Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.

The Golden Years

Hillwood

The year 2055

It was a beautiful sunny day in the city known as Hillwood. The two has changed very much over the years. Families had come to or moved away, new buildings were added, the area has expanded but at its heart, it was mostly the same, especially in a special boarding house.

There stood an elderly man wiping one of the windows, however he had a large, football shaped hear and he looked positively content.

"There...spotless..." The old man said with a wrinkly smile as he saw his reflection in the clean glass.

"Arnold darling, lunch is served..." He heard a voice say from the inside of the house.

"Coming dear..." The man said as he placed his rag down.

Yep, if you haven't already guessed it, then you should know that this man was Arnold Shortman. He was an elderly man at 65 years of age. Everyone in Hillwood knew who Mr. Shortman was, given all he had done for the community over the years. He was an old, wise and kind man who has lived a long, giving life that he was happy with for many reasons.

As he entered the Boarding houses dining room, he saw one the biggest reasons for his happy life. An elderly woman in a pink dress, dyed blonde hair and a pair of glasses and a happy smile on her face as she poured the soup she made in two bowls. She sent him a smile as soon as she noticed he walked in.

"Here darling, chicken soup, your favorite. .." The woman said.

"Thanks Helga...It smells delicious..." Arnold said as he sat down.

Yep, this was his wife of over 40 wonderful years of his life. Helga Shortman, once upon a time known as Helga G. Pataki. In the place of that once wild spitfire, now stood a wise, calm woman who was very happy with her life.

"I got a call from Andy...He and Kiara said that they will stopping by to visit with Phil later this afternoon..." Helga said after sipping some of her soup.

"That's great, I have been dying to play with the short-man..." Arnold said before taking another spoonful of his soup.

Phil was his first and eldest grandson, named in honor of his beloved late grandfather who raised him for most of his childhood. Phil was a smart and spunky 9 year old kid and as sweet as they come too, reminding him a lot of how he was like at that age. Everyone says that he took after him, although they mostly noticed that because he had inherited the iconic Football head.

"What time?..." Arnold asked his wife.

"Sometime after one, which gives me plenty of time to whip up a nice treat for him..." Helga said with a mischievous smile.

"This day keeps getting better..." Arnold commented.

"What do you mean?..." Helga asked in a coy tone.

"Whenever either of the kids come, especially with their kids, you go overboard in the kitchen, which I am NOT complaining about. .." Arnold said with a smile.

He loved Helga's cooking and her pastries were the best and ever since their oldest grandson was born, she would try and find any excuse to spoil him or his cousins with toys or sweets.

"I love baking and I love our grandkids, so what? ..."Helga said with a playful shrug.

"You really take doting grandma to a new level whenever the tykes show up..."Arnold commented after finishing his soup.

"And you don't? You spoil them as much as I do..." Helga said as she picked up the now empty bowls and went to the sink.

"I wouldn't say that. ..I say I spoil them more..." Arnold said with a chuckle as he helped her with the dishes.

"As if, last time Phil, Miles and Trudi were all here, I made them both my famous double fudge brownies AND chocolate chip cookies while they watched that old school movie marathon..." Helga said in a smug tone.

"Maybe, but as you recall I was the one who suggested we all go to Dino land and get pizza after..." Arnold said in a challenging tone.

"Well I guess we'll see who ends up spoiling Phil the most today once he gets here..." Helga said in a challenging tone making her husband laugh.

"I guess we will..." Arnold said as he finished the dishes and went to the den.

He soon saw a picture of his family from last thanksgiving. He looked at the image of his beloved three children Andy, Megan and Henry. It feels like only yesterday they were children, running around their old house, getting into all sorts of mischief. Now they have all grown up, moved out of the house and started lives and even families of their own.

They're oldest Andrew, nicknamed Andy, had grown to be his near spitting image in both looks and personality. He had been very athletic as a child, winning numerous karate or sports competitions and eventually earning a scholarship to Brown, his mother's Alma mater. He chose not to follow the anthropology path and chose to become a pro athlete and even managed to compete in the Olympics a few times. He even married his childhood best friend and sweetheart Kiara Johanson, the daughter of his best friend Gerald and his wife Phoebe.

Their son Phil was as spunky as he was growing up but he had his mother's brains to even it out.

He also glanced at the image of a beautiful blonde woman in a pantsuit who was next to a pair of twins. His only daughter Megan was as beautiful and brilliant as her mother and had grown from a cute little girl who liked to play with dolls, into a beautiful. powerful business woman. Megan had somehow inherit the Pataki ambitiousness and studied business administration and she now works for a Media Company in New York. She married a successful lawyer she met in college and had her twins Miles and Trudi soon after.

