Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.


A Trip to the Beach

Chapter 7: Vacation Part 4

Previously

"Let's just keep our distance for now, they're not worth it..."Arnold nodded.

"You got that right, Football Head..."Helga said in agreement.

The two parents took their parents back to their spot and Summer took her daughter back to her own spot, but the two toddlers had looked at each other, confused by everything.

"Why are mommy and daddy acting so weird?..."Henry thought as they carried him away.

"What is mama doing? We were having fun ..."Britney thought, not happy with this.

Unknown to the two toddlers and their parents, this would not be the last time that they would cross paths with each other.


Present Time

Andy Shortman and Kiara were building sandcastles together, something they always do whenever they go to the beach and...when they were little...play in the sandbox.

"It's looking great..."Andy said as he formed another tower.

"Almost...just need to add the moat and it will be..."Kiara said as they began to do just that.

A few minutes later, their sandcastle was done and it was looking pretty impressive.

"Nice, I'd say this is our best one yet..."Andy said, looking pleased.

Kiara nodded before feeling her stomach rumbling. Andy's did too and they both sent each other sheepish looks.

"I guess our stomachs want to have fun too..."Andy joked.

Kiara chuckled before standing up and putting a hand on her stomach.

"Come on, it's almost lunch time anyway. We can still get a little snack or something..."She said.

Andy nodded and they both went to their spot in order to grab a bite to eat and talk some more.

Unknown to them, the rest of Andy's family had some encounters during this time...not entirely pleasant ones either.


A Few Minutes Later

The two fourth graders soon arrived to their spot and saw that no one was there.

"Where's my folks?..."Andy asked out loud.

"Maybe they were back t the duplex..."Kiara suggested.

Before they could mull on it longer, Andy's parents came back, carrying Henry in their arms and they both looked ticked about something.

"Mom? Dad?..."Andy asked out loud.

"Oh, Hi Sweetie..."Helga said, adopting a calmer expression upon seeing her son and god-daughter.

"Finished pretty early..you two?..."Arnold asked.

"We...just got hungry..."Andy said, feeling a bit sheepish for some reason.

"Uh...Auntie Helga...Uncle Arnold...is everything alright?..."Kiara asked her god-parents.

"Everything is fine, Kiara, dear. Henry tried to sneak away again and we just...had to deal with a certain...lady..."Helga said, being careful with her language in front of the kids.

Her son and goddaughter sent her a strange look at that, wondering why she paused but they didn't get a chance to speak because Arnold spoke up.

"It's nothing to worry about..."Arnold said, not wanting the kids to know about their recent interactions with Summer. "Now, you both said you were hungry?..."Arnold asked.

The two kids nodded and their stomachs both growled in unison, much to the amusement of Arnold and Helga.

"Alright, we got some sandwiches in the cooler and we're having this and more for lunch in half an hour..."Helga said as she handed the children the food, figuring that it would tide them over until lunch was fully ready.

Her mood was calmer now that she was away from the unpleasant woman who also had to be at this beach during this vacation and seems determined to be as big as thorn to their side as ever.

"What I'd give to swear as soon as there are no kids around..."Helga thought as she tried to focus on her family and not her former rival.

Helga continued trying to put Summer (and, by extension, her family) out of her mind as she went to go prepare lunch for themselves.


Later

It was lunch time and the entire Shortman and Johanssen families were seated in their spot, enjoying a delicious lunch of sandwhiches,pasty and even onigiri which was made by both Helga and Phoebe.

"Here you go, guys. Bon apetit..."Helga said as she presented a plate of food.

"Awesome! Thanks, Mom..."Andy said as he began scarfing some down while Kiara ate at a more dignified manner.

Their little sisters, however, were less dignified and eating with much gusto (even more so than Andy).

"Can I have some more, Mommy?..."Megan asked, already eating her plate full, including her second sandwich.

"You sure have quite an appetite, Meggie-kins?..."Helga said with an amused look as she gave her another serving, seeing her take the plate fast.

"Yup..."Megan said before eating more.

"At least those pains didn't come near the kids..." Helga thought as the families began to chat.

"So, did you kids have fun on the beach? Anything interesting happen?..."Arnold asked.

Suddenly, both Andy and Megan were silent for a moment...before they explained their recent happenings at the beach.

"Nothing much, Kiara and I went swimming and then we made some sandcastles together..."Andy said, telling a half truth.

"Me and Kiki stayed in the shallow end and we tried flying a kite too..."Megan said, also using a half-truth.

"Yeah, we had some trouble getting it into the air but Sonny helped us out..."Kiki said, only to notice a glare her best friend sent her.

