A/N: This is the first chapter in my collection of one-shots about Gru's past. Every year, Gru has the same heartbreaking dream on the anniversary of his father's death. But this year will be the year he finally has to tell his family about his heartbreaking past... (Note: For those of you who are very sensitive, you may wish to skim over the death of Gru's father at the beginning, since it is rather heart-wrenching.)

The Day I Lost My Family

"Daddy!"

Little Gru rushed into his mustached father's open arms. He had been waiting for this moment for so long. It wasn't often that his father got to come home from his job as a spy for the army and spend time with his family.

"Felonius, my sweet leetle boy! How are you doing?" Robert Gru whispered as he wrapped his only son in a warm hug.

Gru furrowed his brow. "Ok. I tried to make a rocket and send it to ze moon, but it vent into a tree and blew up."

Robert laughed and ruffled his son's black hair affectionately. "Vell, ve all have setbacks in life, son. Don't vorry; you'll get to go to ze moon someday."

"Really?" Gru asked eagerly. He'd wanted to go to the moon ever since he'd watched the breathtaking landing a year ago in 1969, when he was nine years old. He had come up with various schemes to launch a rocket, but none of them really worked out, and his mother didn't seem to support her son's ambitions anyway. In fact, his father was the only one he felt he could really trust to listen to his dreams without crushing them to smithereens in seconds.

"Of course. If you put your mind to it, zen anything is possible. You just have to really vant it and zen you can get zere if you try very hard. And I have no doubt in my mind zat you vill try very hard and get to ze moon one day," Robert reassured him.

"ROBERT! Don't encourage him! I don't vant my son to get his dreams squished because of your silly 'he can do anything' speech!" Marlena shrieked from the inside of the kitchen.

Gru hung his head and looked at his feet, kicking at the dirt of the backyard in dismay. "Zat's ze whole problem right zere, Dad. Ven you're spying for ze Russian army away from home, nobody vill listen to me or my dreams. Mommy doesn't vant me to grow up vith a stupid idea in my head and vind up being one of zose crazy people living on ze street because zeir dreams vere crushed as a kid. Do….do you think I vill ever grow up to be one of zose people?"

"No, I don't think you ever vill be," Robert told his son honestly.

"And vhy is zat?" Gru asked with just a touch of cynicism.

Robert knelt down next to his son and looked him in the eyes. "Ze reason for zat, son, is because you are not ze kind of person zat is villing to give up ven people tell zem otherwise. You're a hard-verking boy, and ven you vant to do something badly, you never give up. Zat is the kind of person who vill reach zeir dreams no matter vat happens. And you, my son, are exactly zat."

The smile that Gru gave his father could have lit up a dark room with its radiant light. "You're right, daddy. I von't ever give up! One day, I vill conquer ze moon, no matter vat people say!" He punched his fist into the air and looked up at the faint moon triumphantly. He was sure that one day, perhaps not tomorrow or the next day, but very soon nonetheless, he would be dancing across that foreign surface just like the very first astronauts had.

Robert gently brushed his hand against his son's shoulder. "Zat's my boy! Now, Felonius, I think ve should be going inside now. I think your mother's going to pounce on me if ve don't come in and eat dinner together as a family."

Gru shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think she'd be TOO mad. I mean, ven you aren't here, zere isn't even really a family to eat dinner vith."

"I'm sorry about zat, son. I'll try to come home more often, I really vill. I know how much it means to you," Robert reassured. Gru nodded and clutched his father's hand eagerly. Robert smiled back and stepped up slowly to the back door with his son, lingering purposefully in the backyard. Both father and son savored every step of the way, knowing that they wouldn't have many moments like this in the days and weeks to come.

...

Marlena changed channels impatiently, and the movie Gru had been watching a moment before with his mother that night changed abruptly to a screen full of gunshots and smoke. "….And the war doesn't look as if it's going to end happily for the Russians," the newscaster announced. Gru fidgeted in his seat, scanning the footage desperately for his father. He knew full well that if things continued the way they were going, there was a good chance that his father might not ever come home to him again.

