Gamer To Farmer

Chapter 11: Day of Recovery

A/N: I will try to update more often from now on. Probably every five or so days.. Consider it a special gift that I will give in my extremely good mood. I promise that from this point on, I will never again go into the sex topic (at least not in this fic evil smirk). The only thing that I will continually mention is the pregnancy, which I obviously can't avoid. I will also state that my chapters will never go longer than 5000 words, simply because my ideas are short and simple, just like me. Maybe my next fic will have 10000 word chapters… I'll keep this Author Note relatively short and will go straight to Chapter 11.

During the phone conversation: Tint will speak in regular text. The person on the other end is italicized.

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Shock, petrified, scaredThey were the best terms to use to describe how I felt after hearing the news. Elli was pregnant. "Wow."I thought. "I'm going to be a father." That was probably what scared me.

I was still seated at the Clinic, my jaw hanging nearly at the floor. Elli was seated beside me, her reaction mirroring mine. Kai and Popuri were standing quietly to the side, their celebration cut short. An eerie silence filled the room.

Elli was the first to crack the silence. It started as only a slight whimper. She looked at the Doctor and whispered, "Are you sure?"

Doctor Evan nodded his head in a curt reply. He handed the sheet of paper over to Elli. Her eyes nervously fluttered across the words, before suddenly stopping at one line. She read the line repeatedly, hoping that the words would change before her eyes. "He isn't lying. I am pregnant…" Elli muttered as she handed the paper back to Evan.

I could feel my spirit being crushed. It felt like an extremely short leash had been hooked onto my neck and was pulling me closer to accepting the fact. I didn't want to believe it. All I wanted to do was stare at the blank wall in front of me, denying the truth.

Someone moved into my field of vision. I saw a few strands of pink hair pass by me as Popuri approached Elli. She reached out to Elli, her hand quivering slightly as it was placed on Elli's shoulder. "Are you going to keep it?" She asked.

"I don't know yet… Everything is just so confusing to me." Elli replied as she got up to her feet. "It matters on what Tint wants."

I looked up from my concentrated stare at the wall and into Elli's beautiful eyes. I could tell that she was scared, just like I was. I took hold of her hand and held it against my heart. "I want what is best for you." I said encouragingly.

"Then that settles it! I'm going to keep it." Elli proclaimed with a new air of confidence and excitement. Leash shortens considerably.

I got to my feet. "You reached that decision quickly. What changed your mind?" I inquired.

Elli smiled sheepishly. "I've always wanted to have a child of my own. I just was hoping to wait until after I was married." I swore that she added a wink to that comment.

"Wow, Tint! That's your seventh beer tonight! What has you so down?" Doug asked as he pulled away the freshly emptied glass from my hand. The drink was quickly replaced with a full mug. It was the night of the same day and you guessed it. I headed to the bar after leaving the Clinic.

I stared determinedly at the glass in front of me. "I can't believe it." I muttered as I lifted the glass.

"Come on, tell me. I don't like it when my best customer gets moody." Doug stated, prying for some sort of information.

"All right, I'll tell you." I leaned close to Doug and whispered, "I got Elli pregnant."

Doug surprised me by placing another beer on the table before me. "The next round is on the house!" He proclaimed to the people seated at the tables.

I gave the red headed man a confused look as a stampede of people surrounded the bar. Doug gave me a wink as he held a mug up in the air. "A toast!" He announced. "To Tint. Congratulations are in order. He's going to be a father!"

"To Tint!" A chorus of voices cheered. I looked around at the faces of those gathered. Nearly every face offered me congratulations before they returned to their seats. But there was one face that looked disappointed. That face belonged to Karen.

"I can't believe you, Tint." She exclaimed as she sat down beside me.

"Why's that?" I inquired.

Karen gave me a short look of disgust. "I thought that you were a good guy."

"Quit speaking riddles. Just tell me what's on your mind." I stated.

"Do I have to tell you how many things are wrong with what you've done? I've heard the rumors." Karen said, clearly getting angry over something that I had no idea about.

"What rumors would those be?" There had been countless accusations lying around recklessly over the past week. It was impossible to tell which one she was upset about.

"You're planning on bailing on Elli. That's why you haven't proposed to her yet." She stated.

I shook my head in disbelief. "What made you reach that decision?"

Karen reached into a pocket on her vest and revealed a piece of paper. It was a ticket, in my name, to go back to Canada. "Is this enough proof?"

I pulled the paper closer to me. I scanned over the ticket in disbelief. "Where did you find this?" I asked.

I could hear Karen answering, but didn't make out the words. Something about the ticket had drawn my attention. At the bottom of the sheet was the name of the person who had paid for the ticket. It was my mother's name that appeared. "Are you listening to me?" Karen demanded.

"Look at this." I pointed to my mother's name. "My parents are trying to get me to go home. I need to talk to them."

Karen looked at the name and her mood immediately changed. "And you don't get along with your folks… That means… You had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry for doubting you."

I was amazed by this instantaneous turn around. "No need…" I began but Karen quickly interrupted me. She grabbed the telephone at the end of the bar and pushed it in front of me. "Just shut up, call your parents, and give them hell." She stated before finishing her drink and leaving the Inn.

"Women." Doug commented as he walked past.

I took a deep breath and picked up the receiver. The crowd seemed to fall into a deadly silence as I dialed the number. I could hear the phone ringing on the other end. On the fourth ring a voice answered on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mother."

"Look Neil, it's five in the morning. I told you the last time this happened. We aren't going to bail you out of jail again."

"No, it's your other son."

"I don't have another child. You must have the wrong number."

"I think that I would know my own phone number."

There was an eerie silence on the other end of the phone. "Brett, is that you?"

"No, it isn't Brett. It's Tint."

