6:45 PM.
The five-year-old boy stared at the clock on the wall, scratching his fork thoughtlessly against his plate, his feet kicking air about a half-foot above the floor.
6:45 PM. That meant he was forty-five minutes late already, and that there were only forty-five more minutes left for him to get home.
He scowled at the clock. Then he jumped as he heard the front door open, his eyes gong wide.
"Dad?!" He jumped down from the chair and rushed into the living room---causing him to collide with his mother on the threshold, falling onto his backside.
"Oh! Membrane Membrane, you need to be more careful!"
The boy ignored her, climbing to his feet. "Is Dad home?!"
She sighed. "No, dear, that was just me letting the dog in."
Mem's shoulders slumped. "Oh."
His mother frowned at him for a moment, then forced a smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be home soon. Now you," she said, taking him by the shoulders and directing him back into his chair, "sit down and finish eating. You've barely touched your peas."
She turned and walked away. The boy called Membrane Membrane grimaced again, picking his fork back up and pushing his peas around on his plate. Darn peas. Mom said they would make him grow up to be big and strong like Daddy, but oh how Mem hated them. One day, he would invent something to wipe out all the peas on the planet, and then no one would ever make him eat those dreaded things again! And he wouldn't have to worry about being short either, because he would just invent some sort of...making-bigger machine too. That'd show 'em!
Membrane sighed, stabbing at a pea and putting it ruefully into his mouth with a grimace. His eyes wandered over to the clock again. 6:47 now.
"Darn it, Dad! When are you gonna get home?!"
6:47 PM.
Five-year-old Dib Membrane frowned at the clock, then turned back to the window, still clutching the oversized children's book tightly to his chest. He bit his lip, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he stared out at the dark street in front of the house. Where was he? It was getting late; it was already almost seven, and seven was almost seven-thirty, and that was when he was supposed to go to bed. What if Dad wasn't home in time?!
No! That would not happen, Dib decided, clutching the book still tighter. Dad was going to be home tonight, and he was going to read him his favorite bedtime story too, just like he said. It was called Let's Count Aliens. It was about...well, counting and aliens, mostly. A masterpiece of literature in Dib's opinion. The counting part wasn't too interesting, Dib knew how to do that already, but it had aliens in it too, and that was cool. Not so cool as some of his other alien books, which were more scientific, but Dib liked this one better for story-time; it was just a silly kid's book, so Dad wouldn't point out all of the counter-theories that proved these aliens couldn't really exist, he would just let Dib listen and giggle like any other five-year-old without actually trying to teach him too much.
A car drove by. Dib's eyes widened; he leaned in towards the window, smiling hopefully, but then it passed and was gone. Dib's face fell. "Oh..."
He stared at the clock again. "Come on, Dad...it's almost bedtime! Oh---" Dib brought the book up to his head, covering his face. "What if he's not coming?! What if he spends another night at the lab, or he doesn't get back 'til real late, like eight or, or---NINE?! What if he forgot about me?!
"NO!" he suddenly answered himself again, bringing the book back down to uncover his face. "Dad's coming. He said he would read to me tonight, and he's going to. He promised."
Another car drove by. Dib's eyes widened, then fell as it drove past the house, but his face was set and determined again quickly.
"He promised."
7:15 PM.
Mem traced his finger along the spines on his bookshelf, muttering each title under his breath. Most of these books were written for someone several years older than he was---a few of them were even grown-up books---but Membrane only had a little trouble with the most advanced science books on the shelf; Mom and Dad always said he was gifted, like everybody in their family. Whatever that meant.
In the end Mem turned away from the bookshelf, wondering if he really wanted to read any of these at all. He knew practically all of them by heart...maybe he could get Dad to tell him a different bedtime story instead.
Assuming Dad was home by his bedtime.
He glanced up at the clock again. Less than fifteen minutes now.
"Come on, Dad...where are you?"
7:29 PM, and Dad still wasn't home.
Dib stared out the window sadly. Where was he?! He promised he would be home tonight!
Dib turned away from the window, head down, feeling hot tears begin to build up in his eyes. Then he blinked and looked up, his little mouth clenched with determination.
Dib spun around and went straight to his father's room. He went and sat down on the massive, seldom-used bed, propping himself up on the pillows.
Dib wasn't going to go to bed yet. Dad was going to get home any minute, he decided, and until then, Dib was going to sit here and wait until Dad got home and read him his story, just like he said.
"Just like he promised," Dib corrected himself softly, as his head began to sink into the pillows and his eyes began to close.
Mem sat at the edge of his bed, wringing his hands, ears straining for some sound of a car door.
"Honey?"
He jumped and spun around---his mother was standing in the doorway, frowning at him. "It's time for bed, Mem."
"What?! But---no---!"
Membrane spun around and looked at the clock. 7:31 PM. Membrane's whole face fell.
"But---is Dad home?!"
"No, honey." From the sound of it his mother sounded almost as sad as Mem did. She came into the room, sitting down on the bed beside him and laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But I'm afraid it's bedtime. If you stay up too late you're going to be all grouchy and tired tomorrow."
"But---"
The little boy looked up at her, lip quivering, eyes filling with tears. "Dad promised."
