A/N: Hey everyone! Been a while, hasn't it?

At least I brought a story with me! Hope you all enjoy it. ^.^

Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron. But I do own a box of football-shaped Oreos! =D

A Night at the Hospital

Jimmy, for the first time in his life, was at a loss for words. Or rather, he was at a loss for a specific word, one that he could feel on the very tip of his tongue, but just couldn't grasp.

By all means, he knew the definition of the word; he, like all others, had experienced it so many times before. He knew what the word did, and was quite familiar with the peculiar feeling it gave when present. However, with all his knowledge and experience of the word, its name eluded him.

He knew, for one, that it fueled the desire for happiness. It was one of the few key concepts that pushed both woman and man further along the road to bliss, helping them overcome the obstacles along the way.

Every mathematician and every man of science had experienced it countless times, and Jimmy was no different. He could still remember the first time he had experienced it, after he had finished the chassis of his first creation, Goddard. It had surged through him as he sat there, waiting for the cranial core to spark with power. The anticipation he had waiting then was unrivaled in comparison to his later creations, as it was the first time a dream was about to come true.

Dreams… Could that be it?

Jimmy shook the idea from his head. It wasn't the word he was struggling to name. While it did have a relation to dreams, there was a fine line between the word he was looking for and the concept of a dream. A dream itself was usually an idea, one tethered very loosely, if at all, to the grounds of reality. It wasn't common for a dream to become real, but yet it could happen. Many scientists before Jimmy had dreams of their own, some being impossible feats until Jimmy had turned them into reality. The word in question, on the other hand, was a belief of a possible outcome, one that would occur if chance happened to land on it.

Of course, when chance didn't fall on the favorable odds, the belief would then act as a double-edged sword, possibly causing more damage to the owner than benefit. If fate were cruel, as often as it is, the walls created by this belief would break and crumble, leaving a shattered feeling as sadness flowed in like water from a broken dam. This was exactly the case when Jimmy finally found the courage to ask Betty Quinlan out during his junior year of high school. Back then, the amount of attention she sent his way was a strong indication of feelings for him, and yet, he was turned down, given that the true motive behind Betty's actions was to get a certain Nick Dean envious. And with that, Jimmy was left crushed by the fragments of his own optimism.

However, the construct that Jimmy had in mind was never truly broken. Because with the remains, it would reform into a new wall, one that was never exactly the same as the last. Such was the case where a new wall had been reconstructed in Jimmy's soul, guiding him to find love and passion in the owner of a pair of green eyes; ones that had never looked in any other direction but his, and held a bright spark whenever he stared into them.

A sharp wail was heard, and it snapped Jimmy from his thoughts. His right hand, now completely numb, was finally free from his wife's death grip and could now seek medical attention. Noticing the strained sounds along with the occasional threats of doom and "You're-Going-To-Pay-For-Doing-This-To-Me" had seemingly dissolved into the air, Jimmy glanced at her. Her blonde hair, seemingly misshapen, had strands clinging to her forehead from her sweat. He looked down to her lap, where a babe, wrapped in a white cloth, lay sleeping. His blue eyes met with his wife's emerald orbs, and she motioned for him to come closer. He complied, bending over the bed's edge to look at the bundle of joy in his wife's arms.

"Come and hold her," his wife suggested, weariness highly evident in her voice.

Jimmy slowly nodded, taking the baby girl into his arms for the first time. Looking at her sleeping face, he knew that she would be just like the word he struggled to find. She would be the fuel that would bring him even more happiness in his life, the driving force that would help motivate his creativity. She would be his double-edged sword, hurting him as he tried to teach her some of life's principles. And yet, through the pain and the arguments they would have, their bond would continuously break and reform, as their ties as father and daughter would never truly break.

"What should we name her?" Cindy questioned, causing Jimmy to shift his gaze over to her tired yet content smile.

After a brief moment, Jimmy looked down at his daughter again. And when he did, the word he had longed to identify finally came to mind, as if a mental billboard started flashing in neon blue lights.

"Hope."

Thanks for reading! Hopefully you guys liked it. Leave a review if you can. Criticism is welcome. =)

-Shattered Sky