The two of them got out and locked the car before heading towards the front door.
"They better not have broken anything this time. It took a lot of trust for me to give them another chance to be home alone, and even then I was still very reluctant. I've no idea why they were so adamant about it, they were practically begging..." Nicole worried aloud.
"Maybe they just wanted to prove to you that they could be trusted again?" Richard suggested.
"I really hope they can..."
She placed her paw on the door knob nervously.
"Well, the moment of truth..."
She twisted the doorknob, bracing herself for whatever she may find on the other side.
"3...2...1..."
She quickly opened the door, flinching as she did and...
...Nothing. The house was completely fine.
They both let out sighs of relief.
"Oh thank God..." Nicole held her chest in relief.
"Huh, no flood this time, already a big improvement..." Richard joked.
She rolled her eyes and they went inside.
"Kids, we're home!" Nicole called as she closed the door behind her and hung up her bag.
She received no response. Huh, maybe they really have gone to bed...
"Kids!?" She called slightly louder as she turned the lights on.
Suddenly the three of them jumped out from behind the end of the sofa, all wearing their smart outfits (from The Egg).
They all shouted "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" as they grinned and pulled party poppers, releasing confetti, and blew on party horns.
Their parents gasped, Nicole putting her paws over her mouth, as they saw that the dining table was decorated with a red cloth, with the centrepiece being a leftover Halloween pumpkin with a heart carved into it, a candle and red lights placed inside to make the heart light up red. In front of it were 3 cards, one from each of the kids, with the colour of the envelopes coded to match who each was from. On one side of them was a vase of flowers and on the other a bottle of wine, with cutlery on both sides.
Strings of hearts hung from the top of the dining room and living room walls, and a mix of regular and heart balloons were tied to various pieces of furniture in the rooms. Finally, hanging across the door frame between the living room and dining room, was a banner the three had drawn together with Nicole's head on one side, Richard's on the other and "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" written in big colourful letters in the middle.
Richard gasped with delight, a wide smile spreading across his face as Nicole smiled and began to tear up seeing it all.
Gumball grinned excitedly. "Surprise! We knew how upset you were when you found out you couldn't go out on the romantic meal you had planned, so we wanted to do something to cheer you up and make it up to you, and Anais had the great idea to surprise you both with a romantic meal at home instead!"
Anais smiled and nodded. "We've spent the last two weeks since then planning and preparing this whole thing. It was a lot of work to get done in time but it was worth it because we wanted to make sure everything was perfect. It had to be, as wanted to make sure tonight was as special as possible for the both of you."
Richard finally spoke up. "Wow, kids...this is...this amazing...absolutely amazing!"
Darwin grinned and rubbed his fins together.
"Oh, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Just wait til you see what else we have prepared for you..." He gave a small wink.
"There's more?!" Richard asked in excitement.
"Well, duh! Just a meal alone would be pretty boring don't you think?" Anais responded.
"You really went to all of this effort, just for us? Just to make us happy!?" He asked in disbelief.
Darwin nodded. "Mhm. It was quite a challenge to put everything together in time but it was also great fun and it was absolutely worth it."
He teared up slightly. "You guys...you have no idea how much we appreciate this..." He smiled as he felt his heart being warmed by his kid's huge sign of affection.
Nicole, who had been quiet up until now, sniffed, her ears lowering as she looked down feeling really guilty, and finally spoke up quietly. "I...I thought you'd forgotten...that you didn't care..."
Gumball chuckled. "Of course we care! You're our parents and today is your special day! You deserve to relax, put your feet up and have a great time together. As for us forgetting, how could we ever possibly forget such an important and special day, especially when you made all that fuss the last time you thought we did?"
She blushed and rubbed her arm in embarrassment as she remembered that day. "I still can't believe I got the dates mixed up..."
"Aww, it was an easy mistake to make, any of us would have done the same had we seen the calendar." Richard assured her.
Anais cleared her throat and raised her eyebrow, jokingly crossing her arms and giving him an annoyed look.
He chuckled. "Okay, any of us except you. At least we know one of us is always sharp and on the ball, hey?"
She grinned and rolled her eyes. "Well, one of us has to be. Good thing I'm here to look after you all, right?"
"Yeah, you always were our little genius." He smiled and chuckled, affectionately rubbing the top of her head, her face beaming with pride and happiness as she let out a cute giggle. "What would we do without you, hey?
He turned back to Nicole, who had also begun to smile weakly. "Besides, it gives us a pretty funny story to tell in the future, hey?" He placed his paw on her shoulder.
Her smile grew. "Yeah, I suppose it does...even if it is at my expense..."
"That's exactly why I plan to tell it to as many people as possible!" He joked with a grin.
She grinned and let out a chuckle. "Don't you dare!"
"Why? Is my little Nikki embarrassed?"
She blushed and playfully punched him in the arm, making him laugh.
She grinned, letting out a chuckle too as she looked back to the kids. "I...I really don't know what to say...you know you really didn't have to go to all of this effort for us. Just a card or even a simple Happy Anniversary would have sufficed!"
Gumball smiled. "We know, but we wanted to do this because you deserve it. We really appreciate everything you do for us, and we wanted to show our gratitude, show how much we appreciate you."
She teared up as she began to get emotional.
Her voice began to break as she struggled to hold herself together. "Aww, you guys...I...I..."
Unable to stop herself, she began to cry, tears streaming down her face.
They all smiled. "Awww..."
They ran up and embraced her and Richard tightly and lovingly, Richard wrapping his arms around all four of them in a big family hug.
Nicole smiled at them with big teary eyes, as her tears continued to fall. "Thank you so much...I love you all so much. You have no idea how much we appreciate this, and I'm so, so sorry I ever doubted you."
"Aww, It's okay, we forgive you!" Darwin responded and the other two nodded in agreement.
"I'm just glad neither of us has to cook or spend any money on takeaway!" Richard chimed in.
Nicole began laughing. "Oh you can say that again! I get to put my feet up for once!"
Gumball smiled and cleared his throat, putting on a bad french accent. "Now, monsieur, madam, please be seated. Your meal shall arrive shortly..."
Nicole tried to keep her composure, beginning to shake with laughter at how poor his accent was as he and Anais lead them to the table, pulling out their chairs and sitting them down, Gumball pouring them both of them a glass of wine as Darwin headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
