ANNOUMCEMENT
At dinner that evening (after much prompting from his giggling twelve year old twin sisters) a suit clad Luke formally announced to the Packs' Alfa and Keeper his intention of courting and marring Bambi. After being elbowed in the side by his sister Amanda he quickly amended his statement by saying…"I mean Sopia". The smile and okay sign Ruby flashed him from across the table erased any doubt that the entire conversation had been their idea. And like every idea they had it was carefully planed.
With a smile (that showed how much pride he felt at making his sisters happy) Luke continued speaking. He politely asked if his father could drive him over to Sofia's house later. A startled Willard asked his son…"Why'…then listen as his son explained that he needed to speak with her father. He couldn't stop a smile from forming on his lips when he imagined the look on Matthew Donner's face when Luke asked for permission to date his two year old baby girl. He wanted to laugh but stopped himself. He knew his son was being serious. Luke had his first crush and he didn't want to embarrass him. So with a straight face he asked Luke…"What exactly, are you planning to talk about with her father."
Luke was all set to answer but a smiling Ruby cut him off…"They can talk about setting up a time for them to have a play date".
Vivian put the kibosh on that thought right away…"I don't think that's such a good idea. Luke doesn't do well on play dates. Especially, when the other child has a notoriously over protective father".
If Ruby's father had shot down her idea she would have had to agree with him. She knew Luke didn't play well with other children. More than one play date had ended with tears and black eyes. Needless to say, Luke had never had a black eye in his life only bruised knuckles. But because it came out of the step witches mouth she wasn't going to let her say no without a fight.
Willard saw that battle lines were being drawn and interrupted his daughter's snappy come back…"After what happened at his last play date it's going to be a while before he's allowed another. Besides I doubt Matthew Donner would want Luke playing with his baby girl'.
An insulted Luke piped up after his father finished…"Yes he would. People like me. And I'll be good, daddy, promise. I have to be. Manda says we need to take off the right shoe".
"What"…a confused Sherman asked while laughing. He could believe this family. They treated their children like mini adults and took everything they said seriously. No matter how cute or how ridiculous it was. It was almost as funny as Matthew Donner having panic attacks whenever his daughter pooped. How many times did he to reassure the man that she wasn't becoming dehydrated.
Amanda answered Sherman in her haughtiest voice…"I understood him. He meant to say that they need to start out on the right foot. I told him early today that men always have to be nice to their mates".
Willard could see Sherman was about to start teasing his children and cut him off with…"We'll think about it Luke but don't get your hopes up". ..He did want his children belittled and embarrassed for having personalities or making mistakes. Like he was as a child. He wanted them to be proud of themselves and their family. As proud as he was of them. His daughters may be overly romantic at times but they were bright and loving. As was his son, he was also strong and very determined. Luke was truly impressive and was going to be a great Alfa.
However, Sherman couldn't keep his sarcastic joke to himself. He knew that Willard had put him in his place nicely. The Alfa didn't take kindly to people teasing his family. And he tried to be good. But in the end he asked…"Luke, have your sisters been reading you Jane Austen stories?" Willard and Vivian both rolled their eyes but Luke seriously pondered Sherman's question for a second then (doing an remarkable impression of his father) asked …"Are they about dinosaurs?"