Chapter 9: The surprise

Here it is, folks! The final chapter of the story!

May 5, 1889

It has been two months since Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne solved the Ripper murders. During this time, Shaggy managed to recover from the slashing he took from Alice's knife when she attempted to stab Daphne, while Daphne was in court where the judge reversed the earlier sentence and dismissed those charges.

In the meantime, after Sheriff Hill offered his thanks to Shaggy & Scooby for their work, he has become less hostile towards the duo. In fact, he now considered their help as being important, and often welcomes the duo when his investigators stumble upon a murder, asking for the advise and opinion.

That afternoon, Shaggy had took Scooby out for a walk. Dressed in a green suit with a green loose tie with a pair of brown pants and his bowler hat, he made his way through the city. A few minutes later, he and Scooby stopped by a flower shop.

"Ah! Mr. Rogers, Mr. Doo." The shop owner greeted them. "Nice to see you gentlemen here. What can I do for you?"

"Like, I'll like to have a bouquet of violets." Shaggy replied with a smile.

"I see." The shop owner nodded. "I heard that you've been courting Miss Daphne Blake lately. Are the flowers for her?"

"Yes. She likes purple the most."

"All right, then. Right this way." The shop owner says as he leaded them into a row of violets.

Several moments later, Shaggy was standing at the front door to the Blake mansion, with the bouquet of violets behind his back.

The door opened, and it was Jenkins.

"Ah, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Doo!" The butler said. "Miss Blake will be here in a moment. Would you two like to step in?"

"Like, sure, Jenkins." Shaggy replied as he and Scooby Doo entered the mansion.

As the duo entered the mansion, Shaggy was greeted by one of Daphne's sisters, Delilah.

"Hi Shaggy, Scooby." Delilah said with a smile. "Glad to see you guys again after you helped prove Daphne's innocence in those murders."

"Like, thanks, Delilah." Shaggy says as he gave Delilah a one-arm hug. Delilah then proceeded to rub Scooby's back. During this time, she asked, "So are you bringing Daphne out for a date?"

"Yeah." Shaggy replied. He was about to continue on when he saw Daphne coming down the stairs. Quickly, he hid the violets behind his back.

"Shaggy! Scooby!" Daphne exclaimed excitingly. "Sorry for letting you guys wait."

"Rit's rokay." (It's okay.) Scooby replied.

Before Daphne could give Shaggy a hug, he showed her the bouquet of violets.

"Shaggy!" Daphne squealed excitingly. "You got those flowers?"

"Yes, I did." Shaggy replied. "Do you like them?"

"Yes, I do!" Daphne said as she placed the flowers aside and went to give Shaggy a hug and kiss.

After the embrace, Daphne asked, "So, shall we get going?"

"Like, certainly!" Shaggy replied.

May 19, 1889

Over the next two weeks, Shaggy and Daphne had went out for dates. Scooby was happy to see two of his friends getting closer. In fact, it seemed like that Shaggy had finally found someone he could share his feelings with. Someone nicer and more understanding than Velma and any of his past dates. For Daphne, she had found someone that is more of a gentleman than Fred and any of her past dates.

That day, Shaggy had asked Daphne to meet him at the old Mystery Inc. headquarters. He didn't tell her the reason for the meeting, other than the fact that it was a surprise for her.

Daphne soon arrived as Shaggy & Scooby waited patiently. Shaggy was producing some puffs from his pipe as he and Scooby waited. He was dressed in his normal attire of a brownish-green suit with a green tie, a pair of brown pants and a brown bowler hat. Scooby had set up a camera and was dressed in a suit with a top hat. They were accompanied by a female Great Dane dressed in a pink dress. They both had a wedding ring on their left paw.

Shortly after solving the Ripper murders, Scooby met a female talking Great Dane that worked as a nurse at the Coolsville General Hospital. The female, whose name is Sally Dou, had taken an interest in Scooby. The two dogs soon fell in love, and just before Shaggy asked Daphne over, Scooby had propsed to Sally. She had said yes.

"So Shaggy, what's the surprise?" Daphne asked when she arrived.

"Daphne," Shaggy begin in a nervous tone, "Ever since I first laid my eyes on you, I've felt that there was no woman in this world that has been as caring and understanding of my feelings as you. Even after you went for a relationship with Fred while I had mine with Velma for a while, I've never stopped loving you."

Shaggy then pulled something out of his pocket and when he revealed the object, Daphne's eyes widened in surprise as he continued, "Daphne Blake, would you do the honour of becoming my wife?"

Daphne's eyes were full of tears as she saw the engagement ring Shaggy had produced from his pocket. She was temporarily speechless. Then, with a smile, she asked, "Norville Rogers, would you do the honour of becoming my husband?"

"I do." Shaggy replied with a smile.

"And I do." Daphne answered. The two then shared an embrace as Shaggy put on the engagement ring on Daphne's ring finger. Scooby managed to take the picture as Shaggy finished putting the ring on Daphne's finger.

June 22, 1889

That morning, Norman Rogers, one of Shaggy's older brothers, was helping his brother putting on his military wedding tux.

"Can you believe it, Norville?" Norman asked. "You're finally getting married!"