"Smart ass. I take it that you got your ticket. We expect you to be home by the end of next week."

"I'm sorry, mother, but I won't be going home."

"Why the hell not? There is no way that you can actually be providing for yourself out there. Plus, you aren't the best at making friends."

"Thanks for being supportive." I said sarcastically.

"Look. If you don't come home this instant, I'll be forced to go out there and get you ."

"I'll be waiting for you." I commented before hanging up the phone. This was turning out to be a really bad day for me. I signaled for Doug to bring me another drink. Maybe I'd reach a dozen drinks before the night was over.

If my family came to visit, the results would probably result in catastrophe for me. My mother alone would be enough to send me packing. Not to mention my brother, who would most likely do something illegal. Bad news was definitely the theme of the day.

"I think I've had enough." I stated to Doug after downing the drink he brought over.

"Suit yourself." Doug replied as he started cleaning up my spot.

I was stumbling towards the door when somebody stopped me. It was Won. He pulled me over to the side of the room. "I heard you knocked up Elli." The man said with a smirk.

"What about it?" I asked in disgust. I don't know what it was about Won, but there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was the fact that he cared about nothing but money. At least I was one step above him. Money was a secondary perk about living in Mineral Town and being a farmer.

"I have something that may be of use for you." Won pulled open his yellow raincoat and showed me his wares. I was surprised. His jacket was lined with every sort of useless contraption invented by mankind. Packed in among all of the junk was a solitary blue feather. "For you, only three thousand gold pieces. A bargain if I might add."

I was back at my house on the farm. I placed the Blue Feather on my headboard. I decided that it would better to be ready for anything. This day was just about over, nothing else could happen to me.

A knock on my door warned me that I was probably wrong. I trudged over to the door and pulled it open. Standing before me was Elli. "Hi, Tint. Can I come in?" She asked innocently.

"Sure thing." I beckoned her inside. Elli took a few steps inside before I realized that I had left the Blue Feather on the headboard. I made a mad dive and managed to sneak the feather beneath my pillow. It wasn't the right time for it.

"What was that for?" Elli asked in surprise.

I frantically searched for something to say to her. "Oh… Uh… I just didn't want you to see… how messy my bed was." I lied. "So what are you doing here?"

Elli gave me a confused look. "I take it that you're acting strange because of the news this morning. It bothered me too. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, really? Go ahead and talk." I gestured for Elli to take a seat on the bed beside me. Elli carefully sat down and draped her arms around me. Then she proceeded to bury her face into my shoulder and cry. I was surprised by this sudden turnaround. "What is it?" I was confused about what it was that had her upset.

Elli took a few seconds to quit crying. She looked up into my eyes and asked. "Do you love me?"

"You know I do. I've told you thousand of times." I replied. Hopefully that was all that she was worried over. Even though I loved her, I was beginning to grow tired of her complaints and worries.

She began to dry her eyes with her apron. That was when she hit me with the bomb. "Then why don't you propose to me?"

"I'll be honest with you." I took hold of her shoulders and forced her to look at me. "I'm just not really ready to get married, that's all."

"Oh. I understand." She looked around the room and nodded her head. "This place isn't big enough to raise a family in anyway."

I was relieved that she was taking my answer so well. I worked up some nerve and proceeded to tell her, "When I get this place upgraded enough, then I might consider it."

"How long will that be?" She asked in excitement.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know. My pineapples should be ready before the week is over. That should give me enough money to buy the upgrade from Gotz."

Elli got up to her feet and headed towards the door. "That's good enough for me. Good night, Tint!" She called out as she left.

Thus ended a frantic day of events for me. I fed Homer his night time meal and went silently to bed. Hopefully tomorrow would bring back the normal routine of farming.

I was awakened by a frantic knock on my door. I put on my glasses and looked at my alarm clock. The numbers showed the time to be five in the morning. Another knock on the door, this one louder and more determined. "I'm coming!" I shouted to the door as I climbed out of my bed. I slowly trudged over to door and pulled it open, revealing Mayor Thomas, who was just about ready to knock again. "What is it, Mayor?" I asked before releasing a huge yawn.

"Sorry to wake you, Tint, but we have a problem down at the beach. We need your attendance." Thomas replied as he tugged me out the door.

"What happened?" I asked as we rounded the corner and headed down the path.

Thomas brushed a bead of perspiration away from his forehead as we ran. "Zach was awakened not long ago by a ship arriving. Apparently it was a passenger vessel, because the ship dropped off a woman and her teenage son. They're causing a huge commotion down at the dock, so Zach called for reinforcements. That's when they demanded to see you."

I stopped in my tracks. Thomas noticed that I had stopped and turned back to me. "What is it?" He asked.

"They couldn't have gotten here so fast." I stated in denial.

"Who would that be?" Thomas asked as he continued towards the beach.

I trudged along after him. "My family." I replied.

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?"

I shook my head as we entered the Town Square. "The problems they're causing at the beach are just the start. Wait until they see me."

We headed down the stairs and were greeted by a crowd of people gathered to see what was happening. A woman's voice could be heard yelling insults about me. We pushed our way through the crowd and headed towards the source of the commotion. My guess was soon proved right. Standing at the base of the dock was my mother and younger brother. They spotted me and advanced upon me like a hunter on its prey. "So, there you are. The psycho finally shows his face." My mother spat out as she pointed an accusing finger at me.

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A/N: It might just be me, but this chapter just doesn't feel right. I had a weird feeling that there was something wrong with it from the start. Please give me your opinion, for if people don't like it, I am willing to change it. Also could some people drop a few suggestions for the name of Tint's mother. I don't want to use my actual mother's name because she already hates the way I portray her. Thank you for reading and please provide feedback.