Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.
Summary: Arnold can't decide which is harder: Raising a baby or figuring out his feelings for Helga.
Warnings: This story will be rated a high T for now, and will get bumped up to an M rating in later chapters.
Companion Piece to this story is called From the Dugout.
Soundtrack for previous chapter: Everyday Superhero by Smash Mouth
Soundtrack for this chapter: Disease by Matchbox Twenty.
Chapter 2:
"Of Anger and 'Frustrations'"
Mid September.
Tuesday Afternoon.
Arnold tapped his pencil as he stared at the math problem. He was barely able to contain the yawn that desperately wanted to escape. He hadn't really been sleeping all that well since…well, since Henry was born. It had seemed like it was going to get better when his son had begun to sleep through the night, but it only caused Arnold to discover a new issue for a restless sleep.
Helga opened the door, flushed and slick with sweat. Arnold forced his eyes from wandering over the skin revealed due to her workout attire and back to his math assignment. He stared at the same problem for several moments, his mind unable to settle and focus on the numbers.
"Henry go down alright?"
Arnold cleared his throat, and kept his eyes on the paper, "Yeah. His rash has gone down, so he didn't fuss as much."
"Oh, good. Poor little guy."
"Um, how was your workout?"
"Great! And Phoebe was actually able to join me for my run, so that was nice," Helga gathered up her shower needs, "I'm gonna go rinse off before Henry wakes up."
"Sounds good," Arnold managed, and he released a sigh of relief when the door shut.
How on earth was he supposed to be getting any sleep when he had to lie right next to her?
Friday Morning.
Friday.
For most teenagers, it was a happy day.
For Arnold, it was just a reminder that he had two more days before Sunday, his only real day off.
And when you're a parent, there's really no such thing as a 'day off' anyway.
He watched as Helga strode ahead of him, on her mission to have her morning chat with Phoebe, when in typical fashion Harold stepped into her path. Its been something of a routine between the two, where Harold feels the need to antagonize Helga the way he had done when they were kids and Helga would respond in some type of physical retaliation.
Case and point, when Arnold watched as the blonde shoved the larger teen out of her way without much of a passing glance. Arnold would've rolled his eyes at the sight, but he had grown used to it to the point of not even really noticing.
He leaned against the stoop side as Gerald, Sid, and Stinky talked about…something.
He hadn't gotten any sleep last night. It had been getting colder, and Helga had snuggled up to him the entire night. He got up early, feeling impossibly tense and in need of a cold shower.
Gerald had begun to notice how off his friend was acting lately, even noting now that the blond seemed to be in a bit of a poor mood. He made a mental note to try bringing it up later.
Sid speaks up after watching Harold recover from Helga's rebuke, "Boy howdy, Helga's as tough as ever!" He chuckles as he turns back to the group, "Though, I gotta say…abrasive as she is, she is one Grade A MILF!"
It was with that, the Sid turned and headed up the steps. Arnold was left there, suddenly standing up much straighter and blinking.
Stinky chortled and elbowed Arnold, "Ain't that something, Arnold? Sid making a sure accurate point about how Helga is one of them good lookin' mothers all us fellers want to-
"Stinky…shut up," Arnold cut off as he gave him a half lidded glare.
"What? What'd I say?"
Arnold simply walked up the steps into school without bothering to speak any further, with his fists curling at his sides.
While Stinky was left scratching his head in confusion, Gerald looked on with growing concern.
4th Period. Gym Class.
"Man, you wanna know the best thing about taking P.E. as a senior?" Gerald asked as he and Arnold dressed out for gym.
"What's that?"
"Friday means Dodgeball Day!" The two shut their respective lockers and made their way out to the main gym, "Ain't nothing like blowing off a little steam after a long week."
"Yeah," Arnold replied a bit stiffly.
Twenty minutes later, Gerald watched as Arnold pegged yet another guy with more force than necessary. He dodged a ball and raised a brow over at his friend, who was concentrating very hard on his next target, "Yo, Arnold! The point of the game is to hit people with the ball. Not to annihilate them!"
Arnold gives a stiff shrug, "I'm just playing the game, Gerald. Its nothing personal."
At that moment, his eyes zeroed in on Sid sprinting for a lone ball. Arnold whipped the ball hard at the teen's ankles, causing Sid to yelp as he sprawled across the gym floor.
Gerald raised a brow again at Arnold, who only offered a blank look and another shrug before he resumed playing.
After the game, the guys all headed back to the locker room to change. Sid, having no hard feelings over the trip up, amiably slaps Arnold's shoulder, "Man, you were on your A-game today, Arnold!"
"Thanks," the blond replied with no real enthusiasm.
Sid was undeterred and continued on in the loud way of his, "Yeah, nothing like Dodgeball to blow off some steam. But then again, you probably get to blow off plenty of steam all the time, ay Arnold?"
Arnold faltered as he pulled his shirt over his head, "What?"
"Yeah, you're one lucky dog, Arnold. Having access to a body like Helga's all the time?" Enough of the guys showed their agreement by their facial expressions, and Sid went on, "Man oh man, not to mention how she was looking today, right? If I were you, I'd be-
Sid was cut off suddenly when Arnold jerked him up against a locker. Everyone's jaws dropped and their eyes went wide, including Sid.
