A/N a thank you to Ceanna and Chris for the suggestion and set up to do this story
The Way We Were 11 story: Egg Story
"It was great of you to surprise me by taking off the rest of the day just to come spend time with me football head" Helga said affectionately with a blush
"I had no more appointments and couldn't think of anything better to do then spend some needed time alone with the love of my life" Said Arnold
"Plus since my manuscript is off to the publisher I have all the time I need for quite a while to have a bit of fun" Helga said with a smile throwing an arm around her husband.
"Couldn't have said it better myself angel" Arnold with that half lidded gaze.
At that moment from they're room they heard the twins Arlo and Juniper who were arguing kinda loudly and the door slamming just after the stream of animals ran outside.
"YOU JUST HAD TO LOSE THE DOLL ARLO OF ALL THINGS" Juniper shouted!
Arlo tried handling this without resorting to shouting.
"Me? What about you Juniper, I handed the doll to you" Arlo said sternly
"WELL THEN I GUESS WE HAVE THE WEEKEND TO GO FIND IT BEFORE WE FAIL" Juniper shouted
"Calm down sis we aren't going to get anything accomplished at this rate" said Arlo.
Juniper then grabbed Arlo by his shirt collar and brought him nose to nose with her
"We had better or I'm taking this out on your behind" she said coolly.
Helga and Arnold rushed downstairs to break this altercation up.
"Break it up you two" said Arnold sternly as he pulled Arlo out of his sister's hands.
"So much like her mother" Arnold thought to himself.
"What is this all about"? Helga asked looking at Arlo since he seemed to be the calmest to explain.
"So much like his father" Helga thought to herself.
"Mr. Simmons paired us up for a project to take care of a flour filled burlap doll for the weekend and bring it back undamaged. Now it's lost because someone didn't keep up with it" Arlo said eyeing Juniper.
Juniper scowled at him
"Ok so where were you two when you last had the doll" Asked Arnold trying to defuse the situation?
"The city park" said Juniper
"So how about we solve this by retracing your steps we will even come and help you look" said Helga?
"Okay" The kids said in unison.
As the family of four headed out the door and onto the sidewalk toward the park Helga couldn't help but feel the nostalgia of this situation. She looked over at Arnold who she could tell was feeling the same thing.
"You know when we were in Mr. Simmons class he paired us up for a similar project except we had to do it with an egg". Helga said.
"Yeah and your mother left it on the bus" Arnold said.
"I left it on the bus" Helga said eyeing him now?
"We were so busy arguing neither of us was very attentive at the time" Arnold said.
"This I got to hear, why don't you tell us about it" requested Juniper
"It started when Mr. Simmons wanted to teach us a lesson about teamwork and responsibility where we with a partner would take care of an egg for the weekend. Harold then loudly asked "What would we want to take care of a stupid egg for"? Your aunt Phoebe then explained how the egg was symbolic for a surrogate child and in a way we were going to play parents. Harold then stated the obvious by asking "This is going to be like being married isn't it"? Then it was time to draw a name from the hat and when I did it was non other then your mother. Of course at the time I wasn't too happy about it" Said Arnold.
"Now I have a feeling I know why Mr. Simmons paired us up in the first place and it's not just because we are twin brother and sister" Said Arlo
Helga snickered. "I have a feeling you are correct. However I was quite elated about this opportunity to have a weekend alone with him in mock marital bliss, raising our love child, and nurture our own delicate relationship. I wouldn't waste a moment of this opportunity and decided that for once in my life to prove to him I could be nice and refrain from mocking him. Showing him how much I really did care." Helga finished.
"I take it that didn't last long" Said Juniper as they crossed a street.
"You would be correct" said Arnold. "After class I was standing outside with Harold mocking me about it. How she was hated me, was always calling me names, and picking on me. I decided that I for once I was going to lay down the law and not let her jump all over me. So when she sat next to me on the bus to plan out what we would do I tell her straight away "If we are going to have to work together during this egg project things then we are going to have to set a few ground rules. No yelling at me, no insulting me like calling me football head"….
