Chapter 36: You're A Pretty Special Person

Arnold and Helga awoke the next morning, happy for the first time that summer. They were married, had their own place, working in places they enjoyed, and no longer had to worry about any former acquaintances causing trouble for them.

Arnold opened his eyes to see Helga facing him, still sleeping soundly. He leaned in to give her what was meant to be a short, soft kiss. The moment his lips met hers however, he lost control and what was meant to be short and soft turned into long and lingering.

Helga let out a deep sigh, feeling what was going on. Without opening her eyes, she began to kiss him back. The two of them held each other happily, knowing how much easier things would be from there on out.

When their lips at last parted, Helga opened her eyes to see Arnold smiling at her.

"Morning sweetie. How'd you sleep?"

Resting her lips on his, she sighed "Good. You?"

Rather than replying, he wrapped his hand behind her head to pull her in for another warm kiss. It was so comforting knowing he no longer had to worry about losing her. Not in court, not to another man, not because something else in life meant more to her than he did. He held her in his arms, lickng the inside of her mouth, knowing it would always belong to him.

As he slowly took his lips off hers, he replied "Great. Why don't we see if Gerald and Phoebe want to meet us for breakfast?"

"Aren't you supposed to be taking helicopter head to the bus station?" she smirked.

"I don't think it leaves until noon, but maybe I should head over there anyway. I don't want him to wander off before he has a chance to get on it." Arnold sighed.

"He better get on it! This summer's been nothing but drama we've had to fix. We don't need him re-stirring the pot!" she scowled.

"Guess we better get up then." Arnold said, as he sat up from the bed. "I'm going to take a shower. You're welcome to join me."

Smiling at him, she said "Eh, why not? Can't have you hoggin' all the good shampoo."

"Whatever you say Helga."

The two of them then grabbed their towels and headed into the bathroom. While Helga was taking off her nightgown, Arnold was setting the water to their preferred temperature. Once they were both undressed, he turned to smile at her. Holding her tightly in his arms, he asked "Do you know why I'm looking forward to this shower?"

"Because Matt had you sweating harder than you were at our wedding rehearsal?" she smirked.

Rolling his eyes at her remark, he said softly "Because it will be our first one this summer without any drama fogging our minds. The only mist will be from the hot water I'm about to share with you."

Doing all she could not to swoon in front of him, she said "Let me know when you're ready for those poetry lessons."

After checking the water, they stepped in together. While Helga reached for the shampoo, she felt a hand placed on top of hers. "Can I wash it for you?" Arnold asked, watching the water flow down her shiny blonde hair.

Batting her lashes with a weak smile, she handed over the bottle. While watching him pour the silky substance into his hands, she thought back to their first shower in the boarding house together.

He began running his soapy fingers through her hair, as he listened to her say "Hey Arnold."

"Yes?" he asked, paying more attention to her hair, than her face.

"Do you remember the first shower we took together?"

"You mean at the hotel? Yeah, that was pretty heated." he winked, scrubbing the shampoo out of her hair.

"No, I meant the one at the boarding house." she replied, realizing that had technically been their second shower together.

"How could I forget? We were worried our slip and slide incident in there was a real 'slip up.'" he said, rubbing her stomach with the soap.

Seeing her blush, he winked "If it happens again, it won't be a slip up."

"I just remembered sitting down during that shower. I can't remember why I did it though?" she wondered.

While handing her the shampoo for his hair, he explained "You seemed to think I wouldn't be tall enough to reach your hair. I guess my masculine side was a bit much for your sensitive side that night."

Her cheeks turned pink, listening to him explain the reasoning behind this. "Oh yeah...I guess I was still having a hard time believing my girlhood fantasies had made it that far with you."

Taking her hands in his, he pulled her under the water to kiss her. The shampoo from his hair ran along the sides of their faces as they stood their enjoying the feel of each other's lips beneath the warm water.

