Chapter 3: Assistance

As it was the first day of the Christmas holidays everyone slept for a long time in the Watterson house except for Nicole and Richard's eldest child Gumball. What he overheard during his parents' late night conversation stuck in his mind for a long time. He thought about it so much that he woke up at 7 a.m. being overwhelmed with thoughts about the night's conversation. Not only did he find out that it was most likely not Santa Claus who was bringing presents but his parents, but on top of that, no one was going to get presents this year! This was a huge pain for the 12-year-old, who only a few hours ago was rocking in the clouds thinking about the new console he was going to play on in the not so distant future - just a few days later.

The blue cat was overwhelmed by this, but at least he knew what to do at first - he had to inform Darwin. He was always the first person to know about Gumball's problems, and this time could be no different. His brother always knew how to advise him in wiser or lesser ways, but at least the cat had the feeling that he wasn't suffocating everything inside himself. He could imagine Darwin's face - it wasn't happy and I would even say disappointedly disillusioned, but someone had to know about it. As long as it wasn't Anaïs. The girl was only four years old, she couldn't know the truth! She was too young...

Around 9 a.m. the whole Watterson family was waking up. Nicole was the first to break off - her distinctive walking style could be heard on the stairs for Gumball, who was stuck in his thoughts. He was abruptly snapped out of them by Darwin, who also woke up hearing footsteps on the stairs.

"Ah, the first day of the holidays! What a great feeling! Hi Gumball!" Said Darwin excitedly, jumping out of his fish tank.

"Hi Darwin" replied Gumball sitting down on his bed. He couldn't look at his brother who was even beaming with joy at the realisation that it was Christmas in 2 days!

"I can't wait for Christmas! Their atmosphere is so special...and I am curious to know if you will get your dream present ?" Said Darwin questioningly. Gumball sighed heavily when the fish mentioned presents. Cat leaned out from behind the bed to see if Anais was asleep - it looked like she still was.

"Darwin, there's something you need to know..." Gumball began uncertainly. It was hard for him to convey this sad information - he didn't even know how to start! He wanted to say it honestly, but at the same time in such a way that it wouldn't hurt Darwin, but also that he would understand the message.

"What is it?" Darwin asked curiously. In his head, Gumball tried to put together a formula of how he should say it so that it didn't sound drastic, but the more he looked at his brother's orange face, which radiated downright good humour made Gumball unable to put into words what he wanted to announce. In the end Gumball couldn't manage to say it - Darwin's face wouldn't let him hurt, the blue cat sighed heavily bending his head down.

"Ekh never mind... never mind," sighed Gumball heavily.

"Kids, come and have breakfast" called out Nicole from downstairs. Darwin took no notice of Gumball's heavy humour and immediately left the room to go to breakfast. Gumball, after a brief thought, also headed downstairs for breakfast.

On the last day when Anaïs was making dinner for the family, it turned out that she had made so many pancakes that even Richard hadn't managed to eat them, so they were perfect for the first breakfast of the holidays. While Gumball and Darwin sat at the living room table Nicole re-fried the pancakes in the kitchen to give them a fresh flavour. Admittedly, in taste they still wouldn't be as good as the first time, but they were still eatable with taste.

After 5 minutes, Nicole put on a dish for her sons that looked identical to yesterday's fresh portions. However, by the time the pancake was cut, it was already noticeable that it was not a freshly made pancake. Despite re-frying, the dish was no longer as plump as the first time.

After putting breakfast on for her sons, she put a portion for herself and sat down opposite her sons. Gumball glanced at Nicole - he could see that, like him, she was not in the best of moods and the most she would like to do is not get out of bed at all. And he wasn't surprised by her at all. What he had heard overhearing the conversation he knew was a massive financial blow to their family, which was already in a weak financial position. And especially for Nicole, who was the only one working in the house.

"Rough night Mrs Mum?" Darwin asked. Nicole shook her head gently with a movement looking questioningly at Darwin, who repeated his question.

"Yes, I didn't sleep very well...it was probably because of the strong wind that blew through the night" replied Nicole uncertainly.

"And not just because of that" thought Gumball in his head. The blue cat knew that to say this out loud would immediately make it seem that he had overheard the conversation and he didn't want his mum to be angry with him - she's not in the mood anymore anyway.

Breakfast time went very quietly. Darwin was a little puzzled by this, but didn't want to go too much into where it was coming from with them - Nicole explained that she was having trouble sleeping and Gumball, on the other hand, was always having trouble getting up in the morning. Everyone was wandering in their own thoughts as long as they didn't pay attention to the void that filled the space. Sitting at his breakfast, Gumball contemplated who he could tell about the situation and could get possible help. Nicole and Richard's parents were out - they've been on a collision course with their children for a long time and certainly wouldn't help, colleagues weren't likely to ask either because it would generally spill the beans, he was still contemplating going to Mr Rogerson but was hesitant about that too...

