Short, cute, and fun. I hope. Set after Conversation, Future, and Siblings. So to understand the characters here in full you'll need to read those stories. Also, you need to understand that Noll classifies people as pumpkins and not pumpkins. Pumpkins are people he finds unimportant and just doesn't bother to remember. It's also necessary to mention that Noll and Mai are aware that Gene (the son) can communicate with Gene (the brother). Please remember to review!
Mai had learned to expect the unexpected early on in her relationship with her husband. It was to be expected for odd things to happen when one had a part-time job at a ghost hunting business and that business just happened to be managed by one of the most well-known psychics in the paranormal community. However odd her job was, considering she still worked with her husband at SPR, it did not prepare her for what her five year-old son had suddenly started carrying around with him. It was almost Halloween so there was no question as to how he had gained access to one but she was still confused as to why he seemed so attached to the object. Oliver Eugene Davis, son of Oliver and Mai Davis, had taken to carrying around a pumpkin with him wherever he went.
It had been nearly a week since her son had come back from spending the night with a visiting Lin and Madoka with a small pumpkin firmly grasped in his arms like his favorite stuffed animal. She had been too busy with sick twin girls at the time to question Gene about his newest acquisition. When it had become clear that her son was attached to the object she had approached her husband to question him on whether or not he also thought it odd that their son was carrying around a pumpkin.
"Naru?" she called to pull his attention away from the file after she'd set his tea on his desk. They were currently in the office and Gene was out in the main room playing with his toys with his pumpkin beside him. The twins were currently napping in their play pen that was set up in Mai's office. She had taken over Lin's office when he officially moved back to England.
"Yes?" Naru asked.
"Have you noticed...ah...Gene's newest toy?" she asked. He blinked at her before shaking his head.
"I can't say I have. Why? Did that monk give him something not age appropriate? Again?" he asked as he stood obviously intent on taking the object away from his son. Mai moved to step in front of him as she shook her head.
"No. I wouldn't call it inappropriate. Just odd. I can't believe you failed to notice. He's started carrying around a pumpkin, Naru. A pumpkin." she told him. She was surprised when he blinked at her blankly.
"Pumpkin. What pumpkin?" he asked. Mai sighed before shaking her head again.
"Yes. A pumpkin. You know...those round orange things that people decorate for Halloween?" she asked. He continued to study her blankly before moving back to his desk. She watched, exasperated, as he returned his attention back to the file he had been reading before she had entered with his tea.
"Then help him decorate it." he told he. She wasn't able to hide her exasperation at the response she had received. She should have known he wouldn't find it odd that his son had suddenly started carrying around a fruit like it was a pet.
"Mama?" she turned to watch as her son entered the room with the pumpkin firmly in his arms. It wasn't a large pumpkin but a small pumpkin. Much like the ones that Mai used when she making homemade pumpkin pie.
"Yes, Gene?" she asked with a small smile.
"I want to take Pumpkin on a walk." the child said brightly. Mai had to keep her jaw from dropping.
"You...want to take the pumpkin on a walk?" she repeated. He nodded with a bright smile on his face. "Okay. Gene, let me ask you something. Why have you suddenly started carrying a pumpkin around?"
"Oh. It's to help with dad's memory!" the child responded proudly. Mai turned to look at Naru to see he also looked confused. He obviously had no idea what his son was talking about.
"To help with my memory?" Naru asked. Gene beamed at his father when he realized the man's attention was now on him.
"Yeah! Uncle Gene said you have trouble remembering pumpkins! I figured if you always had one visible then you wouldn't forget!" the child said happily. Mai had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the exasperated look on Naru's face. She ushered her son out of the room while telling him they would go on a walk in a moment before returning to her husband's office. She could tell he was still stunned. She cleared her throat and he looked up at her.
"You shouldn't have told him how you classified people."
"Pumpkins are people to your father, Gene. They have names and that's what he has trouble remembering."
"Oh. So I need to name the pumpkins! So this one can be Bob. Bob the pumpkin. That's an easy name to remember!"
"That's not what I meant."