Though it didn't matter how crazy things got, dinner time was a time to be shared with family and friends. Whether at home with a nice home cooked meal, or hanging out at a local restaurant; it was nicer to be eating together.

Unfortionitly with Thanksgiving coming up, a lot of people were busy for the Holiday. So arrangements had been made to gather everybody a bit early so they could all enjoy each others company without getting in the way of other pre-made plans.

Pete's Perfect Pizzeria was a local joint that was family owned. The two Italian brothers had settled down in the quaint little town of Coolsville and enjoyed sharing their Italian dishes with the locals. So it was easy to rent out the place for the special planned holiday get together the gang had in mind.

Everything had been planned and with the day upon them, all they had to do was get ready for everyone to arrive.

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The pizzeria was a flutter with movement. Daphne was manning the phones as Shaggy and Scooby were lending a hand and paw to help prepare for the extra amount of guests that had been invited. That left Velma and Fred to set up the tables in a way that everyone was close enough to enjoy others company but have enough room to get up. Plus there was going to be a kind of Buffet set up so it was easier then servering everyone individually. Though, as Daphne had thought of everything when it came to planning a party, she had made sure nothing was part of anyone's allergies or any special dishes had to be made were notified and prepared according to standard.

"Are those tables ready yet?"

Came a holler from the front room where Daphne had set up headquarters. Velma looked over with a sigh at Fred, as they shoved another table in place. They were part of the way done, but they had ways more to go. They were expecting more people then they had tables for, so much they had to borrow a few from friends and neighbors before hand. So it was taking a while to set up.

"Not yet Daphne!" Velma shouted back in response. Fred just smiled as he put down his end and moved to get the next table.

"Come on Velms. We better get a move on before she starts pulling out the bull whip and drums. Everything has to be perfect for everyone. I can't wait till people start showing up."

Fred was giddy. Gathering everyone together was fun, and some of them he hadn't been able to see in a while so it was going to be some night ahead of them. Velma sighed again.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I can't wait either but sometimes she really goes overboard with these plans for parties. You think we should have started this morning..."

It was a while before people would be arriving, so they should have enough time to set up. But with the frantic red head trying to make sure everything was perfect, it felt like the time was right around the corner. She didn't really understand why all the rushing. Even if people came early, wouldn't they just offer a hand rather then be possibly offended things aren't looking perfect? It was their friends and family after all.

"The only difference between now and in the morning, is the fact she would be milking a cup of black coffee in one hand and the phone in the other. That is probably the only difference." Fred said with a laugh. Velma had to laugh as well, he was probably right.

"Come on, give me a hand with this ta..." Fred was about to finish his sentence when a pair of large hands covered his eyes. They gripped him tightly enough that Fred was not able to pry the hands apart to cheat and see who they belonged too.

"Guess who..." Came a deep voice floating above his head somewhere. The voice was enough to give him away, but Fred decided to play his game.

"The Cheddar monster... no no wait. Chickenstien! No no, I got it, Commander Cool! No, That can't be it. I know, the Boogie Biker!"

Laughing, the hands pulled away from Fred's eyes and one arm wrapped around the guy to pull him close and give him a nuggie.

"About time you got it right." The bigger man behind him said with a laugh. "I was beginning to believe you forgot about me."

Fred struggled to get loose. The man behind him released him after doing the cosmetic damage to his friends hair and watched as Fred fidgeted it back into place.

"Come on Red, you think I would be allowed to forget the one time I wasn't allowed to accuse you and it turned out that you actually did it? No way. Plus you kinda have a familiar voice, it's hard to miss." Extending his hand, Red and Fred gave each other a firm friendly handshake.

"Nice to see you buddy. I hope we weren't to early." Red looked over and noticed Velma grinning at the two friends. He blushed in embarrassment for missing her and took off his cap and bowed. "Fine evening Miss Velma, pardon me for not saying so sooner."

"Pardon accepted."

She tried not to chuckle. Ever since he had come back from military school, he had always been overly nice to them all. In his effort to make up for all the rotten things he had done to them as kids. Personally Velma didn't hold any grudges, they were kids and now they are adults. Things happen and as long as he learned from his mistakes he didn't have to beat himself up for it. But part of what he had said earlier was puzzling her. "...We?"