"Penny!" Said Gumball excitedly jumping up vigorously in his chair. When he thought of her he knew immediately that his girlfriend would definitely help him! Penny always helped him when he got into all sorts of problems... Gumball was good at getting himself into all sorts of trouble.

When he thought of her he was so excited that instead of thinking of her name he said it out loud drawing the attention of Nicole and Darwin, who stared at Gumball in confusion.

"What about her? Are you going to see her today?" Nicole asked.

"Well...actually...yes!" Replied Gumball trying to sound convincing. In fact, he was improvising to make it sound as real as possible and knowing Penny she would agree to a possible meeting to talk to her boyfriend. The festive period was the perfect time to meet your other half before Christmas. By the way, when Gumball answered in the affirmative for his mum he got an idea that might even pan out.

"Hm...all right. Just come back tonight, I don't want you interfering for Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald with the Christmas preparations" Nicole communicated.

"Okay mum" replied Gumball. He finished his breakfast then carried his plate back to the kitchen and immediately ran upstairs to his room. The cat's behaviour puzzled the rest of the family a little, but they didn't care too much because Gumball was always excited when he was going to meet his girlfriend. After all, they loved each other so much...

Gumball immediately booted up his computer and went on Elmonger to text his sweetheart asking if she would like to meet up.

"Oh, Penny please stay awake..." Thought the cat hopefully as he glanced at the time that was displayed on the computer monitor - it was after 10 a.m. so it was unlikely Penny was already asleep. She had always been a morning bird type of person who had to get up early in the morning to enjoy the day.

After a while, the grey icon above Penny's picture turned green which gave hope for Gumball that the girl would write him back in a while. And she did! After less than 3 minutes of waiting, Penny agreed to meet up asking straight away if anything serious had happened. Gumball, of course, didn't write it directly, but wrote that he had an urgent matter for her and that they should meet in the park in the afternoon. Penny agreed without any persuasion.

After 2.00 p.m. Gumball was ready to go out to meet his love. He made no secret of the fact that he was a little stressed, not specifically about the meeting but rather about his request. Well, while the rest of the family was busy getting ready for Christmas, Gumball locked himself in his room for about half an hour to be able to calculate how much money he needed to buy gifts for his family and it came out to him that the cost would be about $500!

He was inconsolable about this fact, it was a lot of money, he only had $60 in his piggy bank, which was already reserved for a gift for Penny anyway! He didn't want to talk about it with his parents and especially Nicole, who looked mega depressed anyway. However, despite several years of taking care of her children and repeatedly convincing them that everything was fine caused her to do so so convincingly that only Gumball, who heard their conversation, knew that nothing was fine.

Gumball, however, hoped that Penny would be able to help him at least in a minimal way, but he feared that when he told the sum he needed the girl would get angry with him, which he totally would not want!

After eating lunch with his family, Gumball dressed in his jacket, scarf and winter boots, said goodbye to his family then left the house.

Clouds covered the sky on Elmore. It was quite dark, even though it was only 3 p.m. it could seem closer to evening than noon. Thick layers of cloud effectively blocked the sun's rays making it quite chilly and a light frosty wind further replicated this unpleasant feeling.

Overnight, it again acquired more snow, which in un-snowed areas reached up to the knees for Gumball. Then the cat had to cross the street to avoid getting wet in the wet snow, which, due to the low temperature, was not sticky but rather a fluff that liked to fall into every exposed inch of his body. To sweeten this unpleasant weather aura, there were all the Christmas decorations that lit up this town. All sorts of colourful Christmas decorations were put up on every house, beaming with their warm light and festive atmosphere. Thanks to these decorations, the lamps on the streets were quite superfluous, as all the Christmas lights hung on the roofs, facades or Christmas trees planted in the garden illuminated the surroundings sufficiently.

When Gumball arrived at the park gate he immediately noticed Penny sitting on a bench with her back turned to him. Wrapped in a shawl around her neck, she was clearly freezing despite her fiery body. Since coming out of her shell she had decided never to return to it and be ashamed of her body, so she would go out even in such cold temperatures wearing only a shawl. Gumball was stressed, he knew he would have to talk to her in a moment and he couldn't back down. He took a deep breath to calm himself down then walked into the park.

