A/N: Hey guys, the next chapter of the Spooktacular will be coming out tonight, but I also wrote this on the side for a friend of mine who has been having kind of a hard time recently. She goes by edwardandbella4evah, also known as Ariel, on this site and her stories are REALLY good! She asked me to write a cute lil' fanfic starring her own character, Duncan and Courtney's daughter, Vanessa. Although she had asked me to write it when Vanessa is 3 years old, I decided it would be more interesting if she were about 5 or 6. I was surprised by how inspired such a simple scenario in my head almost literally spilled out onto my computer to create this story, but that just goes to show you, inspiration can come from anywhere. I address this idea and similar themes in this story, but I will discuss that more towards the end, so without any further ado, here's my oneshot:

Bedheads

It was Saturday morning and Vanessa had just crept out of bed. One of the many things she had gotten from her mother was that she always was an early riser, sometimes even earlier than Courtney, as was the case this morning. Vanessa tip-toed until she stood by the foot of her parents' bed and took a peek at them. Duncan shifted in his sleep and as he turned, he yanked the covers over to his side of the bed, leaving Courtney with almost no covers for herself. Courtney instinctively curled up into a ball, shivering from the cold. Vanessa frowned at this and climbed onto the bed and delicately wedged herself between her parents. She grabbed the covers and tugged on them until she had enough slack to cover both her and her mother. She then placed her head into the crook of Courtney's neck and nuzzled comfortably against her. Courtney lazily opened one eye and saw the little bundle of warmth pressed up against her. A smile slowly crept onto her face and she wrapped her arm around Vanessa, who had fallen asleep again.

Half an hour later, Courtney opened both her eyes and saw the morning sun was now pouring in through the bedroom windows. She looked down and saw that Vanessa had shifted over and had her arms wrapped around Duncan's arm. Duncan was snoring so loudly, it seemed miraculous that Vanessa wasn't awakened by the noise. Courtney slid out of bed and headed to kitchen where she made a cup of coffee and began to whip up the family's weekly Saturday Pancake Breakfast. During the week, everybody's schedule was so hectic that they never had time to sit down and have breakfast together, but Saturday was always a low stress day for everyone, so they had decided to celebrate by having their favorite breakfast: Pancakes!

The scent wafted throughout the house and until it entered Duncan and Courtney's bedroom. The scent entered Duncan's nose and his stomach rumbled at the realization that there was delicious-smelling food somewhere nearby. Duncan lazily opened his eyes and said without turning said, "Morning Hotstuff." Vanessa who had also just been awoken by the sweet aroma, giggled and said, "Good Morning Daddy!" Duncan turned his head and said, "What the…" but he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. The fact that he had been so close to the edge of the bed, combined with his sudden shift in weight sent the poor former delinquent toppling over the edge of the mattress. Vanessa giggled at this, peered over the edge of the bed, "Have a nice trip Daddy?"

However, Duncan was not on the floor at the edge of the bed. Vanessa raised an eyebrow in confusion before she leaned over the edge and peered underneath the bed. She saw a pair of feet straighten out on the other side and then heard a cough from behind her. She reared her head back to the top of the bed to see Duncan smiling on Courtney's side, holding a large pillow. Duncan narrowed his eyes and said, "Oh you bet kiddo, in fact, I brought you a little souvenir!" With that Duncan let out a war cry and raised the pillow over his head, while Vanessa happily shrieked and fled the bedroom, making a beeline straight to the kitchen.

Courtney finished placing the last pancake onto a rather impressive stack and made her way to the table, humming a tune she had heard on the radio from the previous day. Suddenly, Vanessa ran into the kitchen, looking over her shoulder to make sure her father wasn't gaining on her. Vanessa accidentally knocked into the back of Courtney's legs, causing Courtney and the pancake stack to topple. Courtney closed her eyes and braced for hitting the floor, but instead a strong arm caught her. She tentatively opened an eye to see Duncan, holding her wrapped in one arm and the stack of pancakes in his other outstretched hand. Duncan wore a cocky expression and said, "Babe, what would you do without me?" Courtney's browed furrowed in annoyance as she straightened herself and said, "Not almost lose our breakfast to childish antics so early in the morning!" as she eyed the pillow Duncan had dropped by the entrance to the kitchen when he had dove to save her and the pancakes. Vanessa came from behind her mother and wrapped her arm around her father's leg before, "I'm sorry Mama. I was the one who started it."

Courtney sighed, but a smile crept onto her face as she said, "Oh well. At least you're at the age where this type of things happens. Daddy on the other hand should know better by now… but no harm, no foul I suppose, so let's all sit down for breakfast." Vanessa nodded eagerly, but as she headed to the table, she happened to catch sight of the kitchen clock, which read exactly eight o' clock on the dot. "Oh no! I woke up late up!" Vanessa cried as she turned to her mother, "I'm going to miss Sparkly Unicorn Drama!"

