Chapter 2: Reality
When Gumball and Darwin entered the house they could immediately spot their dad, who was hard at 'work' lying in front of the television watching TV scrolling through channels to find some interesting programme preferably about food. On his rumpled belly, covered with a Christmas jumper, was a plate of pancakes covered in maple syrup. The same smell came from the kitchen, only more intense and intensified. The children were perplexed for a moment, had Richard done something useful and made them dinner?
"Hi Dad, did you make the pies?" Gumball and Darwin asked together. Richard turned towards them and laughed hearing their words.
"Hi kids! Yeah sure, after all I can't even cook!" Said Richard jokingly. After these words, a little pink head leaned out from behind the island, who had his eyebrows lowered low while operating a frying pan in his hands.
"Ah, that would be too good to be true. Hi Anais," replied Gumball gravely. Even though he knew how lazy their father was he had a shadow of a hope that he had at least decided to do something for Christmas, but apparently he didn't much care to help anyone with anything. The two of them put their rucksacks next to the sofa Richard was lying on and hung their jackets on the hangers then headed for the kitchen.
"Hi boys, have a seat, obviously apart from my mum I'm the only one competent to operate the kitchen" Anais greeted. Next to her on the kitchen counter was a tower of pancakes so the girl was close to finishing preparing dinner. She placed the pancakes she had just fried on two plates, poured maple syrup over them and served them to Gumball and Darwin, who were staring impatiently at the extremely tasty looking plate.
"Enjoy," chuckled Anais as she placed the plates in front of the boys then returned to the kitchen to finish the task.
The pancakes were crispy on the outside and the inside was plump, like a pillow. Their delicate flavour, together with the tangy taste of maple syrup, gave the perfect combination of delicate yet subtle and sweet. The boys immediately enjoyed the food, not only were they not full after the school canteen but the lunch prepared by Anais was excellent!
"Wow, this is really good Anais! Where did you get this recipe?" Asked Gumball clearly pleased with the taste of the pancakes.
"A recipe is not everything. For food to really taste good you have to have a hand in it. Food that is made by someone who doesn't know how to cook even with the best recipe and products will be average at best," replied Anais confidently. Without thinking, Gumball nodded in agreement with her, as her complicated statement was too difficult for him to understand and in order not to cause an unnecessary argument he agreed with her.
"And why the urge to make pancakes? Usually it's Mum who makes us dinner after work or tells you to do it, although I haven't heard her tell you to do it today," Darwin said thoughtfully.
"Well, just maybe like Gumball trying to be as nice as I can, I want to get my dream present too" replied Anais. Gumball and Darwin shot a confident glance at each other - they both guessed what the little rabbit wanted for a present.
"Daisy the donkey?" They asked together.
"A new model came out less than a month ago that can talk when you hug it! She is so cute, I would love to get her so much!" Said Anais excitedly. Although she also really wanted to get what she wanted, her excitement was a far cry from that of Gumball for the new console.
"And it's not like you've always said that playtime is mostly about imagination?" Gumball asked.
"I'm not saying it doesn't, but a live conversation would make it easier for me to intervene in the imaginary world of play," replied Anais. The boys shrugged their shoulders at her words - she was only four years old so all in all, complete seriousness could not be required of her. Gumball and Darwin thanked them for their food and then went to their room so that they could talk about a present for Penny that Gumball could buy for her.
In the room, while Darwin booted up the computer and contemplated a gift he could give Gumball for his girlfriend, the blue cat was looking at his likeness embroidered on a jumper. It looked so cute that he couldn't take his eyes off Penny's work. He didn't know how much time and effort she had put into this gift to make it ready for the last day of school!
"Well isn't this the most beautiful gift I could get? Darwin look, I'm so much like myself on this jumper , like I'm staring into a mirror!" Said a charmed Gumball turning the garment towards his brother so that he too could see the image of Penny and Gumball on it. In fact it was apparent that the girl had nailed the gift, after all Penny had always been a perfectionist which made her boyfriend a little apprehensive about some things.
"Actually it will be hard to top her gift, you can see she has made an effort. And what would you like to gift her anyway?" Darwin asked. Gumball got a puzzled look on his face, he put the jumper back in his bag thinking about what gift would suit his girlfriend best. Buy her a similar jumper? That was a poor idea, he'd already told her he had something wonderful for her. Any clothes? No, that was a bad idea. Nothing original and even less special. What, then, could be special and not too expensive? The Watterson family wasn't known for being financially well off and even less so for Gumball himself who is only 12 years old!
