The small contingent of the Watterson family continued to progress forward through the streets of the Void; remaining vigilant of any portals that may be near their immediate vicinity.
Tristan continued to hold onto his father's paw, periodically looking up towards him to see if his father would smile for comfort and reassurance that everything was going to be alright. Each time, the small feline would look up to his father and each time his father would glance back with a warm and loving smile.
Gumball, who began to notice his son's paw become noticeably sweatier and perspire, soon motioned to his Father, Mother, and sister to wait for a moment.
"Hey guys!"
Gumball shouted ahead, as Nicole, Richard, and Anais turned back towards the two blue cats.
"I just need a moment to talk to Tristan, we shouldn't be too long!"
Nicole soon gave a nod and a thumbs up, as they reverted back to where the two blue felines were standing.
Gumball gestured the thumbs up back to his mother, and turned to face Tristan; who's expression was filled with contemplation and introspection. His tail had a sudden restlessness to it, as Gumball took note of his anxious demeanor and aura, and knelt down to meet his son face to face.
"Everything alright, kiddo?"
Gumball asked, as Tristan was still unresponsive and persistently flicked his tail in an oscillating motion.
"Tristan?"
Upon asking once again, Tristan snapped back to his current surroundings and glanced quickly to his father.
"Wha- Oh! Sorry Dad, I...kind of got lost in my own thoughts once again..."
Gumball smiled as his son said this, and placed his paw on Tristan's shoulder.
"Hey, if there's anything you need to get off your chest just let me know okay? Despite the circumstances and predicament we are currently in, I'm always here if you need to confide with someone. We share a special bond, you and I buddy, you remind me so much of myself at that age not too long ago!"
Tristan's contemplative expression soon transitioned to a more jubilant and optimistic one.
"Really?!"
"Absolutely! I actually reminisce about those moments that your Uncle Darwin and I would have, formulating our plans and adventures back at home as kids...much like you and your cousin Vlad."
Gumball's ears soon drooped as he gained a more vivid image of the memory.
"Dad? Are you okay?"
Gumball's ears once again perked upwards, as he smiled warmly.
"Yeah, I'm alright kiddo...just thinking about Uncle Darwin, that's all..."
Before Gumball could utter another word, Tristan jumped into his father's arms for a tight embrace.
The father and son stayed like this for a few moments, much to the liking of Nicole, Richard, and Anais; whose hearts were melting from the sight.
The two blue cats soon pulled away, with Tristan smiling and audibly letting out a small purr, in which Gumball also returned with a deeper purr.
"Don't worry, we'll find Uncle Darwin, Aunt Carrie, and the rest of our family! With you by our side Dad, I know that we'll find them all!"
Tristan exclaimed, as Gumball's feelings of dread and sorrow soon dissipated with the warm smile of his son.
"I know we will too Tristan...especially with your optimism and good spirits keeping us in check!"
Gumball stated, as he regained his footing and stood back up.
"Now, we better get moving and searching for portals! Our family is counting on our group to rescue them from...well...their memories? Hehe..."
Tristan chuckled, as the two felines walked side by side with each other before regrouping with the rest of the Watterson's just ahead of them.
As they approached, Nicole smiled.
"Well, it seems like my son and grandson had a wonderful chat! Tell me, was that purring I just heard?"
Gumball rolled his eyes.
"Yes Mom, I knew you were going to bring that up..."
Nicole chuckled.
"I remember when you used to do that as a young kitten when we would have thunderstorms back in our old home in Elmore..."
Tristan stifled a chuckle at his grandmother's remark, as he turned to Gumball.
"Wait...I thought you said yo- *Hesitant chuckle* you weren't afraid of thunderstorms, Dad?"
Gumball soon assumed a poorly orchestrated "Tough Dad" demeanor to deflect any scepticism Tristan had of his stoic nature.
"Well uh...no! No, of course not little man! That was just uh...me being there to give your grandmother comfort! She absolutely LOATHED thunderstorms, and I was there to help her sleep when she had to go to work the next day!"
Nicole crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow from amusement.
"Mmmmmmhmmmmm, and that's precisely why you wanted to bring your special blanket too, right? What were those words you said? "Mommy? Do you mind if I sleep with you and Dad tonight? Pweeeeeeeaase?"
Tristan chuckled once again.
"So...that really WASN'T you shivering from being cold when I would ask to snuggle with you too because of the thunder, Dad? You were scared too?"
Nicole let out a soft chuckle, as Gumball rubbed his forearm from embarrassment.
