CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS CLIM STYLE

The Fais-Do-Do, Friday evening

by Ev and Donna

The first people to arrive were Sarah Jo and her bunch. Duende and Father Alec had Paddy and Bridget on leashes and Dani had Huckleberry Finn in a cat kennel. Since Farmer Grey was now officially one of Sarah Jo's charges he had been invited to come as well and he was standing a little nervously with the rest of the men. His new dog, Lad, was sitting obediently in the stay position at his side. Since they were going to be there all weekend, Rayden had insisted they bring their pets with them. The cats were going to have a luxurious room filled with kitty condos and toys and the dogs were going to be able to run in a fenced off section of the back yard.

As Ev and Jathelle greeted them all warmly, Connor and the rest of Katherine's charges walked up to the door as well. Colleen had absolutely refused to get into a kennel and was riding high on John Clayton's shoulder, surveying her surroundings like a royal princess. Ev giggled at the sight and waved them in as well.

"We are going to take you to your rooms right away so you can drop off your things," Jathelle said. She and Ev been appointed the official greeters and escorts for all the arriving guests.

"And after that go on out to the back yard. The food is ready and anytime you want something to eat just help yourselves. We aren't doing a sit down dinner tonight, just an eat whenever you feel like it spread of cajun food. I warn you though, some of the stuff is very hot!" Ev exclaimed. She blew them all kisses but stayed near the door to greet the next batch of people.

Jathelle led every one to a long hall. The first room had a sign on it called Kitty Kastle and that was where Colleen and Finn were dropped off. The two of them were used to each other's company anyway and immediately started to chase each other up and down the kitty playground that had been made for them. Right next door was a room with a placard with Connor and John Clayton's names on it. Jathelle opened the door, revealing a small comfortable dorm like room.

"You can rest if you need too and change clothes in here," Jathelle said with a grin as they tossed their bags on the extra long twin beds. "Bathrooms and showers are across the hall." Paul and Indiana shared the next room. Two door down, Duende and Dani dropped their bags in the room with their names on it and a room across the hall had Farmer Grey's name on the door.

"Who is Hudson Santeek?" he asked after reading the other name.

"He helps me out at the zoo. Good with all animals, especially dogs," Lord Greystoke answered. "You two will get along just fine. I'll introduce you to him when he gets here." Farmer Grey just shrugged and nodded his head in reply. It had taken some fancy talking by Sarah Jo and his fellow charges to even get him here for the party.

Father Alec was the only one without an overnight bag. He had been invited for the meal but had been privately warned that he would most likely not want to stay for the festivities afterwards. He had just raised his eyebrows and shook his head at that piece of information. He had been invited back for the western BBQ scheduled for Sunday afternoon though.

"Where is Sarah Jo going to sleep?" Dani asked Jathelle. He had noticed that none of the five ladies had their names on any of the doors in the hall where they were expected to sleep.

"She chose to stay up at the cabin. You will be able to see it from the back porch, Rayden didn't want her and any *friends* she took up there to wear themselves out on the trip up there," Jathelle giggled. Sarah Jo just rolled her eyes back and grinned. "The rest of us ladies have some very special rooms upstairs," Jathelle continued.

As Jathelle led them all outside, Ev answered the door and let the next bunch in. Carol was there with Monroe and Mullard as well as Franck, Fred and Jeremie. As she greeted them, John Brennick came running over from the house next door.

It took awhile for Ev to hug and kiss everyone as they entered, and by that time Jathelle was back, this time with Theron. "I'll show you men your rooms," she said with a bright smile that caused some of the CLims hearts to skip a beat.

"Carol, let me show you to your accommodations," Theron said in a deep voice as he offered Carol his arms.

She almost purred as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "See yah later, fellas," she said with a wink as he escorted her up the stairs. When he got to the door with the name Carol spelled out in ornate letters, he bowed and opened the door with a flourish. "Your room, Madame," he said smoothly.

Carol gasped when she saw what was inside. "I LOVE it!" she cried out. It was decorated all in black and purple. Some sort of glittery starry-looking stuff covered the walls and ceiling. A very large four poster bed dominated the room but it had a giant purple lava lite in the corner and black light with pictures on the walls that glow. She went inside and twirled around, taking in the whole room. "It's absolutely perfect!" she exclaimed as she ran back to Theron and gave him a resounding kiss.

Downstairs, Jathelle showed Mullard and Monroe the room they were going to share. Franck and Fred were together and Brennick was to share a room with Jack LeRolland and Jeremie with Michele. Once they knew where they belonged, she took them outside to join the others who were already starting to dig into the food. Most everyone, that is, except Katherine and John Prudhomme. They were out on the lawn dancing to the toe tapping music. On a porch swing Father Alec and Jeremy were entertaining the two very wide awake and excited twins.

Jathelle made it back to the door just in time to find Michele, Sal, Lou, Lemiuex, Hudson, Jimi, Vincent, and Peter all crowded around Ev; waiting their turn to be kissed and hugged by her. Ev looked like she was in seventh heaven at the moment. Once the kisses were done, she and Jathelle showed the there rooms as well. Jimi and Vincent were together, as well as Peter and Lou. Lemiuex was overjoyed to find out he would be sharing a room with Prudhomme for the weekend but after Jathelle and Ev soothed his ruffled feathers, he mumbled he could put up with just about anything for kisses like that. Gus and Jeremy had been told to join the others down in the hall for the weekend. Sal was the one that lucked out and didn't have a roommate assigned to him, a fact that was already causing him to get a lot of ribbing.

Now that all the guests had arrived, the party began in earnest. All the men raved over the food, even though it seemed there was a lot of liquids being consumed after nearly every bite of some of the food. A jug of moonshine had mysteriously appeared and was being passed around. The guys were trying to keep it's existence a secret from the women folk but all five of them were very aware of it. After finishing off his plate, Duende snatched Sarah Jo from the cluster of guys that had surrounded her and took her out to dance as well. Not to be out done, Sal grabbed Ev and Connor disentangled Jathelle from her admirers as well. Feeling pretty bold that evening after several glasses of the drink called Hurricane, Indiana walked up to the girl with long red hair that was dressed all in black and purple and asked her to dance. Carol's eyes sparkled as she looked over the handsome archeologist and licked her lips as she told him that she would just love to *dance* with him.

Several hours later, Father Alec bid farewell to the other party goers. Ev and the other women all made a big fuss over him as he prepared to leave, wanting him to feel that he was not being rushed out the door. He told them he knew better and after giving them all a brotherly hug, took Bridget and left.

There was now 23 CLims, the five women and four other non-CLim men left at the party. Little did they know, those numbers were fixing to grow. As the celebration went on, something no one expected to happen was starting to unfold over at the Bistro.