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

The Marriage Predictor

Hillwood

2025

It is a sunny, fall afternoon in the town known as Hillwood and in a nice, two story suburban home, a man had arrived home from work, is now engaged with playing with his children while his wife had stepped out for a moment to get last minute groceries for tonight's dinner.

"Giddy up, you two ..." The father said as both his two children rode on his back like he is a horse.

"Giddy up! Faster daddy!..." His daughter said happily.

"Gaga...guh. .." The baby gurgle a bit before giggling.

"Nay...nay...oh, no pulling daddy's hair, Henry..." Daddy said to his baby son who kept giggling as his father moved around the room, pretending to be a horse, much to the enjoyment of the two little children.

After about 10 minutes, he started slowly down and feeling tired.

"Okay you two, I think that's enough horsing around for now..." The father said while his daughter pouted.

"But daddy-..." The little girl said.

"Please Megan angel, daddy is getting a little tired. ..we can play horsey again later..." He said to his daughter who nodded.

"Okay..." She said and she obediently got of his back and helped her baby brother off as well.

The man got up, before he turned to his daughter and baby son and gave them a smile before kissing them both on their little foreheads.

This man is Arnold Shortman who is playing with his daughter Megan and his infant son Henry. His oldest was still out playing with his friends but he would be back before dinner.

"Daddy, if we can't play horsey now, can we play patty cake..." Megan asked her father who looked into her big, green eyes, the ones she inherited from him and he couldn't refuse her then.

"Alright ..." He said to his little girl.

The father played patty cake with his little girl after he put Henry in his little, green floor seat and handed him his plastic, toy keys to play with, which the infant is happily chewing on.

"Patty cake, patty cake...baker's man..." Megan sang as her father continued to play with her until a loud, door slam got their attention.

They turned around and Arnold saw that it's his oldest son, Andrew Phillip Shortman, known by all as just "Andy", and he didn't look too happy.

"Girls are crazy..." They heard him mutter as he completely ignored them as he went to the kitchen.

Arnold sighed as he figured he must have had quite a day once again...

"Megan sweetie, can we postpone this game for a bit, I need to see what's wrong with your brother..." Arnold said to his daughter who pouted.

"But that could take forever..." She whined.

"Megan..." Arnold chided his second born who nodded.

Arnold picked up Henry and they went to the kitchen where Andy is, who was currently munching on a cookie, but still had an annoyed look on his face.

"What's wrong with you?..." Megan asked her brother.

"None of your business..." Andy shot back, not wanting to deal with her snooping.

Arnold sighed as he didn't want his two oldest to start arguing again, so he needed to nip this in the bud now.

"Now, now you two...Megan, my sweet little angel...why don't you go watch TV for a bit..." Arnold suggested to his daughter who sent another pout to her brother before nodding and left the kitchen.

Soon the three males of the Shortman nuclear family were in the kitchen, and Henry is still chewing on his toy keys while his big brother still looked ticked.

"Want to tell me what happened today that's got you acting like this?..." The father asked his eldest.

"Not really..." Andy said bluntly with his arms crossed as he sat down on a chair, looking away.

Arnold sighed and tried to be patient with his eldest child. His Andy is nine years old and he's normally a very cheerful, level headed kid, so it's rare to see him in a bad mood, and as a father, he wanted to help him in any way that he can.

"Come on son, you know that if somethings got you down, you can tell me about it...that's what I'm here for..." Arnold said in an encouraging voice to his son who looked, before he paused, sighed and turned to him.

"If I tel you dad, can we please keep it between us?..." Andy asked his father.

"Of course Andy..." Arnold nodded.

"I mean it, you can't tell anyone...not even mom and especially not Megan..." Andy said with a serious look on his young, football headed face.

"Wow...this must be big..." Arnold said and noticed that the look on his oldest boys face didn't go away.

"Ok, I promise, this will just be between us boys...you, me and Henry here..."Andy said as he held his baby and wiped away the drool from his lip.

Andy looked annoyed but nodded.

"Fine, at least unlike Megan, he's too small to blab..." Andy sighed.

"So come on, tell dad everything...what's got you so riled up,champ?..." Arnold asked.

"It all started today at recess and Courtney was bugging me again..." Andy started.

"What did she do this time?..." Arnold asked with an almost amused look on his face.

Courtney is the daughter of his old friends Rhonda and Curly Gammelthorpe and she has been a friend of Andy's since preschool. However, she also has a big crush on him and made it obvious to everyone, including his son, who in turn, seemed more annoyed by her interest more than anything. Courtney takes after Rhonda in both looks and her love of fashion and gossip, but she is a little eccentric like her father, though she's much more toned down compared to how he was as a kid...thank goodness.