"Mommy? Do you think zat Daddy vill come home again after zis war?" Gru asked in a plaintive voice. He looked at his mother worriedly, hoping that she would be able to provide some form of comfort for him.

Marlena's eyes were glued to the screen. She didn't answer her son's terrible question. Gru spoke again. "Mommy, do you think Daddy is going to be here next month after ze war is over?"

"Eh. Probably not," Marlena replied indifferently. She went back to her knitting, ignoring the tears in her son's eyes.

Gru was too afraid to ask what his father would be doing if he didn't return home when he was supposed to, so he turned his attention back to the screen again. The only thing that he was able to see were large, strapping men running around with vicious-looking guns, yelling at each other as though there was no tomorrow. Once more, Gru tried in vain to locate his dad, hoping to see him dart across the battlefield to relay some piece of vital information, but yet again the action on the screen prevented him from seeing anything but darting flashes of bloody violence.

Gru watched for so long that soon the screen blurred into a meaningless gray haze before his eyes. His head began to nod and his eyelids began to flutter shut. Gru jumped up and furiously rubbed his face, trying to stay awake. He didn't want to doze off if something really important happened-something that might make life a little better or a little more miserable if his father appeared to him on the television screen.

Marlena awkwardly scooted over on the sofa and put her arm on Gru's shoulder. "Don't vorry, Felonius. I'm sure it vill be all right in ze end," she said uncomfortably. Gru nodded but made no comment. Instead, he laid his head on his mother's shoulder and closed his eyes. He could feel her softly rubbing his back as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

The next thing Gru knew, his mother was leaping off the couch and screaming, "ROBERT! MY DARLING!"

Gru's eyes snapped open instantly. He sat up and started when he saw the bloody body lying silently on the battlefield. It took him a few shocked minutes to realize that it was his father. "DADDY! DADDY!" Gru screamed. He ran up to the television and pressed his hands to the screen, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Marlena grabbed her son by the arm and pulled him back down on the couch. "Felonius, sveetheart, you mustn't get so close to ze television screen like zat! You'll ruin your eyes!" she scolded.

"But…but…Daddy's been hurt!" Gru babbled helplessly.

Marlena squeezed his hand, unsure of what to say to her son. "Yes, yes, I know, Felonius. But zere's nothing ve can do for him. It's only a screen, after all."

Gru opened his mouth to say something, but only a monstrous sob escaped from his lips. Tears blinded his vision as he watched the medics place his father on a stretcher and carry him away. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Gru had always had a fear that one day his father might not return home from war, but he had never thought that it would actually come true until now.

Marlena cleared her throat and broke the silence pervading the family room. "Felonius….I'm not saying zis vill happen, but…" she trailed off uncertainly.

"Vat vill happen?" Gru sniffled. He cuddled up closer to his mother for assurance, but she brushed him off impatiently.

"Vell…zere is a small chance zat your father might not be dead after all," Marlena admitted.

"You mean…Daddy's still alive?" Gru asked hopefully.

Marlena nodded unconvincingly. "Yes, vell, I suppose zere is always ze chance that he just fainted, and if zat's ze case, zen ze medics vill be able to fix him up in no time. Of course, your daddy might come home vith a few scars, but…"

Gru didn't hear the rest of her words. He wanted to believe that his mother was right, but deep down inside he knew that his father wasn't going to live. He wiped the tears away from his eyes, trying to tell himself that he was being ridiculous. Surely the medics would be able to take care of him and make sure that he would live to return home to his family?

But all hopes of Robert's returning home alive were dashed as the newscaster announced, "There have been several casualties on the battlefield so far; mostly members of the Russian army. For those of you watching this broadcast, here is the list of those who have died…" The newscaster went on to list the victims of war. Gru's heart went cold when he caught his father's name in the midst of the list.

Gru thought he heard his mother trying to console him, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that his beloved father was dead and he would never come home to talk with him about going to the moon ever again.

…..

