"Dinner is served!" Darwin called out as the three of them came in.
"Spaghetti Bolognese? Really?" Nicole asked.
"Hey, it may be cliche but it's a great meal!" Darwin smiled.
"Oh, you bet it is!" Richard grinned.
"Dad, you'd like it regardless of what it is. We could have served you hotdog ice cream and you would have eaten it!" Anais giggled.
"Touché...touché" He chuckled.
Gumball and Anais sat down on the sofa with their and Darwin's plates of spaghetti bolognese as Darwin placed down one big plate for Nicole and Richard to share onto the table.
"Bon appétit!" He smiled before sitting down with the other two and beginning to eat his own.
They dug in and Nicole smiled. "Mmm, wow, this is amazing! Did you make this Darwin!?"
He nodded. "Yup! I'm glad you like it because I put a lot of time and love into it!"
Richard paused and hesitated, recognising the taste of it. Was this...?
"Hang on...this tastes a lot like the spaghetti my mother used to make when I was a kid..."
Darwin smiled. "That's because we may or may not have secretly gone over to her house after school last week and gotten the recipe from her..."
Richard gasped, a smile forming on his face. "Really?!"
Anais nodded. "We had to do quite a few chores for her to convince her to finally give it up but she gave it to us eventually."
Richard teared up in disbelief. "The last time I tasted her spaghetti was before I got kicked out..."
Darwin smiled and came over, letting his father hug him. "Thank you, this really means a lot..."
He chuckled. " I thought you'd like it..."
"Oh, and you can thank your parents for the wine!" Gumball nodded towards Nicole.
She gasped. "What?! They gave it to you?!"
"Well, duh! I mean, how else could we have gotten it? We certainly didn't go out and buy it!"
"I know, I just...I'm surprised they'd do something like that..."
"Well, it did take a bit of convincing, partially because it seemed wrong to just give three kids a bottle of wine, but mainly as they were reluctant to give away such a good bottle of wine..."
"Yeah, that sounds more like them..." She chuckled.
Anais smiled and let out a chuckle too. "Okay, enough lovely-dovey stuff, let's just enjoy our meals already!"
Richard laughed. "Oh, with pleasure!"
They tucked in again, enjoying their meal as Nicole and Richard reminisced to the kids about stories from their youth.
At one point Nicole and Richard ended up doing a lady and the tramp and eating the same piece of spaghetti. Richard however sucked up the other half, much to Nicole's surprise.
She sat there shocked for a moment before all five of them burst out laughing. After regaining their composure she leaned in and kissed him anyway.
They finished their meal and Gumball and Darwin took all of their plates to go and wash them up and start on dessert.
Nicole smiled at Anais, who had come and sat on her lap for a little while. "So, did you kids really spend two whole weeks on this for us? Seems like a long time for a dinner like this."
"We did. It was actually surprisingly good fun putting the whole thing together and I really enjoyed working with Gumball and Darwin on it."
"Well, I'm glad you had so much fun with them." She rubbed the top of her head affectionately, making her giggle happily.
Gumball came back into the room and clapped his hands together. "Right, time for some entertainment whilst Darwin finishes getting dessert ready."
"Ooh, what are we gonna do?" Richard asked excitedly.
Gumball smiled knowingly. "You aren't gonna do anything."
Anais hopped off Nicole's lap and paused the song on the music player then went down into the basement, much to Nicole and Richard's confusion.
Thirty seconds later she walked back up next to Gumball with a ukelele, starting to play it as Gumball began to sing.
(If you can play 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train, please do so now.)
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Your lipstick stains
On the front lobe of my left side brains
I knew I wouldn't forget you
And so I went and let you blow my mind"
They gasped, Nicole, putting her paws over her mouth and tearing up as Richard grinned.
"Your sweet moonbeam
The smell of you in every single dream I dream!
I knew when we collided
You're the one I had decided, who's one of my kind!
Hey, soul sister
Ain't that Mr Mister on the radio, stereo
The way you move ain't fair you know!
Hey, soul sister
I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight!"
Hey, hey, hey!"
Anais tapped her foot to the beat, her and Gumball grinning at each other as he continued to sing.
"Just in time
I'm so glad you have a one-track mind like me!
You gave my life direction
A game show love connection we can't deny-y-y
I'm so obsessed
My heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest
I believe in you, like a virgin you're madonna
And I'm always gonna wanna blow your mind"
Richard smiled and wrapped his arm around Nicole as she rested her head on his shoulder smiling as they watched the performance.
"Hey, soul sister
Ain't that Mr Mister on the radio, stereo
The way you move ain't fair you know
Hey, soul sister
I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight"
The way you can cut a rug
Watching you is the only drug I need
So gangsta, I'm so thug
You're the only one I'm dreaming of
You see, I can be myself now finally
In fact, there's nothing I can't be
I want the world to see
You'll be with me"
Anais joined in and sang with Gumball during the final verse, the two of them smiling and moving their heads from side to side, thoroughly enjoying their performance.
"Hey, soul sister
Ain't that Mr Mister on the radio, stereo
The way you move ain't fair you know
Hey, soul sister
I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight
Hey, soul sister
I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight"
Nicole looked up at Richard smiling and the two kissed each other as she wrapped her arms around his neck, Gumball and Anais watching happily.
Hey, hey, hey
Tonight
Hey, hey, hey
Tonight!"
They finished the song and Nicole and Richard applauded.
"Wow, that was...that was beautiful!"
They bowed. "Thank you, thank you."
Nicole smiled at Anais. "I didn't know you could play the ukulele!"
She smiled. "Darwin has been giving me lessons for a while now."
Richard chuckled. "I never thought I'd see the day when Darwin taught you something!"
She shrugged with a grin. "I suppose he isn't totally useless!" She joked, which received a muffled shout of "I heard that!" from the kitchen in response, much to everyone's amusement as they all burst out laughing.
