Carl always knew his daughter was different, but he thought of it more like social maladjustment. When he came home from work one day and this strange Ivy girl was at his table, he accepted it fine until the truth about her powers—and her intentions—came out. Firmly wanting his child uninvolved with this fairy tale, Carl insisted on speaking privately with his wife about it. Francis talked him into letting Nina and Ivy have a relationship even though Carl saw her as extremely strange and dangerous. Later in the story, though there is little focus on it, fights broke out at Nina’s house when Carl discovered Nina was developing her own strange abilities and considered it a good thing. He tried to forbid Nina to go to Ivy’s house, but Francis again won him over and the relationship continued. When Nina went over his head and invited Ivy to a family-only birthday party, Carl blew up at Ivy, and they had to have a private talk. When Ivy showed in a rare emotional outburst how much Nina meant to her, Carl realized this went deeper than he’d imagined, and he gave their relationship his blessing.