Gru woke up from his dream with tears welling in his eyes. He gulped hard, trying to keep himself from breaking down. He groggily rolled over in bed and checked the clock on his nightstand. The silent timepiece informed him that it was one o'clock in the morning.

"One o'clock in ze morning…" Gru whispered to himself. He quickly glanced over to see if Lucy was awake, but the pretty redheaded woman was still fast asleep in the bed they shared together. Gru carefully returned to his former sleeping position, making sure that he didn't wake his wife in the process.

Every year, without fail, Gru dreamed that very same dream on the anniversary of his father's death. Gru had lost so much on that fateful day-not only had he lost his father, but he had also lost his mother in a way as well.

It was at Robert Gru's funeral that Gru had noticed a peculiar change in his mother's behavior. Although it was always hard for her to express her love for her son, there were a few rare moments when her affection revealed itself. However, when Gru had looked to his mother for reassurance at the funeral, instead of finding a sympathetic gaze locked in a sheet of ice, he had found an utter lack of motherly love in Marlena's eyes. Instead, there was only loathing and disappointment, as if Gru had slain Robert with his own hand.

Gru wiped the tears away from his face. He settled back down in bed and closed his eyes. He lay still for several moments as he attempted to return to sleep again. It seemed like an eternity before he opened his eyes again, realizing with frustration that he still hadn't managed to doze off. He groaned, pulling the pillow over his head. He had the feeling that he was going to be a complete wreck when morning finally came around.

Gru felt as though several hours had passed before he began to feel a little tingling in the tips of his fingers. The tingling gradually spread from his fingers all the way down to his spidery legs. By the time the tingling reached his feet, Gru was out like a lightbulb.

"Daddy, wake up!" Agnes' cheerful voice screamed in his ear.

"If you don't get out of bed, Kevin and Phil are going to eat your breakfast!" Edith added.

"Come on, Dad…why were you asleep so long? You're not sick or anything, are you?" Margo questioned.

"Gurls, gurls, please….I had a leetle bit of trouble getting to sleep last night," Gru muttered. He pretended that the girls weren't there and made loud snoring noises to make them leave. He really wasn't in the mood for putting up with three loud, bouncy girls after having the most heartbreaking dream in his life last night.

"Dad, we know you're not really asleep," Margo said. Although Gru couldn't see his eldest daughter's face from under the pillow, he could just imagine her rolling her eyes at him.

"Who says I'm not?" Gru grunted. "I'm snoring, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but you've also pretended to be a recorded message before," Edith said.

"And you said you weren't home when that pretty lady asked if you were here!" Agnes inserted.

"All right, you got me zose times," Gru admitted weakly. "But ZIS time, I'm really sleeping. Good night! Go back to breakfast! See you in ze morning!" He pulled the covers over his head, trying to block out the daylight seeping through the windows. The combination of little sleep and his annual dream about his father were just too much for him to take, not to mention his three girls pestering him to get out of bed at the same time.

A familiar click-clack of high heels reached Gru's ears. He knew that Lucy had entered the room as well. A second later, her hyperactive, high-pitched voice reached his ears. "Gru? What are you doing in here? It's a beautiful day! C'mon, get out of bed, sweetie!" She grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him so vigorously that Gru could have sworn that he nearly broke his shoulder blade.

"Not for me," Gru complained, almost letting a hint of sobbing enter his voice.

Lucy stopped immediately when she heard Gru speak. She knew instinctively that the funny, faltering note in his voice meant something was off for him. "Gru, is something wrong? You're normally not so...GRUMPY in the morning like this. I mean, I heard that when you were a supervillain, you would leap out of bed, grab your freeze ray and POW-you'd frozen the whole neighborhood! Is it something the girls or I did? Because if so, then-"

"No, no, no, no, no! It's not anything like zat at ALL! It's just-"Gru trailed off. He didn't want to have to tell his family the reason for his reluctance to leave the comfort of his bed this morning. It was just too emotionally difficult for him to share in front of three little girls and a woman he'd only known for six months or so.

"Is it because of the Minions then?" Agnes piped up quietly.

