of sports. He had already trusted Marie enough to explain his scars to her, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he needed to explain his reason for despising sports. He decided to proceed

"It's quite an embarrassing story Marie." said Double Dee.

"I'm sorry," said Marie as she squeezed his hand, "You don't have to tell it if you don't want to."

"No Marie, I would like to tell you." said Double Dee.

Double Dee paused before he continued.

"I was around 10 years old. I had become best friends with Ed and Eddy at that point. Gym class used to be quite an invigorating time for us, as we were able to escape the confines of the classroom academics and be kids, so to speak."

Double Dee paused, as he continued skating.

"One day in gym class, the teacher decided that we were going to all participate in a game of dodge ball. Naturally everyone was excited. I was quite intrigued, even though I have never participated in a game of dodge ball prior to that day."

Double Dee paused. Marie moved in front of him and began skating backwards once again so that she could make eye contact with him.

"We were all shuttled outside to play, and our team took its place against one of the walls of the school. Due to my unathletic nature, I was naturally one of the first boys targeted on my team. Before I knew it, a large red dodge ball was careening towards my face."

Double Dee took a breath.

"The momentum caused me to spin around and fall towards the brick wall with my mouth wide open. When my face impacted the wall, the sheer force dislodged my maxillary central incisors, and caused them to be ripped right out of my mouth. The experience was excruciating, and I could barely even breathe without a wave of pain flowing through my upper jaw. The gym teacher stopped the game and took me to the school nurse to stop the profuse bleeding."

"Double Dee, that's terrible!" yelled Marie.

Double Dee paused as he stared at a shocked Marie. He opened to his mouth and pointed to the well known gap between his top front incisors.

"See this?" asked Double Dee, "The trauma to my deciduous teeth caused my permanent teeth to erupt abnormally, leaving me with this embarrassing gap. Thankfully, my dentist has told me that if my upper wisdom teeth erupt normally, they will work to push my two front teeth together Although that could take a few more years during which time I have to live with this horrible malformation."

Marie looked into Double Dees face as she smiled.

"Double Dee," said Marie, "I think it's cute. It's just one of those things that makes you who you are."

Double Dee blushed as he couldn't help but crack a smile.

"It was quite frightening," said Double Dee, "The "Dodge Ball Incident" as I call it, seemed to have imprinted a natural fear of contact sports into my mind."

At this point the deep voice of the DJ came over the PA system of the rink.

"Alright, is everyone having fun out there tonight!"

Everyone in the rink emitted an enthusiastic Yes!

" Great to hear, at this point were gonna slow things down a little bit, and I want all of the happy couples young and old to join together in the rink for the couples skate."

"Well," said Marie, as she wrapped her arms around Double Dees right arm, making it appear as if he was "escorting" her, "I guess that applies to us."

Double Dee smiled as he and Marie, as well as many other husbands and wives, and other teenaged couples skated around the rink with them. After the couples skate, the DJ announced that there would be a quick break from skating so that the ice resurfacer could work on the ice.

Double Dee and Marie exited the rink, and took a seat on one of the many benches. Lee and May quickly joined them.

"You guys looked so cute together!" said May.

"Yeah, I gotta admit that you picked the right man!" said Lee as she smiled at Double Dee.

Marie blushed and smiled at her sisters compliments. After a few minutes, the ice was finally resurfaced, and everyone was able to return to the ice to skate. Marie and Double Dee spent the remainder of their time together, shooting the breeze as they skated. May and Lee performed various figure skating maneuvers, and Double Dee was finally able to witness Lee's double axel jump; needless to say he was quite impressed. Marie joined in on the fun as well, using May as her partner and performing various duet maneuvers.

Double Dee couldn't believe that he was so nervous about coming to the ice rink with Marie. He was truly having a great time, and absolutely didn't want the night to end. After another hour and a half, the final song played over the PA, and the annual free skate night was over. Rod said his goodbyes to all of his co-workers and their families before walking back to his truck with his daughters and Double Dee. Double Dee could do nothing but smile as he entered Rods truck and took his seat next to Marie, as he had just had the best night of his life so far.