So this took me longer than it should have to write. The idea came to me then got away from me. I think that this is the longest one shot that I've written for Hey Arnold. Probably for anything. I'm pretty positive that its longer than Rats too. Its a little over 11 pages on word and 4631 all together so sorry about the length. I don't really like it to be honest but I'll let you decide for yourself.
You don't need to read Packing or Two Halves of One Whole to understand this but Two Halves is referenced a little bit and it would make more sense to read that first. But like I said, you don't have to. You'll be able to understand this completely without reading the other two.
"I hate being pregnant," Olga said as she waddled into the living room.
Helga saw her eight and a half month pregnant stomach before she saw her face.
"It could be worse," she said from her seat on the sofa. "It could be the middle of July instead of December."
"Or you could be pregnant with quints instead of twins and gain even more weight," her husband of two years, Warren said from beside Helga.
Helga flinched and knew that her usually soft spoken sister's face was turning a crazy shade of red and she would start yelling about Warren 'doing this to her' and how 'this was all his fault.'
"Olga," she said quickly as Olga opened her mouth. "Would you like something to eat? I know how much you like Cheetos with mashed potatoes and honey, would you like some?"
Olga immediately went from glaring daggers at her husband to giving her sister a huge smile. "Oh, thank you so much baby sister. I would really like that."
"No problem," Helga said, getting up from her seat. She had learned early on in Olga's pregnancy that her mood swings were nothing to take lightly and should be dealt with quickly. Very quickly.
Walking into the kitchen, Helga got the instant mashed potatoes flakes out of the refrigerator and heated the water on the stove.
She looked at the clock. Five hours. I still have plenty of time.
Helga laughed a little when she remembered the look that Olga had given Warren. The man was completely in love with her sister, but he could say some of the dumbest things some times. But she was pretty sure that it was his way of coping. Olga was due to have the twins in about a week or so and he was positive that they would get stuck in the worst snowstorm in history when her water broke. He had even tried to convince Olga to move into the hospital her last month of pregnancy.
When she finished making Olga's 'meal' headed back into the living room and handed the plate in her hand to Olga, who was sitting next to Warren. "Enjoy," she said with a barely contained shudder. The stuff that Olga had consumed during her pregnancy made her dry heave.
Sitting on the opposite side of her brother-in-law, Helga said, "So what are we watching?"
"Live Free or Die Hard," Olga said as she swirled a Cheeto in some honey and scooped up some potatoes with it. "I feel like watching something with a lot of action."
Helga and Warren gave each other a look. A two hour, very violent movie with a hormonal Olga? This wasn't going to end well.
The two hour movie ended up taking three. Olga had to constantly ask for the movie to be paused, even though she has seen it at least ten times, because she had to use the bathroom, and Warren, who was a huge fan of the entire Die Hard series, had to keep pausing it to make Olga some mashed potatoes.
"I really like that movie," Olga said. "And I can't imagine why. I hate violence."
"You could of fooled me," Warren muttered, rubbing his arm.
Anytime an action scene came on, Olga would punch poor Warren in the arm. And there was a lot of action in that movie. Helga was pretty sure that he would have a bruise later.
Awkwardly getting up, Olga looked down at her sister. "Would you like to help me make dinner baby sister?"
"Didn't you just-" Warren abruptly stopped what he was saying when Helga elbowed him in his good arm.
"Jeez, the Pataki women are so violent."
"I'm a Rutherford now, thank you very much," Olga told her husband. "And I'm in a good mood so I will pretend like I didn't hear that."
"Sure, I'll help you Olga," Helga said looking at the clock.
Only two more hours.
Following her sister into the kitchen, Helga tried not to let her nervousness show.
She helped her sister in the kitchen, getting the pots and pans that she couldn't because of her protruding stomach. And as every minute ticked by Helga got more and more antsy.
Thirty minutes later and after she dropped the fifth pot, Olga had had enough. "Baby sister, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing at all," Helga said, failing at masking the near panic that was about to break the surface.
"We're almost done with everything aren't we?" At Olga's concerned nod, Helga rushed and said, "How about I go over to Beverly's house? I haven't seen her all weekend and-"
"Helga," her sister cut her off. "What has gotten into you? You know that it's almost time-"
"I know what time it is," Helga snapped at her Olga.
