After have completed their garden task for the day, the two were finally done. The sun was starting to set and the air became a bit cooler; much to their relief. Nicole wiped her forehead and brushed some of the dirt off her pants and shirt. She needed a shower. They both did.

Gumball laid his shovel by his moms' shovel on the edge of their fine work. It looked nice. No tree roots, no pesky rocks; just plain fertile soil. The earthy scent actually seemed to appeal Gumball. As he brushed some of the dirt off him, he saw his mother walk up to him. Confused as why she was getting so close to him, he soon found out why when she gently brushed stray dirt out of his hair on his head.

"You silly goose. I told you not to flip the dirt so hard." Nicole said, half chuckling.

"Wait, THAT'S how it got up there? Yikes, you was right..."

"No worries Gummypuss, we all make mistakes sometimes."

She planted a kiss on his head of hair before making her way back to the house. Gumball quickly followed suit.

It was decided that Gumball get his shower first, considering he was much dirtier then Nicole. Not wanting to sit in her dirty clothes, she took them off and placed them in her closet and put on a simple white shirt and panties. As she did this, she decided she needed to look for something to wear for their little "date" tonight. Obviously, the closet didn't have everything that she used to own clothes wise, but at least she had quite a variety.

"Hmmm, but which one?" She thought.

Nicole didn't want to dress just in casual clothes tonight, but didn't want to make this too fancy for Gumball. As she kept looking, something caught her eye.

"Ah, now THIS could work!" She muttered to herself. Gumball would hopefully like this one...

As Gumball got out of the shower and went into his room, he removed his towel and opened his own closet. He needed something good. He knew it was just his mom, but still, he wanted to impress her...somewhat. He found a lot of mundane clothes. He was a simple person after all. He did eventually find a tuxedo, but thought it was still overkill.

ugh* "why is this so difficult?" He said to himself.

Surely his mom wasn't too picky in his clothing choice, right? He felt like giving up and just picking a sweater or something. But just as he reached near the end of the clothes, he found something.

'I can't believe I forgot about this!' Gumball thought as he pulled them out.

In his hands were his version of pretty "cool" clothes. It consisted of a white t-shirt, a red and black zip out jacket with no hood along with darkened jeans. It was something he thought of wearing when he took Penny to the mall for the first time, be ended up just picking casual clothes and putting this outfit in the depths of his other pairs; destined to collect dust. Now that it was in his possession again, he was DEFINITELY going to wear it this time.

'Hopefully mom will like this...'

————————————————————————

The time had come. Gumball made his way to downstairs and into the kitchen. As he entered, he saw a large, neatly folded blanket along with a smaller box filled with a few food items. Gumball did feel a tinge of excitement. All this felt new and a bit strange, but in a good way.

"I wonder what mom picked out? Is she ready?" He thought as he opened the fridge and pulled out some water bottles.

Once he placed them in the box, he heard footsteps by the stairs. He then turned towards the kitchen entrance...and his brain went blank with what he saw. Emerging from the entrance came his mom, wearing the most beautiful sundress he had ever seen! It was a lovely shade of white, with small blue decorations near her shoulders. Gumball was truly stunned by her beauty. It was like looking at an angel...

"Well, judging by that face of yours...I think I chose the right outfit." Nicole mentioned, smirking.

Gumball suddenly snapped out of it, before giving a sheepish smile back.

"I do admire your choice in clothing too Gumball. I love the colors."

"O-Oh, thanks..." he said nervously. "And yes, I love your outfit. It's amazing!"

Nicole felt that warm feeling again in her chest. Even simple compliments from him seemed to be causing this now. Why? It didn't seem to do this before, right? Nicole cleared her mind. She didn't have time for this.

"So, are you ready Gummypuss?" She asked, picking up the towel.

"Oh, yeah, I'm ready. Where are we going to eat at?"

"I thought I'd let you pick. We can eat wherever you want, sweetie." Nicole said, now opening the door.