Gru could tell by her voice that she was afraid that she had done something to upset him. He sighed and shook his head under the bedclothes. "No, it isn't because of ze Minions at all. It's…something very personal of mine. It's not really something I vant to tell you about at zis time…"

"Did you KILL someone when you were a supervillain?" Lucy asked with just a trace of curiosity.

"NO! Vhy vould I kill somebody? Zat's ze most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Gru protested.

"Yeah, I didn't think you were the killing type, but you can never be too sure," Lucy gibbered nervously. "Well…if you didn't kill anybody…did you hit a policeman then?"

"No," Gru vetoed.

"Did you kidnap someone?" Agnes asked.

"No, unless you count my adopting of you," Gru answered.

"Did you set someone on fire?" Edith exclaimed morbidly.

"People, no….Super Silly Funland games, yes. You know zat as vell as I do," Gru moaned. The questioning was getting to be a bit too crazy for him now. But at least it was better than telling his family the truth.

"Okay then…if you didn't kill someone, hit a policeman, kidnap people, or set a guy on fire, then what is it that you DID do that you think is so awful that you won't even tell your own family about it?" Margo demanded.

Gru poked the tip of his nose out of the sheets and looked at Margo with one frightened blue eye. Margo crossed her arms, keeping her steady gaze trained on him. "Come on, Dad. You can tell us. No matter how terrible it is, we promise we won't ever leave you."

"No, but I'm not telling you," Gru insisted, his voice cracking. "Can't you please just be good gurls for once and let me sleep in peace? You don't know vhat it's like to wake up at one in ze morning and not be able to fall back asleep again…"

"BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO!"

"CARL!" Gru shouted. He threw the covers away from his head to reveal the shrieking Minion standing next to his bed guiltily, holding his megaphone while a string of flashing red lights glared brightly on his head. "I told you not to give me a wake-up call zis morning!"

"Poparry," Carl mumbled, looking sheepishly at the floor.

"Apology accepted. Now, please turn off your headlights and go back to breakfast," Gru said wearily. He looked at his wife and daughters, who were impatiently waiting for him to get out of bed.

"Please, Daddy?" Agnes asked.

Gru sighed. He knew that he'd been beaten. "All right. I'll come down to breakfast and eat vith you," he agreed.

"YAAYY!" Agnes, Edith, Margo, Lucy, and Carl cheered. They eagerly darted back to the kitchen while Gru exhaustedly dragged himself after them, still in his pajamas. He normally dressed before breakfast, but today he didn't feel that it was worth the effort, nor did he have the energy to even attempt to do so.

"Para ti," Phil announced as he handed Gru his breakfast plate.

"Thank you, Phil," Gru replied absently. He looked down at his eggs and bacon and began to pick halfheartedly at them. He tried to block the thought, but he couldn't help but think of how much his father had enjoyed the eggs and bacon his mother used to make on Sunday mornings.

Robert would stroll whistling into the kitchen, grab the newspaper, and read it cheerily while Marlena sang aloud and cooked in the kitchen. She'd waltz out with the plate, and she and Robert would share a quick peck on the cheek. Marlena would dance back into the kitchen while Robert ate his breakfast in his special, peculiar way: stabbing his eggs so that they wound up close to the flat part of the fork while he made sure to spear the bacon horizontally through the tines of the utensil.

As Gru's mind began to fill with memories of his father, tears began to well up along with his recollections of Robert. He swiftly gulped down a strip of bacon, willing it to push down the lump in his throat. Instead he almost choked on the bacon, prompting Carl to attempt the Heimlich maneuver on him.

"CARL! I am NOT choking! Ze bacon just vent down ze wrong way!" Gru snapped. Carl looked at him in shock and jumped down from the breakfast table. He opened his mouth to say something, but only a surprised "Whaa?!" came out. Lucy, the girls, Phil, and Kevin looked equally shocked.

"What was THAT all about? You NEVER yell at the Minions!" Edith blurted.

"Zat's true; I don't yell at zem. But zen again….today is not a normal day for me," Gru wavered. He picked at the eggs on his plate, wondering how long he would be able to avoid the inevitable explanation of his father's death.