"Sonny? Who's Sonny?..."Helga asked.

Megan got a little nervous before she realized that she had to answer. So, she decided to stick as close to the truth as possible without revealing too much.

"Oh, just a boy we met. His family is on vacation here too...we accidentally bumped into each other but he wanted to play with us and we let him..."Megan said, being careful with her words.

It's not a lie...she used his name and what happened...and she also recalled that her parents clearly had some issues with Sonny's mom (and vice versa), so it was probably for the best not to bring up they were related.

Her parents, none the wiser, just smiled at their only daughter and seemed okay with her explanation.

"Well, that seems nice. I'm glad you two made a new friend..."Arnold said, smiling

Megan smiled innocently, happy to avoid awkward talk, which Andy noticed and raised a brow.

"What is she up to?..."He thought before his god mother passed out more pasta for everyone.

"Eat up, everyone. There's plenty more where this came from..."Phoebe encouraged and soon everyone began eating and making more plans for the rest of the afternoon.

All the while, they were unaware of what the other family was up to.


Meanwhile

With the Mitchells

Summer, Sky, June, Sonny and Britney were all having lunch at a nearby fish shack-style restaurant, mostly due to their mother having a couple of coupans on hand.

"Eat up, everybody. All on me..."Summer encouraged as they enjoyed their lunch which consisted of cod fish and fries, along with a couple of yahoo sodas.

The Mitchell siblings began to dig in, while they began to talk about their day...or rather, their mother asked about it.

"So, what did you kids do so far? Have any fun?..."Summer asked as she fed Britney some fries.

"I ran into some dumb kids who got on my nerves..." June said, recalling some annoying kids who tried hogging the beach earlier.

"Same..." Sonny said. "They kept hogging it for some volleyball game..."He muttered.

"I ran into this girl making a sand sculpture of a starfish. She told me that the scientific name for it was asterias rubens or something like that..." Sky said, trying his best to pronounce the term correctly.

"I didn't know that. That sounds nice..." Summer said before turning her attention to June and Sonny.

"What about you two? Anything interesting happen with you guys?..."She asked, curious.

June and Sonny briefly shared a look before answering their mom––June spoke up first, saying the following

"I ran into this cute boy who saved me from falling after I tripped..."June said dreamily, which her mother was quick to notice.

Summer heard this and smiled.

"That's really sweet, Honey..." Summer said with a smile, giggling at the thought of her daughter having a crush before turning to her younger son, who began to tell her about his own day at the beach.

"What about you, Sonny?..."She asked.

"I met these two girls who were flying a kite. I helped them get it into the air and they were nice enough to let me hang out with them..." Sonny said, technically not lying to his mom since it is what happened.

Summer hard this and was at least relieved that they enjoyed themselves and didn't get into any trouble.

"Well, at least you guys aren't getting unnecessary attention..."The mother said before she noticed a good looking waiter nearby and deciding to turn her attention to him.

She smiled in an intrigued way as she got up.

"I think I should speak up about our order...and ask about any more specials..."Summer said as she went to go flirt with him.

Her children sighed at this before they went back to eating, just happy that she doesn't know that they...sorta...kinda...didn't do what she said, they didn't tell her that the kids they were hanging out with were the ones staying in the other half of the duplex but they didn't seem so bad.

At least for now.

"That was close. I mean, Kiara seems nice and cool but I'm not sure if mom will want me hanging out with her...better not even bring it up..."Sky thought as he ate some more of his fish.

"I wonder if I will ever see that strong, handsome blonde boy again..."June thought, feeling lovesick.

"I wonder if Megan and Kiki wanna play with me again later..."Sonny thought.

"I want pizza..."Britney thought before she turned her attention back to her food, which Sky fed her.

The family of 5 continued their lunch, while also contemplating what they do for the remainder of their vacation and also unaware the kids they met were having a similar encounter with their own parents.

One thing was for sure: things were only just beginning for this vacation.

-To be continued-

Next time on A Trip to the Beach

Vacation Part 5


A/N(1): I would like to dedicate this chapter to my loved ones :)


A/N(2): Special thanks to NeoMark, RoseGirlXS and 61394 for assisting in this scene. You rock :)


REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:

The J.A.M. a.k.a. Numbuh i: Yeah.

RonaldM40196867:

1) Probably.

2) A lot of stuff, especially the unique characters and Arnold's genuine altruism.

Invader Johnny: We shall see.

RoseGirlXS: I guess we have to wait and see.

Ellande Campbell: Yeah.

Guest: Yeah.

Enrozx20:

Braygirl: How's this?


:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)