Klaus pulled into the driveway of Eda and Otmer's house. The story that Marian and Giorgio had cooked up for him had pretty much gone unquestioned by Reagan. He had felt bad for lying to her but the more he thought about it, the more he wondered why she was completely fine with letting him leave. Sitting in his car, he laid his head on his steering wheel and began questioning whether this was a good idea or not.
Steeling his nerves, he unbuckled his seat-belt and stepped out of the car. He trudged slowly along the walkway, taking in the sight of the soft blanket of snow that had fallen. Standing in the middle of the driveway, he followed the curve of the snow-covered ground, his mind wandering to Reagan and thoughts of them curled up under his comforter, shielded from the cold together. He shook his head vigorously, knowing that he needed not to follow this line of thoughts right before going to talk to Reagan's grandparents.
He knocked on the door and took a step back making sure that he was visible to the person opening the door. After a moment, the door opened to reveal a young girl with long blonde pigtails.
"Hi Cheryl," Klaus greeted softly.
"Grandma! It's the kissy face man!" Cheryl called inside.
She stood back, allowing him to enter the house. As soon as he entered the small hallway, Klaus immediately felt heat radiating throughout the house. The sweltering temperature was a strange contrast to the cold that he had just left.
Eda was sitting in her recliner talking to a woman with long red hair that was held in a tight braid.
"Klaus! Do come in," Eda greeted warmly. "This is Reagan's stepmother, Anne."
Anne shook his hand, "You know Reagan?"
He opened his mouth to answer when Eda answered for him, "Klaus is Reagan's boyfriend."
"Hmmm…so you're Santa Claus?" the woman hummed thoughtfully, circling Klaus.
"Santa?" Klaus questioned.
"You don't look much like the cards or Coke ads portray you as Mr. Clause. You're actually kind of hot. I don't know why Reagan wanted to cheat on you with someone in Mineral Town."
"She wanted to what now?" Klaus asked, surprised by this declaration.
"Yeah," the woman said thoughtfully. "She came to Mineral Town looking for a man."
"She was looking for Cliff, Anne dear," Eda pointed out.
"So she said after she found out I was his wife! She seemed quite desperate to find a man when I talked to her though."
"Anyway," Eda started, "what brings you by?"
Klaus thought for a moment, "I wanted to talk to you and Otmar about something. I hope I'm not intruding."
"Oh, no," Eda and Anne assured him.
"Cliff had called a couple of weeks ago to thank me and Otmar for all we had done for Reagan and to apologize for not being around. So I invited him and his wife over for dinner?' Eda explained. "Where is Reagan by the way?"
"She had to work," he stated simply, suddenly feeling very nervous.
"So why are you here by yourself?" Eda asked, somewhat confused.
Klaus wrung his hands slightly, "I was wanting to talk to you and Otmar about possibly asking Reagan to marry me."
Cheryl made a slightly disgusted face, sticking her tongue out.
"Blah!" she exclaimed.
Eda's wrinkled face brightened, "It's about time deary. Come with me. Otmar's in the kitchen."
He followed the three females into the kitchen where he found Otmar sitting at the table with an unfamiliar man who looked to be in his early to mid forties with long, shaggy brown hair.
"Ms. Latifah!" Otmar greeted loudly. "Do come in! To what do we owe the honor of your presence in our humble abode!"
"Hello sir," Klaus greeted formally.
"Oh please! Don't be so formal!" Otmar interrupted with a bow. "You may simply call me Cleveland!"
"Cleveland?" Klaus questioned, shaking his head as he realized it was either better not knowing or wouldn't make any sense even if he did know.
"Have you met Sandusky?!" he questioned motioning at the other man at the table.
"Most people call me Cliff," the man replied, extending his hand to Klaus.
"Klaus," he stated simply, shaking Cliff's hand. "Wait…Cliff…you mean Reagan's father?"
"You know Reagan?" Cliff asked looking surprised.
"Of course she knows Billy!" Otmar answered. "Billy and Ms. Latifah are quite the pair. Why I remember in 15 ot 7 when the potatoes threatened to take over New Jersey! Billy and Ms. Latifah were mashing potatoes left and right. Why they made french fries and chips out of the lot of them!"
"He's Reagan's boyfriend," Cheryl translated.
"You're my little girl's boyfriend?" Cliff questioned suddenly shifting to a more defensive tone. "My beautiful baby girl? And what exactly are your intentions with my sweet little angel?"
Klaus furrowed his brow in confusion wandering how he had gotten himself into this situation.
