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.

Previous Chapter's Soundtrack: Disease by Matchbox Twenty

This Chapter's Soundtrack: Working Man by Imagine Dragons

AUTHOR'S NOTE: After this chapter, this story will get bumped up to an 'M' rating! Yep, so spoiler alert! ;P

Forewarning, this chapter is a filler chapter. Sorry, but it sort of had to be done...good news is: After this, there won't be any 'boring' chapters until the epilogue! Yay!

Chapter 3:

"Of Becoming a Man and Becoming Legal"

Sunday, October 7.

"Oh boy, now we're all clean and happy and ready to play, aren't we Baby?" Helga cooed at Henry's smiling face as she made her way down the main stairs. As she approached the kitchen, where the smells of breakfast were wafting through, she heard Mr. Potts' voice call out.

"Hey, happy birthday Arnold! Don't let the old man talk ya into anything too crazy!"

"Thanks Mr. Potts!"

"Hey birthday boy, someone here wants your attention," Helga quipped as she walked in.

Arnold turned around in his chair and was greeted with his son's arms reaching out for him, "Hey, Buddy! Come 'ere."

Henry garbled as he made a grab for his daddy's nose. Arnold brought him close to blow raspberries against his neck, sending Henry into a fit of giggles.

Helga watched with a smile and Stella came up beside her and nudged her lightly, "You ready for some breakfast? I've got Henry's stuff made up already, so I can feed him while you eat."

"That'd be great, Stella. Thanks," Helga went to sit down, though not before tugging on Arnold's hair, "Happy birthday, Football Head."

Henry, amused by the face daddy had just made, copied the motion and gave Arnold's hair a good yank, squealing with joy at his success.

"Gee, thanks Helga," Arnold replied sarcastically, though he smiled at Henry's obvious enjoyment.

Helga watched the two as she ate her breakfast, admiring the way her son just absolutely adored his dad, and vice versa, when a knock broke her thoughts. A moment later and Gerald entered in with a loud whoop.

"Ooh, ladies and gentlemen…and Helga," the girl tossed a piece of toast at Gerald, but he continued on without missing a beat as he leaned over to give Arnold an unnecessarily tight hug from behind, "today, my best friend is a man!"

Arnold, who was holding a seated Henry on the table, wheezed, "Gerald, why do you have to be so weird sometimes?"

"Can't a brutha show his brutha from another mutha some love on his birthday?"

"Sure, but not with awkwardly long hugs," Arnold retorted as he shrugged against the embrace.

Henry watched this happily as he blew raspberries and clapped. Uncle Gerald was always so silly.

Abruptly, Gerald released his friend and spoke casually, "You ready to go yet, Arnold?"

"Just about."

"Going? Where are you guys going?" Helga questioned.

Arnold handed Henry off to his mom as he stood up, "Grandpa, dad and Gerald are taking me out for my birthday."

"All day?"

"That's right!" Gerald responded enthusiastically.

"Doing what?" Helga asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

"The better question, girly is what won't we be doing?" Phil said as he entered into the kitchen. He went over to give a good noogie to his grandson (much to Arnold's chagrin) before continuing on, "My Shortman is finally all grown up, and we're gonna make sure he experiences all the new legal benefits! Strip clubs! Buying cigarettes! Legally changing your name! Buying something useless off of the T.V.! Picking up skin mags!"

"Phil," Stella said in a condescending tone.

Phil shrugged, "What? It's a rite of passage!"

"Well, are we all ready to head out?" Miles asked. When the other three said yes, they made their way out of the kitchen.

"Alright men, we'll see you at dinner!" Stella called out.

Helga looked over at Henry, who had been placed in his high chair, "Well, I guess it'll just be you and me today, Handsome."

Henry only grinned.

Helga spent most of the day playing with Henry and finishing up what little school work she had. She tried not to dwell too much on the fact that she wasn't going to see much of Arnold today. It seemed silly to miss him, after all they did live together. However, she didn't really feel like they saw much of each other or spent any time together. She was becoming more and more convinced that Arnold didn't like being around her very much, which really sucked.

She thought she was being rather agreeable, and she kept her teasing down to a pretty friendly level…at least she thought so. Apparently it didn't matter.

And she didn't know how to approach Arnold about it, either. She had been hoping they could have spent at least a part of the day together as a family; she'd had no idea Arnold had made other plans already.

Arnold was a wonderful father, of that she was certain. And he's a great partner as far as their tag team routine goes.