She gave her sister a searching loon. "Helga, are you afraid," her sister asked her.
"Of course not," Helga said with false bravery. "I'm not afraid of anything…well except rats, but other than that, nothing. I just want to go and see Beverly."
"Don't you think that it can wait until later? It'll only be one more hour."
"You know how us teenagers are Olga," Helga tried to joke. "We have to talk to each other constantly about boys and fashion trends and...stuff that teenage girls talk about."
"Baby sister…" Olga said sadly. Putting her hand on the small of her back to relieve some of the ache, she waddled over to the table and slowly lowered herself into a chair. "Helga, come sit down. I think that we should talk."
"Olga, I don't really want to…"
"I think that it's best that you do. Right now baby sister. I'm not having a mood swing at the moment and if we wait I might tell you something horrible like 'suck it up and stop being a sissy.' I know that we both wouldn't like that."
Sighing, Helga relented. Walking to the chair across from her sister's, she sat down and tried to look everywhere but at her.
"Helga, you've known about this for weeks. You had to know that it was going to happen."
"I know," Helga said, her resistance crumbling at the lovingly concerned look her sister was giving her. "I guess I just didn't think about what it really meant until today."
"If it's bothering you so much I could-"
"No," Helga said quickly. "No. That's not fair to anyone."
"What's wrong then baby sister? What's bothering you so much about it?"
"I don't know," Helga said desperately. "I thought I was fine with it. I knew that it would happen eventually. But now that it finally is, I'm panicking."
"Do you not want to? Is that the problem?"
"No, I do," she objected, and truthfully too. "I'm just afraid."
"It's been six years, Helga. Don't you think that it's time?"
"I know it is. I'm just nervous I guess."
"You were going to have to see them again eventually," Olga said gently. "Don't you miss them?"
Helga ran her hands through her hair. "Yes. I didn't realize how much. But I really do."
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea," Olga said, trying to stand. "I'll just call them and tell them not to come. They'll understand."
"No," Helga shouted. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I want to see them, I really do."
"But Helga-"
"I know that you miss Bob and Miriam just as much as I do. You haven't seen them in six years either and I know that you did that for me."
It was inevitable that Helga would see her parents again one day. They were her parents for God's sake. And she wasn't lying to Olga. She really did miss them and wanted to see them. And she had forgiven them for their past mistakes but Helga couldn't banish the thought that it was all just a ruse when they talked to her on the phone. That they only pretended to care about her just to have Olga in their lives.
Helga knew that she wouldn't be able to cope if it really was all pretend.
And then there was the possibility that-
She stopped that thinking. She wouldn't allow herself to think that.
Olga probably desperately missed their parents more than she let on. When Warren proposed, Helga expected to have to wear a hideous maid of honor dress and knew that Olga wanted Bob to walk her down the aisle. She had prepared herself for seeing them again. But then Olga shocked her and Warren both when she said that the last time she tried to get married the traditional way her fiancé had to leave (something to this day that Helga didn't have the heart to tell her the truth about) so they were going to elope and skip the big wedding.
Helga had a suspicion that Olga did it also because she knew that Helga hadn't wanted to be anywhere near Hillwood.
"I want to see them," she reassured her sister. "It's just…what if Miriam still drinks? Or Bob is going to be wrapped up in calls the whole time he's here with his business partners?"
"Daddy has already promised to turn his phone off the entire time he's here," her sister told her. "And Mommy's been sober for almost four years." After looking at her pensively Olga said, "It won't be the way it was before. They've changed."
Helga didn't even bother asking her how she knew. Ever since coming to live with her sister, Olga had been able to read her like a book. "But what if? What if they haven't?"
Olga managed to get out of the chair before Helga could offer to help her and dragged her chair close to hers. Taking her hands, Olga said, "I know that you have every right to be wary and afraid but Mommy and Daddy are different now. How they treated you when you were younger was horrible and I blame myself for just letting it happen for so long without doing anything. I thought that if I just acted like it didn't exist then it just didn't. Don't you think that I was worried about that too? You've grown into a wonderful young woman and I wasn't about to let them hurt you again. I had a long talk with both of them and I truly believe that they've changed."
