Gumball's mother, despite it being a while since he last saw her, really hadn't aged a day. She wore a purple wool jacket, with a pink dress underneath. The only physical feature that resembled an aged woman on her were the stress lines underneath her eyes; more than likely due to the immense stress of being a working mom with three overly rambunctious kids.
"It's great to see you again mom, but if I may ask, why did you keep this large vacation gathering a secret from me?"
The female blue cat smiled and raised one eye with her arms crossed.
"Well Gumball, I'll pose this question to you... how are your days as an accountant in the rainbow factory?"
The male cat looked at his mother with a defeated smile.
"Well they're a bit hectic at times and I rarely find time to really relax with my family-"
He stopped for a moment, realizing what she was trying to allude to, rubbing his left arm in admittance.
"You just described what it was like to provide for you kids, much like you are doing now for yours, now combine this with planning a vacation while you're at work and trying to focus on what you need to accomplish for the work day..." The female feline sensing that she had made her point across, noticed her son was feeling a bit guilty; probably due to feeling sorry for what he and his brother put her through in their days of youth.
"Oh come here..." she stated as her slightly taller son approached, embracing a heartfelt hug with his mother.
"Now I understand what you REALLY meant by the glass ceiling mom, and I'm truly sorry we put you through so much stress as kids. I never truly grasped what you had to endure..." Tears almost formed in the male cats' eyes as he said this, choking on his words a bit.
The female feline soon placed her paw on his cheek, as Gumball looked down at his mother's face.
"Gumball...what you and your siblings and father gave me in those years was something I always dreamt of as a young girl, do you want to know what that was?"
"Wha-what mom?" The tears almost dropping from his eyes as he barely got out the words.
"A family. I wouldn't have traded a single moment of it either for anything in the world. We had our moments and challenges yes, but those years gave me perspective on life and showed me that it's not wealth, the big houses, or winning that provides happiness. It's what you define happiness to be and the memories you create with those you love the most."
The Watterson family were smiling ear to ear behind the pair of blue cats, especially Mary and Daniel who were proud to hear these words of wisdom come from their daughter. They truly realized how much of a good mother she was to her children and raised them to be good, moral people.
"I love you Gummypuss, I'm proud of the young man you have become."
"I love you too Mom".
The entire room erupted in awes.
"Now, we better prepare ourselves for this vacation, we got to wake up bright and early!"
The feline then turned back to the rest of the family.
"After all, we'll all have to play our part to help Gumball give his family the best vacation possible! We all truly deserve it, and I'm pleased to say this is the first vacation we've had with the entire Watterson family!"
Everybody cheered.
"Don't worry Mrs. mom, we all share the same enthusiasm about this trip as you do! And don't worry bro, this is meant to be a relaxing vacation with zero stress." A familiar voice spoke with an optimistic tone at the far end of the room.
Gumball recognized that voice from anywhere, it was his adoptive brother and best friend, Darwin Watterson.
"Darwin! it's so great to see you! How has the taco and burrito business been treating you?"
The fish smiled at this question.
"Oh it's great to do something you have a passion for! Carrie and I love meeting the customers at our family restaurant, and the kids love helping too whenever they can!".
Gumball then realized what his brother had just said. He peered over and saw two children next to Carrie and Darwin, one being a ghost, the other a fish.
"Wait, Darwin you had kids?! That's great news! Why wasn't I informed?"
The fish and female ghost stared back at each other smiling, Carrie putting back her now longer hair; blushing.
"Well, we wanted to keep it a surprise for a special occasion like this one, plus with you being busy with your job at the Rainbow Factory, and us with the taco business; we really never got the chance to reach out with you unfortunately."
Darwin, who was now in his late twenties, dawned a Hawaiian floral shirt and shorts, and Carrie was wearing a black wool skirt and dress with a small necklace, were very much what you would have called a very unconventional and unlikely couple. One that Gumball mistakenly misinterpreted when they were kids, and tried to end accidentally.
Gumball then provided a smile.
"Well Penny and I are thrilled to finally meet our new niece and nephew!"
He then walked over to the ghost and fish children, who were shy in their approach to greet their uncle.
Carrie then provided reassurance to the two kids.
"Don't worry guys, Uncle Gumball is not going to bite!" Carrie then motioned over the small ghost boy, who had been hiding behind his mother; shyly floating forward to greet the now kneeling blue cat.
The blue cat proceeded to extend his paw for a handshake.
"Hey little man, what's your na-"
Before Gumball could finish the sentence, the small ghost boy had took a frightening ghost form and jump-scared the blue cat. Everyone in the room was equally just as scared, besides Carrie who let out her signature laugh.
"Sorry everyone, I was talking to Vlad Jr. about how I used to scare Gumball in Elmore Junior High, and we planned it out on the drive over to scare him as he greeted his uncle!".
Gumball, who had just fallen back onto the sofa, slowly found his footing again on the floor of the living room, fur in complete disarray and on edge.
"Now that's the Carrie Krueger I remember..." Now impressed by how well she played that prank, making him reminisce about how they pranked the school on Halloween to receive candy.
