V - The Scissors

It was a normal Saturday morning in the Watterson household. Everyone was sleeping in – everyone that is, except Richard, who liked to get up early sometimes to have the first pick of breakfast.

Upon getting out of bed and sluggishly moving over to the kitchen, he became aware of a dull ache throbbing throughout his head. It happened to him sometimes – waking up with a headache which would normally persist throughout the entire day if he didn't do anything about it.

Resigned, Richard climbed the stairs to the bathroom so he could get some paracetamol. Once there, he opened the medicine cabinet, only to find to his dismay that the only packet they had was new and unopened.

Now, this normally wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that Richard was infamously terrible at opening things fully wrapped in plastic. His fingers were much too large, sausage-like and fumbly to get a proper grip on the edge of the wrapping, and he always tried in vain for several minutes before conceding and getting his wife to do it.

However, anyone in their right mind knew that waking Nicole up prematurely on a weekend was as good as a death sentence, so a few minutes later, Richard was stumped.

There was always the kitchen – he could go down there and get a knife or some scissors to open it for him, but… he frowned when he remembered that Nicole had hidden all the sharp things away so he couldn't get to them a few days ago. She had said that she didn't want a repeat of him attempting to "cut open one of the kids' bean-bags to see if there were any real beans inside," or something. Well, why would they be called bean-bags if there were no beans?!

So, sharp instruments were not an option. Waking his wife was not an option – now… he might be terrified of waking Nicole, but he had no such qualms about his kids. Maybe one of them could… that was it!

Anais could help him! She was smart, she could just tell the packet to open and it would, right? Or if not, she would be able to find another way! Perfect!

Excited, Richard began scrambling to get to the children's room. However –

He stopped when his wife's voice filled his head in a memory. "Don't wake Anais up too early, Richard – she's four, she needs plenty of sleep, understand?"

Dismayed, Richard's ears drooped. If waking up Anais would make Nicole angry, he was once again out of options.

How about his sons? Darwin was a fish… maybe he could use his scales to get a good grip on the plastic and open it up! His ears stuck up again in excitement, and he began to run, before he recalled – Darwin had asked him for help opening something the other day. Oh, that's right – Darwin only had one finger, didn't he? Heh, fin-ger.

Richard stopped and his ears drooped again. If neither Darwin or Anais could help, then what was he supposed to do?! All who was left was –

Wait, Gumball! He wasn't Richard's first thought, but he would be able to open it, right? He could do the same thing that Nicole normally did –

Richard ran through his plan. Wake up Gumball and get him to open the paracetamol – that wouldn't make Nicole mad. As long as he was quiet and didn't wake Anais, that was.

Once again with renewed enthusiasm, Richard finally reached the kids' room. He creaked open the door quietly, peeking through the cracks and taking in his children.

Looking at them sleeping peacefully, he nearly felt bad about waking Gumball up. But then his head gave a throb, and he quietly slipped into the room and over to the head of the bottom bunk.

Making sure not to accidentally jolt Darwin on the dresser, and to keep his voice quiet, he placed a hand on Gumball's shoulder and gave it a shake.

"Gumball!" He whispered. "Gumball, Gumball!"

Gumball took in a deep breath and furrowed his brow, shuffling around.

"Gumball!" Richard tried again.

"Uuuuuuugggggghhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm, Dad…?" Moaned Gumball, blinking awake sluggishly.

"Yes, son!" Whisper-shouted Richard. "I need your help! Come, but don't wake your siblings!"

"Daaaad, it's Saturday!" Complained Gumball, also whispering. Despite his protests, he let his father gently grab his arm and drag him out of bed, then out of the room.

Richard led Gumball out into the hallway, where he was sure they would be able to talk normally without waking anyone up. "Okay, so," he said, as Gumball yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I normally ask your mother to do this, but we all know how much of a bad idea waking her up is – so I'm asking you, instead! Son, could you please open this packet of medicine for me?"

He held out the paracetamol. Gumball stared at it blankly for a second, before his face twisted and he looked back up at Richard in irritation.

"You woke me up early, on a Saturday… so I could open something for you?!" He said through grit teeth.

