It was 6:30 AM on a Saturday in the Simpson residence as Homer's alarm clock went off. Homer's eyes slowly fluttered open as he groaned, feeling tired from not going to bed until midnight.
Stupid alarm clock... He thought as he shut it off, Why did you have to go off now?
As he snuggled more into his pillow, he heard a small knock at his bedroom door.
Who could it be at this hour? He thought sleepily, before slowly getting up and heading for the door.
As he opened it, he was surprised to see his oldest daughter April standing at his door.
Oh crap!! He thought to himself, April and I were supposed to spend a whole day together!
As he was about to speak, he smelled something delicious wafting upstairs from the kitchen.
"Hi Dad." April said with a smile, "I made you a delicious breakfast."
"Are those..." Homer sniffed the air, trying to get a better smell before fully realizing something, "Are those my famous moon waffles?!" April nodded.
"And some bacon." She added before giggling, "I know it's not exactly healthy but I thought I'd make you something special since you taught me your moon waffle recipe, which I haven't told Mom or the kids about."
"Well even though it's unhealthy, I can handle it." Homer said before chuckling, "Besides, it's not like I'm gonna get a heart attack from eating it."
Suddenly April's eyes widened as she gasped, though luckily Homer didn't notice as he told her he'd be out in a minute.
Crap, I forgot about his heart attacks!
Quickly after Homer closed his bedroom door, April ran downstairs to the kitchen, putting a few more strips of bacon that she'd taken off his plate onto an extra plate that was on the counter before she had brought it to the table.
She didn't want to risk Marge getting mad at her for having to wake up to take Homer to the hospital. Plus she didn't want to risk a few hours being taken out of her day with him due to him having to have bypass surgery again.
She found it a good thing she remembered about the heart attacks since he once mentioned the moon waffles as "fattening".
When she was done, she quickly placed the leftover bacon on the counter for the rest of the family to heat up if they wanted it, plus she'd made extra waffles for them before making the moon waffles for herself and Homer.
As soon as she was finished, she noticed her father at the bottom of the stairs about to head for the kitchen. She let out a sigh of relief as she sat down.
"I also made you a cup of coffee, too." She said with a smile as he entered the kitchen.
"Why thanks sweetie!" Homer said with a smile as he sat down before realizing something. "Where's most of the bacon?"
"I didn't wanna risk you getting a heart attack so I put the leftover bacon on a plate for Mom, Bart and Lisa for when they get up." April explained with a smile, "Because I know you and how you're prone to heart attacks, and I didn't want to take the chance of Marge getting mad at me for having to take you to the hospital this early in the morning. Plus I wanted to spend more time with you."
"Awww..." Homer said, flattered by his daughter's words, "I'm glad you want to do that honey."
Everything was silent as they both began to eat, Homer scarfing down his breakfast as usual, but April was pretty quick too, so she didn't judge him or anything.
By the time they were done eating, it was 6:50 AM. April went over to the sink to put their dishes away as Homer sat back in his seat, beginning to finish off the last of his coffee.
"So Dad, where are we going?" April asked, looking at Homer after rinsing off both plates.
"Well I was thinking maybe you could decide." Homer replied honestly, "I mean, you're the one I'm spending time with."
April blushed, flattered by the fact that he was letting her decide due to her being the one he was spending time with.
"Well I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you..." April mentioned, smiling sheepishly, "Besides, I-"
"You can drive." Homer interrupted, holding up the car keys.
"That's what I was about to say." April began, "I can't-"
"Okay good, here you go!" Homer interrupted cheerfully as he was about to give her the car keys, before realizing she was about to say she can't do something.
"Wait..." He began, beginning to ponder something in his mind, "Were you about to say you can't do something?"
"Yes." April said, sounding slightly annoyed by her father's interrupting. "I was going to say I can't drive." She explained.
"Oh..." Homer said before cracking a nervous smile, "Well, why didn't you say so?"
"Because you kept interrupting me." April said, now sounding a bit more annoyed.
