Engagement Dinner

At the Tower of Omens, Joseph and Snarf were making dinner. The blonde was finally going to have his special evening here with Freya. Though it was their special night, the blonde insisted that he would help cook the dinner. Tonight's course was spaghetti and meatballs. Joseph and Freya tried it once before at Cats' Lair and thought it was tasty, but the blonde had a few ideas on how to make it better. He decided there should be a little more seasoning in the ground beef and that the sauce should be on the side instead of mixed with the pasta.

While Joseph was making dinner, Snarf was working on the dessert. It was spumoni gelato made from Moomoo milk. He finished making it and placed it in the freezer to keep it cool.

Joseph turned the stove off. "That should do it," he figured. "We'll let it sit and cool for a few minutes."

"You still got to get ready and look nice for tonight, Joseph," Snarf reminded him. "Snarfer and I will get to work on setting the table."

The blonde ruffled his head. "You're right, Snarf. And thank you for all your help. It means a lot to me." He left the kitchen and went to his room to clean up and change.

Freya was in her own room studying herself. She wore her signature orange dress along with a few gold bracelets.

Pumyra thought she looked beautiful. "You look wonderful, Freya." Sakuya barked in agreement. Of course, the Umbreon always thought her partner looked pretty no matter what she wore.

"Thank you, Pumyra," she replied.

"The dress really matches your amulet," the puma woman said. "I think you would also look nice in red. It would match your eyes."

She looked at her friend. "I tried that once before and I thought it was a bit much. So I decided to stick to keeping orange as my signature color. To me, it resembles the warm fire; dangerous, yet good when handled responsibly." She silently adds to herself, "Just like me."

Pumyra brought a small case. "Shall we start with applying makeup now?"

In Egypt, it was customary for women to color themselves to not only look pretty, but also block out the sun's light from reflecting off their skin. Though Freya was accustomed to it, she thought it was a bit much. "Can we try not to do too much?" she requested. "A little bit on the cheeks is fine and I don't want my lips to be too red or too glossy."

"Of course," the puma woman answered.

Joseph was in his own room wearing his signature yellow robe over his outfit. His hair had also been neatly combed.

"That's a nice robe, Joseph," Bengali complimented.

"Thanks, Bengali," the blonde replied. "My master gave it to me as a birthday present. Because it's special to me, I normally only wear it for ceremonies or festivals or any other special occasions. And, well, I guess this is one of those times, so it's fair."

"Of course it is," said Panthro. "You and Freya are going to celebrate your engagement."

"Freya is one blessed girl to have someone like you, Joseph," said Lynx-O.

The blonde blushed. Normally, he would consider himself the lucky one. "Oh, Lynx-O-,"

"I'm being sincere," the old lynx interrupted. "In all the times Freya and I have spent together, she's told me many wonderful things about you. And I've noticed it myself in all the time I've spent with you. You're someone who loves and cherishes Freya for who she is, just the way she is. You also have your own flaws and weaknesses, but she doesn't mind any of it just as you don't mind her own flaws because you both know that they're part of what make you special to each other."

Joseph was still silent. The panther gently placed his hand over his shoulder. "Joseph, you've come a long way," he was saying. "When I first met you, you were an eager young man. Now you've become a fine man and a warrior. You've proven you can handle anything; especially taking a big step like this."

The old lynx agreed. "You're a good friend, Joseph, and a good man. You and Freya definitely deserve each other."

"And remember," Bengali was saying, "whatever happens, you two will always have us to support you."

Tears of happiness began brimming in Joseph's eyes. "Thanks a lot, guys. This means a lot to me."

"Anytime," said Panthro. "Now get out there and make us proud."

Taking a deep breath, the blonde exits the room. He sees Freya coming out of her room and softly gasps. Their eyes meet and they look at each other lovingly. Freya walks over to him and smiles shyly. Joseph holds out his arm. "Shall we?"

She takes his arm and answers, "Let's," and they head to the dining room together. When they got there, they saw how neatly the table had been set. The plates and utensils were neatly placed on the table and in the center was a basket of breadsticks with tall candlesticks on the side. There was also a metal bucket filled with ice and a bottle of sparkling cider.

Snarf approached the table wearing a black bow tie around his neck and a napkin draped over his arm. "Monsieur and madame," he greeted with a French accent, "your dinner."

Joseph and Freya seated themselves and Snarf and Snarfer removed the trays covering the plates, revealing the spaghetti and meatballs. Snarf then popped open the bottle of sparkling cider and poured it into their chalices. He then placed the bottle back into the bucket of ice and he and his nephew walked out the door.