"Listen, Sid," Arnold said in a low, harsh tone, "I get that you want to bone the mother of my kid, but the fact of the matter is, is you're not and I don't want to hear anymore about it. Got it?"
Sid nodded rapidly and Arnold let him go before collecting his stuff and headed out.
Sunday afternoon.
"Gosh, he just love that thing!" Phoebe gushed as she watched Henry bop around in his Exi-saucer, before sitting on the couch beside Helga.
"He's a little too eager to get moving around for my liking," Helga pouted, "He's getting so big."
"But it must be so much fun to play more with him and have him respond now right?"
"Of course…he just should slow down the growing a little bit."
After a few more moments of cooing over Henry's many new sounds, Phoebe turns to Helga again, "I'm glad the boys were able to go and hang out today, too. I think it's very important that the two of you still manage to maintain some sort of social life."
Helga slouched against the green couch and crossed her arms, "Yeah, maybe some Man-Time will help adjust Arnold's attitude."
Phoebe brought a hand to her mouth in a gesture of concern, "Arnold has seemed a bit…strained lately. He certainly has a full schedule."
"And I don't?"
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that Helga!"
Helga waved it off, "Yeah, I know. And yeah, I get he's got a grueling schedule, but that's not an excuse to have this attitude with me! I mean, crimeny, he doesn't even see me very much these days! And yet, I feel like he's just…annoyed with me all the time now. Like he'd rather be around me as little as possible. Since Henry was born, we got into the tag team dynamic where we hardly ever spend time together. Like, not even all three of us as a family. It was the only way we were able to manage during those first few months, but now with Henry's more manageable schedule, I just feel like Arnold really doesn't want to be around me much."
"Oh Helga, I'm sure its nothing like that. Everyone deals with parenthood differently. He's probably just working through some things. It's probably got nothing to do with you."
"Thanks, Pheebs."
"Certainly, Helga!"
Gerald carried the basketball under his arm as the two walked off from the court to sit over on the benches. As Arnold sagged against the bench, Gerald observed the blond closely.
Finally, Gerald spoke up, "Pretty intense game today."
Arnold shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."
"Whatever happened to playing for fun?"
"Isn't winning fun?" Arnold said sarcastically.
"Well, obviously. You just came at it like it was your only mission in life," Gerald rubbed at his shoulder and frowned, "Not to mention you knocked me down to make a basket."
"I said I was sorry."
"I know you did," Gerald snapped and then sighed, "Arnold…what is going on with you, man?"
Arnold was silent for a few moments before he spoke up hesitantly, "What do you mean?"
"I mean you've been acting all grouchy lately. And that whole thing with Sid on Friday? That isn't like you at all. You've been irritable, you seem tense all the time, you don't look like you've got any sleep in I don't know how long."
"That's probably because I haven't," Arnold forced out as he hunched over, rubbing at his temples.
"But, I thought you said Henry was sleeping through the night now."
"He is."
"Then what-
"Look, Gerald I'm just….frustrated, alright?" Arnold snapped.
Gerald stared at him for several moments, "You mean like…you're frustrated?"
"Helga and I haven't slept together since she was, like, six months pregnant, okay?"
Gerald's jaw dropped, "That's been almost-
"Its been about eight months, alright?" Arnold sat back, covered his face and sighed. He rubbed his face before straightening up and facing his friend, "We haven't…the last time anything happened between us was just right after Henry was born. We shared a brief moment, and that's been it since then. For a while, I was too busy to bother with the idea of sex but then Henry started sleeping more and Helga had gotten back to how she looked before she was pregnant and we share the same bed and I can't get any sleep because I'm just so aware of how close we are."
When Arnold groaned miserably, Gerald's head shook with sympathy, "Man, I had no idea."
"Well, it's not like I'm planning on getting any anytime soon. I know that. Helga made it clear it was just while she was pregnant and hopped up on hormones. She also made it clear we weren't any kind of couple," Arnold looked at his hands and sighed, "I'm not expecting anything, but I don't really have any way of dealing with it. I'm trying to figure out how to."
"Have you thought of talking to Helga about it?"
"I'm not in any mood to get my ass kicked, Gerald."
"Right, right that's a good point," Gerald nodded before gripping Arnold's shoulder, "But, you can't go on living like this. She probably notices something's up, so at least by letting her know…it might make things easier."
"Maybe…" Arnold trailed off.
"I don't think Helga would beat you up about it that much. You have a kid with her, dude. Even I have to give her a little more credit."
"I know, it's just…it's complicated."
"Why? Is there something else going on with you two?"
"No," Arnold responded quickly as he looked down at his feet.
Gerald looked at him a little suspiciously before nodding, "If you so say, man."
"…Thanks for, uh, listening Gerald."
"No problem, buddy," Gerald replied and then shook his head, "Mm-mm-mm! Arnold Shortman is craving some sex with Helga G. Pataki."
Arnold rolled his eyes before getting up and headed for his car.
"You're one bold kid, Arnold! A bold kid!"