"Oh my god...M-mum!? D-Dad!? Is...i-i-s it really you!?"
She teared up. "Yes sweetheart, it really is! I can't believe we've finally found you!"
"I...I-I don't know what to say..."
"Well, you could start by inviting us in!" His dad joked.
"O-oh of course, yeah, come in!"
They came into the living room. where Nicole and Anais saw them from the kitchen. Nicole turned to them confused.
"Wha-excuse me, what do you think you're doing!? Who are these people you've brought into my house without asking?" She raised her eyebrow annoyed.
"They're uhh...they're my parents..."
She dropped the plate she was holding, causing it to smash on the floor whilst Anais looked up from her book in shock.
"WHAT!?" They exclaimed in disbelief.
Richard jolted awake on the sofa, looking around confused."HUH, WHAT'S GOING ON!?"
"Honey, Darwin's...Darwin's parents are here." She said in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know we are."
"No, his...his real parents."
He turned and saw them.
"Oh! Err...Hi!"
He reached out his hand for a handshake. "Uh, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," They smiled.
He shook their fins. "Ooh, 'll go get refreshments!"
He ran into the kitchen and Nicole immediately had to stop him from bring out the entire kitchen to them.
"Honey, don't go overboard! Why don't you guys take a seat, we'll be with you in a second!"
"Of course!" The two took a seat as ANais hopped down and join her siblings.
"So...these are really your parents?" She asked not entirely believing it.
"I...I think so." He replied, also unsure himself.
"I assurer you, it really is us sweetheart."
"But...didn't you tell us they were dead?" Anais asked.
"Yeah, you offered to use their inheritance to get us those movie tickets that one time." Gumball added.
"I thought they were but...I guess not..."
"Inheritance? What inheritance?" His dad asked.
"They were a chest full of bubbles.." Gumball responded, hiding a smirk.
"A chest? Didn't we get that as a decoration for his bowl?" She giggled.
"Well, I..." Darwin began to respond.
"Oh yeah! I can't believe he managed to confuse himself like that! I mean, why would his parents leave him bubbles?" He laughed.
"I was young when you got it okay?!" Darwin crossed his arms and looked away, feeling hamulated.
Gumball smiled and placed his paw onto his shoulder as Anais hugged him. "Aww, bud, we're only teasing you!"
Darwin smiled weakly and rolled his eyes. "I know, I know..."
Nicole and Richard came in with a tray containing a plate of biscuits and mini cakes, cups of coffee for them and Darwin's parents, and a jug of juice of the kids.
"Refreshments are served!" Nicole smiled as she placed it down onto the table.
Nicole sat next to Darwin's parents on the sofa, and Richard took a chair from the kitchen and sat on that as the kids sat on the carpet.
The kids helped themselves to some cakes and biscuits as Darwin's mother spoke.
"So, Darwin..." Darwin's mother smiled. "I like that name. Darwin. It suits you!"
"You can thank him for that.. He's the one who chose it." He nodded towards Gumball.
"Nah, don't give me too much credit, I just used a bowl of alphabet soup to pick for me."
"Well the soup said jpxfrd so I've no idea where you got Darwin from." Nicole rolled her eyes.
"Well, wherever it came from, it's the perfect name. Better than we what we had chosen." His dad replied.
"I...I had a name...before they adopted me?:
"Of course, we didn't just call you fish!" His Mom laughed.
"So...what...what's my 'real' name?"
"Oh boy, are you sure you wanna know? We don't want another situation like...you know who..."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine...right?" He looked towards Anais.
"I mean...probably..." She shrugged.
He turned back to his parents. "So, what was it?"
"You were called Raglan." His mom
"Raglan? But that...that's one of my middle names!"
"It is?" She asked surprised.
"Yeah! Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson the Third!"
"Nicodemus? Ahab? Those...those are our names..." They replied shocked
"They are!? But...how did I end up with those as my middle names? I didn't remember them."
"I think I can answer that." Anais spoke up. "When you were coming up with ideas for your middle names you must have subconsciously remembered your and your parent's names without realizing."
"Wow, I...I had no idea. This whole time, deep down, a part of me still remembered..."
They smiled. "Aww, you never truly forgot us..."
He chuckled. "I guess not.."
"Wait, you said third. What do you mean third?"
"Well, I'm not the first Darwin they had. They had two other normal goldfish before they adopted me."
