Disclaimer: I do not own Despicable Me

Littlest Keeten

X -x-x-x-x- X

Pale blue eyes opened and blinked at the sunlight peeking through the window. He yawned and stretched, his back popping a bit, and he immediately regretted stretching so quickly. "Oy..." He groaned. He sat up and rubbed the crust out of his eyes with a sigh. Glancing at the clock, he let out a pitiful moan. "Six 'O' clock in the morning...Does it really take two hours just to get ready?" His face went blank.

"I want pancakes!"

"I want cereal!"

"Where are your pants?!"

"DAD! So and so did so and so!"

"Unicorns!"

"Don't put that in the toilet!"

"La la la la la...!"

His shoulders slumped. Yeah, it really did. He shook his head and stood up, more bones cracking and popping. "Ugh..." His eyes looked at the floor and slowly his mouth turned upward into a mischievous smile. It was the first day of school.

Thankfully, he had adopted them during the summer break and didn't have to deal with that on top of anything else, but now the break was over and he had enrolled them into a new school close to home - and today was the day. He chuckled and rubbed his hands together, looking more like the villain he was and hopped to the closet to get dressed. "Oh, yes...!"

It's not that he wasn't enjoying the girls, or that he didn't love them, but after these few months he was beginning to understand why school existed in the first place;

An eight hour break for parents.

But today was also special for another reason. Today his youngest little kitten was starting school for the first time ever. A milestone that every child goes through, and in turn every parent.

He wasn't there for her first word, or step, or tooth, but he could be there for this. He sighed with a gentle smile and slipped on his gray turtleneck. He knew the girls wouldn't be awake yet, but maybe the smell of pancakes would help. They usually did.

After the large stack was done, the first child mumbled into the kitchen on cue. He glanced over at Edith rubbing her face and moaning like a zombie. "Good morning." He beamed. "How many do you want?"

"How about one in the shape of a pillow?" Edith groaned.

"Now, now. I had to get up early too. And I can't go back to sleep either. Where are your sisters?"

"Margo is busy picking the perfect outfit and Agnes is brushing her unicorn." Edith sat up to the table and layed her head down on her arms with a loud yawn. "I hate school."

Gru layed out a stack on the plate for her and went to the fridge for some orange juice. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Learning."

He rolled his eyes with a chuckle and grabbed the carton. He shut the fridge door, revealing Margo in jeans with a green crew-neck shirt and blue jean vest. He shrugged and smiled at his oldest. "Hello, there. How many?"

"Mmm, three." She smiled and walked up to the table.

He smiled back and looked around. "Where is Agnes?"

"She's playing. She doesn't need to get up anyway." Margo replied.

Gru frowned. "Oh, yes, she does."

Edith poked her pancakes tiredly. "But she's going in the afternoon."

"Still, scheduling is important." He remarked with his finger in the air. "You girls eat, I'll go get your sister."

The two sisters shrugged, Edith grabbing the top pancake and tearing into it like a wild animal, and Margo - shaking her head - cutting up hers.

Gru entered the girls' room and found Agnes singing to her fluffy unicorn. He smiled and leaned against the door frame. "Hey. Breakfast is waiting."

"Pretty fluffy clouds - huh? Pizza?"

He stopped leaning and walked into the room. "No...pancakes. C'mon. It's getting cold."

"Cold pizza!" Agnes chirped.

"NO, pancakes."

Agnes pouted. "I know we have pizza left over."

He sighed. "Agnes, that is for later, maybe a snack, not for breakfast." He chided. She frowned and gave him the face that she always pulled to get her way. "No." He put his hands on his hips. "NO!" She inhaled.

"This is so not fair. How come she gets leftover pizza and we don't?" Edith whined.

Gru let out an exasperated sigh. "Because this time she turned purple!"

Agnes giggled as she took another bite of her cold cheese pizza while her older sisters glared at her.

"Oh-kay. We need to go over what is going to happen today and every other week-day until you graduate or I die." Margo and Edith exchanged looks while Agnes gnawed on her pizza crust.

