A/N: Hi everyone! A big thank you to all of you who have been keeping up, reviewing, following, and faving my story! It always makes my day to see what ya'll have to say so please keep those comments coming to let me know how I'm doing, how you like it, or what you think will happen next! Ok! Here we go.
It is evident that hearing news is just one of those life occurrences that although can be shocking and could potentially change your life after hearing it, is just something that happens on an everyday basis. Whether the news be negative or positive, however, is what changes the whole ball game for better or for worse. Thus why I'm actually happy to say that for once, I am currently the bearer of good news! Literally! Well, I mean…I guess it is a good thing. I mean with my situation and all…being pregnant…Oh Who am I kidding! It's wonderful news! Amazing news! It's Heart stopping, Holy Guacamole, drop everything and dance, take your breath away news! Ok, so I'm laying it on a bit thick. I blame the mood swings…But again, can you blame me?! I still have not gotten over the fact that a life is growing inside of me! My beloved isn't exactly over it either…That became obvious due to the fact he has not ceased to gently rub my non-showing stomach and coo at it in wonder…
Yeesh, what a sap…
"Arnold…Darling…You know I love you right?" Helga started sweetly.
"Of course." He smiled in a dazed state, not stopping his task of gently patting her stomach.
"And I'm sure this baby loves you too. But it would be a real shame if we never got the chance to hear him or her say it due to us all being killed by oncoming traffic…BECAUSE SOMEONE ISN'T CONCENTRATING ON THE ROAD! CRIMINY FOOTBALL-HEAD! DUE US A FAVOR AND FOCUS ON DRIVING BEFORE YA GET US ALL KILLED WILL YA?!" Helga shouted while grabbing the steering wheel and veering the car to the right before it could cross over the double yellow lines in the road.
"Oh! I'm sorry about that Helga! I guess I'm still a little in shock over the news." He apologized, while taking control of the steering wheel once more.
"Yeah no kidding. Look, I know you're still overwhelmed by all of this. I am too, but could you at least try to keep your head together?" She asked tiredly. "Oh! And make a U-turn at Slausens real quick! I want ice cream!" She exclaimed all of a sudden.
"Again? You just ate ice cream and pastrami not even an hour ago." He replied.
"Yeah, well these cravings know no bounds Bucko! So if you want to keep all of your teeth in, I suggest ya turn around!" She scowled, then softened. "Please?"
"Sure thing." He sighed, making a U turn at the upcoming traffic light.
"Oh Criminy…I'm sorry Arnold. I don't know what's come over me…I didn't mean to snap like that." She face palmed.
"You wouldn't be you if you didn't." He shrugged with a playful smirk.
"Are you trying to piss me off?!" She growled.
"Well, granted you are adorable when you're mad, but even I know better than to push such limits in your current state." He chuckled. "But seriously, don't worry about it. It's not completely your fault, I know it's just part of the whole process."
She smiled.
"Besides I'm kind of used to it anyways…" He mumbled under his breath.
"You say something?" She challenged, with an eyebrow raised.
"It's nothing." He quickly pecked her after stopping at another traffic light. "Well we better get a move on it, if we want to get to the boarding house on time to tell the folks."
She nodded in agreement. "Well, drive on then Football-Head."
After a quick snack run, the couple finally arrived at the familiar red colored, brick boarding house where, after all of the animals ran out, an anxious Stella Shortman wasted no time in abruptly pulling them inside, and started to look both of them over.
"We got your message! You said it was urgent?! Are you both okay?! You aren't hurt or anything are you?! Is this about Helga's cold that I heard she had?! Did she ever go to the doctor?! Because I swear young lady if you didn't I-"
"Mom! Mom! Please calm down! We're okay! Nothing's wrong promise!" Arnold exclaimed, trying to calm his mother down.
"But you sent a message marked urgent, saying you had to tell us something! It sounds serious! I wanted to make sure you both are okay?" Stella insisted.
"We're perfectly fine mom. No need to worry. In fact, you might even say we're better than ever." He smiled, gently taking hold of his wife's hand.
"Well, okay…If you say so. It's so wonderful to see you both!" She smiled, gathering the couple in a warm hug.
"Always great to see you mom." The couple chorused happily.
"Oh boy, I knew that commotion was coming from somewhere. I'm guessing your mother overreacted to the text message you sent?" Miles Shortman chuckled as he came to greet his son and daughter-in law.
"Oh hush Miles! It was marked urgent! Can you blame me for being a little on edge?" Stella protested.
"Geez Football-Head what the heck did you say to completely spook Stella out?" Helga raised an eyebrow.
"All I asked was to gather everyone together and that it was important since we had some news to tell them! That was it!" He defended.
