Koko's Surprise
Author's Note: AU in the Lego Ninjago movie universe where Garmadon lives with his family in Ninjago. This is pretty fluffy and sweet-you may get a cavity from it. Inspiration came from Dinogaby's artwork on DeviantArt "Happy Mother's day."
Lloyd woke up early one morning. He knew wasn't supposed to wake his parents before 7am, they had told him this because he was an early riser (sometimes 5am-hence they had to set the rule), but his shark clock was broken, so he didn't know what time it was. He had to ask a very important question, so he figured it would be okay to go into his parent's room.
He padded across the floor of the apartment they shared. Garmadon had chosen to go with his wife when she tried to leave with Lloyd when he was a baby, and Koko was thrilled, because she really didn't want to leave her husband, but had only wanted what was best for Lloyd. She wanted to live in the city of Ninjago to raise their son. Garmadon had agreed, and vowed to give up his conquering ways. It was hard for him at times, but he tried for his family's sake. He certainly didn't regret being with his family. They meant everything to him.
Lloyd opened the door quietly. Both his parents were still asleep. Garmadon was on his back with his four arms stretched out on the bed, while Koko was lying on her side. He crept up to his dad's side of the bed.
"Daddy? Daddy?" he called, tapping his dad on the shoulder.
The former warlord groaned and slowly cracked one eye open to see his four-year-old son standing by his bed.
"Luh-Loyd…it's too early!" he grumbled, wanting more sleep.
"My clock broked," Lloyd answered, "and I need to ask something important!" he continued a little loudly.
Garmadon didn't want his wife to be woken up. He put his finger on his lips. "Shhh…let's not wake your mother. Come on," he pointed to the door, as he got up carefully, donning his volcano pajamas. Lloyd had a matching set on.
Garmadon once an idea of having a volcanic lair in his conquering days, but since that was no longer an option, Koko had bought him some volcanic themed pj's instead, and got a pair for Lloyd because he loved being like his dad.
The pair went out into the kitchen where Garmadon started making some coffee, while his son watched. He was not a morning person, but since having Lloyd, sometimes he had no choice, but he found in those times that coffee helped. As he waited, he felt a tug on his pants. He looked down at his son.
"Can I ask my question now?" Lloyd asked.
Garmadon smiled and picked Lloyd up. "Sure, what is it?"
Lloyd went to a playgroup a couple days a week since he was little and this week all the talk was about one important thing.
"I want to do something really nice for Mother's day, but I don't know what!" he said all in one breath. "All the kids in playgroup are talking about it, and they all have good ideas." He looked sad.
"Is that what's bothering you?" Garmadon asked his son.
Lloyd nodded. "I her to feel special, cuz Mommy's the bestest!" he gushed, holding his arms out wide.
Garmadon simpered at his son's pronunciations. At this age, it was so cute how he said certain words.
"She certainly is, Luh-loyd," he agreed. "And it's great you want to do something special for mommy. I'm sure we can come up with some fantastic ideas!"
The coffee finished brewing. Garmadon picked it up with one of his free arms, being careful not to get it too close to Lloyd. Four arms really did come in handy. He took a sip of his coffee. Much better.
"Really?" Lloyd asked his dad, his eyes doing a sparkle thing that Garmadon found endearing.
"Of course!" He laughed.
"Like what, daddy?" Lloyd wanted to know.
Garmadon thought for moment. "Well, like...we could get her a baby shark! Wouldn't that be fun?"
"But it would get too big and it wouldn't fit in the bathtub!" the preschooler told his dad.
His son's reasoning was amusing...but also correct, even though it would be fun to have a pet shark.
"Hmm...you're probably right about that, Luh-loyd," Garmadon agreed. "Oh hey, I know! We could get her some weapons-like some cool swords!"
"Um...daddy…mommy wouldn't like that," Lloyd told him, remembering the conversation his parents had with him not too long ago. They both decided they wanted to be honest with their son about their past, especially Garmadon who still had some conquering tendencies that Koko sometimes had to help him keep in check.
