Well...Allright
Chapter One
By Missy

SERIES: Goosebumps!
SUBSERIES: Well...Allright
PART: one of undetermined parts for this arc
Author: Missy
Email: lasfic@yahoo.com
RATING: PG-13 (For language, anatomical references)
PAIRING(s): L/L; S/C; S/R

DISTRIBUTION: To LW, Kai, and FG so far; any other archives are welcome to ask (Please Email Me), 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. 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 address 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!

DISCLAIMER: Laverne and Shirley, of course, not my property and belongs to its creators.

CATEGORY: Epic Drama
CANNON/SPOILERS: Pre-Reunion Show Cannon; set five years after the series' conclusion.
FEEDBACK: PLEASE?!
SPOILLER/SUMMARY: Shirley tries to keep Carmine clean, which makes their marriage of convenience supremely difficult. Lenny and Laverne become enmeshed in the touring life of Leather Tuscadaro, and Rhonda's pregnancy advances.
NOTES: The first chapter in the nineth portion to this series. For previous chapters, see the Goosebumps! Section at LAS Fic or The Look.

***

"...And, by the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Shirley smiled brilliantly as Carmine gingerly lifted her veil and placed a chaste kill upon her lips. Their friends, standing about the lounge of the Airport Hilton, applauded their delight.

Well, she and Carmine had finally done it; funny, she always assumed that she would've been more excited about it. Mostly, she was relieved; she had a spouse now, with the potential for a legitimate job. Now that they were finished with gallivanting around Europe, it was time to settle into decent, respectable lives.

And California would be perfect for that.

Carmine eyed her over Lenny's shoulder while the two of them embraced. His eyes were brighter this morning, even after the hours of transition. It had been roughly six hours since his last joint, eight since his last drink.

Laverne embraced her best friend tightly. "You sure this is the right thing, Shirl?"

Shirley nodded against Laverne's shoulder. "I think that hostage crises was just enough to wake Carmine up. We're gonna be fine now."

Laverne smiled lamely over her shoulder at Carmine, then whispered in Shirley's ear, "Are you gonna tell him that ya wanna move back to California tonight?"

"Oh yes." She winked. "After the honeymoon."

Laverne smirked. "You weren't this excited when you was goin' to bed with Walter!"

Shirley shrugged. "Well, Laverne, Walter wasn't much to write home about."

"Ya ain't too bitter." Laverne noted smartly.

"Nah." Rhonda's embracing arms cut off the privacy of their conversation.

"Rhonda's so happy for you!" She touched her belly. "And so's the little Squigmuffin!"

Shirley smiled lamely. "That's really nice. Thank you to both you and Andrew."

"So, we headin' out to Cowboy Bill's?" Laverne smiled. "Pop's got a spread all set for us!"

"Well, why not?" Shirley smiled. She bent, handing Veenie her bridal flowers. "You're the only unmarried one of us left, dear!"

Veenie stared resolutely at her bouquet. "I ain't ever getting married." She vowed.

***

Ribs and burgers later, not to mention a flurry of flashbulbs documenting the "charitable" work of Frank DeFazio, the guests began to depart.

Squiggy and Rhonda had a new place in La Jolla, where Rhonda had gained a small part in the new Robert Altman movie. Filming would stretch over two months, around when Rhonda would begin showing. They couldn't pass up such fortune.

Lenny and Laverne, of course, had to make a final flight back to Milwaukee. They were staying with Leather and Ralph on the outskirts of the city, a charity that Lenny had been reluctant to take until he realized his pay-off wouldn't come until the album was complete.

Venie went home to Frank and Edna's place, and Carmine and Shirley were left alone.

The slow, slippery sound of Benny Goodman's old quartet slid over them with an oily precision.

"You look great, Angelface."

Shirley blushed in his embrace. Her dress had been borrowed from Laverne's trousseau and hemmed in for her petite figure, the flowers hastily bought in the airport gift shop. The effect was one of gorgeous haste.

"You look handsome."

He wore the same suit he had worn for Laverne and Lenny's wedding; it was maroon, with huge shirt ruffles, but she supposed it was of the current fashion.

"Thank ya." He tried to meet her gaze, but she would not hold it. "Ya know, when ya married Walter...I wanted ta stand up."

"Why didn't you?"

"Cause you were happy."

She shrugged. "I thought I was happy with Walter. Turns out I never was."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

The music played on. Somewhere during the conversation, they had stopped dancing. He was simply holding her.

"Carmine..."

"Uh-huh?"

"I-" She paused, gulped, and continued, "I don't think I want to move back to New York. I think it would be best if we stayed in California."

Carmine snorted. "Leave it to you to throw cold water on the situation..."

Shirley frowned. "New York is like poison to you."

"Yeah, but I could get a steady job over there!"

Shirley grunted. "You could work in California. Where do you think people get discovered."

"Steve McQueen and Paul Newman got discovered on Broadway." He said flatly. "It's my best shot, Shirl."

"Well, I'm not going back to New York! Veenie needs to stay in one solid place, and I don't want to raise her in a big city!"

"Yeah? I guess yer sleepin' alone again tonight, Mrs. Ragusa! Funny, cause I always knew that'd happen if I married you!"

"Fine!" Shirley watched Carmine leave in fuming silence. Then, alone in Cowboy Bill's, she embarked on the best therapy she knew.

Scrubbing the place top to bottom.


To No I In Private

To Chapter 2