Bob Parr looked into his bathroom mirror, a frown on his face and a cyan terry cloth bathrobe around his body. Known to a select few as the famous (and recently out of retirement) hero Mr. Incredible, the middle-aged father of three wasn't feeling so super at the moment.
Leaning in closer to the mirror, Bob examined his face more closely. The first thing he wasn't satisfied with was his eyes; his deep blue eyes were a bit bloodshot around the whites. A sign of not getting enough sleep, something he felt he could take care of easily. He studied the lines and creases etched across his forehead and under his eyes. Time was taking its toll on the man and there wasn't much he could do about the natural effects of aging, unfortunately.
He gave his hairline a quick look over and ran his fingers through his hair. It was thinning, no doubt about that, but compared other men his age, not all hope was lost. With a comb and liberal use of hair products, Mr. Incredible could still do some decent hair styling. Even better, only a couple of grey hairs in a sea of golden locks! If things got desperate, he could simply invest in some nice-looking hats like trilbies or flat caps…Bob was praying it wouldn't have to come down to that.
Bob ran a hand over his chin and felt the stubble brush harshly against his palm. His excuse was that things had gotten too busy to fit a proper shaving into his schedule. It wasn't a particularly good excuse, but it made him feel justified, nevertheless. He thought of leaving the five o'clock shadow, even try growing out a beard, before deciding against it. Clean cut was the safest bet and his best look regardless.
His face thoroughly assessed, Bob took a step back from the mirror and started unfastening the robe's belt. With a heavy sigh, the superhero lightly tugged at the bathrobe and let it fall to the floor, revealing his nude body. Right off the bat, he was able to commend himself for keeping his body hair in check. He read somewhere that women liked a little fur on their men but personally, he'd look more like a caveman given his physique. Helen certainly didn't mind his smoothness, at least vocally.
Speaking of his physique, Bob flexed his biceps and pectorals, checking his musculature. A combination of his natural born super strength and an equally super training regimen kept his muscles in top shape. He bet he was more ripped than guys half his age, even some of the supers; he couldn't help but shoot a cocky grin at that thought.
His smile faded as soon as his eyes wandered down to his abdomen. On one hand, he wasn't as bad as he was before; due years of inactivity in fighting crime and taking a series of desk jobs to support his family, he developed a severe pot belly. Even after the Nomanisan Island incident prompted him to shed off several pounds, there was still a good bit of flab covering the muscle underneath. 'This must be the "dad bod" people are talking about nowadays,' Bob thought to himself dejectedly.
Yet another sign that for all his monstrous strength and near indestructibility, he was still man entering his forties, just like anyone else. The best he could do was amp up the exercise and watch what he ate more carefully.
He turned around and started looking over his backside. His deltoids and trapezius muscles were sharp as ever, but his disappointment returned when he looked at his gluteus maximus. While not as soft as his belly, his seat had lost a lot of firmness and was a bit too jiggly for his tastes. 'That tears it; I need to lay off the potatoes for good,' Bob thought in light despair, 'I should also start working on my lower half soon. The cushion's not looking good…and have my legs always been this twiggy?'
Just as he was wrapped up in his mental reflections, the bathroom door opened up and Helen Parr, also known as Elastigirl, was now in view. Clad in a crimson bathrobe, Helen looked at her husband with a befuddled look on her face.
Bob noticed her and was a deer caught in a pair of headlights. He slowly tried covering himself with his two hands, too embarrassed to say anything.
Helen tried breaking the silence with some good-natured laughter, genuinely curious on what her husband was up to. "I was wondering what you were doing so long in here. Have you been checking yourself out in the mirror all this time?"
Bob stood silent, still unable to find his voice, his cheeks now flushed with embarrassment. It would be hard to explain; compared to him, Helen managed to keep her good looks even after all these years. She managed to look as radiant as the day she married him all those years ago.
The redhead continued joking a bit, hoping to get Bob to ease up a bit, "I always thought women took up all the time in the bathroom. Getting ready for swim suits for the summer?"
"It's nothing…" Bob struggled to mumble out, his teeth gritted and his cheeks bright scarlet.
Noticing her husband's awkward behavior Helen frowned, worry replacing her lighthearted demeanor. "Bob…is there something wrong? What's bothering you?"
The hero known as Mr. Incredible was dead silent, his mouth clamped shut and his eyes looking down at the floor tiles.
"Bob, honey, please," Elastigirl softly said to her husband, "Whatever problem you have, it's not going to go away from bottling it up. Talk to me."