"First, " He held up his index finger, "The bus will pick you up. Then at noon I drive Agnes down there. Then at three I get back in my car and pick you all up and take you home."

"How come Agnes can't take the bus?" Edith grumbled.

"Because it is her first day ever and I will only drive her until she is used to it. Then she can take the bus with you."

Edith blew out some air and Margo nodded. "We understand, Dad. It's a big day for her."

He picked up their plates and carried them to the sink. "It is a big one for you too. A new school."

Margo pushed up her glasses."Yeah, but it's gonna be better than our last school. Our last school was a government place for orphans." She smiled at her father. He knew what she meant. Now she was a normal student (normal as can be with a super-villain for a dad) at a normal school and not an orphan at a government school.

He smiled to himself as he rinsed their plates and placed them in the dish-washer. A horn outside made them all turn. "Okay-dokay. Books, bags, shoes, and underpants. Let's go, let's go!" The two older girls groaned and grabbed their backpacks and marched to the front door. "Here you go." He handed them brown paper bags and Edith looked up at him like he was nuts.

"Uh, we have school lunches."

His face fell and Margo elbowed her sister. "It's fine, really. Thanks, Dad." She smiled up at him and took her bag and made Edith take hers.

He opened the door and the bus was right there waiting with another impatient honk. "Yeah, yeah! Start holding your horses!" He patted them both on the shoulder. "Be good." His eyes fell on Edith as he spoke and she scoffed.

"Oh, come on. How stupid would I be to cause trouble on the first day?"

He looked at Margo and she giggled. "Don't worry. We'll be good." She kissed her dad on the cheek and began down the stairs.

"Yeah...we will be." Edith mocked and kissed Gru on the other cheek before following her sister.

Gru watched as both boarded the bus and waved as it drove off. He expected the moment to be more emotional but it wasn't. Probably because the girls had done this before. He sighed and shut the door, only to see a small kitten looking up at him. They stood there for a few seconds in silence before she grinned up at him. "So...what now?" She giggled.

"And now fluffy bunny gets a cookie." Agnes mused as she gave a lopsided Play-Doh cookie to a stuffed rabbit.

Sitting indian-style on the floor holding another Play-Doh cookie and an empty plastic cup, Gru watched in silence as Agnes "served" her numerous toys.

It was pushing eleven thirty and after coloring in Barbie books, dancing around the room to Barney and Friends, drawing unicorns, throwing his car keys in the toilet, and making an entire seven course meal out of Play-Doh, Agnes was finally sitting and playing quietly.

Gru sighed and checked the clock again. "Agnes, you are still in your PG's. You need to get dressed. We have half an hour." Agnes didn't even look at him as she continued to talk to her bunny-rabbit. "Agnes..." Still nothing. His brow raised and he sat down his "food". "Agnes, c'mon. I mean it this time."

"Yum, yum, yum, I love peanut butter." She was completely ignoring him, which was odd because she always wanted his attention. He sighed and stood up.

"If you do not pick out your own outfit I will do it for you." She paused briefly and continued stuffing Play-Doh into her bunny's mouth. He clicked his tongue and walked to the closet picking out the same clothes she was wearing when they all first met. He liked this one the best and smiled as he sat it out, along with her socks and shoes. "Agnes, you will get dressed now."

She stopped and looked up at him. "Why do I hafta go to school?"

He put away some of the toys littering the room. "Because that is what growing children do. You must learn."

She cocked her head. "Learn what?"

He thought for a second. "Oh, reading and writing and arithmetic."

Her face contorted. "What's arith...metic?"

"Math." He drolled out flatly. "No one likes it, but most everyone uses it."

"I don't...whatever it is..."

He chuckled. "You are still little, but kindergarten is fun. Mostly it is like being at home but with other children."

"I DON'T WANNA GO!" She snapped making him gasp in surprise.

"Agn - "

"NO!" She screeched in a high pitch that made his heart jump a few beats and ran out of the room.

"Agnes! Agnes, come back here!"

He ran into the hallway seeing a few confused minions scratching their heads. "Ka-poy?"

