Merry Christmas! I will update again tomorrow (Saturday) as usual, but I wanted to update today as a special Christmas present. I hope you all had wonderful holidays (no matter which one you celebrate).
~CWA
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Danny Fenton
I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse sleeping under the same roof as Aunt Cass and Tadashi while I'm in my 'supposed recovery.' They call it recovery (as they still aren't sure about the doctor's diagnosis of it being stress related). I call it bullshit. I feel completely better and I doubt that anything is gonna happen again, especially if I avoid doing experiments- no matter how much I want to rip open my leg again to get a good look at what's really going on. Either way, it's like I'm a newborn baby or something with the way they're treating me.
I'm on a medical leave from the college- a doctor finally gave an excuse note after Aunt Cass' pestering. Which means that it should give me plenty of free time to spend with Ellie. Except it's not. Instead I'm restrained to just the cafe as Aunt Cass and Tadashi dot on me and cater to my every need. It's not nearly as good as it sounds. Man, I almost wish that Jazz hadn't left so that she could knock some sense into these people. Wait. Nevermind. If Jazz was here, she'd just be laughing at me the whole time which is no help at all.
With a small groan, I force myself out of the bed. I can hear Ellie's giggling voice downstairs, followed by Hiro and Aunt Cass's voices. It's nice to know that someone is having fun. I barely make it out of bed before Tadashi appears like some sort of ghost. Pft. Puns.
"Where do you think you're going," Tadashi dots on me, gently pushing me back to the bed, "You can't-"
His hands are having around as he tries to find the right words.
"-Can't go to the cafe to actually get some food," I offer with a raised eyebrow, causing him to flush.
His cheeks get all puffy as he huffs,
"-You can get some food, but you're not going down to the cafe. I may not be sure what was wrong with you, but I'm not going to let it happen again."
For a moment, my expression softens. I consider telling him that I'll be okay. That it won't happen again because I won't let. That I hate to make even worry. Another part of me just wants to hug him, bring him close, and let our auras absorb into each other endlessly. But then my mischievous side sparks up, causing a small smirk on my face. I back a bit away from Tadashi, giving him a small shrug,
"Well I guess you give me no choice, Dashi~"
He raises an eyebrow, eying me cautiously. But before he can react, I'm already darting past him and down the stairs straight to the cafe. I don't even have to use my above-average speed to get ahead of him, laughing as I do so since I can hear his cursing echoing behind me as he scrambles to run after me. Heh. He'll never catch me alive. I practically glide down the steps into the cafe, nearly running into Aunt Cass as she rears back with a startled expression on her face, a tray of dirty plates and coffee mugs in her hand.
Her shock turns into a small scolding expression, ready to give me a lecture for being out of bed, but as she hears Tadashi running down the stairs frantically calling my name and looks to me, noticing the smile on my face, she just shakes her head with amusement before waving me off. Thank God for Aunt Cass. I give her a small, two-finger salute as a thank you and continue on my run, heading straight for the doors of the cafe with the hopes of making it to freedom. I'll probably head to the Waffle House or the gym- I feel like I could use some exercise after all of this.
At the rate of my speed, I may be able to make it out of the cafe completely. Except there's two things I didn't account for. One being my daughter. The other being Hiro. The second Ellie spots me heading toward the door, her eyes light up as she lets out a cry of Daddy. Hiro has a similar reaction, minus the cheer, as he grins ear to ear and after sharing a look with Ellie, they both jump from their spots and run straight for me. Hiro does surprisingly well catching up to Ellie, though my little girl is only a few unnoticeable centimeters off the ground as she flies through the area.
My eyes widen slightly as my body tenses. If not for my firm standing and preparing myself for this, I would have been knocked completely to the ground by the little devils. Hiro jumps onto my back with a laugh, wrapping his hands around my neck and his legs around my waist as if it's the easiest thing in the world. Ellie is clinging to my leg with a firm grip, her arms tightly wounding up my leg as her own little legs wrap around my ankle and her little tush rests on my foot. She looks up to me with a goofy expression on her face, making it clear she's not going anywhere.
