This chapter contains a lot of fluff. Enjoy!

Thank You

Chapter 4 Helping Hands

The floorboards creaked with each step they took, heading further and further into the house. While curious as to where they were heading, Chip was more than releived by the fact his dad had forgiven him. The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that family has it's share of ups and downs.

Soon the father and son duo stopped in front of a door. Chip was instantly confused by the sudden shift in scenery. "Go on. Open the door." Mr. Whistler said. Chip reached out and grasped the doorknob. Carefully he turned it and the door squeaked open. Chip then stepped inside, taking in the surroundings that had been set up. There wasn't a spec of dust in the whole room; the floor was clean, a bed that hadn't been slept in had blankets on it that looked brand new and with a nightstand accompanying it was pressed up against the wall. A dresser was set up on the far right, next to a single window, with curtains pulled back just the tiniest bit to let the evening sun shine through and photos of Chips childhood and teen years lined the walls.

"Did you set up this bedroom?" Chip asked, realizing right away after looking at the framed portraits that this room was made especially for him.

"I may have had renovations done and had a second room added on to this place. Just in case you ever decided to visit or in this particular case; needed somewhere to stay." Mr. Whistler confessed, leaning against the doorframe. "I think I made the right descion in the end." He smiled, happy with himself. "Why don't you take it easy now and get yourself settled in and I'll go make us dinner? Sound good? You really look like you need a break." That was the least he could do for his own flesh and blood son.

Chip snapped himself back into reality, not realizing for a minute that he was fading out once again. "Uh yeah, I could eat. That sounds great after the rough day I've had. Call me when it's ready." With a nod and a thumbs up, Mr. Whistler headed out of the room and tword the kitchen, leaving Chip alone.

While still in shock upon this room, Chip stared wandering around, taking in the portraits of his younger, happy go lucky self which reminded him of a previous life. A life that wasn't filled with revenge and psychopathic tendencies. Soon, images of Cricket began to flicker through his mind. Cricket and his energetic personality, something that Chip himself didn't have. Chip then mentally shoved those thoughts away, a tranquil sigh of relief escaped his mouth immediately after doing so, at least here he was far away from his long-time rival. Hopefully he'd never encounter Cricket or any Green family member ever again.

He had wondered a few times if his dad had met Cricket in person that he would've simply seen a younger version of Chip himself.

Back in his childhood, Chip was a carefree kid, not worried about a business or money at all. He had watched his parents plow the fields and tend crops all the time back in the country. "Maybe I should've listened to dad and tried farming at least once." He said to himself as he laid down on his bed and streched himself out. He sighed, cupping his hands behind his head. Both his dad and Bill's mantra of "You reap what you sow" and "you gotta put in the work before you can reap the rewards." played over and over again in his mind.

Those two played on a continuous loop like a broken record for twenty minutes until Chip heard his dads voice again, calling him for food.

"Chip, dinner's ready!"

"Coming dad!" Chip called back as he pulled himself up and headed tword the dining room. Upon inspection of the dining room table, he was greeted with chicken and potatos, a plate of veggies with ranch on the side, and a nice tall glass of fresh milk. Chip pulled out the chair and took a seat across from his dad. "Are these veggies from the garden I noticed out back?"

Mr. Whistler gave Chip a warm smile, impressed he had even taken notice of that. "Yes they are. I've been growing these for a while, you tend to have a lot of free time after you retire. See I told you farming was rewarding. How do you think me and your mother kept you well fed back on the country farm?"

Chip gestured a thumbs up, picked up the knife and fork and began munching on the veggies, savoring the flavor of a real homecooked meal. The happy sigh after that first flavor filled bite told everything. This day was actually ending well for Chip; a decent meal and a cold beverage (that wasn't a whole pizza with a can of Splish,) a comfortable bed to lay in to hopefully put a decent end to the sucky day he had had already and he was talking things over and patching things up with his dad.

His banishment from the city was slowly starting to become a distant memory for him now. Maybe crash landing here was the best thing that ever happened to him?

"I do see the benfit of the farming and actually, I can taste the reward. I can see why you and mom tried so hard to get me to embrace it too."After a few more mouthfuls of food and some sips of milk to take time to build up his confidence, Chip finally worked up enough courage to say something he'd rarely ever said to his father, "Dad, thank you. Not just for the meal but your hospitality and comfort as well. I needed this and I realize that I haven't been very greatful or appreciative of what you've done for me. I know you checked in on me frequently and I know you were just making sure I was on the right track. And I'm..." The words caught in his throat, causing Chip to hack and beat his chest but finally, he got them out. "I'm sorry for being a horrible son." The end of that retaliation ignited a fire in Mr. Whistler eyes, which immediately caused him to drop the fork he was holding in disbelief.