"Don't worry about it son, I think your mom stopped reading the full message once she came across the word 'important'… WHICH IS COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDABLE OF COURSE!" Miles rushed, after seeing Stella give him a sharp glare.
"So is everyone here?" Arnold asked eagerly.
"All present and accounted for…in their rooms…Sorry we didn't have much time to get everyone together yet…" Stella answered sheepishly.
"No worries though, your grandma's already working on assembling everybody." Miles chimed in.
Arnold raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How is she going to do tha-"
The sound of a deafening mixture of a loud booming voice sounding off through a megaphone, a trumpet, booming drum, and clashing cymbals answered Arnold's question, as his grandma marched around the living room.
"SOUND THE ALARM GENERAL! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING! GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN TOPS! TIME FOR THE GREAT ROUNDUP PARTNER! TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!"
"GRANDMA?! WHAT THE?!" Arnold exclaimed, as he put his hands to his ears.
"WOW! GERTIE'S GOTTEN CREATIVE TODAY! I'M IMPRESSED! WAY TO GO GRANDMA!" Helga smiled, raising her voice over the ruckus.
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!" Arnold, Miles, and Stella exclaimed in unison, as they continued to cover their ears.
All of a sudden, various doors swung open as all of the boarders came out of their rooms and rushed down the stairs all at once with less than pleasant smiles on their faces.
"FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD! WILL YA KEEP IT DOWN?!" A disgruntled Ernie Potts shouted.
"YES! The noise! It is loud and DISTURBING!" Mr. Hyunh shouted after.
"Goodness! What is going on here?!" Suzie Kokoshka cried.
"Maybe it is a new alarm to let me know that dinner is ready!" Suzie's husband chimed, him being the only one with a smile.
"Oskar, it's almost noon!" She told her husband with exasperation.
"Oh, well lunch then hehe." He replied.
"QUIET!" Stella's voice thundered.
Complete silence was heard.
She cleared her throat and smiled continuing. "Now, that we've got everyone's attention, we need everyone to gather in the main living room. Arnold and Helga are here with some important news that they want to tell us."
Everyone stopped listening after they heard the words "Arnold and Helga".
"Arnold's here?!" Ernie and Mr. Hyunh asked with excitement.
"Helga too?!" Suzie chimed.
"Did they bring me food? Ow!" Oskar asked with hopefully, only to be elbowed by his wife.
Everyone then rushed downstairs, and nearly glomped the couple in excitement, wasting no time in expressing their happiness to see them; the couple returned the sentiment. Once everyone was in the living room, they waited with great anticipation, until Arnold looked around, slightly confused.
"Hey, where's grandpa?"
"Oh you know him. Taking care of business in his office as usual…" Stella responded.
"Oh. We should probably wait for him then. I really don't want him to miss out." Arnold concluded.
"Mm, best tell us now son or we'll end up waiting for hours…Apparently he just had to take a chance and have spicy Mexican take out for lunch so he might be awhile…" Miles deadpanned.
"Oh. Well, I don't know…" He hesitated until his wife elbowed him.
"Oh Criminy, let's just get on with it already Football-Head! We can always fill him in later; maybe even surprise him the most!" She smiled.
"Well alright then…Okay everyone. You probably heard how Helga was feeling sick the other day?" Arnold started.
Everyone nodded in confirmation.
"Oh yeah!" Ernie replied.
"We received the message, yes!" Mr. Hyunh replied in his broken English.
"I just never got the chance to respond like I wanted to." Suzie added with a touch of remorse.
"Oh don't feel bad Suzy, you were doing something important at the time; which was making me a sandwich! Hehe." Oskar smiled.
"Don't remind me…" She deadpanned.
"You told them too?! Exactly how many chuckleheads were in on your little scheme?!" Helga hissed at her husband.
"Only them and the gang…I needed extra reinforcements since you were being so stubborn at the time..." He answered and shrugged in reply.
"Oh I'll reinforce you! You-"Helga threatened, but was interrupted by the sound of her mother in law clearing her throat once more.
"Uh…hehe-right…C-continue honey…" She finished sheepishly.
"Thank you." He smiled victoriously and continued. "Anyways, when she finally went to the doctor, it turns out that she wasn't sick with the flu at all. It was something else…" He smiled lovingly at her as he let his wife take the floor.
Stella suddenly recognized the glowing smile on Helga's face all too well as she remembered a time when she too wore the same expression.
"I'm pregnant! We're going to have a baby!"
She automatically put her hands to her mouth as her eyes widened. "Oh my…Could it be?"
"Turns out, I'm pregnant!" Helga held both her husband's hands as they finished together.
"We're going to have a baby!"