"Yeah, I guess not," he said. He would like it if it was for him. "Don't worry, Luh-loyd, we'll keep thinking about it."
"Okay." A pause. "Daddy?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"I'm hungry…" the four-year-old declared, changing the subject.
Garmadon shook his head. He found it amusing how quickly Lloyd shifted to something else, but he was usually like that.
Mother's Day was the next day, and Lloyd was running out of time to come up with something. His daddy's ideas were not going to work, so he came up with his own and started putting them together. He got out his finger paints in his room and made a (messy) artwork of his hands, and painting his name on it. His dad had already taught him how to write his name-L-l-o-y-d, and it stuck well with him. He had sometimes wondered though why his dad called him Luh-loyd when his mom told him that one 'L' is silent. He tried to clean up after as best he could, because he wanted it to be a surprise.
Later on, Lloyd saw that his dad was in the sitting room watching something, and his mom was making dinner.
"Daddy?" he asked.
Garmadon had been watching the news (it was the weather report), but when Lloyd came up to him, he turned it off. "What is it, Luh-loyd?"
"I want to go outside," he said, and then added in a low voice, "it's something for mommy."
"Oh, right, gotcha," Garmadon answered, nodding his head in understanding. "Let me just tell your mom we're going out for bit."
He then took his son outside. It was a nice day out. Garmadon noticed that Lloyd seemed to be looking for something in particular, and the former warlord began to wonder what in the world he could be looking for out here for Koko, but he soon found out, as his son came skipping back to him with something in his hand.
"What do you have, there, son?" he asked.
"Flowers for mommy!" Lloyd proudly announced, showing his dad his fistful of dandelions.
"That's...very nice, Luh-loyd. I'm sure mommy will love them," Garmadon told him. He didn't have the heart to tell his son that they were weeds. It was the thought that counted, right?
"We need to put them in water," Lloyd went on, "and make sure mommy doesn't see them until tomorrow."
"We'll do that, son," Garmadon told him as they went back inside.
The morning of Mother's day, Lloyd got up extra early, because he had one more surprise for his mom. He quickly left his room and headed to the kitchen. He wanted to make his mom breakfast. He knew he wasn't allowed to use to oven or cook something on the stove, so he had to be creative in what he could do. His parents room was near the kitchen, so he wanted to be really quiet.
Lloyd looked at the toaster and thought he could make toast for his mom. He managed to get the refrigerator door open and get the bread out. Then, getting a stool, he was able to drop the bread into the toaster, but having no idea what setting to put it on, he picked the highest number on it.
While that was cooking, he opened the fridge again and looked at the drink selections. He remembered seeing his mom drink orange juice before. Sometimes, she had coffee or tea, but Lloyd knew he couldn't make that. So, getting the stool again, he reached for the orange juice and set it on the counter next to him. Now, he needed a glass. Since they were kept on in the cabinet right next to where he was, he just crawled over on the counter, and got out a glass out of the cupboard.
Going back to the orange juice, Lloyd tried to pour it in the glass, but it spilled on the counter.
"Uh-oh," he said when he saw the mess he made. Just then, the toast popped up with some smoke pouring out of it. It was burnt. Lloyd knew it wasn't supposed to look like that.
Maybe he could make cereal instead?
Grabbing a bowl from the same cupboard he got the glass from, he set it on the counter. Now, he would need to get the cereal. He saw the Cornflakes on another section of the counter, and got it to pour into the bowl.
Unfortunately, Lloyd poured way too much, and it spilled all over-in the same spot where he had spilled the orange juice, making the previous mess even worse. Now he felt really bad. Everything was ruined.
Tears were threatening to spill.
Garmadon woke to hearing some noise coming from the kitchen. He groaned and looked at the clock. 6:00am. He also smelled something...burnt? It had to be Lloyd.
Koko was cuddled up against her husband's side and felt his movement. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily.
