Page 18 of Creed

“For one day of the year I get to appoint one little girl to be a princess for me. So, Hannah, do you accept, and will you be a princess for me today?”

The little girl nodded real big.

“Alright, with the power vested in me, by title and by birth, I now appoint Hannah as my princess of Camelot.” Morgan tapped her nose, and the little girl giggled.

“Now that you’re officially a princess, you have duties. Your first duty for the evening will begin when the music starts. You must gather all the children and dance. Make sure you dance your heart out tonight and don’t leave any other children out. Do you understand?”

The little girl nodded. “Good, you better get started because the band is setting up now.”

The little girl hugged Morgan then ran away. When she took a seat next to me she looked down at my plate. “So, what would it take to get my freak on with that chicken breast right there?” She pointed at it then batted her eyes at me.

Drakos spoke up. “If you agree to have my baby, I’ll take Callahan out back and rough him up for that reci…” I elbowed Drakos and he grunted. Dammit to hell, I shouldn’t have done that, now they all thought I wanted Morgan to myself.

I reached down and handed the breast to her. “Free of charge.” I didn’t even crack a smile. Then I looked at Jenny. “It was nice seeing you all again. I have some things to do for the raffle. Please excuse me.”

I walked off with my tray while internally cursing myself. I wasn’t just pissed about that woman getting the best of me, but she got my chicken too. I really wanted that piece. Indiana festival fried chicken was no joking matter. Fucking hell! It was only available at fundraisers, festivals, and special occasions. Mainly just during the summer and I knew I wouldn’t see another piece for at least a month.

I helped the ladies in charge of the raffle and slowly, very slowly they announced the winners. Morgan won the quilt, spoiled brat, I wanted that too. It was handmade and everything. First she got my chicken and then she got my quilt. Enough was enough.

After the raffle I relieved the bartender for about an hour. It was busy, so I didn’t get to keep my eye on her. Why did I care though? Right, she had a nice rack and a gorgeous ass. Shemade me hard just by being in the same room, and she gave me those other weird feelings.

I was stunned when I heard her being called up to stage over the speakers. I was also shocked to learn that Morgan knew that little Hannah was Lance’s daughter.

“I cant believe you called me up here.” She laughed a little. I tried to see her on the stage and when I did I saw Morgan holding Hannah’s little hand. “Some of you may know me as Morgan, but Hannah knows my true identity of Princess Emelia. Today is a very special day for Hannah, its her princess day. So, instead of me singing for you, it’ll be me and Hannah singing Starlight from the Princess Chronicles.” Morgan kneeled down and shared the microphone with Hannah. I was awestruck. Not just me, but everyone. The people waiting in line for beer, stood frozen as they watched the magic happening on stage.

What I was seeing up on that stage was definitely not the kind of innocence that attracted me, but holy hell it was beautiful. Everything from her voice, to the way she shared that microphone with Hannah, and even those eyes that shined so brightly. I could still see them from the other side of the VFW hall.

They were still singing when they stepped off the stage. I left the bar just to see what they were doing and what I saw broke my heart. She was helping little Hannah sing the words “I’ll still love you when you live among the stars,” to her daddy who was too weak to stand from his wheelchair. The man was wiping his tears and crying as his baby girl sang that children’s song to him. Morgan backed away and gave Hannah that special moment with her dad. I had to turn away. There was no way anyone was going to catch this Green Beret crying. I raced back to the bar and did my best to put it out of my mind. The sceneI just witnessed reminded me of missing my own dad and how badly I fucked up our relationship. I was no stranger to regrets but when I thought about Lance, I guessed a man like him had only one regret. That would have been the short amount of time he would have had with his little family. The man had life by the balls until an unnecessary and very powerful evil entered his life. It was an evil that not even a special ops agent could fight and win. His cancer was just too far progressed since the treatments weren’t working the way everyone hoped.

When the song ended, everyone clapped. Then the other music started. When I was done helping at the bar, I finally saw her. She was dancing as she was surrounded by kids. They all stuck to her like magnets. She was bouncing, twirling, laughing, holding toddlers one minute, then singing along in a circle the next minute. I had to admit one thing to myself. If she was trying to impress anyone, she wouldn’t have been on that dance floor acting like a complete and total goofball. I realized in that moment, Morgan Rozzi was a nerd and I kind of liked it.

I was one of the organizers and the bike shop sponsored the fundraiser, so I was busy helping out wherever I could be useful. The night went on, children went home, and what was left was people who wanted to dance and drink. I stood and watched as couples slow danced to a country song. Then I saw her. She was dancing with a man her age, and they were dancing a little too close. I looked at Magnus as he scanned the dance floor.

“Who is that man?” I nodded toward Morgan.

“That’s Tristan Brown, her high school sweetheart.”

I felt my fist clench. “What do you know about him?”

“Tristan?”

I nodded.

“He’s a good guy. They dated through high school, but he wasn’t into the whole Hollywood thing. He broke up with her their senior year. He never moved on from what I can tell. He truly loved that girl, and he once told me he thought he would hold her back. That she was meant for bigger things than Cold Springs could offer. He stayed behind, worked for Rainbow Disposal, and never married. He said some tabloids published some crazy stuff about them and his parents really pressured him to break it off. He obviously still regrets it.” Magnus explained.

“She dated a garbage man?” I was a bit shocked.

“Why does that matter? Even if it did, he wasn’t back then. In the world of regular people, they make decent money and it’s honest work. It doesn’t seem to bother Morgan. No matter what you read in the tabloids, Morgan is a nice girl. A little spoiled with nice things, but she’s a good person. This town respects her, well other than the naked movie scenes. They still pray for her to stop doing that every Sunday at Mass. She’s permanently on the prayer list, Patrick made a big donation to make it happen.”

I watched and felt my jaw clenching as the guy pulled her in closer and she rested her head against his chest.

“You knew him all your life?” I asked.

He took a drink of his beer and shook his head. “They’re both younger than me. The most I interacted with her was when my bitch of an ex was picking on her. It pissed me off to no end. I told her not to let it get to her. Morgan was smart, talented, and very kind, which made her the perfect target of the mean girls. She truly was bullied despite the fact that she was nearlyperfect in all the guys eyes. Tristan wasn’t the most popular guy in school, but she really did fall for him.”

“She didn’t hold out for the most popular guy?” That was surprising.

“It didn’t seem she did, but the girls all thought he was cute or something. He’s in management now and is doing pretty well for himself. He might not be rich, but he’s a good man.” He took another drink of his beer.

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