Rick Sanchez stood hesitantly on the stairs of a suburban house. It was January 20th, and the house he stood upon belonged to none other than Rick's daughter, Beth Smith. And although the man seemingly never lacked confidence, he was feeling pretty unsure of his decision to reunite with his daughter.

Rick sighed, trying to find an ounce of motivation to raise his hand to ring the doorbell. It'd be a lot easier to just cut off all ties with his child. But Rick did urgently need a place to stay at the moment, especially to hide out from the intergalactic government...

Finally convincing himself to stop being a pussy , Rick boldly rang the doorbell. He could've easily been able to portal himself in there, but he figured his first impression in years on Beth ought not to be of him randomly entering the house through a portal, which might be against her wishes. (Another reason was so that Rick could possibly have time to talk himself out of his bullshit, but that wasn't important.)

Upon hearing the doorbell, a presumably teenage girl yelled throughout the house that she would answer the door.

That must be Summer , Rick thought to himself, whipping out his hip-flask to take a much-needed drink of alien liquor. He was fairly familiar with the Smith family, due to a few Ricks from other dimensions having already met their Beth's family.

There was the sound of a lock being undone and then Rick was looking at his granddaughter for the first time as she opened the door. Summer Smith wore her strawberry blonde hair in a high ponytail, the long hair flowing down onto her pink tank top. She had a look of apathy on her face as she stood back to observe Rick, holding her phone to her chest as she did so.

"Uhh, can I help you?" She asked with a judgmental tone.

Rick stifled a burp (to no avail) and Summer's look of apathy quickly morphed into one of disgust. Rick smirked. "Urgh—yeah, well, c-can you get your mother for me? It's imp—OURGH—important."

Summer rolled her eyes and backed away. She turned away and yelled, "Mom! There's someone at the door for you!" and turned on her phone, presumably to text her friends, or whatever teenagers did these days. As if realizing Rick was still there, she faced him again and said, "One second," and closed the door in Rick's face.

Rick scoffed and crossed his arms. He waited for a few minutes, already regretting not portaling into the home, when the sound of footsteps neared the door. Rick fixed his posture, stowing away his flask that he'd brought out during the wait. As much as he may have denied it, he was excited to see his daughter after nearly twenty years.

Just like before, Rick heard the telltale sounds of a lock being adjusted and the door swung open to reveal Beth Smith. Her hair looked eerily similar to her mother's, as did her features, and Rick couldn't help the small smile that danced onto his face as he observed his little girl. Rick wasn't a very sentimental guy, but he seemed to be more emotional than usual today.

"Can I help y—" Beth cut herself off with her realization at who was at the door. She froze and Rick did as well—he was anticipating a slap, a scream, a door slamming right in his face, nothing short of what he probably deserved—but Beth's only response was, "...Dad?"

Rick sighed and nodded. "That's right, Beth, it's me, y-your dad—" Beth cut him off with a hug that was more like a tackle, one arm slung around his neck—as if he were now in a headlock—and another gripping the back of his lab coat. Emotional whimpers were heard in Rick's ear as Beth sobbed into his shoulder. Rick tried to quell the urge to roll his eyes as he began to pat his distraught daughter on the back. Rick didn't fare too well with people who were driven by their emotions; in fact, he typically despised them. But this was his daughter and he would try his hardest to not be an ass right now.

Apparently confused as to why his wife was taking so long, Jerry Smith ( the bastard , Rick thought as he caught sight of him) walked through the front door to see what the commotion was. "Beth?" Jerry asked, his voice grabbing Beth's attention and causing her to turn away from Rick and face her husband. "Uh, who is this guy?"

Rick snarled. It was just typical for the man to have impregnated Rick's daughter to forget who his father-in-law was. Though, Rick remembered in amusement, the last interaction they'd had together was of Rick knocking Jerry unconscious after learning that he'd deflowered Beth and knocked her up while he was at it. So maybe Rick didn't 100% blame Jerry for not remembering who Rick was. But still, it was a dick move on Jerry's part to forget who Rick was.

"This," Beth gestured to Rick as she sniffed, still recovering from her crying, "is my father, Jerry."

Suddenly, a flash of recognition appeared in Jerry's eyes as he shoved past Beth and jabbed a finger at Rick's chest. "You!!" Jerry exclaimed, a vein suddenly popping up in his forehead.

"Me," Rick said in indifference. He pulled out his flask, drinking from it, and Jerry backed away to join Beth's side. He could hear the two bicker as Beth scolded Jerry for 'acting so rude to her father'. Rick grinned around the rim of his flask as he listened to Jerry splutter out an excuse. Same dynamic as always , Rick thought, stuffing his flask away.