"Phil, Joe. Go after her. She might not run from you guys."

"Phil" turned around and saluted. "Okay!"

They both ran in different directions and Gru sighed heavily. "Ohh..."

"What's going on here?" Doctor Nefario's voice chimed behind Gru and he turned around only to see the good man holding a not too happy little girl.

Gru blinked. "Oh."

"He's faster than he looks..." Agnes grumbled.

Gru smiled and took her from the older man and nodded at him. "Thanks. Now you." He scolded in a gentle tone to the child. "We get dressed." He walked back to the room and Nefario simply shook his head.

Once Agnes was dressed - with a severe pout on her face and arms crossed, eyes glaring - Gru packed her bag with pencils and safety scissors, and whatever a five year-old would need. It was very close to noon and once they were in the car, Gru having to carry her because she refused to walk, he barreled down the road, the rumble making all the car alarms go off.

A red light was the only thing that stopped him, and he now had the chance to talk to his little kitten.

He didn't know what to say to her to make her feel better, so he thought of what his mother said.

A car pulls up and a young Gru gets out holding a brown paper sack. He looks up pathetically to the driver, who is checking her reflection in the rear-view mirror. "Mom?"

"Mm?" She glanced at him. "Oh, I'll pick you at at three."

"But...I'm the morning class!"

"Then try to not to get killed walking home." The car peeled out of the school zone, leaving the little boy coughing and hacking for dear life as his mother's muffler exploded in his face.

Okay, that wasn't any good. He sighed heavily. "Look, Agnes, I know that it might seem scary right now, but school can be fun!"

A bunch of boys throwing food at him during lunch.

Another boy tripping him and his tray going all over the place.

Him being pelted with red bouncy balls in gym.

Wedgies. Swirlies. GUM IN HIS HAIR!

A loud honk brought him back to the present. He shook himself out of it and saw that the light was green. He blasted the car forward, hearing the undignified scream of the driver behind him. He chuckled viciously and cleared his throat when he noticed Agnes looking at him. "Ahem, so..." A few seconds of silence. "I know you don't want to go, but your sisters have to and so do you."

"Why?" She whined.

"Because it is part of growing up."

"I don't wanna." She pouted with arms crossed.

"I know...I don't want you to either..." He finished to himself. "But, unfortunately, we all do."

Agnes looked out the window and sighed. "What do they do in my class?"

"I don't really remember but it isn't much, like what your sisters have to do. You're pretty smart anyway. It'll be easy for you!" He smiled at the child and she smiled a little in return.

They pulled up to the school and the backfire of his engine made several children run and scream. "Okay, time to go in."

"Will you go with me?" She asked in that sweet innocent tone.

"Of course." He shut of the engine and the both went down to the door and began walking to the school. Agnes held Gru's hand tightly as they walked in, some of the adults giving him looks, though she didn't notice any of them.

He walked up to the front desk and asked someone what room they should go to. Agnes looked around at the longs halls and numerous doors. She could see some older children running to class, and a teacher scold them for doing so, as well as hear the laughter of others. She looked up at her tall father and gulped. He wouldn't be here - he would leave and go home, leaving her here without her sisters, without anyone. At Miss Hattie's she stayed at the home while Margo and Edith went to school. She had other little girls to play with and wasn't alone much. She looked at the floor and heard Gru say a faint "thank you".

"Okay, room 23. Let's go, kitten."

They walked for a few minutes, passing room after room until they reached her class. A female teacher with blonde hair in a bun greeted them with a smile, faltering when she took a closer look at the scary looking man in front of her. "Uhm..."

He smiled nervously. "Agnes Gru?"

"Oh!" The teacher looked down and smiled. "Hel-lo there, sweetie! Welcome to Sunset East Elementary!" Agnes latched onto her father's leg. "Oh...there's no need to be scared." The teacher comforted.

"It will be alright, Agnes." Gru patted her on the head softly.

"Why don't you go check out the room, dear?" The teacher asked. Agnes looked up at her dad and he smiled down at her.