Beside Penny in the park was a single mother with her baby in a pram, they were quietly walking around the park enjoying the silence that reigned in this quiet place. It was indeed a special place to talk. A quiet, peaceful place, filled harmoniously with nature, was always a good idea for frank conversations. The pavements were cleared of snow, the excess white fluff was pushed under the trees, as were the benches, they were also cleared of snow, but there was still a noticeable dampness on them.

"Hi Penny" greeted Gumball getting down to Penny who was rubbing her delicate body to warm up.

"Hi Gumball" replied the girl kissing the cat on the cheek who blushed at the movement. The girl at the sight of her boyfriend immediately stopped rubbing herself, but due to the low temperature despite her efforts, her body trembled giving a clear sign that she was freezing.

"You're freezing aren't you?" Gumball asked. In fact, he didn't even need to ask, as he could see that she was cold, but he didn't want to show her that much.

"Just a little," replied Penny uncertainly. Despite knowing that he himself would now feel the stinging cold he didn't think anything of it, Gumball took off his jacket and gave it to his girlfriend to feel the warmth on her. Penny smiled slightly and her cheeks lit up with a blush at this move saying softly "thank you". The puffy jacket immediately gave a much increase in temperature for Penny, who stopped shivering at the price of the fact that now her boyfriend was freezing a tad.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" Asked Penny as she warmed up enough with her jacket that she was no longer shivering.

"I wanted to ask you one thing..." Gumball began uncertainly. Penny's enquiring gaze gave him a clear indication that the girl didn't know what it could be about and that she would eventually have to cough it up.

"I need money..." Gumball added. Penny sighed heavily as she looked at the boy with slightly irritated but also concerned eyes. After all, Gumball was a certain kind of child that Penny had to watch constantly, because sooner or later he would create trouble for himself...it was only a matter of time.

"Did you get into what kind of trouble as usual?" The girl asked. The blue cat waved his head negatively.

"Are you owing someone this money?" Penny inquired, but the cat continued to wave its head negatively, which perplexed the girl. Why is Gumball asking for money then?

"Then why do you need money? And I beg you to answer other than waving your head," asked Penny impatiently.

"It's a rather delicate matter, so far he doesn't want to say the reasons why he needs it. I wanted to ask if you could lend me some" replied Gumball. So normally Penny would already be offended at the cat for not wanting to talk about the real reasons for her, just making it a secret, but this time she could see that the cat didn't even fancy her often original jokes, so she knew this was something really serious...something more serious than trouble.

"Ekh...well, how much do you need?" She asked Penny reluctantly.

"Five hundred dollars..." Replied Gumball uncertainly. Penny hearing this undoubtedly substantial amount laughed uncertainly staring at Gumball as if he were stupid. He himself, hearing her laughter, didn't need to further guess that not only would she not lend the money but she would also be angry with him!

"500 dollars! How much Gumball? I don't even know if I have that much! Why do you need so much money?" Asked Penny surprised.

"I can't tell you...sorry Penny. " replied Gumball briefly. The boy's low humour made Penny feel bad inside for laughing and exploding with emotion at him, but on the other hand 500 dollars... That's a lot of money! For their age it might even say an unimaginable amount!

"Ekh... Gumball...this is very big money for our age and on top of that I'm not sure I own that much myself. I'm sorry, but I can't help you this time..." The girl explained. The blue cat didn't speak, he nodded with a movement of his head and smiled weakly in her direction.

"Gumball, if I really could..."

"I know Penny, you don't have to explain it to me...I just need that money..." Interrupted Gumball for his girlfriend. Penny was surprised by this. It was the first time such a situation had arisen that Gumball had cut into her opinion! The girl was deeply embarrassed by how her boyfriend was behaving. On the one hand he was sad, but on the other he was dripping with aggression...

For a while they sat in silence staring at their shoe-covered feet. Penny had no idea how to comfort her boyfriend and Gumball himself didn't look like he felt like talking any further. It was clear that he felt at a loss in the situation and, worst of all, powerless.

"Well Penny...that's as much as I wanted to tell you, I have to go... help my parents. Merry Christmas," Gumball said weakly. He hugged Penny goodbye and got off the bench to head towards the park exit. He didn't even kiss her! Usually he showered her with kisses and didn't want to leave her, but now he hugged her as if nothing had happened and walked away! Penny sat alone on the bench for a while when she realised she still had Gumball's jacket on! She jumped off the bench to turn to her boyfriend, but he was so distressed he didn't even react...

"Gumball, the jacket..." She called out to Penny, but Gumball didn't even turn around. As if nothing had happened, he left the park area and headed home.