The blond man tried staying silent for a bit, avoiding eye contact with his wife, then groaned, as he know he couldn't avoid Helen forever. "I'm getting old, that's the problem!" Bob uttered, more brusquely.
"Old?" Helen pondered, carefully navigating the conversation.
Bob sighed, "I am literally at the halfway point; in a couple of days I'll be turning 41. I'm going grey, my face is getting craggy, and what's worse is I've got a gut and ass with the consistency of Jell-O."
He rubbed his face with both hands as he continued talking, "That's a bad enough look for any superhero-any man really- but then you've got these new supers running around. Young, hip, strong guys, still in the prime of their lives…compared to them, what am I besides some old relic from the old days?"
Mr. Incredible frowned as he crossed his arms, troubled. "This new era of supers was supposed to be an exciting new chapter but now…now I'm wondering if I even have a place in it. I know shouldn't be thinking that way…but it's really been eating at me. We're only getting older and older…"
"Bob…" Helen murmured. It pained her to see her loved one in such a funk and she tried searching for the right words to help him out. After some thinking, she had an idea.
"Honey, I need to tell me how I look. Give me your honest opinion," the redhead spoke and with a sleight of hand, quickly dropped her robe, exposing her bare body to her husband.
It was now Bob's turn to be perplexed, wondering where his wife was going with this. He looked her up and down, taking in her form. "Helen, you look fine," was Bob's genuine response."
"Come on Bob, I'm looking for your honest opinion," Helen shot back, "Look at me; I'm sagging in places I really don't want to sag, I've got cellulite building up, and you can bet that having three kids leaves stretch marks. Elasticity doesn't even help, it's like my body is a rubber band that gets old and worn out."
"Helen you look fine," Bob reiterated, "You're just fixating on the little things that don't matter."
"So…just like what you're doing?" Helen smirked.
Bob was about to respond before realizing what he walked into, turning red in embarrassment once more. Either she was good at reverse psychology or he was a big dope: probably a mix of both, with emphasis on the latter.
Helen walked up to her husband and put a hand on his shoulder. "Bob, I can't tell you how many times I've found something to hate about my looks. I can't even begin describe how many times I've compared myself to other women and hated how I stacked up. And I can sure as hell tell you that some of the young, hip crowd probably feel the same way," Helen smiled.
"But there's always been one thing that stopped me from constantly beating on myself," the redhead gently said, putting another hand on his other should. "You and your constant compliments, always telling me how good I look and keeping me pumped up. Not just with my looks either; you've constantly been motivating me out on and off the field, always showing your support. Even the littlest things you do mean the world to me."
She then turned Bob around, having him face the bathroom mirror once again. "Now Bob, I want you to know you are a loving husband, a great father, and you're strong where it really counts. You have absolutely nothing to worry about," Helen spoke to Bob, "I've taken your words to heart, so can you do the same for me?"
Bob looked into the mirror, a bit hesitatingly, keeping Helen's words in mind. He kept replaying what she said, letting the words really sink in. The man in the mirror looking back at Bob seemed to slowly transform…well, maybe that wasn't the right word to use. The wrinkles, grey hairs, and the flab were still there. Yet they seemed to stick out less, becoming less noticeable before his eyes. Eventually, he was able to see the better parts of himself that Helen saw; he was filled with a sense of joy tinged with relief. There was still something to this old superhero even after all these ups and downs.
The man wrapped an arm around his beloved and kissed her on the top of her head. "Thanks hon. I really needed that," Bob said to her, warmth in his voice.
"Oh Bob, that's why we have each other," Helen replied softly, "We bring each other up when we're down. We got to have each other's backs on and off the field."
She then giggled a bit, "And please talk to me first before you hog the bathroom."
Bob simply chuckled happily. He then contemplated their state of undress for a moment. "You know, there's a lot we can do while we're naked now that I think about it."
"Mr. Incredible, are you suggesting we do some heavy petting sessions?" Helen questioned, her voice getting a little husky and seductive.
Bob rubbed his chin, considering his wife's proposition. "Now I'm not one to turn down a night with a beautiful woman…but maybe we can save that for later? I kind of want to just hang like this, just the two of us."
Helen looked to her husband with a loving look in her eye, replying with, "I'd like that very much."
Without another word, the couple exited the bathroom, one arm wrapped around the other, happier than ever to have one another in their lives. Life couldn't get any sweeter in that very moment.
