One Big Unicorn

The small chair was awkwardly uncomfortable, just as he remembered it. He really had no intention of being here ever again but after the phone call he had, it was imperative that he showed up. The lines of blank, unhappy photos were darker then he remembered; but the first time he had come to Miss Hattie's his intentions had been different. Now he sat, alone in her office with a haunting feeling over his heart.

"Mr. Gru." Her accent and tone made him cringe inwardly. The woman moved from the doorway to her desk, fingers folding under her rounded chin. "You came on time, so thank you for that."

"Yes vell… it sounded important." He twisted his hands together, watching the woman as she studied him back.

Taking a deep breath she removed a file from her drawer. "It is very important. It seems… the girl's birth parents want them back."

The man dropped a brow. "Which girl?"

"All of them." The file fell on her desk when she spoke. "So if you'll just sign these papers and we can-"

Anger caused him to stand, tossing the chair he had sat on back on its side. "Never. De gurls are mine, I am –"

"Their father?" She scoffed. "Mr. Gru, look at you. Do you honestly believe you're… father material?"

The slam of his fists on her desk surprised them both. None the less he spoke in a hiss, the anger growing to fury. "Yes, I do. Of all de mistakes I made de gurls are de best."

Her eyes were on his, but he didn't like how she waved her hands. "Hear that, girls? He thinks you're a mistake."

Confusion crossed his face while he turned his body- seeing his three girls standing just a few feet behind him. How they got there, why they were there… he had no idea. But how they looked at him, he felt his heart breaking in two.

"You think we were a mistake?" Margo was clutching Agnes' hand while Edith tugged her cap down further.

"No.. no keeten, I just meant.." He went to them, but not before they turned away. "I.. just meant, I didn't expect to.."

With their backs to him, all Gru could do was bite down on his lip. He made a mistake alright, a mistake to think he could be their dad. "Sign the papers, Mr. Gru. The girls deserve better." Off at the end of the room, he saw figures. For some reason, he couldn't focus on their faces. Just his three kittens walking towards them, towards their real family.

In his hand he grabbed a pen. While his fingers were numb, his heart was aching. With a scratching sound on paper he left the signature that would guarantee he'd never see his girls again.

"No!"

His breathing was shallow, trying to grasp for air as he sat up abruptly from his bed. The act of it caused his partner and fiancé next to him to wake; her emerald eyes blinking back the dizziness of sleep. "Gru?" She whispered, trying to see him in the dark.

He made no other sound, just pushed back the sheets and rushed to the door of the room. "Wait!" Lucy half whispered, trying not to make enough sound to wake any innocent girls down the hall. Yawning, the redhead pushed out and followed him, rubbing her eyes as she did.

Gru stopped at the girls' bedroom door, only then mustering up enough calmness to open the door. When he snuck inside, he found it easy enough to remain calm as he looked around the room. Inside with the glow of nightlights were his kittens, all three in a deep sleep.

The pain in his heart dulled and he swore his body was ready to collapse right there. Instead he just sat down right next to their beds, just listening to their soft breathing. Before he knew it, a pair of arms slipped around his neck, than a chin rested on his head. Lucy was behind him and bent down, hugging him closer without a word.

Gru wasn't sure how long he just sat there or if Lucy minded just staying where she was. He just had to try and stop that image in his head, the look on the girl's faces and the ache in his chest. When he felt able to leave the room he started to move and Lucy instantly moved with him. She waited with a smile as he went to each girl to give another goodnight kiss.

Hand in hand Lucy led him back to his room, yawning again. When they crawled back under his covers he expected her to ask him questions, it was obvious the dream he had wasn't pleasant for him. But Lucy was quiet, save for a few yawns between nuzzling her face against his cheek.

When Gru finally did speak; he was sure his soon to be wife was asleep. "I made a mistake."

"Yeah you did, you didn't give me a goodnight kiss yet."

Her words made him smile. Which he desperately needed. "De girls. I adopted them on selfish intentions."

Lucy lifted her head, so she could stare into his eyes. "Gru… you love them. They love you! That's what matters now."

He pushed his lips together, trying not to think of how sad Margo's voice was. "Vat if de keetens want… to meet deir real parents?"

When her head tilted to rest on his chest, all Gru could do was hold her close. "What do you mean? They have a real parent."

Lucy was smiling, which made him want to just pull her even closer. Turning on his side, he kept her close to him as he rested his lips on her hair. When he spoke it was softer, the weariness taking over from the emotional dream. "You're right."

"Of course I am." She wiggled against him, chin raised to catch his lips with her own. Legs and arms intertwined all they could do was give a few soft touches. The tender kisses lasted a few seconds before Lucy closed her eyes. "Yay, I got my kisses." Her voice dragged out, obviously on the verge of sleep.

After a soft laugh, Gru closed his own eyes- content with Lucy sleeping soundly in his arms and his girls down the hallway.