Hey guys, sorry for lack of updates. Here is a prompt for my good buddy crazytiny. She and I discuss so many things about Despicable Me and uuugh the feels. She requested this! Hope you enjoy ^^
Work of Art
Sunday afternoon and the Gru house was oddly silent. Of course he knew it was around nap time for one of his girls but Gru knew at least one of his kittens must have been up to something.
It had been a few months since he had the approval of the social worker and his home was remodeled just enough to let the girls stay. Routine fell in rather fast for the family of four and when school started up Gru was starting to be really thankful for all the blessings he had now.
Weekends were different. Weekends were fun with Dad time. Unless Dad was busy with a new grenade launcher in his lab.
Agnes always passed out where ever she was around this time, Margo had homework she like to take care of but Edith.. well he started to get a little concerned when he didn't hear her running around in the minions break room area.
He left his lab to return upstairs, roaming the living room to see Agnes passed out just as he expected, Margo letting the youngest use her as a pillow as she read a book for her class. She did glance up as Gru entered, smiling faintly.
After just a few months with the girls he couldn't believe how quickly they seemed to grow. Margo was having a growth spurt every week and it almost disturbed him. Being quiet, he walked closer and spoke in a hush. "Where is Edith?"
Margo gave a little shrug. Gru glanced back towards the hallway door and soon headed in that direction. Only other place could be the girl's room. He had done a little remodeling in there since they were going to be permanent residents, so there was more to do if they were really bored.
Opening the door he glanced inside. A light was on so he could only assume there was someone there. "Edith?" It took him only a moment to spot her and another to see what she was doing.
About twenty years ago, Gru was at the height of his career. Nothing was impossible to him, when he saw something he wanted, he took it. His heists were made of legends and all the other villains he had met were in awe of him.
Stealing wasn't even the main goal, it was the outcome of the crime. Panic, chaos, all the things that he could leave in his wake. So when he set his sights on one of the most famous paintings in the world he knew what he'd do.
A replica was made. He was going to replace the Mona Lisa with his fake and take the real one. Later when the replica was seen to be a forged copy he could ransom off the real one, knowing the world would pay anything for such a priceless item.
But he put in too much effort to the fake. It was almost perfection. Not a single stroke or smudge askew. Using his years of training he snuck in under the cover of darkness and hijacked the security. Once it was replaced he'd sneak away and just wait for the riot..
It never came. He did the same with a few other works of art but still, nothing. Years went by and these works of art just lounged in one of his rooms, forgotten.
Until three kittens came in that is. He left the paintings in their room to keep it bright, but he didn't imagine this.
Edith was holding a bright purple crayon and was putting a moustache on the most iconic faces in art.
"Edith!" He yelled, not really noticing that she had been also appointing the walls with her own art.
When he rushed over to her she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, backing up quickly. Dropping the crayon she only could muster; "I'm sorry!"
"What.. why would you do dat?" Carefully Gru wrapped his hands around the delicate frame and lifted it from the floor. Why didn't he move these paintings to his lab?
Edith looked more annoyed that he was yelling then anything. "Because.. The crayon is washable! Just get soap and water!"
The very idea seemed to shock him. Soap, harsh chemical ridden soap and dirty water on a painting that was nearing five hundred years old. It wasn't even panic that was in his gut, it was something else entirely. "Dis is de Mona Lisa!"
"Yeah I've seen it in my history book.." Edith crossed her arms, crayons forgotten now. "You can just go buy a new one.."
"Buy a NEW ONE?" Gru growled; something he hadn't done in months. With the rage he only remembered in his youth he stormed out of the girl's room, still yelling. "I can't go buy a new one, dis is de ONLY one!"
Edith was following. At the moment he didn't really want her to, but wasn't about to let his anger overwhelm him that much. "Wait, so this is the real Mona Lisa?"
What could he say at that point? 'Oh yes, dis is when I went to steal a piece of history to instead find out my replica was too good to tell?'The girls wouldn't understand just how important this was. Or how horrible the outcome could be.
