It All Comes Together

Author's note: I didn't mean for it to be this long between my first story and this one, but life got in the way.

There are two festivals in the Pacific Northwest that seem to get the majority of the publicity. One is Seafair in the Seattle area and the other is the Rose Festival in Portland Oregon.

At one time you could, for a fee, get a ride on one of the ships, that arrive for Fleet Week at the Rose Festival, from Astoria, Oregon to Waterfront Park in Portland.

Lastly, if you ever get the chance to go to a Renaissance Faire, I highly encourage it. You just might enjoy it. Also, the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is a real group, and they have put on some of best Renaissance Faires that I have been to.

While most of the locations in the story are real, some events might be fictionalized.

As always, it is set in my universe where anything can happen and usually does. Now, the story.

_______________________________________

Did you ever have one of those times when you felt like Murphy's law was written just for you before it came all together for you?

At one time, I could have been a walking billboard for Murphy's law.

I was sick two Easters in a row and had three operations while growing up in Southern California.

As an adult, it wasn't much better.

My first wife left me for another woman. I know that might be some guy's fantasy of seeing their wife have sex with another woman, but it wasn't mine.

My second wife decided that just one man was not enough for her.

That's why, when I got off the ship at Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, in downtown Portland, with my best friend Jack, finding someone of the "fair sex" was one of the last tings on my mind.

"Come on John, let's go to the beer garden. Maybe we can find you someone to spend time with there." Jack said.

That's me, John Gordon, an ordinary looking, 54 year old, 6-foot-tall man who wears glasses and is slightly overweight.

"Come on Jack," I sighed, "You know my track record with women. Who would want to have anything to do with someone that looks like me?"

"Give it a chance John," Jack said, "Your luck can't be all bad. It's bound to change. Let's go over to the beer garden, get a couple of beers and see what we can see."

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, okay," Jack stated, "A beer for me and a diet soda for you. Who knows, you might get lucky tonight."

Not very likely, I thought to myself. I sighed and stated, "I am not looking for a one night stand, Jack. I'm not even looking for a two night stand.

"I don't do that! If I find someone that I am interested in, I want it to be forever."

"Just humor me, ok?" Jack asked, "Come on, let's go."

As we walked through the park, I forgot just how crowded it gets during Rose festival.

There were exhibits, there were rides galore, there were ships from the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard, including the one we got off.

There was even a ship from the Royal Canadian Navy.

We finally made it to the beer garden, got our drinks and somehow managed to find a table.

I must have had a dour look on my face because Jack looked at me and said, "Oh come on John, at least try to look like you are having a good time."

"Jack, even though I live here, you know that Portland has some bad memories for me," I explained, "not as many anymore but, they are still there."

Then, I saw someone that I had not seen in thirty years. She was 5 foot 7, had gorgeous dark curly hair and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and had sandals on her feet.

All in all, her clothes accentuated her body in all the right places and, if I looked, I would bet that she still had those amazing green eyes.

When he saw where I was looking, Jack asked, "Do you know her?"

I was so awestruck that I couldn't say anything. All I could do was nod my head.

"Well, who is she?" Jack asked.

"Her name is Trish, Trish Paterson," I said, "and I had the biggest crush on her, but I was with someone else at the time."

I went on to explain, "I first met her when I was 21 and the last time I saw Trish, I was 24."

The next thing I know, Jack is standing up and yelling, "Trish, hey Trish Paterson, come over here for a few minutes please. I have someone who wants to meet you!"

"Jack, what in the hell do you think you are doing?" I hissed.

"What?" he asked, "I'm calling your friend over."

"Jack, I have not seen Trish in thirty years. I doubt that she would remember me." I explained.

Trish walked over to where we were, and you could see that the shock was evident on her beautiful face.

"John? Is that really you?" Trish asked.

"Hello, Blue Rose," I said using her SCA name. "It has been a while. It's good to see you again.

"How are you enjoying the fair?"

"Well," She said, "it's kind of boring, being here by myself. Do you mind if I sit with you for a bit?"

"Of course not, have a seat." I said and went to tell Jack to move over, only to find that he disappeared.

I pulled out a chair for her and got her something to drink. We spent the next couple of hours talking and catching up on what had been going on in your lives.

Trish said that she left her boyfriend when he decided to "switch teams" and came out as gay.

"Oh, by the way," Trish said, "I saw Caran the other day. She is not doing too well. Apparently, she has had many lovers since you two were divorced.

"She looks sick."

"I am sorry to hear that." I said, "I may not like how she treated me, but I didn't want anything bad to happen her.

"Enough of her, let's not only talk about us but let's you and I walk through the fair."

It was about that time that Jack returned.

"Where have been?" I asked.

"I just wanted the two of you to get reacquainted." Jack smiled.

As we walked through the fair holding hands, Trish and I continued to talk. I found out that she has one hard job, being an elementary school teacher.

She found out that I was an FM DJ on the radio.

Trish even got me to ride some of the rides that I would not normally go on, the Zipper ride for example.

"I have an idea," I said to Trish, "Tomorrow, let's go up to Government camp and not only ride the Alpine slide, but go horseback riding as well."

Trish said that would be great.

As the fair closed for the night, we went back to Trish's apartment and spent the night making love. As we laid in each other's arms, I looked at Trish and said, "I love you, Trish."

She sat up and looked at me and said, "I have always loved you, John." We, then, fell asleep in each other's arms.

Epilogue: Six months later we were married and have been going strong for five years now. I have recently learned that we are going to be parents.

Life is good.