"Well, I was actually coming to talk to Otmar and Eda about proposing to her," he admitted.
"So you think you can just swoop in here and marry my daughter! I don't even know you. For all I know you could be some kind of terrorist or a mime!" Cliff bellowed.
Klaus cocked his brow, looking between Otmar and Cheryl for some kind of assistance.
"You're on your own kissy face man," Cheryl said before walking away.
"And what the hell does she mean by, 'kissy face man?' Have you kissed my little girl?!"
"Well, yeah?" Klaus answered not sure whether he should or not.
"How dare you lay a hand on my baby! She is the pride of my family. The first one of us to go to college and she has a bright future ahead of her."
"Sir, didn't you just meet her a few weeks ago?" Klaus questioned.
"You show me some respect boy! Trying to say I don't know my own daughter."
"Well, you don't," Klaus answered. "You really really don't!"
"I am her father! I know her better than anyone ever will!"
"I've known her longer than you!" Klaus replied. "I mean no disrespect and I know it wasn't your fault."
"That's it! I forbid you from dating my daughter!"
"You're daughter's 22!"
"Cliff honey," Anne called, seemingly innocent enough.
"Yes Anne?" Cliff asked.
"Shut the hell up," she answered coldly.
Cliff and Klaus stared at her blankly.
"You leave Santa alone. Reagan is an adult and she is free to decide who she wants to marry!"
"Yes dear," he responded sheepishly.
"All of this talk of romance and asking for blessings and what not reminds me of when I asked for my beautiful lamb chop's hand in marriage," Otmar said with a sigh. "Why I remember when I asked her father."
Klaus was surprised by this sudden lucid thought, "And he said yes?"
"He said 'No!'" Otmar exclaimed. "Said no daughter of his was going to marry a tomato sympathizer. He threw squash at me! Butternut, acorn, summer, you name it! There were even a few sweet potatoes in there! Would have reminded anyone of plants versus zombies."
"You mean the game?" Klaus questioned.
"You're majesty, I am referring to the great plant wars of 27 ot 5! I would have thought that a queen would have been more aware of history than that! Anyway, the emperor was dead set against our union. Fortunately, her mother, Sherry, was all for it."
Klaus blinked in confusion for a minute, "Wait…Sherry…Lamb Chop…Shari Lewis?"
"None other!"
"You had me scared for a minute Otmar."
"That's so sweet Ms. Latifah! But you need not worry about me."
"You know," Cliff spoke up suddenly, "you're very patient for a no good virginity stealing jerk."
Klaus looked at Cliff with his eyebrow raised, "What?!"
"You heard me! Steal my daughter's virginity. You better marry her after that!"
"I did not steal, Reagan's virginity!" Klaus defended.
"Oh so now you're calling her a whore then!"
Klaus opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. His jaw flapped a few times, struggling to find anything to express the shock he was feeling.
"Hey!" Otmar called, glaring at the two men.
Cliff and Klaus both turned to the older man who had his arms crossed over his chest, "I wasn't finished with my story. So Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy, and Shari tried to convince the emperor to let me marry Lamb Chop but no matter what they said, he was dead set against it."
"Did they eventually convince him?" Klaus asked.
"No, we eloped," Otmar stated simply.
Klaus slammed his head against the table, "I'm not sure if this is a yes or not."
Eda walked over and squeezed his shoulder gently, "He's saying he just wants Reagan to be happy and you have our blessings."
Otmar looked taken aback, "Of course that's what I'm saying! Anyone would be honored to have you as a member of their family Ms. Latifah!"
Klaus smiled at the two older people and then turned back to Cliff. He knew that he needed his blessing as well. Even if he hadn't been in Reagan's life for very long, he was still her father after all.
"Cliff, I would really like to have your blessing as well," he stated sincerely.
Cliff looked somewhat surprised by this comment, "You would?"
"You may not have been a part of Reagan's life for long, but you're already very important to her and she's the most important person to me. I would be so grateful if you would please allow me the honor of spending the rest of my life with your daughter."
Cliff sat for a moment considering Klaus' words, "You're not a vampire are you?"
Klaus cocked a brow at him, "No sir?"
Cliff stroked his chin, "Fine. You have my blessing as well. But I'll be watching you!"
Klaus smiled brightly at the people in the small kitchen. Giorgio has been right, when he had said that talking to the people closest to Reagan would make him feel more secure. He was more sure than ever that Reagan would agree to be his wife. Now, if he could just hang on to that courage when the time actually came.