As he stared into his food, he felt a tiny wet drop of something warm trail down his cheek like a line of rain skittering down a window. He gulped again, but another tear fell down his pale face to join its racing brother. It wasn't long before five tears had fallen from his face. The five tears were soon followed by ten, twelve, and twenty tears.

Lucy gently reached over the table and wiped Gru's tears off his face. "Felonius…look; I know that whatever you're thinking must be really hard for you to talk about. But I can't stand to see you cry like this. Please tell us what's wrong, Felonius. I'm sure it's not that bad…right?"

Gru jolted when he realized that Lucy had called him by his first name. Lucy only ever called him Felonius when something serious was going on and she needed him to speak to her. He shyly ducked from her touch and looked at Margo, Agnes, and Edith for support. To his surprise, they were patiently staring at him, as though waiting for him to spill the beans.

Agnes slowly walked up to Gru and placed the stuffed unicorn he had won for her at Super Silly Funland on his lap. She lifted her head to look him straight in the eyes. Her brown eyes seemed as though they were gazing into the depths of his heart. "Daddy…I love you. I don't want you to cry. You're such a nice daddy and you're always really good to us, like when you helped me win my unicorn at Super Silly Funland. I don't know why you're crying, but…if it helps you like you helped me…then I want you to tell us what's making you sad so you can feel better."

"Yeah, Dad. Agnes is right," Margo added. "You've done so much for us in the past year that I don't think you know sometimes how much you mean to us. I mean, if you hadn't adopted us, we'd still be selling cookies for Miss Hattie. And THAT wasn't fun at all, trust me."

"Yeah. I mean, even when you made us skip the rest of the houses that ordered cookies and wouldn't drive us to ballet practice, you were still a good dad…kinda," Edith shrugged. "I mean, you weren't as mean as Miss Hattie was…and the weapons in your house are totally awesome. So….I mean…like…I think if it makes it easier to eat your breakfast and everything…"

Phil and Kevin nodded in agreement. "Papoy poppadom," Kevin suggested.

Carl happily bee-doed in support. "BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO!"

"All right, fine!" Gru harrumphed. "I can see zat I'm not going to get to eat my breakfast in peace if I don't tell all of you vhat it is zat's bothering me. But I should warn you…it isn't a very happy story. It might upset all of you, in fact. And not only vill it probably make you all cry….it vill probably make you hate me, because vhat I am about to tell you is how I became such a despicable villain in ze first place."

Agnes hesitated for a moment before she jumped up and sat in Gru's lap. "Does this story have a happy ending?" she asked innocently.

Gru thought for a moment before he answered, stroking Agnes' hair comfortingly. "Vell…I suppose so. Since ze story is about me and now I'm happy having you guys for my family…zen yes, zere IS a happy ending to this story."

Agnes smiled happily and clutched her unicorn in her arms. Edith looked over at Margo, but Margo just shrugged and sat down on the floor next to Gru. Edith copied her, staring at her father with wary eyes. Lucy sat down at the table across from Gru, propping herself up with her elbows. "So...how does this story begin?" she asked curiously.

Gru cleared his throat and blinked the tears out of his eyes before he spoke. "Vell, it begins a very long time ago….probably ven I vas no older than Edith is now."

"Awesome!" Edith cheered. As the middle child, she always felt particularly special when Gru or Lucy gave her extra attention. Margo raised her eyebrows at her sister, but Edith only stuck her tongue out at her.

Agnes looked up at Gru inquisitively. "Did you have hair back then?"

Gru blushed with embarrassment. "Vell, yes, of course I did. You didn't think I vas bald ven I vas leetle, did you?"

"No, I was just wondering," Agnes said. "What color was it? Was it like Mommy's hair?"

Gru shook his head, unable to stop himself from grinning. "No, my hair actually used to be black back ven I vas a kid."

"Just like my hair," Agnes breathed.

Gru nodded. "Just like yours."