"But what if-"
"What if what," Olga prodded when Helga stopped herself.
"What if they want to take me away from you," Helga asked, barely able to contain her tears that sung her eyes.
"Oh, baby sister," Olga said, trying to hug Helga as best she could with her stomach. "I told you a long time ago that you'd always have a home with me."
"I know, but they're my parents Olga, not you."
"I have guardianship and custody of you Helga, don't you remember I had to have both to be able to enroll you in school?"
"But they could sue you if they really wanted. You're still a newly-wed and you have two babies on the way. What if they think that I should move back with them to give you and your family-"
Firmly grasping Helga's arms, Olga said, "Don't ever say that you aren't my family, or Warren's for that matter either. We both love you and would never want you to go anywhere unless you wanted to. Is that understood?"
A pregnant Olga was indeed a very scary Olga. "Al-alright."
"If Mommy and Daddy decide to do that, which I doubt," Olga said lifting herself out of her chair. "Then we will deal with that when it comes. Until then we don't have anything to worry about. Now let's finish the food so we can all eat when they get here."
"They're here," Olga said with uncontained excitement as she tottered to the front door.
All Helga wanted to do was run upstairs and…she didn't know what she wanted to do but she knew that whatever it was it was everything but being where she was right now.
"Come on," Warren told her. "It won't be that bad."
Taking her hand and pulling her up from the sofa he said, "How do you think I feel? This is the first time I'm meeting them."
Pushing her in front of him, he put his hands on her shoulders squeezed them. "I heard you and your sister talking earlier. She's right you know. You're part of my family just as much as she and the babies are. We won't let anything happen to you."
Taking a deep breath, Helga pushed open the front door to see Olga let go of Bob and throw herself at Miriam. "Oh Mommy! I've missed you too!"
"And I've missed you honey," Miriam said. "I can't believe that I'm going to be a grandmother."
"So where's this husband of yours? I have to see if he's good enough for my little girl. And where's Hel-"
He stopped short when he caught sight of her.
She almost called him Bob. But for her sister's sake she was going to gave everything a fresh start. "Hi Dad. Hi Mom," she said, not moving from her spot at the door until Warren pushed her forward.
Helga knew that it was going to be awkward but the way she and her parents just stared at each other was ten times more awkward than she expected.
Miriam was the one who made the first move. "You've grown so much Helga," she said walking towards her. "You're so beautiful. Look at all that hair," Miriam said, reaching her and giving her a tight hug, running her hands through Helga's hair.
She only hesitated for an instant before she hug her mother back, she as tight as she was hugging her. "I've missed you so much," Miriam said into her neck.
"I've missed you too," Helga whispered.
Pulling away, Miriam said, "Alright, let your father look at you." Helga didn't miss the quick hand that she ran over her eyes.
She had barely let go of her mother before her father pulled into another hug, hugging her tighter than her mother had. "Good to see you kiddo."
"Now let me get a look at you," he said, holding her at arms length. "Your mother's right. You're beautiful. Look just like her and Olga when they were sixteen."
Helga's breath caught. She knew it was stupid. Something as small as saying her correct age shouldn't be important, it didn't mean anything.
But it did mean something to her.
It was the first time that Helga could remember that he called her the right age.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She was not going to cry. She wasn't. (Maybe later, but not right now.)
"I hope that husband of yours has been taking care of my baby," Bob said over Helga's head. Even though he directed it at Olga, he was looking at Warren. "No snot nosed punks are coming around here sniffing after her are they?"
"I have to beat them away with sticks," Warren said jokingly, coming forward to shake Bob's hand. "Warren Rutherford, sir. It's nice to finally meet you. And you too," he said turning to Miriam. "You both have two wonderful daughters."
"Come on everyone," Olga said. "Let's all get inside before we freeze. Helga and I cooked and the food's ready."
"What about the softball tryouts you were worried about," Bob asked his younger daughter. "How did that go?"
Dinner had been long over. The five of them still sat at the dining room table talking, catching up on everything from the past six years, even though they knew most of it since they kept in close contact.