"Like, I know. Norman." Shaggy replied. "I sure am nervous."

"Don't worry, Norville. You'll do just fine."

A few hours later in the early afternoon at the Coolsville Centennial Church, the church was packed with members of the Rogers, Blakes, Doo and Dou families for a special double wedding.

Shaggy and Scooby were standing nervously with their best man for the double wedding. Shaggy's oldest brother Neville Rogers, who is an army colonel and is in military full dress uniform, served as Shaggy's best man, while Scooby's best man is his nephew Scrappy Doo.

"Uncle Scooby, it sure is glad to see you getting married at last!" Scrappy remarked excitingly.

"Reah!" Scooby replied happily. He can see his brothers and sister, as well as his parents, in attendance. Also there was his cousin Scooby Dum and distant cousin Scooby Dee.

"Norville, I sure am happy for you finding the love of your life." Neville said.

"Like, thanks Neville." Shaggy replied. "I also felt happy for Scoob."

"Yeah. Arranging a double wedding was one of my greatest pleasures." Neville said as he nodded towards an army sergeant, who managed to help his superiors arrange the double wedding. The sergeant nodded back.

Shaggy smiled as he looked at his brothers, parents, cousins and other relatives in attendance. Also there was Colonel William Dickens, Shaggy's commanding officer from the reserves.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the church, Daphne's sister Daisy was helping her sister putting on the finishing touches of Daphne's wedding gown.

"Jeepers, Daisy." Daphne remarked, "I sure can't believe Shaggy and I were getting married."

"Yeah. I sure feel happy for you, Daphne." Daisy replied.

Soon, the organist started playing the "Wedding March" as everyone in attendance stood up. Shaggy & Scooby turned their attentions towards their bribes.

Daphne looked really beautiful in her wedding gown, and she was smiling as she slowly marches towards Shaggy, being escorted by her father George.

Soon, the priests got down to the speech as Shaggy and Scooby joined their bribes, holding each others hands. Finally, the key questions were asked.

"Norville Rogers," the priest said, looking at Shaggy, "Do you take this woman in as your wife and promise to treat her with love, honour and respect?"

"I do." Shaggy replied.

Turning to Daphne, the priest continued, "Daphne Blake, do you take this man in as your husband and promise to treat him with love, honour and respect?"

"I do." Daphne replied.

The priest nodded, just as the Labrador canine priest finished asking the same questions to Scooby and Sally, both of them replying with "I do."

The priest then turned to the best man and asked, "May I have the rings?"

Immediately, Neville handed the priest the two wedding rings, just as Scrappy handed the wedding rings to the canine priest.

After Shaggy and Daphne finished putting the rings on each others ring fingers, the priest concluded. "Through the power of the Lord, I now pronounce you husband and wife." He then said to Shaggy, "You may kiss the bribe."

As Shaggy and Scooby kissed their bribes, the crowd erupted into a large round of applause as the two couples are now officially married!

After the kiss, Shaggy and Daphne smiled at each other. As they turned their heads towards the crowd, they saw three familiar-looking figures at the back of the church smiling at them.

It was Fred, Velma and Shaggy's late sister Maggie. They smiled at Shaggy, Daphne and Scooby, with a gleam of sunlight surrounding them.

Shaggy and Daphne looked at each other. "Like, is it just me, or did we just saw Fred, Velma and my sister Maggie?"

"I saw them too!" Daphne replied.

Looking back, the trio saw Fred and the girls waving at them. Smiling, they waved back before the sunlight intensified and the next second, Fred, Velma and Maggie were gone.

"I guess those were their ghosts." Shaggy and Daphne both thought.

After the wedding ceremony, Shaggy was greeted by Colonel Dickens after seeing his father Sam shaking George's hand.

"Congratulations, Major Rogers." The colonel smiled as he shook hands with Shaggy, slipping something into Shaggy's hand in the process.

Shaggy looked at his hand after the hand shake. There were two golden oak leaves on his hand.

Shaggy then looked at both of his shoulders, which both had two silver bars on them. That's when Shaggy realized that Dickens had just promoted him from captain to major.

"Like, thank you, sir." Shaggy replied as the colonel proceeded to replace the silver bars on his uniform with the golden oak leaves.

After the congratulations from their respective families and the party, the two newly-wed couples made their way to the carriages for their honeymoons.

Once Shaggy, Daphne, Scooby and Sally were seated on a carriage with a "Just Married" sign on the back, Shaggy remarked, "Like, this sure is the life, isn't it, Scooby?"

"Reah, Raggy." (Yeah, Shaggy). Scooby replied happily.

Turning to his now-wife, Shaggy said, "Like, this sure is one of the happiest days of my life, Daph."

"I agree, Shag." Daphne replied to her now-husband.

Shaggy and Daphne then shared another kiss as the carriage drove off, with Scooby and Sally doing theirs as well.

Later, Scooby peeked out of the carriage and sees Fred, Velma and Maggie waving at them. He then howled, "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!" as the carriage drove off into the horizon.

I wonder if any of you folks have guessed that I was going to have Shaggy marrying Daphne.

In the meantime, this concludes my story. However, I do have a sequel coming up, as I plan to make my Coolsville By Gaslight series a two-part series.

Please read and review!