Before the cheerful shouting could reach a crescendo, a booming cry sounded throughout the house, rendering everyone's excitement into silence.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOHOOHOOOOO!"
The next events happened so fast that no one had the chance to react properly. After hearing the sounds of a door being busted down, Helga didn't even have the time to blink an eye, before she suddenly found herself slightly airborne and twirled in constant circles by none other than Steely Phil himself.
"YES! YES! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT ALL ALONG! HAHAHAHA!"
Unfortunately, this did not help her fluctuating nausea…
"Uh…knew what exactly dad?" Miles asked, being the first one to come out of shock.
"Well duh! What else?! I knew that my chance of redemption has finally come of course! Yes siree! The fates have shined their glory upon me at last, after so many years! Phil responded, still twirling Helga around.
"Um grandpa? What exactly are you talking about? And could you please put Helga down? She looks dizzy…" Arnold mentioned.
"YEAH! NO SHI-"Helga was about to protest only to abruptly land on the nearby couch.
"Oh! Sorry about that Helga! Guess I didn't know my own strength!" Phil chuckled.
Helga only groaned in response, then covered her mouth as she rushed up the stairs to the bathroom to relieve her nausea spell, disregarding the door that was currently detached and lying on the floor with Phil's body imprint in the middle, suggesting that he literally jumped through the door without delay.
Phil continued to dance around the room in victory.
"Heheh I'm such a Wiley old Coot! Now where was I…OH YES! Sweet VICTORY! MOTHER NATURE HAS CONSIDERED ME AT LAST! HAHA!"
"What are ya goin' on about now old man?!" Ernie grunted impatiently.
"I'm not old, I'm classic and timeless, and don't you ever forget that Kettles!" Phil retorted pointing a finger at Ernie's nose.
"IT'S POTTS!" Ernie shouted,
"Same difference. Now quit interrupting my excitement! You're throwing off my groove! This is an important moment for me ya know?!" Phil folded his arms.
"Dad! Will you please tell us what you're so excited about?!" Miles nearly shouted.
"Oh fine ya party poopers! I'm excited about the fact that another Phil is on his way into the world! See after I hacked into Stella's phone and heard about Helga's illness, I knew that something was fishy! Then I got a hunch that maybe, just maybe the good ol' storkie might have paid her a visit! HA, AND I WAS RIGHT! SCORE FOR ME!" Phil explained.
"Wait a minute, you knew Helga was pregnant?" Arnold asked in disbelief.
"You hacked into my phone?!" Stella added feeling a little miffed.
"And hold up dad, who said that the baby's name would be Phil?" Miles added folding his arms.
"Well of course it would be Phil! That's my second chance of the redemption of my namesake, seeing how you robbed me of the first one!" Phil pouted.
"Oh dad come on! You're still holding a grudge over not naming our son after you?!" Miles exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeah seriously! We found 'Arnold' to be a wonderful name, especially since it carries on the legacy of my deceased father…And besides, I thought we made it up to you by giving your name as his middle name!" Stella added.
"Middle, shmiddle! You had your turn and as much as I love Shortman to bits, I still think 'Phil' would have been the perfect name; full of flare, charm, and wonder! Ya get that vibe by a name like 'Arnold'? Well of course not!" Phil stated matter-of-factly.
"Grandpa…" Arnold started exasperatedly, feeling annoyed and slightly insulted.
"Heheh! I'm just messin' with all of ya!" Phil chuckled giving his grandson a hearty pat on the back that nearly made him fall over. "But seriously. That baby's name's gonna be Phil." He finished dryly, completely serious.
"Well I don't think that's your decision to make…" Miles challenged, folding his arms, Stella following suit. "That's right! An important decision like that is completely up to Arnold and Helga."
"Which is why my favorite and only grandson has decided to name the little one after me, his favorite grandpa! Isn't that right Shortman?" Phil retorted, putting an arm around his grandson's shoulder.
"Actually grandpa, to be honest, we haven't even thought about names yet. I mean we didn't even know we were expecting until about yesterday. So It's too early for that…" Arnold explained.
"EXCUSES! It's never too early to think of names for your boy!" Phil proclaimed.
"Could be a girl ya know?" Helga chimed in matter-of-factly, hearing enough of the conversation to make a point after returning from the bathroom.
"Oh…Well, Philipina then!" Phil suggested with a shrug.
"Grandpa!" Arnold protested once more.
"Ha-ha! Alright, alright I'll stop with the jokes…At least promise me that you'll think about it?" Phil hopefully asked.
"We'll think about it." Arnold confirmed. "Well it's getting late everyone, we better be heading out."
"It was great to see everyone again!" Helga smiled.
