Chapter Nineteen

Daphne and Fred had more than their fair share of problems regarding their relationship, but one thing was always evident. They were in love. Their last big problem was the calendar, but they got through it. Now Fred had a different problem: How to propose to the woman he loved. Then he thought of the best solution, but Daphne had no idea what was on his mind. As Fred drove them up the hill in the Mystery Machine, Daphne believed they would relive old times, but this was the time that would beat them all, as far as Fred was concerned.

"The full moon is lovely tonight," Daphne said. "Don't you think?"

"It is, but it could never be as lovely as you," Fred replied.

Daphne smiled at how corny Fred was being, but she also thought it was incredibly romantic. As they reached the top, Fred became very nervous.

"O-O-Okay," Fred said nervously. "This is it,"

Daphne frowned a little at Fred as she couldn't imagine why he was so nervous.

"Did you bring a condom with you?" she asked.

"Y-Y-Yeah, but that's not all I brought," Fred replied, still nervous.

Fred opened his door and stepped outside in front of the van. Daphne thought that was a little strange, and he was always keen to open the door behind them. Then she exited the van and was about to open the back door when Fred interrupted her.

"Wait," Fred said. "I really want to see how beautiful you are tonight,"

"Okay," Daphne said suspiciously.

It was windy atop the hill and blowing Daphne's hair back. Fred smiled at this. Judging by the smile on his face, Daphne's suspicions grew more substantial.

"Freddie, what's going on with you?" she asked.

Fred answered her question by getting on one knee and taking out a small box with light purple velvet. Then he opened it to reveal a gold ring and an emerald diamond. Daphne put both hands over her mouth in shock and happiness.

"Daphne Blake," Fred said. "Will you marry me?"

Daphne answered that question when tears of joy streamed down her cheeks, and she was having a difficult time breathing.

"Yes!" she said, breathlessly. "I'll marry you!"

Fred breathed a massive sigh of relief and got to his feet quickly. Daphne hugged him quickly and kissed him passionately. Fred returned the kiss and grabbed her left hand. Daphne broke the kiss so Fred could put the ring on her finger. Daphne cried some more once it was on.

"Oh, Freddie!" Daphne said as she cried with happiness. "I love you!"

"I love you, too," Fred said. "Would you like to announce our engagement at our next convention appearance?"

Daphne smiled as she loved the way he thought.

"Freddie, I love the way you think," she said.

Fred smiled, and they kissed a little more. Then they stopped kissing, and Fred opened the back door to the van, and they entered it quickly. As happy as they were, neither of them was aware that the Warden had witnessed the entire event from the parking lot of Coolsville Prison. When Fred got down on one knee, he knew he had to take action. From the Warden's delusional point of view, the only man Daphne would marry would be him, and Fred would never be part of her life. When the Warden saw the Mystery Machine rocking on top of the hill as they were having sex inside, his anger grew to psychotic levels.

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Daphne enjoyed going to conventions because she knew how loyal the fans were, and she loved hearing why they loved her and the cartoon so much. But as she sat with Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo behind a long table in the main hall of the Coolsville Convention Center, Daphne had a different reason for loving to be there. She and Fred were getting married, and she couldn't wait to announce their engagement. But as Daphne looked at the crowd, she saw someone she hadn't seen in years: Robert Ballard, and he wasn't alone.

To her shock, Robert was with an eight-year-old boy with the spitting image of Fred and bright red hair. There was no doubt in Daphne's mind that Robert was there with her son, William. Daphne looked at Fred, who was too busy signing autographs and answering questions for the fans. She looked back at William, and Daphne wasn't sure if he had noticed her, but there was no question: she was the one they were waiting in line to see. As more people came through for her to sign autographs and ask questions, Daphne did her best to hurry them along. She just wanted to talk to her son.

When Robert and William finally arrived at her table, Daphne smiled, but Robert didn't. Robert instructed William to stand a few feet behind him so he could talk to Daphne privately, and he had grim looks in his eyes.

"I've seen you interviewed on television on that God-awful 'Coolsville Excitement' program a while ago, Miss Blake," Robert said coldly. "And I saw the calendar you posed for. You may as well have been naked the way you exposed yourself,"

Daphne felt her throat tighten as she knew her son saw her, and she felt ashamed.

"The calendar was for charity, and I don't like the way I was presented in it because it wasn't intentional," Daphne said, doing her best to stay calm.

Robert had heard enough as he didn't believe anything she had to say.

"The way you present yourself makes you look like a common whore," Robert said. "Don't you know how young your fans are?"

And for Daphne, that was the last straw. Hearing Robert call her a common whore reminded her of the nightmarish days she lived with her mother. The mother she could never please. The mother made her life a living hell before she could escape to college. In an uncontrollable rage, Daphne pushed her chair back and stood up quickly.