Joseph smiled nervously. "Do you think this is a bit much?"

"Maybe a little," Freya replied. "But our friends did do all of this for us, so we should at least accept it and enjoy it."

"You're right," he said, lifting his chalice. "Well, here's to us."

"To us," Freya repeated, and they clinked their glassed together. They took a small sip. The sparkling cider didn't taste like the wine from back home, but it still tasted good. "So, spaghetti," Freya began.

"Yeah, I remembered how we ate it before at Cats' Lair and liked it," Joseph interrupted. "I hope you don't mind that I pitched in this time to try to make it a little different."

The only way to know how different it would be was to taste it. Freya added a little bit of marinara sauce to her pasta and twirled her fork around and tried a bite. "Well, I can taste the tang of tomatoes as well as a little bit of spice."

"It's crushed pepper flakes," the blonde clarified. "Do you like it?"

"Actually, yes," she answered. She tried the meatballs next. They were well done and mixed with seasoned onion bits. "I think the onions in the meatballs is too much, though."

Joseph tried it for himself. He grimaced, thinking she was right. "I'll have to make a note of that; no onions. Just seasoning." He added sauce to his pasta and topped it with cheese made from Moomoo milk. "But overall, this is really great."

Freya smiled and giggled. "You never cease to impress me with your cooking."

"I can't take all the credit," he replied. "Snarf did teach me how to make the delicacies and cuisines of this world. Really, he deserves credit; especially for being a good teacher."

"But you've helped him out on some occasions too, so all's fair," she said.

They continued talking as they were eating. The ThunderCats listened from the other room, pleased with how wonderful this was going. "So far, so good," Bengali whispered.

"But when is Joseph going to ask Freya to marry him already?" Snarfer asked.

"It's already done," Snarf reminded his nephew. "Now they're just going to talk about what comes next."

That was what they were doing right now. When their plates were empty, Joseph decided that it was time to get to the topic at hand. "You know, Freya," he began. "We've been through a lot together here on Third Earth as well as back home in Egypt."

"That's true," she replied. "And we've been through a lot of bad times as well as good times. But I wouldn't trade any of it. What makes the bad times worth going through is facing them with you and all of our friends."

"I feel the same way," the blonde agreed. "And I want to keep living through times good and bad together with you."

"So do I," she returned. "Remember when we were young and I realized how much I loved you and said I wanted to stay with you forever?" Seeing him nod, she says, "I meant every word of it, Joseph. And I've wanted to make that true by going everywhere with you during all of our adventures here on Third Earth and back home in Egypt. And I especially wanted it to be true by hoping we would get married."

"We will get married, Freya," Joseph promised. "With the life we have here as well as back home being heroes and protectors and whatnot, what better way to live our lives together as a married couple?"

"Oh, absolutely," she replied. "If our pharaoh and queen can do it, we can do it."

"But will you be all right continuing living in the palace or should we have our own house out in the city?"

"Oh, I don't care as long as I'm with you and close to the rest of our friends," she answered. "Still, we do have responsibilities and obligations as royals that we have to take into consideration. But I'm sure we can work something out." Then she got an idea. "I know, why don't we get married back home at the palace and then we can have our honeymoon here on Third Earth like the pharaoh and queen did," she suggested.

Joseph smiled and agreed. "I wouldn't want it any other way. But will you be all right waiting for a few more months?"

"Of course," Freya answered.

As they heard soft music playing, Joseph got up from his chair and held out his hand. Freya took it and he pulled her up from her chair and they began dancing. It was something they heard Snarf say was called a waltz. Joseph held Freya's hand and placed his other hand over her waist and she held her dress. The blonde also took notice of his friends who were watching and smiled at them. Bengali gave him a thumb's up and winked while Panthro raised a fist in a triumphant gesture.

They continue dancing until they finally slow down, look at each other lovingly, and kiss each other on the lips. Pumyra watched with tears of happiness brimming in her eyes. Lynx-O's heart warmed as well, knowing that the love Joseph and Freya had for each other was true and they indeed deserved each other.

Joseph and Freya smiled at each other in silence. The blonde then cleared his throat. "I almost forgot," he was saying, "Snarf made a special dessert from the Moomoo milk we brought from home. Shall we have some?"

"Oh, absolutely," Freya answered. They returned to the dining room and saw that the gelato was already on the table. It was even topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. They sat back down in their seats and happily ate the gelato. It seemed that no matter what the occasion any meal was for, dessert would be one of the best parts.