"Always great to have you both here Kimba and Eleanor! Especially since little Prince Charles or Princess Katie is on the horizon!" Gertie chimed, hugging her grandson and granddaughter in law, and cooing at Helga's stomach.
"That's Philip or Philipina, Pookie!" Phil corrected.
"Aw put a sock in it Slim! And fix the busted door while you're at it Chin boy or else!" She threatened, doing a quick karate move with a fly swatter she pulled out of her pocket.
Steely Phil rushed up the stairs after that.
Everyone then gathered around the couple to give final 'congrats' and warm goodbye's.
After the couple left, and were back on the road again enjoying the peaceful silence, Arnold spoke up.
"Sorry about that Angel, I guess the family is still as crazy as always…" He chuckled.
"Psh, ya think? But hey, they're our family, and I love them, crazy and all." She shrugged with a smile.
"And I bet you'll love them too huh little one? Just like we'll all love you…very much." Arnold cooed, gently putting his hand on Helga's abdomen.
"Arnold…" Helga warned.
"I know, I know. You don't have to say anything…my eyes are solely focused on the road, promise.
"And?" She continued in the same tone.
"And I'm currently making a U turn to get you yet another vanilla and pastrami sundae…"
"And you better make dang sure they add pickles on it this time!" She scowled then softened once more. "And honey? Thanks…I know I'm probably a pain right now, but I really appreciate everything you've done for me.
"Nothing but the best for you my love." He reached over to lightly Eskimo kiss his wife, not noticing the light turn green.
HONK! HONK!
"Hey buddy! Get a move on it will ya?! Some of us gotta beat four o clock traffic!" An irritated driver yelled.
Before he could apologize, his lovely wife beat him to it by sticking her head out the window, flipping the driver off.
"OH GO SUCK AN EGG YA CHUMP!" She shouted.
"HELGA!" Arnold exclaimed, trying to calm his wife down, and pull her back into the seat.
Later on, when things started to calm down once more, Helga was ready to drift off to sleep, expecting for her husband to be pulling up into their drive way at any time, only to be horrified as she saw the car pulling up to an all-familiar blue colored building.
"H-hey Football-Head! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" She cried in alarm, but tried not to make it obvious that she was distressed.
"Well since we already told my parents and the folks about the baby, I thought maybe we could tell your folks?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! WHAT ARE YA CRAZY?!" was what I wanted to say, but then knowing him being the All mighty goodie-two-shoes of the century, my darling would then proclaim, "But Helga, don't you think they have the right to know that their daughter is having a child?" And then I would respond, "He** no! They have no right! Listen Bucko and you listen good. The only right those…people have is to rot in-"
"HELGA!"
"WHAT?!" Helga jumped in defense, being interrupted from her train of thought and scowling.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but you were blanking out and I was asking if you were okay?" Arnold explained with concern.
"I-I'm…" She hesitated.
Oh great! What am I supposed to say? Sorry my beloved Football-Head, but see, I am actually holding the biggest grudge against my folks right now for putting me through he** and will never forgive them for that one thing they did to solidify my bitterness, even though you wouldn't know that since I gave you the impression that everything's all honky dory! Which technically, they are with them…It's just not with me…And it never will be. Only here's the thing…Even if everything was all smoothed away, I wouldn't DARE let the likes of them get near our child! After the treatment, the neglect, and the conditional acceptance I received from them that gave me the hardest time to reach self-efficacy…It's bad enough worrying that I'd ever act the slightest bit of how a 'Pataki' would act to my baby, but to have the sources of my pain…contaminate such innocence with the Pataki blood and legacy? It will be a cold day in he** before I let them have that chance…Hmm…What's this sudden, yet wonderful sensation I'm tasting?
Once again, her train of thought was interrupted once she realized that her beloved was softly kissing her lips. She returned the sentiment with a hint of passion, softly moaning, feeling content, until he pulled away.
"Sorry. You were spacing out again, and I figured this was the only way to bring you back into the land of the living, without the chances of me getting punched…" Arnold joked.
"Smart boy." She smirked.
"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He asked seriously.
"I-I'm just…not feeling well. All the events of today tired me out and I just really need to go home and get some rest…especially for the baby…" She explained.
Nice save Helga.
"Oh…I understand. I'll get you home then…Should we at least maybe call your folks then to let them kno-"
"NO! I mean! Look, I just want to go home okay?" Helga replied in a strained tone, trying to keep her nerve.
"Okay. Say no more. We'll go right now." He stated and pulled out of the Pataki's driveway, heading to their house.
Helga then closed her eyes, attempting to get rest, but also silently repenting.
I'm sorry my love. As much as I agree upon the importance of open communication in our precious marriage, for the sake of our child and his or her innocence, this is one painful secret that must be my burden alone to bear…