Where We're From

By Arnoldnhelga4eva

Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold

Okay, here's chapter five. Something exciting and unexpected happens in this chapter, which leads to some chaos nine months later.

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Chapter 5: The Joy Life Brings

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The door slammed shut and Arnold got his bags from the back. He was home from practice, with a huge surprise in store for him.

'Arnold!' Helga came running from inside their home. They had just recently moved from Duluth to a smaller suburb close to the Vikings training center. It was their dream home. It was white, with black shutters, and had a stone pathway to the front door. Trees adorned the lawn, and shrubbery fenced their land in. she ran to him, into his arms. She had a letter in her hand.

'They love it! They're going to publish it! Unrequited Love, it's going to be in stores by January!' Arnold's face brightened up once he realized what she was saying, and he hugged her close to him.

'Helga, that's wonderful!' he planted a kiss in her hair, then picked her up and walked toward the door, 'I think we should celebrate,' he said seductively. She smiled, and blushed, but her face turned green as she jumped out of his arms and darted for the bathroom. He followed her; a little confused and worried. When he reached the bathroom, her body was hunched over the toilet; her entire breakfast and lunch showed grotesquely colorful in it. Just perfect. She had the flu on one of the best days of her life. When she was done throwing up, she knew she couldn't be sick. She didn't feel sick.

Then an idea came to her. She counted how many days it had been in her head. A month, that was about right. She grinned inwardly, hoping she was right.

'I'll be back honey,' she grabbed the keys off the hook, her cell phone off the little table and headed for the garage where her own car was. He followed her worriedly, wondering why she was all of a sudden better. She was sick; she had just thrown up. He never realized how dense he was.

'Helga, no you need to rest.' He yelled after her. She jumped in her car and yelled back before she left.

'It won't take long honey. I'll be right back. Don't worry.' How could he not worry as he watched her dial a few numbers on her cell phone, then pull out of the driveway and speed down the street? What the hell was she doing?

Well, since she was obviously feeling better so suddenly, he decided that he might as well set things up so they could celebrate when she got back. He ran to the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator to prepare for dinner tonight. Now he just needed to find those satin sheets and candles they got for wedding presents.

~*~

The doctor returned into the room where Helga waited anxiously. Helga looked up, more nervous than ever. The doctor smiled and nodded. Helga's face lit up. Now, she just had to find the perfect way to tell Arnold.

~*~

Arnold had everything set up. It was perfect. He made a dinner, something light so it wouldn't upset her stomach again. After Olga tried to teach him how to cook at Thanksgiving, he could make a few things. He set the candles that had been given to them two years ago at their wedding, on the table. She had been gone for about three hours, and he had everything set up. It was strange though, one minute she was throwing up, the next she was fine. Something must have just upset her stomach. Arnold still didn't get it.

He looked at the plates that held the spaghetti. It was a more romantic meal, but wasn't too hard on the stomach. He couldn't wait until she got home. He put some light jazz music in the CD player and lit the candles. He didn't have enough time to run out and get flowers, but otherwise the setting was perfect.

Helga drove into the garage with a gigantic smile on her face. On the way home, she stopped at Phoebe's house to tell her the wonderful news. Coincidentally, Gerald was there too and he was thrilled as much as Phoebe was. She still couldn't find the right way to tell Arnold though. Maybe tonight.or maybe she should tease him.

She walked through the door and into the hall. Her eyes scanned the dining room. Oh, how the candles cast an iridescent glow over the table. It was perfect, but there was something missing.

Just then, a pair of hands covered her eyes and someone whispered in her ear, 'Guess who?' said the sultry voice. She giggled and took Arnold's hands off her eyes.

'You dork,' she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his around her waist and she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He pulled back after the kiss, suddenly remembering what happened earlier.

'Helga, are you okay? Why did you run out so quickly?' she rolled her eyes. He'd always been so dense. She was glad that she didn't take him with. She wanted to tell him at just the right time. That the fun women get when they find out they're pregnant, to tease their husbands until they figure it out or in Helga's case, until she tells him.