"Hm, how about the park? It's got good scenery and we can see the sun set better there."

Mentioning the park made Nicole slightly uneasy for a brief second, considering all the "bad incidents" that she and Gumball had experienced there, but decided to swallow her fears and agree with Gumball. After all, it was his choice.

"Very well Gummypuss. Let's head out then."

With that, they made their way out of the house and towards the park. Nicole decided to lead the way. The last thing she wanted was an unexpected event happening and Gumball being the first to experience it.

As Gumball trailed behind her carrying the box full of delicious food, he couldn't help but keep his eyes on his shapely mother. The dress seemed to expose her very toned back and strong muscular legs. He was honestly a little jealous of her physical form. It was true perfection, at least in his eyes. So beautiful...

Gumball noticed he perhaps was staring a little too long as his mother, and quickly averted his eyes from her. Why was he thinking this? This was his own mother for crying out loud! A part of him felt admiration for her, obviously, but the other part of him...

Gumball started to feel quite warm under his collar. His wandering mind was starting to imagine a few things he knew he shouldn't be thinking about his mother, but he just couldn't resist it.

Eventually, the made it to the park lawn, and Gumball watched her stop at the grass.

"Mom, is...everything alright?" He asked her, now with concern when he thought he saw a bit of fear in her stance.

"Yes Gumball, I'm...fine. Let's go." She said, before half cautiously stepping into the grass, and continued leading the way.

Nicole was still tense. Walking in this park still made her uneasy. She took a deep breath.

'Come on Nicole, just breath. You need to relax. Do it for Gumball. Nothing bad is going to happen. Just enjoy yourself.' She thought, before picking up her pace again.

A little ways past a few sections of trees, they found a small hill up ahead.

"How about we eat up there?" Gumball suggested.

"Yes, that could work. Let's settle there." Nicole responded.

After reaching the top of the hill, Gumball and Nicole started to unfold the blanket, and help set the food and drinks out on top of it. As the gentle wind and the setting sun's warmth touched Nicole's body, it started to ease her somewhat. Perhaps she was over-reacting earlier. This wasn't so bad after all. She gazed off to her side and saw the trees sway with the wind, dancing in a mingle only understood by nature itself. She closed her eyes. She felt at peace now. This park, this hill, this...date with Gumball was so relaxing. Gumball...

She turned to face Gumball, and found him eating while looking at her. Once he noticed her gaze on him, he seemed to shy away, and look off to his right at the trees. Why was he looking at her so intentfully? She looked down at her dress. Was there something on it? She checked, but didn't see anything wrong with it.

'Maybe he doesn't like it. Maybe he just said he did because he didn't want to be mean. *sigh* Perhaps I should have worn something else...' Nicole thought.

But after studying Gumball's face for a second, she noticed...a tinge of red by his cheeks. Nicole then realized something. Maybe he didn't hate her dress. Maybe...he liked it. Maybe he liked it a lot.

Nicole decided to go with that thought, and smiled a little before finishing her meal.

After having finished both of their meals, they both decided to gaze out at the trees. Nicole scooted next to Gumball and pulled him close. She then blooped him on the nose.

"How's Mr. Handsome doing over here?" She asked, making Gumball roll his eyes before facing her.

"Mom~, come on. Mr. Handsome?" He said half smiling.

"What? I can't admire my son's lovely outfit? It looks sharp on you, ya know..."

"Well, Mrs. Lovely, I think your dress is beautiful." Gumball responded.

"Oh you~" Nicole said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Nicole saw his cheeks turn bright red from this, just as expected. He shot her a "really?" look before facing back out towards the trees.

A few moments past as they sat next to each other, just taking in the nature around them. It was truly stunning. The crimson color of the final rays of the sun shined down and shrouded every open space around them in its glory. Nicole let out a soft sigh. This evening was so perfect. She couldn't remember the last time she experienced a quiet evening like this. Just then, Gumball spoke.