"Hm...I don't know! I don't want to buy her clothes because she'll realise I haven't prepared anything special for her," said Gumball. Darwin fired up the internet search engine on his computer and typed in the phrase "Unique gift for a girl for Christmas" .
Immediately, all sorts of gift suggestions popped up. These ranged from a jumper with "Love" written on it to two tickets for a flight to Paris. Gumball, of course, didn't want to take these two options for obvious reasons, so he was left with no choice but to look for something in the middle - something that would show his commitment to the relationship and at the same time not cost a fortune.
After an hour of searching the internet and wandering around, Gumball found quite an interesting suggestion for a gift. They were gold earrings in the shape of a heart.
"I thought, 'Oh, this - isn't this perfect? This will fit Penny so well!" Exclaimed Gumball with delight. He quickly pictured in his mind his girlfriend with these earrings! She looked phenomenal...
"Actually they look nice, the price isn't too bad either because it's only $50...and hey! You can buy them at our nearby gallery!" said Darwin. Gumball walked over to his bedside shelf where his piggy bank rested. He opened it and dumped all the money on the furniture so he could count the amount he had. He had a lot of small money, but he didn't count it because it would take a lot of time and generally with cents little money would be collected, so he focused on the larger denominations he had.
"I own $60!" Shouted Gumball triumphantly, lifting into the air the amount with which he wanted to buy a present for Penny.
"Great! See, it looks like you already have a present for your girlfriend," said Darwin with conviction. Just in case, he saved a bookmark of the earrings for quick reference.
"Penny will surely be pleased with her present!" Said Gumball confidently as he collected the money back into the piggy bank.
"Of course she will be. Who wouldn't want anything made of gold!" Darwin said.
"Do you think it's real gold?" Asked Gumball uncertainly. On the one hand, the earrings did indeed look like they were made of a precious stone, but on the other hand, for gold, they were extremely cheap...
"The internet never lies," replied Darwin confidently.
As the boys were browsing for Gumball's girlfriend's present, Nicole entered the house. Gumball and Darwin became aware of this by the distinctive tapping sound of the front door closing. Only the cat was closing the door to the house like that.
"Your mum has arrived home, let's go and say hello to her," suggested Darwin. He and his brother left the room and together they greeted their mum, fighting on the stairs to see who would come down first to greet Nicole.
"Hi kids how was the last day of school?" Cat asked. She put her beige coat back on the coat rack and sat down with her husband, who had mustered up the strength to make room for his wife after resting on the couch all day.
"It was fine. The lessons were shortened the teachers were nice and even the food in the canteen was quite good!" Gumball communicated.
"Except for that fish...only someone brave or really hungry would eat it" added Darwin quietly.
"And did you get into any trouble for that last day? I'm asking as a precautionary measure to prepare for a call from the headmaster like last year" asked Nicole. Gumball laughed nervously recalling what happened last year two days before Christmas. As Nicole prepared the food for Christmas the headmaster of the school where her children were studying called with the news that Gumball had unaccountably set fire to the fire extinguishers! Nicole at first thought it was a joke and didn't take the report seriously, but eventually Gumball himself admitted that he had done it in an unexplained way. Nicole was so embarrassed by this that she didn't even shout at her son... she simply kept silent on the subject.
This year, however, was different. Zero scorching before Christmas was a big plus for Gumball, if he really cared about the present.
"How about your last day at work?" Gumball asked. Nicole hearing this question sulked with her answer clearly not knowing what to say. The smiling faces expressing interest in what their mother was about to say made Nicole have to lie. She didn't want to tell them that the day had gone badly and she was glad it was finally over. Unfortunately, the bad news didn't end there, as her boss said she would be getting less pay for December and the raise she had been promised would be postponed indefinitely!
"Well, good...yes! Good...but I'm glad I'll be able to rest...people deserve as much rest from work as you deserve from school" Nicole replied sounding as naturally happy as possible. Nicole was usually good at such manipulations so no one realised she was saying such words out of compulsion.
"Exactly children, adults need a break from work as much as children need a break from school" said Richard which did not get a positive response from Nicole who looked at her husband with her eyebrows lowered low.
"Richard, you don't work at all so you have more time off than me and the kids combined!" Nicole said. Richard lowered his head low with an obedient affirmative nod.
"Well...but now we're all off so there's nothing left to do but enjoy these days we're all going to spend together! I'm going to go make dinner, you're certainly hungry," Nicole said. She got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen taking the groceries out of her bag.