"It wasn't just 'your' dreams that were coming true." he said, softly releasing their lips, while placing a hand against her face.

Once the hot water had reached its limits, the two of them got out to get dressed.

Already knowing the answer, Arnold turned to ask "Would you like to go with me to drop off Arnie at the bus station?"

Helga cocked her brow at his dense question. "Would you like me to ask Mark to be our divorce lawyer?"

"It was worth a shot." Arnold shrugged his shoulders, heading into the kitchen.

While Helga followed him in there, she listened to him say "Speaking of Mark, maybe instead of asking Phoebe and Gerald to hang out, we should take Mark and Jason out to eat. Once again to thank them for helping us."

"Crimity! Do you work for Hallmark or something? You and I both said it like ten times last night. Not to mention we've been thanking them all summer for their help. Sheesh!" Helga exclaimed, as she sat down with her cereal.

"I just think it would be a nice thing to do. I could see how close Jason was with Matt when they did their handshake." Arnold began before being interrupted.

"Uh huh. That I suppose brought tears to your heart's eyes when comparing it to yours and Geraldo's wimpy preschool thumbs up?" she scoffed.

"The point is, that was a really nice thing Jason did. Matt could have stopped speaking to him because of it." Arnold pointed out.

"And that would have been worse than me going to jail?" Helga scoffed.

Rolling his eyes, Arnold sighed "Helga, let's just invite them out to eat. They're our friends now anyway aren't they?"

"Alright fine Mr. Do Gooder. Sheesh!" she scowled, taking her bowl to the sink.

Knowing she was not a morning person, Arnold got up to hug her. "I'll call them while I'm with Arnie. Then we can decide where to eat tonight."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure that creep gets on the bus this time!" she scowled, feeling him remove his arms from her.

"Whatever you say Helga."

About an hour later, Arnold was sitting at the homeless shelter talking to Arnie. Watching him clean out the lint traps in the laundry room, he thought to himself how does he live like this?

"So Arnie, you must be excited about your new job, huh?" Arnold asked, trying to make conversation.

Arnie took his head out of the dryer to face his cousin. "Snort. I'm supposed to start my training Monday. Snort. It's called accounting for dummies. Snort. I hope there's gum."

Arnold rolled his eyes at the thought of this. He knew Arnie was smarter than people gave him credit for. He just wasn't a people person. Hopefully that bad quality of his wouldn't mess things up for him this time.

"I see. I'll be right back. I have to make a few phone calls." Arnold said, careful not to go too far from his cousin.

"Snort. Okay."

Ring...Ring...Ring…

"Hello?"

"Hey Jason."

"Hey Arnold! How are you?"

"Great. Helga and I wanted to know if you and Mark would like to go out for dinner tonight? As a way to thank you again for all your help this summer."

"Sure. Where would you like to eat?"

"Uhh we hadn't discussed that yet. If you and Mark want to pick a place, you can call me back and we'll meet there tonight."

"Sounds good."

"See you tonight."

"Bye."

Arnold then returned to the laundry room to see Arnie still cleaning the lint traps. "Hey Arnie. We better get going so you don't miss your bus."

"Snort. Okay. Just let me bring my lint." Arnie insisted, not caring about the irritation in his cousin's eyes.

Once Arnie had all of his 'necessities' gathered, Arnold raced him to the bus station. Standing beside him at the front of the bus, Arnold said "Well, it was nice seeing you Arnie. Congratulations on your new job. I know it's something you'll enjoy."

At first Arnold was just trying to rush him along. Then he realized how happy he really was for his cousin.

"Snort. Thanks. Snort. Say hi to Helga for me." Arnie replied, while stepping onto the bus.

"Uhh right. Anyway, take care." Arnold said, waving goodbye to his cousin.

Once Arnie was on and the bus drove away, Arnold let out a deep sigh of relief. There really was nothing left to worry about. Now he could go home and start planning dinner with his wife and their two new friends who had been so helpful to them that summer.

