Chapter 8

Once James released her, Katie scooted over to her husband and pulled his arm around her. She looked up at her husband for protection. In a shocked voice, she said, "He's crazy."

It had taken Nancy a moment to recover from the shock of hearing that James was going to propose to her. She didn't realize that she was still on her knees in the begging position she had taken before the doorbell rang. Looking at her sister-in-law, she burst out laughing. It took her almost a minute to recover. Finally, she said, "You caught us in a playful mood. We were just having a little fun when you rang."

Joe was wondering what kind of kook his sister had hooked up with. Still standing on the porch, he leaned in and asked, "You were playing?"

Looking a little more serious, James removed the cape and stepped back. His action may not have altered their opinion of him, but he did look a bit more normal. Winking over at Nancy, he said, "Come on in, you two. No need to stand out there like Jehovah Witnesses."

"Come in. He doesn't bite," Nancy said and, after a slight pause, added, "much."

The couple stepped into the house. Katie made sure that her husband kept his arm around her. Seeing how closely she stood to her husband, James knew he had blown her mind. He said, "Nancy was just saying that you are a fan of mine."

"I was," Katie answered slowly.

"Good. I like hearing that past tense," James said with a smile of relief. This looked like one evening saved from the attentions of a fan who asked about every little detail of his books. Seeing the surprised expression on her face, he said, "Now you can get to know me and not the author."

"Oh," Joe said looking over at Nancy trying to judge by her reaction if James was being honest. His sister looked like she was having way too much fun with this situation. That was often a bad sign for his emotional state. That didn't keep him from relaxing a little.

James led them over to the couch and, after gesturing to it, said, "Have a seat."

While the couple sat down, James went over to where Nancy was still kneeling. He held out a hand and helped her rise from the floor. She continued to hold his hand once she was standing. Pulling him with her, she went over to her sister-in-law and hugged her with one arm. Grinning at the looks her sister-in-law was giving James, she said, "Hello, Katie. What do you think of James?"

"I'm not sure," Katie answered continuing to stare in the direction of the famous author.

"I'm sorry about the greeting at the door. We really were playing around when you rang and, well, he was just having a little fun with you," Nancy said. She was convinced that her sister-in-law would never forget that introduction.

"So was he proposing to you?" Joe asked.

"I hadn't quite gotten to that point, but I was rapidly approaching it," James answered.

"Really?" Nancy asked turning to face him and biting her lower lip.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry case. Turning to Nancy, he tied the towel around his neck. Taking the heroic stance, he said, "My plan to foil the evil super-villain is to make you my wife. No evil super-villain will risk the wrath of Superwriter by attacking his wife. Will you agree to be part of my master plan?"

"Oh yes, Superwriter. I agree to be part of your plan," Nancy answered staring at the diamond ring. This was not exactly the kind of proposal that she had dreamed about, but it was exactly what she had come to expect from him. She giggled at the idea of how his publisher or agent would react if they were here to see it.

"Gosh! That's so neat! Let's kiss!" James said after slipping the ring on her finger. He stepped back into his superhero pose. It was so obvious that he was playing around that even Katie giggled at the sight.

Laughing, Nancy flowed into his arms and kissed him. The Quatyl, fearing the worst, immediately ran from the room. Too often kisses turned into more intimate activities and that led to them laying eggs. They weren't taking any chances.

The unexpected sight of eight small animals fleeing the room provoked a scream from Katie. She climbed up on the couch and pointed toward the hallway where the Quatyl had run. Convinced that she had entered a crazy house, she shouted, "What were those things?"

Breaking their kiss, Nancy guessed what had happened. In a lighthearted voice, she said, "Those were the Quatyl."

"The what-el?" Joe asked looking confused.

"The Quatyl," James answered removing the towel now that the proposal was over. Turning to face the hallway, James called out, "Hey, you critters can come out here. We're not going to have sex. We want you to meet Nancy's family."

Katie looked at James when he mentioned the bit about sex. Joe asked, "Sex?"

"They don't like it when we have sex," Nancy said thinking it was weird talking about that in front of her brother.

With a pained looked on his face, Joe raised a hand, palm out to Nancy, and said, "Too much information."

A minute later, the eight Quatyl entered the living room looking around cautiously. Katie stared at the little animals for a full five seconds. She squealed and said, "They are so cute!"

Nancy said, "They are, aren't they?"