"But she does still call you that dad" Arlo interrupted.
"It's now a term of endearment sweetheart" Helga explained
"Anyway what else did you lay down for her" asked Juniper?
Arnold continued "Well I wasn't exactly being very nice myself when I interrupted her from stating that she agreed by saying " To be perfectly honest your pretty much the last person I want to pretend to be married to, in fact I'd rather be paired with just about anybody else on the planet."
"Little did dad know "Juniper exclaimed!
"Your right it was cause then your father stated "I know you don't like me and frankly you're not my favorite person either. I'd much rather be teamed up with someone I get along with like Lila."
"Man! Dad you didn't let up on her at all did you" Stated Juniper
"Already I can tell this is where it hit the fan" Said Arlo.
"He then says we should put our differences aside and asks what I say"? The mention of Lila who he had the biggest crush on at the time was the deal breaker. So I tell him "he is a big dumb jerk, that I didn't want to be his partner either, and why would anyone want to be partners with a dopy football head like him. Who's always walking around with his head in the clouds".
"It still never ceases to amaze me that you actually married later in life especially the way mom treated you" said Arlo. "But then yeah you kinda were being a jerk yourself dad"
"I know and I apologized for it later on" Said Arnold.
"He then says that at least he isn't always yelling and people and scowling all the time. We kept arguing so much that we left the egg on the bus seat. Your father then decides that we should do the project separately. He would take the egg home that day, drop it at my house the next day, I would then bring it back to school Monday so we would not have to deal with one another. We certainly weren't off to a good start" Said Helga.
"It was only just beginning, because when I asked your mother for the egg she didn't have it and we realized it was left on the bus. Course then all we did was point fingers at one another over whose fault it was. Before we finally started walking to the bus station to try and find it. When we got there we discovered that the buses were cleaned every Friday night. I then decide to try missing flyers in case someone took it home with them so while your mother waited down stairs I went up and printed out a few. Your mother thought it was a stupid idea but at the time I didn't know how else to find it" Said Arnold as they reached that halfway point to the park.
"Couldn't have you just gotten another egg and passed it off as yours" asked Juniper.
"I guess but then it would have been dishonest and Mr. Simmons might have been able to tell that it wasn't the one he gave us" Said Arnold.
"So did anything come of the flyers" asked Arlo?
"Yes but not before sitting in the den for 4 hours waiting for a call and your mother getting up in my face over it just as the phone rang" Said Arnold.
"Talk about being saved by the bell" said Juniper.
"We get a call that someone found it and are asked to bring the reward money. We end up a dumpy looking house where a guy doesn't even take the chain latch off his door before when he opens it, wanting the money before he gives us the egg. So your dad hands it to him and he gives over an egg but looking at it he could tell it wasn't ours. Thankfully the guy was greedy enough to start counting the money right there with his hands sticking out that I was able to slam the door on his hands making him let go." Helga said with a smirk.
"So did anyone find it" Asked Arlo?
"Against all odds yes" Said Helga. "We were walking away when Mr. Kokoshka who was standing on the street with a sign that said "Help the Blind" spotted us and called us over saying a lady called that found our egg and gave us the address. However not before asking for his reward money but we were already running of the other direction as he did"
"Figures" Juniper stated.
"That guy is always looking for ways to get something off you" said Arlo.
"That's why we tell you kids not to take anything he says seriously and not let him take advantage of you" Said Arnold.
"Anyway we went to the house of a nice old lady who wouldn't even take the reward money she said she was "just happy to help another" so we go through the park to take a break on the bench and then decide who would take the egg. Your mom demanded it but when I reached into my pocket it was gone" Said Arnold.
"She must have been livid like a certain someone we all know" Arlo said batting an eye at Juniper.
Juniper just scowled at him.