When Arnold was turning the corner of the street to the apartment, he bumped heads with somebody "Ouch! Sheesh Arnoldo! Watch it!" his wife scowled.

Helping her off the ground, he replied "Sorry Helga. Where were you heading?"

"Uhhh...uhhh…" Helga stood there frozen a moment, until her old habits once again got the best of her "None of your beezewax Arnolodo!"

Arnold raised a curious eyebrow at her, with nothing better to do than reply "Well okay then. Just make sure to be back in time for dinner."

"Yeah, yeah! Sheesh, you act like a seven year old who's getting pizza for his birthday." Helga scoffed, walking in the opposite direction.

"Whatever you say Helga."

About two hours later, Helga returned to find Arnold sitting in the living room watching tv. After setting her things down, she went to take a seat beside him on the couch. Arnold jump, startled by her appearance. "You're home!"

"Who can't hear now?" she smirked.

"So, where did you go?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her.

Helga couldn't help but blush. She didn't want to ruin her surprise for him, but didn't want him to think she was still having a problem being less secretive.

"It's a surprise." she smiled, while rubbing her neck.

While giving her his half lidded gaze with dreamy emerald eyes she could never resist, he held a hand to her face and said softly "I'm sure I'll love it."

The two of them then began to share what started as a soft and sweet kiss. When Arnold pulled her head in to put more pressure into it, he heard her gasp. "Ow! Crimity!"

"Are you Okay?" he wondered, feeling guilty about what had happened on the street.

Helga held a hand up to her head, as she replied "I'm fine. My head just hurts."

Arnold then walked her to the bedroom. "Let's lay down for a little while before dinner. It won't hurt to relax."

The happy couple fell asleep together with smiles on their faces. Awhile later, Arnold awoke to the sound of his phone ringing.

Ring...Ring...Ring

"Hello?"

"Hey Arnold, it's Jason."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Mark and I were wondering what time you wanted to go out? It's about 6."

"Uhh I guess we could meet there now if you guys are ready. Did you guys pick a piace?"

"We were thinking Antonio's Pizza."

"Sounds great!"

"Okay. We'll be right there."

After hanging up the phone, Arnold rubbed his eyes and glanced over at Helga. Maybe I should have given her another hour to sleep.

It was too late to change things however, so he began his usual shaking routine with her. Once she finally opened her eyes, he wasted no time in saying "We have to meet Jason and Mark for dinner."

"Hello to you too football head." she sighed wittingly.

Reaching out his hand for her, he watched her sigh and stretch before getting off the bed.

"Well, tonight's there big thank you dinner. Do we need to get them some fancy Hallmark card to go along with it?" Helga smirked, as she reached for her shoes.

Rolling his eyes at her, he replied "No, but we could at least pay for everything. They did a lot for us this summer." Arnold insisted.

"Fine Mr. Goody Two Shoes. Ya ready?" Helga scoffed.

Arnold walked over to her smiling, wrapping his arms around her. Pulling her in for a kiss, placing his hand lightly behind her head. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so excited about dinner. Well, perhaps their wedding reception dinner.

"More than ready." he said, softly pulling away from her.

The two of them then exited the apartment, and walked over to Antonio's pizza.

There they saw Mark and Jason waiting, having already pulled up in the car.

"I'm sorry guys. We should have offered to give you a ride. We weren't even thinking." Mark said, holding the keys in his hand.

Arnold smiled as he looked over at Helga. "That's okay. Helga and I walk everywhere together. It's just more time we get to spend with each other."

Hearing these word made her heart flutter, even if she could feel her cheeks turning red.

"Well, are you guys ready to eat? This was a great idea!" Jason said excitedly.

The four of them then walked inside to see it wasn't as crowded as Arnold and Helga had expected it to be on a weekend night.

"Where do you think everyone is?" Arnold asked.

"Probably getting lame video game lessons from Geraldo at the arcade." Helga scoffed.