"Sweetie, your father was quite literally a "scaredy cat" when it pertained to thunderstorms...luckily his Mom was right there to help him out...despite the incessant kicking that she would receive from tiny feet into her stomach while she tried to sleep..."
She looked over to her son, who was nervously laughing, before extending her arms for a hug.
"Awwww, I'm only joking, Gummypuss! You and your brother were the best sons a mother could ask for!"
Nicole exclaimed, as Anais turned towards the street ahead of them.
"Speaking of Darwin..."
She pointed in the direction of an orange, glowing portal, which indicated that it was Darwin's and Anastasia's portal...but it also had remnants of white around its edges, indicating that it was ALSO Carrie's and Vlad's.
Nicole and Gumball smiled, as Richard and Anais ran over to the entrance of the portal and entered.
"Well, I guess we better join them...what do you say boys?"
Gumball and Tristan both nodded, as the three blue felines stepped forth once again into an unknown memory of a family member's past.
Upon entering the memory, they immediately collided with a group of others.
"Ow!"
An audible sound of pain could be heard, as the two groups collided with each other.
Gumball's vision was blurry from the impact of the collision, and he could faintly make out the shapes of 4 people.
"Ugh...Sorry we bumped into you, we've been trying to get out of here for a while and-"
The voice in front of Gumball soon stopped talking to him, as Gumball gathered his bearings and footing once again.
"Gum-Gumball?! Bro, is...is it really you?!"
Gumball's ears soon perked upwards once again, he would recognize the inflection, tone, and familiarity of that voice from anywhere.
Before Gumball could fully reach the realisation and greet the person in front of him, he was met with a warm hug from two fins being wrapped around him.
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's you! I never thought we would see you guys ever again!"
Though the orange fish was well into his adult years, his voice and enthusiasm was reminiscent of his younger years; still displaying the exuberant amount of optimism that had never left him.
Gumball returned the smile, and wrapped his paws around his brother as he returned the hug.
"I knew we would find you Darwin, I always believed we would. Not just you either, we're getting the whole family back and stopping the madness that caused our vacation to go awry...again."
Darwin chuckled as he released his grasp on his older feline brother, where he soon saw Nicole, Richard, and Anais all smiling at him as well.
"Mrs. Mom! Mr. Dad! Anais! Tristan!"
Without hesitation, the orange fish once again went to embrace the family he had missed so dearly while separated from the Void.
"Hey Uncle Darwin! We missed you SO much!"
Darwin chuckled, before ruffling the fur of the small kitten on the top of his head.
"How could I NOT miss my little nephew?!"
Tristan chuckled, as Nicole smiled.
"Hello my little Guppy, we missed you too..."
Nicole exclaimed, as Richard smiled as well.
"How could we forget the missing piece of our family of 5?! It felt just like yesterday when I brought you back from the awesome store..."
Richard stated, as this prompted an audible chuckle from the orange fish.
"Hehe, I had a MUCH smaller bowl back then..."
Both father and son chuckled, as Anais smiled.
"We couldn't forget the kindest of the two brothers, now could we?"
This gained a visually noticeable eye roll from Gumball, as Anais soon chuckled as well.
"I'm just kidding, Gumball. You were both equally awesome brothers that a little sister could ask for!"
She then went over to hug both of her brothers, as the three siblings soon reflected their younger selves as kids. Nicole and Richard smiling at their three kids reunited.
A few moments passed, before Gumball pulled away from the group hug; after coming to a revelation of thought.
"Wait, the portal had orange AND white on it...so where's Carrie, Vlad, and Anastasia?!"
Darwin waved his fins in a calming motion.
"No worries! They're just down the hallway, we found out that this was an older memory from our past after asking a few of the residents around our town! Eventually we asked where we could find "Gumball Watterson", and they directed us to the hospital here!"
Gumball, Nicole, Anais, Richard, and Tristan now surveyed their surroundings and discovered that they actually were, in fact, present in the hospital just as Darwin had stated.
"Huh, that's actually pretty cool!"
Gumball remarked, as he soon turned to face his brother once again.
"So...did you happen to say who you guys REALLY were?"
Darwin dawned a confused expression, when posed by this question by his feline brother.
"What do you mean?"
Anais soon stepped in to clarify what Gumball was alluding to.
"What Gumball is trying to ask you, is if you revealed your true identities while you were here, since...doing so could interrupt the space time continuum."
Anais finished her expositional statement, as Darwin soon placed a fin on his chin in deep thought and recollection.