At 7.00 p.m., dinner was prepared by Nicole. It was already dark outside and the frost was undoubtedly strong as even inside the house you could feel the gentle touch of the frosty air sneaking through the open kitchen windows. The whole family gathered around the table to eat dinner, which Nicole had lovingly prepared for her family. For that evening, she had prepared pork chops along with potatoes and grated beetroot. It was one of the family's favourite dishes. In theory, it was most often prepared by a woman because it was good, nutritious and, above all, quite cheap to make, which was much better than what the school's dining hall served on a daily basis. Nicole set the table together with Anais and then she and her daughter served the food to the table.
Of course, it was no great surprise that Richard was the first to push his way to the table, and he was at the table like a flash, sitting down in his seat waiting for the food to be served to him. Then the ironic part of Nicole became active, who, seeing her husband perfectly well, purposely served him food last to make him suffer and to make him wait as long as possible. However, when he got his portion of food he was happy like a small child eating his portion as if he had not eaten anything for weeks.
Dinner passed quietly until it was unusually quiet. The TV in the living room quietly played in the background to keep the house from being completely silent, everyone ate their portion. The exception was Nicole, who looked at her plate reproachfully and moved her fork over the texture of the meat with a sigh. It was clear that eating was the last thing she felt like doing.
"Nicole..." Richard began uncertainly. Cat shook her head with a movement and looked at her partner with confusion and a kind of sadness.
"Are you going to eat that?" Asked a perplexed Richard. Nicole growled then moved her plate towards Richard.
"Eat it yourself, I'm not hungry," snarled Nicole. The children looked at each other in confusion. Nicole's reaction surprised them because such a question when eating with Richard was nothing new - he always wanted to 'make sure the food didn't go to waste'. Although, in truth, it was anyone's guess that the rabbit alone would have been able to eat the family's entire dinner.
"What's wrong mum? After all, it's obvious you're not behaving normally," Anais asked.
"Nothing like that children...I just had a hard day at work. Luckily I've got it over with for about a week " sighed Nicole heavily.
"Relax mum, Santa will surely give you a present to make you forget about work" said Gumball confidently. When these words came from the cat's mouth, Nicole looked at her son with such a weak look that he thought she was going to faint! She smiled slightly in his direction then stared thoughtfully at the TV.
"Yeah...I guess so..." Replied Nicole callously. Gumball as well as Darwin and Anais were troubled by Nicole's behaviour. She was behaving in an overly callous and sullen manner, and they thought that the last day at work would bring some sort of relief rather than additional worry. However, they didn't know what they were supposed to do in this situation - Richard showed no predisposition to do anything about the situation by enjoying his dinner without paying attention to anything else.
"Ah, I can see those perplexed looks of yours. I wish my husband wasn't so interested," said Nicole aggressively staring at Richard. The rabbit put his fork down on his plate and swallowed the food he had in his mouth.
"Honey, I can see that you are overly upset and you know very well how nerves affect you. Perhaps you should cool down and then explain what's going on?" Richard asked.
"Uhh...yes, I think you're right, we need to talk. And you kids go upstairs to bed now, it's late," said Nicole. Gumball wanted to say something already, but Darwin poked him with his elbow while gently waving him aside. The cat understood the message to let go of the discussion with his mother about going to bed.
"Yeah...that's a good idea. It's good night!" Said the children, after which they went upstairs to brush their teeth. And then go to their rooms.
Back in the room the three children were still having a brief debate about Nicole's bad mood. Assuming their mother is telling the truth it must have been a really poor day at work that she looked and acted as if she wanted a break from everything and everyone for a few good days! She never behaved like that, she was still in a good mood in the morning and came back as if from several hours of mental torture!
"What do you think is the reason that Mum is so sad?" Asked Gumball as he lay in his bed covering himself with a duvet. Although the house was heated he could feel the frost that prevailed outside and it was getting worse by the hour causing even the windows to be frosted!
"To be honest I don't know, there could be a whole host of reasons! Starting with a change of mood after...getting fired from her job?" Finished Anais uncertainly. Even though they were young, they knew that getting fired from work was not a good thing and they all wanted to avoid it. They knew this from their dad, who had been fired from his job more than once, and when he held on to his job for more than a day strange things happened on earth and they had to stop him from working. Nicole worked hard to support this family and the children knew it - the woman would often fill in work papers at home on the computer late into the night.
"I sincerely doubt that Mrs Mum was sacked. Whenever it was Mr Dad who was made redundant it was he who came in with the paperwork. Mrs Mum came back with her standard bag so I don't think anything has changed as far as work is concerned " Darwin added from himself. There was something about that. It was not apparent that Nicole had brought any additional documents with her. Richard when he was made redundant had a stack of papers that were only fit to be thrown in the bin.
"Ah, you'll see, it'll probably be all right tomorrow," said Gumball at the end of the discussion.