"Whatever you say Helga" Arnold said, as he walked over to the hostess.

"Hi, we have four."

"Right this way!" she said, while grabbing them four menus.

The group then sat down at a booth after listening to her say "Your waitress will be right with you!"

Arnold wasn't quite sure where to start with the conversation. The only reason they were there was to thank them for the summer. He knew Helga wasn't going to say it no matter how grateful she was.

"So, I'm sorry the party didn't go so smoothly last night." Arnold said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ya really think so, Arnoldo?" Helgo scoffed, pushing her menu aside.

Suddenly the waitress walked up. "Hi, what can I get you all to drink?"

"We'll just have four yahoo sodas." Arnold said, seeing her write down the order. "Be right back!"

Mark began to smile as he replied "Don't worry about it. It's not like we didn't all plan on Matt being there."

"Well, at least not THAT Matt." Helga scoffed, looking in Jason's direction.

A moment of silence took over until he said sadly "I'm sure it was just an empty threat he made against the two of you. At least, that's what I thought until I saw him about to kiss you Helga."

Helga began to blush as she listened to him continue "I never expected him to be that type of person. Time has a way of changing people I suppose. I've learned from psychology how secretive people can be, and things aren't always as they seem."

Helga lowered her head as she took in this information; making the comparison between Matt and herself. Arnold looked over, knowing what she must be thinking. He wrapped his arm around her and added "Like you said, people can change...and it can be for the best."

While Helga looked up to smile at him, the waitress came over. "Do you all know what you want to eat?"

"It's too bad Geraldo isn't here for another contest." Helga smirked.

"Not now Helga. We'll just get one of your supreme pizzas for the table." Arnold suggested.

After the waitress walked away, Jason had to ask "Contest? What was that about?"

"Helga thought it would be funny to take advantage of Gerald's nervousness when he was running for class president. He was eating more than he should have been, so she challenged him to eat an entire pizza. Whoever finished their's first had to buy lunch for our friends at school for a week." Arnold explained.

Mark couldn't help but laugh at this as he replied "I don't see you having any problems running things in the office."

"Ya got that right!" Helga scoffed.

"So who won?" Jason asked, not caring about Mark's comment.

"Who do you think?" Helga smirked.

Arnold couldn't help but roll his eyes as he replied "You never would have won if I hadn't help you."

"Hey! Geraldo had a fifteen minute head start! That was more than fair!" she scowled.

Jason looked over at Mark to ask "What do you think? Is that legitimate?"

Rather than choosing a side, Mark asked "Why did you let him get such a huge start?"

Helga began to blush as Arnold scratched his head. The two of them wondered if it had been such a good idea to bring up the topic.

"We kind of ran into Matt here that night. He asked Helga out when he saw us here. Then she left the table for a while to get away from him." Arnold explained, leaving out the drama that took place between him and Helga that night.

"I see. Then yes, I suppose that's fair. Did Gerald follow through on buying you lunch?" Mark asked.

"Pttss...of course not." Helga scoffed.

Rolling his eyes once again, Arnold replied "I wasn't going to make him buy lunch for everybody, so I bought it for Helga and I."

"That was sweet of you. I can see how much you two care about one another." Jason said, watching Arnold turn to face Helga.

"Yeah, whether or not we realized it when we were younger, we've been doing stuff to help each other out our entire lives." Arnold said, rubbing her hand.

Helga didn't want to ruin the moment, so she kept these next words to herself. You mean, whether or not YOU realized it! Knowing she had loved him from the moment she had first laid eyes on him.

Once their pizza arrived, the two of them wasted no time digging in...at least not Helga. "Careful. Don't give yourself another headache. Or another reason for me to wipe your face. Or another pizza contest story to talk about. Or…" Arnold said, until being interrupted "Oh zip it Arnoldo!"

"Did you have a headache earlier?" Jason asked.

Setting aside her pizza, Helga pointed in Arnold's direction. "Football head here was nice enough to slide into me when I was on my way out earlier today."

