Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.

A Trip Through Time

Chapter 11: Suspicions and slip ups

Arnold and the gang had finished eating breakfast and while grandma was busy washing the dishes, they decided to head to the living room to wait for grandpa to shows up with Andy. Helga, out of boredom, reached for the remote control, but Arnold stopped her.

"Helga no, grandpa and Andy said that we can't watch anything on TV without their permission...'Arnold reminded as he watched Helga groan in exasperation.

"Oh Criminy! Was is this, the future or boot camp?...'Helga said sarcastically as she put the remote down, obviously ticked off and bored.

"Chill out Pataki, it's only been a few minutes since Phil left..."Gerald pointed out.

"I know but if we can't watch TV or go outside, what exactly can we do?..." Helga demanded.

She didn't even have the privileged of writing poetry or unwinding in her Arnold shrine, so she was bored and that it turn, made her feel agitated.

The kids were silent as they realized she did make a point. Arnold sighed and went to a nearby closet and pulled out a game.

"Checkers?...'He suggested, getting a look from the fiery blonde girl.

Later

Andy got out of the old Packard with Kiara and his great grandfather Phil. He walked up the steps and opened the door and as always, a bunch of animals ran out, including the stray Pepper he picked up yesterday, though he stopped upon seeing him.

"Hey there boy..." Andy said as he petted the dog on his head before entering the old Boarding house.

"Look who's here, everybody..."G said as he announced his presence.

Andy walked into the room and to his surprise, he saw both his younger father and uncle Gerald playing checkers and he saw his younger mom and aunt Phoebe in the middle of a card game.

"Go fish...'Helga said before she noticed Andy's presence.

"Hey Andy...'Arnold said as he got up, no longer interested in that game.

"Hey...what's going on here?..."Andy asked.

"We were bored...so, any news..." Helga said, hoping that something good would happen now.

"Well, I tried researching the whole time portal thing last night but I couldn't find anything we didn't already know...which is way too weird..."Kiara said... "I did find an article about a man from over 75 years ago, who claimed that he had seen the portal and had he had gone in time to see the dinosaurs..." Kiara said.

"Really? What happened?...'Arnold asked hopefully.

"The guy was deemed crazy and sent to the loony bin for life and the whole thing was ruled as a hoax..."Kiara said with a sheepish frown.

"That's helpful..."Helga muttered sarcastically.

"I did notice that the man said he spent about a week there, managing living among a heard of prehistoric animals until he saw the same portal and came back...and if that's true, then the portal will indeed come back ,but he retained his memories of the whole situation..yet I don't think any changes happened to the timeline.."Kiara said.

"Which reestablishes the fact that we can't let you guys see something you aren't mean to see...'Andy said seriously.

"Alright...we heard you loud and clear last night...'Helga said, feeling irritated and frustrated all over again.

"Look guys, I just wanted to make sure that you guys were still doing good and to give you guys this..."Andy said as he handed them what looked to be an old looking cell phone.

"A cell phone?...'Helga questioned.

"Just in case...tomorrow is Monday and me and Kiara have to go to school...and here are my and Kiara's numbers...if anything happens, you guys call me and me and Kia will be here quick to help..."Andy said.

"Now short-man, I'll handle all the trouble while you're at school, we don't want to risk you getting in trouble..."Phil said to his great grandson.

"Like that will stop him..."Kiara muttered, making the others look at her funny like.

"Just in case..."Andy said as he handed the phone and number to Arnold.

"Thanks, Andy...'Arnold said appreciatively.

"Anything else?..."Helga asked.

"Actually yes, me and Kiara, me and Kia wanted to know if...you guys felt strange...'Andy said.

"What do you mean by strange?...'Gerald asked suspiciously.

"We want to know if you guys are physically feeling okay and didn't have a freak out last night?...'Kiara said.

"What, did the man in that article experienced such symptoms?...'Phoebe asked.

"Actually...no...but I read in this sci-fi book time travelers experience strange reactions to being out of time..."Kiara said, making the others but Andy look at her funny.

"What? You never know...'She said seriously to them.

"We are fine, we all went to sleep and didn't feel anything strange...'Arnold said.

"Yeah, nothing strange..other than the fact that we had to sleep 25 years away from home, but you know that story..."Helga muttered.

"Well, I'm glad..."Andy said, feeling glad that so far, things are still under control.

Meanwhile

Back at Andy's house

Little Megan Shortman, an adorable little 5 year old girl with blonde hair in a pink bow, big green eyes and a dimple cheek smile was in the middle of a tea party with her daddy and her favorite dolly Mimi.

"More tea Milady..."Megan said as she poured what really was orange juice to her toy cup to her doll and then turned to her father.

"Would you like some more tea, daddy..."Megan said sweetly to her father who laughed and humored her.

"Of course, Meggie-kins..."Arnold said, while his little daughter did a "tut tut" wave with her finger.

"Daddy, remember I told you...during tea parties, I am Lady Megan...'The little girl said, trying to sound sophisticated.

"Alright, pardon me... Lady Megan...'Arnold said, making his little girl smile widely as she poured him his "tea" and handed him some cookies on a pink, plastic plate.

"So...Count Daddy...How was your trip...'Megan said, trying to sound fancy, which only made her sound even cuter to her father.