"Actually uh about that...I've wanted to tell you for a while now but uh...we actually had seven fish before you, not two..." Gumball rubbed his arm.
"Wait what!?" Darwin asked shocked.
"I didn't want you to feel like I was a bad owner or friend, or that I...that I didn't care about you, so I told you I had less fish than I actually had...I'm sorry for lying to you..."
Darwin looked at him a little annoyed, before noticing his ears lowering slightly, and realized he genuinely felt guilty.
He smiled and placed his fin on top of Gumball's paw.
"Oh, Gumball...it's okay, It doesn't matter how many fish you had before me, I know you care about me. I've never doubted that, not ever."
Gumball smiled and hugged him. "Thanks bro...I was really scared to tell you...it felt like such a huge weight on my chest..."
"Aww, it's okay..." He hugged Gumball back and everyone else awwed.
Once the two let go Darwin's Mom smiled. "So honey, why don't you properly introduce us to everyone?"
"Oh yeah, sure!" He got up and pointed to everyone as he introduced them. "This is Nicole, my adoptive mother." She gave a smile. "Nice to meet you!"
"Richard, my adoptive father." He looked up with load of biscuits in his mouth and waved. "Hello!"
"Gumball, my twelve year old brother and best friend." He fist-bumped Darwin. "Sup!"
"and Anais, my genius four year old little sister." She did a curtsy. "Pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." His mother replied before extending her fin.
"Likewise." Nicole shook it.
"Mrs and Mr Watterson, we can't thank you enough for everything you have done for our son. You've given him a home, a family, an education. That's more than we ever could have asked for." His father thanked them.
Nicole smiled. "Oh, it was no problem, honestly. In fact, it's been an absolute pleasure. He's a wonderful kid."
Richard nodded. "Absolutely wonderful. You should be very proud. We all adore him. Especially Gumball. Those two are practically inseparable." He chuckled and nodded to Darwin and Gumball.
"I see. " His mother turned to Gumball and Anais. "Thank you for being such a great brother and sister to our little Raglan and making him feel so welcome in your family. We're very, very grateful."
"Oh, it was no problem at all. Darwin's the best friend I ever could've wished for. He's helped me through thick and thin, always by my side whether it's going on some whacky adventure, comforting or cheering me up or just having a great time. I don't know what I'd do without him!"
Anais nodded. "He's an amazing brother! He's always willing to help and he always helps cheer me up whenever I'm upset. We both absolutely adore him!"
They smiled. "After such a troubled start he still managed to become such a polite and independent young gentleman, and we're so glad he's so genuinely happy here and that he shares that happiness with all of you."
Nicole noticed he was being quiet and looking down, seemingly upset .
"Honey? Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh, err, yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You aren't saying much. Your parents are here, I thought you'd be a little more enthusiastic."
"Y-yeah...I-I'm fine, honestly. I'm just...j-just...just..."
He suddenly started crying, feeling a surge of emotions.
"Awww, buddy..." Gumball got up and gave him a hug as everyone awwed.
He cried into Gumball's sweater. "I'm s-sorry..."
"Hey, it's okay, you don't need to apologize. You never need to apologize for crying."
"I just...seeing them again after all these years..."
"I know, it must be pretty overwhelming huh?"
"It's...it's not that...it's just..."
Darwin suddenly looked towards his parents, frowning at them before taking a step towards them .
"Just what...?" He raised his eyebrow.
He clenched his fist before lashing out at them.
"Why!? Why did you abandon me!? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!?"
They both lent back, shocked.
"How could you do that to me!? YOUR OWN SON! I...I've wondered for years if it was something that I did. WAS I NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!? DID YOU NOT CARE ABOUT ME!? DID YOU NOT LOVE ME!? DID YOU...D-DID Y-YOU...YOU..."
He started sobbing, having had that bottled up inside him for years.
Gumball hugged him tighter and Anais got up and joined.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm sure it wasn't your fault. I'm sure they had a good reason. You can't blame yourself." She assured him.
He hugged her back continuing to cry.
His mother spoke to him softly. "Oh honey, no, no, we didn't get rid of you, we never wanted to do that! You see, we got separated in an...accident."
His father nodded. "We were devastated!. Our only son, lost, all by himself. You must have been terrified..."
"Separated? H-How?" He sniffed.
"It's a long story..."