'I'm fine, lets just eat. I'm starving.' He took her hand and led her to a chair, pulling it out for her, then sitting in his own. They began to eat as the music filled the air. He'd always liked jazz music, and it was so soothing; romantic. She loved his romantic side. He was so sweet, a genuine romantic.

Once they finished eating, they ventured upstairs. When they were finally ready for bed, lying in each other's arms, it was time. Time for Helga to tell Arnold, since he hadn't figured it out on his own.

'Arnold,' she rolled on top of him. He looked up at her and smiled.

'Yes?' his eyes, the ones that she always drowned in looked at her so lovingly and she remembered why she fell in love with him. She smiled and took his hand in her own, studying his fingers meticulously, then looked back up at him. It was time.

'A-Arnold, I-I'm pregnant.' His face turned shocked, and then it broke slowly into a smile.

'Y-you're-- and I'm? I'm going to be a father?' Helga smiled and nodded. He put his hands behind her head and brought their lips together. She pulled back. He continued talking.

'Y-you mean you're having our baby?' she rolled her eyes, but returned to a smile. How could she resist his denseness? That's what made him so innocent, so naïve. It was adorable.

'Typical football head. Yes, I'd hope I'm having our baby, since you are the father, and my husband,' she said sarcastically. He loved her sarcasm, even at a time like this. She stared into his eyes lovingly and he remembered why he fell in love with her,' Who else could I possibly want to be the father of my child?' she asked him. He smiled. He loved her so much, and now they would have someone they could call their own. He looked up at her again and smiled.

'I love you Helga,' she smiled in return.

'I love you too, football head,' they both laughed at that and fell asleep. They dreamt of what their child would look like. Would it be a boy, or a girl? Would the baby have a football shaped head, or a unibrow? A baby-- someone all their own. Why did it have to take nine months?

~*~

'Phoebe, just let me help. Helga said struggling to get off the chair. It was a few weeks to the due date, but she was bigger than any normal pregnant woman. She was carrying twins! Phoebe motioned for Helga to sit back down.

'No Helga. You can't lift anything. Besides, if you were to go into labor now, I don't know what we would do. I'm sure we could come up with a plan, but Arnold is at the game. From what Gerald has been shouting, it sounds like his team is winning.' Helga nodded, and sat back down. Sure, they had hired a kid to monitor Arnold's cell phone just in case, but Helga didn't want Arnold to leave the game unless he had to.

A few weeks earlier Phoebe and Gerald bought a home together. They had been living in a smaller home after they got married, but after Phoebe's income was raised, they moved on to building a bigger house. They had been married two years earlier, and their wedding was the sweetest thing Helga had ever seen. She couldn't be happier for Phoebe.

Her pregnancy though, Helga was doing pretty well. It was strange that she hadn't had the babies yet, considering twins usually come a month before a normal due date. Helga was happy though, she loved being pregnant. Just the joy of knowing someone is growing inside of you, two people you made with the one person you love, and that loves you. The happiness she had was so great she couldn't help but smile almost all the time.

'Hey!' Gerald called from the living room where he was watching Arnold's game, 'Arnold just made another touchdown! Only five minutes to half time and they 're winning by twenty points!' Helga and Phoebe looked at each other and laughed. Helga turned toward where Gerald was.

'Thanks Geraldo! You say that every game he plays!' Gerald didn't hear though because he was too engrossed in the game. Helga and Phoebe just laughed. Arnold made a deal that he would only play home games since Helga was pregnant. They were surprised that he was able to convince the coaches to letting him do that, but it was so close to Helga's due date. Arnold wanted to be there when his children were born.

Helga was growing impatient. All Phoebe was doing was putting up pictures in the dining room, and she was struggling to get the big one up. Helga got up, once again struggling.

'Come on Phoebe. It wouldn't really be lifting anything big. You're having trouble,' Helga walked over to Phoebe, 'I'll hold it, you hammer,' Just as Helga reached up to hold the painting, a trickle of water ran down her leg, then the rest came spurting. Helga looked down at her feet. The carpet was soaked, but that could be fixed later. Phoebe looked at Helga incredulously as Helga stared back, 'Uhhh, Gerald Call Arnold,' Helga yelled, 'My water just broke!'