It was like they were a family. A happy, normal family.
Helga couldn't deny that it felt good. It felt really good to finally know what having a normal family should feel like.
"I was finally able get on the varsity team," she told her father. "I was worried that I would be stuck on junior varsity until I graduated but I've been practicing and I was able to make it. The coach says that if I practice some more I could be starting pitcher."
"That's my girl," Bob said. "From what your sister tells me you could even get a scholarship on that arm."
They talked more about Helga's softball and Olga's job until Warren caught her yawning. "I think that we're going to call it a night," he told his in-laws. "We'll see you all in the morning."
After saying goodnight to the couple, none of them said anything until they no longer heard footsteps on the stairs.
"They seem happy," Bob said but Helga knew that he was just fishing.
"They are," Helga told him. "Warren worships Olga and she adores him. They couldn't be more perfect for each other."
"What about your sister," her mother asked. "How's she doing with the babies?"
Helga rolled her eyes, "When she's not arguing with Warren about moving into the hospital she's fine. She makes sure that she takes her vitamins and eats right. She's been uncomfortable the past few weeks but other than that she's fine. They don't realize it but Olga's going to have the babies within the next two or three days. I haven't told them that though, they would freak."
"What makes you think that," Bob asked her.
"Her stomach's getting lower and lower everyday. I read that when the stomach drops then the baby is going to be born soon."
"You were always a smart kid," he said and they lapsed into the second uncomfortable silence of the day.
"So…" Helga said, searching for something to say. "How is everyone in Hillwood? How's Phoebe?"
"She's doing well. She's dating that kid who used to have the weird tall hair. The one who hung out with the kid with the weird head."
"Gerald," Helga said, ignoring the second part of the statement. "I didn't know that. Haven't talked to her in a while."
"She's doing alright for herself," he replied. "We always see her in the paper winning an award for the school."
"I haven't been able to send her the birthday present that I bought her, do you think that you could give it to her for me?"
She saw her parents glance uneasily at each other.
"We could do that if you wanted us to sweetie," her mother said to her. "But we wanted to talk to you about something that might be even better."
Helga felt like the walls were pressing in on her. She tried to take deep breaths but the more she took, the more short winded she got. She knew what they were about to say and only wished that she could stop them.
"How would you like to give it to her yourself," Miriam said, giving Helga a smile. "I know that all your old friends would love to see you again and your father and I miss having you around the house."
"Your mother's right," Bob said. "We both would love it if-"
"No!"
The outburst not only caught her parents by surprise, but Helga too. She had been screaming it in her head, she hadn't meant for it to come out like that.
She saw the disappointment in her parent's eyes and felt horrible. It had probably taken a lot for them to get the courage to ask her and she shot them down flat.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I miss you guys too but I like living here with Olga and Warren. And when the babies come they're going to need my help. I'm sorry, but I don't want to move back to Hillwood."
"We know that you've been living with your sister for a long time but don't you think that your home is in Hillwood," her mother asked. "You grew up there and your best friend is there. We're there," Miriam said the last in a very quiet voice that almost was Helga's undoing and she was strangely reminded of the conversation that she and Lila had all those years ago.
"I know that Phoebe's there and that you're there but I'm going to be a junior next year, I don't want to change schools with only two years left. And I have friends and a life here now. I don't want to go back to Hillwood," she repeated.
Miriam cast a stricken glance at Bob who sighed and ran his hand over his face. "We promised your sister that we wouldn't say anything to you about this or she would personally kick us out of the house but it needs to be said. When you were living with us…we weren't very good parents to you and we can't help but think that that's why you don't want to come back. That's for damn sure why you left."
"Dad, you don't have to-"
"Yes we do," he said interrupting her. "The way we treated you…there's no excuse for that. And even if we had one, I'm sure if would sound like a bunch of crap to your ears."
"Dad, it's alright, we've moved-"
"We may have moved past it," her mother said. "But we never apologized to you for the way we treated you. "
"You don't have to apologize," Helga said. At one time it had bothered Helga that her parents never apologized for treating her the way they did but now it didn't matter. They were all in a good place now it she didn't care if they never apologized; she knew that they were sorry. Saying it wasn't needed.