But…that's about where it ends. Helga didn't even feel like they were friends at this point. There had been a time during her pregnancy where she had begun to hope that maybe Arnold was beginning to…

No. No, it was silly and stupid of her to hope he'd have any sort of feelings for her. All he'd been since Henry was born was…polite. Yet, lately even that's begun to change. He'd been short with her on a few occasions, and has only been replying with one sided answers if and when possible to something she asks, like he's trying to avoid any and all conversation with her that doesn't involve Henry.

Helga honestly wasn't sure how much longer she could live like this before blowing up at him, but she reminded herself of just everything he did to help make sure Henry was taken care of. His school and work schedule was tiring, so perhaps the stress was starting to get to him. The least she could do was give him the benefit of the doubt before tearing him a new asshole, right?

As she heard his footsteps coming up the attic stairs, she looked up from her book on the bed as the door opened and he walked in. He seemed to freeze for a split second when he saw her, but it was gone before she could be sure, "Hey, Henry up yet?"

"He should be waking any minute now," she smiled softly, "So, meet any strippers named Chastity?"

Arnold laughed as he went over to the closet to take off his shoes, "Nah. Gerald still isn't 18, so unfortunately for Grandpa, that one will just have to wait."

Helga chuckled and went to grab the gift from 'Henry', a little clay mold of his hand, when Helga noticed a bandage on Arnold's right forearm. Gasping, she went over to him and grasped his arm, "Was getting in a bar fight one of your 'rites of passage'?"

Arnold was silent for a moment, caught off guard by the unexpected contact, before shaking his head, "Oh, no it wasn't anything like that. Here," Arnold peeled back the gauze to revel the initials 'H.M.S.' on the inside of his forearm, "It was Gerald's birthday gift to me. I had mentioned wanting to get this one not long after Henry was born."

Helga stared in shock, and her mouth was agape, "You…got a tattoo? I…but, you totally don't seem like the type of guy to get a tattoo! You got a tattoo?"

Arnold pulled his arm back and rolled his eyes, "Actually, I got two."

"What?"

Arnold shrugged, "I'd always planned on getting one when I was 18 anyway, but this one was sort of an afterthought."

"What's…what else did you get?"

Arnold pulled up the left sleeve of the T-shirt he was wearing, uncovering a much larger gauze bandage wrapped around his bicep. Gingerly, he unwrapped it and revealed a thick band around his bicep made up of a tribal design.

Helga's eyes bulged, "You've got to be shitting me. Bible, is that for real?"

Arnold rolled his eyes again, "You watch way too much Kardashians."

"Is that a joke or not, Football Head?"

"No, it's not a joke. It's absolutely real, Helga."

"But…why? You're literally the last person I'd expect to get a tattoo, let alone two."

Arnold shrugged again, "It's a Green Eye traditional tattoo. Every male gets it when they come of age and reach manhood," Arnold smirked, "Usually, that's at age 15, but mom wasn't going for that. So, I just figured I'd get it when I turned 18."

Helga looked back at the black ink, and the skin around it was still an angry red, "I guess that's…pretty cool, actually."

Arnold gave a brief nod, "Dad has a different one, one that means warrior. That one goes on your back. And then mom has one on her foot that represents motherhood."

"Ouch, the feet are a bitch I hear. That was one of the places I had considered getting mine…before I heard how much it hurts."

"Well, I guess since its for mothers only, the Green Eyes figured there was something more painful."

"Hm, makes sense I guess," Helga gave a friendly push on his good shoulder, "I may just steal the initials idea when I go in. Maybe I'll man up and get it on my foot."

Arnold smiled but then he shot her a curious look, "Wait, so you're going to get a tattoo when you're 18?"

"Yep. I've known I wanted one for like ever."

"What are you gonna get?"

Helga blushed and shifted her gaze away, "Uh, I'm not sure yet. I just know I want one, that's all."

Arnold didn't seem convinced, but before he could respond Henry's cry sounded from the nursery. The blond eighteen year old got up to go and get his son, while Helga let out a small sigh of relief.

When Arnold came back out with a very happy Henry, Helga watched on. She saw as he lifted Henry up to play, the way the muscles of his bicep bunched beneath the ink, and how the pure look of love graced the man's features as he played with their son; all of it made her heart swell almost painfully.

She'd hold out a little longer before attempting to find out what was going on with Arnold. She only hoped it would get any worse.

Yeah, again sorry for this chapter. It was kinda blah to me, but from here on out this wagon trail is just gonna be moving right along! Don't forget that starting with the next chapter, this story will be rated M! So, when I post it, that's when I'll change the rating. Adjust your filters accordingly.

Thank you all so much for the reviews so far on this story! I'm so glad you're all sticking with this. I hope to have the next chapter out in a couple of days. Its gonna be a doozy from here on out folks!