"She brought to school some stupid origami thing that she says can predict couples who will get married one day..." Andy said and Arnold's eyes widen when he heard that.

"An origami marriage predictor?..." Arnold asked in surprise as some memories came to him.

"You heard of that?..." Andy asked with a raised eyebrow, before his father told him to continue.

"Well, she then went making everyone taking part of it, predicting who in our class will marry when they grow up...she paired Keisha with Adam, Freddy with Wendy and a bunch of other random couples until she found me...I didn't want to take part of that game because it seemed dumb to me...but she wore me down until I agreed to take part in the game..."Andy said as he began his tale of what befell him only a few hours ago.

FLASHBACK

Earlier that day

During recess

"I said no!..." Andy said in annoyance as he went to get a kickball and Courtney is still shadowing him.

"Please Andy, just once..." Courtney pleaded.

"Courtney, I already told you that I'm not interested. .." Andy said with a sigh for the 5th time.

"Come on, just once...and who knows, you might like whom you yet paired with..." Courtney said as she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Andy sighed once again...How long will it be until she's over this crush on him? Sure, it can be flattering but he's already told her that he likes her, not like-like.

"I already told you that we can be friends but i don't like-like you, Courtney..." Andy said, causing the girl to visibly deflate, before she sported a more determined look on her face.

"Andy please, don't tell me that aren't even the tiniest bit curious and who you're going to marry when you grow up?..." Courtney pressed on.

"I think I rather have that be a surprise, besides it's just a dumb, made up game, it doesn't mean anything..." Andy answered and Courtney is getting more frustrated by his refusals.

"Don't tell me your scared to know the truth...you, Andy Shortman, the strongest, brawniest , most fearless fourth grader isn't afraid to know the truth..." Courtney challenged as she checked him out as she did so.

"I am NOT scared Courtney, I just think it's a waste of time..."He said but sighed when he realized that Courtney isn't going to give this up.

"Alright, fine...once but then I'm going to go play kickball..." Andy said and watched Courtney eyes sparkle in excitement.

"Oh goody, well come on..." Courtney then pulled out her origami marriage predictor and is grinning in excitement.

"Alright Andy, pick your favorite number..."Courtney said.

"Seven..." Andy answered plainly, wanting to get this over with.

"Now, pick your favorite color..." She said to the blonde boy.

"Red..." He said.

"And now for the final question, what day of the month were you born on?..." Courtney asked in a more dramatic voice.

"The 12th..." He answered and watched Courtney try to figure out the answer.

However, once she is done, her eyes widened and she didn't look too happy with what she saw.

"What?..." Courtney let out in a whisper.

"Courtney?what's wrong?..." Andy asked in confusion.

"This can't be..." She said in a little louder voice.

"What?..." Andy demanded but to his surprise Courtney face turned from stunned...to ANGRY.

"IT'S SUPPOSE TO SAY MY NAME, NOT HERS!..."The fancy, dark haired girl screamed, shocking Andy by her out burst.

End of Flashback

"I took the test again and the result was still the same...I ended up taking it over and over again and the result was still the same and Courtney got upset and said that the whole test was defected before she threw it in the trash and walked away angrily. .." Andy said...

"How many times, exactly?..." Arnold asked, wanting to see something.

"110 times, dad..." Andy answered, surprising his father who kept feeling deja vu's.

"I'm not stupid, I know it's just a made up game that doesn't mean anything but everyone at school kept teasing me over the whole thing, despite me telling them that it's meaningless..." Andy said in annoyance.

"Who's name did you get?..." Arnold asked and noticed that his son started to blush before looking away.

"That doesn't matter, it's all pretend. .." Andy said quickly, looking embarrassed.

"Andy, please...I just want to know who's the lucky girl you got 110 times..." Arnold pressed on.

"Okay, I'll tell you but remember not to tell mom or anyone..." Andy said seriously.

"I promise..." Arnold said.

His son was silent for a minute, blushing and looking down.

"I...eh...Kia..." Andy muttered under his breath, refusing to look his dad in the eye.

"I...Kia..." He mumbled a little louder, but not coherent enough for his dad.

"Andy, don't mumble and just tell me..." Arnold said sternly to his son who looked at him in exasperation.

"IT SAID KIARA! OKAY!..." Andy yelled, surprising his dad with his outburst.

"Kiara, as in Gerald and Phoebe's daughter?..." Arnold whispered.

