Introducing Freckle To Ruby (Ivy's Dad)

Introducing Freckle to Ruby (Ivy's dad)

Ivy meets Nina

Freckle stood outside the grand home of the Pepper’s. The mansion stood tall and proud, snowy walls with tall windows and large oak doors stood before him. Freckle fixed his bowtie, trying to look as professional as possible. He had worn his usual green pants and suit jacket, since according to Ivy “they matched his eyes.” Speaking of Ivy, the gray short furred cat stood next to him, her long thin wiry tail swishing with excitement. She was wearing a yellow sundress with matching heels and a matching hat adorned with flowers. 

“You ready Freckle?” Ivy’s chipper voice broke through his thoughts.  

“...Uh yeah. I’m ready.” He smiled at her, his tail twitched as his anxiety bore down on him. This was it, he would meet Ivy’s parents and if everything went according to plan… he could ask for their blessing, and hopefully marry her. 

“Great! Come on.” Ivy led him up the marble steps, her heels hitting the floor each time with a clack. He followed albeit less enthusiastically behind her. His blood ran cold as the door opened, only to reveal a silver furred butler. 

“Welcome back Ms. Pepper.” He bowed, holding the door open for the both of them. 

“Hello Damien.” Ivy beamed. “Where’s Mother and Father?” She asked as she dragged Freckle along behind her. 

“Your father is in his study, your mother is with your sisters in the garden miss.” Damien answered as he shut the door behind them. 

“What time is lunch?” Ivy asked as she fished a pocket watch out of Freckle’s coat.

“At 12:30 Miss Pepper.” Damien answered. “Would you like me to notify your father of your guest?”

“Yes please.” Ivy nodded, “This is Fr- Calvin and he will be having lunch with me right?”

“That is correct.” Freckle straightened his posture trying to make himself look more confident than how he felt. As Damien vanished Freckle turned to Ivy. “That’s like twenty minutes. What are we going to do while we wait for lunch…?” 

“Come on.” Ivy gripped his paw in hers. “Damien said that mother is in the garden with Rose and Willow. Anyway, Willow is the younger sister, she's six. Rose is ten.” Ivy looked at him. “Got it?”

“Yeah I think so…” Freckle blinked as Ivy led him back outside into the gardens. Rose bushes surrounded him, and snaking ivy grew along the wall like snakes. A small stream cut through the garden leading to a pond with a snowy white pavilion under a willow tree. Even from across the garden Freckle could see a pale cat sitting in the Pavilion. She had a long fluffy tail with a few ginger spots across her snout and long black hair, she also had large yellow eyes just like Ivy. Next to her sat two more girls, the seemingly older one had gray fur with white spots and yellow eyes, while the younger had dark gray fur and blue eyes. 

“Mama!” Ivy beamed running up the stairs to the pavilion while Freckle trailed behind. “Willow! Rose! It's great to see you again!” Ivy hugged her mother and sisters respectively. 

“Ivy. Hello darling.” Her mother smiled, she had a soft quiet voice. She moved gracefully as she hugged her daughter. “And who’s your friend?” She asked, her yellow gaze landing on Freckle. 

“Mama. This is Calvin, Calvin this is my mother.” Ivy introduced Freckle to her mother. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Pepper.” Freckle smiled politely. 

“Calvin hm?” The snowy cat hummed. “I’m Charlotte, Ivy’s mother as you know. It’s a pleasure to meet you Calvin. Upon what business are you here?” She raised a brow as she stirred her tea with a silver spoon. 

“Oh- Uh…” Freckle stuttered over his words. 

“It was my idea!” Ivy jumped in to save him. “Kill two birds with one stone you know? You all get to meet Calvin, and he gets to asked Father for his blessing.” Ivy sped over the last part of the sentence. 

“Blessing?” Charlotte raised a brow, sitting up straighter. “How curious. How about you and I discuss this Ivy?” She turned to Freckle. “Could you watch Willow and Rose while we chat?” Freckle nodded, despite being phrased like a question he could tell that it was an order. 

“I would love to, after all I get to meet more of the Pepper family.” Freckle watched as Ivy vanished with her mother, the duo walking along the garden leaving him with the kittens. Rose immediately dragged Freckle over to a small table. 

“Play with us.” She demanded, her stance was similar to Ivy whenever she demanded something of anyone at the speakeasy. 

“Oh… you want me to-”

“Play with us!” The girl screamed, stomping her foot.

“Ah! Right yeah sure.” Freckle sat down in one of the tiny chairs. 