"Hmmmmm...Now that I think about it...I believe Carrie did mention something along the lines of being as inconspicuous as possible while we were here..."
Anais soon exhaled a sigh of relief at this, and smiled.
"Good girl...I knew she would understand the possibilities and consequences of memory travel...Nice to see she remembered our conversation from a year ago when I was learning how to mix potions from her..."
Anais then turned to one of the many hallways that the hospital had, and turned back to Darwin.
"Do you know which room they are currently visiting?"
Anais asked, as Darwin returned a smile.
"The labor and delivery room!"
Darwin said jubilantly, as Anais turned to look down the hallway.
"Wait a minute...is this..."
"A memory of the birth of our kids? Why yes, yes it is!"
Gumball soon stepped in, as Darwin confirmed Anais' question.
"I don't understand Darwin...isn't Vlad older than Anastasia?"
Darwin smiled at this question.
"Yes and no. You see, ghosts mature faster mentally, but also age physically faster. So although he may APPEAR older, he really is the same age as his sister. Anastasia and Vlad are also fraternal twins and since he's also immortal like his mother, Carrie, it's not very noticeable with everything considered."
Gumball and the rest of the Watterson's shrugged and nodded.
"I...guess that makes sense Darwin...so would you mind showing us the way to the delivery room?"
Anais stated, as Darwin extended one of his fins to direct the rest of the Watterson's down the extended hallway.
"Right this way!"
The orange fish exclaimed with excited anticipation, as the group moved down a series of hallways; numerous signs with arrows directing patrons to various departments of the hospital.
As they finally approached the labor and delivery department, Carrie, Vlad, and Anastasia were soon visible. They were waiting in chairs just outside the view of the delivery room, where Vlad and Anastasia were soon to be born.
"Hey everyone! We're so glad to see you!"
Carrie had stated in a hushed and whispered tone as to not arouse suspicion from their younger selves inside the delivery room.
The ghost mother quickly swept across the floor to hug each member of the Watterson family, as did her kids. The Watterson's were almost fully united, with each memory bringing lost members back together.
"We were just waiting on you all to show up, I sent Darwin along to the portal opening where you might be found! I got to say, you all arrived sooner than expected!"
Carrie stated, as Gumball stood confused.
"Uh...Carrie? It's...actually been a few days that we have been apart..."
Carrie and Anais' eyes soon gleamed with fascination.
"Wow...so the theory really is true..."
Carrie remarked, as Nicole soon intervened.
"What theory would that be, girls?"
The blue female feline asked, as Anais stepped in for exposition.
"Well...when Carrie and I were discussing the progression of time in memories...we theorized that memory time and real time were scaled differently...it seems that we just confirmed that."
Anais finished explaining, as Carrie turned towards the delivery room where her younger self was currently residing in.
"Well, it would be nice for us all to be in there in that room for the memory...but we would be messing with the space time continuum if we revealed our true selves with our past selves..."
As Carrie said this, Nicole turned towards the staff changing room/fitting room, that had various physician and nurse uniforms for the rest of the family and herself to wear, along with blue surgical masks and caps.
"Hmmmmmmm...Perhaps we can make this work..."
Some minutes later, and ten delivery nurses entered the room.
Gumball implemented his fake "New Jersey" accent he had once used in the Dinner Diner years ago, when he was stalking his sister's newfound friend.
"Excuse me, we are looking for a..."Carrie Watterson?"
Gumball asked, as a younger Carrie raised her hand in her hospital bed, with Darwin holding the other with his fin to provide emotional support to her.
"Right here..."
Gumball and the rest of the adults walked over, as Tristan, Vlad, and Anastasia stayed back.
Nicole stepped forward to talk to the ghost and fish.
"Are you feeling alright? Any changes since you were admitted?"
The younger Carrie shook her head.
"Not really, but we knew we had to come here right away...fraternal twins is definitely not a fun experience, let me just say that..."
The older Carrie soon smiled beneath her mask, as she accidentally let her fake disguised accent slip.
"You can say that again, sister!"
Carrie quickly covered her mouth, realizing her mistake; as the rest of the Watterson's were now nervously sweating at the prospect of their cover being blown.
The younger Carrie just smiled, the exhaustion numbing her senses to being less aware of the fact that her older self was directly in front of her.
"Yeah...I...guess so."
The younger Carrie stated under her breath, as Darwin sat beside her making sure she was hydrated with enough paper cups of water from the cooler just a few feet away from her bed.
Suddenly, the younger Carrie winced in pain as she bent forward.
"The babies...The babies!"