Penny was completely perplexed by Gumball's behaviour. He had never behaved in such a mysterious way, which made her not even know how she could help him! If she knew at least what he needed the money for, but he didn't even say the reason why he needed it! From that he said he must have the money and not a small amount - $500! That's really quite a lot of money and even if she had it, surely her parents wouldn't let her borrow that amount. It's definitely too much to give money just like that without even knowing the reason. Penny was not ready to make such a decision so quickly.

The girl sat back on the bench wondering what Gumball really needed the money for and if that was the real reason or if he wanted to cheat her...although his reaction did not indicate that he wanted to do that...he was determined to get that money...

Meanwhile, Gumball broke down as he walked home holding back tears from his eyes. His girlfriend was his last resort in this situation and the fact that she refused to lend him the money made him feel helpless. Where is he supposed to get $500 in 2 days ?! That's 1/4 of an adult's full salary and he can't hire himself for 2 days after all! It's not realistic! Although he tried not to cry, single crystal tears flew from his eyes and he sobbed quietly knowing that this would most likely be the worst Christmas of his life. Not only as far as he, Darwin and Anaïs were concerned but also Nicole and Richard who, knowing that they were unable to provide presents for the children, felt ashamed. They didn't want to tell them this, but they feared the moment when the children would run under the Christmas tree to see what they had received and it would turn out that there were no presents under the tree! That was the worst thing that could happen to them, and they didn't want that to happen. He was so distracted that he didn't even look at the traffic lights and twice he stepped onto the road when there was a red light, which meant that cars had to sound their horns to warn him to avoid a tragedy!

As Gumball walked past the pizzeria he noticed Larry on the way out, hanging information leaflets on the windows of the establishment.

"Hi Gumball, what's up, how are the preparations for Christmas?" Asked Larry as he stuck the flyer to the glass.

"Oh, hi Larry...yes, everything is going according to plan..." Replied the blue cat uncertainly. He didn't know what to say in this situation, was he supposed to say this was going to be the worst Christmas ever?

"I'm jealous that you guys already have the day off. I'm the one who has to work even tomorrow the day before Christmas. I'm just looking for a pizza delivery guy for the day because the rest of the staff aren't working tomorrow and someone has to deliver the pies!" Larry said. The man's words immediately galvanised Gumball, who became interested in the job offer.

"Are you looking for an employee?" Gumball asked.

"Yes, read the flyer for yourself," replied Larry. Cat approached the flyer stuck on the glass and read.

"Pizza delivery man needed from 10 a.m. to 5p.m., pizza must be warm delivered, rate per day $500?" Read Gumball enthusiastically. That would be perfect! $500 was the exact amount he needed to make his family presents!

"Yes, not many people are working tomorrow, so I figured a higher rate would encourage someone to work," admitted Larry. Gumball knew that such an opportunity could pass quickly, so he decided to offer himself as a potential employee right away.

"Here's a question...could I be hired for the day?" Asked Gumball uncertainly. Larry looked up at the young cat with a vague look on his face.

"How old are you? " asked Larry.

"Twelve," replied Gumball. The man sighed heavily scratching his head looking at Gumball. His age was quite young and he wasn't sure he could trust him with such a job, but then again, delivering pizzas isn't such a hard job, is it?

As Gumball waited for Larry's answer and was slowly losing hope, the man suddenly took a business card of a pizzeria from his pocket and handed it to Gumball.

"You know what, I'll think about what I can do about it. I'll call you in the morning at 9 am from this number and tell you if you can work for us," said Larry. Gumball was overjoyed at this news. Even if it's not a sure thing and for the time being he only has this chance he felt hopeful that he still had the right to believe that everything would be alright. Overjoyed, he took the business card and felt so pleased that he initially wanted to hug the man! Fortunately, at the last moment he restrained himself by simply thanking him warmly.

"Thanks Larry! I'll be waiting! See you!" Said Gumball, then continued on his way home. Larry was fascinated by Gumball's joy. He knew him from stories about him being lazy and rather getting into trouble, and here he was the complete opposite of gossip!

"See you later," said Larry.

Gumball was now returning full of hope that he would still be able to fix Christmas for the family. He wasn't sure if Larry would be able to get him a job, his young age undoubtedly troubling his employer when it came to employment, but Larry was an acquaintance of his, so he hoped he could arrange something. Even so, he was at least left with the hope that all would be well and he built his mood on that.

By the time the cat came home it was already 5.00p.m. and it was completely dark outside. The only sources of light in the yard were lamps spaced along the road so that passers-by and drivers had any access to light. No wonder, after all - it was the middle of winter. It got colder, the wind started to blow more forcefully and white powder started to fall again. In the afternoon, as every day, the snow plough cleared the road, pushing the snow onto the residents' entrances as usual, but everyone was busy preparing for the holidays to clear the excess snow.