"But if you used to have hair, then how come you don't have it anymore?" Agnes asked, a tiny frown curling her mouth down at the corners.

Gru blushed again. "Can ve talk about zis another time? I'm telling a different story right now."

Agnes nodded. "Okay. But what was it like back when you were a kid?"

Gru smiled and continued his story. "Back ven I vas a kid, humans walked on ze moon for ze very first time. Back in 1969, ven I vas nine years old, I watched ze first moon landing vith my mother. I thought it vas an incredible thing to be watching a man walking on a whole other planet. Zat vas ze day zat I knew zat ven I grew up, I vanted to walk on ze moon myself. And I didn't vant to just WALK on it-I vanted to conquer it and have it for my own."

"So that's why you stole the moon," Lucy gasped. Her eyes were wide and she was watching Gru's face like a panther, hanging on to every last word.

"Yes, but zere vas another reason too," Gru said sadly. He sniffled and paused to wipe a tear out of his eye.

"You were alive in 1969?! Wow, you're REALLY old," Edith interrupted.

"EDITH!" Margo scolded. She glared at her sister, who grinned wickedly back at her.

"Do you really think I'm ZAT old?" Gru said, blushing for the third time that day.

"I guess not," Edith shrugged. "But why did you become a villain anyway? I mean, if all you wanted to do was to walk on the moon…"

Gru closed his eyes in pain. He had to take several short breaths before he felt strong enough to continue his story. "Vell….for one thing, my mother never supported my dreams. She vas always afraid zat zey vould be crushed ven I grew up and I vould never be able to have a good life. On ze other hand, my father believed zat I vas a hard-verking person who vould be able to pursue his dreams no matter vhat. But unfortunately, ze only person vho I felt really cared about me and my passion vas killed on ze battlefield vhen he vas trying to relay a piece of information he had overheard from ze enemy on zis very day. And zat vas ze day zat I lost my entire family."

"But your mom didn't die," Agnes pointed out. There were tears sparkling in her eyes as she looked up at Gru with confusion and sadness.

Gru wiped the tears from her eyes and held her close. "No, she didn't. But it vas on ze day of my father's funeral zat she became ze coldhearted woman zat she is today. Ven I looked to her on zat day, hoping zat she would have something to say to help me through zat dark day, she looked at me like I vas ze one responsible for my father's death. She had always had trouble expressing her love for me, but I knew that from zat day on, there vould be no more hugs or kisses from her again.

And I vas right. I vas never able to talk to her about anything zat mattered, because she would always ignore vhatever I had to say. If I tried to show her something zat I'd made or something zat vas important to me, she vould act like it wasn't a big deal or make fun of me.

Because of her, I began to hate ze vorld for being so cruel to me. I hated my mother for abandoning me when I needed her ze most, I hated my father for dying and leaving me without a caring parent in ze vorld, I hated ze other kids zat I knew from school and in our neighborhood for bullying me, and I hated everyone who had ever treated me like a leetle freak or crushed my dreams. I didn't know zat I vould become a villain zen. All I knew vas zat I vanted to get back at ze vorld for taking away all of my parent's love for me and leaving me out in ze cold.

It vas only ven I saw a man rob a shopping mall with a ray gun zat I knew vhat I vanted to be ven I grew up. I vanted to be able to take vhatever I vanted and make everyone feel as miserable as I vas. I vanted to show people zat I wasn't a nobody, but zat I vas a somebody zat zey shouldn't mess with if zey knew vhat vas good for zem. I vanted to be able to use cool weapons to make people think I vas cool and to have people know who I vas all over ze vorld. But most of all, I vanted to make my mother notice me and be proud of my accomplishments for ze first time.

I vas probably in my early twenties ven I first became a supervillain. From zen on, I became feared and eventually rose up to be ze best supervillain in ze vorld. If I walked into a coffee shop and got fed up with ze long line-vell, everybody vould run away because zey knew I vould freeze-ray zem if zey didn't get out of my way. If I drove down ze street at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, nobody vould dare to stop me because zey knew zey vould get flattened if zey did. And if anyone happened to see me walking by, zey vould run out of my path because zey knew zat zere vas no way zey could mess with me and come out alive.

