A fluffy, comedic, and heartwarming drabble for your Friday/weekend! Have a great day guys! :D (btw this fic takes place earlier in the year, like in Fall or something. They aren't having a picnic in the snow. XD)
PS: Y'all can't tell me otherwise - Caitlin and Nora are INSEPARABLE. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Barry didn't exactly remember how they had come up with this idea.
Yet here he was, sitting down on a picnic table, with Caitlin sat between himself and Nora, chatting happily about recent events. Nora was really happy to be getting out of the lab for non-hero reasons - and a picnic, like Caitlin had suggested, seemed like the perfect thing to do.
"I feel really happy today," Nora giggled.
"Well, that makes us happy," Caitlin smiled, wrapping her arm around the young girl's shoulder. "How do you feel today, Barry?"
"I feel great," Barry beamed. "Though... are we sure it was such a good idea to send Cisco and Sherloque to get the food?"
The two women looked at Barry, and then at each other...
"I... I think so," Nora said, trying to offer some comfort to her dad and auntie, who were in the process of being stressed out over the duo they had sent to get the food.
"Well, at least we can count on some good sweet stuff," Caitlin shrugged.
"True," Barry nodded. "Cisco always does pick out the best snacks... its mainly Sherloque I'm worried about."
"Yeah, ever since we showed him the wonders of Earth-1 menus," Nora said, "he's been going a bit... wild."
The three giggled lightly over fond memories that they had already made with Sherloque - he was a great Wells already.
Caitlin then whispered something into Barry's ear. "I've noticed Nora's been in a remarkably good mood these past few days... I'm really glad about that, of course, but what's gotten into her?"
Barry smiled. "She's been able to just catch a break lately... she's just a kid; lately she has felt more free."
"I see," Caitlin nodded. "I think she's really happy right now, too."
Nora was indeed really happy - she was scrolling through something on her phone that was making her giggle excessively.
"You've been a big part of that, you know," Barry told her. "She always tells me how much she loves you."
"Aww," Caitlin said, smiling brightly. "I love her too."
She then decided to turn her attention back to Nora. "Whatcha looking at, sweetie?"
"2018 memes on the ancient 'Instagram'," she laughed. "You all have such weird tastes in humor at this time..."
"You should talk to Cisco about that," Barry said. "He gets really defensive over his humor tastes."
"Well, he should! Uncle Cisco's the funniest guy I've ever met," Nora beamed. "Oh... oh, sorry dad..."
"No no, you're right! He is," Barry laughed.
Caitlin sighed happily... she was surrounded by a family of dorks. It couldn't get much better than this.
And then it did - Sherloque and Cisco were making their way over to the table.
"Okay, we got what everyone wanted," Cisco said, passing out the food. "Sorry about the wait guys."
"Don't be sorry!" Barry said. "We were all in perfectly good company."
"I've been keeping them entertained," Nora giggled.
"I'll bet," Cisco smiled.
Caitlin smiled at her best friends' antics, and then took a bite of her ham sandwich. Most people would feel uncomfortable sitting in between two very big-eaters, but she had gotten used to it - a speedster had to eat a lot to keep in shape. And plus, the amount of times she and Barry had been out for lunch (at least while the cameras weren't rolling) had let her get used to his eating habits. And why would his daughter be any different?
Sherloque was the complete opposite - he was a very picky eater, and had very strict table manners. They had learned this a while ago, and it was an experience that everyone (mainly Cisco) would never forget.
Nora was just a girl who loved food.
"Hey, do you all remember last week? The meta we faced?" asked Cisco.
"Oh yeah... that was a weird one," Barry nodded.
"Who goes around screaming 'KITE MAN! HELL YEAH!' these days? Or even at all?" Sherloque wondered. "Is stupid, I tell you. Very stupid."
"They keep getting weirder and weirder as time goes on," muttered Caitlin.
"No spoilers - but that never changes," Nora said.
"Whoop-dee-doo," Cisco said nonchalantly.
Everyone got a good chuckle out of this.
"How's your salad, Nora?" asked Caitlin.
"Its great!" she smiled. "I love making my salads as big as possible; it really makes the person taking my order question my sanity."
"That's my girl," Barry beamed.
Nora gave a traditional Allen-smile, and Caitlin could actually feel the happiness going through her - she was so happy that Nora was here. She made everything better.
"Hey... why don't we go over to the park after we get done here?" asked Barry.
"Why?" Sherloque asked.
"Uh, why not?" Nora asked. "C'mon - if you all say swinging on a swing-set isn't fun, you're a liar."
"She's not wrong, you know," Caitlin said.
"Oh fine, we can go to the park," Sherloque sighed.
"Yay!" everyone chorused, like they were triumphant children.
Sherloque rolled his eyes - he didn't get the point of parks.
"We're just having the best time, aren't we?" Cisco laughed from his end of the seesaw.
"Whee."
Sherloque's monotone response only made Cisco laugh - he was in such a good mood, nothing could bring him down.
Barry and Caitlin, meanwhile, stood nearby as they watched Nora get higher and higher on the swings - she was having so much fun.
"I love swinging!" she giggled aloud, going back and forth.
Barry and Caitlin watched from a very short distance, both beaming. "I can tell she's yours," Caitlin smiled.
"You can?" Barry laughed.
"I can," she said happily. "She has your smile."
Barry beamed happily. "You know, I really don't think I could've asked for a better best friend than you."
"And I couldn't have asked for anyone better than you," Caitlin said happily. "Barry... you're awesome."
"And so are you, Cait," Barry said.
Nora then jumped off of the swing mid-way off the ground, and landed in a flashy pose. "Ta-Da!" she said triumphantly.
"That was impressive!" Caitlin laughed.
"Thanks Auntie Cait! You try!" Nora said. "Just swinging, you don't have to jump off."
"O-Okay," Caitlin laughed, getting on the swing.
As she began to go back and forth, she looked at Barry and Nora happily. They were smiling at her, and her heart fluttered.
She felt so happy whenever they were around...
It was almost like they were family.