"What in heaven's name is that now?"

"Only the greatest Saturday morning cartoon ever! It's about these unicorns that are on a mystic quest to find a magical wand that make all their dreams come true! Um… can we please have our Pancake breakfast in front of the TV this week?"

"Now Vanessa, you know how I feel about meals in front of the TV…"

"Actually," Duncan interrupted, "I've been watching the show with her for the last few weeks, and today is a REALLY important episode. It would be a real shame to miss it…" With that, both Duncan and Vanessa began to do their best sad-eyed, puppy-dog pouts. Courtney rolled her eyes and said, "… Fine, but we are NOT making this a regular thing! Also, for the rest of the week, I expect that if someone is given a chore do on the to-do list, they will complete it both promptly AND efficiently. Is that understood?"

Both Vanessa and Duncan sighed and responded, "Yes, ma'am…"

"Fine, you two grab your plates and pancakes, while I grab the syrup." Duncan shot Vanessa a look that seemed to say, "You SO owe me big time!" as they made their way to the TV room with a stack of fresh pancakes, while Courtney reached into the fridge and pulled out a chubby container of syrup that was labeled: UNCLE OWEN'S FAMOUS CANADIAN SYRUP! Mhmmm… Syrupy!

Duncan and Vanessa plopped down onto the couch in front of the TV, and Duncan said, "So has Lord Droopy Darkness finally won over Princess Sparklepants?"

"Nope not yet, but I think he's wearing her down!"

"Psh, good luck with that! He's a maroon if he thinks that he can get her to like him just by bugging her all the time!"

Courtney walked into the TV room and sat down next to Duncan, while Vanessa laid on the other of him. "I still can't believe you guys are making such a big deal out of love-struck unicorns. They are just cartoons after all."

Vanessa stared the TV screen as the show came on and said, "Yeah I know, but it kind of doesn't matter, because it's not just the show that's good. Its how the unicorns make me feel."

Duncan and Courtney looked at each other and shrugged, while Vanessa stared at the screen with a smile on her face.

Later that day, Vanessa and her parents headed to the park. She had run slightly ahead, while Courtney walked next to Duncan and said, "I can't believe you of all people would get into watching cartoons meant for little girls. You were once the guy would pick on people just for having the middle name, Doris!"

Duncan smirked and said, "I blame you. I told you that I wanted a boy. It's not that I don't love Nessa to death, it's just if my kid wants to play football, then I'll play football, and if my kid wants to watch sparkly unicorns, then I'll watch sparkly unicorns, though I'll still make fun of guys like Harold if that makes you feel any better babe."

"Compared to sparkly unicorns, I think it actually might." Courtney responded with her own smile.

Up ahead, Vanessa had reached the playground in the park and saw a young boy with sandy blonde waving goodbye to his mother as he headed over to play. His mother, a pretty blonde woman with a kind face called, "Be careful Terry!"

"MOM… My name is Trevor, remember?"

"Tommy, then?" The familiar blonde said as she sat on a park bench and gave a friendly gave to Duncan and Courtney as she saw them approach the area.

Vanessa ran up to Trevor and said, "Hehe, I think it's so funny how your Mom always pretends to forget your name."

"Uh, right. Pretends…" said Trevor, as he and Vanessa headed towards the monkey-bars.

The End

REALLY BIG A/N: You guys are probably wondering why I had it end so abruptly. Well, to be honest, I didn't want to make this some huge, complicated narrative. I wanted it to be a momentarily look into a family's Saturday, where we get a glimpse into how things work, but also fill in the blanks with our imaginations.

Regarding my statement above, where I said inspiration can come from anywhere, I was specifically referring to all the fan material around Total Drama and Duncan and Courtney. Just as Courtney doesn't see the appeal of getting worked up about a cartoon, I'm sure a few of our parents have raised their eyebrows in concern as well when they see our fanart and fanfics. I kind of hoped to highlight that the reason I and I'm sure some others write or draw fan material is because we appreciate the emotions the source material elicits from us and putting those emotions into the production of something artistic can be a very fulfilling experience.

Some people may raise their eyebrows at Duncan's appreciation of cartoon unicorns. This part is for you Ariel (and maybe Duncan if he decides to read this). You're always bugging him about having a daughter, so I thought I'd manifest his fears, where having a girl HAS made him a bit of a softie, but it also endears him to Vanessa, who really appreciates his love and support. I hope his conversation with Courtney in park shows that he has not changed TOO much, and is still the same ol' lovable jerk we know him as.

Finally, Trevor is my own little addition to this story, and yes, he is Tyler and Lindsay's son (as if you couldn't tell). A little info about him is that he really admires his Dad and while does get annoyed with him Mom at times, heaven help you if you say anything mean about her while he's around.

I really hope you like this Ariel and I hope I've fulfilled my duty as your favorite Formspringer in making you smile.