~*~

'Okay men, its half time,' the coach yelled, 'we're creaming them out there, but we've got to come up with a clever play, something that will really throw them off. Arnold you got one? Arnold!?' Arnold was staring off, dreaming of Helga and his children, what they would look like when he was brought harshly back into reality by the barking of his coach, 'C'mon boy, get your head back into the game!' a few of Arnold's team mates snickered at that comment.

'S-sorry coach. What did you say?' the coach rolled his eyes and repeated what he said. Before Arnold could answer, someone came bursting through the locker room door. Arnold was paying the boy to answer his cell phone, just in case it was Helga.

'Arnold! Arnold!' the boy yelled. Arnold's teammates turned and stared at the boy. He continued, 'Your wife, her water just broke. She's going into labor!' Arnold's eyes lit up when he heard it. His teammates cheered and clapped for him. The coach came up to Arnold.

'You go to your wife. You've already got us ahead, just tell me what play to use. You've got a few tricky ones up your sleeve.' Arnold smiled.

'Just do the over under, triple reverse, corkscrew, Hail Mary, terminator. They'll never see it coming.' The coach smiled and gave Arnold a slap on the back. Arnold started to run for his car, but not before he told his team one more thing,

'The next time you see me, I'm gonna be a dad!' The team cheered for him, then went back to the plan. Somehow, the news of Arnold's leaving got up to the stadium, and the announcer decided to tell the fans why their favorite player was gone.

'Well folks, it looks like number 42, Arnold Finnigan won't be playing the rest of the game, because he's on his way to become a father! That's right folks! His wife, author Helga Pataki Finnigan just went into labor! Best of luck to them!' The crowd cheered as the news stations were contacted, and nosy reporters started making their way over to the hospital.

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Arnold ran through the hospital doors, and up to the fifth level, the maternity section. It was kind of funny watching a man, still in his football uniform running through the waiting room until he found Gerald sitting on one of the chairs, waiting for Arnold. When Arnold came into sight, Gerald got up, beaming.

'Come on man! She's in room 528,' he said while leading Arnold to Helga's room, 'Oh, by the way, nice suit,' Gerald snickered.

'Very funny Gerald,' Arnold said dryly before he entered the room. There in a bed was Helga, with Phoebe sitting on a chair next to her. Helga looked up when she heard the door shut. Her eyes sparkled and a smile grew on her face a mile wide.

'Arnold!' she said excitedly. Arnold, still in his uniform walked over to her bedside and hugged her, and planted a kiss in her hair. They moved so they could stare in each other's eyes. Then they kissed. Phoebe and Gerald left the room to give them some privacy. They continued to kiss until Helga broke away, clutching her stomach and moaning in pain.

'Owww! You don't know how much this hurts!' He put a hand on her stomach and held her and with the other. He was feeling quite a bit of pain too from her squeezing the life out of his hand.

'Just breathe,' he instructed, brushing some stray hairs out of her face, 'just do what we learned in la maz class,' she looked up at him with a scowl on her face.

'Shut up! You don't even have a clue of--owwww!' she was cut off by another sharp twang of pain hitting her stomach. When would it stop? She hated contractions.

'Its okay Helga, just breathe,' she was breathing hard, still squeezing his hand when the doctor came in, while putting on some fresh gloves.

'I see the father is here. Hello Arnold.' Arnold smiled at the doctor. She was an exceptionally good doctor. She was actually a friend of Phoebe's in college, at Harvard. Dr. Cameron, class Valedictorian. She was three years older than they were, and extremely smart, 'It was pretty hard getting into the room with all the press outside.' Arnold and Helga looked at each other shocked, when a reporter popped his head in the door.

'Arnold, can you give channel 5 a statement on the game?' The camera started coming in behind the reporter, and behind the cameraman were even more reporters. Helga, not having any contractions at the moment, sat up and waved her fist toward the door.

'Just because I'm in labor doesn't mean I can't come over there and kick your ass all the way to china if you don't get out right now!' Arnold walked toward the cameras and reporters and pushed them out of the room as Phoebe and Gerald struggled to come in.