With a loud belch, Rick caught the attention of his daughter and son-in-law. "So are we just going to st-stand here out in your lawn all day?"

Beth blinked, processing his words, and then smiled. She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, Dad. Why don't you come inside?"

Jerry began to protest but Rick walked right past him. "I'd love that, sweetie."

In his peripheral vision, he could see Beth practically melt at his use of the pet name. Jerry let out an exasperated groan that caused Beth to turn towards him.

"Jerry, if you don't want to get locked outside of your own house, you better get your act together—"

Rick shook his head and entered the house. As fun as it was listening to Beth threaten the man she married, it would get old fast, so he tuned the conversation out and observed the entryway. Rick had to give it to his daughter, she and Jerry had picked out a nice home.

Rick was observing a painting of a horse fondly (horses must still be Beth's favorite animal, Rick thought) when the front door closed. Rick looked over to see his daughter and an aggravated Jerry at her side.

Jerry marched off to do who-knows-what while Beth walked forward, holding her arms open for another hug. Rick enveloped Beth in his arms, reciprocating the hug.

They held it for a few seconds before Rick moved away. A look of hurt flashed across Beth's face before it was quickly concealed. "It's good to see you again, Dad," Beth said sappily.

Rick cleared his throat. "Uh, y-yeah, it's uh, good to see you again too, Beth."

Beth smiled until a look of curiosity settled on her face. Rick, already knowing what her question was going to be, barely suppressed another roll of his eyes. "But Dad—why did you come back? You've been gone for almost eighteen years."

"Well uh—I wanted to come and see y-you, of course," Rick said carefully, "but I'm—URPP—kind o-of wanted by the-the intergalactic government."

Beth's eyebrows shot up in alarm and she opened her mouth to no doubt interrogate him, but Rick held out his hand and silenced her. "N-n-n-no, Beth, be-before you ask, you won't be endangered by me staying here. E-earth is off their grid, I d-don't think they're even aware of human e-existence. O-or at least, they don't consider our existence a threat." Rick said.

Beth's expression was calmed to one of dismay, but her fears appeared to be extinguished. At least, Rick thought they were until Beth spoke up again.

"Well...alright, I guess," Beth said. "But did you really want to see me again? I-I mean, you kind of seem to have other motives—"

"No, B-Beth, if I had just wanted a place t-t-to stay I could've just crashed in a—EUGH—an apartment somewhere. But I wanted to see you," Rick said, trying to come off as earnest as possible. It was somewhat true, but there was an additional bonus for him staying at the Smith house. A bonus that included a particular grandchild being able to mask his brain waves.

Beth smiled and gave her father a brief hug. "Thanks, Dad."

Rick patted her back and stepped away, picking up a nearby framed picture of the entire Smith family from off a table. It included a younger yet more tired-looking Beth, a smiling Jerry, Summer, who looked to be a toddler, and a baby bundled in a yellow blanket, who Rick guessed was his grandson, Morty Smith.

Rick startled as Beth looked over his shoulder to see what he was holding. Now knowing what it was that Rick was inspecting, Beth smiled.

She pointed at the younger version of Summer. "Dad, that's your granddaughter, Summer. She was the one who answered the door for you." Beth then pointed at the baby swaddled up in a blanket. "And this little one here is Morty, your grandson." Beth's smile grew wistful as she recounted Morty, and Rick ever so slightly narrowed his eyes. Deciding it was nothing, Rick gave a small shake of his head. Of course, he already knew about the Smith family, especially of Morty, but Beth didn't know that, so he sat through her descriptions of her children.

When Beth was done with informing Rick of his grandkids, her eyes widened as Rick's stomach gave a growl. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Dad, I was so caught up in seeing you again. Would you like something to eat, drink?"

Rick shrugged. "H-hey, Beth, I don't m-mind. But something to eat would be great."

Beth smiled and began to lead him through a dining room and into a kitchen. Beth had Rick sit down at a counter as she scurried around the kitchen, pulling a plate out of a cabinet. "Now, is there anything in particular you'd want, Dad? We have some macaroni and cheese leftover from last night, some tuna salad from the night before—"

"Anything would be fine, Beth," Rick reassured her. Beth smiled over her shoulder and took a Tupperware of macaroni and cheese out from the refrigerator.

As Rick watched from his spot at the counter, Summer walked in, halting as she saw Rick.

"You actually let him in here?" Summer asked quizzically, looking at her mother.