"Oh, sorry. I talked to Daphne earlier and she said it wouldn't be a problem inviting some of the guys I work with along with me. I figure we would come a bit early to give you guys a hand. From what Daphne had been saying, you guys have a lot of people coming. So Helping out is our specialty. Come on in guys!" Red shouted over his shoulder at the group of rough looking guys who were milling about uncertainly by the front of the pizzeria.

As Red shouted, it got their attention and they wandered over to where Fred and Velma had been setting up the tables. It was a motly crew of four men, all looking different.

"Let me introduce you. These are the guys I work with with Habitat for Humanity. This is 'Spider' Jack Morgan"

The first guy was the littlest of the group. Though still taller then Velma. He was the odd man out of the group because of his smaller stature then the rest of the burly guys, but he was wiry looking. Which was good since that was his specialty.

"He's called Spider for a reason, this is the guy we trust with all the electrical wiring. And he skitters up and down the skeleton of the houses like one as well. But he's the best in the business and one to trust."

Scooting out of the small line they had formed for introductions, he moved to give a polite but awkward bow to Velma and tipped his hat to Fred. They were being overly polite, though nice it felt a bit odd. Taking a step back, he made room for the others to be introduced.

"The next is Baxter Persy."

A man standing almost as tall as Red took a step forward. While being similar to Red in body size, the rest of him was quite different. While Red's hair was curly and red, Baxter's hair was black, slicked back into a neat but long ponytail. Red had a goatee, Baxter's face was shaven though stubbly. He also had a pair of glasses sitting neatly on his short and stubby nose, the kinda nose it looked like a fight that happened long ago had made. He might have been scary to run across the street at night, but in the pizzeria light he looked more skittish then anything. He nodded to them both. Red grinned and leaned close to the two. Cupping his hand by his mouth, he whispered to them.

"He's afraid his wife might find out that he went to a party without her. She just thought it was going to be just all the guys. If she knew their would be such pretty ladies here, she would be jealous."

Velma shook her head, though blushed a little at the compliment. Being 'ladies' it did seem to mean it was her included. Fred nudged Red and grinned.

"Well he should have invited her as well. The more the merrier."

"Tempting, but I think it's better not to invite her. Two Red heads under the same roof would be scary." He paused, looking at a stray lock of his own hair that hung into view before laughing and changing his sentence. "Two lady Red-heads under the same roof."

"Ahhhh... Got it." Fred said with a grin, pointing his finger at Red in acknowledgment. Better to not ruffle the feathers.

"The last two are Twins, if you couldn't guess. Doesn't take a detective does it?" He said with a chuckle.

"Har Har." Muttered Velma, giving Red a tight lipped smile. Along with a roll of her eyes. Red seemed more amused, he still couldn't stop occasionally picking on them for fun. As long as it wasn't ill intended. He continued.

"Brett and Jasper Howell. And no relation to the crazy news lady." Red snorted.

"I had that name first." Jasper said in his own defense. He out of the two had slightly lighter hair. Though both were a sandy hair color, his was a smidgen lighter... though it could be the lighting. They were both a lighter build then Red and Baxter, but wider then the lean Jack.

Each of the guys had put on their best clothing for the occasion, but since it really wasn't to formal, jeans and nice t-shirts were acceptable.

"Well, nice to meet you all." Velma felt like curtsying to them all, since they had been so overly formal but since she would just look silly, she didn't. Though she knew Fred would have gotten a kick out of it and never let her forget that she did it. Heaven forbid if Daphne had found out, better she didn't, she thought.

"Come on guys, let's pitch in." With a nod from Red, the other guys moved to help with the tables.

"Let me help you with that little lady." Baxter came over and moved to try to help Velma with her side of the table. Fred was about to say something when Red cut in.

"Um, Baxter, she isn't the one going to be needing the help. Better get on Fred's side."

"Hey!" Fred snorted in his own defense.

Velma sighed. All she needed was some overly macho guy thinking she needed a hand. She had been just putting these tables up with Fred for the last while. It wasn't like he could have done the whole room by himself.

"Baxter, come here." Waving the man over, Red tried to cut in to make sure he didn't overstep his boundary's accidentally. Red had more then once been overwhelmed by Velma in the past, from being pulled out of a bush by his ankle, to her lifting his bike. She was stronger then she looked.

Shaking her head, Velma nodded to Fred as they easily lifted the table to set it in place where they needed it. Red pulled the man over and whispered into his ear.

