Chapter 27 Showcase

All throughout the airship ride to Peach's Castle, Junior bounced up and down in his seat like a jumping bean. He couldn't sit still! His heart pumped faster than it had any right to. The blood, coursing through his veins faster than the speed of sound, made him tingle with excitement and increase the speed and intensity of his bouncing.

Bowser noticed this. "You're happy."

"Yeah! Is that a problem?"

"No, no; it's not a problem. It's...unusual, that's all."

Junior scoffed. "It's not like I'm mopey twenty four seven."

Bowser sniffed. "That's true, I suppose."

Junior raised an eyebrow. "You 'suppose,' huh?"

Bowser's mouth curved into a smile. "Okay, fine. It's the absolute truth."

"Thank you."

After about a minute's worth of silence, which Junior spent trying to imagine Mama Peach's reaction to his scrapbook, Bowser finally asked the Koopa Prince why he was so excited. Junior giggled when he did and explained the situation to his father. When he did, Bowser's eyes grew wide.

"You finished the scrapbook in one day?"

"Yep! And I've been wanting to show it to Mama Peach ever since!" He sighed. "I hope she likes it."

"Oh, I'm sure she will." Bowser said as his eyes shimmered.

Junior nodded and took the scrapbooks out of his hammerspace. He flipped through them one last time, for his goal was to ultimately give them to the princess. He could consider it a heartfelt gift, a gift that he hoped beyond hope that his Mama would accept and appreciate. After all the work that he put in…

"We're here!" Bowser exclaimed.

Junior gasped. Already? Oh man, and he was thinking that the waiting would cause the airship ride to be a drag. He bounced out of his seat and ran out of the cabin onto the deck. With his Mama Peach waiting for him in front of the castle, Junior couldn't help but feel his excitement increase. Sure, there was also a twinge of nervousness combined with the positive emotions. He only hoped that the negativity and the worry about Peach not liking his gift and hard work wouldn't come to pass.

…

Peach sighed as she settled herself down in her chair at the dining room table. Junior kept his eyes on her the whole time, unsure if he should really say anything. All of the excitement he had been expressing on the airship was gone. A sort of stage fright overtook him, a hesitance for her to see his work. What if she hated it? What if she found it...cringy? What if she didn't appreciate a single thing that he had done?

"So, Junior," Peach said. She smiled a little bit. "What have you been up to over the past week?"

Junior coughed. "Well, I've mostly just been waiting for this visit. It's...I like visiting you."

"That's good," Peach said with a nod. Her mouth was in a firm line. "Very good."

Junior nodded back. He reached his hand into his hammerspace, just to tell himself that the scrapbooks were still actually noticed this, and she raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?"

Junior tensed up, tingles overtaking the back of his neck. "I..uh…" he cleared his throat and took the scrapbook out. "I have something for you."

Peach perked up, an interest in her eyes. Junior took a deep breath and approached the Princess, slowly taking the scrapbooks out of his hammerspace as he did so. He set both of them in front of his Mama on the table. She blinked when she saw them.

"What are these?"

"They're..uh, they're scrapbooks."

Peach gasped and smiled. "You actually made a scrapbook?"

Junior nodded. "I did think the ones you showed me were cool, remember?"

"Oh yes!" Peach opened up the first one and started reading through. Junior could see her turning the pages tentatively, laughing at some of the moments in the story. His heart skipped a beast; she was actually invested.

When Peach stopped with one scrapbook, she turned to the other. Her eyes grew wide when she came to the middle. "You actually got some pictures into the book!"

Junior nodded, this time fully happy. "Yep! I played Super Mario Galaxy with Roy!"

"I can see that," Peach said as she looked at the pictures. She laughed and pointed toward one. "Whoever took this pictures is extremely talented."

"That would be Iggy." Junior rolled his eyes. "Just one more way that he's better than everyone, it seems," he mumbled.

Peach chuckled and looked back at the other stories in the book. When she finished, Junior leaned forward in anticipation. "Well?"

Before Peach could give her answer, the door opened. Mario came into the room, grumbling under his breath. Peach's eyes lit up when she saw him.

"Mario!" She looked over at Junior, and her smile grew brighter. "Junior made a scrapbook; do you want to see?"

Junior perked up. She was offering to show it to Mario? Did she like it that much?

Mario, however, shook his head. "No. I have...things to do." He was about to step out of the room, but Peach stopped him.

"But this is really good! I think you'll like it!"

Mario stopped and snorted. "A koopa making something good, huh? Please." With that, he left, much to Junior's ire.

"Wow. Some hero he is." Suddenly, he realized what Peach said. "Wait, you think the book is good!"

Peach nodded. "Yes! It's amazing!" She flipped through the pages, her eyes browsing over the stories. "It goes into so much detail! I had no idea your siblings' lives were so...neat."

Junior blushed. "Yeah. They're pretty great."

Peach closed the book, now focusing on Junior. "And you must have put a lot of effort into this project. You must be proud of yourself."

Junior chuckled and puffed his chest out. "Oh, I am." He grinned at the Princess. "You want to keep the scrapbooks?"

Peach blinked. "You...want me to keep them?" When he nodded, she got up out of the chair and came over to him. "If you want me to, then yes! Definitely!"

Junior beamed. Before even he knew what was going on, he was embracing Peach in a hug. "You're the best Mama in the whole world!"

Peach chuckled. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."

Junior's heart melted. To hear his Mama say something like that to him...oh man.

AN: Well, there you have it! What do you think? Is it good? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you all so much for your support with this series, as well as the Super Koopalings series as a whole. Stay safe and stay awesome, my friends :)