He gave Chip a straight stare that practically screamed, 'How could you even say that?' Before he spoke his truth, "Chip Whistler, you are not a horrible son. You just follow your own path. I get that we have our differences, that's true about any two people but we're still family. You're the only one I've got, I don't you to waste your life by going through the same old things. If things for you aren't currently working out, maybe it's time to move on and try something new. You know branch out a little bit and don't get stuck in the same old rut." He suggested.

Chip was almost a hundred percent confident as to where this suggestion was heading;

And he was a hundred percent confident that it had something to do with farming.

"What did you have in mind for me try?" Now Chip was the one raising the eyebrow and his fathers anwser is exactly what he had anticipated.

"Well son, you know farming runs in the Whistler family blood and since you're the next and probably last generation..." Mr. Whistler motioned with his hands for Chip to finish his statement for him. "See where I'm going with this?"

"You want me to try my hand at farming." A smile from his dad meant his answer was on point. "I had a hunch that's where this talk was headed." That was the last thing spoken until the end of the meal.

Pretty soon Chip had scraped the plate clean and pushed the empty dish back, patting his stomach in contentment. "Delicious, I could eat that all over again."

"Glad you enjoyed it." Mr. Whistler patted himself on the back, telling himself "You did good." Before getting up and collecting the dishes to be washed. But as soon as he took two steps forward, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Wait a sec dad, can I give you a hand with those?" Chip offered before his right hand moved up to scratch the base of his neck. "You know since, I'm probably gonna be here a while." The blonde figured if there was a better opportunity to try and better himself, this was it.

"Sure, that'd be great. Thanks and thank you for honesty earlier." Mr. Whistler sat the dishes down and let Chip have at it. Chip then scooted his chair back, collected the dishes and cups (including the mugs from earlier) and headed for the sink to start washing them with a small smile on his face. His dad simply watched in surprise with wide eyes and wondering for a breif moment if this still was his son. "Maybe Chip's finally seen light?"

Soon the last of the dishes were scrubbed and put away. As Chip put the last plate in the drainer, the blonde gazed at his reflection, only this time, he saw a semi reformed, non crazy eyed image looking back at him. A smile soon spread across his face and his eyes met the gap in his teeth as his tongue ran over it. "I guess this is the fate of my teeth now. Always chipped and will forever have a gap."

"Is this the second time you've chipped your teeth?" Mr. Whistler wondered, faintly hearing the whistling coming from Chip's mouth while he talked and he had to stifle a laugh that his son thankfully didn't hear. Chip's eyes met his dads and he shook his head no.

"Third time?" Chip held up his hand to put a stop to the guessing game, before revealing how much his mouth had suffered over the last few months.

"I've replaced these chompers so many times, that I racked up quite the dentist bill. If it wasn't for the money I had made both before and after taking over the company, I wouldn't know how to afford some of these. Composite resin, highly toxic indestructible bonded polymer, one platinum/titanium tooth later turned into a mouthful of them and lastly, the set I have now. Guess this is my legacy." Chip gave a slight laugh. "But it does fit my name now, I'm stuck with this gap permanently cause I have no dentist anymore." He then raised his hands over his head as a yawn escaped his mouth.

Mr. Whistler sensed fatigue settling over Chip. Given the roller-coaster of hell he had been through tonight already, it made perfect sense. "You sound like you could use a good night's sleep. I can also see it in your eyes and I can't stand to see you looking so...what's the word I'm looking for? Ratty. No offense." He didn't mean to judge Chip so harshly but he wasn't a liar.

"No offense taken. I know I look horrible. I was in a helicopter crash so it would make sense."

"You hang tight for a minute and I'll go round you up an old pair of pajamas." Mr. Whistler stood back up, patted Chip's shoulder and then headed for the hall closet.

"Alright. Thank you." Chip was relieved this day was almost over. He needed a good night's sleep now more than ever.

A/N

Alright, hope this chapter was worth the wait. ^_^ That's why I made this one a little longer to make up for it. I was also wrong, this ain't the last chapter. One more left. I wanted to make this a family bonding chapter and that's exactly what I did. I'm also so excited for the new Big City Greens episode.

And fun fact: The original title of this story was going to be The Tooth of The Matter. See what I did there? Lol. Alright, that's enough of that, just needed to get a joke out of the way. :P I'm in the current process of drumming up my new Big City Greens fic which I had mentioned in the chapter 2 note, so excited for that. I had thought about taking it in a different direction but after careful consideration, I'm going to stick with my original plan. Ok guys, hope you enjoyed. Until next time, keep smiling! Bingo Bango.