'Man! What's happening!?' We went down to the vending machines for one minute and this happens!?' Gerald yelled over all the noise.

'I'll be right back,' Arnold said as he disappeared outside the room. Helga turned to Phoebe.

'Turn it to channel 5!' Phoebe obeyed, and Arnold came on the screen.

'I know you all want to know about what happened, but my wife just went into labor, and she needs me there,' Arnold said on TV. Hegla's eyes started to tear up. 'Right now in my life, I love two things more than anything, football and my family, but my family is a higher priority. They're more important to me and if the press would hold all questions till after our twins are born, then we might have a small press conference. It depends on how Helga's feeling though, otherwise I have no more comments.' Arnold walked back in the room, and Helga looked over from the TV with tears in her eyes. Arnold looked up at the TV, to see the nosy reporter talking. He smiled, and went to sit over by Helga and hugged her. Dr. Cameron smiled.

'Well, hopefully that will keep them away for a while. They need to clear out of there though, just in case a patient needs an emergency c-section or something else happens.'

'We'll go talk to them,' Phoebe chimed in. Phoebe and Gerald walked over to their best friends. Phoebe took Helga's hand, 'Good luck Helga, I can't wait to see your twins!' She said with a wink. Helga could only smile and hug her.

'Thanks Phoebes.'

'Good luck man,' Gerald put his thumb up to Arnold's and they did their secret thumb shake. Gerald chuckled, 'You should still put something on over that.' Arnold smiled.

'Thanks man, I appreciate it.' He said jokingly. Phoebe and Gerald left, so Dr. Cameron started what she was supposed to do in the first place.

'Okay, lets see how far along you are,' the doctor examined Helga as Helga clutched Arnold's hand for dear life. Dr. Cameron stood up and pulled her gloves off, throwing them into the trashcan next to her.

'Well, it looks like you're four centimeters, so if it keeps going as it is, you should go to the delivery room shortly.' Helga and Arnold nodded, Arnold happy, but Helga had never been more scared in her entire life. Dr. Cameron left, and Helga turned to Arnold.

'Arnold,' she sobbed, 'I can't do this! I just can't! I can't push two kids out! Its impossible!' Arnold took her frantic hand and rubbed the back of her palm with his thumb.

'Helga, you CAN do it,' he said, putting his forehead to hers. She still cried. 'Listen, if you could save the neighborhood with me and Gerald, nothing is impossible. If you could help me find my parents in the jungle like you did, you've conquered the impossible. In preschool, all the way through college, you could beat up anyone who came in your way, even though it wasn't exactly the right thing to do. But the point is, you can do anything.' She looked down at their hands.

'That was Helga Pataki, but I'm not her anymore. I've changed, and the new Helga can't handle it.' He looked hurt. Just because she married him, she can't be the same Helga she always was? She'd always be Helga Pataki.

'That's not true. At heart, you'll always be Helga Pataki; the smartest, strongest, wittiest, most beautiful romantic woman I've ever known. I fell in love with Helga Pataki, and I still love her. She's still here, she just has a new name. You can do this Helga, I know you can.' She smiled and kissed him. That adorable football head, always looking on the bright side, always pushing people to do the right thing, telling them that they can do it. It was true, and he hadn't changed either.

In the middle of their kiss she had another contraction, this one more painful then the last. This was going to be a long day.

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'I know it seems weird to be telling about when my sisters were born, but it really shows how much my dad cared about us, and how much my mom loved him for that, but wait. There's more on that day.'

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Wow, what else could possibly happen? Tune in to find out. Oh, and just for the record, I don't have a problem with reporters. I just thought it would be funny if Helga told them to get the hell out of her room, lol. Till chapter 6, I'm Arnoldnhelga4eva saying,

C ya l8ter!

Arnoldnhelga4eva (wait, didn't I already say that?)

P.S. Hey guys, I'm gonna need a little more support than what I've gotten with reviews. I'd like to thank Brianaluvsfootballhead and TaDahmon for reviewing, but please guys. It took me three months to write this. I'm gonna need a little more encouragement to keep posting this story.