I shut out every leetle bit of compassion left in my heart and told myself zat it didn't matter if I stepped on a leetle boy's foot or stole a doughnut from ze bakery. All zat mattered vas zat everyone knew who I vas and zat zey vould never bully me again.

But zen I adopted you gurls…and I felt something zat I hadn't felt for a very long time."

"What was it?" Agnes asked.

Gru smiled and looked down at his daughters tenderly. "It vas a crazy leetle thing called love. It vas something zat I knew I shouldn't be feeling if I vas to be ze best supervillain in ze world, but I couldn't stop it. Vell…to be honest, I didn't exactly feel ze love at first."

"Yeah, we know," said Margo.

Gru chuckled. "At first, I vas wondering vhat on Earth I had gotten myself into. I thought it vould be easy to have a couple of gurls in ze house. Back zen, you gurls were just part of ze plan to steal ze moon. I didn't think zat I vould have to ride roller coasters with you or take you to ballet practice. I thought it vould be no different zen taking care of Kyle. But I vas wrong. It wasn't like having a dog at all. It vas even worse!"

Everyone laughed when they heard Gru's admission. It was hard to believe for all of them just how far Gru had come from his days of supervillainy to becoming the devoted family man he was today.

Gru continued with his story. "It wasn't until ze day zat I blew up ze carnival game at Super Silly Funland zat I realized just how much I liked you gurls. From zat day on, I started feeling things again. I realized zat I enjoyed making pancakes for breakfast and watching you gurls dance around ze house. It vas a pleasure to have tea parties and it vasn't a big deal if I accidentally wound up with a pink space suit vhen I did ze laundry. Suddenly, it seemed like stealing ze moon vasn't so important after all."

"But you abandoned us," Agnes said. She had only said four words, but the confusion and sadness that filled those words was enough to make Gru turn his head away in shame. He knew he couldn't tell the girls the truth about why he had given them back. How could he possibly tell them that it was Dr. Nefario's idea to begin with? The girls had come to view Nefario as a sort of grandpa. Gru knew that if he told them that Nefario was the one who had forced him to abandon them, they would probably never trust him or Nefario as much as they did now.

Lucy could tell that Gru was feeling uncomfortable and spoke up to change the subject. "So…when did you decide that you wanted to ask me out on a date? I mean, with your whole past with your mother and all…"

Gru shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to block out the tears filling his eyes. He gulped several times, but his voice still sounded hoarse when he spoke. "All I vill tell you about zat, Lucy, is zat I knew after a vhile-probably vhen you gave me ze first kiss I ever got from a girl in my whole entire life-zat you vere ze voman for me and zat I should try to ask you out on a date, no matter how painful it vas. But zere's something else I need to admit to ze gurls…something zat zey always thought vas my idea, but vasn't really vhat I vanted at ze time. And zat is….zat it vas Dr. Nefario's idea to get rid of zem, and zat I never vould have let him if I hadn't been convinced zat I should have gone to ze moon instead of to zeir dance recital."

Gru couldn't control his emotions any longer. He squinched up his eyes and let out a horrible sob of pain and regret. "I'm so sorry…but zat's all zere is for me to say. I understand if you all think I vas a horrible daddy, but…I didn't realize vhat you gurls meant to me at ze time. If somebody told me zat I vould wind up vith a vonderful family, I vould never have believed zem at ze time. Because of vhat happened vith my own mommy and daddy growing up, I didn't trust people anymore. Because nobody loved me, I vas afraid to love other people. I know now zat zat vas my mistake to get rid of you…but now zat you know who I vas in ze past, I hope you can forgive me for listening to my villain instincts instead of my…my heart."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they mulled over what Gru had said. It was difficult for them to see Gru so heartbroken and miserable about his past and his decisions as a father. In all the time Lucy and the girls had known Gru, they had never once seen him cry or display emotional outbursts like this one. It hurt them all to see him so sad, and it pained them to see that he felt he had been an awful father when in reality, he had done everything he could to give the orphan girls a better life for the most part.