As much as she loved and respected Homer, she still found herself being slightly annoyed by him at times.
"Okay I'll drive." Homer said before beginning to head for the front door. April just sighed as she followed.
Thank God he finally understood... She thought as he held the door open for her with a smile.
"Ladies first!" He said politely.
"Thanks Dad." She said with a smile.
"You're welcome!" He said as he waited for her to be fully out the door before walking out himself and closing the door behind him.
"So...where do you wanna go first?" He asked her as they headed to his Sedan, "The mall? Watching the sunrise?"
"Surprise me." April told him before winking.
"Ohhh, okay..." Homer said, getting the hint.
I'll take her to the one place I know we both like! He thought.
After they both got into the car and Homer turned the car on, April couldn't help but wonder where he would take her.
--
After a few minutes of driving, Homer had parked in front of the donut shop.
"Here we are, April!" Homer said with a smile, "I remember when I used to take you here as a kid."
"Yeah after you adopted me we came here." April mentioned, unbuckling her seatbelt after Homer parked the car in the parking lot.
"And to think before we adopted you you were a shy girl." Homer said, also beginning to unbuckle himself, "But I guess after Marge had Bart and then Lisa, you became less of a shy person."
"Well I actually was shy when I met you guys, but after getting used to you guys and going to Springfield Elementary, I guess things started to change." April explained to him as she opened the door to get out of the car, "Plus I guess having an annoying little brother and a good little sister had changed that, too. Especially little Maggie."
"Who?" Homer asked her, confused.
"You know, Maggie." April told him, "Your youngest daughter who wears a blue onesie and a bow in her hair? She always sucks on her pacifier and won't let it go?"
"Oh, that Maggie." Homer said as he got out of the car, "I thought you were talking about a different Maggie." April rolled her eyes with a smile.
She knew Homer tended to forget about his youngest daughter sometimes, but despite that he still loved her. April sometimes wondered though why he'd forget Maggie.
At one point she had wondered if he'd forget about Maggie due to the fact that he thought of her as a mistake, and since her birth was accidental, he was used to only having three kids to look after, April included.
After walking into the donut shop (the only donut shop April knew of in Springfield), she and Homer both walked up to the front counter.
"A dozen donuts, please!" Homer said with a smile before he looked at April who was beside him and winked.
April was confused by this at first before realizing that he was getting a dozen donuts for both him and her to share.
A dozen donuts? April questioned in her head, So that would make seven for him and seven for me...
As she looked at the person standing at the counter, she could tell he looked surprised as well before saying in a squeaky teenage voice, "Twelve donuts?" Homer just simply nodded.
"Um, Dad?" April asked as she looked at Homer, "Uh, didn't we just eat breakfast before coming here?"
"Well it's just that Daddy wanted to get us a little snack." Homer assured her with a smile.
"You call twelve donuts a snack?!" April questioned, looking a bit shocked, "You know, like after a big breakfast?"
"Where does it all go?" Asked the person at the counter, who April now knew was the Squeaky-Voiced Teen upon getting a better look at him.
"Yeah, people ask me that all the time." Homer explained with a smile and a roll of his eyes. "Like this one time where I was at this place and they had unlimited Buzz Cola refills. The guy just stood next to the machine and asked where it all went." April just rolled her eyes.
Well it either comes from being an alcoholic since he's probably used to drinking a lot, or something else. She thought, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.
"I'm just wondering how you do it." The Squeaky-Voiced Teen said, pointing to Homer and trying to figure it out in his head.
"It's probably best not to think about it." April said as she finally looked at the teen, "I mean, there are probably a lot of things you wouldn't want to know about him." She then looked at Homer. "No offense Dad."
"None taken sweetie." Homer told her, still smiling.
"So twelve donuts then?" The teen asked.
"Just make it ten." Homer said with a smile.
"Okay then." The teen then started getting them five of their favorite donuts each since they were regulars and always requested the same flavor donuts: pink raspberry-filled for Homer and chocolate cream-filled for April.