"It is, isn't it!?" Edith ran ahead of him, turning the corner to the living room as quickly as her legs could take her. "Gru has the real Mona Lisa!"
"What's the Moaning Lisa?" Agnes rubbed her eyes, waking up from the outburst.
Margo pat her sister's head. "Mona Lisa.. and it's not the real one… Right?" Her eyes peered over her glasses to her father.
Gru was in a frantic state, carrying the painting down to his lab. "…maybe! Just.. don't assume any'ing!"
With his heart throbbing in his chest the man glanced to the woman's face. The purple was bright against her pale, lighted skin and grief was suddenly waving over him. Once he came to a stop from the tube transporting him below, he practically rushed out and started looking around frantically for his old friend.
When he found Doctor Nefario sitting at a desk, his eyes glued to a blueprint, all he could do was hold up the painting and hold back the urge to start flailing it around. "Doctor.. help!"
The older scientist stared at it for a long time, then waved his hand. "You better start paying me double if I am going to be revarnishing paintings!"
Hours and various chemicals later, Gru sat at the same desk Nefario had been using when he came down. The painting was fixed, not a scratch done to its original oils and the woman was smirking at him in a very frustrating way. While the worry was somewhat lessened, something else was nagging at him. What if this had been worse? What if the priceless item was damaged beyond repair? He wasn't even mad at Edith anymore; she had no clue what it was.
But it hit him hard that actually owning this was putting not only himself in constant risk of life imprisonment… it would mean the girls would be taken from him. Put back into the home that made his skin crawl. He'd never see his kitten again. That alone was making a prickling sensation in the corners of his eyes.
"Gru?"
Blinking back any sort of trace of tears he turned on his seat and saw his girls, Edith hanging behind her sisters a foot or two. Gru instantly felt bad for yelling before. "Sorry, for before." He muttered, standing slowly.
"Is that the real deal?" The eldest girl was not going to be fooled. Margo knew more about him no matter how he tried to hide it. Since the moon heist she had been putting plenty of facts together. Her eyes looked to the painting.
"If… well. Yes." No point in hiding now, Gru. "It is very old and I shouldn't have kept it upstairs."
"No.. you should have given it back."
They wouldn't understand that if he even did that, with all good and pure intentions… the girls would still be taken away. "I can't, I.. dey don't know I have et. I made dis fake, left it there.. pretty good I guess.. dey never suspected me or anyone. Guess dat was a bust ransom.." He glanced down, avoiding their judging gaze. He used to be proud, maybe he still was. After all, he could say he tricked the entirety of the French Government.
Margo suddenly stated something he wished he had thought of before. "Why didn't you leave a note then, instead of just assuming they'd notice?"
"Huh." Gru blinked back a moment of surprise. "…guess I didn't think of dat."
"Why can't you give it back?" Agnes clutched her unicorn, looking up at him. "And just say sorry?"
"Not dat simple, sweetheart.."
"Mrs. Feather says it is!" Gru lowered down to kneel, listening to the girl as she spoke of her preschool teacher. "All you gotta do is say sorry! That's what she told Sebastian when he took my unicorn!"
The girls innocent smile and words melted his heart right there. "..You're right, sweetie." He reached his arm out, letting the littlest come in for a hug. Margo shook her head, but put on a smile for her father. Maybe at least she understood. "Edith?"
The pink capped girl glanced over. Gru noticed that her cheeks were a bit red, which only made him feel worse. "I'm sorry." Her voice even trembled a bit.
He motioned for her to come to him. When she got close enough he drew her into the hug he already shared with Agnes. "It was my fault. Don't worry. Things will be just fine."
With his three kittens around him, Gru could only take a deep breath and let his nerves calm down. Maybe he could devise a way to return the paintings later, unknowingly to their rightful homes. But for now all he could do was focus on the things that were priceless to him.