By the time they arrived it was late afternoon. They rang the doorbell.
"Coming!" Rocko called from the kitchen; he opened the door to find Claire and Inez.
Rocko was surprised, one of the last things he expected to find on his doorstep were two pretty girls.
"Are you Rocko Wallabee?" Claire asked.
"Uh...yes I am...can I help you?" Rocko almost blushed.
"Of course, we're here about ze spare bedroom you wrote about in you ad." Inez nodded, showing Rocko the ad.
Rocko was more than surprised now.
"Uh, of course, please come in." Rocko let them in and then led them upstairs to the bedroom.
Claire and Inez looked it over.
"What do you think sis?" Claire asked.
"I think it'll do great." Inez smiled, winking at Claire.
Claire just blushed, while Rocko watched the scene in confusion.
"Uh, may I help you unpack?" Rocko offered.
"No, zat's okay, we didn't pack much." Inez smiled.
"Okay..." Rocko started to walk away.
"Hang on, is everything okay?" Claire looked concerned.
"Yeah it's just...I expected an old maid or a college student to answer the ad, not two lovely ladies." Rocko blushed. "And...are those French accents?"
"Oui, we came here from France on a getaway." Inez smiled, flattered (Claire was even more flattered).
"Wow, I love France...or at least the genuine culture."
"Ah, you are not fond of Chokey Chicken taking over various landmarks are you?" Claire smiled. "Neither are we, but ze king had ze final say so."
"Really?" Rocko smiled. "Oh, I didn't catch your names."
Claire and Inez introduced themselves.
"Those are very nice names." Rocko smiled. "Now, about the payment..."
"Of course, will zis do?" Claire took some money out of her purse and gave it to Rocko.
Rocko dropped his mouth open upon seeing how much there was. In fact, he dropped it so low that it hit the ground.
"Two-hundred bucks?" He gasped. "Oh I'm sorry, but this is too much..."
"If it is by ze week then how about by ze month instead?" Inez suggested.
"Er, still too much..." Rocko rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Okay, a hundred a month, but zat's our final offer." Claire winked.
Rocko blushed again.
"Okay, a hundred a month." He agreed.
"As for chores, we'll be happy to help." Inez smiled. "I don't mind cleaning and Claire here is a mean cook."
"Oh I'm not zat good." Claire waved a hand dismissively.
"I'm sure you'll be better than me at it." Rocko smiled.
"We'll see, I'm cooking dinner tonight."
"Great, I'll get the kitchen ready."
Claire and Inez unpacked while Rocko did a little cleaning. He and Inez then chatted on the couch while Claire cooked. Rocko and Inez liked each other right away, but Rocko felt something different for Claire. He just couldn't figure out what it was. After a little over an hour, a great smell wafted through the house.
"Dinner's ready!" Claire called.
Rocko and Inez went into the kitchen and saw a cooked chicken on the table. Rocko dropped his mouth open again, but not as much as last time.
"Your garlic lemon chicken with mushroom stuffing!" Inez said excitedly. "I've missed zat dish!"
"Well, I thought it would be ze perfect meal to test how good a cook I am." Claire smiled; she then caught Rocko's surprised look. "Oh, in case you're wondering I snuck out earlier and bought the ingredients. It's on me and don't argue."
"Oh." Rocko recovered and sat down; they started to eat. "Wow, this is the best meal I ever had!" Rocko smiled.
"Thanks, I'm glad you liked it." Claire smiled back.
The next morning, Rocko woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs. He smelled something good, sort of like pancakes.
"What's for breakfast?" Rocko asked, knowing that Claire was cooking in the kitchen again.
"Crepes." Inez smiled, having finished dusting.
They went into the kitchen and sure enough there was a pile of crepes on the table, with jam and jellies around it. The three of them ate heartily. Just then, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Rocko said, wiping his mouth and going to the door. "Oh, hi Heff."
"Hey Rocko, want to go to a movie or something? I'll pay." Heffer said.
"Hang on, let me ask Claire and Inez." Rocko went back to the kitchen.
"Who?" Heffer followed.
"My tenants." Rocko explained. "Claire, Inez, this is Heffer, one of my best friends. Heff, this is Claire and Inez, they moved here from France."
"Hello." Heffer smiled.
"Bonjour Heffer." Claire smile; then she looked at Inez and jabbed her in the arm.
"*Hmph!*" Inez protested, her mouth full; she quickly swallowed. "Sorry Claire but you know it's rude to speak with your mouth full. Hello Heffer."
"You have got to learn not to enjoy my cooking so much zat you keep ze food in your mouth for a long time." Claire smirked. "We overheard Heffer's invite and we'd love to come, but we're paying for our tickets."
"Of course." Rocko smiled.
"Okay." Heffer agreed.
They walked to the theater (Rocko was trying not to drive so much due to gas prices) and had a good time. On the way back they met up with Filburt and his family and more introductions were made.
"Say Rocko, how about we do some shopping while we're out?" Claire suggested. "I noticed you need more groceries, and we should get you a new TV as well."
"Well..." Rocko hesitated at first. "All right, but only the necessities."
"Go for the TV too Rocko, The Fatheads are on tonight and your old TV might fizzle out on us again." Filburt reminded him.
"Oh right, thanks Filburt."
"You like Ze Fatheads too?" Inez gasped. "Claire and I love zat show!"
"Really?" Filburt was surprised.
"Well in that case we can wait on the TV." Rocko smiled. "I've got another idea."
At that, Rocko took a quarter out of his pocket and called Ed and Bev Bighead on a pay phone. He told them about his new tenants, and how they love The Fatheads, and Bev said that they were more than welcome to come over and watch it. She double checked with Ed of course, who agreed. As much as Rocko and his friends annoyed Ed he never minded them coming over to watch The Fatheads. After all it was Rocko who brought their son back to them and Ed was grateful to him for that. When the conversation was done Rocko told everyone that they were going to watch the show at the Bigheads' place instead.
"Wait, Bighead...as in Ralph Bighead?" Claire said wide-eyed.
"Yes, his parents are Rocko's next door neighbors." Filburt explained.
"Zat is so cool!" Inez smiled excitedly.
Continuously chatting happily, they all went shopping. They got some more food, all paid by Claire and Inez. For the first time in months, Rocko was going to have lunch and Spunky was going to have a second meal. They went back to Rocko's place, put the groceries away, fed Spunky, and went over to the Bigheads'. They had a great time, and Claire and Inez were excited to meet the parents of Ralph Bighead. They also realized that they were the inspiration for The Fatheads. Ed and Bev didn't like it at first, until they realized that Ralph didn't mean any harm when he created the show. It was just his way of releasing his frustration, as well as a way of keeping his parents nearby without having to fight with Ed about being a cartoonist. He later added the character Rollo as a thank you to Rocko for bringing him and his parents back together. Rocko was at first hurt, until he realized that Ralph exaggerated everything in his show, and didn't think that way about Rocko at all (except for the being polite part).