As they waited, Homer rested his right arm on the counter and began tapping his fingers.
"So...how are things?" Homer asked the teen to break the awkward silence.
"Things are good." The teen replied, "I just got Grand Theft Itchy."
"Wait, I thought that was...banned here in Springfield." April said, confused.
"Plus that was in a videogame." Homer said, "So can we please cut the references? The author doesn't even have the game yet."
"Well she made me reference it!" The teen said with a shrug as he walked over and handed them a box full of their favorite donuts.
"Hey, you're the one who brought up Grand Theft Itchy." Homer said, pointing to the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, "So you should be blaming yourself."
"Anyway...before things get awkward, where did you find it?" April asked, curious, "If Mom got it banned, how did you get it?"
"Pawn shop." The teen said, "Before your mom got it banned, I guess people were able to get copies of the game."
"Are you sure about that?" Homer asked as he looked up at the ceiling.
Well I don't know! I've just seen some playthrough videos of the DS version!
"Eh, fair enough." Homer said with a shrug as he looked back at the teen.
"So is that all?" The Squeaky-Voiced Teen asked, gesturing towards the box of donuts that Homer was now carrying.
"Yes, that's all!" Homer said cheerfully with a smile, "Thank you!"
"No, thank you!" The teen said back with a smile, "And have a good day!"
After Homer and April left and got back into the car, April noticed it was now 7:15 AM.
"Wow time sure goes by fast." April said as she and Homer began eating their donuts.
"You bet it does!" Homer said with a mouth full of donut, which April winced at, finding it kinda gross. "And we still have enough time to watch the rest of the sunrise!" He then added after swallowing the chewed up donut before beginning to back out of the parking lot, almost colliding with another car that was about to park partly due to having one hand on the wheel and being distracted by the flavor of the donut to know what was going on behind him.
"Jerk*ss!!" Homer shouted to the driver after he rolled down the window, causing April to facepalm and duck her head down intentionally to hide herself from the other driver out of embarrassment.
Unfortunately, after the driver didn't move - due to not being able to do anything but back up - Homer misunderstood the situation and handed April the box of donuts saying, "Hold my donuts sweetie."
"Dad, please don't do this..." April groaned as she took the box, still ducking down so the driver wouldn't see her, "You're going to-"
Suddenly she heard the driver's side door open as Homer said, "I know you don't want to see Daddy get hurt but-"
"But what?" April asked, "They probably can't move because your car is in the way!"
Suddenly as if on cue, the other person honked their car horn.
"Sorry!" Homer shouted to the driver before closing the car door and fully parking in the parking spot again.
"Dad, they just backed up." April told him, looking out the rear view mirror on her side.
"D'oh!" Homer said, tightening his grip on the wheel as he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Just back up and go in reverse." April told him calmly, already ducked down again.
A/N: Hi, and thanks for reading my story! I decided to throw in a few references as I was writing this.The first reference is the moon waffles from Homer the Heretic. I decided to have my character also say that she never told Marge or the other kids about them since in the episode it just showed Marge cleaning the waffle iron and she never mentions them, so I don't think she knows too much about them.Second was the reference to the episode where Marge owns a sandwich shop, and in a flashback after the mention of doing an unlimited refill of beer (or something), Homer is seen repeatedly drinking - and filling - a cup of Buzz Cola, to which a man by the machine asks, "Where does it all go?!"
The third reference is what Homer called the driver who was trying to park, and it's from the episode where Homer joins a cult, and in the episode as he's driving past the two people who later talk to him about the cult, he yells, "Outta my way, jerk*ss!"
I also decided to break the fourth wall after having the Squeaky-Voiced Teen mention Grand Theft Itchy from The Simpsons Game.
Oh, as for the thing where April and Homer are known as regulars at the donut shop, if that confused you due to April mentioning earlier that Homer used to take her there as a kid, she was just reminiscing from after she was adopted. I decided to make them regulars as I was continuing to write this chapter today, so I decided that April was only reminiscing from when she was little, and that they'd still visit often as she was growing up.