"Who else?!I got her name 110 times and Courtney got angry that she even yelled at Kiara over it, our whole class heard and worse of all, Kiara is acting all weird around me, like I got a alien attached to me or something..." Andy said angrily.

"Calm down Andy, I get it...no one likes getting teased and I am sure Kiara is just feeling a little embarrassed is all..." Arnold said in an encouraging voice to his oldest boy.

"I just don't get why everyone is making a big deal over it, it's not like those things ever come true..." Andy said, expecting his father to agree with him.

To his surprise, his dad had a weird smile on his face and looked like he was stuck in a memory, before he got out of it and looked at his son seriously.

"What's so wrong in case it does come true, what's wrong with Kiara?..." Arnold asked his son.

"Nothing! Kiara is awesome, she's the smartest, nicest, coolest, funniest and funnest girl...like...ever..." Andy said without a moments hesitation, making his dad smile when he heard that.

"So, why are you so upset?..." Arnold asked his son.

"I'm not upset...it's just that Kiara is my best friend, I can't marry her...it would be too weird..." Andy said, looking down.

He didn't seem his dad sending him an understanding smile on his face, before he chuckled.

"What's so funny?..." Andy asked, wondering why his dad is acting so weird.

"Nothing is funny son, and I can safely say from experience that you are Kiara will be just fine, Courtney is upset since she likes you but she'll get over her crush one day..." Arnold said.

"I hope so...she actually had the nerve to act angry at Kiara, even though she's the one that made me take that stupid test in the first place..." Andy said.

"Why did you take it so many times when you didn't even believe in it?..." Arnold asked his son.

"I didn't want to, Courtney made me against my will, despite whatever answer I gave, the name ended up being Kiara's and she got angry, wondering why her name didn't appear before she gave up and decided that the whole thing didn't work..." Andy answered... " When is she just going to leave me be, she's got like over 2 dozen boys in our grade that want to date her, but she focuses everything me..." He said in distress.

"You can't exactly blame her son, you are a looker, smart, athletic and a perfectly well behaved gentleman, any girl would love a guy like that..." Arnold said proudly as he ruffled his sons hair, despite his protests.

"Well right now, I rather think about kickball than about wedding ceremonies..." Andy grumbled.

"That's alright with me son, I rather wait another 10 or 20 years before your mom and I have start preparing your wedding..." Arnold chuckled.

"Dad!..." Andy whined.

"I'm just teasing..." Arnold said.

"Look, why don't you go give Kiara a call and explain to her properly what happened...I know that soon enough, your friends will calm down..." Arnold said.

"Alright dad, and thanks for listening. .." Andy said.

" It's what I'm here for, son..." Arnold said as he watched his son leave the kitchen, only to bump into someone.

"Oh, hi mom..." Andy greeted as his mother came in with the groceries.

Hi sweetie..." His mother said as she placed the bags on the counter before she kissed her son on the forehead.

"How was school?..." She asked.

"I dissected a frog, and we got an announcement for a field trip to the art museum next month..." Andy said, still not wanting to tell mom about his day, since he knew she thought he and a Kiara would be cute together.

"That's nice...Arnold, come help me put these away..." Mom called to dad, who put Henry in his high chair.

Andy soon left the kitchen to do his own thing, once he is out of hearing range, Arnold turned to his wife.

"You eavesdropping on us, didn't you..." Arnold said, already knowing her well, especially with that sneaky grin on her face when she came in here.

"I didn't mean to, I came back about ten minutes ago and I heard Andy make you promise NOT to tell me something...sorry..." Helga said with an embarrassed look.

"Just be sure to tell him that you dkd that if he finds out, I don't want him to think I broke my promise. .." Arnold said to his wife who nodded.

"I don't get why he didn't want to tell me but he told you. .." Helga said, looking a little offended.

"It's nothing personal Helga, he didn't want to tell me until I pressed on, he's just an easily flustered child...not unlike someone else I knew and loved..."Arnold said as he sent her a playful smile.

"Ok, you got me there..." His wife answered before they continued to put away the groceries, but Helga is still pleased by this whole development.

"Oh, our little Andy and Kiara...What I don't understand is why you didn't tell them about what happened to us in fourth grade, I am sure he would have been very interested in that story..." Helga said with a smirk on her face.

"It's a story for another day, he's not ready yet but he will be soon..." Arnold said.

"Still, this is such incredible irony. ..you and your son both took an origami test 110 times and got the same name each time..Andy gets Kiara just like how you got me..." Helga said with a smile.

"Yeah, the next step is for him to suddenly have a dream on what being married to Kiara might be like for him...though something tells me it will be a dream he WON'T want to wake up from..." Arnold said with a smirk.

