She had never felt so nervous in her life. Diane was wringing her hands, her ears and tailing flicking spastically as she paced around in the front room of her house. Alex came downstairs, spotting his sister and giving her a confused look.

"Are you alright? Sheesh, you look like me when Mr. Windford's going over my pictures for the year book! Look," Alex pointed to the floor that his sister had been walking on. "You've been pacing so much I think you're wearing through the floor boards." He chuckled as Diane gave him a glare of annoyance. "Seriously though, what's got you so uptight?"

"Chris." That was all Diane managed out before she begun to pace back and forth, her tail lashing wildly as her ears did a hyper active twitch. Diane just couldn't seem to control either her ears or her tail whenever she became too nervous. Alex watched her for a moment before nodding.

"That's right, you said you were going to invite him over for dinner. So I guess he said 'sure,' huh?"

Diane nodded. 'An' Dad's makin' some of his mushroom soup." Diane stopped and turned to Alex. "Bro! What if he doesn't like mushrooms??!?"

Alex chuckled. "Not like Dad's mushroom soup? Alright, Diane, now you're just hysterical. Calm down, for Landon's sake! I mean really, what could go wrong?" Alex grinned at his sister. At that moment, their father, Paul Brandshire, stepped out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Alright you two, I need some help. Alex, could you come into the kitchen and set up a few things? Diane, if you don't mind, I think I left the shed unlocked and I'd like you to go outside and close it all up for me. There's supposed to be a big wind tonight, and I'd do it myself but I've got to watch the soup on the stove." Paul motioned with a nod of his head into the kitchen. The Brandshire siblings simply nodded, each echoing out a quick 'sure Dad' before they headed off to do their chores assigned to them. Paul made his way into the kitchen and started stirring the soup as Alex began to set the table.

"So..." Paul started up non-chalantly. "You've met this Chris guy before, right?"

"You have no idea." Alex chuckled as he set out some plates. "C'mon Dad, Diane's nervous enough as it is, you don't have to go and give Chris the third degree infront of her. I think she'd die from embarassment."

Paul chuckled at his son as he tasted the soup. "Right. Hey, I know Diane can handle herself with guys, it's not like I'm worried about her."

"Sure..." Alex grinned over at his father as he grabbed some silverware and put it out on the table. "They why do you make such a big deal about the guy she's dating?"

Paul grunted. "I'm her father! And as a father it is my duty to intimidate the guy who's dating her! Really son, that's just how the universe works." He chuckled. "Someday you'll be a dad and you'll know too."

Alex's tail waved lightly and he sighed as his father's comment suddenly brought Ellen's face into his mind. With an uneasy flick of his ear, he manged out a smirk as he looked over at Paul. "Sure thing, Dad. Just try not to kill the guy while he's here, he really is a nice kid."

Mr. Brandshire chuckled again and finally moved the soup from the stove. "Alright, this is done. Alex, you got the table set up?" Alex nodded and Paul was about to say something when a knock on the door stopped him. "Oh... that must be Chris now. I'll get the door." Paul made his way out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Alex rushed over to the doorway to watch the entertainment as he heard the front door open.


Diane had had a bit of trouble getting the shed locked. The bolt lock was getting rusty and it took her a few tugs before she could get it to move. "Gonna have ta get Dad ta replace that sometime soon." She rubbed her sore fingers and turned to head back into the house, walking in through the back door. The back door was located in the utility room, which was accessable through the kitchen. Diane's tail waved lightly as she looked into the kitchen and didn't catch sight of either her brother or her father. "Hey... where did..." finally she spotted Alex standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking out into the front room. Diane's ears twitched as she heard her father's gruff voice.

"So, you're dating my daughter, huh?"

With a groan, Diane realized what had just happened. Crud... Alex let Dad answer the door... don't worry Chris, I'll save you! The woren quickly made her way through the kitchen and into the front room, charging past a grinning Alex who watched her hurry by.


"Uh...." Chris' tail flicked uneasily as he looked up at Mr. Brandshire. The burly man was one of the most intimidating human's Chris had ever seen. He looks like a woodsman or something... those guys don't have to try to hard to look scary. Yet at the same time he could sense something in the man's voice. A hint of humor in Mr. Brandshire's questions. Chris wasn't sure if this should worry him more or make him feel any relief. He was about to reply to Paul's question when suddenly Diane appeared beside her father and gave him a rough push away from Chris.

"C'mon, Dad! Ya dun have ta scare tha guy! He's just here fer supper..." Diane gave Chris an apologetic look as her tail waved in embarassment. Paul chuckled for a moment, a grin appearing on his face for just a second before he cleared his throat and managed up a stern look at give his daughter.

"Yea, it starts like that. First he's here for dinner, but take my eyes off him one second and I swear the next time I see him he'll be taking you down an isle with him!"

If it was possible, Diane's red fur turned an even redder shade as her tail began to wave even quicker. Chris glanced at the father and daughter a moment before he felt a grin tug at his lips.

Oh, I get it now... Chris had seen many times when Diane would start to say things simply to embarass her brother infront of his girlfriend. Appearantly that was something that ran in the family, because Chris suddenly realized that it was exactly what Diane's dad was doing right now. Definantly an interesting family. Chris' tail waved lightly as Diane finally got her father to head back into the kitchen. She gave Chris an apologetic look as she pulled him into the house.

"I'm really sorry 'bout tha'..."

"Hey," Chris chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, no problem really. You're dad doesn't seem that bad, honestly."

Diane's tail was still twitching a bit as she and Chris headed into the kitchen for dinner. Sheesh... she thought to herself, I really hope that's the worst Dad does or I don't think I'll be able to make it through tonight...