Untitled
((Post-series future fic - humor, fluff - Rating: K+; Words: 925))
"Do you hunt, Drake?"
"No, sir."
"Do you know how to fire a gun?"Manage Stories
"No, sir."
"Have you ever even held a gun?"
"No, sir."
Mindy's father clicks his tongue. "You're not one of those bleeding heart liberals who would encumber my Second Amendment Right to bear arms, are you?"
"No, sir?"
"You don't sound too sure there, Drake. Either you are or you aren't. If you're not sure how you feel about guns, the NRA, and silly laws about gun control, how can you possibly be sure that you want to marry my daughter?"
Drake swallows nervously. "Uh, you have every right to defend your home and your family and to shoot animals in the woods."
"Hmm." Mr. Crenshaw taps the side of his glass. "You're sure you wouldn't like something other than water to drink? You seem rather uncomfortable."
"I'm a little frightened."
"As you should be, Drake. You come into my home, you claim that you love my daughter and then you ask me for her hand in marriage. Any father such as myself prays that their little girl never falls for a boy like you. Lord knows that her mother and I have never approved of her relationship with you but she is a grown woman. Tell me, Drake, if I refuse to give you my blessing, do you still intend to propose to Mindy?"
"I—" Drake starts to sputter then stops, frowning. He can't be serious, can he? Of course he is. Mindy's parents don't joke. "Sir, Mr. Crenshaw, I don't know."
"You are full of so many uncertainties, Drake. Again, how can you be certain that you truly love my daughter and that you are ready for marriage?"
"I do love her and she makes me happy. I want to spend the rest of my life with her."
Mr. Crenshaw narrows his eyes at the young man trying to take his daughter from him. "Tell me, how many other women have made you happy?" Drake pales. "Yes, I know all about your reputation. Mindy claims that you have changed, that you've put your vices behind you and that you are leading a more virtuous life. How do I know that one day you're not going to find yourself going back to your old womanizing ways and break my little girl's heart? She deserves better than that."
Drake hears what he means: She deserves better than Drake.
"I would never hurt her on purpose."
"No, not on purpose but accidents happen all the time. Can you assure me that you will never hurt her?"
"I can assure you that I will do everything I can to try not to hurt her."
"But you cannot promise me that you won't."
"No, sir."
Mr. Crenshaw sighs. "How would you like to go hunting, Drake?"
"I—" His eyes widen. "Are you going to kill me?"
"If I ever planned to kill you I surely would not tell you beforehand. You say that you want my blessing. You're going to have to work for it and earn some of my respect. I don't like you and I doubt that I ever will but for reasons unknown to her mother and I, you seem to make Mindy happy as well and she is in love with you. Once I am sure that you honestly do love my daughter and want the best for her, I will give you my blessing and allow you to have her hand."
"So, if I go hunting with you, you'll let me marry Mindy?"
The boy is exasperating. "To put it simply, yes."
"Okay."
"Right. Next weekend." Drake doesn't move. "That'll be all. You can leave now."
Drake nods and rises quickly. "Yes, sir. Thank you. Goodnight."
He's still jittery when he arrives at Mindy's apartment twenty minutes later. She's flipping through case studies, highlighting bits, jotting down notes and questions in a notebook.
He relaxes and smiles when she looks up at him and grins.
"You look like you could use a break."
"You have no idea." She marks the pages that she's on and starts closing the binders and folders.
Drake pours them both a glass of wine. "I'm going hunting with your dad next weekend."
"Oh, Drake, I don't think that's a good idea. As much as my father dislikes you, for your own safety, you should stay far away from him when he's wielding a gun."
"Yeah, I kind of have to go."
She accepts the glass from him. "No, Drake, you don't."
Drake takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I do."
"Why?"
"Because if I don't, he's not going to let us get married."
"He doesn't have to 'let' us do any..." she trails off, looking a little confused. "Married? Why would my father think that we're planning to get married?"
"Because I asked him for your hand in marriage."
"What?"
"Your parents are old-fashioned and I know that they kind of hate me so I thought maybe I could try to maybe win them over by asking for their permission to ask you to marry me. Your dad said that if I go hunting with him, he'll be okay with it."
Mindy blinks. "You want to marry me?"
"Yeah," he says with a small shrug. "I love you."
"I love you too but...you want to get married?"
"Yes." Drake fidgets. "Do you want to get married?"
"Yes, and I want to marry you, I just never thought that you would ever want to get married."
"I didn't but then I fell for you."
*** Finis ***