"Mom, how many times has dad taken you on a date like this?"

Just like that, her mind went from peaceful, to tense. She looked over towards her son and saw him staring up at her, waiting for an answer. Nicole reluctantly sighed, before answering.

"Gumball he...he never did this with me."

"WHAT?! After all these years together, he never took you out on a picnic date?"

Nicole was taken aback by this. Why was he so surprised?

"Why do you ask sweetie?"

"Mom, I just-... I'm sorry. I just wished you could have experienced this with him. I bet it would have made you happy, like you are with me."

"Gumball..." she said, now embracing him.

"Your father...he was...never really the 'sweep you off your feet' kind of person. Sure we had our little dates here and there, but after we married, we..." Nicole stopped. Suddenly her eyes widened. It just occurred to her. She and Richard hadn't been on 'date' together since their marriage. It was starting to make since now. Ever since they got married, he started being lazy, careless, and worst of all...not affectionate to her. It was like he was...just using her for his own gain. She felt her hands drop to her lap and curl into fists again. She closed her eyes, let out a heavy sigh, before feeling clasped hands on her clenched fists. She opened her eyes, and felt her body soften when she saw Gumball looking at her with a lot of concern.

"Mom? What's wrong?" He asked.

"I-...sorry sweetie, it was just your father..."

"Oh..." Gumball said, now lowering his gaze.

"I'm sorry I brought that up. I never should have-"

"Gumball, it's not your fault." She said, reassuringly.

Gumball then looked up at her again.

"So he never took you back on a date, huh?"

"Yes..." she said, sighing sadly.

"He never even seemed to have wanted to give me affection either..."

Why did she say that? She just felt it slip past her lips. She didn't want Gumball knowing that. Nicole felt so careless now. So irrational. So...weak. She felt like crying then. But what good would tears do here? It would only loosen the bond between Gumball and her.

Nicole then felt something warm on her cheek. She turned to see what was causing it, before realizing it was...Gumball. He was kissing her cheek. She didn't move. She couldn't. She felt him continue to pepper her cheek with light kisses. It felt...nice. So warm. So...caring.

"Gumball..." she spoke with a soft tone.

Gumball stopped his kissing, before pulling away slightly to look her in the eyes.

"Mom, when you said he never gave you affection..." he started.

"I...I wanted to give you some of mine instead. You truly mean the world to me. To see you in such pain like that hurt me. I...I never knew that he neglected you so bad."

Nicole placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Gumball. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I didn't want you to know, or Darwin and Anais...but I glad I told you. It's been hurting me for a very long time. I've been bottling it up, wanting it to go away, but... it never did."

Nicole felt him hug her, before kissing her cheek again. She gently stroked his hair. She felt loved. Cared for. It was so touching to her. So long had she craved this. She felt the heat in her rise tenfold. It was flaming throughout her body. That...feeling. It was back. That feeling that she had felt a few times before, but never knew why. She pulled away from Gumball by only a few inches. She gazed into his eyes deeply. In that moment, his eyes were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She saw them full of compassion, curiosity...love. Something she had so long desired.

"Gumball..." was all she could say.

With that...drawing ever nearer to him, it happened. She kissed him. She closed her eyes, and let herself go. The warmth spreading throughout her body was intense. So very intense. The gentle sparks of pleasure shot all throughout her body. It was almost indescribable. She felt pure bliss. The seconds felt like hours to her, and she was loving it. She felt the wind swirl around them, but she didn't pay much attention to it. Her near full attention now lied on Gumball and herself. As she finally pulled back, she slowly opened her eyes. When she did, she saw Gumball staring back at her. His face seemed unreadable, but when she stared back into his eyes...she thought she saw twinkling.

Gumball then embraced her. He rubbed her back, and nuzzled her neck. Nicole let out a deep sigh. She knew her previous action would have consequences. She would now have to deal with them.

This was going to be an awkward night and morning...