Judy Neutron, reading a book on automobile maintenance with one eye, used her other eye to watch her husband climb into bed next to her. She briefly caught sight of his pajamas. White flannel with yellow ducks. The corner of her lip tipped upwards as she returned her attention to her book. The pajamas had definitely been one of the better Christmas gifts she had bought him.
Hugh Neutron was quietly chuckling to himself as he slipped under the blankets, concealing his yellow ducks.
"Is everything all right dear?" Judy asked, turning a page.
"Oh everything's just fine Sugar Booger," her husband replied. "I was just thinking about the Jimster."
"What about him?"
"Oh nothing special I guess. It's just that…well, it seems our little Jimmy is growing up."
Judy, sensing her husband wanted to talk, set her book down. She turned to face him. "Well, it is true. Little boys grow up."
"I was just thinking how different our Jimmy is now. He's not the same little guy we brought home with us sixteen years ago."
"No he's not." Judy said smiling. She suddenly shook her head. "Still, he could do with picking up his pants once in a while." Hugh laughed.
"Remember when he made all those pants come to life and nearly destroyed the whole town?"
"You mean when he installed nanochips in his pants, and they grew advanced cranial capacities, and then they infected other pants with their artificial super-knowledge?" Judy frowned when she saw that her words had gone straight through Hugh's head.
"Yeah, when he put in that chip, thingy," Hugh said with a painful expression. His features then brightened. "Ah, I remember those days like they were yesterday. We sure had fun with all Jimmy's crazy inventions. Course, they nearly killed us half the time, but boy those were some good years we had." Hugh went silent for a moment and wiped the edge of his left eye. Judy noticed a slight tearstain. "And now he's, in graduate school, studying, uh, arcto-plastics–"
"Astrophysics?" But Hugh continued onward, as if he hadn't heard.
"…and, we only see him on weekends and, and, h-he drives his own c-c-car…" Hugh stopped to wipe another tear from his eye.
"There, there, dear," Judy said, handing him his handkerchief, which was also covered in ducks. "It's not all that bad is it?"
Hugh dabbed the remaining moisture from his face and shook his head. He began chuckling again, in spite of himself. "No, of course not. He's becoming a man now, and he has to do what men do."
"Yes he does." Judy raised an eyebrow when Hugh continued laughing, now a bit harder than before.
"I was just thinking," he said," after Jimmy left this evening, I opened the refrigerator to get myself a snack and, all the pie was gone." Hugh snorted with mirth. "I guess he has a little bit of his dad in him after all."
"So it seems," Judy said tonelessly. Personally, Judy was not so happy about this development in Jimmy's maturation. Ever since he turned fourteen, he joined his father more and more frequently for pie after meals. She used to only have to buy one or two pies for the week, but now that number had escalated up to three or four, a couple of which she would send to school with Jimmy. At this rate, he would soon overtake his father.
"And to think, tonight he's going out on his very first date." Judy quickly forgot Jimmy's bottomless lust for pie and was forced to smile ever so slightly.
"That is interesting dear, isn't it?" she said. Feigning puzzlement, she continued, "And tell me, where do you think he took Cindy?" Hugh revealed a sudden mixture of amusement and guilt. Judy's grin widened as she retrieved her book and began where she had left off.
"Weh-hell Sugar Booger, before I came to bed I was uh, searching Jimmy's room for uh, stashes of pie," Judy's face darkened here, "when I came across a pamphlet sitting on Jimmy's bed."
"And what was it for dear?" said Judy, knowing full well what the answer would be.
"It was for Duck's: The Musical, part three, playing at Retroville Hall." Unable to contain herself, Judy broke into a number of girlish giggles, which drew suspicion from her husband. Seeing his wary expression, Judy straightened herself up and stifled the leftover laughter in her throat.
"Oh Hugh, don't you remember where you took me for our very first date?" For a moment, Hugh Neutron's face stayed blank (which really cut Judy's laughter), but a few seconds later, he brightened up like a light bulb.
"Well whaddyou know, what a coincidence."
"I suppose we'll have grandchildren not long from now." The Neutron couple indulged in a hearty laugh. Hugh laid his head on his pillow, feeling much better now.
"That Cindy Vortex sure turned out to be a pretty one, didn't she Booger?"
"She sure did," Judy replied. "I always knew Jimmy had a secret crush on her."
"Remember when we first moved here, and we went to greet the Vortexes and those two got in that huge fight. Oh it was love at first sight."
"It is strange how things work out," Judy remarked. "Jimmy used to think he was so smart back then, thinking that no one knew about his feelings except for him. There was a time where I thought he would never ask her out. Or anyone for that matter."
"Now muffin-cake, don't be so hard on the Jim. Neutron men have always been late bloomers. It just took Jimmy a few months away from home to realize what he's been missing. Why, before we first went out, I had only gone on… well, actually, every girl I had asked out on a date turned me down."
"Oh Hugh." Judy leaned to the left so her head rested on Hugh's shoulder. "Wasn't it all worth it," she said rhetorically.
"Yes Booger it was," Hugh said, curling his arm around his wife. They sat silently for a minute.
"Well dear, I think it's time for bed," Judy said. She set her book down on her night table, flicked off the light, and then snuggled cozily underneath the blankets.
"Hopefully Jimmy's back by a decent hour," she said before letting loose a big yawn.
"Oh I'm sure they'll be fine." Hugh shifted from his side onto his back. "Still, never pictured Jimmy being a duck-man. I always thought he hated them." He chortled to himself. "Then again, I never thought he'd like pie one day either."
"Like father like son," Judy sighed.
"Yep," Hugh said, exhaling sleepily. "That's my boy… …that's my boy."
Disclaimer- I do not own Jimmy Neutron, it characters, nor any other shows, characters, music, and/or movies that may be referenced.