"I'm not a whore!" Daphne shouted, hurt and offended that Robert had insulted her like that in front of her son. "How dare you call me that!"

After hearing Daphne shout like that, Fred pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Daphne, please!" Fred said.

"Fred, he was saying some horrible things about me!" Daphne shouted. "Didn't you hear him?"

Fred hadn't heard anything William had said as he was too focused on dealing with his fans. Daphne's fans noticed, and as she looked into the crowd, she saw people leaving her line to speak to her. Fred couldn't believe what was happening, but a quick-thinking volunteer in her early twenties had approached Fred with a microphone. Fred grabbed it appreciatively.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I must apologise for my colleague, Daphne Blake," Fred said. "It's not like her to lose her temper like this, and I hope this doesn't decrease your enjoyment at the convention today,"

Fred looked at Daphne and gave her the coldest look she had ever seen. She looked back into the crowd and noticed Robert and William leaving. It was a heartbreaking sight for Daphne to see. The other sad thing for Daphne was that it was obvious that Fred wouldn't announce their engagement that day. It would have been a beautiful moment if Robert hadn't humiliated Daphne like that, and William had been there to witness the moment of her future marriage to Fred, William's father. As these heartbreaking events occurred, the Warden was in a ghost costume and had videoed the entire event on his cell phone.

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Fred couldn't believe the way Daphne behaved at the convention. It just wasn't like her. On the drive home, they didn't say one word to each other. The tension was palpable. Daphne entered their house first, and as soon as Fred closed the door behind them, his anger knew no bounds.

"What the hell were you thinking at the convention today?" Fred shouted.

"Did you hear what that man called me?" Daphne shouted back. "He called me a common whore! How did you think I was going to react?"

Fred knew Daphne had a right to be hurt, but she had crossed a line.

"Daphne, you've had people call you worse than that," Fred argued, doing his best to calm down. "We've all been trained to deal with assholes of the public,"

"I'm aware of that, but that man pushed my buttons," Daphne argued. "What was I supposed to do?"

"You could have waved to someone in security to get him out of there," Fred said. "That's what you should have done!"

"I know that!" Daphne said, frustrated.

"Then why didn't you think to do it?" Fred asked. "What made him so different than any other asshole that pushed your buttons?"

Daphne couldn't believe that Fred didn't know who Robert was.

"Fred, don't you know who that man was?" Daphne asked. "Don't you remember who he was?"

"No, I don't!" Fred said shortly.

"He was at our graduation," Daphne said. "He was there when I went into labor with our son. He helped us get to the hospital,"

Fred had thought about that day a lot over the years and couldn't believe he didn't recognise the older man.

"Robert," Fred said. "That was his name, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Daphne replied. "That's who pushed my buttons today,"

"Then why did he call you a common whore?" Fred asked, frustrated.

"Probably because of the calendar that we did," Daphne replied, equally frustrated.

Daphne didn't mention that their son was there, and she wondered if Fred had seen Robert standing next to William and if he had picked up on it.

"Were there any other reasons why Robert was angry with you today?" Fred asked.

Daphne hoped that Fred had recognised his son standing nearly ten feet from him at the convention. As soon as she saw William at the convention, Daphne's motherly instincts kicked in, and she wanted to walk over to him and hug him. To tell William that she missed him and how much she loved him. But Fred didn't feel any of that as a father, and Daphne was heartbroken that Fred didn't feel anything like that.

"No, I can't think of anything," Daphne lied, trying to hide how upset she was.

As they continued to fight well into the night, Daphne wondered if a future with Fred was worth it.

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All William wanted was to go to the convention to meet his heroes from Mystery Inc. He couldn't believe how his grandfather was angry at Daphne and how he had taken him away before he could get a chance to meet them. William didn't say anything when Robert brought him home because he was so mad. But when they entered the house, and Robert closed the door behind him, William let him have it.

"Why were you so nasty to Daphne today, Grandpa?" William asked.

Robert sighed as he had been dreading this conversation all afternoon, and now that it was finally happening, he hoped it wouldn't last long.

"She did something that she shouldn't have," Robert said.

"But why did you have to bring it up?" William asked. "I really wanted to meet them,"

When Robert met Daphne, he grew to like her and loved the gift of a grandson she had given him. But after seeing her infamous interview on Coolsville Excitement, it wasn't something he could easily forgive as she was William's mother, and she should have known more about her son.

"I know you did, but I couldn't let it go," Robert said.

"I wish I could let you go!" William shouted in angry retaliation. "I hate you!"

William ran into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Robert walked up to his bedroom door and tried to open it, but William had locked it.

"William, I really need to talk to you," Robert said.

"Well, I don't wanna talk to you!" William shouted. "Get lost!"

As Robert stood outside the door helpless, he was glad Michael and Katherine weren't home to see their son act this way and that he had to wait another two hours before they came home from work.