There was a long pause. Mem's mother looked from her son's face to the clock on the wall, then back to her son.
For goodness' sakes, she thought. Where was that husband of hers?! It was normal for him to get caught up in the middle of work, but he wasn't usually out this late. Especially this close to Mem's bedtime.
She looked back at Mem again, biting her lip. "Alright. You can stay up for five more minutes," she sighed, rising to her feet. "But if he's not here by then, you'll have to go to bed."
She turned and walked out of the room as Mem turned back to the clock, ears straining once again for some sign of his father's return.
Professor Membrane got out of his hovercraft with a sigh, stretching his tired arms. It had been a long day today. A long day full of AMAZING DISCOVERIES!, that is! But a long day nonetheless; after all, it wasn't easy curing diseases and inventing new forms of energy and all that. And tomorrow would be another hard day, working on the prototype of that new kind of toast he had designed...but for now he needed to rest for a bit, and allow his AMAZING MIND! some time to rejuvenate its depleted puissance.
The Professor found most of the lights out when he walked into the house; this made sense, as it was long after his son and daughter's bedtimes. He sighed again, walking towards his bedroom; normally he would stop by the lab first, give just a bit of attention to some of his quick little side-experiments, but today he was just too tired, and besides, there was nothing at the moment that required real attention; most of the living things in his care were at the lab downtown, so there was nothing to attend to here at the house right now.
Membrane kicked off his shoes and sat down on his bed with a groan. When something suddenly shifted in the bed to kick him he jumped slightly, spinning around and squinting through his goggles to make it out in the dim light.
Little Dib was laying on the bed, half-under the covers, curled up in a fetal position with his thumb in his mouth. His other arm was clasped tightly to his chest, holding something in place. After a moment Membrane made out the picture staring back at him, with ridiculous-looking alien creatures and colorful numbers printed onto a hard cover.
"Oh." Membrane frowned, the high collar over his mouth wrinkling as he made the revelation. "...Oops."
Membrane sighed one last time, bent down and took the small boy into his arms; Dib shifted slightly, removed his thumb from his mouth, but kept the book clasped in his arms even as he lay his head on Membrane's shoulders, looking so much like a normal child that Membrane felt, frankly, a bit odd. He made a small sound to himself as he rubbed his son's back and carried him out of the room, laying him down in his own bed with that silly little book still held tight to his heart.
The sound of the hovercraft door echoed through the night, reaching Mem Membrane's well-adjusted ears.
He jumped, eyes shooting open---he had almost been asleep, he realized, asleep still sitting up on the edge of his bed, and he cricked his neck spinning around to face the clock, seeing the time of his mother's deadline just running out. He gave a small gasp and jumped off the bed, rushing out of the room just as his father was coming in the door.
"Dib, where have you been?" his mother asked, her fists on her hips and a cross look on her face.
Mem's father yawned, shrugging off his dark coat. "Sorry, dear. It's just been a long day and---"
"Well, you could have called! It's after Mem's bedtime, you know."
"No it isn't," Dib muttered, rolling his eyes and as he looked down at his watch. He blanched. "Oh. It is. He's not asleep yet, is he?! I---"
Just then he looked down to see his son standing at the edge of the hall. Dib grinned and bent down, scooping him into his arms. "Ah, there you are, little buddy! Did you and Mom have a good day today?"
Mem, however, glared at his father with his arms crossed over his chest. "You're late," he accused, pointing at Dib angrily.
"Aw, sorry, Mem," Dib said, ruffling his son's unruly purple hair, "but I was chasing a Bigfoot and lost track of the time. You understand, don't you?"
Mem continued to glare. Dib's face fell. "Aw, come on, don't be like that. What can I do to make it up to you, huh?"
Mem was silent for a moment. "Tonight you have to tell me a story about you and Uncle Zim."
Dib shrugged. "Alright."
"And it has to be one where he wins."
Dib's frown returned. "...Aw, come on, Mem, it was an accident. Can't you cut me some slack here?"
Mem looked at him darkly. "...Fine. But you at least have to tie!"
"Tie in my favor?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"...Alright, fine."
Dib grinned. Five-year-olds made such crummy negotiators.
Dib nuzzled Mem's hair again; the small boy squirmed, grinning in spite of himself as his father chuckled, carrying him into his room.
Gretchen watched her two boys depart, both giggling to each other; she rolled her eyes, then allowed a small smile. "Well," she sighed, "at least he always keeps his promise in the end..."
Author's Notes: And there we go---a nice little one-shot for Father's Day. I hope everyone "got it"---Mem was not a young Professor Membrane (as I hope you all thought), but was actually Dib's future son, apparently named after his grandfather. I just liked this idea, that despite having his own obsessive tendencies Dib would hopefully be a more attentive parent than his own father. Anyway, thanks for reading, happy Father's Day, and please review!
Edit 23/7/2009: Because people keeps asking, let me just say: strange as it sounds, I wasn't even thinking of ZAGR when I wrote the "Uncle Zim" comment, it was supposed to be more of a ZADF thing than anything. Actually, in my weird, twisted mind, Gaz grows up to marry Keef. But, if that's too "cracky" for you, I guess you can interpret this as ZAGR if you want. ;-)