"It was simply wonderful, my lady..."Arnold said, happy that she is having fun, even if she made him wear a toy top hat from one of her teddies, to get him more in the role of a count.

Anything for his little girl, not that her brother's weren't equally as precious to him and his wife, mind you, but Henry is with his mom right now, and Andy is still at his great-grandfather's house, helping him out. Arnold is still looking forward to playing with him when he gets back.

"Uh oh, out of tea...be right back daddy, you keep Lady Mimi company...'Megan said as she took her tea pot and went to the kitchen.

Arnold chuckled, finding his sweet little daughter to be as adorable as she has always been.

Downstairs

Megan went downstairs to the kitchen and saw her mother there, who was in the middle of burping her baby brother Henry.

"Mommy, can I have some more orange juice...we're all out for my tea party..."Megan asked her mommy.

"Sure, angel, just let me finish with Henry..." Her mother said as she managed to get her baby to let out an audible burp and spit up a little on the cloth his mommy used just in case.

"Ew..." Megan said in disgust.

"Don't be like that, you were even louder when I used to burp you and you spit up quite a bit too..." The mother said in a playful way to her daughter who refused to believe it.

"I find that hard to believe...'Megan said in denial while her mother cleaned up her her baby brother and then put him in his play pen.

She soon came back, got the orange juice carton and poured it inside the toy teapot to please her little girl.

"Now be careful not to spill, I just cleaned the carpet...'She said sternly.

"I will be careful mommy..."Megan said, using her cutest face possible, until she noticed something on the table.

"What's that?...'Megan pointed at the item...

"Oh, it's Andy's gi, I was just about to put it in the wash, along with some other stuff.."She said to her daughter.

The mention of her brother's name, made the little girl recall his behavior earlier today and last night too.

"Is he still at great-grandpa's house?...'Megan asked her mother who nodded.

"Yes, sweetie but he'll be back as soon as he finished helping him out..."She said to her daughter.

Megan soon left, carrying the tea pot filled with juice, but her thoughts weren't about cutesy tea parties with her daddy at the moment. No, they were about her big brother. She might just be 5 years old and she might like playing with dolls and tea parties, but she is smarter than she looks. She can read and write at a second graders level, a fact that her parents are very proud of, and even if the adults don't notice, she is always paying attention to what is going on around here.

Her brother has been acting weird lately, by being out most of the day yesterday when they were at Uncle's Gerald house, being all quiet and lost at thought during daddy's welcome home and now this morning, with his secret bathroom meeting and acting so weird.

She knew that he is hiding something...

She knew her big brother even better than he knew himself, she made it her personal mission to always keep tabs on him, just in case he is up to something. Okay, she knows her brother is not a bad guy, and yeah, they fight a lot and he can be pretty bossy, but he can be fun too when he decides to actually try and play with her but it's her job to keep an eye on him, just in case something is up...or he tries something.

The little girl soon arrived to her room and announced her presence, trying to sound as cute as possible to endear her father.

"Lady Megan has arrived...'She announced, carrying the toy tea pot.

"Excellent, my lady..."Arnold said with a smile.

Megan smiled, she really did enjoy playing with her daddy, just like she likes playing with mommy too but she's busy cleaning and taking care of Henry at the moment. The little girl continued playing her game with her daddy, all the while still thinking of her brother's suspicious behavior.

Whatever it is that he is hiding, she will find out when he gets back home...

"You can try and hide big brother, but I always find out..." Megan thought before she took a sip of her tea and continued to play with her dear old, daddy.

Back with Andy

Andy blinked, feeling a strange chill run down his spine, which was noticed by his younger father, who was on the couch with him while Kiara talked to the other's about their situation.

"Is something wrong, Andy?...'Arnold asked.

"I'm fine..." Andy said, figuring this weird since the AC wasn't that low.

He just hopes he isn't getting a cold, the last thing he needs is to be sick at a time like this. He needs to be at his 100% all week if he wants to make sure things don't end up backfiring spectacularly.

"If you two boys are done chatting...can somebody tell me where all to find something decent to eat around here..."Helga said in a bossy way.

Arnold was about to say something, only for Andy to beat him to it.

"I know where mo-...my great grandparents hide the cookie jar...'Andy said, happy that neither didn't notice his almost slip up.

He can't believe he almost called her "mom" again and with his younger dad standing right next to him.

"Stupid...'Andy internally berated himself.

He knows what is at stake here, he told them all about it but...okay, she's his mom and it's still too weird to him at the fact that she is now his own age and she doesn't even know she IS his mom. He has to remember, heck the mom at home and the girl here act way different, so it should be easy to remember that he can't call her the M word.

He CANNOT slip up around her, or dad or anyone else!

After his mental argument, he sighed in relief when, thankfully, neither had noticed his near slip up, even his mom. She just followed him as he went a cabinet that had the cookies in it, and handed her some, happy that he still has the situation under control.

Though, for how long?

-To be continued-

Next time on A Trip Through Time

Sibling vs Sibling

A/N: I made a new TV Tropes page for the Hey Arnold series called 'After the Jungle Series", be sure to check it out, okay :)

Fanfic/AfterTheJungleSeries

REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:

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:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)