[legendsport]

April 26, 1941: Detroit, MI:

"Talk about a whirlwind romance..." Gloria Barrell said to her cousin Marty.

Marty Barrell's mouth curled in a knowing smirk, causing Gloria to ask, "And what's with that look?"

"Oh, nothing," Marty said, although it was obvious she was holding back laughter.

"C'mon, give over," Gloria said with more than a hint of exasperation in her voice.

Marty Barrell sighed dramatically and said, "Well, I would say that your statement had more than a bit of the old 'pot calling the kettle black' in it."

Gloria frowned and she shook her head. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she said, though of course she knew exactly what her cousin meant.

"Oh yes, you do!" Marty blurted and burst into laughter.

Gloria huffed and said, "Aren't you a little young to be so...." she trailed off and just shook her head in frustration.

Marty choked down her laughter and pointed at the dance floor where the groom was whisking his new bride across the floor while the band Jack Barrell had hired did a fair version of "Stardust," a song Marty found terribly old-fashioned. "Do you think Charley would cut the same dashing figure as his brother?" she asked, nodding her chin at Bill McCullough.

Now it was Gloria's turn to laugh. "I can't imagine Charley McCullough in a military uniform. Even in those baggy baseball uniforms that man looks sloppy. Half the time his shirttails are hanging out," she said.

"Well, I will say this much: of all my cousins I can't say I would have pegged Aggie as the first to tie the knot," Marty said. And this was true, Agnes Barrell, it was said, took after her late father Jimmy Barrell in that she lacked what Marty's father Rollie would call "a serious mindset." But Aggie, at the ripe old age of 21 (two years younger than Gloria and three older than Marty) had caught herself a dashing Naval officer. Even Marty, whose father called her a "blazing beacon of women's liberation" thought that Bill was heart-crushingly handsome in his dress whites. Even worse, it reminded her that she didn't have a boyfriend, let alone a fiance like Gloria did. Charley & Gloria hadn't set a date yet, but it would certainly not happen until after baseball season. Charley was playing second base on the same Cincinnati Cannons team as Gloria's twin brother Rufus, or Deuce as he insisted upon being called (Marty thought that was a particularly asinine nickname).

"What I can't believe is Aggie gets to go live in Hawaii, of all places," Gloria said, snapping Marty out of her reverie.

"It's so far away," they heard from behind.

Marty rolled her eyes. She knew that voice all too well. "What do you want? Can't you see your elders are talking?" she snarled as she spun and shot a withering look at her sister. Allie Barrell was just 11 years old and therefore more of a nuisance to the almost-eighteen-year-old Marty than she had been just a few years earlier.

"Oh, lighen up, Marty," Gloria said and smiled at Allie before adding, "Yes, it sure is far away. But Bill said that this fall the Arizona is due to head to Seattle for a refit... or something... I don't understand all that military jargon... Anyway, that'll mean Aggie will be back on the mainland in no time."

"Bill told me that his ship is over six hundred feet long. That's more than two football fields!" Allie said. Marty rolled her eyes again; her sister was fascinated by the most mundane things, and entirely too interested in football - all because their father happened to own the Detroit Maroons football team.

Jack and Rollie walked up. "What are you gals up to?" Jack asked.

"Dad, Allie's bothering us," Marty complained to her father.

"Am not!" Allie cried.

"Oh stop it Marty, Allie is not a bother at all," Gloria said and gave a half-smile to her uncle Rollie. He winked back at her. Ever since Joe Barrell had died, Rollie - and Jack for that matter - had made a point of staying in touch with both Gloria and Deuce, trying to help fill the gap left by Joe's untimely death.

"We've talked about this Martha," Rollie told his older daughter. She frowned, knowing that when he used her full name it meant he was serious. She frowned and muttered a "sorry" while her sister grinned.

"I suppose this means you're next, Gloria," Jack said.

Rollie added, "And when you marry Charley, you and your cousin will become sisters-in-law... or is it sister-in-laws?"

Jack laughed and said, "I think it's the first one, Rollie."

"Too bad more of the family couldn't be here," Gloria said, hoping to change the subject. She had agreed to marry Charley but sometimes wondered if she did it just to get him off her back. She believed that she did love him, and she definitely loved how uncomfortable their relationship made her brother, but marriage was a b-i-g deal and she wasn't a "leap before you look" type like Agnes.

"Well... it is baseball season," Jack said. He nodded to the head table where his parents were sitting, both smiling as they gazed at their granddaughter dancing in her white dress. "I'm just glad Pop could make it. I guess being the head scout for the Cannons means he can skip a game or two if he wishes," he finished. The Cannons were in Toronto and though Rufus didn't often travel with the team, he sometimes did do so - largely, in Jack's opinion, so he could spend time with his namesake grandson.

"Too bad James couldn't make it," Rollie said.

Jack nodded - James Slocum was Aggie's half-brother after all. "He's busy with flight school. Aggie told me he graduated first in his class and is now in advanced training. Apparently he wants to fly that new bomber... the B-17."

"They like to keep in touch, huh?" Allie asked.

"Yep, they sure do," Jack told her. "Jimmy would be so proud," he said in a soft, near-whisper to Rollie, who nodded slowly.

Marie appeared out of the crowd. "Jack, I need you," she told her husband. Jack excused himself and followed his wife to the table where Bill McCullough's parents were sitting.

"I love her accent," Allie said.

For once, Marty didn't roll her eyes at her sister but instead said, "Me too."

Rollie looked at Gloria. "Did you set a date yet?"

Gloria shook her head. "No. We do need to wait til the offseason and Charley said he really wants Bill there as best man."

"Understandable," Rollie replied. Bill needed to get back to Hawaii and the Navy wasn't taking no for an answer - which was the only thing that kept Charley McCullough from attending his brother's wedding.

"Yes, of course," Gloria said before continuing, "Bill's ship is supposed to go into drydock in Bremerton in November, and hopefully he can get some leave. So maybe early December?"

"Hmm..." Rollie said. He pulled a small book out of his jacket.

"Oh, boy, here comes the planner," Marty said. She looked at Gloria and explained, "My dad keeps everything in that book. I mean everything."

Rollie shook his head. "Don't exaggerate Marty." He thumbed through the book. "Well, let's see. Looks like the Saturdays... assuming you want to get hitched on a Saturday... are the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th. Last one's probably out because of Christmas..." He flipped the book closed. "Not that my schedule matters, but our season ends November 30th. The championship game would be on the 14th, so... maybe the 6th or the 20th?"

"Don't schedule your wedding around my father," Marty told her cousin.

"Oh, but I want to go to the wedding!" Allie said.

"We could just go with Mom," Marty told her sister.

"No, no," Gloria told her cousins, "I want you all to be there." She put her hand on Rollie's arm, "It would mean the world to me to have you there, Uncle Rollie."

Rollie grinned. "And it would mean that much to me to be there!"

Marty shook her head. Weddings...

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