Clare De Loon, Part 3
By Missy


RATING: PG (not much in the way of anything naughty)
PART: 3 of 4
DISTRIBUTION: To Squeaky, LW, Kai and FG so far; any other archives are welcome to ask, but disclaimers must be included, my email left intact. send a URL, and provide full disclaimers as well as credit me fully. Please inform me if you are going to submit my work to any sort of search engine. Â Please do not submit my work to a search engine that picks out random sets of words and uses them as key words, such as "Google"
Please contact me in order for this story to be placed on an archive, or if you want know of a friend who would enjoy my works, please email me their adress and I will mail them the stories, expressly for the purpose of link trading. MiSTiers are welcomed! Please do inform me that you'd like to do the MiSTing, however, and send me a copy of the finished product. I'd also love to archive any MiSTings that are made of my work!
NOTES: My answer to the Squiggy gets the girl challenge.
CATEGORY: Squiggy/other character romance
FEEDBACK: PLEASE?!
CANNON: Anywhere during the Milwaukee years
SPOILLER/SUMMARY: The gang buys Squiggy some clarinet lessons for his birthday, resulting in him getting the hots for his sophisticated but down-to-earth teacher.

****

She awkwardly smiled, shifting a baby around on her hip, "Andrew, you're kind of early..."

He realized that his jaw had fallen open, that he was staring in disbelief at Clare and the child. He swallowed hard and looked into her face, "I was kinda in the neighborhood."

Clare smiled in return, her own embarrassment evident and complete. "I'm so glad that you've taken thoroughly to your lessons, Andrew. Would you like to come inside?" She moved aside so that he could enter the appartment.

"This is Jessica," She suddenly announced, indicating the little girl in her arms. Jessica opened her mouth to talk, but her mother cut her off. "Excuse me, I have to go leave her with the sitter..." She left Squiggy there, and awkwardly, he sat down on a chair, eyes darting to and fro, taking in once again the inside of Clare's apartment.

He looked at the photos on her mantelpiece; funny how they'd never drawn his attention before. He recognized a young Clare, wearing a wedding dress; a family portrait of Clare with the same hand, holding an infant that was most likely Jessica. The very last photo was Jessica's school portrait.

And at the very end of the mantle was a shiny, black jar.

Squiggy looked at it; his more curious nature urged him to pick it up....He shook it. It sounded as thought it had been filled with fine powder...

"Andrew?" He almost dropped the vase at Clare's voice, "Please put my husband down."

Her Husband? Squiggy carefully placed the vase back on its' mantle; all-too-abruptly, he realized that Clare's husband was indeed inside of that vase....

"Sorry," He apologized, "I didn't..."

"It's OK," She sighed, "Come on; we have scales to run today..."

***

An hour later, Clare sat smiling beatifically at him, "Gorgeous, Andrew!" She uttered. He lay his clarinet down, sweating; for the first time in his life, he'd managed to play his way through the entire musical scale without a single false note. "I'm so proud of you!" She uttered.

Then she reached over and kissed him.

They both froze completely still and, just as quickly, she wrenched herself away from his body. Her cool veneer of practicality had been shattered.

"Oh my, Andrew...I'm sorry...I..." She sighed, "It was very unprofessional of me to do that. I should be in much better control of my emotions around you..."

"Didja feel anythin'?"

"What?" Clare looked up from her dithering hands.

"Didja feel anythin' when we did this?" He grabbed Clare by the shoulders and kissed her on the lips, leaping upward to do so. Once again, she broke the kiss, thoroughly shocked.

"This is wrong, Andrew," She sighed, "You're my student! And it's too sudden," Her skin trembled, "But I haven't felt this way since my husband died." She shook her head, "It's just too much..."

His eyes widened and suddenly, Squiggy looked more thoughtful then he ever had in his lifetime, "Slow! We'll take it slow," He tilted his head, "Howdya feel 'bout goin' wit me to da Pizza Bowl fer a drink?" She gave him a look,

"Pizza?" She asked, face brightened,

"No press'n'," Squiggy insisted, "I cn introduce ya 'round."

"Is this a...family atmopshere? I can't leave Jessica alone..."

"It's a rest'rant." HE said, a bit tiredly, as though everyone in the world should know exactly what the Pizza bowl is.

Clare shrugged, "I could use a drink or two...and Jessica hasn't had supper..." She gave him a look, "Just as friends? If it's just as friends, I can do it."

And even as it crushed Squiggy's heart, he agreed, "Just as friends."

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To Part 2

On To Part 4










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