Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.
Henry's First Birthday
Chapter 3: The Guests Arrive Part 2
While the Shortman's were waiting for the puppet show to arrive, a certain family was in a taxi that was on it's way to Hillwood.
This family includes a tall, pale, blonde football headed man wearing overalls. had a grizzly beard and a farmer hat on his head, a very attractive red haired woman with green eyes and a perky smile on her face and a young boy that was around 9 years old who had an oblong head, green eyes, freckles and a large smile as well on his face too.
They are Arnie, Lila and their only son Arnie Jr, otherwise known as A.J.
The are currently on their way to see their favorite relatives and celebrate little Henry's first birthday. As they were in the taxi, they were passing the time in their own way.
"That makes five red cars we have seen so far..."Arnie counted as he looked out the window.
His wife just smiled while their son held Henry's birthday gift in his arms.
"Are you excited to see your cousins?..."Lila asked her son.
"As I'll ever be, Ma..."A.J said to his mother in a peppy kind of way. "When we get to the party, can I play with Andy?..."The young boy asked.
"Sure, A.J..."Lila said in a perky way to her son.
"Thanks, Ma..."A.J said as he still held the present in his arms.
Soon enough, the taxi pulled up to the driveway of the Shortman family home.
"Here we are, family..."Lila said happily.
As Arnie paid for the cab fare, Lila and A.J got out of the taxi.
"Oh, I am ever so excited to be here again. I hope they don't mind that we are a bit late..."Lila said.
"I hope so too. You think Uncle Arnold and Aunt Helga will like the present we got for Henry?..."A.J said as he gestured to the present.
"Oh, I am ever so certain they will, Sweetie..."Lila said as her husband went to them.
"I see that they got a new light-bulb for the porch..."The monotone voice of Arnie said, while his family continued to smile.
"Come on..."Lila said as she lead her husband and son and they made it to the door.
Once their, Lila gingerly pressed the doorbell, which let out a "Ding-Dong" to let their relatives know that they have arrived.
The door quickly opened to reveal Helga, who saw Arnie and his family and put a "smile" on her face.
"Oh...Hi Arnie...Lila...A.J..."Helga said with a forced smile to her least favorite relatives.
"Oh Helga, it's ever so wonderful to see you again..."Lila said as she pulled the other woman into one of her hugs, much to her irritation.
"Criminy, I have to deal with this now?!..."Helga thought before she smiled forcefully. "And still no darn puppet show!..."Helga mused as she managed to free herself from the woman's grip.
"Hey Helga...Nice to see you again..."Arnie said as he did his usual phelgmy snort, much to Helga's disgust.
"Hello, Aunt Helga..."A.J said in a peppy way.
"Hello A.J...how are you?..."Helga said to the young boy before he gave her a hug.
Helga returned it since he is still family and he is at least less irritating that his mother and no where near as creepy as his father.
"Come on in, everyone's inside..."She said as she allowed her least favorite relatives into her home.
Well, second least favorite, and that was by a long mile. The couple may have been boring, but the woman could stand them more than other people in her family.
Inside
Helga lead Arnie and his family inside the house. Arnold saw them and waved at them.
"Hi Arnie...Hi Lila..."Arnold greeted.
"Hey..."Arnie said in a flat voice while his wife just smiled.
"It's ever so wonderful to see you again, Arnold. Now, where are the children?..."Lila asked.
"Oh, the kids are out back playing..."Arnold said as he lead A.J and his parents to them.
During this time, Baby Henry watched from his crib, seeing his big brother and sister looking upset as they had to talk to their weird cousin and his parents.
"Why do Andy and Megan have funny looks on their faces?..."Baby Henry thought as his mother picked him up and to his confusion, took him to smiling, red haired lady.
"Oh, Henry looks oh so adorable! Can I hold him?..."Lila said in a gushy kind of way.
"Remember Lila...Henry...is still pretty shy..."Helga said, since the last time Lila held Henry, he screamed his head off.
"Oh, I'll be ever so gentle..."Lila said as she held her arms out.
"What's Mommy doing?..."Henry thought as his mother placed him in Lila's arms and he didn't like it.
"WAH!..."Henry began crying and screaming as he tried to reach to his mother, much to Lila's shock by his loudness.
Helga quickly took her son back and tried to calm him down.
"It's okay, baby. Mommy's here..."Helga said to her baby boy.
Once he was calmed down, she she placed her son in a nearby baby chair on the floor. She then noticed Lila looked confused and maybe a little upset. Helga knew that she didn't mean to make Henry cry and while she still found her annoying, Helga didn't want her to feel miserable.
She stopped wanting that ever since she and Arnold got together, anyway.