Beth paused to look at her daughter. "Summer!" She exclaimed. "Don't be rude!"

"Why can't I be? I don't even know who this guy is!"

Rick snorted as Beth sighed and pinched her temples. "Summer, this is your grandpa."

Summer's eyes widened. "Wait—" Summer quickly regarded Rick. "You're grandpa Rick?"

"The one and only—i-in this dimension right now, a-at least." Rick clarified.

Summer appeared to be shocked but then said, "Whatever," and sat down next to Rick at the counter. She began to text on her phone and Beth rolled her eyes as she served the plate of macaroni and cheese to her father.

Rick took a bite right as Jerry walked into the kitchen. His expression fell as he saw Rick sitting down at the counter. "What's he still doing here?"

Beth groaned and turned towards her husband. "Jerry, I swear to god, stop acting like my father is unwanted!"

Rick abruptly stood up and carried his plate. "A-and that's my cue to leave," Rick said, walking towards an archway leading out into a living room.

Summer looked up from her phone and stood up as well. "Yeah, same."

Rick and Summer left the arguing couple to fight in the kitchen as they both moved to sit on the couch.

Summer turned on the Tv to some trashy soap opera. Rick was ready to jeer at her choice of Tv show, but as he watched it, he was surprised to find that it was decent. But it still had nothing on interdimensional cable.

The two watched Tv in silence, Rick still eating his pasta, when after a moment, Summer spoke up. "So you're really grandpa Rick?"

Rick rolled his eyes. "We've already—OUGH—established this, Summer. Yes, I'm y-your 'grandpa Rick'."

Summer sighed. "Sorry, you just didn't look the way I pictured you."

"What, did you not think I'd be an alcoholic? Sheesh, you're r-real quick to judge."

"No, it's not that!" Summer rushed to defend herself. "It's just...I guess I don't really know how I pictured you?"

Rick shrugged. "Well, here I am, in the-in the flesh."

Summer crossed her arms and turned her attention back to the Tv, something Rick was perfectly content with.

After Rick had finished eating, Summer looked over at him. Rick groaned loudly. "W—URP—hat now?"

Summer narrowed her eyes. "It's just...did you actually go on all of those adventures?" Summer asked. She twirled a bit of her hair with her finger as she waited for a response.

Rick took out his flask, taking a long sip before he answered. "J-Jesus, why are you s-still fixated o-on my a-appearance? L—URGH—ook, I'm sorry that I d-don't fit your image of me—"

"No, stop it, I'm over all that," Summer scoffed. "I was just trying to say, is it true that you went on all those adventures? Mom used to tell Morty and me stories about your experiences. All I'm trying to ask is if they were some bullshit stories that Mom made up."

Rick raised his unibrow. "Oh. Sh-she told you stories about m-me?"

Summer furrowed her brows. "Uhh, yeah? She would tell them to Morty and me before we went to sleep some nights. I think there were a few about you in space or something?"

Rick's chest swelled up in what one would describe as pride. "W-well, ye—AUGH—I guess those are real s-stories."

Summer hummed. "So what are you, like, an astronaut?"

Rick barked a laugh. "You-you think I'm a fucking astronaut ? Astronauts a-are pretentious cocksuckers that l-like to c-call themselves special. T-They're like the jocks of science," Rick said. "N-no, Summer, I'm a scientist. No, not e-even that, I'm a fucking genius , a pr-practical God if they were to exist, which they don't ."

Summer held up her arms in surrender. "God, okay, cocky much? I can see where Mom gets her unyielding Atheism."

Rick nodded. "Da-damn right."

The two resumed watching Tv, which, during their discussion, had shifted to commercial.

Rick grimaced at how boring they were. He hadn't watched regular Tv in years and he'd forgotten how dull everything was.

As another draining commercial was shown, Rick turned to face Summer, engaging in a new conversation. "S-s-so, you mentioned your brother earlier, where is he? 'S he like, I dunno, h-hanging out with friends or s-something? I kind of w-want to meet him."

Summer's expression turned into one of confusion. "What do you mean?"

Rick regarded her confusion with a look of apathy. "What do you mean? Where is h-he?"

Suddenly, understanding dawned on Summer's face. "Wait, did they not tell you ?"

Rick growled. "T-tell me what, goddammit!? You—y'know—you're being very difficult right now, v-very discreet, just spit it out!"

Summer looked away, a sigh escaping the teen. "He... Morty's sick, grandpa Rick. Like, really sick. I-it'd probably be best to just ask Mom about it but... Morty can't even get out of bed most days."