Present Day: Daniel's POV
"Sometimes, I think God made families embarrassing in order to keep us humble," twenty three year old Katie Frayne murmured with an exasperated sigh.
The pink tinge of her blushing cheeks matched the flowing strawberry blonde hair bobbing on her shoulders as she dramatically shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Uncle Mart, Ryan and I are not going to hire a skydiving Elvis impersonator to marry us!"
"It was just a suggestion," the older man replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
He pulled her into a warm hug and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head before releasing her to stand beside her new fiancé once again.
"But, seriously, B.B., congratulations." Mart shook hands with the handsome young man beside his niece, giving him a special wink. "Ryan, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Oh, yes sir. You know I've been around the Wheelers and the Beldens my whole life. I haven't been scared off yet."
Ryan Kensington, although a quiet, gentlemanly sort of fellow, seemed to be able to handle himself well enough around the brilliant joker Mart Belden. He fired off a few surprising comebacks to every jibe Mart unleashed on him, and it was clear that he was going to fit right in.
The entire exchange playing out in the Frayne family living room brought a hearty laugh from Daniel Regan, who was watching from a nearby couch.
"Just don't get so chummy with 'Doc Martin' over there that you offer to help him out in the research greenhouse, Ryan. He'll have you hand mixing some of his special recipe potting soil."
"And, why's that so bad?" Ryan asked Daniel innocently.
"Well…let's just say that one of the main ingredients is something Daniel and his family daily muck out of their horses' stalls," Katie snickered. She joined the others in laughing at the sour face Ryan made and delivered a loving squeeze to his arm as she started to lead him away.
"Come on, dear," she said smiling up at him, "we haven't shown the ring to Aunt Honey. I think she's helping Mama and GrandMoms in the kitchen."
"Now, you know the kitchen is never a good place to go if you're trying to avoid me," Mart called after them. "Especially when I know Moms has been in there."
Daniel chuckled to himself again as he watched the older man walk away to continue his mission of embarrassing the happy couple. The constant light-hearted teasing in his family never ceased to entertain him. Even with the multiple gatherings of the current holiday season, he hadn't grown tired of the cheesy pet names, the sappy accolades, or the zany repeated stories of The Bobwhites of the Glen in their glory days. Now, it seemed that the final party of the year had also turned out to be an engagement party. Daniel was having a great time watching the drama unfold.
It had only been two days since the annual Ten Acres Academy Christmas Ball where Ryan had publically proposed to a chaperoning Katie Frayne in front of most of her family and practically all the junior and senior high students. The news was still sort of a shock to many people because the couple, having been friends since childhood, had only recently started dating.
But, in Daniel's eyes, it was a perfect match. And, Ryan's sweet and humble proposal had been the perfect ending to what had been an incredible night for Daniel.
He closed his eyes and remembered how lovely his date had looked at the ball. His girlfriend Ashley had worn a red dress that sparkled, and her short sandy hair had been teased around a headband of silvery rhinestones. She had looked like an angel with stars trapped in her hair.
"This seat taken?" a deep voice interrupted Daniel's thoughts.
When he opened his eyes, the dark haired teen saw the figure of Matthew Wheeler standing before him, motioning to the place beside him on the sofa.
"Only by you, Poppa. I didn't see you when you got here. Where's Grammie?"
"Chasing down the bride-to-be, of course. I don't know what it is about women and jewelry, but she'd walk a mile of hot coals to get a look at that ring, right now. What are you doing over here all alone?"
Daniel tried to sound casual, not wanting to admit that he simply wasn't able to stand for long periods of time.
"Well, I was in the center of all the action a moment ago, but I guess it all moved to the kitchen without me. I was just daydreaming for a minute, I guess."
The kind, old man reached out a thin hand to pat the boy on the shoulder gently.
"Don't let it bother you, son. Happens to me all the time. One minute you know what's going on, and the next…you're behind the times and left in the dust."
The two shared a special smile, and Daniel was struck by how much he loved and respected this man, despite the fact that they weren't even really related.
"I heard you were crowned Mr. Christmas…or… er…something like that the other night," Matthew continued on as he sat down beside the youth.
"Oh, yes sir. It was Mr. Yuletide. I'm the new Mr. Yuletide. The whole thing was… kind of nice, I guess. Laura got the Miss Yuletide crown. She was really happy about it. Honestly, Poppa, all that stuff is just a popularity contest, and I think, maybe, a lot of the people who voted for me were just feeling sorry for me. You know…because of my…leg..."
"Nonsense!" Matthew interjected. "Why, everyone knows you and Matt have your pick of any girl in that whole school! I'd say you two take after your old grandfather, actually."
"Is that right?" Daniel teased him.