And last but not least was the baby of the family, his youngest son Henry who was no longer a baby but was away at college, trying to find his way in the world. He calls about every week and he always tells them that he loves medical school and has even met a girl he has been interested in.

Overall, his kids were no longer kids and Arnold was proud of the amazing, intelligent, wonderful people they have grown up to be. Helga was just as proud as he was. He was an old man, retired and running the very Boarding house that has been in his family for generations, growing old with the only woman that he ever truly loved, and spending most of his days bonding with his oldest grandson and planning trips to visit either Henry at college or Megan and her family in New York.

Overall, he was just happy in his old age.

"Where does the time for? ..." Arnold chuckled as he placed the picture down and decided to go read a book until his son and his family showed up.

Later

A red Toyota Chrysler pulled up to the driveway of the boarding house and a blonde man with an oblong head and a Asian/African woman with dark hair came out, along with a young boy who looked no older than 9 years old.

"We're here..." The man said as he closed his car door.

"Andy, I hope your mom doesn't find this inconvenient...Maybe we should have called earlier..." His wife said.

"Oh please Kiara, mom's always nagging me that we don't visit enough..." The man said

Yeah, this is Andy and Kiara Shortman, a middle aged married couple just visiting his parents with their only son. Phillip Martin Shortman, known affectionately as Phil II.

Phil had the iconic Shortman Football head, blonde hair and his mother's dark complexion and brown eyes. He was also smiling widely as he approached the boarding house and notice a familiar smell coming out from one of the windows.

"I know that smell..." Phil said in excitement, which his father noticed.

"Mom's baking..."Andy said in excitement as he smelled it too.

"Cookies..."Phil said in happily as he went as started ringing the doorbell.

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Grandpa Arnold, who smiled upon seeing his oldest grandson.

"Hey grandpa..."Phil greeted.

"Hey there Short-man, how are you doing?..."Arnold asked as he ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Great, yesterday me and my class played football against the six graders and we won..."Phil said proudly.

"I'm glad to hear that..." Arnold chuckled and then turned to Andy.

"Hey Andy, Kiara, how are things?..."Arnold asked his son.

"Hey dad, same old, same old...'Andy said as Kiara gave him a hug.

They soon entered and was greeted by Helga.

"There's my special guy..."Helga said as she scooped Phil into a tight hug.

"Hi grandma..."Phil said as he wriggled out of her tight grip.

"Is it possible but you look taller than the last time I saw you...'Helga commented.

"You saw him last week mom, I don't think he had another growth spurt yet...'Andy laughed at his mother's antics.

"Whatever, anyway you all came at a great time, I just put some cookies out to cool..." Helga said and saw both her son and grandson's grin's widen.

It was no secret that they could not resist her cookies or any treats made by her hands.

"Alright...'Phil said as he went to get some with his father and grandfather right behind him.

Soon the family was in the living room, talking about their day to day lives, snacking on milk and cookies as they did so.

"Is that so Kiara?..." Helga asked her daughter in law in an amazed tone.

"Yes mother, we finally managed to get that funding and if all goes well, we will be one step closer to curing all of cancer for good..." Kiara said.

She was a doctor and was currently part of a big project meant to discover cures for terminal deceases, cancer being the most important topic.

"That's my girl, if anyone could do it, it's someone as smart and driven as my daughter-in-law..."Helga said proudly.

Kiara smiled at that praise. Helga had always been like a second mother to her, her entire life and she always said it was a dream come true for her the day she and Andy got married.

"So how's Phoebe and Gerald lately, last I heard, they were still on their world cruise..." Arnold asked his daughter in law.

"Mother and daddy said that they are currently in Tahiti but they said that they should be back in about another week, they said that they were starting to feel homesick..." Kiara said.

"That's good, it's been getting kind of boring golfing without him...'Arnold said.

"Same here, it's not much fun watching Affairs of Tomorrow without Phoebe..."Helga admitted.

"Hey grandpa, I see the ice cream truck...Wanna get one together?...'Phil asked.

'Phil, you just had a big plate of cookies..." Kiara scolded but Arnold laughed it off.

"Let the kid have some fun Kiara, you're only 9 once and it goes fast..."Arnold chuckled, only to receive a look from his daughter in law.

"I just rather he doesn't suddenly gain 30 pounds by the end of this day..." Kiara commented.

"I promise I'll run it off mom...Grandpa and I were even going to go play some ball outside..." Phil said.