"Go on and look. I'll talk to the teacher." Gru eased the little girl to the door where she peaked in. There were other children and toys. At first look it didn't seem so bad. She played with her fingers and kept just outside the door, all the while making sure to keep Gru and the teacher within her sights.

"The first day is tough for some children." The teacher explained. "Some are excited to be here and then they realize that mommy or daddy have to leave. It's not good for them. Try to ease her and let her know that you're coming back." Gru nodded and followed the teacher to the door where she went in and he stood behind Agnes.

He knelled down to her and sighed at how scared she did seem to be. It was odd. She was always a happy child, and easily adapted to any situation, so why was this so hard for her? "Hey, why don't you go in and play? I see fluffy toys." She shook her head. "Why not?"

She turned and looked at him with sad eyes. "You'll leave me."

His shoulders slumped. "I know...I don't think they'll let me stay. They're not letting any other parents stay."

"You could freeze them!" Agnes chimed with a smile, making Gru roll his eyes.

"Ah...no." She sighed and looked down again and he put a hand on her shoulder. "How about this? Why don't you draw a picture to give me when school is over?" She perked up a little.

"Mmm...okay..."

He hugged her tightly and when they parted he eased her into the room. She looked back once and he waved gently with a smile. He backed up to allow another set of parents with a young boy through.

Agnes seemed preoccupied with a set of Busy Beads and Gru made his escape, hoping that she wouldn't cry or get upset. He felt awful guilty, but he couldn't stay there all day.

...Could he?

The children burst out of the building running to each car that belonged to them. Agnes grinned as she saw her father's unique tank rumbling at her school, with him standing outside it. "Daddy!" She ran to him and he picked her up.

"I assume you had fun?" He asked as she snuggled into his neck.

She beamed at him. "Uh huh! We colored and sang and wrote numbers! It wasn't hard at all!"

He chuckled. "I told you it wouldn't be."

"The teacher gave us cupcakes!" She squealed.

He smiled at the chocolate icing on her mouth and how delightfully oblivious she was to it. "Oh, did she?" He asked as he wiped it away. Agnes smiled and he chuckled. "So, you liked it?"

"Uh huh! I wanna go again!"

He grinned. "Oh, that's good, because you will for about twelve or thirteen years."

She tilted her head. "Is that a long time?"

The image of her grown up and graduating high-school entered his mind and he hugged her again. "Not long enough..." He looked up to see his other two daughters walking out to the car.

"Hey, Agnes. Did you have a good day?" Margo asked.

Agnes nodded vigorously. "Mmm hmm!"

"And did you two?" Gru asked.

"I put glue in this girls' hair and now she thinks we're best friends." Edith answered.

"Well, as long as you're socializing." Gru retorted with a roll of the eyes.

Margo shook her head. "I already have homework and I think Edith does too."

The middle child shrugged. "Eh, I think Kyle's gonna eat it."

Gru laughed and opened the door for them. "Okay, let's go home."

They all piled up front and Agnes pulled on Gru's shirt. "Oh! I drew a picture for you!" She handed him a piece of pink paper with a faint drawing of a blob in purple crayon.

"Ohh..." Gru's eyes went to the bottom of the paper where there was about an entire bottle of pink glitter stick-glued all over it. "Wow..."

"Do you think it has enough glitter?" Edith said with a laugh. The glitter fell of the page and onto his lap and that's when he noticed that Agnes' hands were covered in pink glitter, as was his neck and scarf. "Haha, you got glitter all over you!" Edith pointed.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I got glitter all over my house!" The girls laughed at his accent pronouncing gleeter, as he started the car.

Yes, Agnes had taken a long time making her picture for him perfect, working on it the longest out of everything else. She had put on justenough glitter and picked out just the right crayon for her masterpiece. She took her time and squealed in delight when it was finished.

How did Gru know this?

"Hey, Dad. You got a leaf in your scarf." Edith pulled the leaf off and threw it out the window.

"How did that get there?" Margo asked.

How indeed as he had hidden in a tree across the street from the window of Agnes' classroom, watching her through his binocular glasses, making sure his littlest kitten would be all right.

~End