Richard nodded, still holding out the paracetamol expectantly.

Gumball pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath in, and let it out in a huff. "Fine," he grit, lowering his hand and snatching the medicine. "Why didn't you just use scissors?!" He demanded as he picked at the edge of the plastic.

"Your mother hid them…" Richard said, ashamed.

After that, the only noise was the occasional grunt from Gumball as he tried getting a good grip on the plastic to tear. Richard watched on eagerly, like a small child might watch something new and exciting.

"...ugh, Dad, this is impossible!" Gumball finally conceded, shaking the box angrily.

"Well, why don't you do what your mother normally does?" Asked Richard.

"What my… what's that?" Gumball asked, lowering the box.

"You know… she flexes her fingers, like this!" Richard held up his hand, making a claw-shape with it. Richard's own rabbit claws, too thick and blunt to open plastic wrapping with, protruded slightly at the action. Gumball raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, okay," He said. He lifted the hand that wasn't holding the box, and copied his father's action.

Needle-sharp, scythe shaped claws emerged from the end of Gumball's fingertips. Gumball stared at them for a beat –

"Of course," he sighed. "What else would she do? Why didn't I think of that?!"

Wanting nothing more than to go back to bed, Gumball quickly swiped the top of the box. The plastic tore open neatly, and Gumball handed it to his excited father with a grumble.

"Thanks, Gumball!" Richard called out in delight, already making his way back to the kitchen.

Gumball went back to bed, and slept until one in the afternoon.

Later that evening, the Wattersons were all sitting in the living room after dinner, relaxing and doing various things to occupy their evening. Anais was sewing a patch onto Daisy the Donkey at the dining table, Richard was watching TV, and Nicole was curled up next to her husband reading a book. Gumball and Darwin were on the floor to the left of the couch, in animated conversation while they snacked on a packet of skittles.

"...So he woke me up at like, five AM or something, just so I could open this packet of medicine!"

"No wonder you're so grumpy today then, dude," said Darwin in concern. "Why didn't he just use scissors?"

"That's what I said!" Exclaimed Gumball. "Apparently, Mum hid all the sharp things because of that thing that happened last week!"

"Ohh yeah, that makes sense," contemplated Darwin.

"Don't worry, boys," chimed in Nicole from the couch. "I'll put everything back soon, just as soon as I know your father understands why what he did was wrong."

Gumball rolled his eyes.

"So, what did you end up doing, dude? Those packets are really hard to open," asked Darwin. "I usually have to ask for help with mine…"

"I used these," Said Gumball, holding up his hand and pushing out his claws.

"Ohhh yeah, haha!" said Darwin, reaching up to get a closer look at Gumball's hand. "I always forget you have those – they must be really useful!"

"Yeah, I guess…" pondered Gumball. "But seriously, I didn't even think to use them – dad had to suggest it, ugh-!" he finished, dismayed.

"Don't worry, dude," said Darwin, placing a hand on Gumball's face in comfort. "I sometimes forget I can breathe underwater, too, so…"

"Haha, yeah, thinking's hard," said Gumball. He reached over for another handful of skittles, only to find the packet was empty. "Wh- dude, can you pass me that packet of chips?"

Darwin passed it over – honey soy chicken, the best flavour – and Gumball held it out.

"Here's how it's done," he said, grinning smugly. He once again withdrew his claws, and dragged them through the top of the packet, cutting a neat line.

"Coooool," said Darwin, his eyes sparkling. Once the chip packet was on the floor between them, Darwin took Gumball's hand in both of his. Confused, Gumball held it limp. Darwin pressed down on the top and bottom of Gumball's hand – paw – forcing the claws to extend out.

"Whoa, that feels weird," said Gumball, as Darwin kept pressing and letting go.

"It's fun, though!" Laughed Darwin. "You should totally use these more often, they're great!"

"Yeah, they are!" Came their father's voice from the couch. "Nicole's have helped me more times than I can count!

"Who knows how many times that was, then," said Anais, chiming in from the table.

"Pppft," laughed Gumball.

That night, Anais needed a new toothbrush head. Without being asked, Gumball took the packet, and opened it smoothly with his claws.