"Let them Kia, I doubt one cone is gonna make that much difference..." Andy said with a shrug.

Before Kiara could give them an answer, Helga suddenly entered the room, carrying some ice cream cones.

The adults in the room realized that she must have snucked out and bought them while they were arguing.

'Who's ready for ice cream..." Helga said in a sing-song voice.

"Alright...thanks grandma..." Phil said as he started snacking on his fudgy pop.

"Mother...'Kiara said with her hands on her hips.

"Oh live a little Kiara dear..."Helga said as she handed her a vanilla cone, along with Andy.

She turned to her husband who sent her an annoyed look.

"No fair, you got to give him the cookies, this was my turn..." Arnold whispered in annoyance.

"You snooze you lose football head..."Helga shrugged, and saw his annoyed look.

"Oh calm down, I got your favorite..."Helga said as she handed him a chocolate cone, before she started eating her own.

Arnold sighed but tried not to laugh. Even at this age, Helga was still as sneaky now as she was as a kid. When she wanted to do something, it was next to impossible to stop her.

Although next time, he would be just a little more sneaky than her.

The family had talked more, the men played baseball while the girls were spectating, later they watched television and Kiara helped Helga in the kitchen making dinner. Soon dinner and dessert were eaten and it was getting late. "

"Dinner was as delicious as always mom..." Andy said.

"It was my pleasure and now here, don't forget the extra cookies..." Helga said as she placed the container with the treat in her daughter-in- laws hand.

"Thank you mother, we appreciate the gesture..." Kiara said as she made a mental note of keeping track how much her son and husband ate these per day. If left unchecked, they would just gobble these up before they even made it home tonight.

"Now wait, before you all go, i got a little something for little Phil, here..." Arnold said, ignoring the suspicious look his wife sent him.

"What did he do now?I know that look on his face..." Helga thought.

"What is it grandpa?..." Phil asked curiously.

"You remember that you said that Kent Kaline was your favorite baseball player..." Arnold started.

"Yeah, he has a game for tomorrow but it's sold out..." Phil said in disappointment.

"I wouldn't say that..." Arnold said as he pulled out a couple of tickets.

They were baseball tickets for tomorrow's game!

"Baseball tickets? ! Where did you get those? ..." Helga demanded.

"I had to pull some strings, you forget I am good friends with the Kaline family and I managed to get some..." Arnold answered, like it was no big deal.

Andy and Kiara were surprised while Phil was smiling a mile wide and bouncing in excitement.

"This is awesome! Thanks grandpa..." Phil said as he hugged the old man.

"Anytime short-man..."Arnold said and sent an almost smug look to his wife who crossed her arms and pouted.

"Well thanks dad, anyway, we should be heading out, we'll see you tomorrow..." Andy said.

"Goodnight..." Kiara said.

"Goodnight...see you all tomorrow...drive safely..."Arnold said as he watched his son and his family drive away.

Once they were gone, he soon faced and annoyed looking wife, and he just sent her a playful smile.

"What?...'He asked in a fake clueless tone.

"Touché football head but don't think this is over...You might have gotten some points with those tickets but tomorrow I plan on giving little Phil the most fun he's ever had...'Helga said in a challenging tone.

"Maybe...maybe not...I guess we will just have to wait and see...'Arnold said in the same challenging tone.

The two locked gazed, before bursting out in laughter.

"Oh football head...It doesn't get any better than this..." Helga said amongst her laughter.

"You got that right..."Arnold agreed.

They were both retired, receiving substantial pensions, their mortgages have been paid in full, the boarding house was doing good business, they're kids were all grown with good jobs and families of their owns and their biggest challenge now is trying to find out who loves their grandchildren more, while the rest of the time, they just spent time together, with no distractions and were just happy together in their old age.

The elderly husband soon stopped laughing and just looked into each other's eyes, holding hands. Even after all of these years, they still felt the special connection in them since they day they admitted their love in the jungles of San Lorenzo all of those years ago. Arnold and Helga leaned in and shared a kiss, feeling only bliss right now.

Is there really any wonder why they call it the golden years?

It's because after having a wonderful life, working a job you loved and were passionate about, raising three beautiful children with the love of your life by your side and seeing those same children grow and start families of they're own knowing you can now just kick back and enjoy your old age with the family and friends you love so much...then those years are absolutely priceless.

The End

A/N: I would like to thank Metalheadrailfan for drawing the cover for this one shot. You are the best MHRF and I have dedicated this story to you :)

:) I hope you enjoyed this, remember to read and review :)