The small ghost boy soon high fived and hugged his mother
"Did you see that Mom?! I scared him!"
Carrie then smiled at her son.
"Indeed you did, great work!"
Gumball then regained his composure with a nervous smile.
"Now that definitely reminded me of the good old days. You taught him well Carrie!"
The Ghost woman then flicked her bang with a smug expression.
"Thanks, Mr. Watterson!"
A small fish girl then stepped forward to greet the male cat.
"Hello Uncle Gumball..."
Despite her being a girl, she remarkably resembled her father in demeaner and mannerisms.
"Nice to meet you sweetie, what's your name?"
"Anastasia" the small fish shyly muttered.
Gumball's heart was melting at how adorable she was.
"Nice to meet you Anastasia!" Gumball shaking her fin.
Soon a voice piped up from the back of the room.
"Yeah Darwin it was great to see our grandchildren, also thanks for the tacos!"
Nicole slowly rolled her eyes.
"Always thinking with your stomach Richard..."
The blue feline, now placing her head on her husbands arm.
Gumball then noticed something different about his father, he lost an extreme amount of weight, more so than the last time he saw him.
"Wow Dad you look great! Did you start working out?"
Richard then proudly smiled.
"Well the cardiologist told me if I didn't start taking the necessary precautions to losing weight, I would be dead by the time I reached my sixties; of course I wouldn't have made it without your mother's motivational skills".
Gumball then understood what his father meant by those words. His mother was very keen on seeing others succeed, the family was all too familiar with it from the incident with the "reaching for the stars chart" on the fridge; in which Gumball had to defeat his mother in a game of paintball to avoid further madness.
"Well Mom, as long as you were supportive and got him through the challenging obstacles, I'm glad to hear he reached his goal!"
Nicole loved hearing this compliment from her son.
"Oh it was nothing sweetie, I actually took some notes from Darwin; and enticed him with food to complete his exercises!"
Gumball and Darwin looked at each other, remembering what happened the last time they helped their father on a diet, and shuttered at the memory.
Gumball then realized that there was someone missing in the room: His sister, Anais.
"Hey guys, where's Anais?"
Penny then answered.
"Oh she's going to be meeting us at Elmore national park just near Reedsville, she's working the environmental scientist position there; she also got some days off this summer to join us when we reach the park!"
Gumball's eyes widened.
"We-we're going to Elmore National Park!? Honey that's great! We always wanted to go as kids, but we were too busy to find time in our schedule..."
The fairy then came over to hug her husband.
"Surprise! I knew you would like it, and Nicole and I decided to keep it a secret as a treat for all of your hard work."
Gumball smiled, and gave a peck of a kiss on his wife's cheek; making the fairy blush.
"Thanks, Penny..."
"No problem, now everyone get yourselves situated! Nicole, Carrie and I are going to finish preparing dinner and whatever snacks we need for the trip tomorrow!".
Everyone was soon scrambling to get things prepared. The men were ensuring that the kids had everything packed and helped the children pack their suitcases, while the women of the house prepped meals and snacks for the trip tomorrow, along with dinner.
Once dinner was ready, everyone gathered to the dinner table. With Gumball fetching some extra chairs in the basement; Richard, Louis and Frankie also helping.
Despite the extra chairs, Nicole was still missing one, after generously letting the kids enjoy their meals in comfort; by giving up each seat that was empty to her.
Gumball noticed this and got up from his chair.
"Here mom, have my seat, you helped to provide this meal for all of us; the least I can do is give up my seat".
Nicole placed both paws to her chest.
"Awww, thank you so much Gummypuss!"
Gumball then helped his mother get situated and comfortable in her chair.
"What about you? You have no seat now!"
Gumball gave a kiss on the cheek of his mother.
"Don't worry Mom, I have my office chair upstairs at my desktop, I'll go fetch it!"
Gumball quickly raced up the steps toward the master bedroom to get his office chair.
Despite taking care of his health, joining fitness clubs in community college, as well as a Karate club before starting his job, the office chair was especially hard to navigate down the stairs with it's large mechanisms, wheels, and overall weight; which was surprisingly heavy.
Before reaching the second step on his way down the staircase, he misjudged the position of where his foot was supposed to land, causing the feline to slip and crash forwards onto the office chair; and down the staircase. Once at the bottom of the landing, the momentum of the chair continued through the front door and out towards the garbage cans situated on the sidewalk near the house; still with Gumball helplessly clinging to the chair.
Everyone was shocked to hear the commotion, quickly getting up from the dinner table to inspect what had happened. Everyone noticed the now open door broken off the hinges, and a pile off garbage strewn on the front lawn.
Everyone had a worried expression on their faces, before Penny finally asked the dreaded question on their minds.
"Honey? Gumball, are you alright?"
Soon, a blue paw emerged from the pile of garbage with a thumbs up. This led to everyone breathing a sigh of relief, and chuckling at what had just transpired.
Dinner soon finished with a beautiful turkey, along with potato salad, and some corn on the cob and gravy. Gumball and Richard quickly went to the department store and picked up a new door and hinges to replace the old one.