"Yes we do," her mother continued. "When you were a baby I started drinking and your father was always stressed out about his business that we never gave you the attention you needed. Olga was more than happy to raise you and we let her. When she left for college we didn't know what to do with so we didn't do anything. If we could go back and change it we would. You're our daughter and we should have treated you better."
"It's not only your fault," she told her parents. "When you did try to be good parents I didn't make it easy."
"And that's no one's fault but our own," Bob interjected.
"You don't have to apologize," Helga repeated. "I forgave you a long time ago but I won't change my mind. I like living here with Warren and Olga. I don't want to leave."
"If that's want you really want then we won't pressure you," Miriam said. Helga saw the hurt in both their eyes that they tried to cover up. She wished that she wanted to go back to Hillwood, just too so it wouldn't be there anymore but she knew that Hillwood wasn't where she was meant to be right now.
"Two years is a long time," she told them. "A lot can happen in two years. I might decide to go back. That is if the offer is still open."
"The offer will always be open sweetie," her mother said.
Helga opened her mouth to tell her parents thank you when they suddenly heard, "Code red! Code red," from the stairs.
The voice was cut off and a series of hard thumps and bumps were heard.
Helga and her parents rushed to the living room to see Warren picking himself up off the floor in front of the stairs.
"Warren, are you," she said trying not to laugh when he cut her off.
"Code red Helga! Where's the bag? You packed it right? Where are the keys? Why-"
"Warren! Calm down," Helga said.
"I can't calm down! Olga's in labor, we have to get to the hospital. She's having contractions and-"
"Are you sure they aren't Braxton-Hicks?"
"Her water broke," he yelled frantically to her as he rushed around the room.
As his words set in Helga's mind her parents started to frantically run around with their son in law.
"Bob where are the key!"
"Miriam go and get our bags! Helga, call nine one one!"
Watching the three adults run around the living room would have been very entertaining to Helga if she didn't know that she would have to be the one to make sure that everyone got to the hospital with their lives and her sanity intact.
"Baby sister," she heard hesitantly from up the stairs. Looking up, she saw her sister staring down at the chaos that was happening below her, one hand of the banister and one on her stomach.
Rushing up the stairs, Helga stopped one step below her sister and took her hand. "Are you alright?"
Nodding Olga said, "Is Warren alright? I heard him fall down the stairs."
Rolling her eyes, Helga said, "He's fine. Down there now with Mom and Dad like chickens with their heads cut off."
"I like it when you call them that," Olga told her quietly.
"I think I am too."
"We know how to have family," Olga gasped and squeezed Helga's hand. "Reunions, don't we," she gritted out.
Quickly looking at her watch, Helga said, "Was that a contraction?"
At Olga's nod, Helga said, "When was the last one?"
"This-first one," Olga forced out.
She squeezed Helga's hand for another twenty seconds before she let out a deep breath and loosened her grip on Helga's hand. "Oh baby sister, that hurt more than what I expected," she said forcing a smile.
Seeing the pain that her sister was in, Helga went into high gear. "Where's the bag?"
After she retrieved the overnight bag she went back to Olga and wrapped her arm around her middle. "Come on," she said as they slowly made it down the stairs. "Can we leave these three though?"
"Hey," Helga shouted at the top of her lungs, causing the three in front of her to stop. "Unless you want these babies delivered right here we're all going to get in the car right now."
Turning to her brother-in-law she said, "Warren, give me the keys to the truck. You, Mom, and Olga will sit in the back. Dad is going to sit up front with me, I'm driving. NO ARGUING," she said when they all started to talk at once.
"Thank you baby sister," Olga said as they made their way out of the door.
"It won't always be this crazy," Helga said.
"Of course it will. We're the Patakis."
So, there you have it. I wanted it to seem like it was possibly Arnold and everyone that she was seeing then a surprise with it being her parents. Olga and Helga's conversation went a little long but I couldn't stop writing it. I don't think that Bob and Miriam are bad people they just treat Helga like crap and if it were real life this is how I would like it to go. But review if you were able to read all of this and let me know what you you.
kialajaray