Dorsai - Jan

It took a few seconds before they all realized that I'd just said that they could still go to the prom – with me and Kelly. Their combined relief and joy was clear on their faces as they jumped up (scaring the cat) and headed for either me, or Kelly. Kelly wound up with Candice and Susan; I got Jan, Sandra and Robyn. Both of us were tear-saturated in short order, before they all decided to exchange sides.

They finally settled down again, and found seats on the floor. After a bit, the cat eased around the end of the couch, as though worried about another stampede. Finally satisfied that they were going to hold still again, moved in among them, and got all the attention and affection it could possibly have wanted.

As they all dried their faces, Kelly came around to stand next to me for a moment before we settled ourselves down on the couch. They all shared looks, and it was Jan that looked up at us and said "Kelly, Uncle Dan, we're really sorry about this. What you said was right – we did think we were better than the boys at school, and we did forget that what we did would affect you and Kelly. And we're all really sorry that we messed up your time together."

Robyn took over, saying "Yeah, we were really dumb, and were selfish – but about the wrong things, and for the wrong reasons. I don't know how we can ever thank you for loving us enough to take us with you."

Kelly answered her by saying "That's easy. Learn from the mistake, so nothing like it happens again."

Chastised, all of them looked at their laps, and nodded their heads. But it didn't take them long to cheer up at the idea of still going to their prom, either.

Eventually, they started talking among themselves, and I pulled Kelly over to whisper in her ear "Okay, I was the bad cop. Now you be the good cop, and find out what they need to still go – dresses, jewelry, that sort of thing. If any of them need help getting something to wear, I'll cover the difference between what they can afford and what you decide would be appropriate. I know I can get some loaner jewelry from Paul, if they need it. I'll make arrangements for the transportation and corsages." Kelly smiled at me, and gave me a quick kiss before I stood up and headed for my office to give them that extra bit of freedom to talk.

After a while, Kelly came back to tell me that they'd gotten everything worked out, and that the others were getting ready to leave. I went out, and each of them came over to me to give me a kiss on the cheek and quiet 'Thank you!' before heading out the door.

When they were gone, Kelly came up and hugged me before saying "That was really sweet of you to offer to help them get ready, and get them some nice jewelry. Uh, we're all going to the mall tomorrow to pick out dresses for them. They're all perfectly happy to let you pick out jewelry for them to wear."

I dug my wallet out, and handed her my Amex Platinum card, saying "Here.

If any of them need financial help, use this. If they insist on giving you the money, tell them to go ahead and put it in the poor box at church, or give it to a charity or something. After they've got their dresses, you and I are going to Paul's and pick them out something to dress up with."

She smiled, and took the card, before giving me a kiss. We sat down on the couch, and were immediately joined by the cat.

After they went to the mall, Kelly absolutely refused to let me see any of the dresses they'd selected, saying "They all wanted it to be a surprise for you. I promise you, it will be – and a nice one, I think!", with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

When we went to Paul's place, he was more than happy to let me 'borrow' some jewelry – not only did he know I was good for it, but Jan had told him why I wanted to borrow it. I made Kelly promise that if the girls got to keep their dresses secret from me, then WE got to keep the jewelry secret from them. She grinned, and said it sounded fair to her.

Kelly knew what the dresses looked like, and was able to help make appropriate selections.

For Robyn, we found a gold necklace set with a bunch of small emeralds, and matching earrings. Kelly and Paul both agreed that it would look stunning on her.

Candice's choice proved to be surprisingly easy – a platinum mesh necklace and matching bracelet.

Susan was easy, as well: a necklace made of miniature white gold ingots; a pair of white gold earrings set with rubies that would match her lips and accentuate the blue of her eyes.

Sandra was the most difficult – but we finally settled on a gold necklace that tapered to a 'vee', where a yellow star sapphire was set, with gold earrings set with yellow sapphires.

I had to get a promise from Paul that he wouldn't tell Jan about the gold necklace set with a variety of small diamonds we'd picked out, or the wrought gold armband that accentuated it so nicely.

With our selections made, I told Paul that I'd pick them up the afternoon of the Prom, and keep them with me until I put them on the girls, and return them the next morning. He assured me that it wasn't a problem, knowing that the stuff would be safe with me.

That out of the way, I called around, and found a place that actually had a limo large enough to hold the entire group of us – the manager of the limo service casually informed me that even during Prom season, nobody needed or wanted a monster that size. I booked it, and went on to find corsages for all of them. I finally found a florist that was willing to take orders for their top-end corsages – no one else had been interested, because of the price. They assured me that the Hawaiian orchids they were made of would be flown in the day of the prom, after being picked that morning.

I checked with Kelly, and made arrangements with her for each of them to get a small bottle of fine perfume. The ploy was that she was to take them, individually, into a particular store belonging to one of the finer chains. There, they would be 'awarded' a free gift for being the umpteenth visitor to the perfume counter that day – a week long promotion, you know. The prize was to be a bottle (smallest size, to make it plausible) of her choice of their finest perfumes. The lady at the perfume counter thought it was delightfully sweet of me, and romantic, and promised full cooperation. Just for safety's sake, we ran it by her boss, too, and readily got his approval – he liked the idea of multiple sales, and was willing to play along to help make them.

Sure enough, Kelly was able to ease them into position, so that each one was 'first' to arrive at the perfume counter, where the saleslady played her part to perfection. Each of them was delighted at their good fortune, and each made her own selection – unique from anything the others selected, thankfully.

The last part was something that Kelly did, independently and on her own – she and all the rest of them went to one of the best beauty salons in town for the full treatment, the day of the prom. Coiffed, made up, manicured, pedicured, and generally pampered to within an inch of their lives, their only regret was the necessity of leaving.

When she got home, I almost didn't recognize her, so thoroughly had they gone over her – I could only imagine what waited for me with the others.

As it got time for them to meet us at my place, Kelly started to get nervous – and promptly calmed down when Candice, then Susan showed up; and soon after, Sandra, then Robyn, and finally, Jan.

Candice was dressed in a raw silk sheath that I was sure the silkworms had spun directly on her. It almost made my guts ache to look at her, she was so delightful.

Sandra had opted for a strapless black evening number, snug on her torso, but loose and flowing below her hips. If it hadn't been for the texture of the material, I'd have though it was spray-painted on her.