"Well...um...I told you that he's shy..."Helga said in an awkward tone to Lila.
"Oh, I understand. Babies are ever so sensitive..."Lila said as she smiled again, bouncing back from Henry's outburst.
"So, where can I leave Henry's present?..."A.J asked as he gestured to the present in his arms.
"Oh, over there..."Helga said as she pointed to a table.
The peppy boy did some and once that was done, he went to where Andy and his friends are, so happy to see their weird cousin.
Baby Henry, however, still had his eyes on the shiny thing, that was still in the kitchen, just waiting to be played with.
"How am I going to get to my shiny thing?..."Henry thought as he stared at the shiny thing.
He looked around and saw his mother talking to his Auntie Phoebe. That weird Lila lady was currently talking to his Daddy and that weird Arnie guy was just standing there and saying nothing as she did so.
"Mommy looks grumpy..."Henry thought as his mother looked upset about something.
"Puppets, puppets, puppets! Where are those lousy puppets?!..."Helga said in an impatient tone.
"I'm sure it'll be all right, Helga..."Phoebe said as she tried to calm her friend down.
"Phoebe, the kids depends on this party to be fun and the party depends on the puppet show and those deadbeat puppeteers suppose to be here 13...NO! 14 minutes ago!..."Helga said in anger. "On top of all that, Arnie and Lila are here..."Helga said in a low whisper to her friend, as she looked at Lila and Arnie, who were talking to Arnold and her children were clearly keeping their distance from Arnie.
"If you don't care for them, then why did you invite them?..."Phoebe asked and Helga groaned.
"I didn't but they somehow found out about the party and called this morning at the crack of dawn to ask when it was. Me and Arnold just couldn't say they couldn't come..."Helga muttered in irritation as she looked to her friend. "Look, Phoebe can we talk about anything other then Arnie and his family?..."Helga said.
"Of course, Helga..."Phoebe said in her usual way as the two mothers continued to talk, unaware of what the birthday boy was up to.
With Henry
With Baby Henry now out of the playpen and all of the grown ups busy talking or taking pictures, the little baby didn't like this.
"I wanna play with my shiny thing..."Henry thought as he stood up.
He wobbled a bit as he only started walking a little while ago and he was still uneasy on his feet.
The little baby began to waddle as he walked around. He's happy that he could walk on his own and that he didn't need help to get the shiny thing.
He then noticed the shiny thingy, which his Daddy had moved to the kitchen when more guests came and fussed over him.
"I gotta get the shiny thing..."Henry thought as he saw the new, amazing thingy that was shining all the way over there.
The baby's eyes locked on to the shiny thing as he toddled closer and closer.
With Mommy and Daddy
While the guests mingled and the older kids went outside to play and reluctantly brought along A.J, Arnold was now with his wife, who is still sour and annoyed as the puppeteers are still late.
"Criminy! Where are those guys?! We paid good money for this and they have the nerve to show up late!..."Helga said as she grumbled angrily.
"Calm down Helga, they'll be here..."Arnold said, trying to be optimistic.
Suddenly, the door bell rang and that got their attention.
"Maybe that's them right now..."Arnold said as he went to answer the door.
However, he saw that it was just his parents and grandparents.
"Hey there, short-man..."Phil said as Gertie kissed him on the cheek.
"How are ya, son?..."Miles said and Stella greeted her son with a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Hi mom...dad...grandma...grandpa..."Arnold said as his parents and grandparents came inside.
"It's good to see you, Arnold..."Stella said in a motherly tone. "Now where are Henry and the others?..."She asked, eager to see her grandchildren.
"Andy and Megan are outside playing with the kids and Henry-..."Arnold paused when he noticed that Henry was no longer in his baby chair.
The father panicked.
"Where's the baby?!..."Arnold said, almost hysterical.
"I see him..."Miles said as he pointed to the kitchen, seeing his youngest grandson toddling inside.
Arnold sighed in relief at that and before he could go to his youngest son, his parents and grandparents rushed passed him and went to the toddler.
"What is he doing in there?..."Arnold asked out loud.
In The Kitchen
Henry had just managed to make his way into the kitchen, he was about five feet away from the shiny drone, eager to have his tiny little hands on it.. However, Stella suddenly picked him up and hoisted him in the air and away from the "toy".
"There he is..."Stella cooed as she now nuzzled the baby boy.
Miles, Phil and Gertie soon caught up and began fawning over the infant.
"Happy Birthday, Henry!..."Stella said as she began kissing his cheeks.
"Happy birthday, little buddy..."Miles cooed as he kissed his forehead. "You're already one year old. Isn't it exciting?..."He added.
"Feeling old yet, short-man?..."..."Phil joked as he patted his great grandson's head.