"You know that guy there, and the lady in the front. Well add a full grown Great Dane and a guy around Jack's frame and close to our height and she runs around carrying that all the time. This is THE Velma Dinkley we are talking about."

Baxter's eyes had grown wide. He was only told that they were going to Red's friends party. Not that it was 'the Mystery Inc' gang's party. He knew Red knew them and they lived somewhere in Coolsville, but he never expected such famous people to be chilling out in a pizzeria. Let along be allowed for the ride. Him and his wife had always been big fans. She had been a fan of Daphne's for a long time, and now she would really kill him for not inviting her.

"My wife is going to kill me.... Um... Do you mind if I give her a call and invite her after all?" The large ox of a man looked meek and bashful. He was going to get wrath for lying a bit to her, but he hoped that being who was entertaining, she would forgive him. Red laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Let Daphne know, she'll loan you the phone. She's always eager to meet fans. Tell her to come over."

Skittering away, Velma's interest got perked as the man disapeared to the front. And it didn't help the look on Red's face. Wandering over to him as Fred helped one of the other guys, Velma thumbed over to where Baxter vanished.

"What's up with him?"

"Oh, he's calling his wife to come over. I bet she'll fly over here in a few minutes." Red said with a chuckle.

"What did you say that made him change his mind. I thought it was not best to have 'two redheads' under one roof." Velma said leaning up to tug on a loose curl that she could reach.

"Ow, heh heh. Yeah, that was before he found out who was hosting this little shindig." Red rubbed the back of his head where she had tugged. Hair was sensitive you know. It only took Velma a little bit before she put it together. But she didn't get a time to express it before Baxter came back.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry Ms. Dinkley. I apologize for earlier." The large man almost groveled at her feet. She felt like smacking her face with her palm. She almost wished for him being overly macho over this. Fred wandered over and peered at the man.

"Oh even a Ms. Dinkley. Big fan, eh?" He surmised. Velma sighed.

"Big fan." She stated. Today was just supposed to be a nice get together. Though it was nice to have fans sometimes, some of them went to far with their appreciation. They were just normal folks like everyone else, they just tended to get far more publicity for their actions. Red just was amused and went to give the other guys a hand. It was still so much fun to bug them. And Velma was to easy this way.

"Come on. That's enough of that." She stood the man till he was standing straight. Which was not to hard of a task, which surprised him as she almost lifted him off the ground. Red wasn't kidding she was strong for her size.

"Yes. I am myself. There. You have met me, now grab that side of the table and let's get this table in place." She sighed yet again. At least he was more then willing to help out now. He followed her instructions easily and he noticed that even though she was shorter then him, she kept pace with him moving the table into place. He figured that with their difference in height that their stride would be awkward, but it almost seemed like she was gliding across the floor with ease.

With the guys help, the tables got set up in record time. Oddly enough, the rough house builders were rather talented when it came to laying the table cloth and making sure the thin paper didn't rip. Well, except for Red, who was all thumbs. Then again, he was the only one of his crew that wasn't married and forced at one time or another by their wives to accommodate for guests. They fell inot loose chitchatting as they waited for Daphne's next round of orders or for more guests to arrive.

Baxter's wive Suzy came quickly, as expected. It was easy to know when she arrived as a shrill sound of happiness that only came out of a fangirl, echoed from the front of the shop. It was even loud enough that Scooby had peeked his head out of the kitchen to see who was making the racket. But at the sight of the two red heads bonding over their current outfits, he quickly disappeared into the safety of the kitchen.

"I'm so glad I'm not like that." Velma grumbled, though a bit envious of her best friend for having someone react to her like that. But then remembering how the man had reacted earlier, she was happy it didn't happen as often. On occasion was nice, too much was overdoing it.

Zipping into the main room where they had all been hanging out, Suzy gave her husband a kiss on the mouth before vanishing to give Daphne a hand. Baxter blinked at the sudden affection and stared aimlessly as she evaporated back to the front to give Daphne a hand. Red snickered and came up beside Baxter to clap him on the shoulder.

"I think she forgave you for not telling her where you were going."

"I guess so."

Fred strolled over and sat on the edge of the table next to Velma. Looking over at the guest that were already there, he sighed.

"Looks like this is the beginning of one crazy party."

"You said it. And it's only just started." She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.