"Yeah...probably will. "
"Let's hope so," replied Anais. All three of them already wanted to rest after this debate, which, with the dark evening, made them thirsty for sleep. They turned each in their own direction saying "Good night" in chorus.
A strong and violent wind blew through the night. It was so strong that the falling snow flew with such speed that it seemed like hail was falling! The small snowflakes were like little missiles that flapped against the window panes of the houses of Elmore, which was engulfed in darkness. Only in individual houses were individual lights visible, which went out after a while. In the more affluent residents, Christmas lights on the gardens were lit all night to highlight their better financial situation.
Gumball was awoken that night not only by the violent gale force winds that attacked the city during that night, but he also felt a physiological need. When he saw the alarm clock it was 1.00 a.m., so he assumed that everyone in the house was already asleep and it would be appropriate to move as quietly as he could. He got out of bed quietly, then put his slippers on his feet and left the room, opening the door.
He was surprised to see that there was a light coming from downstairs (ground floor) of the house, which was most likely on in the living room. Gumball's interest was immediately piqued and he leaned against the wall standing by the stairs and listened. Almost immediately he identified the bearers of these voices - they were Richard and Nicole!
"I wonder what they're talking about at this hour..." Thought Gumball with wonderment. Immediately thoughts of his mum's dismissal from her job came into his head and this moved him and immediately made him sad. On the one hand, he and his siblings had refuted this thesis, but on the other hand...they were talking about it in the middle of the night in the living room and on top of that quietly, as if they hoped nobody would hear it. It didn't take Gumball long to figure out what he should do - he lay down on the floor and decided to crawl on it like a soldier on the battlefield so that he would have the opportunity to overhear his parents.
Gumball crawled all the way up to the 2nd step of the stairs, then leaned his head forward to have an even better angle to listen to the conversation.
"Richard focus, this is a really serious problem! " Nicole began. Gumball was increasingly convinced that his mother had lost her job, but he still hoped that wasn't going to be the issue.
"Well Nicole, but what exactly did your boss tell you?" Richard asked.
"He told me that they're going to cut my wages over the winter period and I won't get paid for December until early January! We have money to make dinner for Christmas, but the kids..." Nicole whined. She said it in such a low voice that it might have seemed like the cat was crying! Gumball was increasingly interested in his parents' dialogue , but at the same time he felt increasingly sad to hear Nicole's condition.
"What about them?" Asked the rabbit.
"Richard, we can't afford a present for them...we just...don't have the money to buy them! What should we tell them? Gumball and Darwin are only 12...and Anais is only 4! What do we tell them?" Nicole asked. Gumball was shocked by this news. How are they not supposed to get presents? Why should they be the ones to give presents and not Santa? What was all this supposed to mean? Gumball was completely lost in the situation and didn't know what to think.
"Honey, I know this can be tough, but I don't think it can be helped and the truth about Santa will have to be revealed prematurely..." Sighs heavily Richard.
"I promised myself I would be a better mother than my ex...but I think I'm even worse!" Said Nicole, then threw herself crying into Richard's arms, who sighed heavily while squeezing her gently. For the first time in a very long time he felt bad about not working and not being able to help for his wife.
"You are a wonderful mother Nicole! It's not your fault that we don't have that much money...if I worked it would be different..." replied Richard in an attempt to calm Nicole down, but it rather didn't affect her very much as he could still feel the tears wetting his jumper.
Gumball decided he didn't want to hear anything more on the subject. He retreated down the stairs and went to the bathroom as planned to think about what was happening in the living room.
When he had done his need Gumball flushed his face and stared at his tired face. He was completely perplexed and shocked by what he had heard. Their financial situation was really weaker than he had imagined, but what was it about presents and Father Christmas? He had heard from the beginning that it was Father Christmas who would bring the presents and now suddenly it was their own parents who were making them presents? After all, he had seen Santa with his own eyes when he was younger! He had even touched him and his grey beard...
Now, however, he remembered one very important detail - Richard wasn't there every time they met.
"Could it be that Dad was dressing up as Father Christmas?" Gumball asked himself in his mind. He didn't want to believe it, but based on his parents' conversation in the living room, that was the only fact that was coming to his mind. He was still perplexed by it all and on average wanted to believe it all, but one piece of information flew into his head very well - his parents don't have enough money to buy them presents! This was very depressing news for the cat, who realised that his chances of getting a new console had dropped to almost zero! He felt no anger - he was just disappointed.
Soon Gumball washed his face and left the bathroom, went to his room and lay down on his bed. He contemplated the situation for a good few minutes then finally managed to fall asleep.