Lucy quietly got up and walked around the table to rest her hand on Gru's shoulder. "Gru…I know all of this must be hard for you, but…if you ever need to talk about your past, or about your villain flashbacks, or anything else that's upsetting you…you can always talk to me. I won't judge you for anything, I promise. I know that you've had a lot happen to you in your life that wasn't very nice, but I can understand…because I haven't had a great life either."

"Y-you didn't?" Gru stammered in surprise. He had always thought of Lucy as a bubbly, energetic woman who was enthusiastic about everything she did. He would never have imagined that her past could possibly be just as painful as his was.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, well…I've had a lot of trouble with other men in the past. I've broken a lot of hearts, and it hasn't been easy for me. I've made a lot of mistakes that I've regretted…" She glanced at the girls, who were listening eagerly to the conversation. "Whoops! Guess I shouldn't be talking about that now, right?"

"Yes, you read my mind exactly," Gru replied with a sigh. He turned to the girls and quickly said, "Gurls….I know zat vasn't exactly an easy thing for you to hear about me, but…." He stopped halfway through his sentence and gulped, uncertain as to whether he would be able to say what needed to be said.

"But what?" Edith asked.

Gru gulped again and spoke once more with a serious tone. "But….do you think you gurls can forgive me, even though I've done all of zose things to you?"

The girls were silent for a moment as they thought over his words, looking at one another for support. Gru sat still, dreading the moment that they would speak. He knew he couldn't bear it if they weren't able to forgive him. They meant so much to him, and he wasn't sure if they would ever understand what an impact they had had on his life and who he was. If he had lost their trust forever, he knew their words would leave a sore spot on his heart that would never go away.

The girls slowly approached Gru with a confident look on their faces. Agnes stepped forward and said softly, "Daddy, I still love you. I'm sorry that your daddy died, but I'm not scared of you, because you saved us. No matter what, you will always be my daddy."

Margo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Dad. Agnes is right. Even if you were a bad guy, that doesn't mean we're not going to love you anymore. I wasn't sure at first if you were going to be a great dad. But because you came back for us, I knew that you really loved us. Just because you used to be a villain doesn't mean we don't love you anymore."

"Yeah, you're so awesome! I don't want you to leave us!" Edith exclaimed. She dashed across the carpet and grabbed Gru's leg so hard that his face almost turned blue.

"Okay, okay, I love you too, Edith," Gru spluttered. "But can you please stop pulling on my leg zere?"

Edith grinned and released Gru's leg from her viselike hold. "Sorry," she apologized.

Gru smiled somewhat sadly in reply. He was grateful for his family's support, but all their love couldn't make him forget the fact that today was still the day that his father had died.

Lucy noticed and gently squeezed Gru's hand. "Would it help if we lit a candle in your father's memory or went to his grave?" Lucy whispered to Gru.

Gru looked back at Lucy appreciatively. "I vould go to his grave if I could, but it's all ze way back in Russia...but as long as nobody sets anything on fire-"- Gru glanced at Edith as he said this-"-then I vould be happy to light a candle in Robert's memory."

The girls got up and followed their parents with the Minions as Gru and Lucy went to look for a candle. Although Gru's heart was heavy with mourning, when he looked around the room at his family, he realized how truly fortunate he was to have met them all. They had changed his life for the better and because of them, he was now a loving husband and devoted father.

None of that would have been possible if it hadn't been for the day he had seen them selling cookies to Vector. Because of that one little event, his whole life had been turned upside down. But he couldn't imagine it any other way. Even if he had suffered from his father's death and his mother's neglect, he knew he could stand up and conquer whatever other obstacles lay in his path because of all the love that filled his home now.

As Lucy lit the candle, Gru pulled his family close and thoughtfully gazed at the flickering flame. For the first time since his father had died, he no longer had to bear the pain alone. He had his family by his side, and they were willing to help him through his darkest day of the year no matter what.

And that was exactly what Gru had wanted.