"So I decided that there was nothing else to do but retrace our steps and hope to find it. So we went around the park three times combing through bushes, looking under things, on bridges, anywhere we could think of. Until we just ended back up at the bench where this all started. We again begin arguing and I tell him that I was only trying at the start was to be nice and get along with him. He didn't believe me. I then told him that it was but he didn't even give me a chance and jumped all over me saying "I'd rather work with anyone else on the planet but you" and all we had done since then was argue. He started it not me."
"Yeah you kinda did dad" said Arlo
"I realized that she was right when she said that and told her "Can you blame me, most of the time your just mean. Arguing hasn't gotten us anywhere that I'm sick of it and willing to apologize if you are" calling for a truce." Said Arnold
"Way to make peace dad" said Juniper as they got to the entrance of the park and started walking toward the south entrance.
"I was happy do so as I flopped down beside him on the beach. As soon as I did we heard a crackling sound from under the bench. When we did it was our egg in a patch of grass and it was hatching. It was quite a sight to see kids as if it were symbolic in a way" Said Helga.
The kids nodded at that with smiles.
"Anyway since there was space for animals at the boarding house we decided that the newly hatched chick would stay there with your dad till morning and we would bring it to school the next day. We may not have had an egg exactly but we had something even better. No doubt it would not only get us a good grade but it would certainly impress Mr. Simmons" Said Helga.
"That is really cool" Said Juniper
"So how did it go over in class" Asked Arlo.
"Your mom came over the next morning to help me take our chick to school. We got in front of the class and told them the whole story about losing the egg, our constant bickering, finding then losing the egg again, and finally showed them the chick. Mr. Simmons was very impressed and found it the most inspirational story he had ever heard. He said "it shown them that teamwork and responsibility can indeed bring special rewards, even miracles." Said Arnold He was so in awe and nearly in tears your mother had to kill the moment.
"Could I expect any less" Said Juniper
"I didn't want things to get too mushy. So I told him "Aw get a grip Simmons the only miracle is that I survived an entire weekend with the football head" then your father is like "Oh and I suppose hanging out with you is some kind of treat" Then I tell him "Oh please Arnoldo you would have be lost without me and you know it" and he scoffs "In your dreams Helga".
As they started looking around the area Arlo asked "So what happened to the chick"?
"I knew someone that kept chickens so I gave the chick to her to be raise properly and have a better home among its own kind" Said Arnold.
"I guess I was kinda harsh on you Arlo it doesn't matter who lost it all that matters is we work together to find it" Said Juniper hugging her brother.
"No ones perfect sis I don't hold it against you" Said Arlo.
"Mr. Simmons was right" Helga said with a smile "You can learn something from this lesson"
"They certainly have" said Arnold as he looked around the playground equipment.
A half hour later they spotted something under one of the benches it turned out to be the burlap doll which had slipped through the planks in the bench. Upon closer inspection it was the very bench where Arnold and Helga found the egg all those years ago when they were kids. When the kids went off to take a few pictures of the doll in various location Arnold and Helga decided to quickly savor the moment with a kiss in the twilight…
A/N If you have noticed when it comes to mushy stuff I'm very inept due to my own inexperience and the fact I am an aromantic asexual (a very prudish one at that) but I'm hoping I did a little better here as per suggestion from some of you. I felt that at times I wasn't quite presenting Helga and Arnold they way they ought to. Course I will always keep this very mild, modest, and clean but here is a step up. Also I am contemplating on a surprise for the family of four if I decide to do it… course I can't tell you what it is or that would ruin the surprise for you the readers. If it's done I believe you will be pleasantly surprised. Another thought I have had that I will tell you about however is the possibility of a spin-off of short stories based on this. It would be the kids on they're own adventures with the other neighborhood kids of the next generation. Maybe even a few on the side of Arnold and Helga if it works out. Let me know what you think and as always thank you for reading and be sure to review as this is my first fanfiction so I need your direction.