"Certainly. Just ask your Grammie!" He put his arm around the boy and gave his shoulders a quick squeeze. "And, don't worry about folks feeling sorry for you, kid. I happen to know a lot of people who still look up to you…even when you're sitting down."
The old man turned and nodded his head in the direction of Jim and Trixie's adopted daughter Emily.
The little ten year old was quietly sitting in the corner brushing a Barbie doll's hair while her four year old cousin Angelica prattled on beside her, making her dolls talk and interact with fuzzy haired trolls riding brightly colored ponies.
He's right, Daniel thought warmly, I'll always be a Superman to Emily.
A brief pang of sadness suddenly swept through him as he mentally compared Emmie's adoration of him to the way Bobby Belden had followed after Dan Mangan years ago.
I'm so glad Bob found his last message.
"Did you ever get any of that German chocolate cake we had at the Christmas party last week?" Matthew suddenly changed the subject.
"Mmmm, yes! It was amazing."
"Well, you don't have to wait long for more, because Maddie brought another one for us to enjoy after dinner tonight. She spoils us chocoholics, doesn't she?"
"She sure does," Daniel agreed. And, then another thought struck him. "Poppa? How did you propose to Grammie?"
"Oh, that was quite a long time ago. I did it with a silly old knock knock joke, actually. Looking back, I can't believe I was so corny. Anyway, I guess it worked!"
"Wait. I thought that was how Jim asked Trixie to marry him."
"It was. But, I'm the one who gave him the idea." Matthew gave a Barney Fife sniff and grinned smugly.
Oh boy. My Poppa as a ladies' man. How funny!
"I seem to remember someone telling me that Cousin Trixie didn't cooperate too well, either," Daniel recalled with a smile.
Mr. Wheeler shook his gray head and gave a hearty laugh.
"You can say that again! I was afraid the whole thing was going to fall apart when she announced that she hated knock knock jokes and started to leave the room, but Mart saved the day. He finally got her to say, 'who's there,' so Jim could finish the joke. Of course, when he said 'marry,' she didn't automatically say, 'marry who?' She thought because we were all at a Christmas party he was going to say, 'Mary and Joseph,' so she tried to beat him to the punch line." He chuckled again. "I thought Jim was going to explode. He got so nervous he shouted out, 'marry you,' instead of 'marry me.' Oh well. He finally got to the point, and she said yes. It was all a lot of fun."
"Was that the same night Uncle Peter helped Dad get home after he'd wrecked his truck in a snowbank?"
"Why…yes it was. How did you know about that?"
Daniel looked shyly across the room at his great uncle, still feeling a bit awkward about some of the details the older man had recently shared with him regarding his mother's early romance with Bill Regan.
"Uncle Peter was telling me about it last week. He…he said it was also when he…finally got used to the idea of…you know…my folks being together."
"Does it bother you to know that he didn't approve of the match at first?" Matthew asked sympathetically.
Daniel shifted nervously in his seat.
"A little. I mean…it was kind of a shock, really. After all the times Dad and Uncle Peter took us guys fishing, and they seemed so…close…it was just a shock."
"Don't let any of that bother you, Daniel. Those two are close. It took some time, but they got there. You just have to remember, there's more than a few years difference between your parents, and Peter…well, he was just looking out for Hallie."
"But, you obviously didn't have a problem with it. Or…did you?"
"Honestly, Daniel, I didn't know what to think about the whole thing at first. Bill came to me just after he'd argued with Peter about it, and I…I just kept thinking about what Dan…your real father…would have said to him. I knew from some things Dan had told me before he died that…he wanted your mother to move on and be happy with someone else. If they could find happiness together, and Dan would have approved…who was I to stand in their way?"
"Your support must have meant a lot to him," Daniel said, feeling somewhat relieved himself.
"Hmmm. Maybe. But, it wasn't all hearts and flowers during that conversation, mind you. I sat him down and had a serious discussion about what needed to happen. I guess…I was a little tough on him, too. But…it was what he needed. He knew I had his best interest at heart."
"Hmmph!" Daniel said with a sarcastic snort. "That sounds like what Dad always says to me when we have a serious discussion about what needs to happen. He always says he's got my best interest at heart, and I should remember that being a parent isn't any easier than being a kid."
"Sounds like he's done a pretty amazing job of parenting, then. Especially for someone who grew up without a dad." Mr. Wheeler's eyes misted a little as he gave the last statement softly.
"That's not entirely true. I mean…yes, he's turned out to be a good parent, but…even though he didn't have his own father, …he had you."
"And I was happy to be there for him." Matthew's mouth broke out into a wide smile. "Just as he's happy to be there for you."
"Poppa? What did you two talk about that night?"
"Well Daniel, it all happened like this…"