"I think Luh-loyd is up," Garmadon told her. "Why don't you let me check so you can stay in bed longer?" She nodded appreciatively. He had a feeling Lloyd was trying to surprise her with making something.
The former warlord saw his son sitting on a stool in the kitchen. His son's shoulders were shaking...he was crying.
That was one thing that always got to Garmadon-seeing or hearing his son cry. It pulled on his heartstrings. As he came towards his son, he noticed the burnt toast in the toaster, and something that was spilled all over the counter-it looked like cereal...but had the smell was of orange juice? Lloyd must have tried to make Koko breakfast and by the looks of it, failed.
Garmadon knew it was time to step up in 'dad' way. "Hey there, buddy," he started.
Lloyd turned around at hearing his dad's voice. Tears were running down his face.
"I wanted to make mommy breakfast, but I ruined it!" he cried.
"It's okay, Luh-loyd," he told him, picking him up and giving him a comforting hug.
Lloyd buried his face in Garmadon's shoulder. "No it isn't," he answered miserably.
"Sure it is. We can fix it," Garmadon assured him.
Lloyd pulled back to look at his dad. "How?"
"We can whip up some pancakes and bacon. You can help me and mommy will love it!" he told his son encouragingly.
"Okay!" Lloyd's face lit up at that, troubles forgotten.
Gathering all the ingredients that they would need, Garmadon had Lloyd help him make the batter for the pancakes. They made a bit of a mess, but it could be cleaned up later. He then put the bacon in the oven.
Garmadon made quite a show of flipping the pancakes, which made Lloyd laugh. Once everything was done, he put everything on a tray to take into Koko.
"Ready to surprise mommy, Luh-loyd?" he asked his son.
"Yeah!" Lloyd replied, excited.
Getting the door with one of his lower hands, Garmadon came in. Koko was still in bed.
Lloyd ran up to her. "Mommy, mommy, wake up! We have a surprise!"
Koko slowly opened her eyes to see her son climbing up in bed to sit next to her and her husband carrying a breakfast tray. She sat up.
"Happy Mother's day!" Lloyd and Garmadon said together.
"How sweet of you to make me breakfast in bed!" Koko answered, as Garmadon set the tray down on her lap.
"It was Luh-loyd's idea," Garmadon told her. He wasn't going to tell her about the failed attempt. He planned on cleaning it up before Koko would see it anyway.
"Thank you, sweetie," Koko told her son, giving him a hug. "I love pancakes and bacon!"
"Daddy helped me," Lloyd said honestly. "He's really good at flipping pancakes!"
"Is he now? Well that's something I'll have to see," Koko answered with a smile.
"Oh! I got presents for you!" Lloyd remembered, jumping off the bed and headed to his room.
Koko and Garmadon smiled at each other. "This is really nice," she told her husband.
"You're worth it," he replied, giving her a kiss. "I have something for you too, but I'll wait for Luh-loyd."
Just then, Lloyd came running back in. "These are for you, mommy!" He presented her with the jar of dandelions and his finger painting of his hands.
"Wow, thank you, honey! The flowers are great and the painting is wonderful!" Koko told her son, who got a big smile on his face.
"I did the painting all by myself!" Lloyd told his mom.
"And I see you spelled your name," Koko said. Garmadon picked Lloyd up and sat down next to Koko.
"Here's my gift, Koks." He gave her a small wrapped box.
She opened the box and inside was a bracelet that had a heart on it and an inscription that read, "Love you forever."
"Thank you, Garm. It's beautiful!" Koko told her husband, giving him a kiss.
"Yuck!" Lloyd said, covering his eyes.
The couple chucked at their son. "I'm glad you like it," Garmadon told her.
"I love both my boys," she said.
Garmadon wrapped two of his arms around his wife. "We love you too," he replied. "Right, Luh-loyd?" he asked his son who was still on his lap.
"Yeah!" He hugged his mom too. "Love you, mommy."
END