“So you are Rose?” Freckle smiled at the fiery kitten as she dressed him up in one of Charlotte's sun hats. Like Ivy, Rose clearly took no for an answer, she even had Ivy’s signature glare. He started to regret giving into the girl’s antics as Willow wrapped him in a fluffy shawl. Similar to the one he could see Mitzi wearing around the Lackadaisy sometimes.

“Yep! And that’s Willow.” Rose pointed at the younger kitten while Willow poured imaginary tea into the broken china set. 

“Now. I’m going to be the Queen, Willow you are the princess, and Calvin is the King.” Rose commanded as she strung pearl necklaces around her neck. Placing a flower crown on everyone's head. “And the Queen is having a tea party.” 

“But I wanted to be the Queen.” Willow protested, pouting as he tail swished in annoyance. 

“I’m the oldest. So I am the Queen.” Rose hissed, stomping her foot. “And I want a tea party.” 

“Uh… How about you both are queens?” Freckle offered before this became an all out argument. “Just from different kingdoms. And you are having a tea party to discuss… queen things.” 

“...Fine.” Rose sniffed. “You can be queen Willow… but only because I said so!” She added. Freckle played along as the girls did their thing. However when Ivy and her mother returned they were met with an interesting sight, Freckle was wrapped in random items of clothing holding a teacup in hand as Rose gave a toast. 

“You look ridiculous.” Ivy burst into giggles as she liberated him from her two sisters. 

“I noticed.” Freckle smiled at her, as he stripped off the unmatching clothing.

Freckle stood by Ivy as they got ready for dinner. “Father. Meet Calvin. Calvin, this is my father.” Ivy smiled, as she stood between the two men. Ivy’s father was a dark gray cat with sharp blue eyes, he didn't have a particularly bulky build and was more on the slender side. He wore a baby blue vest, with darker blue pants and black glossy shoes. 

“Greetings Calvin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The cat smiled. “I’m Reuben Pepper.” He had a soft smile, similar to Ivy but less energetic and more tired. 

“It’s good to meet you Mr. Pepper.” Freckle smiled politely.

“Oh nonsense you may call me Ruby.” Ruby chuckled, waving a paw. “Now please sit down. We can discuss as we eat. No point in standing and chatting as the food gets cold.” Freckle sat down next to Ivy. Ruby gave him a good vibe, he seemed friendly enough. “So how did you meet my daughter?” Ruby asked as he cut up his steak, his eyes never leaving Freckle as he slowly ate his food. His long thin wiry tail coiled like a snake. 

“We met at the Little Daisy.” Ivy cut in, “I decided to talk to him first.” She was clearly more eager to prattle on about how they met than Freckle was. Something Ruby most definitely noticed by the small smile that formed on his face as he watched the duo.

“Ivy. If you please let Calvin get a word in.” Ruby chuckled at his daughter's antics, as he drank some water, his tail flicking side to side. 

“Sorry Father.” Ivy shoved a piece of bread into her mouth.

“So… I assume you are not here just because you two are friends.” Ruby looked at Freckle, “Am I right?” 

“Oh… well…” Freckle gulped. “I wanted to ask for your blessing…” He took a deep breath as he felt Ivy interlock her fingers with his. “I have liked Ivy for a while now… no… I love Ivy. And I would like to marry her and I would like your blessing so I can do that.” Freckle sat awkwardly in his chair, twiddling his thumbs. 

“Well… from what I’ve seen and what Ivy has told me… you are a good match up. Considering you can keep up with Ivy.” Ruby nodded. “I give you my blessing.” 

“O-Oh…” Freckle blinked, he hadn't expected Ruby to relent so quickly, he had even made a whole speech and list just in case he had to convince him.

“Surprised?” Ruby chuckled. “Ivy has told me you're her only partner to not get attacked by Viktor. So I say you're a good match if even that hard head approves.” 

“Thank you…” Freckle blinked, turning to Ivy. “I… I guess we are getting married.” The rest of the dinner went by rather smoothly other than Ivy whispering into his ear. 

“You're really good with kittens, you know?” Ivy grinned at him, looking at him through her lashes. “I think you’ll make a great father for our kittens.” It took all of Freckle’s self control to not hide his face in his paws out of embarrassment. Ivy smiled, noticing that he was flustered. 

“W-What kittens…” Freckle mumbled as he drank his water. 

“The ones we’ll have soon hopefully.” Ivy remarked, making Freckle almost choke on his water. “I mean… you said it yourself… we are getting married.” She teased, looking at him with a sly smile. 

“Ivy please.” Freckle whispered as he tried to regain his composure. “I’m not trying to embarrass myself in front of your family.” He tried to act as normal as possible, the only giveaway of his increasing state of flusteredness being his tail that whipped side to side.