"I'll just take you two with me then~," my voice is a bit sing-song as I continue walking as if I don't have the two extra weights.
My walking is a bit awkward, causing me to be a bit slower as I'm careful to not hurt Ellie or drop Hiro. But I'm almost to the door when I hear Tadashi's voice call out to me again.
"S-Stop," he wheezes, his voice breathy and raspy.
I turn carefully, swinging my leg high and exaggerated, causing Ellie to giggle as she finds herself getting waved around like a ragdoll. Tadashi stands at the end of the staircase, his face is tinged with pink and he's wheezing heavily as he hunches over. He waves off Aunt Cass when she comes over to him in concern, but still tries to speak to me as he catches his breath.
"….Danny, just… please," he can't even form complete sentences, yet I know what he means.
I give him a cheeky smile,
"Gee, 'Dashi, I would go up to the room, but I have these weird growths..."
Hiro snorts at the joke and Ellie giggles obliviously as I gesture with my free hand toward Hiro and herself, my grin never wavering. Tadashi eyes the sight before him with amusement before cracking a small smile.
"I guess we'll just have to surgically remove them," Tadsahi suggests jokingly as he makes his way over to me.
A small light bulb goes off in my head, getting an idea on just how I can remove them. Hiro and Ellie exchange slightly confused looks- though for different reasons. Ellie isn't sure what surgically means while Hiro just isn't sure what we plan on doing. Yet one shared look with Tadashi tells me we have the same idea running through our minds. Before Hiro can get away, Tadashi is already behind me tickling his sides causing Hiro to yelp and let go. I reach down and gently tickle Ellie, who giggles and laughs loudly as she lets go with a big grin on her face.
I can still hear Hiro's protests coming from behind me and I figure that Tadashi is holding his brother tightly to keep him from falling as Hiro lets go of me. I pick up Ellie with ease as she continues to just giggle. I can see Aunt Cass watching us with a smile on her face, chuckling a bit to herself as she stands behind the counter. Tadashi and I both begin swinging the small demons around, barely dodging each other as we do so, causing the cafe to be filled with laughs and giggles from the teen and girl.
"Alright, I think that's enough," Tadashi huffs a bit, losing his breath as he sets Hiro down with a forlorn expression on his face, "…. Great, I think I'm getting old."
He pops his back with a wince before rubbing the area behind his neck, causing me to laugh slightly as I set down Ellie. My little girl giggles before running off toward Aunt Cass, letting out a few stray pleads about cookies that cause Hiro to follow her in the hopes of getting some cookies himself. I clasp Tadashi on the shoulder with a fond expression on my face,
"Don't worry, 'Dashi, you look great for your age!"
I wink at him teasingly, causing him to flush as he mutters something about me being too witty and sarcastic for my own good. I just continue to give him a cheeky grin. He sighs a bit at my behavior, shaking his head before he just gives me a slightly amused look that tells me that my jokes aren't in vain.
"And," I continue, "Since I'm obviously doing better, what do you say about going to the gym or the waffle house? Or maybe to the movies?"
Tadashi thinks it over for a moment, his eyebrow furrowing as he weighs the pros and cons. I hope he says yes, I hope to God he says we can go out. I can't stand being couped up in here any longer. I need to get out. I need to explore. I need to do something. After what seems like forever, he finally looks up to me with a small, fine I give up smile.
"Okay… How about we go see The Martian?"
My eyes light up like a thousand suns at the mention of the movie. The book, which inspired the new movie, has always been one of my favorite books. It has humor, space, good characters, realism, and did I mention space? It's everything a funny little space nerd could want. At the sight of my expression, Tadashi lets out a booming laugh,
"I take that as a yes then?"
"More like, hell yes."
