I've Got the Strangest Feeling This Isn't Our First Time Around

75

"Don't shake his hand, and don't hug him." Pauline instructs as they reach her dad's front door.

"No, no, of course not." Spike says. "I'll just bang on my chest to establish dominance."

"Spike!" Pauline clearly doesn't appreciate Spike's nervous humor. "No jokes, and you know what? Don't talk at all if you can help it. Just smile and nod."

"Pauline, you're throwing me into uncharted waters." Spike complains.

"Daddy!" Pauline says suddenly, turning Spike around right as the front door opens.

"Hi." The man looks Spike up and down. "You're Spike?", Spike smiles and nods.

The man says, "Welcome.", and that seems to be all the prompting Spike needs to step right up and grab his hand and shake it firmly, then pull him and pat his back once, exactly what Pauline said not to do.

"Honor to meet you, Mr. Verducci." Spike says, and miraculously, Mr. Verducci smiles, nods, and steps back to let them inside, with Spike shooting a look at Pauline before following him in.

Luigi, in his vest and green bowtie getup, feels like a sore thumb as he mingles around the outdoor area of Mimi's event, before going inside.

He sees a lot of people wearing the exact same outfits he saw in Merlee's vision, but that's promptly forgotten when he sees Mario dressed to the nines in a tuxedo he's never seen before.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Luigi demands.

"Is that any way to talk to the guy that sweet talked his way in here?" Mario replies.

"You did?" Luigi forgets about being pissed for a second.

"No." Mario shakes his head, laughing. "We both got invites, remember?" then, "Shall we?"

Luigi will kick himself later for how he just nods and follows Mario into the crowd.

"Mr. Verducci, I have to say, if you weren't our mayor, you'd have a real shot at your own restaurant." Spike compliments after another bite of spaghetti.

Mr. Verducci laughs, "Thank you. Can I interest you in another helping?"

"I won't say no." Spike nods.

"Sounds to me like you two really love what you do." Mr. Verducci notes as he puts more spaghetti on Spike's plate.

"You kidding? Spike's top of his class in mechanical engineering and robotics." Pauline chimes in.

"Ah, another dummy." Mr. Verducci jokes.

"You have no idea." Spike agrees, laughing. "Almost as big a one as your daughter. Takes everything I have to keep up with her."

There's a laugh around the table, before Spike says, "But really, I mean it. The way Pauline's brain works fascinates me to no end. Not just in smarts, but the way she cares about everyone she works with, friend or acquaintance. I don't deserve her. You raised an amazing woman."

"Hang on to this one, pumpkin." Mr. Verducci tells her, patting Spike's shoulder as they laugh, before Mr. Verducci grabs some plates. "Let's clear it up for dessert, shall we?", then leaves the two of them alone.

"Spike, what the hell?" Pauline demands the moment her dad's out of earshot. "You won him over!"

"Was that not what you wanted?" Spike reminds her as he sips his wine and bites into his garlic bread.

"Not to where I can't dump you!" Pauline says.

"Hey, the deal was I get to dump you this time." Spike corrects her.