It was dinner time at the Watterson household. They were all sat around the dinner table and, unusually, Nicole had allowed Gumball to have his phone out as he was excitedly showing her and Darwin various images and videos he, or whoever happened to be holding his phone,had taken of himself, Darwin and all of their friends hanging out and having a great time together.

Nicole smiled as her heart grew larger seeing both her sons happiness.

She chuckled at the various images, Gumball, Darwin, Penny and Carrie taking a selfie with Gumball doing bunny ears behind Darwin, Penny kissing him on the cheek and Darwin holding a picture he'd drawn of Carrrie infront of him so she could be in the image, Gumball and Darwin reading a comic with Sarah that she had made, Idaho sitting on top of Gumball's head as he looked up cross-eyed, Darwin holding onto Alan's string as he pretended he was being pulled up, Carmen crossing her arms pretending to be annoyed as Gumball pretended to water her.

Hecontinued to scroll as they laughed and she saw more videos and images, Tobias attempting a stunt and failing epicly causing Gumball to hold back laughter, Molly telling them a story and the two of them struggling to stay awake, Bobert and Darwin playing chess both in intense thought,Gumball and Masami reading a girl's glamour magazine and being caught by Darwin who Gumball proceeded to chase down blushing as Darwin laughed, Gumball, Darwin and a bunch of their friends sitting on Tina as if they were riding her and many more.

She chuckled. "You two sure do have a lot of fun, don't you? You know, perhaps I could come along one day, spend some time with you and-"

Their eyes widened with horror. "Oh god, please no. I was already mortified enough the first time!"Gumball shuddered.

She laughed. "Alright, alright." He scrolled again and she saw an image of the whole class together outside of the arcade, Darwin again holding up the picture of Carrie."You all hung out together at the arcade? When was this?"

"A few days ago. We all decided to go there to celebrate the start of spring break. It was a blast!"

Darwin nodded."We had a great time! Bobert ended up falling in love with an arcade machine which was pretty adorable, Masami got annoyed when she couldn't win this stuffed toy she wanted."

"Stuffed toy? Was it a red dragon by any chance?"

"Yeah actually, it was. How'd you know?"

"I'm friends with her Mom remember. When we had lunch together she told me Masami was obsessed with getting that dragon toy when she was a kid."

"Really? Well, I guess we know what we're getting her for next birthday."Gumball replied.

"Ooh, tell her I said hi when you next see her!"

"Will do!"said Darwin happily.

"So, what else did you do there?"

"I won Penny a puppy toy which she loved and Carrie 'won' Darwin a turtle toy by just phasing into the machine and grabbing it. Apart from that we just had a great time hanging out with all our friends. I'm really happy we all went there, it was great to hang out with some of our friends that we don't usually spend much time with."

"Aww, I'm glad you had such a great time."

She turned to Anais, who was looking down at her food and playing with it.

"So, honey, what have you been up to?"

What have I been up to? She thought about all the fun stuff the others had been doing, Gumball and Darwin at the arcade, Richard hanging out with all his girl friends and Nicole having lunch with Yuki. Comparatively not much.

"Hmm? Oh, err, not much really. I mean, I got an A on an exam I guess."

"Oh, that's great sweetheart! Did you celebrate with any of your classmates?"

"Nah, I'm not really friends with any of them."

"What about Josh?"Darwin asked.

"Who?"

"The frog worshipper guy."

"Oh,him. I tried for a while but he was just too weird."

"Aww, that's a shame."He replied.

"It's okay honey, I'm sure you'll make a friend eventually."Richard assured her.

She smiled weakly. "Thanks."

She looked down.Well done, just go and completely ruin the mood why don't you? Now everyone's probably all depressed.

"Alright Gumball, put your phone away now, you can text your friends later." Nicole said.

He put it away and they finished their dinner.

As they began to clear up Nicole noticed Anais looking down as she came into the kitchen, something clearly bothering her.

She crouched down and placed her paw on her shoulder."Honey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a long day, that's all."

"You sure? You know you can tell me if something is wrong."

"Yeah, I know, thanks."

Nicole smiled. "Alright then." She rubbed her head.

Richard came in with some platesand saw them together."Feeling a little down huh? Hey, I know, why don't we all play a board game together? That'll cheer you up!"

Nicole would smile."That's a lovely idea Richard. I have just the game too."

"It's not Dodj or Daar is it? I donotwanna go through that again..."Anais replied.

"Oh don't worry I burned that game as soon as we were done with it, we definitely won't be playing it again. No, it's Mountains and Dragons, an old traditonal version of Snakes and Ladders. Yuki gave me it a while back and I've been meaning to try it out. What do you say?"

She thought."Yeah, alright then, why not." She smiled weakly.I suppose that could be fun.

"Alright then, I'll go set it up. You get get your brothers."

"Sure."

She left the kitchen and heard her brothers talking in the living room.

"So, you ready for this camping trip?"Darwin asked excitedly.

"Ready? I've been looking forward to it all month! I had to practically beg Mom to let us go on it."

"I noticed you haven't gotten a single detention the past two weeks. Not risking getting grounded and Mom changing her mind, huh?"

"Nope, I've been on my best behaviour. There was no way I was gonna get a detention and end up getting grounded and missing the trip."

"Well, you did a great job."

"Why thank you!"He did a mock bow making them both laugh.

Anais meanwhile listened, even more upset.

Camping trip? I completely forgot about that! They're gonna leave me alone for two whole weeks whilst they go and have a load of fun with their friends! How is that fair?!

"Sucks that we'll have a huge list of chores to do when we get back though."Gumball moaned

"It was worth the compromise to be able to go on the trip."Darwin reminded him.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't see why Anais couldn't have done some of them though. Not as if she'll be doing much else." He'd laugh.

Anais frowned hearing this remark.Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you jerk.

"Dude, that's pretty mean. She's gonna be by herself for two weeks, I doubt it'll be easy for her."

"I was only kidding! Besides, I'm sure she'll be fine! Just stick her in front of Daisy the Donkey or give her a book and that'll keep her entertained for two weeks, right?" He laughed again.

Anais glared at him.You think it's funny, teasing me, rubbing it my face that I don't have any friends?Well then, laugh it up cause you won't be laughing much longer! I'll wipe that smirk of your face, just you watch...