"Like the dream I have been living for the last 10 years. .." Helga sighed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him in adoration.

A look he returned with equal force...

"You know, after you took that test, I had a dream that night of what my life would be like if I ever ended up being married to you, too..."Helga whispered.

"So tell me, is it as good as the dream was..." Arnold asked.

"No...because THIS is even better..." Helga said sweetly to her husband as she gazed into his eyes.

The married couple shared a passionate kiss, with Helga pushing her husband against the wall and they continued their passionate, love filled smooch. Once they separated for air, Arnold gave her an enamored look even greater then her own.

"Have I ever told you how happy I am that the old test I took was right..." Arnold whispered to his wife.

"That's not what you said when you took it..." Helga playfully reminded him.

"I was young and foolish back then..." Arnold said quickly, making his wife laugh.

"Yes you were...but eventually you came around...and you were worth the wait..." Helga said.

"I love you. .." Arnold said as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes.

"I love you too..." Helga said as she felt nothing but love for her husband.

They kissed once more, feeling so lost in their passion and love for each other, feeling as though nothing could disturb this romantic moment between them.

"MEGAN!..."

"ANDY!..."

The couple separated when they heard the yelling and both sighed, already knowing what is going on.

"Come on, lets go break them up..." Arnold said as Helga went to pick up Henry.

They went to the living room the see Andy and Megan arguing with each other.

"No, I'don't!..."Andy yelled.

"Yes, you do..." Megan yelled back.

"I don't..."

You do too..."

"Don't.."

"Do..."

"Don't..."

"Do.."

"That's enough you two, break it up..." Helga said as she got between her kids.

"Now what's this whole thing about? ..." Arnold asked his children.

"Megan was eavesdropping on my phone calls again..." Andy said in annoyance.

Arnold sent a glance to his wife, who looked embarrassed and said nothing while the two kids continued their spat.

"I just overheard...and I just asked if Mimi could be the flower girl at his and Kiara's wedding..." Megan said in a faux innocent voice as she pointed to her favorite doll.

The end result is Andy's face getting red and him shouting.

"We are NOT getting married, that test doesn't mean anything..." Andy yelled.

"Andy's getting married!..." Megan giggled.

"I am not..." He yelled.

"Enough is enough..." Helga shouted, getting her kids to shut up.

"Megan, stop teasing your brother, he's had a long day and you are not being very nice right now...Andy, stop getting so worked up with your sister, she just thinks she's being funny..." Helga said in her strict mother voice.

"Now can you both try and stop this silly little argument. ..otherwise, there will be no dessert tonight..."She asked with her arms crossed.

"Yes mom...dad. ..sorry..."The two children said in sync.

"We aren't the ones who need to hear I'm sorry..." Arnold said to his kids, who knew what he meant.

The two oldest of the Shortman children looked at each other, sighed and just shook each other's hand, though they weren't being very enthusiastic about it.

"Sorry Andy for making fun of you..." Megan said.

"Its alright...Sorry for yelling too loudly at you Megan. .." Andy said.

"It's okay..." Megan said while their parents looked very pleased.

"That's better, now run along you two...dinner will be ready in an hour and I brought some ice cream for dessert tonight..." Helga said making her kids smile widely.

"Alright, ice cream..." Andy said happily, after what he went though today,ice cream sounds good.

"Yay..."Megan said happily while Henry giggled in his mom's arms.

Arnold could only smile as he watched his entire family and how much has happened to him since HE took that origami marriage predictor test in the fourth grade. Back then, he had been completely evasive of the idea of even liking Helga in a romantic way, much less the idea of marrying and spending the rest of his life with her, to the point where he dreamed that he would have been completely miserable, being bullied by her, living with her parents and working at her dad's long bankrupt store and having three monster kids that made him miserable...until he tried to convince the Helga in the dream that he knew that she wasn't as bad as she acts and they don't NEED to be miserable together and she almost admitted that she DOES love and care about him until he woke up.

Now here he is with her, happily married for ten years, living in this beautiful house, working his dream job as an anthropologist and having been blessed with three beautiful, wonderful, sweet and amazing children that he loves so much and despite being a little high spirited at times, he wouldn't trade this happy life that he has for anything in the world. He's married to the most beautiful, smartest, most passionate and amazing woman on earth who gave him her heart, three healthy, beautiful children and this amazing life and he's happy.

Really, really happy.

He's happy that the marriage predictor had been right in his case, and he hopes that one day, the same can be said for his son Andy.

The End

:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)