{{Okay, between my work schedule and getting to do the Andersons/Jenkins "Crossover" episodes between those two threads, I regretably haven't had much time for Earth 2 this week, but I'm back now!—tmw.}}
Around the dinner table, Darrell and Douglas Cooper, along with Joan Morning Star, enjoyed their chicken Kiev. But as they finished dessert, Douglas offered to clear the table and set the dishwasher while they went to the living room and relaxed.
Yet, as Douglas set about that task, glad to be doing something mundane after another day of being Moon Lake's sheriff with Freddy the Shark and his mobsters in town, he was surprised to see Darrell come back into the kitchen.
"Uncle Yogi, can I talk to you?" asked his cousin.
"Sure Darrell. About what?" wondered Douglas, as he continued working.
"Grown up stuff."
That made Douglas stop in his tracks as he turned to look at the boy. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, I see the way you look at Mama Furry sometimes," began Darrell, referring to Joan by her weretigress fursona. "It's the same way Mama Fishy used to look at her," he said, referring to his deceased mother and Douglas' cousin Alyssa Cooper. "And she looks at you sometimes the same way she used to look at Mama Fishy too."
"So?" asked Douglas, wondering what the boy was getting at.
"So when are you going to marry Mama Furry?" asked Darrell.
The kid certainly doesn't pull any punches, I'll give him that, thought Douglas, as he sat back down at the kitchen table and motioned for Darrell to do the same.
"Well, I do love Joan, or Mama Furry as you call her," admitted Douglas, staring at his cousin. "And I do intend to ask her for paw in marriage. But I need to wait."
"Why?" asked Darrell, not understanding the need for the delay.
"Because first of all, there are some really bad men in Moon Lake right now, and I want to make sure they're all gone and won't bother anyone here ever again."
Darrell thought about that for a moment, and then shook his head in agreement. "If anyone can do that, you can Uncle Yogi," the boy said confidently.
"Thanks Darrell," said Douglas with a smile, as he raised his arm and lovingly ruffled his cousin's hair. "Besides, I still have to get Joan a ring, and even when I do ask her, she still has to say yes if she wants to marry me."
"My answer would be yes, but who said I needed a ring?" asked Joan, standing in the kitchen doorway and staring at the two men in her life.
The look of shock on Douglas Cooper's face as he realized she was standing there was priceless in her eyes. "Well, considering how I was raised, it is kind of traditional," replied Douglas, once he found his voice again.
"For the wedding, maybe, but definitely not the engagement. Considering I was in a common law marriage with your cousin Alyssa before she was..." began Joan, moving more into the kitchen.
"Did the two of you plan this?" wondered Douglas, as he looked at her and Darrell.
"No. This was all his idea. I just came looking for Darrell and overheard everything as I approached," she replied.
"You would really say yes?" asked Douglas, as he stood up from his chair.
"To you? Definitely. If you ever ask," said Joan, moving closer to him.
With that, Douglas smiled as he took both of her hands in his, and then got down on one knee and said, "Joan Morning Star, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" she replied, as tears of joy began to leak from her eyes as Darrell began to scream happily that they were getting married.
As Douglas stood, the newly engaged couple embraced and kissed as Darrell jumped around for joy to celebrate Uncle Yogi and Mama Furry getting married.
Then, Joan moved to whisper in her fiance's ear, "How come I suddenly want to rip our clothes off and have you take me right here in the kitchen?"
"Because we just had our were-wedding," replied Douglas.
"What's that?" asked Joan, considering that despite being a weretigress, she led a sheltered existence with limited knowledge of her own kind before moving to Moon Lake.
"Something I'll happily explain to you later. Once Darrell's gone to bed for the night," promised her husband to be, before they started kissing again.