"He's still got my third eye..."Gertie said as she pinched his cheek.
"Pookie! Henry has two eyes, you crazy old bird!..."Phil said in annoyance while Miles and Stella chuckled before turning their attention back to Henry.
"We're going to have fun today, Henry. Yes, we are!..."Stella said in baby talk to the infant, who wanted to play with the shiny thing.
Just then, Andy and Megan had come to the kitchen to get something to drink and saw that their paternal grandparents and great-grandparents were here.
"Grandpa, grandma! G! G.G.!..."Andy said happily as he went to hug his elders.
"You're here!..."Megan said excitedly as she ran up to them.
The two elder Shortman couples were ecstatic to see their grand/great-grandchildren and happily hugged them. Stella was hugging Andy with one arm , so she didn't drop Henry. Miles gave Megan a hug while Phil and Gertie doted on them too.
Soon, the elder Shortmans, Andy and Megan brought Henry back inside, where his parents were.
"Henry...come here, buddy..."Arnold said as he took his son from his mother.
"This is the last time I listen to party suggestions from Eugene..."Helga said since he had been over a few weeks ago while borrowing something and had talked about the puppet show he got for his son's birthday last year and had a blast, as he put it.
Anyway, Helga checked the time again and got even more impatient.
"If those puppet people don't show up soon I'm going to explode..."She whispered to her husband, who sighed.
Suddenly the door bell rang and the blonde woman sighed.
"It's about time!..."She thought impatiently as she went to answer the door, hoping those lousy puppeteers finally showed up.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the puppeteers. It was her parents, Bob and Miriam Pataki. Next to them is her older sister Olga and her family.
"Hi, Baby sister..."Olga said perkily.
"Hello, Helga..."Miriam greeted.
"Hey Helga..."Bob said.
"Sup..."Patrick, Olga's husband, said, much to Bob's irritation.
"Hi, Auntie Helga..."Lila and Logan, Olga's twins, said, happy to see her.
"Hi everyone, come on in..."Helga said as she reluctantly stepped aside...reluctant for everyone who wasn't Lisa and Logan, that is.
Once the Pataki-Sherman clan was inside, Olga immediately went to Henry.
"Oh, there's my precious baby nephew..."Olga said and Arnold was nervous about giving Henry to Olga.
Henry did not seem to like Olga too much and every time she tried holding him, he'd scream his little lungs off.
"I don't know how...but I have the feeling that it somehow came from Helga..."Arnold thought as his sister-in-law smiled at his infant son.
"Olga...I'm not sure Henry wants to be held..."Arnold tried but the older woman waved it off.
"Oh, it will be fine Arnold..." Olga insisted before taking her nephew in her arms.
It was not fine because the moment Henry saw who was holding him, he started wailing.
"WAH! WAH!..." Henry cried at the top of his tiny lungs, even louder then when he was being held by Lila.
Olga, oblivious and thinking that her nephew was just fussy, believed she could calm Henry herself.
"Oh...it's okay, baby. Auntie Olga is here..."Olga said as she tried to soothe him in a cutesy, baby voice but that just made Henry wail louder.
"WAH!..."Henry cried again.
His mother saw this and frowned upon seeing her son crying before marching over to her sister with a stern face.
"Oh, for the love of Pete! Olga, give me my kid!..." Helga said, snatching Henry away from here sister before turning her attention to her baby.
"There, there. It's okay, Mommy's here..."Helga said soothingly as she began gently rocking him in her arms.
Henry opened his eyes and saw that it was his Mommy and not Olga. He calmed down instantly and Helga smiled before kissing him on the forehead.
"There we go..."She said out loud.
With Henry now calm, Bob and Miriam walked over .
"Hi Henry, happy birthday..."Miriam said in fondness to her youngest grandson.
"Hey there, tyke..."Bob said in a surprisingly soft tone.
"Now that everyone's here, why don't we open the presents?..."Arnold suggested.
The others nodded and headed towards the present table.. Baby Henry, as he was being carried away by his grandmother, just looked back to the shiny thing in the kitchen, just standing there with no one to play with it.
"I got to have the shiny thing!..."Henry thought as didn't take his eyes off it.
-To be continued-
Next time on Henry's First Birthday
The Presents
A/N(1): Special thanks to BeConfuzzled Writer and 61394 for their assistance. You guys rock :)
A/N(2):This is dedicated to my family, my friends and my love for God! Enjoy :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Boris Yeltsin and The J.A.M. a.k.a. Numbuh i: Thank you :)
Invader Johnny: You got that right.
RonaldM40196867: Grown up or not, Helga is still Helga and that means that sometimes she can be a little dramatic.
Enrozx20: Gracias :)
:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)