After a nice quiet dinner, Joe and Katie were seated on the couch while James and Nancy were seated on the loveseat. Joe had Scar on his lap and Katie was petting Face. Both Quatyl were purring. Running a hand along Scar's back, Joe said, "These are wonderful animals."

"I'm glad you like them," James said thinking that the couple had just adopted the pair even if they didn't know it yet. He reached down and petted Scout; evoking a loud purr from it.

"So you found them when you were down in Mexico?" Katie asked. Nancy had mentioned that he had found them while working on his last book.

"Yes," James answered. Realizing that it wasn't quite an accurate description of what happened, he added, "Actually, it was more like they found me. I was working away on the computer when Scout appeared at the door of the cabin. I tried to scare him off. When he didn't run off, I let him in and, well, the rest is history."

Katie was silent for a minute and then asked, "Do you think their sudden appearance has anything to do with that spaceship that crashed in Central America?"

"I doubt it. That was almost two hundred miles away from where I was staying," James answered. Scout raised his head and looked over at Katie.

"They said that it was filled with all kinds of unusual animals," Nancy said. Face listened carefully to what Nancy was saying. She was kind of proud that her pet was putting together an accurate picture of what happened.

"There was a big centaur creature that was discovered not too far from my cabin. It had been dead for a week or so before they discovered it. If it was from that crash and it took that long to make it that far, I doubt these little fellows could make that trip in the same amount of time. These little critters aren't really built for speed," James said. If Scout could have snorted, he would have. He wondered why his beast didn't think that they might have ridden out of the swamp on the back of the Gnord.

"You're probably right," Joe said.

"It was probably just a co-incidence that you discovered them in the same area where that Centaur was found," Katie said. She leaned down and kissed the Quatyl on the top of its head. She cooed, "These Quatyl are just so cute. I love them."

Having heard what Katie had said, it was obvious that their attempt to adopt a pet was succeeding. Scar wanted a chance to discuss the adoption of the pet with the other members of the crew. There were significant consequences to success. Scar rose and wiggled a little.

Noticing his movement, Nancy said, "Joe, I think he wants down."

"Oh," Joe said. He gently put the little animal on the ground. Scar moved a few feet away and then stopped to see if the other Quatyl would follow him.

Understanding what he wanted, Face performed the same little rise and wiggle maneuver. Reluctantly, Katie set Face down on the floor. The pair of them headed towards the kitchen and stopped to look back at the dens from which the others were watching. The other four Quatyl followed them out of the room.

Responding to cues from the animals on their laps, James and Nancy set Scout and Cubby on the floor. The pair raced off to the kitchen.

Having watched what was going on, Katie asked, "What are they doing?"

"They probably just want to eat a little something. They like it when you leave out food for them," Nancy answered.

"They might want to play," James said.

"Why not play here?" Katie asked.

Nancy answered, "They play this little game in the kitchen where they jump around on the tiles. It is really kind of cute. We haven't figured out if there are rules or not, but they enjoy it."

Joe said, "It sounds like you really enjoy having them as pets."

"You bet. They really are the perfect pet. They are very well behaved and aren't overly active. We've had almost a hundred of them in here and not one of them ever destroyed anything in the house. They don't eat much, just a little baby food. They aren't really too demanding of your time and, somehow, they know when not to bother you. Really, they are very clever little critters," James said.

"How do you think they would be with children?"

"Actually, I'm more worried about the children hurting them. They are completely defenseless. They don't have claws or teeth so they can't protect themselves by biting or scratching," Nancy answered.

"They sure are cute," Katie said with a sigh. She was wondering if they could take one of the Quatyl home with them.

"I agree with you on that," James said. He caught Nancy looking down at the ring on her finger. He put an arm around her and drew her close to him. She sighed and relaxed against him.

Looking over at James, Katie asked, "So what are you working on?"

"Oh, I was putting together the outline for another Dr. Dud story," James answered with a wink at Nancy. She giggled.

"What's it going to be about?"

"Dr. Dud is going to marry Bee Reste. Together they will have a son by the name of Arthur Dud. This book is going to be a set up for my masterpiece," James answered.

Katie was quiet for a moment and then burst out laughing. She said, "I love it. The wife's name is Breasty."

"I was going to make her middle name Ann," James said.

"So after she's married, her name becomes Bee A. Dud," Katie said with a laugh.

Listening to the exchange, Joe shook his head in wonder. He asked, "How do you come up with those kinds of things?"

"Like Katie said when she came in the house, I'm crazy," James said with a grin.