AN: SORRY for the delay - RL has been crazy, which is no excuse, I know! I still have loads of reviews to respond to… I'll try and get those done this week!
This, final, chapter is set around the same time as the rest of the story, but not Percy's first meeting with Audrey's dad… for that one, you're going to have to wait for my Percy/Audrey story to write itself - I'm having difficulty finding time and inspiration at the moment, but I do have an outline of an outline!
Epilogue: Audrey's Dad
"I thought you said the two of you had some sort of falling out?"
Her father's gruff voice pulled Audrey from her concentration. She stopped what she was doing to glance at her father over her shoulder and give him a slightly accusing glare.
"And I told you," she emphasised yet again. "It wasn't a falling out; it was a misunderstanding, on my part, and we've worked through it. His sister came over and helped me to understand. Now please be nice today, Percy is nervous enough, for some reason. He knows he made a mistake and he's trying very hard to make it up to me." She returned to her mother's ancient cook book, an heirloom of sorts even before her premature death. It wasn't often she baked, and her father knew it; it was just another sign that this lunch was important. She then remembered her father's appearance.
Turning back to him, she told him, in no uncertain terms, not to return to the garage but to get cleaned up instead. She knew she sounded like her mother when she told him off like she had, but he always seemed to listen when she did. She threw in her mother's patented glare too for good measure. William Rhys knew it was useless arguing and left to follow his daughter's instructions.
She put the biscuits she was making to bake and started to prepare lunch. She had plenty of time before Percy was due to arrive, but didn't really want to have to leave Percy unattended with her father after their argument, of sorts. While she trusted them both, implicitly, she was nervous about even the idea of leaving the alone together; for some reason the mere thought screamed 'Danger!'
Percy's distinctive knock at the door sounded through the house as she removed the batch of cookies from the oven, adjusting the temperature for the part-baked bread rolls. She hurried to answer the door but her father, seemingly jumping the last three steps, beat her to it.
The two men shook hands stiffly and politely as Percy entered the house and her father closed the door; it allowed Percy a very brief moment in which to greet Audrey with a chaste kiss to her cheek. She offered him a warm and encouraging smile in return.
As Mr. Rhys was about to speak, Audrey's kitchen timer beeped from the other room, alerting her that the bread rolls were finished and lunch was ready. Sighing noiselessly in relief as she avoided an awkward silence, Audrey herded her two favourite gentlemen into the dining room, her father repeating his plea to Percy to call him by his forename, and retrieved the last serving plates in record speed. By the time she returned, the men were talking about her mother's antique wireless in the corner of the room. It much resembled Percy's smaller model, hence his interest, and her father was intrigued by the fact that Percy's was in full working order, having spent what felt like years trying to fix the monstrosity that his wife had inherited. They bonded over Percy's offer to 'make a few calls' and 'see what he could do' but Audrey suspected that it would take Percy only a matter of seconds to fix the thing, once her father was out of sight at least.
A silence descended as they ate. Her father's eyes glistened slightly and Audrey recognised the look that meant he was thinking of her mother. She stole a glance at Percy as she buttered a roll and saw a similar look in Percy's eyes. She knew his radio had belonged to Fred once upon a time; the previous conversation had probably sent both men into reminisces of their lost loved ones. She only recalled her mother tuning the radio into a classics station and teaching her daughter an important lesson about the value of 70's Rock'n'Roll.
They finished their lunch in quiet conversation about work and family. Her father asked about his upbringing and siblings, they talked at length about Percy's job - while he suggested that he worked for a small government office, his passion when talking about criminal prosecutions was evident and shared.
Audrey eventually excused herself to put the kettle on for tea. She purposefully left the dining room door open a tiny crack so that she could listen in on the conversation. She suspected that her father would decide to interrogate her boyfriend. As she rinsed out the kettle and filled it, she missed the question and the start of Percy's response, but what he was saying was perfectly clear once the tap had been turned off.
"- Audrey mentioned that she'd told you about our misunderstanding. I got into the family history and what I told her was kind of intense. It's understandable she wanted some time to figure things out." Audrey could hear the hesitations in Percy's voice as he spoke but didn't think it was anything her father would pick up on. He seemed to be defending himself well for their supposed 'break up'.
She listened to her father try to extract the 'family history' from Percy as she placed tea bags in the pot and decanted some milk into a small jug but Percy was adamant that it regarded Fred's death and was strictly personal. She knew he still felt a certain amount of guilt for distracting Fred at the time and his helplessness immediately after but she was proud of Percy's stubborn streak in that moment. He had confessed that they might have to explain magic to her father one day but today was most definitely not it.
She poured the freshly boiled water over the tea bags and delivered the tea pot to the dining room. She was returning to the kitchen to fetch her earlier batch of cookies when she heard her father ask about Percy's intentions towards her. She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, breath caught in her throat, as she waited for Percy's response. The voices were hushed but she caught every word.
"I love her. I want a future with her, sir." Percy paused, letting his statement and the use of the word 'sir' sink in. "Actually, I was planning on proposing to her, soon. It would mean a lot to me if I had your blessing to do so."
Audrey was shocked that he would ask her father for her hand, but had to admit that marrying Percy wasn't an idea that scared or intimidated her. It was something she wanted too. Remembering that she was only supposed to be collecting the biscuit tin, she meandered through the kitchen to grab the tin and sauntered back slowly, as her father gave Percy his blessing.
They were speaking of mundane things again when Audrey returned, Percy sporting a smile that she didn't want to admit she recognised and shared. It wasn't long however before Audrey left them alone again to clear their lunch plates from the table. She was curious as to what they would talk about now in her absence. She drew water into the sink as quietly as she could so that she could eavesdrop once more.
"Does she know? That you want to propose, I mean?" Her father's voice was lower again, but unmistakable.
"I don't think so. We've talked about the future a bit, but not seriously. Every time I try to say something I guess I lose my nerve." He sounded nervous to be making such a statement to her father but, her father in turn just hummed in acknowledgement. Percy carried on talking. "I just know that speaking to her is the highlight of my day and she makes me want to be an honest and honourable man, for her."
"Saying it like that suggests you're less than honourable Percy. To be perfectly honest, I've never gotten that impression from you." Audrey paused in rinsing the plates to listen intently to Percy's response. Her father was certainly on form today.
"Saying it any other way suggests that it's Audrey who is less than honourable. Besides, I'm a better man since I met her."
AN: Clicking Complete… I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm writing more Percy/Audrey and enjoying that too. Hopefully I'll have something for you soon!
Lots of Love Vicky Starfish xxxxx