Hearing this made Mark ask "So, did Arnold ever tell you if he has a nickname for you Helga?"

The two of them began to blush. Helga just stared at Arnold, waiting for an answer. All he could do was rub the back of his neck and say to them "I'm uhh working on it."

"Pttss...oh that was convincing." Helga scoffed.

Once the group finished their food, the check came and Arnold quickly reached for it.

"You don't have to do that Arnold. Especially not after that nice party you through for everyone." Mark insisted.

Pttss...ya real nice! Helga thought to herself, leaning back with her arms crossed.

"This is our way of thanking you guys for everything you did for us this summer; helping with the case, teaching us to cook, teaching us about our new jobs. It meant a lot to us." Arnold insisted.

"We were happy to do it." Jason replied.

After they left the restaurant, Arnold and Helga said their goodbyes to Mark and Jason. "Are you sure you don't need a lift?" Mark asked.

Arnold looked over at Helga, waiting for a response. When he didn't get one, he said "That's okay. We're happy to walk together."

Helga smiled at him, knowing how sincere he was about it.

"Well okay, we'll see you Monday." Jason waved, as he and Mark drove off.

Arnold stood there with Helga a moment, squeezing her hand.

"You alright there football head?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just happy right now. Everything worked out so well." he said, as he turned around to give her a long lingering kiss. He began running his fingers through her hair, smacking their lips together softly until the two of them were interrupted by wheezing.

They simultaneously opened their eyes to turn around and see a familiar face walking up to them.

"Brainy?!" they called out together, wondering what he could be approaching them for.

Helga's eyes widened as he stepped closer, ready to pull out old betsy. Arnold's eyes widened even further as he saw that, thinking to himself NOT ANOTHER LAWSUIT!

Before she could raise her fist, Brainy opened his hands to make her eyes widen even further. There he stood with her old engagement ring in his hand. Helga's heart skipped a beat, as her knees began to weaken. She quickly snactched it from him, holding it close to her heart!

As she took the new one off to replace with the old one, she looked back over to see Brainy puckering his lips. Helga then cocked her brow, as she replied "Sorry Brainy. It was a one time thing."

"Wheeze. Wheeze. Bye Helga." he said, walking away.

Arnold lifted an eyebrow in confusion, while watching his wife's eyes glow at the sight of the ring.

"You kissed Brainy?"

"Yeah! You got a problem with that?!" she scoffed, with her hands on her hips.

Scratching his head in confusion, he replied "Uhh I guess not? Although I would think you would. When did that happen?"

Her cheeks began to turn red as she gulped "Uhh back in San Lorenzo."

"San Lorenzo? I don't remember that happening?" Arnold said, thinking back to the trip.

"Crimity! Must you butt into everyone's business!" she scowled.

"If it's yours, than yes." he smiled, picking up her hand.

"Fine! When that stupid La Sombra locked us up, I sat there on the other side of the cave listening to you mourn over your parents. After my passionate side got the best of me, I reached for my locket, I had thrown in the river after you so sweetly rejected my love…" she began, seeing him rub his neck.

"When I saw it was no longer in my shirt, Brainy came over holding it. He must have gone into the river to get it. How he caught up to us is beyond me! Pttss...how he follows me, always knowing where I am is beyond me!" she scoffed.

Arnold then wrapped his arms around her, finishing what Brainy had interrupted. Helga stood there thinking to herself I can't believe the chaos I caused over the ring. It's great to have it back, but it can't compare to the love I feel just by having Arnold, my beloved's arms wrapped around me!

"Are you ready to go home?" he asked, placing a hand on her face.

"Eh, why not?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders.

The two walked home hand in hand, while Arnold looked down at the ring. "A lot of guys went after you this summer. It makes me feel pretty special knowing none of them made you lose interest in me."

"Yeah, well. You're a pretty special person football head." Helga blushed.