Entering the house, Gumball saw how the family had prepared the house for Christmas. Nicole was making dinner for the family after preparing poppycakes and croissants for Christmas (Gumball could smell them as soon as he entered), Anais and Darwin were wiping down the furniture located on the ground floor, but the biggest surprise was Richard, who had also taken to the task! Gumball was actually slightly shocked by this. He couldn't believe that Richard, his dad was walking around with a hoover on the first floor and vacuuming the carpets!

"This must be a special Christmas" thought Gumball in his head. This sight of the family working in unison made him feel even more pressure on him to make this Christmas a success.

"Hi love! It's perfect that you're back, dinner will be ready in a minute" called out Nicole from the kitchen leaning out of the threshold. Gumball took off his shoes, hat and scarf. Impulsively, he searched for the zipper on his jacket, but remembered that he had given this one to Penny, who was freezing. He greeted Darwin and Anaïs then went to the kitchen to sit at the table and talk a little with his mother. Whenever he came back from a meeting with his girlfriend his mum had to quiz him on how it was, what they had talked about and, above all, when they were planning their next meeting.

"And how was it darling, what interesting stories did Penny tell?" Asked Nicole as she stirred the pot with a ladle at the same time. Gumball could tell by the distinctive smell that it was most likely red borscht.

"Ekh, you know...these topics of ours as usual. We were talking about school and the upcoming holidays," replied Gumball. He didn't want to tell the truth because he knew Nicole would most likely either be angry or sad.

"Mhm..." Nicole sighed heavily. Saint's words reminded her of the lack of money for presents for the children, which caused her good mood to evaporate a little with her sigh.

"She said she's not going anywhere, so we'll be able to get together a few times over the holidays," added Gumball after a moment.

"Oh, that's great! I expect she'll want to meet up with you quite often, but I'd like you to spend time with us too" replied Nicole.

"Why?" Gumball asked.

"You see son...Christmas is a time to spend with your family, with your loved ones and enjoy the festive atmosphere and the peace and quiet. You know..." Nicole paused for a moment. She walked away to the pot and approached her son kissing him gently on the forehead and started stroking his head.

"...Mummy is working hard and would like to be with you this longer moment" Nicole finished. Her smile on her face that it made Gumball warm, who understood the message and nodded with a movement of his head as a sign that he knew what Nicole meant. After that, Cat called the whole family over for dinner.

After dinner, when everyone was full and everyone had showered and done the evening toilet, it was time to watch TV together. It was after 7p.m. and everyone was tired of tidying up the house so that it would be clean for Christmas, so when everyone had taken their position on the sofa they started to watch TV together. The exception, of course, was Gumball, who this time refused to watch TV with the rest of the family as he went upstairs to apologise to her for his mysterious behaviour under the pretext of checking on a present for Penny. He felt bad about leaving her in the park in a rather strange way. He had been under the influence of negative emotions making him feel unable to behave differently, but now that he was floating on the strength of hope he decided to write to her.

When he logged onto Elmonger, notifications immediately popped up that Penny had written to him. He wasn't surprised by this, she was a very caring girl who, like Nicole, could tell if Gumball was in a good or bad mood. Gumball clicked on her picture to read her messages.

"Hey Gumball, at first when we met I wasn't very convinced about the idea of giving you money, especially when you didn't give me a reason why you needed it. When I got home I thought about the situation and came to the conclusion that you have never asked me like that...I mean with such seriousness. I talked to my parents and they let me borrow $150. Let's meet tomorrow at noon okay? I can't later because I have to help prepare for Christmas afterwards

I still have your jacket, I'll give it back to you 3"

"Aww...she's such a sweetheart" thought a charmed Gumball at the news. He sincerely doubted that after the conversation in the park Penny would want to give him any amount of money and here he was met with a surprise! $150 was already a good start, but he honestly didn't want to take money from her anymore. He was still hoping, even confident, that Larry would get him a job!

"Thanks Penny, that's nice of you, but I don't need the money anymore. Tomorrow I will most likely go to work to earn it and after Christmas when we meet I will explain everything to you, I promise. I love you 3"

Gumball wrote back. He wrote what he felt and knew it would be the best solution. After writing back, he went downstairs to his family, who were watching TV together. Darwin and Anaïs were almost sleepy by now, watching t.v. with their eyes closed, but they sat trying to stay up as long as they could.

"And how is Gumball, what did you choose for your beloved?" Richard asked when he noticed his son. Gumball sat down next to him squeezing in between him and Nicole.

"Earrings dad, gold earrings" replied Gumball confidently.