Dishes were done by Gumball and Darwin, as the adults enjoyed coffee and some dessert around the dinner room table, while the kids were interchanging between their bedrooms playing video games, board games, watching T.V, or finding what else they needed before heading out tomorrow morning for the trip. Even Nicole joined in to spend some quality time with the kids, with Tristan showing off his inherited competitive side; which warmed Nicole's heart.
Once the evening became late, everyone was prepared to hit the hay. Frankie slept on the sofa in the living room, along with the kids who were in sleeping bags on the floor; which Gumball retrieved from the attic.
Nicole and Richard slept in the extra guest bedroom, while the Senicourts slept in Tristan's room, and left Penelope's room for Louis and Jojo, with the attic having been left for Carrie and Darwin, who had rearranged the layout a bit to accommodate an inflatable mattress.
Gumball POV:
"The morning soon arrived and it was hectic. Everyone was scrambling to get prepared for the road trip ahead. Washroom lines were formed, breakfasts' quickly eaten, Suitcases packed into vehicles; spare toothbrushes taken into inventory. To put it lightly, Mom was right about one thing: chaos and disarray ran in the family genes, but that's just how we Wattersons like it".
Soon, the convoy of cars were ready to take off, Gumball and Penny were arranged to ride together with the kids, while the rest of the couples were riding in their own seperate vehicles.
Tristan yanked on his father's arm.
"Dad, do you mind if grandma Nicole rides with us?"
Nicole, Penny and Gumball all looked at each other.
"It's okay Gumball, I'll ride with Carrie and Darwin. You'll be able to catch up more on the drive." The yellow fairy giving a quick kiss on her husband's cheek, before heading for Darwin and Carrie's minivan.
Nicole gave a smirk to her son.
"Well Gummypuss, let's get on the road shall we?"
(If Send me on my way by Rusted Root is compatible with your device, please play now)
Soon a convoy of vehicles were riding together, communicating through walkie talkies in case anything arose that needed the attention of the rest of the family.
Nicole played "I spy" with the two kids that were situated in the back, while Gumball drove enjoying the scenery. The residential areas and large skyscrapers of Elmore quickly disappeared and were replaced by deserts, valleys, and finally lush coniferous and deciduous trees. They were almost to the national park.
The kids were sleeping in the back seat of the sedan, which gave Nicole an opportunity to chat with her son.
"So, what have you been doing besides raising a family and working Gumball?"
"Not too much Mom, I rarely have the time to do much anymore..."
Gumball then looked a bit sullen in his face. His mother was not buying it.
"Oh come on, there must be something you did all these years! Any clubs or groups that you joined?"
"A few fitness clubs here and there to get my mind off of work. I actually did karate while in community college..."
Nicole was surprised to hear this, and smiled.
"Really?! Oh you really are your mother's son, I'm so proud of you to hear that! You attempted to do it once before as a kid, and I remember spending $1500 dollars on the Gi outfit along with the black belts. So what made you decide to pursue it?"
Gumball still focused on the road, quickly glanced to his mother every now and then to respond.
"Well, when I first started the accountant position, Penny was pregnant with Tristan and I knew that once I had my first kid, things would change; I was 25 at the time. So I thought about you and did some research on Karate, and found out that it was a good self defense art to take, not to mention it improves patience and focus!"
Nicole just stared at her son as he spoke, proud of how much he matured and grew over the years, she felt even more humbled to know that he thought about her, which in turn meant that he missed her and her guiding hand; along with her wisdom.
The conversation was abruptly interrupted by a loud noise, and Gumball temporarily lost control of the vehicle momentarily.
"Ah, gosh darn it! I must have hit a piece of debris or a rock of some sort!"
The two kids in the back woke from their slumber.
"What happened?" Penelope asked with a worried tone.
"Oh no worries sweetheart, we just hit a rock and got a flat." Nicole assured the small golden fairy.
Gumball being the lead car, initiated the right turn signal to indicate he was turning off.
Nicole picked up the walkie talkie communicating to all of the cars behind them to be careful of debris in the road and that they just needed to change a flat, and the rest of the family could continue on without them and they would catch up afterwards.
Gumball switched off the ignition, while his mother and kids stayed in the vehicle.
"Good thing I always keep a spare in the trunk!" removing the tire and jack up and closing the trunk.
Gumball quickly and proficiently replaced the tire, which his mother taught him to do once he first started driving as a teenager. She also taught him the basics before he began driving school. He was still astounded at her stamina and endurance despite her busy schedule, he truly missed her all of these years; and was so glad to be able to spend quality time with her and the rest of the family. It really was long overdue.
As he got up from the ground, he unknowingly had an unwelcomed visitor spectating from the brush near the trees off from the main highway. Gumball placed his jack-up back into the trunk and closed it shut.
As he turned around, he was face to face with a mountain lion; who was just about ready to pounce on the unsuspecting cat.
"Oh boy, just what I needed on this trip...being mauled by a big cat!"
*END OF CHAPTER*