Lexy took up a lot of the last chapter, so this chapter we will get back to Gumball. What was it that Penny and Carrie are planning? And how will Gumball react to his twins reappearance? I'm anxious to find out. (I write these before I start and I don't even know how this will go yet)

Gumball was a little bewildered. In the week since his injury, he'd been living in a strange heaven. True, he couldn't use his hands. He wasn't sure that was a bad thing, though. Carrie had demanded that Gumball allow her to help him until he healed. She had literally been his hands for a week now. There had been a few awkward moments, though. Since Gumball couldn't use his hands, going to the bathroom alone was an exercise in futility, but he wouldn't let anyone, let alone Carrie, help him.

He stood firm for a while, but was reaching his breaking point when Carrie came up with a compromise. "Since your thumbs aren't hurt," she reasoned, "all I need to do is undo your pants." It was more than a little embarrassing to let a girl undo his pants, but he really didn't have any options. Thankfully this proved to be a useful solution in other situations. Carrie was able to help him change clothes this way, and, with the help of some swimming trunks, she even helped him bathe.

Nicole seemed a bit nervous about it at first. When Carrie walked Gumball in and told them her intentions, Nicole had flatly refused. But after she saw him standing miserably with bags on his hands and feet, wearing trunks, and waiting outside the bathroom while Carrie set up the shower, she laughed so hard, tears streamed down her face and finally gave in. To make matters worse, Anais made a video of him struggling to scrub himself with bags on him hands while Carrie stood outside in case she needed to help him. Somehow, he knew she was going to use that footage for leverage at some point...

Still, despite the embarrassing moments, he had to admit he enjoyed Carrie's company. At least she wasn't weird about helping him. But she wasn't the only one. Penny was also helping out. That had taken him completely by surprise. When he'd woken up after the accident, she and Carrie had told him that they were going to help him out. In fact, they made him promise to let them help. At the time, he hadn't realized exactly what that entailed. The girls seemed to have everything figured out, though.

Penny was in charge of transportation and took over when Carrie needed to eat or whatever. Carrie didn't have a license, and she wasn't able to take care of him all the time. Well, that was what they said, but both of them had been around everyday, all week. Basically, the three of them had just been hanging out while the girls took turns helping him out. Now they were at the drive in movie, in his car. On his right, a beautiful ghost girl was eating popcorn. On his left, was gorgeous antlered angel was sipping a drink. And they were helping him eat and drink .

He sighed contentedly. This was indeed a strange heaven. He had the two prettiest girl he knew helping him. He and Penny had begun to relax around each other with all the time they spent together and Carrie was the best help he could have wished for. He was beginning to wonder how he was going to choose between them. Wait, WHAT? His mind reeled for a second as he came to a sudden realization; he was attracted to both of them. Suddenly, he needed to get out of the mini station wagon.

"Uh guys? I need to go to the bathroom." He said nervously.

Carrie smiled. "No problem! I'll go with you."

Gumball mind worked fast. As it was, the last thing he needed was a girl he liked near his zipper and biology was rapidly making that worse. The embarrassment of her seeing that might actually kill him. "N-no! Thank you! I mean, no thanks. I think I can manage."

Carrie let him out. "Are you sure, Gumball? If you need help, you are supposed to let me or Penny help you, remember? You promised."

"Y-yeah, I remember. I just think I can manage on my own. Gotta heal sometime." Gumball laugh nervously. "Besides, you too haven't seen the movie before. So you just stay there and I'll be right back." Turning on his heel, Gumball hobbled away as quickly as his injured feet would allow. As he went into the restroom, he did not notice the shadowy figure slip into the room behind him and lock the door.

Gumball went over to the sink and splashed water on his face. As he stood up he caught movement in the mirror and spin around. He found himself staring at the smug face of a 4 foot tall, adorable, pink bunny girl. It was Gumball's 7-year-old sister, Anais.

Anais was smiling at her own cleverness. She knew something would happen with those girls. When she had seen Gumball rush off, she figured someone had finally made a she was going to find out which of the girls had moved first.

"So, which one was it?" she asked. "Was it Penny? She seems more assertive, but Carrie has a strength of personality that may have given her the courage. What did she do? Did she kiss you? Hold hands? Come on, Gumball, I am dying to know!" Anais's voice became slightly desperate. Nothing she said was impacting her brother; his face registered only confusion. "Oh, come on! Something must have happened! Otherwise, why run over here?"

There it was. Gumball had flinched. She had him now. "So something did happen, then", Anais mused thoughtfully. "But, you are worried about it. That narrows it down to Carrie. If it was Penny you'd just be floating around with that stupid love struck look on your face."

Gumball laughed nervously. "Come on, sis. Nothing happened. Anyway, Carrie wouldn't do anything like that. She is just helping me out because of my hands." Anais didn't miss the way his eyes darted as he said nothing happened but were steady when he said Carrie wouldn't com on to him. So he believed that Carrie wasn't interested. She shook her head. Her brother was smarter than most people gave him credit for, but he was obviously clueless about women. But that meant Carrie hadn't actually done anything. That only left...

