Scott knew he was being a bit ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. For once, he felt like being dramatic was something he was owed.
They'd been on a romantic dinner, no thoughts of bad guys or anything, the darkness of the snap completely disappearing from Hope's eyes, her concussion basically gone, and the wine was actually good—and he hadn't been able to focus on any of it because some bearded wonder kept staring at Hope.
"I just don't think you meant it, Scott," Hope said as she breezed past him into the house.
He stomped after her, helped her with her coat, and closed the door behind them. "For goodness' sake, Hope, that was the fourth time I've proposed to you! I'm sure I meant it!"
"You looked more jealous than ridiculously in love—"
He followed her to the couch and plopped down next to her, just enough space between them to express his displeasure at the events of the night. "The ring was already in my coat pocket! Waiting for the opportune moment! It's been in my pocket for weeks. Basically since the concussions!" Hope rolled her eyes, leaned into the corner of the couch, and stretched her legs out onto his lap, wiggling her feet until he understood her silent meaning. "And now you want me to take your shoes off and rub your feet? The expectations placed on me tonight."
"In Daddy's defense—" Scott jumped. He hadn't known that Cassie was even home, and it looked like Hope hadn't either, the consternation clear on her face. They tried to not argue in front of her, even though she didn't remember him and Maggie arguing before he was carted off to jail the first time. But none of the four of the co-parents wanted to bring that back. "His resting face is just ridiculously in love with Hope Van Dyne now." Judging by Cassie's absolute face-splitting grin, she didn't care that they were arguing.
Scott did not understand teenage girls.
Hope shrugged infinitesimally, also expressing her confusion at the young folk, and Scott fell in love with her all over again. Then she shrugged properly, managing to poke one of her heels into his side with the motion. He winced, considered howling about it, and decided to be manly. "I think you only proposed because that guy kept staring at me. And because he was handsome." Cassie hummed thoughtfully, apparently not upset on her father's behalf.
He glanced down at Hope's shoes. Oh, ouch. That's why her calves looked even more fantastic than usual and why she'd been taller than him. Those heels were like six inches tall. "I mean—maybe—a little—but he kept staring! And you smiled at him!" He found the buckle on the side of the shoe, struggled to remove it from Hope's foot, and placed it carefully on the floor, followed by the second one. He was already being yelled at; he didn't care to add dropped the expensive heel on the ground to the list.
Hope leaned a bit out of the corner of the couch toward him and grinned, leaving her feet on Scott's lap. Scott didn't really like the grin. It was too… knowing. And willing to side with the daughter. He would have shrunk away except that would have looked awful. "Jealousy is not a good reason to get married, Scott."
Cassie shook her head, also very willing to side with the other woman. "She's right, Daddy. How many times have all four of you said that to me? Don't get married unless you really, really, really love the person," she said in an imitation of Maggie that made him shudder and Hope laugh. She sat down on the coffee table and leaned forward. She looked too much like a therapist for Scott's taste. "Time to take your own advice."
Scott rolled his eyes. "Of course I love Hope—you!" He scooted closer to Hope on the couch and took her hand. It was her left hand, of course, and he wished again that ring was on her finger. Even if just so that gorgeous man would have stopped staring. Mostly because he wanted to marry her more than anything. But also because that man had been really pretty and he just— "I love you more than basically everything! You know that." Hope smiled softly.
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Except Cassie, you're thinking, but please stop, that's ridiculous." She patted his shoulder with something he had to call condescension. Who knew they were old enough to have a father-daughter relationship with such rudeness?
Hope released his hand to pat his cheek, chiming in with "Except Cassie, because I love Cassie more than you too."
He didn't take the time to acknowledge that there—he'd just fallen in love again. How many times could a man fall in love with a woman on the same night? "I've already proposed three times before tonight! And none of those other ones were because of jealousy or something ridiculous."
"Really?" Cassie turned to Hope, both of them ignoring him. "Aww, thank you, Hope, you're my favorite parent now!" Hope's eyes shone and Scott's stomach flipped. This was Hope's first time as Favorite Parent, he was pretty sure.
He tried to get them back on topic, despite his glee at the confirmation that Cassie adored Hope. "Not many more ways to show that I love you than by proposing multiple times!"
"Well, it clearly hasn't stuck yet, and I don't remember the second time because of the concussion," Hope said brightly. "Also, did you hear that? I'm Cassie's favorite parent now."
"It's not like I'm in control of whether it sticks or not, Ms. Van Dyne, I'm the one doing the asking. You get the choice as to whether the proposal sticks. Peanut, you know what Paxton's going to do when he hears he's gone down in the list."
Paxton had kept Favorite Parent for two weeks now, since he'd let Cassie go to the movies with some friends for the first time since the reverse-snap. The rest of them had been too clingy, she said, and Paxton had been so overjoyed that he was Favorite Parent that he made a cake.
"Maybe I'll say yes next time, honey," Hope said, leaning forward enough that he could wrap his arm around her and pull her in for some sort of awkward couch hug.
"Jim will deal with losing the spot," Cassie said drily, sounding uncomfortably like Hope. "He'll only cry for a second. Mom will let you punch him, Hope, if he complains at dinner on Friday." She stood and stretched, patted both of their heads, and skipped out of the living room. Scott sighed, tapping Hope's leg until she moved her feet from his lap. Just when he was about to pull her closer for a proper hug, Cassie's voice rang out from the doorway. "Propose better next time."