Anais quickly rushed the Watterson kids to the corner of the room, as the Watterson adults gathered around the younger ghost.
Richard was panicking, as Nicole quickly whispered in his ear.
"Richard! It's okay! You've done this before with our own kids, remember?!"
The younger Darwin heard the muffled whispers and soon had a confused look.
"What did you say, Ma'am?"
Nicole pretended to enter a coughing spell, as she tried desperately to cover up her mistake.
"Uh...I was just mentioning to my colleague of the time I once delivered a baby and it was sunny outside just like today!"
Nicole nervously said, as the younger Darwin sat confused as he held his wife's hand.
"Okay? Can...we please try to focus on helping my wife get through this without her being in too much agony?!"
Darwin asked with a mix of politeness and urgency in his voice, as Nicole soon nodded.
"How right you are! Okay everyone, get ready!"
The minutes passed, with the adult Watterson's all working in cohesion to Anais' instructions in her medical expertise and knowledge.
Soon...Vlad and Anastasia were successfully delivered.
Richard and Nicole soon brought over the two youngsters to their mother and father, as Gumball once again piped up in his disguised voice.
"It's...a girl and a boy...did you have anything in mind for names?"
Carrie and Darwin both looked to one another, as they held their son and daughter in their arms.
"We...did actually...Vlad and Anastasia..."
The younger Darwin stated, as the older Darwin and Carrie held each other close; tears of joy streaming down their face as the memory transpired in front of them.
Gumball and the rest of the Watterson's smiled as well, with Vlad and Anastasia in awe that they were actually witnessing their younger selves in front of them.
Nicole soon stepped forward, along with Anais.
"Well, our work here is done sir and madam, if you need anything; just press the button behind you and some nursing support staff should arrive shortly."
Nicole stated, as Anais finished the closing remarks before the Watterson's departed from the room.
"It's been a pleasure assisting you, and our team understands wholeheartedly that you two will make wonderful parents!"
Anais exclaimed, as the younger Darwin and Carrie looked at each other, smiling, as they gave a quick kiss to one another. Some remnant tears still streaming down their face...they had now officially become parents to two beautiful kids.
Gumball also continued to look on, as Tristan still stood next to him. Tristan soon took notice of his father, whose tail was not swaying as it usually did when he was happy.
Tristan also took notice of his father's eyes, which were momentarily drifting away from the two kids in the arms of his brother and sister in law.
Soon, the Watterson's filed out of the room and exited the memory shortly thereafter.
Back at the general store in the Void, Darwin and Carrie were preparing a classic meal of tacos that they prepared on special occasions, much like this one: Being reunited with their family once again, and one step closer to returning home.
Richard was once again doing one of his classic puppet shows, as Vlad and Anastasia sat on their grandmother's lap. Nicole was also laughing along with the kids, appreciating just how effective and energetic Richard was, even after all these years together.
Tristan sat next to Nicole, cuddled into his grandmother's shoulder, before turning to see his father in the store recliner; daydreaming and staring out the window.
(If "Beautiful in my Eyes" by Joshua Kadison is available on your device, please press play now)
The small kitten soon arose, and crept over to his Dad; climbing onto his lap.
Gumball glanced down and smiled warmly, as Tristan cuddled and purred into his father's chest as Gumball wrapped his arms around him.
"Hey Dad...are you okay?"
Gumball soon looked into his son's eyes, and smiled slightly.
"I'm okay...just thinking about your Mother and sister...something about being in that memory of your Uncle and Aunt turned my mind back to myself. I remember the day you were born too...I rushed to the hospital, wearing my green hoodie and jeans, your mother and I were so happy to have a baby...and then a few years later your sister came along..."
As Gumball was talking, Tristan noticed a bit of unease and shakiness to his father's voice, and realized that he was really missing Mom and his sister.
Tristan, soon climbed up once more to hug his father's neck tightly.
"It's okay Dad, if we found everyone else so far, I KNOW we will find Mom and Penelope!"
Gumball smiled, and wiped away a stray tear from his face.
"Thanks Tristan...that truly means a lot kiddo..."
Tristan smiled at his Dad once more.
"You're the best Dad in the world...if anyone is going to bring a family back together it's you!"
Gumball and Tristan squeezed each other tightly in an embrace, before pulling away to enjoy the rest of the puppet show.
As they continued to watch, Gumball let all of his worries slowly dissipate and disappear.
The worry that he did have plague him in that delivery room, in that moment with the family he had reunited so far...was non-existent.
*END OF CHAPTER*