Anais gasped, pointing a finger at him. "You like Carrie!" She accused. He flinched again. Bingo. She couldn't believe it. For years, he'd had a crush on Penny. How had it changed so suddenly? Had it changed? She couldn't resist testing that theory. "But what about Penny? I thought you loved her." Homerun. He broke.

"I know, OK? I don't know what's going on." He told her about when he was in the car. She laughed, and laughed all the more when he got angry. "This is serious!" Gumball shouted. "What am I supposed to do? Does this mean I am unfaithful? I don't deserve Penny, if I can't control myself."

Anais clutched her sides. "Gumball, calm down" she gasped between giggles. As her laughter subsided, she explained, "It's perfectly normal to develop sexual tension when you are around someone as much as you've been around Carrie lately."

"Really?", Gumball asked, hopeful.

"Sure.", Anais's replied. "What you are feeling is physical attraction only. Here watch. Describe Penny - honestly, or it won't prove anything."

"She's awesome.", he said. "Penny is kind, thoughtful, and beautiful. She is always looking to lend a hand to other. She's also really hot because she is so athletic and confident. It is kind of intimidating, but the challenge is exciting, too. It makes me want to be better because she expects and deserves better from me, I guess."

Anais nodded. That was exactly as she expected. "Now, Carrie?", she asked. "Remember, honestly - even if it isn't very nice."

"Carrie is kind of shy", Gumball said slowly, "but she is caring and kind. She helps anyone who needs it. She is stunning when she smiles. She makes me want to believe in myself, 'cause she seems to believe in me. She is hot, too but in a shy, reserved way. I feel like it would be totally worth the effort to draw out her passion." He finished his description with the same goofy look on his face as he had when he talked about Penny.

Anais's smile disappeared. The emotion in Gumball's face as he described each girl was the same or close enough for her to know he was in trouble. He liked them both, it seemed to even border on love. "Uh oh" she said. "You officially have a problem, Gumball. You need time to figure this out. Just get through this evening and we'll figure something out." Gumball nodded miserably unlocked the door and hobbled back to his car. Meanwhile Anais was busy thinking and planning.

Gumball waved nervously to the girls as they walked off. He'd made it through the evening without making a fool of himself. Now he just wanted to sleep. He made his way upstairs and went into the room he and Darwin shared. Sticking his thumbs into the waistband of his pants he undressed. He stripped down to just his shirt and boxers and sat on the bottom bunk of his bed. Normally, he slept in the top, but since his injury he had just stayed at the bottom.

As he went over his evening, he put his head in his hands and sighed. Forget this, he thought. I'll figure it out in the morning. With that, he slipped under the covers, and rolled towards the wall. As he was drifting off, a movement on the bed brought him back to the surface enough to realized he wasn't alone.

He could tell he was hugging a warm body. As his brain struggled with towards conciousness, he realized he was tangled in in the arms of of the other body as well. His eyes finally opened and he found himself nose to nose with a strange mirror. His own bewildered expression stared back at him with eyes as shocked and green as his own. The only thing spoiling the illusion was that it was pink.

The two shot back, drew in in a deep breath and screamed in unison, "MOOOOOOOOM!" Their voices actually harmonized somehow. A few seconds later, Nicole burst into the room ready to kill something. Then her eyes fell on the bed and the two cats. They were pointing at each other and staring at her with the same look of fear and anger, unwittingly mirroring one another. They were even wearing the same thing. It was too much for Nicole and she laughed.

Now the two teens looked back at each other, and Gumball's memory sparked. Every birthday he'd had flashed trough his mind. There was always an empty chair, and an unopened present in his mind. All his life there had been an empty space. Even the bunk bed had remained half empty most of his life. He reached up into a hiding place behind the headboard and retrieved an old picture. In it, two babies slept, clasping each other exactly the way the two teens had woken moments earlier.

Gumball showed the picture to the pink cat. He laughed nervously. "I guess old habits die hard, huh... sis?" His voice ended in a hopeful upturn. He held out his hand, just like he'd always imagined doing. When she took it, he winced but didn't falter as he lead her across the room while their mother stared. In front of the closet, he took a deep and said the words he'd waited a lifetime to say , "I'm Gumball. You may know this already, but we've shared a birthday for 15 years now. What you may not know, is that I've celebrated it for you, too. These are for you."

Gumball opened the door and lifted a secret door. There, in the floor, was was a pile of gifts. 15 to be exact.

Lexy knelt down, "When did you get these? How did you even know I was here?"

"I didn't.", Gumball shrugged. "I just never gave up. I bought the first 4 when we turned 4, and one every year since. I knew you would find your way back. I wanted to make sure you knew that you were never forgotten when you got here. It's nice to see you again, Lexy."

Lexy scrubbed at the tears in her eyes and looked him. After a moment she stood up and hugged him. "It's nice to see you too, Gumball."

So, what's Anais planning? What will she do with her new found knowledge? What will Gumball do about his revelation. And will everyone in the family accept Lexy as readily as her brother? LOL. Who knows? Find out next time.